Featuring: Ninomiya Kazunari, female OC
Genre: Romance
Rating: M / NC-17
Summary: Ninomiya Kazunari isn’t CEO for nothing. He’s powerful; he’s ruthless; and he plays hard to get. But above all, he’s one badass motherfucker who gets what he wants – no matter the cost.

WARNING: This story contains foul language, adult situations, and graphic sexual scenes. I’m not kidding when I say ‘graphic‘. This is definitely not for the underaged and the weak-hearted. You’ve been warned!

-

His indifferent face didn’t betray the fact that he was fucking pissed.

Occupying the sleek leather chair at the head of the conference table, he reclined against the headrest as his lean legs stretched out on the pinewood table and crossed at the ankles. He was a figure of cool detachment as his dark, sullen eyes stared through the full-length windows, taking in the torrential rain thundering down mercilessly and the grey hue of the unforgiving clouds that swept the city skyline. The conference room was dark, save for the fiery embers of his cigarette that glowed furiously as he inhaled, casting an eerie shadow on his features.

He tilted his head back and expelled the smoke from his lungs. Just then, there was a firm knock on the door, and a man clad in a dark suit stepped in.

“Sir, the car is ready,” he said stoically. Then, he stiffened as he caught the waft of nicotine in the air. “This building has a strict no-smoking policy, sir.”

“Do I look like I give a fuck?” Kazunari barked. He took a long, stubborn drag of the cigarette, as if to prove his point. “I own this fucking building.”

The head of security didn’t reply, and Kazunari smirked. “Of course,” he said, his patronising words uttered with deliberate slowness. He dropped his legs off the table and stood bolt upright, and with the cigarette wedged between his lips, he nonchalantly buttoned up his pressed suit and exited the conference room.

Seven other bodyguards stood at attention when he appeared at the doorway. Kazunari eyed each of them with cold disgust, but nevertheless, he gave them a stiff nod. Shoving a hand in his pocket, he walked past the group and strode down the corridor with superior pride and purpose, the heels of his leather shoes clicking noisily on the marble floor. An echo of numerous footsteps trailed behind him, and the irritating noise made him scoff.

What dumbasses haven’t heard of wall-to-wall carpeting? he grumbled inwardly.

His secretary stood waiting expectantly in front of the row of elevators. He gave a deep bow when Kazunari approached him. “How did the board meeting go, sir?” he asked politely.

“Hmph,” Kazunari grunted, a hint of disgust in his tone. He pulled the cigarette from his lips and flicked the ashes carelessly. “I’d rather not talk.”

“Ah,” the secretary nodded with understanding. Having worked closely with the company CEO for two years on now, he was strikingly familiar with the powerful man’s attitude towards the committee board members. “Tomorrow, then.”

The elevator rang with a soft ping!, and the doors slid open. Kazunari and the secretary stepped in, but Kazunari held a commanding hand out when the bodyguards made a move to follow.

“Get your own fucking elevator,” he growled. He punched the button and the doors slid smoothly to a close in their faces. Kazunari couldn’t resist a triumphant smirk to himself as the elevator made its swift descent down thirty-four floors.

Within the privacy of the confined space, Kazunari turned to his secretary. “Has Takeuichi and Co. called back about the investment?” he questioned.

“Yes, sir.”

“And?”

The secretary paused momentarily, then he sighed. “They said they require more time to consider your proposal, sir. Our company’s stocks don’t look promising, and they’ve voiced their concerns about any current investments that lack potential profit value.”

“Fuck,” Kazunari breathed. He took a long and frustrated drag from the cigarette, until the flames ate up the last of the rolled tobacco, then he exhaled the smoke to the ceiling in a noiseless puff while he flung the stick to the floor and stubbed it out with his shoe.

“Might I advise,” the secretary started, very warily, his eyes falling on the stubbed cigarette, “sir – that the board members would use any of your wrongdoing against you, no matter how minor it is.”

Kazunari cast a bored look at the younger man. “Do I look like I give a shit?” he asked coolly.

“Not at all, sir,” the secretary replied, trying to appear casual but nevertheless, a small, knowing smile appeared on his lips.

The elevator came to a halt and the doors slid open. Kazunari was surprised to find his bodyguards standing in the lobby, waiting for him. A few of them were panting, he noted. They must have taken the stairs… at this thought, Kazunari grinned condescendingly. Someone needs a regular cardio exercise.

The receptionists and other employess bowed deeply as Kazunari crossed the lobby towards the entrance. His chauffeur brought an umbrella to him as he emerged from the polished revolving doors and made his way to the black Porsche parked at the curb. As he slid into the car and relaxed on the bench, he found himself needing another smoke. Again.

~

In the dark, quiet confines of his penthouse, Kazunari sat slumped in an armchair and smoked another cigarette – his third since he got back.

He hadn’t bothered to turn on the lights, so he was a lone, unmoving figure in the darkness, barely illuminated by the weak moonlight streaming through the glass. He was still dressed in his office suit, though his jacket was unbuttoned and his silk tie slackened around the collar. A shot glass and a bottle of whiskey – freshly opened and already half-emptied – occupied the side table. Occasionally, he would reach out and pour the whiskey into the shot glass, and pop it down his throat in a quick gulp.

At times, he would run his fingers through his gelled hair with a frustrated sigh, or he would pound his fist onto the arm, gritting his teeth as though to restrain his fury. At other times, he was pensive, almost an image of a gravely man reflecting deep thoughts, as he had been from the moment he entered the penthouse. Though, after countless shots of whiskey, the alcohol began to take effect, and he was satisfied by the numbness beginning to cloud his mind.

Suddenly, he heard the front door open. He hissed at the light streaming in from the corridor, blinding his eyes that were long adjusted to the darkness. A lithe figure stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

“Kazu? Is that you?” the figure called out.

Kazunari’s alcohol-induced mind took a while to register her features, and when recognition set in, he smiled: a smile oozing with sheer smugness.

“Kiyo.”

“Why is it so dark in here?” she demanded.

She reached out and to flip the lights on, but Kazunari yelled out. “No! Leave it.”

Kiyo narrowed her eyes at him. “What’s up with you?” Then, her scrutinising eyes took notice of the whiskey bottle. “Have you been drinking? It’s barely past eight.”

Kazunari ignored her words. Setting down his cigarette on the ashtray, he held his index finger out and curled it, beckoning her to him.

Kiyo was unaffected; she knew that look all too well. Shrugging off her waistcoat, she crossed the living room and snatched the shot glass and the bottle from his outreached hands. “Trust you to finish off half of our best whiskey,” she snapped.

She strode to the kitchen and placed the whiskey bottle back in the cupboard. As she went to the sink and washed the shot glass, suddenly a pair of hands wrapped around her waist from behind, surprising her that a shocked cry emitted from her throat.

“I can have my fucking whiskey whenever I want,” Kazunari whispered dangerously into her ear.

The shot glass fell from her hands and landed into the sink with a loud thud. Kiyo didn’t even hear him follow her into the kitchen – how could he be so stealthy even in his drunken state? That question wasn’t explored further in her mind, because her breath was quickening at his touches that made her body react involuntarily to. He pushed the thick curls of her hair over her shoulder and his nose nuzzled her neck, inhaling the indistinct scent of the expensive perfume she wore. The jasmine-scented perfume he bought for her. Kiyo unconsciously leaned her head back, allowing his lips access to the column of her neck, where he rained soft kisses all over the skin. She was growing weak under his intoxicating spell; her knees began to buckle and her body almost slackened against the length of his body.

“Kazu… stop…” Kiyo whined helplessly.

“Do you want me to stop?” Kazunari asked quietly. His hands disappeared under her blouse and fanned her flat belly; his cold fingers caressing her hot skin sent shivers shooting up her spine. The calloused but experienced hands rose to her breasts and cupped them through the bra, simultaneously he closed his lips over the curve of her neck and nipped at the flesh. In response, a cry escaped Kiyo’s lips.

“Hmmm,” he smirked, “I thought so.”

Deftly, he spunned Kiyo around to face him and propped her onto the kitchen counter. Through hazy, heavily-lidded eyes, Kiyo was consumed by the predator gleam in his dark eyes – that one look that erased all logic and doubt in her mind. A flare of desire began to ignite within her, and it surged when his cold fingers clasped her knees and pushed them apart. He stood between her spread legs, and without warning, he attacked her with a hard, hungry kiss that spoke of his desperate need for release.

She could barely register his ravishing lips and his roving hands. “We need to slow down,” she panted heavily in-between his furious onslaught of kisses.

“Kiyo. Babe, feel me.” He pressed his crotch against her thighs, and she gasped at the undeniably large bulge straining against the pants. “I’m going to die if I take it any slower.”

“Oh, god,” Kiyo groaned. This time she crushed her lips to Kazunari’s on her own volition, thrusting her tongue into his hot cavern for a deeper taste; her fingers tugged at his jacket with urgency, shrugging it off his shoulders and flinging it to the floor. He tore at the buttons of his linen shirt, letting it tumble to the floor before his hands raced to remove her clothes, too. In quick succession, her blouse, her skirt and her undergarments pooled on the tiled floor. He pulled away from her demanding lips and dipped his head to take a perk nipple into his mouth.

A harsh, high-pitched cry echoed when he sucked onto the sensitive flesh, and she arched her back against his lips, her fingers curling into his hair, urging him to bring her to heightened pleasure. His fingers paid attention to the other nipple, rubbing it and pinching it, sending her into a frenzy of moans of incoherent wailing. Then, his fingers lowered to the heat exuding from the junction at her thighs and found wetness pooling at her entrance, proof of her desire and readiness for him. He slipped his mouth away and watched her face as his fingers played and teased her. A smug grin crossed his features as his eyes took in her flushed cheeks and her mouth hanging open, and her eyes shut tight and closing off her mind to nothing but the sensations of his fingers touching her at an intimate part of her body no other man had gone. Loud mewls escaped her throat and reverberated off the walls, like music that filled his ears and made his fingers quicken in their motions.

Kiyo buried her face in the crook of his neck and began thrusting her hips against his fingers, rocking to a rhythm to build the heat within her. Frustration began to grow, and she was desperate for more.

“Please… Kazu…” she begged. Her fingers tugged at the waistband of his pants. “Please. I don’t care anymore, just… fuck me, here, now.”

Kazunari inhaled sharply. Like a possessed man, he kicked off his pants and his boxers, discarding the fabrics aside to freely expose the prominent arousal between his legs. “You’re driving me crazy, woman,” he groaned. “Wrap your legs around me.”

Kiyo did as told, circling her legs around his waist as her arms clung onto his neck. He poised the tip of his manhood against her throbbing entrance; he knew he wouldn’t be able to restrain himself, so he took her lips in for a deep kiss before he plunged all the way to the hilt, silencing her harsh screams as he filled her completely.

His bruising hands gripped onto her hips, holding her down onto the counter as he grinded into her in a rough, unforgiving rhythm that reflected his unrelenting ascend towards the building orgasm. A guttural groan resounded in his throat every time her warmth enveloped him, tightening around him almost painfully that he sank his teeth into her neck to stop himself from driving his hips violently. His thrusts and his bite were becoming too much for her; her cries of pain and pleasure rose in crescendo, her legs tightened around him as she rocked her hips in an unconscious effort to maintain the momentum building up the imminent force in her body.

Suddenly, without warning, Kazunari slipped all the way out. Kiyo’s eyes flew open. “What are you doing?!” she cried out hoarsely. The emptiness where he had filled gnawed at her, a growing frustration that almost drove her to insanity.

Kazunari didn’t say a word. He was panting from the exertion – but he was far from done. He picked Kiyo up and laid her down on the kitchen floor; she hissed at the cold of the floor tiles kissing the skin on her back. Caging her body underneath his, he spread her legs apart and pushed the knees to the floor before he thrust back into her, his throaty groan of pleasure meeting her harsh, welcoming cries. This position allowed him to anchor deeper, reaching hidden parts of her with ease, and when he nudged at her sweet little spot, electric shock thundered through her body and the loudest scream emitted from her throat.

“Like that, baby?” Kazunari growled.

A glistening sheen of sweat began coating their skin, sweat droplets trickling down their faces. Kiyo’s legs wrapped around his waist and she grounded her feet into his lower back, her toes curling as she tried to curb the explosive force building towards an impending supernova. Kazunari could sense that she was close, from the way her harsh breathing became shallow and her body curved upwards into a perfect arch as she met his thrusts with equal vigour. He bent his head and licked at an engorged nipple, and as he closed his mouth over it and sucked hard, Kiyo was suddenly struck by a wave of such intensity that caught her so unexpectedly. She stiffened for a moment, before his name echoed to the ceiling and her body convulsed wildly, submitting herself to the explosive climax.

Kazunari, on the other hand, was close, very close. His thrusts were desperate, unrelenting, demanding for a similar relief. He grinded into her deeper, faster, harder, driving against her sensitive core, until finally, he felt it. Heat shot up his spine in a flash, and a satisfied growl left his lips as he rode with her in the orgasmic ecstasy, the dominant male in him spewing his seed deep within her to mark her as his. She quivered at the hot liquid filling her womb, and in response she clenched tightly around him, milking him painfully for all that was left.

Once the stars cleared from their vision, they both collapsed onto each other in a tangle of limbs. Their bodies slumped with exhaustion and their heavy breathing filled the dense air for a few good minutes, in sync to their chests rising and falling and coupled with their rapid heartbeats thundering against their ribs. With a sigh of satiation, Kazunari propped himself up onto his elbows and his fingers pushed his sweat-drenched locks back, his twinkling eyes gazing directly at her and searching for any response to their tumultuous lovemaking.

“You were wonderful,” he cooed, pressing a loving kiss to her clavicles and the darkening bites that littered the base of her neck.

He pulled out of her, and Kiyo sighed in regret at the sudden emptiness that left a dull, throbbing ache. He sat on his haunches and sifted through the scattered clothes, searching for his pants, which when he had found, he dug through the pockets until he fished out his pack of cigarette and a lighter. Relaxing against the counters, he stuck a stick between his lips and flicked the lighter, letting the blue flame eat at the tobacco. He carelessly flung the lighter aside as he took a long drag of the smoke and threw his head back against the counter, groaning in content as the nicotine burnt his lungs and soothed him from inside out.

Kiyo crawled over and straddled his hips, and with a lazy smile he circled his free hand around her lithe waist and drew her flush against him, leaving none of her skin untouched by his. Kiyo curled her body in response and nuzzled her swollen red lips along his shaven jaw.

“Feeling better?” she asked serenely. Her palms ran up and down his chest in a gesture that was comforting and encouraging at the same time.

Kazunari raised his eyebrows at her, a look of curiosity and questioning set in his eyes. When understanding dawned on him, his smile widened into a grin. “Baby, having sex with you cures cancer. It’s that good.”

Kiyo rolled her eyes. “Smooth talker,” she muttered. “So, those whiny bitches still breathing down your neck?”

“Not just that, they’re ready to suck my blood,” he replied with a soft growl. He took an angry puff from the cigarette to soothe the frustration beginning to boil in the pits of his belly.

“Well, do what you always do,” Kiyo nodded, as if it were the most obvious thing to do. “Don’t you have a two-step thing going? Step One: you tell them to fuck off your back and pull that stick out of their asses; and if that fails, then you go to the fail-proof Step Two: pull off the “This company’s name is Ninomiya for a fucking good reason, assholes” move,” she mimicked his commanding voice, bobbing her head for added theatrical effect.

Kazunari chuckled at her, and he pulled her to him for a hungry kiss. “Maybe you should take my place as CEO for the day,” he suggested with pride, “I bet you could easily sway those dumbasses into worshipping your very presence.”

“Hah,” Kiyo snorted. “Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t want pervy old men drooling over my boobs.”

“Well, that is a rather attractive rack you got there,” he noted. He bent his head and nuzzled against the valley between her breasts. She moaned at his hot breaths and felt that consuming desire return to her loins, and unconsciously she grounded her hips down, moaning louder when his hardening manhood brushed against her sensitive junction.

Kazunari‘s glowing expression practically oozed smugness. “I guess we’re ready for round two.” With a casual flick of the unfinished cigarette into the sink, he got onto his feet and carried her out of the kitchen, their lips locked in another fiery frenzy of passionate kisses as he crossed the living room to their bedroom.

There was no doubt Ninomiya Kazunari had a lot on his plate right now – nothing unusual for a powerful man who owned and chaired one of the biggest companies in Japan. But, right now, he wouldn‘t concern himself with work. No, he would leave his worries for tomorrow, and soothe himself in the ecstasy of making love to his woman all night long.

~

BTW – it only took me one week to write&edit&publish this chapter up! Aren’t you proud of me? 8Dv

ADDITIONAL NOTE:
This chapter is written from Sho’s point of view. I thought it would give a fresh perspective on Sho and Hiroki’s relationship, and also gives you readers a glimpse of Sho’s true feelings towards Hiroki. Tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: Lyrics of ‘Blue’ are credited to TaijiProject. Translations are found here.

~

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.

- – - – - -

Mercurial Dreams
Chapter Nineteen

(time: 00:18; sender: Sho) Where did you go? I couldn’t find you after the shooting. Mao’s sister said you were with her. Please call me back. Sho.

(time: 01:03; sender: Sho) I can’t get through you at all. Why did you turn off your phone?

(time: 02:48; sender: Sho) I’m going crazy wondering if you’re okay. If it weren’t for your weird friend, I would be at your doorstep right now. I’m contemplating if I should wake Aiba up just to go check on you.

(time: 04:07; sender: Sho) Are you trying to avoid me? Are you angry at me? Did I do something that made you mad?

(time: 05:31; sender: Sho) Hiroki… I’m leaving for Fukuoka in an hour, and I can’t call you till the tour is over. How am I going to live through 2 weeks thinking of nothing but you and your deafening silence?

(time: 06:12; sender: Sho) I asked everyone and they said you seemed fine last night. I even asked if I did anything wrong and they said no. Please, I don’t give a damn if you don’t want to talk to me ever again, but at least just tell me what I did wrong!

(time: 06:50; sender: Sho) I’m boarding the plane now. I want to let you know that… whatever I did, I’m really sorry. Please forgive me. I hope we can talk again when I’m back in Tokyo. Take care. Sho.

~

As Sho found out, he was pretty good at putting on a detached, indifferent mask.

If there were something he’d learned in more than ten years of idol-work under Johnny’s, it was hiding his true feelings deep within the barred confines of his heart. He had always been unhappy and disgruntled by this – as a young Junior he had called it – the art of pretending. But in such a situation he was involuntarily plunged into right now, he found myself being overtly grateful for it.

Since arriving in Fukuoka, Sho never allowed himself to feel. He worked and worked and worked: practising dance sets, rehearsing his solos, going through his lines for the MC, doing anything – anything – but allowing himself to be wrapped up in his thoughts. He stood aloof from the crewmembers and the backup dancers, and in front of his groupmates and his manager, he was upbeat and focused on the concert. He tried to keep a distance from everyone, pretending he was giving a hundred-and-ten percent concentration on doing his best… pretending his mind wasn’t in a disarray… pretending his heart wouldn’t sometimes palpitate with uneasiness, anxiety, or fear.

During the first concert, everything went fine, thank god. Surprising even to himself, Sho found it easy to bury everything within him and just focus on making the concert a success. To those unbeknownst to his current mental state, he might even seem like his usual cheerful, upbeat, Sakurai Sho-like self.

However, during the second concert, things didn’t go as smoothly.

While waiting for Nino’s solo performance to end, he just had to be the world’s stupidest fool… and give Hiroki a call. Standing alone in his dressing room, he had unwittingly grabbed his phone, flipped it open, pressed speed dial 5, dialled the number, and pressed the phone to his ear – all within five unconscious seconds.

Of course, Hiroki wouldn’t pick up. The ringing went on forever until it finally went to voicemail, and Sho didn’t hesitate to leave a message. As if he had done this a thousand times, because truthfully he had.

“Hey, Hiroki… I thought I’d call you. I’m in Fukuoka now, in fact I’m in the middle of the concert.” He let out a soft, bitter chuckle. “I don’t even know why I called you… Have you eaten? Are you well? I know you won’t call me back, or reply my texts… but, erm… please take care of yourself, okay?”

Suddenly the door swung open, and Kikukawa-san, one of the concert ADs, barged in, headset in place around his head, a clipboard in hand, and an anxious expression on his face.

“Sakurai-san! You’re up in five!” he informed.

“Hai!” Sho replied. He sighed tiredly, and said into the phone, “I have to go. Hope we can talk soon. Bye.”

He shut his phone and chucked it onto the leather sofa before he stepped out of the dressing room, adjusting his costume as he made his way towards the main stage area. He spotted Matsumoto near the east stage, getting ready for his entrance while a few stylists fixed the velcro straps on his costume.

“Don’t mess up!” Matsumoto called out, and gave a confident, two-finger salute, wearing a smug look on his face. He must have had a very successful solo performance.

“You don’t mess up either!” Sho shouted back, grinning and waving, and walked off.

He hated how he suddenly felt sick to the stomach, the moment the grin was wiped off his face. Great, talk about timing. Just when their next song was a ballad.

Sho sat at the white grand piano and waited for his cue as the platform was slowly raised onto the stage. The moment Nino finished singing his song, he began playing the intro of Blue.

“Awai buruu no sukaato ga, yuugure no oka ni tanabiku; bonyari to kangaete mita eien tte konna mon ka naa.”

The soft, instrumental melody, combined with Nino’s gentle voice, suddenly brought a sharp pang to Sho’s heart. The hurt was physical, and so large was its magnitude that he visibly winced. He bit his lip to subdue the pain.

“’Koi wa itsuka owaru yo’ to tooi me de kimi ga tsubuyaku,” Ohno next sang, “kikoenai furi o shiteta no kizuite kureta ka naa.”

This was his cue. Sho took a deep breath, before he sang.

“Nandomeka no sakura no hanabira ga yurari kaze ni matta…”

He shuddered involuntarily as her smile, lightly playing on her lips, suddenly appeared in his mind. No, no, please not now, he pleaded inwardly, but it was too far gone. Her smile disappeared, and now the image was replaced by her eyes, rounded and tinged with hazel brown flecks in the irises, it was her eyes that held her innocence, her heart, her soul.

Hiroki.

“Toki ga tatte mo kawaranai omoi ga koko ni aru…”

And it was as if the floodgates burst open; his vision blurred as tears welled up in his eyes.

“Aitakute aitakute; Yume de kimi o dakishimete miru. Oikakete oikakete; fukai meiro o samayotteru.”

He managed to hold back the tears, but inadvertently, one tear escaped and slid down his cheek in forlorn.

“Aitakute aitakute; Yume ja nai honmono no kimi ni. Aenakute aenakute; Ikiba no nai omoi ni oboreteru.”

Sho closed his eyes shut, and continued gliding his fingers over the keys, playing with more vigour, almost as if with a sudden flare of raging passion. But in the darkness of his own mind, he only saw Hiroki’s face, and the only words that crossed his mind were:

Sorae… I miss you.

To Sho, he kept those tears to himself, and continued the performance as if nothing happened. But to the fifty-thousand people in the audience, and the other four people on the stage, they were not mistaken: they witnessed the tears in Sakurai Sho’s eyes.

~

After the concert, Sho didn’t speak to anyone.

He didn’t speak much even as Jun gave a rousing congratulatory speech, backstage after the last encore performance; he could barely muster a stiff smile. He didn’t speak much as they rode the tour bus back to their hotel room; in fact, he didn’t even speak at all as everyone filed to the hotel lobby restaurant for a buffet dinner. Sho decided to just skip dinner altogether, and retired to his room.

He dumped his bag on the floor, quickly stripped off his clothes and dragged his feet into the bathroom. He stepped under the shower and turned the tap to the coldest water temperature possible; he shivered violently as the ice-cold water hit his face.

He stood silent and unmoving for the longest time, his palms pressed against the tiled wall, his chin almost touching his chest; the only movement in the bathroom was the water raining down his bent head and his back. A million things ran through his mind, all of which brought a wave of sadness and uncertainty that the water could not wash away, even though he wished it could.

He jumped a foot when someone knocked on the bathroom door.

“Sho?”

It was Ohno.

“Coming,” Sho called out.

He turned the tap off and stepped out of the shower, droplets of water running in rivulets down his body. He wrapped a fresh towel around his lower body and stepped out of the bathroom, but he stopped in his tracks at Ohno and Nino sitting on the double bed.

“Hey,” Nino greeted.

“We brought you dinner,” Ohno said, pointing at the plate wrapped in aluminium foil that was placed on the dressing table.

“Thanks,” Sho mumbled, “but I’m not hungry.”

Sho crossed the room to the sliding door, unlocking it and stepping out onto the balcony. He shivered at the cold breeze that blew against his naked upper body, but he didn’t really care. The coldness would take his mind off things. He leaned against the metal railing and stared wordlessly at the skyline of Fukuoka city: amidst the bright city lights, Fukuoka Tower and Sky Dream ferris wheel stood out against the colourless background of the dark night sky. Standing on the 28th floor of the hotel, at close to 360 feet above sea level, Sho had never felt so isolated and alone.

Nino silently came up next to him. He, too, leaned against the railing and gazed at the horizon.

“We know, you know.”

“I don’t know what you know,” Sho snapped, a little too harshly. His eyes widened in realisation, and apologetically he bowed his head. “Sorry.”

“Don’t know if you noticed, but fifty-thousand other people saw you crying on stage.”

Sho whirled around. “I wasn’t crying,” he retorted in stubborn defense.

“It was pretty damn obvious actually, when your face is on a thirty-feet-wide screen,” Nino chuckled, his tone dark and bitter.

“Are you okay?” Ohno asked gently. He was sitting on the wicker chair with his arms crossed, though not disapprovingly. He was the empathetic one who never failed to bring some form of comfort. “It’s about Hiroki, isn’t it?”

Sho didn’t reply. He felt that familiar stab of heartache in his chest at the sound of that name.

The room door suddenly burst open, and Aiba and Jun trudged into the room. Judging by the glazed look in his eyes and the slightly crazed smile on his lips, Jun definitely had had a few drinks already. As Jun leaned against the door – how did he manage to stay so sexy even if he was drunk? – and waved, “Yo!”, Aiba tried to convey a non-verbal message to the three men at the balcony from behind Jun’s back. He pointed at Jun, and mimicked a large swig of beer, then he pointed at Sho, formed an X with his arms, then smashed his fist into his palm.

Well, that was pretty self-explanatory.

But of course, Aiba tend to exaggerate beyond all humanely possible points of exaggeration.

“Erm, Matsujun, you okay?” Nino asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jun walked over to the side of the bed that faced the balcony and sat down, his arms crossed. “You,” he pointed to Sho, “start talking.”

Perplexed, Sho could only blink. “What?”

“I gotta say, those tears worked wonders for the performance,” Jun nodded proudly, “but of course, we know damn well it wasn’t fake. So, tell us. What the fuck did Hiroki do to you to screw you up so bad?”

“Does anyone not know about this?!” Sho exclaimed hotly.

“Nope,” Jun smiled serenely – a serene smile only those half-drunk could pull off so well. “Now, talk.”

Sho sighed, and sat down heavily on the wicker chair opposite Ohno. He told them about Hiroki ignoring his texts and his calls, and how it was driving him insane because he didn’t know why she was ignoring him, and how he had been wracking his brain trying to figure out if she was mad at him, or if she was disappointed in him, or if she decided he just wasn’t good enough for her; what went wrong, or what he did wrong.

When Sho was finished, he slumped down in his chair in defeat. The crestfallen look in his face was as bad as if his beloved pet dog died.

“Okay,” Aiba nodded, and stood up. “You’ve got to replay back your memory. When did this happen?”

“A few days ago, the night before we left Tokyo,” Sho answered. “I just don’t know… we were fine before the NEWS ZERO shooting! We were in the dressing room, and we almost kissed and–”

“Wait, WHAT?” Nino exclaimed. “You kissed?!”

“Almost,” Sho retorted.

“Maybe she freaked out?” Ohno suggested.

“If she did freak out, that says a lot about your kissing,” Jun remarked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Sho glared at Jun, sitting with his leg crossed demurely over the other and with a mad, sadistic glint in his eyes. “Not helping,” Sho growled.

“Anything else after that?” Aiba prompted.

“Shooting went smoothly. I saw her at the back at the studio, watching. After shooting was over, I waved at her and she smiled back at me. She smiled at me,” he repeated in sheer, wide-eyed disbelief.

“Is that the last time you saw her?” Nino asked.

“Yes! Why do you think it’s making me go crazy? I keep replaying it in my head, trying to remember something, but all I can recall is that smile of hers and how beautiful she looked and how it made me so happy… and… and… aaaaargh!” Sho groaned in frustration and ruffled his hands in his wet hair wildly like a madman. Now his hair stood up at odd ends.

“Well.” Nino sat on the arm of Ohno‘s chair. “Considering that, you must have done something bad.”

“Well, you finally figured that part out,” Sho said bitingly.

“I mean after the smiling-at-you-and-making-you-all-gooey part.”

“Think, Sho-chan!” Aiba nudged, giving a small, encouraging smile. “There’s got to be something!”

Sho closed his eyes and tried to recall the event. “I was making my way to her, Kobayashi-san was right in front of me when she tripped over a cable. I caught her in time when she fell and I–” Sho’s eyes suddenly sprung open and he straightened up to his feet so suddenly that the wicker chair fell backwards. “OH MY GOD!”

Jun snickered under his breath. It was so evident to him – and the others, in fact – and it dawned on them the moment Sho mentioned his fellow newcaster’s name, even though their reaction wasn’t as explosive as Sho’s. “Took you that long, didn’t it?” Jun smirked.

“So Hiroki thought there’s something going on between you and Kobayashi?” Ohno asked, a little dumbfounded.

“That woman… that woman!” he exclaimed furiously. He started pacing the length of the balcony, his movements impatient and furious. “Is she crazy?! I hold another woman in my arms for five seconds and she thinks I’m in love in her?!”

“This coming from the guy who cried about it in front of fifty-thousand people,” Jun pointed out.

“Did not!” Sho retorted indignantly.

“Did too.”

“Matsumoto, I swear…!”

“Okay, okay! I’ll shut up.”

Aiba rolled his eyes and smacked Jun on the back of his head. Of course, Jun spun around and silently cursed the tall man, but Aiba only gave him a meaningful glare.

“So… now what?” Aiba asked.

“I’m going to have to set the record straight.” With a determined look, Sho strode into the room and grabbed his phone from his bag, but Nino stopped him.

“You can’t call her,” he said, shaking his head.

“Why not?!”

“Because you’ve called her a million times and probably sent her a billion texts, another one isn’t going to change her mind,” he explained.

An angry guttural growl left Sho’s lips, and he almost crushed the gadget in his balled fist. “Then what?!” he practically shouted.

“Go see her, obviously,” Jun said.

“But we’re going to Osaka tomorrow!”

“We don’t have much activities in our schedule tomorrow, so we’ve got the day off. Look, I can explain to Manager-san and Takaya-san. I’ll come up with something – they’ll accept anything if I told them. We’ll cover for you, but you’ve got to be back by Thursday.”

Sho stared weirdly at Jun for the longest time, and then his face broke into a broad grin. He swung an arm around Jun’s shoulder, and he was pretty much just one step from kissing him. “You’re a nice guy after all, aren’t you?”

“Whatever,” Jun said gruffly.

“You should sleep,” Ohno advised, “and take the train back to Tokyo in the morning.”

Sleep, Sho definitely tried. After everyone retired to their rooms, Sho delved under the sheets and tried to sleep, but he was wide awake. He couldn’t help but feel rejuvenated, vigorous, energised, alive. He got out of bed and did fifty push-ups, hoping it would tire him out, but he was more alert than before.

Finally he gave up. He changed into jeans and a simple T-shirt and packed his bag. Returning to Tokyo now wouldn’t change anything right? At least, it would give him a peace of mind, knowing he was closer to Hiroki. He smiled to himself, thinking of her. He was going to explain to her, even beg for forgiveness, if that was what it would take for her to finally take him back. If all else failed, he would win her back, simple as that.

Sakurai Sho was now a man on a mission to win the heart of the woman he loved.

~

Please do not be alarmed by the changes!

I’ll let you know once I’m done. :D

~ Tashii.

UPDATED!

As you can see clearly, I’ve added custom background and designed a new banner above. :D

Also, other changes:

• Sidebar
• Profile page – new author’s photo
• Disclaimer page
• Fanfiction Index – added Publish Date, etc.

Personally, I like this new layout. Not as plain as before, and it gives this blog a more mature feel to it. I spent half a day working on this huge makeover, so YES I’M DAMN WELL PROUD OF IT. *narcissistic* <3

In answer to Yuuki’s comment:
No, I’m not gonna be cruel and end this story so quickly! There’s actually quite a few more chapters to go. I’m estimating we’ll go beyond Chapter 25, maybe until Chapter 28? There’s still A LOT more drama to come, you haven’t seen the best part yet… *ebil laugh*

ADDITIONAL NOTE:
I have evolved a lot as a writer during the 2-year hiatus in writing this story. I’d like to say this upfront that future chapters will include the occasional swearings and mature themes. I know it’s a little weird – this story started off G-rated. I hope to give this story a new perspective with more realistic elements, so please let me know how this new direction is! Constructive criticism would help greatly.

Okay, enough with my ramblings. Enjoy this chapter!

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.

- – - – - -

Mercurial Dreams
Chapter Eighteen

- Five weeks later -

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight! Step it up – three, four, five…”

Arashi and the Juniors were, once again, spending a weeknight at the dance studio, rehearsing the complete choreography for the summer concerts. Arashi had already held seven sold-out concerts in Tokyo and Nagoya for the past one-and-half-months. They were phenomenal among the fans and widely-publicised in the media, hence everyone was anticipating the long-awaited trip tomorrow morning, in which they would head off for concerts not only in Osaka, but also in Hiroshima and Fukuoka. Their head choreographer was stricter than usual; he was particularly vehement that everyone perfected their steps before going on stage where he couldn’t supervise them.

“Aiba, straighten your arms when you lift them up!”

“Aah, wakarimashita!”

“Fujiwara-kun, lessen the weight on your legs!”

“Hai!”

At the opposite end of the studio, Hiroki was distracted from her work. Sitting cross-legged on the pinewood floor and leaning against the wall, with the laptop on her lap, she was secretly watching them. She marveled at how perfect and synchronised their steps were, which came as no surprise since they had been practising the same set of dance moves twice in the past three hours. They were concentrating deeply on their steps, a strain of seriousness in their sweaty faces, and their dedication impressed Hiroki greatly.

And then she yawned loudly.

“Damn, I need to finish this report,” Hiroki said to herself. She pinched her cheeks to keep her awake and then continued tapping on the keyboard, her eyes glued to the document.

Since Arashi had kicked off their summer concert tour, all representatives for the group in numerous departments had been unbelievably busy, especially the PR department. Due to countless meetings with other departments and several media representatives, and with an impossible amount of work on top of that, Hiroki couldn’t keep up with her usual flexi-hours/flexi-places work schedule anymore. Everyday, she would be the first to arrive at the Shibuya office at 8AM, starting off immediately by calling numerous parties, setting up interview dates, arranging conferences with the press, and then doing full-length reports that was the most tedious. She would end up being one of the last to leave the office, only to continue her work at home, and then squeezing four hours of sleep, maybe five on a good day, before continuing the daily ritual all over again.

Admittedly, Hiroki went through everyday moving around like a zombie, but she didn’t deny that she felt exhilarated. She loved the challenges she faced and the hard work she put into proving her capabilities as a qualified agent for the company.

Today wasn’t any different from her new working ritual, except that Sho had insisted she come for their dance practice after she left the office. He revealed nothing, but in that mysterious tone of his, he only said he would tell her later. And Hiroki couldn’t possibly say no to him.

Suddenly Hiroki’s vision blurred. Looking at the computer screen for hours and hours on end had been causing dizziness and sometimes, headaches. Sighing in exhaustion, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Hiroki?”

Hiroki opened her eyes and caught a blurry image of Tegumi sitting down next to her. She offered a paper cup to Hiroki. “Hot ocha for you,” she said.

Hiroki gulped down the hot liquid, which warmed her insides and jolted her awake. “Thanks, I needed that,” she smiled weakly. She scanned the studio, finally noticing that everyone had finished the second set of dance steps and were taking a break.

“You look like you haven‘t slept in a year,” Tegumi said. Her eyebrows were creased with worry. “It’s already nine o’clock. Why don’t you go home and rest?”

“I can’t, I need to finish up this report and send it out by ten,” Hiroki replied.

“Hiroki!”

At her name being called by that deep voice, Hiroki perked up. Instantaneously she straightened her back at full attention, just as Sho strode over with a friendly smile. He waved at Tegumi and sat down in front of Hiroki, wiping his face with a hand towel and then draping it around his neck. His hair and his black tank top were completely drenched, and at this distance, Hiroki could distinctly smell the salty scent of masculine sweat.

What’s funny: Hiroki didn’t find it revolting at all.

“You guys are doing great,” Hiroki said in an awe-inspired voice.

“Really?” Sho grinned.

Hiroki nodded and sipped the ocha delicately, hiding the irresistible smile forming on her lips. Nowadays, his close presence around her always did that – making her smile like a crazy idiot, and making her giddy from that smile of his. Oh god, she felt like a whirlwind of emotions every time he was around her; like it was the most volatile PMS-equivalent mood swing, except in the total opposite of the spectrum. She was definitely going crazy.

Sho leaned over and peered at the laptop screen, upside down. “Lots of work?” he asked curiously.

Temporarily distracted by Sho’s exposed nape, Hiroki trembled slightly and coughed, and accidentally placed her elbow on the keyboard. “Oh, erm… sort of,” she stammered, and tried to concentrate on the screen. She stared in horror at the long jumble of gibberish her elbow had typed out.

“Look, remember that treat I promised you last month?” Sho asked, and Hiroki vaguely remembered, and nodded. “After practice, I’m going to film NEWS ZERO. So… I was thinking… if you come along for the shoot, you and I can go out for a drink after that. Supper, maybe?”

Hiroki eyed him wordlessly, her hands frozen midway of typing out the words ‘substantial agreement’. Her brain tried very hard to interpret those words. Is Sakurai Sho asking me out on a date…?

Sho misinterpreted Hiroki’s silence as irked disapproval, and he coughed in embarrassment. “Of course, if you think it’s too late or —”

“No, no, no,” Hiroki interrupted him. Then she broke into a grin. “I… I’d love to.”

Sho brightened to such blinding joy, it looked as if he could embrace her in a bear hug. He nodded as solemnly as he could, then got onto his feet and practically skipped over to the others. When he was at a safe distance away, Tegumi looked weirdly at Hiroki.

“What?” Hiroki snapped.

“Is there something between you two?” Tegumi inquired, her eyebrows arched high.

“No!” Hiroki immediately retorted.

“Then why did Sakurai-san have this really-really-really happy smile on his face when you agreed to go on a date with him?”

“It isn’t a date!” Hiroki fumed, but it was a big fat lie. Her entire face was reddening to a darker shade of red, and she pretended to be concentrating fully on her report.

Tegumi sighed and patted Hiroki’s hand. “Fine, if you‘re not gonna tell me, I‘m sure Aiba-kun can.” She slid away giggling at Hiroki’s appalled expression.

Dance practice ended half an hour later, shortly after Hiroki finished her report – finally – and e-mailed it to respective parties as well as adding a CC to Ishida. Just then, Sho approached her, carrying his jacket and his bag. He had already showered.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

Hiroki nodded, and Sho held his hands out to pull her up to her feet. “Let me go grab my stuff,” Hiroki said, and she quickly trotted over to the table, grabbing her bag and her coat. She stood there momentarily to soothe the warm, tingling sensation in her hand where Sho had clung onto seconds ago.

Hiroki followed Sho into a white van parked outside the dance studio. Before stepping in, she heard the other members of Arashi wolf-whistling at them. Annoyed, Sho stuck his head out of the van and glowered at them. A very-excited Aiba gave Sho two thumbs-up, and Jun grinned like a proud father. Nino loudly and unabashedly questioned if Sho needed a condom, to which Jun and Aiba overheard and started howling in laughter. Sho (who thankfully didn’t hear the word ‘condom’, or he would‘ve gone apeshit) just rolled his eyes and bellowed at them to “GO HOME ALREADY!”

Unfortunately, Hiroki did catch Nino’s comment, and she lowered deeper into the seat, hiding in utter embarrassment.

During the ride the duo didn’t talk much, mostly because Sho was reading through his script with immense concentration. When Hiroki casually asked what it was, he answered absent-mindedly, “My script for the segment I’m presenting,” and he was silent again. Disappointed, Hiroki sat back in her seat and left him alone.

At the studio, Hiroki sat obediently on a sofa in Sho’s dressing room, quietly watching as a stylist and a hairdresser worked on his outfit and hair. Sho stood unmoving with his eyes on the white ceiling, reciting his lines in a soft, monotonous voice, as the stylist helped him put on a pressed black jacket and a grey tie. In a daze, Hiroki couldn’t help but feel compelled to Sho – the formal suit gave him an appearance of sophistication and smart appeal, and she felt attracted to this new side of Sho she had never seen before.

“Hey.”

Snapping out of her thoughts, Hiroki raised her eyes. Sho stood towering over her, buttoning up his sleeve and straightening his jacket. His tie was loose and it draped uselessly around his collar, and he had a pleading look in his eyes that Hiroki thought it looked so familiar…

“Do you know how to tie a necktie?” he asked sheepishly.

Hiroki blinked. “You don’t know how?”

Sho nodded, and Hiroki couldn’t help but giggle. She stood up and moved closer to Sho and deftly twisted the tie into a knot. “You didn’t have to untie it when the stylist already got it all done,” she reprimanded playfully. “There.”

Sho studied his reflection in the mirror, and grinned proudly at the perfect necktie. “Thanks.”

He lowered his eyes to her, and they were both silent. This was the closest they were together – and the only time they were alone – since that day in the parking lot; that time felt like a long time ago. There was a prolonging moment of awkward silence between them as they gazed at each other with unreadable eyes. They stood very close to each other, not moving an inch closer nor further, and if Sho bent his head a little, his plump lips would touch hers. Poised and indifferent, a wave of desire passed through them, and Sho slowly tilted his head to her… and suddenly Hiroki coughed loudly.

“I’ll wait for you here,” she stammered. She took a small step backwards to keep a breathing space between them.

“O… okay.” And without another word, Sho left the dressing room.

Once the door closed behind him, Hiroki’s legs literally shook, her knees finally gave out and she fell back on the sofa. The thickened air began to diminish in Sho‘s absence, and she took a few deep breaths to clear the haze in her mind. As she nervously licked her dry lips to moisten them, her breath quickened as a single phrase repeated itself in her mind: Sho almost kissed her.

They could have kissed.

With trembling hands she touched her chest and felt her heart throb with overwhelming heat. The butterflies in the pits of her stomach were in full frenzy.

“Sumimasen…”

Hiroki jumped in surprise at the unexpected voice. A young girl, who looked no older than maybe fifteen years old, poked her head round the ajar door.

“Would you like to go watch the filming?” she asked. “I’m sure the cameramen wouldn’t mind as long as we stayed at the back.”

“Oh… okay.” Hiroki quickly got up and followed the girl out of the dressing room, silently grateful to escape the dressing room. The silence would drive her insane.

“I’m Mae, by the way,” she introduced herself with a toothy grin. “My sister is a newscaster for the show.”

“Your sister?”

“Kobayashi Mao, my onee-chan,” Mae replied with pride. “She let me tag along today, but she made me promise not to talk to Sakurai-san… which sucks big time! I want to meet him so badly.”

Hiroki chuckled. “At least you’ll get to watch him up close,” she said with empathy.

“I can’t wait to tell my friends about coming on the set of NEWS ZERO – they’ll be soooooo jealous!” Mae piped. She stopped in her tracks in front of a steel door and put her ear to it. She was silent for a moment, and then she looked at Hiroki with excitement. “I can hear Sakurai-kun’s voice! Let’s go in.”

As Mae quietly opened the door, Hiroki heard that voice very clearly and once again, the butterflies in her stomach gave her a jolt.

“…the price hike has recently been approved by both the World Food Programme and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan to meet the demands of…”

Hiroki and Mae slipped in and blended themselves among the crewmembers flocking the back of the studio. They moved around to find a spot for a better view between the cameras, and then she saw him. He was standing behind a silver podium in the middle of the set and pointing at the large screen behind him, currently elaborating on the rising prices of food in the country. From his straightened back to his stiffened body, Hiroki could tell he had on his serious and indifferent face.

“Isn’t he just so kakkoii?” Mae squealed.

“You’re supposed to be paying attention to the news report, not him,” Hiroki whispered back, but inwardly she knew she was contradicting herself. She vividly recalled underestimating his intelligence when she first met him, but now she would happily take back her word. The maturity and wisdom he exuded intrigued her so much that she felt a trickling sense of admiration.

Mae and Hiroki stayed until the end of filming, and once the director yelled, “Cut!”, Mae bounded forward to congratulate her sister. Hiroki suspected Mae just wanted an excuse to get closer to Sho. Hiroki, however, waited patiently at the back, watching Sho with alighted eyes as he bowed to his fellow newscasters and walked over to Mao to speak with her. Hiroki could see Mae was almost fainting with awe and delight.

Suddenly, Sho caught Hiroki gazing at him. Hiroki blushed deeply, but Sho just smiled and nodded his head at her direction. She felt her heart race with roaring happiness, and a smile tugged at her lips.

Sho bowed to Mao and wished her well, and Mao bowed in return before walking off, with Mae trailing behind her and tittering excitedly to her sister. Sho was right behind them – he was heading towards Hiroki.

Then, it happened out of nowhere: Mao tripped over an unsecured wire on the floor. An alarmed cry rang across the studio, and Hiroki watched with widened, horrified eyes as Mao fell forwards…

…only to be caught by Sho. He held his arms out by reflex and pulled Mao to his chest.

There was a loud commotion. Afew crewmembers rushed forward to help Mao, and a man with authority – Hiroki assumed was the director – started yelling to no one in particular, demanding why the wire wasn’t taped to the floor. The crewmembers began scrambling around to sort out the problem, while a few held back to make sure Mao was alright. She appeared shaken, but she was not hurt.

Hiroki, however, was stunned. She could only stare at Mao, who was still wrapped in Sho’s protective arms. Sho asked if she needed him to check her leg, and Mao shook her head; it was apparent that she was recovering swiftly from the shock. Sho seemed comfortable holding Mao’s waist, his face full of concern, and realisation struck Hiroki that she saw that same expression back when Sho had soothed her headache.

Above all, what left Hiroki in such a bewildering state of silence and disbelief, was the look she saw in Mao’s eyes as she gazed up at Sho – it was something… was it a spark of affection?

Are… they…?

Hiroki didn’t even dare ask herself that question. The disappointment was tremendous and so devastating, it wracked her apart. She just knew she didn’t want to be here any longer. She had to get away – quick – away from him before her hopes were crushed any further.

She spun around and ran from the studio. She stumbled back to Sho’s dressing room to grab her things, and she left the building. Alone.

~

So, I hope you enjoy this long-awaited chapter! As always, comments and constructive criticism are more than welcome.

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.

- – - – - -

Mercurial Dreams
Chapter Seventeen

“Care to explain?”

Hiroki shut her eyes in exasperation, her hand pausing on the doorknob of her bedroom door. She had hoped to avoid a confrontation; at least, she hoped it wouldn‘t be tonight, but inevitably Mayu wasn‘t going to let her down easy.

“Mayu, I have a headache. Just let me rest,” she replied wearily, stumbling into her room. Just as she flipped the light on, Mayu came charging in and armed with her face red with fury.

“I’m not letting you off until you explain to me why, for two months, you hadn’t bothered to mention a single damn word about this new job of yours? PR agent? For Arashi?!” Mayu growled.

“I have my reasons,” Hiroki mumbled. She shrugged off her rumpled work clothes and searched the drawers for a pair of pyjamas, purposefully turning her back to Mayu. She didn’t think she could handle Mayu’s flaming eyes bearing down on her.

“And what reasons would that be?”

Hiroki hesitated briefly. “I have reasons,” she repeated, “none of which you will understand.”

Mayu snorted. “I wasn’t born yesterday, Hiroki. It’s plain obvious you just want Sakurai Sho all to yourself,” she spat.

Gasping in shock, Hiroki spun around and stared at her housemate with unexpected shock evident in her widened eyes. “What? This has nothing to do with him!” she retorted angrily.

“Then why was he escorting you home?!”

“Why exactly can’t he escort me home, huh? I don’t think you’d even bat an eyelid if it were Aiba or Ohno. My relationship with Sakurai-san is strictly professional, with the exception that he cares for his PR agent when she’s near-fainting with a migraine!”

“Near-fainting with a migraine because you got yourself drunk?” Mayu countered, her face darkened and her eyes cold. “So, this so-called working colleagues’ dinner turned out to be some sort of party with Arashi? Was it that much fun that you somehow forgot to come home? Whose bed did you sleep in, Sho’s? Did you so happen to sleep with him, too?”

Hiroki was rendered absolutely speechless. Here Mayu was, uninvited in her room, bringing in war and throwing stupid accusations at her which Hiroki knew fully well that they were baseless and rooted with jealousy. It was so ridiculous — bordering on childish — that she didn’t even know if she should argue further or simply laugh in her face. But further more, it was the accusatory tone in Mayu’s voice that stung her the most.

“What is with you?” she hissed, glaring at the other woman. “Being angry with me is one thing, insinuating and patronising me is another. What, can’t stand watching me hang out with your lover boy?

In an instant, Mayu crossed the room in blinded rage, so swift that Hiroki staggered away in alarm and knocked against the desk. Mayu’s expression was unreadable, but her eyes gleamed with such cold menace that momentarily made Hiroki extremely fearful.

“Stay away from him,” Mayu warned, her threatening voice inviting no argument.

Hiroki shook her head in disbelief. “I don’t get it. Why is it such a big deal to you?”

“Because my lover boy, as you already implied, is mine.”

The words were spoken with such contempt that Hiroki felt a cold chill run down her neck. Mayu threw her one last look before she stormed out of the room, making sure to swing the door shut with a loud, sharp bang.

Breathing heavily, Hiroki stood rooted to the spot, unable to tear her eyes away from the closed door, her expression in a mixture of anger and confusion. The way Mayu lashed out at her in no way she had ever seen before… the way she treacherously breathed the word ‘mine’… the way her eyes held no sympathy for a friend… all of this because of Sho. A strong sense of déjà vu came to her, and like a vivid image replayed in automation, she immediately recalled that memory:

Hiroki hated how her cheeks reddened at the mere mention of his name. “Why would I ever fall in love with that idi—”

“He’s mine.”

Hiroki was prepared for Mayu’s incessant whining in that annoying high-pitched girly tone of hers that always drove her insane, but she wasn’t prepared for a deathly threat. Every single word Mayu uttered in fury brought Hiroki to the conclusion that Mayu was obsessed with Sho.

And maybe, because of that, she could be dangerous.

~

Trying to shake off that disturbing thought from her head, Hiroki quickly dressed in her pyjamas and got into bed, but before she crawled under the sheets, she stopped short and eyed her bed critically. There were no crisp linen sheets, no expensive cotton comforter, no polished bedside table, no ugly vintage lamps (just because it was expensive didn’t mean it had to be pretty). Good. At least this time she was well aware of where she was sleeping at.

Switching off the bedside lamp, she pulled the comforter up to her chin and sank her face into her pillow with a restful sigh. Barely five seconds passed before she heard a muffled sound coming from her handbag. Her head perked up. Grumbling under her breath, she turned the lamp back on. Her handbag was left on the floor next to the table, so she easily reached over to the side pocket of the handbag and fished out her mobile phone. She raised her eyebrows at the mail icon flashing on the external screen.

Flipping the lid open, she read the message:

Hey, it’s Sho. How are you feeling? I just needed to know if you’re okay.

Hiroki stared at the screen blankly. Her heart skipped a beat, and she couldn’t resist smiling lightly at his relentless concern for her. Then a thought occurred to her: she didn’t remember giving her number to him. Without wasting a breath, she typed out a reply:

How did you get my number?!?!?!?!

She clicked ‘send’, closed the lid, and left the phone on the table. A text message was received even before she could switch off the light.

Aiba. Why does he have your number, and Matsumoto-kun too?!

Hiroki snorted. “You’re kidding me,” she muttered incredulously, her fingers deftly typing out a text message in reply:

You’re being unfair. Ohno-san and Ninomiya-san don’t have my number, too.

Send, close, phone on the table. She waited twenty seconds for a reply, sitting still with her arms crossed, staring at her phone, but when thirty seconds passed and still no text message came in, she groaned.

“This is stupid…” she muttered. With a sigh, she switched off the lights and snuggled into her pillow, willing for sleep to quickly befall her. With her eyes closed, her mind drifted to the earlier events – not of Mayu, but of Sho and her in that parking lot, and she smiled in the dark as her mind replayed it like a high-definition movie.

Sweet silence was broken when her phone rang. Loud.

“What the hell!” she fumed, sitting up.

She grabbed her phone and in one swift, angry motion, she whipped it open and put it to her ear. “Hello?”

“Hiroki? You lied! I checked Ohno’s and Nino’s phones, and they both got your number too!”

Hiroki rolled my eyes. “Sho-san, you’re being dramatic. And why were you snooping into their phones?”

“I wasn’t snooping,” he retorted. “It only took 5 seconds, so… so it doesn’t count.”

“Hey, Mr Keio, Mr I-read-three-newpapers-each-morning, do I have to explain to you what ‘snooping’ means?”

Silence. “No.”

She bit back a smile. He could be so ridiculous sometimes, and yet she guessed it was his charm. “So is that why you called me? To complain to me about feeling left out?”

“Err… yeah. I guess,” he answered sheepishly. Then he sighed, and his voice softened. “How’re you feeling?”

“Better,” she replied. To be honest, she felt like her head was going to explode like a split watermelon, but she couldn’t tell him that. Not when his voice soothed her so much more than even the strongest possible dosage of painkillers.

“Maybe you should take the day off tomorrow.”

“My client is advising me to slack off?” She laughed at the irony.

“If that’s what it takes for you to get better,” he replied fiercely.

Hearing the protectiveness in Sho’s voice made Hiroki’s heartbeat race. “Thanks,” she said.

“So… erm… I should go. You need to sleep.”

Inwardly, Hiroki knew she needed sleep badly, but she didn’t want him to go. “Hey, wait.”

“Yeah?”

“Please don’t hang up. Can we talk? Just… talk, until I fall asleep?”

Sho chuckled deeply. “Okay. What do you want me to say?”

“Anything.”

“Shall I sing for you?”

“Please, no. I don’t think I want to fall asleep to Sakurap.”

“No?”

“No.”

“Well, then, I’m out of ideas then.”

She could practically hear him grinning in his voice. “A lullaby will do,” she suggested.

“In rap?”

“No! God.”

Sho laughed aloud. “I was just kidding. I’m not good at lullabies. Can I sing you something else?”

“Okay.”

Hiroki laid back and snuggled into the pillow, the phone clutched to her ear and her eyes closed as she listened to Sho’s voice singing an unfamiliar English song. It didn’t matter that she didn’t understand the lyrics, but it was his gentle voice that really mattered to her, because it made her heart so whole and full it was overflowing beyond its capacity of emotions.

Unbeknownst to Hiroki, as she drifted off to sleep, Sho sang to her that ‘everything means nothing… if I ain’t got you’.

~

Much later into the night, Mayu crept into Hiroki’s room.

In the darkness, she tiptoed over to Hiroki’s bed, and stood on the spot as she listened to Hiroki’s slow, even breaths. Then, she eyed the phone that was held slackly to her ear. It seemed to be on a call, as shown by the call duration of four hours and seventeen minutes on the screen. If Mayu listened more closely, she would pick up the obnoxious snoring coming from the earpiece of the phone.

Slowly and carefully, she pried the phone out of Hiroki’s hand and pressed it to her ear. This was when she took notice of the snoring, to which surprised her, but left her unaffected as she was here for something else…

She ended the call, and instead, she began searching through the photo galleries. As she flipped through the more recent photos, her eyes widened, first with shock, then with disgust, and with anger. And anger turned into blinded rage.

Suddenly Hiroki stirred. Mayu froze as Hiroki’s half-open eyes studied her groggily in the dark.

“Mayu…?” she moaned. “What…?”

Mayu mustered up a nervous smile. “Shhh, go back to sleep,” she cooed.

Hiroki was too sleepy and dazed. Yawning and muttering incoherent words, she closed her eyes and easily fell back to sleep.

Mayu watched the sleeping figure. “You wait,” she whispered menacingly. “You… just… wait.”

She slipped the phone into her pocket, and left the room.

~

I think you’re pretty much aware of my ‘ON HIATUS’ status (check out the publish date of the previous post, lol!). Yes, for almost the whole lot of this year, my interest in Arashi has been waning dangerously. You pretty much get the gist of it. I already explained everything in a post I wrote yesterday on my main blog, and I deem it really unnecessary to repeat everything here, just please do check it out. (:

So, I’m here to clear a few things up! :D

• NO, this blog is not abandoned and to be left in the Graveyard of Unloved Blogs. This blog deserves better than that.
• NO, Mercurial Dreams is not discontinued.
• YES, I still love this blog and all my fanfics very, very, very much.
• YES, I actually have a couple of chapters of Mercurial Dreams that are already written but needs serious editing, which I haven’t been able to make time for.
• YES, Mercurial Dreams WILL be finished, when I have the time.

I hope you guys will be patient enough and allow me time to focus on my studies (my upcoming STPM exams in are Nov/Dec!). Also, please allow me time to get back in the fangirling groove, and to learn to love my awesome rainbow fivesome again. Trust me, I do plan to finish Sho and Hiroki’s story, as I did with Lord Ohno and Aki. <3

And above all, THANK YOU for all the support and wonderful (and maybe not-so-wonderful) comments. It’s great to know that these stories still get some love when their own writer can’t provide the love. Even in my absence, I still love and appreciate anyone who reads my stories. As I always say, YOU GUYS ROCK. <3

As I wrote in my hiatus post, I most likely won’t be back till the end of the year, or the beginning of 2011. So if I’m not back by 11:59PM of 31st Dec 2010… THEN HAPPY NEW YEAR OF 2011! XD

To this, I shall leave you with an inspiring message by our Leader:

Most importantly, I would like to thank EVERYONE who have read this story, who have left a lovely comment, who have not left a comment but read in silence — thank you. I am always grateful to hear from those who read my stories, and also grateful to those who read my stories; and in this case, those who followed the journey of how Lord Ohno and Aki came together. I hope the ending of this story gives you a satisfying closure to their tale, as it did to me.

And lastly, to Aki-chan, whom this story is dedicated to as her birthday present — if you cried to the ending, please let me know so I can cry with you too! T_T I hope I made you proud with this story, hun <3

I’m so sorry for this lengthy, emotional message! You may read on, now. You guys rock. <3

-

HEAVEN’S WIND
an Ohno Satoshi fanfiction

Rating: T
Genre: Historical romance
Banner: Lord Ohno Satoshi and Kikuchi Aki (modeled by Toda Erika)
Summary: When Aki arrives at the Imperial Heian Palace as a new lady-in-waiting in service to the Empress, she is filled with indescribable anticipation and anxiety, knowing a new chapter in her life will begin. What she knows not… is that her life will change completely, and it begins with a chance meeting with a mysterious man on the stone wall.

Note: If there is any factual inaccuracy in terms of historical facts of the Heian Period, it is not intended.

-

Heaven’s Wind
Part Six
- final -

Lord Ninomiya and Kiyo would not permit their two guests to take leave, and insisted that they lunched with them. Aki politely declined, fully expecting Lord Ohno to echo her words, but on the contrary, the Lord General gladly accepted the invitation without showing any slight hesitation. She later learnt from the lord that no one left the Ninomiya house with an empty stomach, and added that Kiyo made the best ramen ever. Aki now understood his lack of hesitation.

Lord Ohno and Aki finally departed from the Ninomiya house at midday and headed for the river. The journey deep into the heart of the wild, expansive forest was a quiet, yet pleasant one. The duo rarely spoke as they ambled in a slow and relaxed pace along the forest pathway, following the indistinct echo of the calm river flow that filled the damp forest air. Lord Ohno hummed softly to himself, clearly enjoying the stroll, but Aki kept silent. She was lost deep in her thoughts, unable to take her mind off the conversation she had with Kiyo when Kiyo had held her back before their departure.

“Aki, do you wish to find happiness?” Kiyo asked in a hushed voice.

Aki stared at her in bewilderment. “Yes, my lady. Everyone wishes for happiness in their life.”

“Then answer this: this happiness you seek, is it found in a life with the Lord General?”

“What do you mean? I do not understand–”

“I have found certainty in my strong belief that you belong with Ohno-san. I cannot explain how such a conclusion came to me, but I feel you are meant to be a part of his life. Remember, Aki,” Kiyo gripped Aki’s shoulder gently, but firmly, and she leaned closer, “saying nothing… sometimes says the most. But kisses are a better fate than wisdom.”

“Kisses?” Aki exhaled sharply. Her face paled. “Why kisses, my lady?”

Before Aki could press on for an answer, Lord Ohno appeared at the doorway next to the women. “Lady Kikuchi, we are leaving now,” he announced.

“Yes, my lord,” Aki nodded. She reluctantly followed in the lord’s trail, throwing Kiyo a desperate look over her shoulder.

“Heed my words, Lady Kikuchi,” Kiyo said, with a soft, encouraging smile.

And now Aki tried to decipher the hidden meaning in those words, with her eyes far and distant, her chin lowered and her lips pursed in a grim line.

“Something troubling your mind?” Lord Ohno asked, breaking the silence.

Aki’s head shot up, as though surprised by an intruding sound. She looked blankly at the lord, before she finally regained her senses, and shook her head. “Nothing, nothing, my lord. How much further to the river?” she asked, quickly changing the topic.

“We have arrived, actually,” he replied, and pointed ahead.

True to fact, the path ahead grew wider and the trees sparser, and beyond was a clearing on the riverbank. They emerged into the clearing and bathed in the glorious afternoon sunlight. Though the river flowed peacefully and gently, it was vast and majestic, spread far and across that ships could sail the canal with apparent ease, and lush greenery of hills and wilderness completed the painting of nature in perfection.

One fact of certainty in absolution: there probably was not a single soul within a few miles or so.

Lord Ohno set his equipments in a heap on the ground and stood with his arms akimbo, surveying intently the area and the weather conditions. “It appears the sun would soon disappear behind the clouds, and perhaps a storm may come,” he stated.

Aki gazed up at the sky and saw no approaching storm but only clusters of white, fluffy clouds in the sky and a dash of sunlight gleaming on her face. The sunny weather was deceptive, easily mistaken as a splendid summer day, if the frigid, cold air were not a constant reminder that the season was fast approaching winter. Nevertheless, the day was wonderful. How could he have known? Perhaps he could predict weather too, she thought incredulously.

“Where shall it be, our fishing spot?” Aki asked.

“There,” the lord answered, picking up his equipments and nudging his chin in direction, where he guided her to a small rock cliff just off the clearing that had a rather flat, smooth top and jutted out to the river. It stood just over a metre above the water surface. It was a perfect spot for fishing — and napping, if conditions allowed it.

They spent the next fifteen minutes setting up camp. Aki built a small fire with dried leaves and tree branches, while Lord Ohno equipped the fishing rods with lines and hooks, and furthermore he organised the rest of the fishing equipment – baits, knives, hooks of different diameters, fish baskets – in a neat line. Aki knelt down on at the edge of the cliff and waited for him; the hard ground was rather uncomfortable on her legs, and she fidgeted around. Finally, he brought the rods, passed one to her, and settled down cross-legged beside her. They both cast their lines into the river, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Within an hour, Aki had already began to grow impatient, though she tried to conceal it from Lord Ohno. She tried not to squirm around too much; she tried not to make bored, tutting sounds; she tried not to raise the line constantly, checking if the worm was still hooked on while simultaneously wondering why not one fish were baited. As opposed to her restlessness, Lord Ohno sat quietly and still, deep concentration etched in his slightly-creased eyebrows as he focused on his line. Aki could not spare flitting glances at him, marvelling inwardly at the extent of his calm and peaceful demeanour.

“My lord…?”

“Hmm?” came the idle reply.

“What fish should we expect to catch in this river?”

“Ayu fishes, as they are in season all year round. There is also carp, rarer than ayu, but it is what I hope to catch. Lord Matsumoto challenged me to the day’s catch of at least four carps and ten ayu, and gambled on the chances I would lose by one less than the achievement number.”

Aki laughed shortly. “That is a lot to ask of a day of simple fishing,” she said, shaking her head.

Lord Ohno smiled ruefully, but suddenly, his line tugged hard. Lord Ohno pulled at it with seemingly great, effortless strength, without even a blink of an eye, and calmly reeled the line in until a fish, a common carp, sprang out of the water, wriggling desperately at the hook stuck into its mouth. Aki caught a very subtle, triumphant smile in the corner of his lips as he unhooked the fish and flung it into the fish basket.

“Three more to go,” Lord Ohno nodded.

In the next half hour, he caught four more ayu fishes and one more carp. He was busy reeling in the fishes, hooking on new bait, and flinging the line back in the water, all the while Aki’s line remained idle in the water. Boredom taking over, she left the rod gripped between her knees and tilted her head back, supporting herself with her palms pressed on the ground, and absorbed the natural surrounding. It was difficult to ignore the soft, tranquil hum of the flowing river that soothed her like a dreamy lull. She caught on a flock of birds soaring from within the trees, and flew south, assuming to migrate to a place of warmer climate.

“Shall we play a game of riddles?” Lord Ohno suggested.

Aki looked at him with surprise, and she was met with merriment in his expression. “I do not oppose the chance to take my mind off the monotony,” she grinned.

“You may set the rules.”

At this, her face lit up. In all honesty, she was not one to be extremely deft at riddle-solving – she always lost to Satoko whenever they played. However, when the cards are played out in according to her set of rules, perhaps the game would be played in her favour. She mentally praised herself for such ingenuity. “We can begin with easy, simple rules. Each player is allowed to ask a riddle on the condition that he or she is able to give the correct answer to the riddle given by the other player. Fail to answer, and the round skips to the next player.”

Lord Ohno nodded. “Fair enough. You may begin with the first riddle.”

“Glad to!” Aki adjusted herself, unfolding her legs and hanging them over the cliff edge, and she coughed theatrically. “I have one in mind:  ‘a chest without hinges, key or lid, but inside golden treasures are hid. What is the chest and what is the treasure?”

Satoko had once posed this riddle to her. She could not answer for days long, wracking her brain day and night until she could no longer think of anything and begged Satoko to enlighten her before it haunted her in her sleep. She knew Lord Ohno would not find the answer easily.

“Egg.”

Oh, how wrong she was.

Aki’s head perked up. “Pardon me?”

“Egg,” the lord repeated nonchalantly. “The eggshell is a chest – there is nothing on the surface that opens it unless you crack it. The treasure is either the egg and its yolk that can feed a person, or it can hatch into a chick, be allowed to grow, and in turn feed a family. Am I correct?”

“Yes, you are,” she replied, albeit rather grudgingly.

“My turn.” He straightened his back and thought for a moment before he began his question. “’One that is no sooner spoken than broken’… what is it?”

“Ehh…? ‘One that is no sooner spoken than broken’…no sooner spoken…than broken?” Aki reiterated inaudibly to herself. She had one hand clutching the fishing rod, and the other rubbing her chin obsessively.

“Do you give up?”

“No! I merely require some time to think,” she retorted. “Is it a… promise?”

“Wrong, it is ‘silence’. Next riddle: ‘feed me and I live, though I will die if I am fed water. What am I‘?”

“That riddle is equally puzzling as before!” Aki groaned.

Lord Ohno said naught a word, but a slight smile crept onto his face. He turned to watch the line of his rod calmly while Aki muttered to herself, trying to think of a possible answer.

“So, do you have the answer?” Lord Ohno asked patiently after ten minutes.

“Yes, I do! It is a… a… it is a…”

He sighed softly. “The answer is fire.”

Aki groaned in frustration, and began protesting loudly. “My lord, this game is hardly one of fairness to your opponent, you ask such confounding riddles!”

“Lord Sakurai’s daughter could answer such riddles without hesitation,” he remarked in disbelief, staring hard at her.

“And of what age is the Lord Physician’s daughter?” she grumbled.

“…Nine years old.”

Aki’s jaw dropped. “Surely you jest!” she gasped, and then suddenly she scowled. “Wait, my lord, are you insulting my intelligence?”

“I am merely pointing out that these questions are no more difficult than a child’s wordplay,” Lord Ohno explained gently. “Here is the next riddle: ‘I am lighter than feather, yet no man can hold me for very long’. What is it?”

“I know this!” Aki gasped. She faintly recalled this riddle, and she had answered it correctly. She closed her eyes and thought very hard. “Lighter than feather… yet no man can hold it…”

“No man can hold it very long,” he helpfully corrected her.

“Breath!” Aki yelled aloud with round, clear eyes. “The answer is ‘breath’!”

Lord Ohno laughed and patted her on the shoulder. “Yes, it is the answer.”

“Finally am I no longer unmatched by a miserable margin!” she cheered victoriously, grinning from ear to ear. She swung her legs around in uncontained exhilaration, proud at what was a rare accomplishment to her. One geta sandal accidentally slipped off her foot and fell into the water.

“Oh no, my sandal!” Aki squeaked, watching in horror as it sank beneath the surface… and floated back to the surface.

“I shall fetch it,” Lord Ohno offered without pausing.

“No, I shall,” Aki replied, stopping him from getting to his feet, “perhaps I can reach for it.”

She got onto her knees and with a hand supporting herself, she leaned precariously over the edge and stretched her hand out. The gap between her fingers and the sandal was mere inches. She pushed herself further, closing the gap until the distance was only finger-length, and yet the sandal was barely out of her reach.

“Aki, worry not, it is not an item of great importance,” Lord Ohno warned, frowning with wariness.

“It is! And I am certain I can reach it! Just… a little… more…!”

She grunted in frustration and gave herself another small push, and the sandal was clenched tightly in her fist. But within a second, she lost her balance and slid easily off the rocky edge, falling headfirst into the cold, punishing water.

~

“I am… s-s-such a fool,” Aki moaned.

“It was no more than a mere accident,” Lord Ohno said kindly. He wrung his haori tight, and large droplets of water seeped down noisily to the floor.

“Do-do-do not… deny it, my lord! I am naught b-b-b-but a… a blithering idiot.” The teeth-chattering was uncontrollable.

“Come closer to the fire, there is more warmth here than the cold wall,” he instructed. Then he paused, turning his eyes to the cave’s entrance. “Ah, it is now raining.”

Aki followed his gaze and stared at the rain pelting down heavily, before it escalated a thunderous downpour. Just as he predicted, she thought disbelievingly. Her lips trembled, and she wailed in despair. All she wished for was to crumble into dust and disappear than face the lowest of humiliation. Lord Ohno had rescued her after the fall, even though she was in no danger, as she could swim. But despite all, they were both wet inside out and shivering terribly, having been in water of close to zero degrees, and, as though fortune decided to take leave on them, out of a sudden a cold gust of wind had began blowing, sending them both into excruciating bouts of freezing coldness. What more, Lord Ohno warned of an incoming storm, and they had no choice but to retreat into the forest and take shelter in a cave.

And now Aki sat miserably against the cave wall, hugging herself with her arms clinging around her knees, craving for warmth from the small fire, yet wanting nothing more than to stay as far away from the lord as possible. For the most furthest possible, she would have gone deeper into the cave, but she was terrified of bats.

On the other hand, though the shivering was unavoidable, Lord Ohno was nonchalant and unconcerned about the situation. He had taken off his haori and hakama, left dressed only in the under layers of his kimono, and spread them on the floor beside the fire to dry, even humming softly while doing so.

“My lord?” Aki’s mournful voice rang out.

“Yes?”

“I am truly remorseful,” she croaked, “about everything. I know this trip should have been a pleasant and enjoyable one, and I have done nothing but ruin it all!”

The lord peered at her curiously as he settled down beside the fire. “You believe you are at fault,” he stated matter-of-factly. “And,“ he poked the fire with a tree branch, to which the flames crackled and spitted, then he threw the branch into the burning pile of wood, “that I am furious at the circumstances we are forced into. You must think you have angered me.”

“Yes, but you do no wrong, blaming me for all that has–”

“I do not.”

“–you would have second thoughts of having me as company in future–”

“I have not thought of any future trips as of yet… but I do not think I will have doubts requesting your company once more.”

“–that I am unforgivable–”

“Lies.”

“–if there is anything I can do–”

“Yes you can,” Lord Ohno said, very loudly to drown her rambling. He patted the empty floor next to him, and nodded. “Come sit here.”

“M… my lord?” Aki looked at him in uncertainty.

“You are deadly pale, Aki,” he noted, concerned, “and your lips are discoloured, almost blue. You need heat. Come.”

His voice became authoritative, commanding, almost forceful. Aki bit her lip at the voice of the General, then slowly and much reluctantly, she stood up and went to him. Being near to the fire was an instant relief, though it brought measly warmth through the thick layers of her drenched kimono. She kept a distance between her and the lord.

“Closer.” Again, commanding.

So she moved closer.

“Closer.”

“But, my lord–”

Her voice cut off when the lord leaned over and wrapped an arm around her waist, and half-dragged her closer until their sides were pressed together. Then out of a sudden, he tugged at her michiyuki, pulling the jacket off.

“My lord, what are you doing?!” Aki yelped, alarmed and frantic, and she clutched her hands over his, stopping him in his movement.

“It’s wet,” he answered shortly. Then he raised his bemused eyes to hers, and his expression turned wry. “Fear not, my intentions are true. You have only needed to remove it and the outer layer of your kimono. The under layers will dry in time.”

“Then there is no need to do so, I can very well remove my own clothes,” Aki snapped. She swatted the lord’s hands away and removed them herself, grumbling under her breath.

Lord Ohno watched in amusement. Once she had the two materials flung side, he pulled her arms and wrapped them around his waist. Aki stiffened – they were pressed too intimately.

“Is this… not appropriate?” she asked fearfully, just as his arm circled around her back, his hand gently pushing her head onto his shoulder.

“It is all for survival’s sake,” he replied, “aside from building a fire, you huddle against someone to keep warm.”

Aki said nothing, for the heat from his body was so welcoming, all concern for propriety’s sake vanished from her mind completely, and she couldn’t help but snuggle deeper against his body. She soon forgot about the freezing air, and instead she could only think of how warm he was.

“What if the rain does not stop till the morn?” she asked.

“Then we shall wait till the sun rises before we return to the Palace,” he answered.

Aki sighed. She did not care if they were stranded for a week, she could only relish in the comforting warmth and the closeness between them. Unconsciously, she breathed in his scent, so subtle, and strongly familiar, and yet intoxicating to her senses.

Her mind started to wander off, drifting to random thoughts, like what Satoko was doing at the moment, what she was thinking of, and then Aki remembered she had forgotten to purchase the pair of geta sandals Satoko had asked for. Perhaps she could make a quick stop in town during the journey back, she decided inwardly. Then her mind drifted to other thoughts, of Lord Ninomiya, and Kiyo, and how they appeared so happy and contented together, with their little child and another expecting. Somehow she could not put off this feeling of mild envy of them.

Kiyo’s words rang like a deafening bell in her mind: Aki, do you wish for happiness?

Everyone wishes for happiness, she recalled her reply with a tinge of sadness.

“How do you think of me as company, my lord?” she inquired.

Lord Ohno bent his head and studied her. “You are fine company, lady. It is uncommon for me to find joy in company, and you are among the few who are exception.”

“You enjoy being with me?”

“Yes… yes, I do.”

She raised her head and stared at him, eye to eye, in honest disbelief. “Why?”

An eyebrow arched. “Why? You have a pleasant character,” he remarked. “Is that not so?”

“No, it is not my character that I put doubt in. Rather, why do you think of me as… as appropriate company? You are a nobleman, and I am merely a lowly court lady. You are lord, I am servant. Lord and servant do not speak with casualness, nor do they accompany one another on a fishing trip. I do not understand why,” Aki sighed, her shoulders slumped in defeat.

To this, Lord Ohno was quiet for a long time. Aki stared at him wordlessly, expectant of a swift answer as he always did so, but he only gazed into the crackling fire with his lips pursed grimly.

“My lord?”

“I have never,” he answered, almost inaudibly, “regarded rank as a prohibition to our friendship. I have never given thought to the difference in our social standing each time we spoke. Did you believe I ask for your company as servant? If so, then you have a poor judgement of my actions. I have, always, asked for your company as my friend.”

He looked hurt, almost disappointed. Guilt crept into Aki’s guts for having thrown such an accusation at him, and she hated herself for causing him such distress. Releasing her arms around his waist, she clutched his shoulder to comfort him instead.

“I do not have doubtful intentions, my lord,” she apologised, sighing sadly once more, “I truly enjoy your company as well. Aside from my dear friend, Satoko, I have not anyone else in the Palace who spoke as kindly to me as you. I just… did not wish to seem naïve, thinking anyone could show such selfless kindness to me, what more the Lord General.”

Lord Ohno finally tore his eyes away, and gazed at her with renewed feeling. Then, suddenly, he asked, “Aki, what say you of flowers?”

Aki blinked, confused. “Flowers? First my thoughts of fishing, and now of flowers?” she chuckled tentatively.

“Yes, flowers. You remind me so very much of one, Aki. So beautiful, so colourful, so full of life, yet so delicate, and so fragile.” A small smile formed in the corner of his lips, and his voice became uncharacteristically animated. “You are all of that, and so young! So innocent! From that very first day the Empress returned to the capital, that first day I saw you, I thought to myself: what is she doing here? The life of service to the Imperial ruling was not one for such a child. She is pure, untainted by the blackness of the Palace life, still so young and trusting. I could not stop thinking of you. I could do naught but let myself be drawn to you.”

He lowered his head and stared straight into Aki’s eyes, and it was then, Aki saw once again, those two orbs of melted caramel that held his heart and bore deep into her soul. Her lips trembled under the weight of his feelings.

“You are always on my mind: your face, your smile, your voice,” he continued, his voice now soft and tender, almost a caressing whisper. “Thinking of you brings naught but joy to me, and having you in my company is like a taste of what heaven is. Do you know how much you mean to me, Lady Kikuchi?”

“No, I do not,” Aki murmured, almost not breathing.

Lord Ohno took her hand, and squeezed it. “If I had a single flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk forever in my garden.” He brought her hand up to his lips, and kissed it. “If I had a rose for every time I thought of you, I would be picking roses for a lifetime.”

They both gazed wordlessly into each other’s eyes for what was a moment of eternity. Aki did not breath, inhale or exhale; her heart thumped urgently against her ribs, pumping blood into all four chambers at once, it almost hurt her chest. Butterflies fluttered in the pits of her stomach, and churning with heated warmth of emotions. She did not move, did not blink, and her eyes never left his.

Then, Kiyo’s melodious voice filled her mind, almost as if she were beside her, whispering encouragingly into her ear:

“Answer this, Aki: this happiness you seek… is it found in a life with Ohno-san?”

Yes, yes, it is.

“Then think of this: saying nothing… sometimes says the most. But kisses are a better fate than wisdom.”

Aki was not speaking, so perhaps in actuality she was saying a thousand things to Lord Ohno, wordlessly telling him of the days she thought of naught but him, of the hours she contemplated her growing attachment to him, of the minutes she wondered if he would ever love her, and cherish her, as she, him. She knew not what wisdom Kiyo spoke of… but, perhaps… just perhaps… kisses would prove a better fate than speaking at all.

So, before courage took flight, Aki raised her head to Lord Ohno and pressed her lips against his.

The kiss was slow, hesitant, and shy. Just as abruptly as she had kissed him, Aki pulled back, and looked away. “I apologise, my lord, I should not have done so…”

Lord Ohno didn’t say a word. He cupped her cheek and tilted her face upward, and he lowered his lips and kissed her, slowly and full of tenderness. The kiss was sweet and reverent, and above all, so loving, that, as Aki kissed him back, she felt tears in her eyes.

The lord pulled back, and a look of uncertainty crossed over his face. “Are these tears of doubt?” he asked quietly.

Aki quickly wiped the tears away with the back of her hand, and choked laughter escaped her throat. “No, these are tears of happiness, my lord. I am glad… so glad,” she cried, and smiled at him. “How could I ever have doubts when I realise my feelings are returned?”

He looked relieved. A large smile broke onto his face, a smile she had never seen before, one that was so euphoric and joyous. She felt faint and giddy with love.

“If I should build a garden of flowers,” he whispered, wiping her renewed tears away, “would you walk in it with me… forever?”

“Yes,” she breathed. “Yes.”

And she threw her arms around his neck, and hugged him.

~

The Emperor’s dining hall is, once again, roaring with festivities. Ministers, courtesans, court ladies, townsfolk alike have gathered together to celebrate the night away, intoxicated with gaiety and merriment, with endless entertainment from court performers and socialising amongst flirting courtesans and evasive court ladies. The Emperor is, as always, drunk from consuming the celebratory sake. His Majesty is in as much of a celebratory mood as everyone else, but for him it is the most joyous , for it is a banquet to celebrate his son the Crown Prince’s second birthday.

Two years have passed.

Aki closes her eyes. I am not here… I am not here… I am not–

“…some may argue that weed holds no healing properties whatsoever, but those biased arguments are mostly on the basis that weed is most popularly developed for tobacco smoking,” Tachibana-san drones on with uncharacteristic enthusiasm while dangerously waving his sake cup. “Perhaps I should–”

“Tachibana-san!” Aki exclaims suddenly, startling the poor man. Her face softens, and she wears an apologetic expression. “I just recalled an urgent message to convey to Lord Matsumoto. It is imperative that I must deliver it as quickly as possible, and I regret that I have to leave you. Do… erm, continue drinking in my place.”

She gets up onto her feet, tripping on the cushion in the process as her legs are sore from sitting for too long, and in unnatural swiftness she escapes away before Tachibana-san can say another word. She glances over her shoulder and finds that he is watching her intently, and she groans aloud. Satoko has been teaching him to be more attentive to her needs.

“How can I help you?” Lord Matsumoto inquires coldly, looking up at Aki hovering behind.

“Nothing of great importance, my lord, but I would appreciate it if you could pretend to speak to me for perhaps a moment?” Aki pleads, as nicely as she can.

Lord Matsumoto arches a perfectly-trimmed eyebrow at her, and grins broadly. “Avoiding that weed boy, are you?” he chuckles in amusement.

“He never leaves me,” Aki sighs exasperatedly.

Aiba stands up in his seat and waves his hand airily. “You should pay no heed to these people, Aki-chan,” he gestures with a large swipe of his hand around, “half of them are drunk!” And he roars aloud with laughter. The sake tips over the lopsided cup in his hand, spilling the clear liquid all over the half-ravished roasted pig.

“Speak for yourself, Aiba,” Lord Sakurai refutes in a slurred voice. He rises from his seat and, very unceremoniously, stamps a foot on the table. “I challenge you to a drinking competition! Let us see who drinks twenty cups of sake the fastest!”

“Challenge accepted!” Aiba giggles. And in the next moment they are drowning in endless downs of alcohol.

Aki shakes her head at them – they are both equally drunk beyond the point of no return.

“How are you faring without Lord Ninomiya to help you watch over them?” she asks Lord Matsumoto with a sympathetic sigh. Lord Ninomiya is not able to attend the banquet.

Lord Matsumoto snorts, rolling his eyes in disgust. “I have fared better,” he replies. He casts his eyes on the drunken duo like a helpless father over his two unruly boys.

Aki takes a quick moment to scan around, then she bents closer to him. “Have you seen Lord Ohno?” she whispers.

“Ah! He left a message: ‘You know where’,” he informs her. “I do not see the need to convey such cryptic messages when there is nothing to hide! He should know his friends would never betray his word.”

“You know Lord Ohno prefers his privacy, and you are no doubt a loyal friend in his eyes, and in mine as well,” Aki smiles. Then she bows deeply to him, and to Lord Aiba and Lord Sakurai. “I wish you a good evening.” And she strides off.

“Send Oh-chan our love!” Aiba gushes noisily at her retreating back, garnering a few stares from the people down the table.

“Aki!” Satoko calls out as she passes by. “Where are you going?”

“To feed Tsuki!” Aki yells back, though her voice probably lost amidst the noise, but she doesn’t care. She wants to leave as soon as possible before Tachibana-san catches her.

Once outside the Great Hall, she exhales in relief at the sheer quietness of the night. She turns right, and in determination she makes her way in direction of the heron gardens. Along the open-air walkway, a few Palace guards bows to her as she walks pass.

“Lady Ohno,” they address her formally.

Aki curtsies in return, out of habit, though rather awkwardly. She knows curtsying is for court ladies, and not for the wife of the Lord General of the Imperial Army, but she can never put herself above those whom she once served alongside with.

What more, it never amuses her more than to think how, two years ago, on a much-similar occasion, she had to avoid the guards and sneak around like a rat.

Aki arrives at a familiar, tight cluster of trees and bushes in the middle of the garden, and she smiles to herself at the all-too-familiar occasion. She bends under a low tree branch and squeezes past a tall hedge, pulling up the skirts of her jyunihitoe so the fabric does not get caught in the branches, and she emerges in a small, hidden clearing, where, illuminated by a small lantern, Lord Ohno is sitting cross-legged on the grass and slurping ramen from a bowl.

“How did you manage to bring a bowl of ramen here?” she questions suspiciously.

He shrugs without a reply. He downs the last of the soup hungrily and places the empty bowl and chopsticks down, a look of satisfaction and content on his face.

Aki sits down on the soft grass beside him, her jyunihitoe bunched up in thick layers around her. She studies his outfit with a disapproving frown – he is still dressed in his Army uniform.

“Oh, Kazunari sends his regards,” Lord Ohno says.

She stares at him in absolute disbelief. “You snuck out into town?” she gasps.

“He deserves company of a friend,” he reasons patiently. “The poor man has to care for his two young sons, his ailing wife, and his newborn twin sons.”

“Poor him, indeed,” she nods sympathetically, though an amused grin unknowingly crept onto the lips. She is reminded of Lord Matsumoto, when, upon announcement of the birth of Ninomiya Daisuke and Ninomiya Daiki three days earlier, he bemoaned in distress, voicing his fear for the future of the country.

“How is the situation at the border?” Aki asks. Earlier this month, the Lord General received orders by the Emperor to lead a small battalion of soldiers east to reinforce defence at the Eastern border.

“Quiet, no sign of enemies yet,” he replies shortly. Instead, he picks Aki up and sets her on his lap, circling his arms around her as he kisses her fully, softly at first, before the kiss grows more heated and passionate. “I thought of you endlessly, night and day,” he whispers against her aching lips. “If I had a single flower for every moment I thought of you, I could walk forever in my garden.”

To that, Aki replies, “Firstly, it is our garden,” she points out sharply, “and secondly, I do not think our garden has any space left for more flowers.”

Lord Ohno merely laughs. She is quite right on the second part.

Aki bites her lower lip in uncertainty. “One… one more kiss, please, my lord?” she asks in a soft, shy voice.

Lord Ohno grins wryly, and says, “You do not ever need to ask, my lady wife.”

And he kisses her once more.

A gentle breeze blows, caressing them in its invisible arms, as though sent from heaven to bless their union. They once kissed as a young lady-in-waiting and a battle-hardened soldier, as a man and a woman, as lovers. Now they kiss as husband and wife, as two sides of a shell, pieced together and made whole once again as though they were never really separated.

This is their true happiness, sought.

- fin -

Posted in Heaven's Wind Tagged: arashi, arashi fanfic, fanfiction, historical romance, ohno satoshi, romance ]]> http://mercurialdreams.wordpress.com/2009/12/19/heavens-wind-part-6-final/feed/ 20 Tashii Heaven's Wind - Ohno Satoshi / Toda Erika http://mercurialdreams.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/a-fatally-unamusing-affair-one-shot-featuring-arashi/ http://mercurialdreams.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/a-fatally-unamusing-affair-one-shot-featuring-arashi/#comments Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:13:11 +0000 tashiichaan http://mercurialdreams.wordpress.com/?p=202 ]]> It’s been helluva long time since I wrote a one-shot OFFICIALLY featuringall of the boys. D:
Oh, and this was written five months ago. Only recently did I force myself to complete it… OTZ

Featuring: Arashi, a.k.a. Ohno Satoshi, Sakurai Sho, Aiba Masaki, Ninomiya Kazunari aaaand Matsumoto Jun.
Genre: Horror, Suspense, Comedy
Rating: G
Summary: Horror games are all the rage now! Aiba, having acquired an awesome horror game from his brother, gets Jun and Sho to play with him… but the horror game doesn’t turn out to be harmless as they thought.

Notes: The horror game is based on Fatal Frame/Project Zero (which is really awesome, btw!). The game scene in the beginning is adapted from the Rope Hallway (you can watch in this video here, from 1:33 to 2:30, for a clear visual), and the scene later on is the Hearth Room (in the same video, 2:49 to 3:28).

- – - – - -

A Fatally Unamusing Affair
you’d think Arashi can handle a horror game.

The female character trotted slowly down a narrow hallway, edging around cracked holes in the floorboards and bending slightly to avoid the numerous ropes hanging ominously from the ceiling beams. The eerie whispers in the background were barely audible and yet so distinct that it drew a chilly atmosphere in the long abandoned and old mansion. In uncertainty, the girl slowed her pace and shone her torchlight further ahead, the light revealing a full-length mirror at the end of the corridor.

She blinked at the glaring light reflecting back at her. When her eyes had adjusted to the unnatural brightness, she caught her reflection. She noticed the fair complexion of her face and the unusual paleness to its colour, her brown eyes rounded with hidden fear and wariness of any unwelcome presence around her.

She edged closer and closer to the mirror, and suddenly –

Creak.

Instinctively she turned around and shone her torchlight down the hallway. There was no one there. Her chest heaved with loud and quickened breathing; she was very sure she heard that soft creak on the decaying floorboards directly behind her. Could her mind be playing tricks on her?

She inhaled deep to regain her composure, and she turned back to further examine the mirror. But the moment she looked into the mirror… she saw, hovering behind her, a ghostly woman dressed in a blood-splattered kimono.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!” came the chorus of two very manly screams while pointing at the TV screen.

“YABAIIIIIIIIIII!” the taller of the two screamed in his pitchy voice, clutching a pillow over his eyes.

“RUN! RUN NOOOOOW!” the other, a much deeper voice, shrieked.

“Shut up! Both of you!” snapped the player, pale and breathing heavily from the shock of the ghost’s sudden appearance but nevertheless glaring at his audience, who were so incredibly and stupendously terrified that even a little girl would be snickering at them.

“Matsujun, the cutscene’s ov—OHMIGOD THE GHOST IS COMING FOR YOU!”

“Dammit, I gotta fight her,” Jun cursed, and pressed the X button on the controller to whip out the Camera Obscura.

It seemed very unlikely that these three guys – three-fifth of an idol group – would spend a bright and positively sunny day, one of the few days of break from work, locked up in the TV room with the curtains drawn and the lights turned off, and scaring the bejeezus out of themselves by playing a horror game in sheer darkness. It was all Aiba’s damned fault, Matsujun would say.

In fact, it started with Aiba, who got this new game from his younger brother and was told that it was soooo awesome he would pee in his pants. Typical Aiba, not wanting to pee in his pants alone, called Sho to share the pants-wetting joy. Sho, poor, poor scaredy-cat Sho-chan, completely oblivious to what he was getting into, enthusiastically suggested they played at his house because his parents had just installed really awesome surround sound system in the TV room. And Matsujun, poor, poor, unfortunate Jun-tan, didn’t even know what he was getting into. In actuality, he appeared at the Sakurai house’s doorstep hoping to surprise Sho with homemade pasta carbonara, because 1) Sho’s house was the nearest, and 2) he was bored. And because he was bored, he willingly agreed to stay for the horror game entertainment – this coming from the guy who was unfailingly disapproving of a certain otaku’s obsession with his beloved Nintendo DS.

So now all three of them were huddled together in the middle of the TV room, with Jun sitting cross-legged on the floor and leaning against the sofa on which Sho and Aiba were sitting on and hiding behind a mountain of fluffy pillows.

“It’s so hard to fight in such a narrow space,” Jun complained.

He adjusted the camera so that the ghost was directly in the middle of the crosshair and waited for it to advance towards his character. The ghost moved in a slow pace, as though mocking them, and out of a sudden, she glided away and out of the camera’s view.

Jun was dumbfounded. “What the—”

He unequipped the Camera (thus taking off the first-person view point) and once the screen emerged in the third-person angle, he saw that the ghost was instead behind his character and advancing with outreached hands.

“THE GHOST CAN FLY?!” Aiba squeaked as he peeked out from behind the pillow.

“Baka, everyone can see that,” Jun retorted in annoyance. Deftly he spun his character around and quickly whipped out his Camera, but the ghost already got to the girl and was strangling her. She screamed in pain and the screen zoomed onto the ghost’s face, which was scarred and bloodied and had black, empty holes in the sockets where her eyes should be.

“QUICK, DO SOMETHING!” Sho yelled.

“I am, I am!” Jun said, feverishly punching the X button on the controller and watching in helplessness as his character’s HP lowered significantly. The ghost laughed maniacally before it finally released her.

“I think you better run…” Aiba whimpered.

“I can’t, it’ll chase me no matter where I go!” Jun exclaimed.

The ghost cackled evilly and started gliding in a circle around the girl again. With his tongue jutting out at the corner of his lips, Jun concentrated on its movement. The moment the ghost stopped behind the girl (he figured it was the ghost’s tactic was repetitive) he swiftly spun the girl around and took out the camera.

“DIEEEEEE!” he roared, and without hesitation he clicked the camera. He caught a clear shot of the ghost, sucking some of the its soul and thus flinging it backwards in recoil.

“YES!” cheered both Sho and Aiba.

“Do that consecutive shot thing!” Sho said.

Jun didn’t need to be told. He was already clicking the camera away in unabashed glee, doing a double shot before the ghost could regain itself. The ghost shrieked at an ear-piercing tone as it staggered away, and without hesitation, Jun zoomed the lenses closer to the ghost and dealt it with the final shot, ultimately defeating the ghost. The ghost screamed once more and then crumbled to the floor; finally its spirit dispersed and vanished into thin air.

The atmosphere regained its eerie stillness and silence.

Sho whistled. “Wow.”

Jun glanced over his shoulder and threw him a superior grin.

“That was awesome!” Aiba squealed in sheer exhilaration. Flailing his arms, he sprang up to his feet (in the process, knocking the pillows all over poor Sho), snatched the controller from Jun’s hands, and tumbled onto the floor unceremoniously. “My turn!”

Jun raised his eyebrows mockingly. “Uh huh… you totally weren’t screaming your head off like a little schoolgirl not two minutes ago,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Playing and watching are two different experiences,” Aiba argued. “Watching is scary yet fun… playing is scarier and… and funner!” He giggled, and without waiting for a reply he unpaused the game and led the female character to the nearest door. Within his fervent, bubbly enthusiasm, Aiba absent-mindedly pressed himself against Jun’s side. In fact, Jun had his arm slung over the sofa seat, so Aiba snuggled deep into the crook of his arm and crouched so low that it appeared as if he was resting his head on Jun’s shoulder.

Jun said nothing – clearly he had no objection to the close proximity – but he rolled his eyes. He tilted his head back and peered at Sho, whose face was half hidden behind a pillow. “It’s your turn after Aiba,” he told him smugly.

Sho’s eyes widened and he shook his head vigorously. “Aiba can play as long as he wants,” he replied quickly. As if to make a point, he jabbed his barefoot at Aiba’s shoulder. “Ne?”

“Ne!” came the childish response.

“Wussy,” Jun smirked.

In the game, the female character had entered a hearth room. It was very dark; the torchlight illuminated a cold hearth in the middle of the room and a couple of wooden cupboards and painted partitions stacked against the wall – everything was old and dusty. Once more, the eerie whispers of the background music gave the room a chilly atmosphere. Across the room was a flight of stairs leading to the upper floor, and next to the stairs was a small door.

“Through the door or up the stairs?” Aiba asked.

“Try the stairs,” Sho suggested.

Aiba led the character towards the stairs, slowly and carefully, but when she reached the bottom step, a ghost of a kimono-clad man suddenly appeared in front of her, walking up the stairs.

“AAAAHHH KOWAI KOWAI KOWAI!” Aiba screamed, and instinctively he spun the female character around and led her away.

“Oi, you’re supposed to capture a photo of the ghost!” Jun snapped.

“But-but-but-but why?!” Aiba asked in his panicky, high-pitchy voice.

“It’s a wandering ghost – it won’t attack you. And you get points to upgrade the camera lens… baka.”

“I don’t blame him,” Sho piped in, “that ghost popped out of nowhere.”

Jun fixed the terrified duo a piercing stare. “…Wussies.”

Tap. Tap. Tap.

All three of them froze. Simultaneously their heads turned and they stared at the window. It was difficult to see through the drawn curtains… but unmistakably someone – or something – was tapping on the glass.

“Did you guys hear it?” Sho whispered. He barely breathed.

“…Yes,” Jun answered. He seemed outwardly unperturbed by the unusual sound, and he waved his hand in dismissal. “It’s probably a bird or something.”

“Why would a bird tap at the window?” Aiba squeaked.

“How the hell should I know? Let’s just get back to the game.”

But not ten seconds passed when –

Tap tap tap tap tap.

This time it was louder… more insistent, and undeniable.

The three of them exchanged glances; Aiba clutched Jun’s arm tightly and looked as if he was about to cry; Sho seemed ready to bolt out of the door any moment, and imperturbable Jun seemed to have lost his steel wits. Wracked with uneasiness set in his expression, Jun nudged Sho. “Go take a look,” he ordered.

The blood drained from Sho’s face. “Why me?!” Sho exclaimed.

“Because you’re closest to the window, obviously!” Jun replied hotly.

Sho’s face bore an expression of utmost terror and evident reluctance, but Jun was adamant. So, very much unwillingly, Sho stood up – the pillow still clutched to his chest – and hesitantly approached the window. With a shaking hand, he slowly reached for the curtains, took one anxious gulp, and then swiftly he drew the curtains apart. He blinked at the brightness of the afternoon sunlight.

There was no one outside the window.

Sho leaned against the window pane and scanned the empty backyard. “It’s just our imagination playing at us,” he laughed nervously.

And out of a sudden, two faces sprang up from nowhere and thudded noiselessly right against the window, barely two inches from Sho’s face.

“AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

Sho shrieked and fell backwards.

Aiba screamed and hugged Jun, hiding his face in Jun’s jacket.

Jun narrowed his eyes.

“You assholes.”

The two faces belonged to none other than Ohno and Nino, who were positively doubling over and roaring with laughter. Jun, with a murderous glint in his eyes, got onto his feet and went to the window, slid the window open, and smacked both Ohno and Nino on the head.

“That was not funny,” he hissed.

“Hello to you, too,” Nino greeted cheerfully. His eyes were watery from laughing so hard.

Aiba scrambled to Jun’s side and smacked Ohno’s head (he couldn’t reach Nino’s because Nino smartly moved a step away to avoid Aiba’s hand). “WHY DID YOU DO THAT FOR?! THAT WAS CRUEL! CRUEL!” Aiba yelled, very much like a distressed child.

“It was Nino’s idea,” Ohno said as he massaged his head.

“We couldn’t resist it!” Nino grinned devilishly. “We bumped into Sho’s sister on our way in, who told us you guys were playing this cool horror game… and we thought we’d surprise you!”

Jun whacked Nino’s head again. “Don’t mess with us! Something fatal could have happened,” he growled.

Nino rolled his eyes. “How fatal can a scare get?”

“Erm… guys?” came Sho’s voice.

All four of them stared at Sho. He was still sprawled awkwardly on the floor; his face held an expression of absolute dismay, his cheeks reddened to a darker shade.

“I think I leaked a little bit,” Sho moaned.

Silence ensued. Then, Ohno faced Nino with a poker face. “You were saying?”

~

Sorry, I couldn’t resist putting up an image. XD

Featuring: Ohno Satoshi in the role of Michael Jackson, and Kobayashi Ryoko (Shiori in Maou!) as the female counterpart.
Genre: Horror, Thriller obviously
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Ryoko and Satoshi spend their usual Friday night date catching a horror movie, but who would have known the horror isn’t so much fiction as they thought…?

Why MJ? Why?: Yes, shoot me. xD This fanfic is spawned by my closet MJ fangirl-ness. Actually, it started off when an Arashian (Nene-chan) and I matched the Arashi boys to an MJ song/PV, aaaaaand from there came the fanfic ideas. Totally cracktastic yet full of awesomeness~ Hopefully we can come up with a Michael Jackson Collection of Arashi fanfics :D

FYI: I know my fixed fanfiction-wise pairing for Ohno is Yuuki from For the Love of Cherry Pie, but oh well. This ficcie isn’t meant to be taken seriously. xD Besides! Ryoko/Shiori fits Satoshi/Naruse in any way~

About this one-shot: It’s adapted from both the song and the PV/MV of Michael Jackson’s hit song, Thriller, which you can watch here (part 1) and here (part 2). Enjoy!

——–

THRILLER
An Ohno Satoshi fanfiction

The girl stared at the silver ring he held out between his fingers with round, awestruck eyes. Then she raised those eyes at him and peered with silent questioning.

“Will you… be my girl?” he asked with quiet confidence.

Her lips trembled with emotions before widening into the most joyous smile. “Oh gosh, yes!” she cried out and threw her arms around him, the sudden force knocking him a few steps back. He chuckled, drew back slightly and slid the ring onto her finger.

“Now it’s official,” he grinned.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered as she held her hand out and admired the silver band. The material had bluntness to its shine and the fake diamond in a crest atop the band glimmered faintly. It was an obvious five-dollar bargain off the Sunday flea market, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care at all.

“I have something I wanna tell you.”

She looked up to find his expression unexpectedly grave and his eyes dark. She frowned. “What is it?”

“I’m not like other guys,” he told her quietly.

“Of course not,” she replied with an adoring smile. “That’s why I love you.”

“No, I mean it when I say I’m different…”

“What are you talking about?”

“You don’t—” His voice cut off. He raised his head to the sky and saw the brilliant moon unveiled from behind the clouds. A sudden, sharp pain gripped his entire body. He shut his eyes tight and gritted his teeth, clutching his chest as his face contorted in pain. A gasp escaped his lips before his body started to go into uncontrollable fits of spasm.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, starting to panic.

He didn’t reply. He doubled over and keeled to the ground, writhing all over in evident pain as his loud groans sounded across the forest clearing. She was frightened by this reaction and began crying.

“What’s the matter?” she asked again, and touched his trembling shoulder. He jerked violently and his face shot up. Her eyes widened and she screamed.

The pupils in his eyes were dilated into black slits resembling a cat’s, and the white in his eyes – the sclera – was yellow. However, what truly brought her to such terror were the sharp, wolf-like fangs that jutted over his lower lip.

“GO AWAY!” he growled, before he thrashed violently again. Brown animal fur grew over the skin on his neck and hands.

She screamed, louder and higher in pitch, and ran off without a second thought. She didn’t know where she was going, with only the pale moonlight guiding her through the forest trails. In the distance she heard the hungry howl of a wolf. She yelped and sped faster while constantly glancing fearfully over her shoulder, and out of nowhere, he sprang out in front of her. She shrieked, and, in her haste to escape, she tripped over a thick root of a willow tree and fell on the soft grass. Her arms stung where the pine cones dug into her skin. She spun onto her back, and she saw him: a monstrous werewolf, standing above her with a wild glint of a predator in his eyes. He extended his hand, covered in fur and with sharp, yellow claws, and her heart throbbed desperately knowing her life was going to end…

Ryoko finally couldn’t keep her mouth closed anymore, and she let out a muffled scream.

“Hey, keep your voice down,” Satoshi told her without taking his eyes off the screen.

“As though everyone else isn’t,” she retorted.

She wasn’t the only one who thought the movie wasn’t very sensible about the gory details – the mass of moviegoers in the entire theatre hall shuddered and screamed, some covered their eyes, some covered their ears, some had their widened eyes transfixed on the movie, in which the werewolf was tearing the poor girl’s flesh apart.

Ryoko cringed at the blood and raw flesh – even though she knew they were all fake – and her grip around Satoshi’s arm tightened.

Satoshi munched on the popcorn in obvious amusement. He was probably the only person who thoroughly enjoyed the violence and the gore.

“Can we get out of here?” Ryoko pleaded.

“Why? We’re at the best part!” he exclaimed. He turned back to the screen and popped a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

She glared at him in disgust. “Well, I can’t watch,” she said, and without wasting any time, she sprang onto her feet and edged her way through the row of seats and stormed out of the theatre. Satoshi stared at her. He sighed, handed his popcorn to the stranger next to him and followed after her. The audience screamed once more when he pushed past the exit doors.

He found her standing on the pavement outside the cinema and jogged over to her, laughing aloud. “Come on, it’s only a movie.”

She cast him a withering look. “It’s not funny,” she argued hotly, and crossed her arms over her chest.

He grinned knowingly and nodded. “You were scared, huh?” he smirked.

“…A little,” she admitted reluctantly.

He chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. It was obvious she wasn’t going to go back inside and continue watching the movie, so together they headed down the walkway.

On the promotional movie display above the entrance, the words ‘Vincent Price – THRILLER’ rang out ominously.

They took the usual shortcut back to her house, as was the ritual at the end of their Friday night dates. They strode down an alleyway, which was empty and eerily dark save for the pale light of the full moon guiding them through the darkness. The lampposts weren’t working – they always weren’t – the city council never fixed the lights. The night was unusually quiet, so quiet it felt like a vacuum had sucked the air from the atmosphere.

An abandoned cemetery came into view. Old tombs and grave plots littered the long-unvisited area, and an eerie fog hung above the earth. Ryoko clung tighter to Satoshi’s arm.

“I never liked this place,” she whispered. “It’s so desolate.”

“You aren’t wrong in that.”

Ryoko raised her eyes at Satoshi and stared hard at him. His face was expressionless and his eyes distant and blank. He was acting so strangely.

“What do you mean?”

“When darkness falls across the land, when the midnight hour is close at hand… creatures of the dead emerge from their tombs in search of blood… to terrorise your neighbourhood… Who so ever shall be found, without the soul for getting down, must stand and face the hounds of shell and rot inside a corpse’s shell…” his voice drifted off.

A cold chill ran down Ryoko’s spine as his words sunk in. She gulped and hesitantly spoke out, “Who… said that?”

Satoshi turned his serious face to her, and suddenly it broke into a mischievous grin. “O’ great Vincent Price,” he beamed.

Ryoko was stunned momentarily before she inhaled sharply and smacked him on the arm. “THAT WAS MERCILESS!” she screeched in sheer annoyance. “You got me terrified!”

“Come on, it’s just a joke,” he replied in an unapologetic voice.

“I’m not forgiving you any time for that,” she growled with a half-heartened patronising smile.

“You don’t have to,” he said, deadpan and serious once again. “Price’s words never lie.”

“You need to get a healthier obsession than zombies and Price’s legion of the undead,” she retorted as she rolled her eyes. Suddenly, Satoshi stopped walking. Ryoko looked up and saw he was unresponsive to her, but continued to stare up ahead. “What’s wrong?” she asked, frowning.

She followed his gaze, and felt her blood run cold.

From within the pale fog hovering over the asphalt, countless figures emerged, so many that she could not count. There was no mistaking the ashen faces and the torn clothes over rotting flesh. The foul stench of death permeated the air and Ryoko hacked at the sulphur-like smell burning her nose. It took her a long time before she registered the utmost fear gripping her and the soundless shriek seemingly stuck in her throat. She backed away a few steps until she knocked into Satoshi. She spun around hoping he would protect her, but instead she screamed aloud and stumbled away from him in terror.

Satoshi was a zombie, an undead just like the other spawns of evil. There was absolutely no colour in his now-whitewashed skin and his eyes were sunken. What more, she found no warmth or even any remote signs of life in those eyes.

“Sa…toshi…” she gasped.

An inhuman growl left his blue lips and he reached out to Ryoko with possessive hands. She jerked away from his grasp and almost tripped over a rock, but she didn’t stop stepping backward. She glanced around and knew she was surrounded. She had to escape!

She saw an opening in the circle behind Satoshi. Braving herself with all her strength, she darted past him and through the opening between two dismembered zombies and ran as fast as she could. Both fright and her need for survival fuelled her legs to run in incapable speed. She didn’t care that the muscles were already starting to cramp up. She flitted past dark, mostly abandoned houses and empty lots in search of a hideout. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the army of zombies close on her trail. Utter fear gripped her and she emitted a loud scream, running even faster.

The road soon ended into dirt trails leading to farmlands. There was an unoccupied house at the end of the street – the only place Ryoko could reach before the zombies caught up with her – and without a second thought she scrambled up the pebbled steps and to the front porch. Frantically she tried the door but it wouldn’t budge.

“STAY AWAY FROM ME!” Ryoko bellowed between choked sobs. Furious tears had stained her cheeks.

Finally the rusty doorknob gave in to the violent force and she swung the door open. Ignoring the loud creaks in the rotting floorboards which groaned under her weight, she immediately headed for the bedroom just off the living room. She could hear them approaching close behind, the ugly sound of their feet dragging across the floor like a claw against glass.

Ryoko threw herself into the room and slammed the door shut. She even pushed a dusty armchair against it in hopes they wouldn’t be able to get in… but how foolish that was. Satoshi ripped through the thin wooden door easily with his bare hands. She screamed and backed away, only to jump when a zombie’s hand burst through a floorboard, and in succession many, many more hands tore apart the planks nailed to the windows.

Ryoko collapsed on the sofa. She thrashed and screamed and shrieked and cried uncontrollably as the zombies emerged into the room, slowly advancing towards her.

“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!” she sobbed.

“…stand and face the hounds of hell, and rot inside a corpse’s shell,” Satoshi’s devil-like voice chanted, echoed by the many zombies. “…grizzly ghouls from every tomb are closing in to seal your doom…” they started to encircle her and her screams were almost drowned by the lifeless voices, “…and though you fight to stay alive, your body starts to shiver… for no mere mortal can resist… the evil… of the thriller.”

Satoshi reached his hand out to Ryoko; the hand was beyond pale. Ryoko screamed as she shielded herself with her arms, knowing she was going to die; she screamed knowing her last moment alive would be spent gruesomely. She screamed and screamed and screamed in utter terror and –

The hand that touched her was warm.

Ryoko’s eyes sprang open and she discovered she was in Satoshi’s house, or specifically in his living room. Satoshi stood above her with a quizzical look.

“What’s the problem?” he asked, faintly amused.

Ryoko stared at him with a blank expression and blurrily studied her surroundings. She was in a complete daze – was that a nightmare she had?

“Come on, I’ll take you home,” Satoshi smiled. His smile was comforting.

He pulled her up to her feet and supported her with an arm around her waist. She could almost cry from relief and the peace of mind. With an exhausted sigh, she rested her head on his shoulder.

They walked past a floor-length mirror. Satoshi faced his reflection, and his eyes shone yellow with true malice.

It had not ended… the evil of the thriller.

~

Notes: HAPPY BIRTHDAY BURGER HANDS! XD This ficcie is the most I can do for him (or you guys~) to celebrate the occasion while I’m busy with school. Wrote this down on paper before transferring into Word doc. so this is an unedited version. If there is any grammar/spelling errors… forgive my human flaws! xD

ENJOY THE CRACK!

-

Birthday Party Gone Wild

My eyes are covered with a blindfold, and my hands are bound by a cotton scarf. Does this look like even fractionally right to you?

“Tell me again, Oh-chan, why I’m standing at the door of my own house like this?” I whine. I have every right to whine, all right.

Ohno is fumbling around the contents of my bag for my set of keys. “I… don’t know,” he answers flatly.

“You liar,” I retort. I’m getting impatient! I start groping my tied hands around blindly until I catch hold of something plump… and feels familiar. I grin.

“That’s my butt you’re touching,” Ohno tells me shyly. He tries moving away slowly but I tighten my hold before he can get away, and I squeeze the flesh. I grin wider at Riida’s yelp.

“I want to know if it’s a surprise party behind that door!” I demand.

Ohno hesitates for a moment, and then helpfully points out, “It wouldn’t be a surprise party if it’s not a surprise, is it?”

I pinch the fleshy curve of his plump buttocks and he squeaks. Yeah, that’s right, you should be squeaking for mercy.

“Okay, okay, it is! Just… act like you’re surprised, okay?” he pleads, then adds in, “Or Matsujun will kill me.”

“Matsumoto-kun dies before he touches you,” I say with a low growl. Then, I smile with satisfaction and let go of his buttocks. “Riida always is the best, ne?” I say sweetly. “Lead the way, then.”

I hear him quickly inserting the key and unlocking the door, then he grips onto my arm and pulls me inside before he closes the door behind me. Guided by sheer memory – perfect imagery memory honed by my thirty hours of gaming daily! – I reach out and find my way along the wall until I find the switch. I flip it on and immediately pull down the blindfold. I fully expected to see Aiba, Jun-tan, and Sho (and prepare myself to strangle them). I definitely did NOT expect to see my entire living room filled with a hundred thousand million billion people.

Holy shit.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” they roar out.

Some of them (I can’t spot them among the insane crowd) pop party crackers and rainbow-coloured confetti starts raining down all over me. That’s when I look up and notice balloons and ribbons littering the ceiling. Even the ceiling fan isn’t visible anymore!

How the hell did these people manage to turn my house into a circus under just two hours?!

For no apparent reason I am thoroughly amused. In the least, I’m not cleaning up the mess. I’m the birthday boy, yo!

“Happy birthday to you…” everyone starts singing. “Happy birthday to you!” Sho and Aiba emerge slowly from the cluster, holding the birthday cake with lit candles atop it. “Happy birthday to Ninooooooo!” I laugh aloud at a small number of voices wishing ‘Kazunariiiiiiii’ instead. “Happy birthday to you!”

“Everyone… thank you so much!” I exclaim, bowing deeply and with an embarrassing smile (believable, I hope).

“Make a wish!” Aiba prompts.

“What is there to wish for?” I wonder audibly.

“For a DS game or something you’re always whining about wanting to get,” Matsujun suggests with a smirk.

Hmmm. I really don’t have an idea at all! I have everything I want… wait, I need a new hard drive for my games. Yeah, a 1000GB hard drive. That’s more than enough space for all my beloved games. I won’t feel insecure anymore! Okay, I’m totally wishing for that.

I blow out the candles, all twenty six of them, and everyone cheers and applauds. Before Sho takes the cake away, I take a swipe out of the icing with my finger and lick it.

“Raspberry!” I smile oh-so-very-joyously. “Great choice, as always,” I nod at Matsujun. I already know the cake is going to taste maximum umai – in the great words of Mr Sakurai. Matsujun never fails at picking the most scrumptious cakes for birthdays and other events.

“We’re cutting the cake after you open your presents,” Ohno says softly.

Presents? Time to rub my palms together and emit a wicked laugh!

“Presents!” Aiba squeals, flailing his arms in the air (I’m so glad he isn’t holding the cake now). He drags me to the living room area and pushes me onto the couch. On the coffee table is a mountain of nicely wrapped, blindingly colourful presents. I can feel my legs shaking with excitement!

“Open mine first!” Aiba insists, pulling out a rectangular present with a blue wrapping with prints of baby bears.

I read the words on the wrapping carefully. “Aiba! It says ‘Happy birthday to the baby’ all over!”

“It does?” The lanky guy leans over and reads the word, and he laughs humorously. “You’re right!”

“On your birthday, I’m getting you a dictionary,” I mutter. I rip open the present, my eyes widen. “Muramasa: The Demon Blade! How did you know I wanted this game?!”

“Riida suggested it,” Aiba replies, casting a proud grin at Ohno behind. I’m going to have to remind myself to give Oh-chan a huge kiss later.

After Aiba’s turn, I start digging into other presents. Manager-san’s present is a Seiko watch (“Good timing! I needed to replace my old one.”), my ol’ high school friends pitched in for a PSP Slim (“Now I’m gonna need forty hours a day to play all these games!”), and Otou-san and Okaa-san and Onee-san (who aren’t around and instead are holidaying in Hokkaido… without me! On my birthday! The nerve!) picked out a sweater.

Then comes the other members’ presents. I open Ohno’s present first, which is a small painted clay figure of me in my Ohmiya SK costume (I owe him a big make-out session, now), then Sho’s present – a book on the history of virtual games (finally a book I’m definitely interested in!), and finally Matsujun’s present – a black leather slingbag from Uniqlo (“Now I can be as sexy as you!”).

“Now,” I start, after unwrapping the last present and the floor is practically littered with torn wrapping paper, “can we have cake?”

Sho brings out the cake – a rather huge cake, might I add, how the hell did it fit into the refrigerator? – and sets it down on the coffee table. I grab the silver knife and am just about to slice the cake… when Sho accidentally trips and falls flat onto my back, flattening me until my face is squished into the cake.

“I’m sorry!” Sho exclaims in horror. “It’s the wrapping paper I tripped on! I swear!”

I lift my head up, slowly and calmly, and wipe the thick cream from my eyes. I glare at him – a positively livid death glare – as he stands a considerable distance away, next to Aiba. He seems to cower further behind a taller Aiba under my murderous eyes. Yes, hide like a little girl behind that puppy.

“You. Are. DEAD!” I bellow, and I chuck the cream at him, but my aim is off and the cream splatters all over Aiba’s face instead.

“NAN DA YO?! You hit the wrong person!” Aiba whines childishly.

I laugh aloud but it stops midway when something mushy hits the back of my neck. What the hell? I spin around and find Matsujun with his hands covered with cream and wearing an evil, scheming grin on that blasted face of his. He then nudges Riida with his elbow, and Riida readily whips his cream-caked hands out from around his back and flings more cream at me. Matsujun cackles. Ohno grins in amusement. And I’m furious. FURIOUS for payback.

“FOOD FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!” I declare. This is war!

Instantaneously the entire house is in an uproar. A flinging fest of cream and cake soon starts (no one gives a damn about wasting high quality cake anymore!), and miraculously someone manages to bring out leftover party finger food and starts throwing mini sandwiches and sushi and chips and cheese sausages… and even pieces of ham! I pick up some sushi and chips from the plate and chuck them at Aiba and then Sho. Wait, I should be aiming for Sho… he started it! I start throwing sandwiches feverishly at him until he ducks behind the couch and doesn’t come out. Out of a sudden a slab of ham slaps the side of my face, and I turn around and see Matsujun cackling.

“You’re going down, pretty face!” I yell out, and I start chasing him down brandishing a cheese sausage.

After ten minutes of havoc and devastating wreckage, the fight is still going on. Where the hell is the supply of food coming from? I hope it’s not my refrigerator. Damn. I’m too tired to continue. I collapse on the couch (with a layer of cream and cheese on it) and watch the fight instead. It’s so much more fun to watch rather than get all messy and slimy.

Matsujun collapses just as exhaustedly beside me and wraps an arm around my shoulder exuberantly. “How’s this for a birthday party?” he grins.

“The BEST party I’ve ever had,” I gush to him with obvious exaggeration.

“…I’m so glad that cake’s cheap,” he admits.

“You owe me a birthday cake!” I exclaim, half-scowling at him. And he does indeed. How’s a birthday boy to celebrate his birthday without a birthday cake! That’s almost a crime. Wait, it is a crime. Or should be.

Matsujun laughs out loud and pats me on the shoulder. “Fine. We’ll go to café later. Your pick.”

“I would love you so much more if you said ‘my treat’.”

“Whatever.” And he walks off and joins Ohno and Aiba squirt Sho with ketchup. Hah! Revenge is so sweet.

Well, turning twenty-six with my hair filled with icing cream and sliced tomatoes isn’t so bad after all.

But I think turning twenty-seven would have to be much cleaner.

- ~ -