Of Heavens and Storm

Chapter 43

2006-05-28T06:03:00.000+01:00

Chapter 43

'Don't look for us!'

Seven heads turned to the porch only to be met by Sho's straight back disappearing inside the house. His sentence was clearly a command.

'Guess they won't be joining us then.' Matsujun commented casually as he returned to inspect his handiwork. 'And you girls better do what he said too.' He smirked.

Kira slapped his head hard nearly causing him to fall to the ground. 'It was an accident! You should've stopped me.' All the girls were reliving their embarassment in the changing room again.

Nino chuckled. 'Maa... maa... This time we definitely won't go to them,' his grin widened, 'even if we hear any loud noise, ne Haruko?' He couldn't resist the dig and was rewarded greatly when Haruko hid behind Sayaka. 'Now how about we start with the sparklers first?'

Aiba cheered as Ohno handed the sparklers around. 'We'll light the rockets up if things got rowdy.' His eyebrows wiggled at the girls, 'Correction, when things get rowdy~~~'

'Okay, your insinuation is too much Aiba.' Sayaka fanned her warm face with her hand, 'Enough with the teasing, gentlemen.' She cleared her head of the image of Sho and Mizuno created by the guys.

Aiba gave a long sigh and shrugged his shoulders. 'Suit yourself, but I'm keeping the rockets for later.' He laughed as he lit his sparklers. Finally Sho's getting some action tonight! Poor guy has been waiting for too long... The orange glow made circles in the air as Aiba waved it around energetically. 'Minna! I say lucky, you say man! Lucky!'

'Man!' Nino and Ohno shouted enthusiastically. Matsujun just laughed at the ridiculousness while the girls were mortified that they might be heard by the couple inside the house.

'Lucky!' Aiba pointed his sparkler at the two, happily egging them on with the lines from their Lucky Man song.

Ohno and Nino raised their arms. 'Man!' They were having too much fun at Sho's expense.

'Lucky!'

'Man!!!'

'Yay!!!' Their wackiness were infectious and soon the girls too were laughing and dancing around with the sparklers, eventually forgetting about the absent couple. However, lucky wasn't exactly what Mizuno was thinking of as she was whisked away to her bedroom...

********************************************************

Mizuno didn't dare say a word as Sho slid open the door with his right foot. The table lamp on her bedside table automatically switched on as they entered the room. It had a sensor detecting human movement which was very convenient for the intended guests of the room. Sho's steps were sure as he crossed the room to the double bed after he shut the door.

'This is nice...' Sho said as he slowly laid Mizuno down on the soft mattress. 'I can see why you chose to stay in this room instead of upstairs.'

Mizuno chuckled nervously as Sho joined her from the other side of the bed. 'My legs were bad and bending down to sit on the floor was difficult enough.' She inched to her bedside table and tapped the lamp shade gently to make the light glowed brighter. 'Now that's better.' She puffed her pillow and set it between her back and the headboard. There was no way she could lie down flat on the bed! It wasn't in her interest to give Sho any other ideas.

'Do your legs and back still hurt?' Sho sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed, eyeing her closely. 'I can give you a massage.'

'No, thank you!' Mizuno quickly rejected his offer. She pulled a pillow from her side and put it on her lap. 'They are okay now. Don't need any massage. Ha...ha...'

'Ahh...' Sho squared off his shoulders causing the gap between his yukata flaps to widened. He grinned slightly when Mizuno drifted her eyes to her fingers on her lap as if she was scared of looking at him. 'I'm glad they're okay.' There was something mischievious in his voice which made Mizuno tensed up.

'Anyway, there's nothing for us to do here, Sho.' Mizuno's fingers drummed on her lap as she gave him a big smile. 'I'm feeling tired, so why don't you go so I can sleep. Thanks for carrying me here.' She flicked her left hand at him as her right hand covered her fake yawn. 'Shoo... shoo...'

Sho regarded her lazily as he took her left hand in his. 'Angel, I didn't bring you here for your solitude.'

'You didn't?' A nervous chuckle escaped Mizuno. 'But I want to sleep now...'

Her whining amused Sho tremendously. 'I know you're desperate for me, Oozora,' he kissed the left hand, 'but not yet, angel. Not just yet.' He tightened his hold on her when she tried to take her hand back.

'I am not desperate for you!' Mizuno kept tugging her hand. 'Let go of me, Sho!' Her right hand circled his right wrist, trying to loosen his deathgrip on her left hand. 'Damn it Sho, let go!'

Sho shook his head at her futile attempt. 'You're not even trying.' He bent his elbow and jerked Mizuno towards his chest. 'Easy tiger...' A taunting smirk graced his face at his girlfriend's wide-eyed look. His left hand caught her right hand when she was about to punch him. 'No, no. You can't do that, Oozora~~~'

'Sho, let go off me.' Mizuno advised him through gritted teeth. 'I need to sleep.'

'Hmm...' Sho feigned contemplation as his eyes stared at the up and down movement of her breasts as her breathing got deeper and heavier. 'You need to open up more, angel.'

'You... you...' Mizuno backed off, trying to get as far away from him as possible. 'Get away from me you pervert!'

A long sigh escaped Sho as he slowly loosened his clutches on her hands. She immediately withdrew to the headboard corner. 'Okay, no more games. Let's talk, Oozora.'

'There's nothing to talk about.' Mizuno's denial came quick. 'I'm through with talking for tonight.'

'Are you thinking of the possibility of us getting married in the future?' Sho was relentless. 'I need to know how you view our relationship, Oozora.'

Mizuno eyes wandered everywhere as she tried to find a way to avoid answering his question. 'Look Sho, what I said earlier. It means nothing.' She hugged a pillow to her chest, trying to create physical barrier to her erratically beating heart. 'I was just caught in the moment. It was like a scene from a movie, wasn't it? How embarassing!' Her attempt at laughing was futile.

'Oozora...' It made Sho felt like a bad guy seeing Mizuno curled up in the corner. He needed to get closer to her. 'Angel...' His voice was deep and gentle as he shifted to sit next to her bent knees. Her blue plastered feet peeked from under her yukata. 'Talk to me, please.' No answer was forthcoming from her and it nearly broke his heart having to force her like this, but he needed to know.

It seemed like hours had passed before Mizuno slowly met his eyes. 'What about you, Sho? How far do you think our relationship could go?'

'Truthfully, I don't know.' Sho said picking his words carefully. 'I am taking this one day at a time.'

'Ahh...' Eventhough Mizuno knew he would say that, she couldn't help the deep disappointment resonating in her voice. She shouldn't have implied that she wanted his long term committment. If only she hadwatched what she had said earlier then this wouldn't have happened. She wouldn't have to face the possibilty of losing him so soon.

'It... Well...' It nearly killed Sho admitting this to himself and Mizuno, 'The thought of marriage had never crossed my mind. I'm sorry, Oozora.'

'Ha...ha...' The laugh was weak as Mizuno tried to make light of the situation. 'What are you apologising for, Sho? Being shackled down isn't exactly a popular notion with most men, you know. Ha...ha...' A hollow seemed to appear inside her, preparing to numb her to the reality.

Her obvious hurting was too much for Sho. 'Oozora, we are not breaking up! I am not leaving you!' He threw his arms around her. 'Listen to me,' he whispered to her left ear, 'I need you. Please wait for me. Wait for me to catch up with you.'

'Sho, I'm not expecting you to marry me.' Mizuno pushed him away from her. 'It was just a silly romantic notion of mine. Just ignore it. It's nothing.' Her hands kept pushing at Sho's chest. 'Nothing.'

'Oozora, I love you.'

The three simple words froze Mizuno.

'I love you, Mizuno Oozora.'

They returned her hope.

'Don't doubt my love for you, angel.' Sho covered her hands with his. 'I may not think as far ahead as you do, but never doubt that I love you!'

Mizuno raised her head so their eyes could meet. His dark bright eyes reflecting his conviction and the strong heartbeat under her hands strengthened his assurance. 'Sho, I'm not pressuring you into anything...'

'Oozora,' Sho grasped her hands in his, not wanting to let her get away from him, 'believe me. Please stay by my side.' He tightened his hold. 'Please don't give up on me, Oozora.'

'Sho...'

'My God! If I have a mind to bring protection with me, I would show you just how much you mean to me!' Sho didn't care if he sounded desperate. If words couldn't reach Mizuno, he knew she would understand the raw physical language. 'Damn it! I want you. I need you. I love you, Oozora!' Though he wanted to embrace her, he didn't. If he did, he was scared he won't be able to stop and he wasn't willing to risk unsafe sex with the woman who mattered the most to him. Never!

In front of Sho, Mizuno was left speechless after hearing his confessions. It was the first time that she truly felt secure of his love for her. When she came to think of it, she thought that deep down inside, the reason she was distant and cold towards him was because she always feared that Sho would eventually tire with her and leave her. Better be prepared than sorry kind of mentality. As such she was unconsciously protecting herself from totally accepting his love for her. And in doing so, she was denying her love for him too. What are we doing? What am I doing?

Seeing no response from Mizuno, Sho dropped his hands and moved away from her touch. He didn't trust himself to stay in the same room alone with Mizuno without attempting to make love to her. 'I'm going now. You need to rest.' He stepped away from the bed and fixed his yukata. 'Good night, Oozora. Sleep well.' He was nearly at the door when Mizuno broke her silence.

'Sho, wait!'

Sho turned around. 'What is it?'

'Is Maxx okay?'

'What...?'

'Maxx.' Mizuno scrambled to fish her backpack from under the bed. Sho recognised it as the one she always brought everywhere. 'The brand.' Her right hand went inside the bag and searched for the item. 'This one,' she took out a black box, 'do these suit you?'

Sho walked back to the bed as Mizuno slid her backpack under the bed once again. 'Now why would you have a pack of condoms with you, Oozora?'

Mizuno's face turned red. 'Well, I bought it to check how it looks like.' She gulped as Sho took the box away from her. 'I was curious. Nothing wrong with that.'

'7, 8, 9, 10 and 11.' Sho raised an eyebrow as he finished counting the square packets in the box. 'Why is it mising one?'

'I told you I wanted to see how it looks like! If it wouldn't fit you then I have to buy another one!' Mizuno explained her logic as if he was an idiot.

'Oh?' Sho was feeling highly amused. He ought to remember that Mizuno liked to plan in advance. 'And just when do you think we'd be needing these?'

Mizuno scowled. 'You have a habit of popping around and calling me to meet up when I least expected it. I just want to make the most of my chances, you know. It's not like we get to meet frequently and all.' She put a hand on her mouth. Damn! Now I'm blabbering! Why is he asking so many questions anyway?! Baka Sho! Turning away from him, she slipped under the duvet. 'Now you can go. I need some sleep.' Sho's laughters filled the room as her hand reached out to tap the lamp shade to switch off the light. 'Good night, Sho!'

'Move over, Oozora.' Sho tapped the lamp shade again to produce a gentle glow in the room. 'The night hasn't even begun.' He placed three square packages on the bedside table before joining Mizuno under the duvet who was still facing away from him. 'How'd you know they would fit me, angel?' His fingers pulled her hair away from her face. His incredible and unpredictable woman.

Mizuno slapped his hand. 'I want you to leave me alone.'

'Liar...' Sho ran a finger down her exposed throat. 'You want me.' He grinned as she tried to slap his hand again.

'I changed my mind. I just remembered that I need to be able to walk on Monday.'

At her answer, Sho threw his head back and laugh heartily. 'Oozora, I'm shocked! What kind of beast do you think I am?' He nuzzled on her neck and purred. 'Don't worry angel, I'll make this nice and slow...' Mizuno was still playing hard to get even if she was trembling slightly as Sho planted small feather-like kisses on the back of her neck and nibbled her earlobe. 'Nice and slow...' He promised as he proceeded to show her just how much he loved her...

--->
Minna - Everyone

Heh...heh... I decided to let you guys use your imaginations! WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I could've written a smut, but not now. Heh...heh...heh... Maybe one of these days I'd write a hidden chapter for the ShoxMizuno loving. I don't know. --runs away--

Chapter 42b

2006-05-20T20:50:00.000+01:00

Chapter 42b

'Are you comfortable?' Sho took his seat after putting Mizuno down on the porch.

Mizuno dangled her feet over the edge of the wooden platform. 'Yes, thank you.' She half-leaned on the pole to her left side. 'Looks like they haven't even started with the fireworks.' She stated the obvious activities before them. 'Do you want to help the...'

'No. They can deal with it.' Sho's reply came abruptly. He won't be side-tracked by her again. 'Now, didn't you say you have something to tell me?' He inched closer to her.

Mizuno gulped and her eyes darted up to the dark sky. 'Hah... I don't know how to begin.'

Sho waited for a few moments, but Mizuno kept silent. Her eyes were closed and her eyebrows furrowed. 'Oozora, just tell me what are you thinking of right now.' He spoke softly, trying to ease her into opening her heart and thoughts to him. His fingers tucked her bangs behind her right ear.

'Yume de ii kara.' Mizuno opened her eyes slowly, but not looking at Sho. 'The message you sent me within the song.' Her hands came together on her lap. 'Did you really think you were in a one way relationship?'

'Ahh...' Sho pulled back, creating a space between him and her. 'I told you I'm sorry for being selfish.'

'But you did think that, right?'

Sho sighed. Damn Oozora for her strong memory! 'Yes, I did.'

'I should be the one apologising.' Mizuno's eyes were down-casted, looking at her fingers interlocking with each other on her lap. 'I'm sorry, Sho. I just don't know what was and is the right thing to do.'

'Hey angel...' Sho tipped her chin up. 'Don't worry about it. It's in the past now.' He brushed his lips on her right eyebrow, attracting her eyes towards his. 'I can see that there were a lot of things going around you, me, around us that made it hard for us to even make time for each other.' He kissed the other eyebrow. 'Daijoubu, Oozora. Let's just concentrate on the time we have together now.' He was about to kiss her lips when she turned her face away.

'That wasn't the thing I want to tell you about.' Mizuno's shoulders tensed as she took in a deep breath.

'Oh?' Sho was intrigued. There's something else? And he was confused. Mizuno had become still. 'What is it, angel?'

'Well... Do you remember I was talking to Kobe-senpai when you came into the studio the other day?' Mizuno hesitated. Maybe this isn't an ideal time yet?

'Oozora, don't stop now.' Sho could clearly see that Mizuno was very reluctant to continue on with the subject. Her eyes kept going to the others assembling the firework as if calculating an escape route. 'Yes, I do remember Kobe-senpai there. I didn't hear what you guys were talking about though.'

'Ahh...' Mizuno was still debating whether it was the right thing to do or not. Maybe it's too soon to tell him? It's not really...

'Mizuno Oozora.' Sho cupped her face with his hands and forced her to concentrate only on him. 'Whatever it is, just tell me.' His eyes fixed on hers, begging her to share her thoughts with him.

'It's... It's not really important...' Mizuno tried to turn away, but failed. Sho's eyes reflected his insistence on her to continue what she had started. 'Sho...' Her back straightened as she pulled up her courage. 'I was offered a new job...' Sho's hands slacked. 'By another company.'

'What?' Sho's hands slowly released her face. 'Are you even allowed to leave Johnny's?' Surprise and confusion were registered on his face.

Mizuno nodded slowly. 'I'm on a yearly contract with Johnny's, not like a debuted talent like you. They could decide on not continuing my service when my contract ends.'

'Wait, did the company ask you to leave?!'

'No, no! That's not it.' Mizuno was quick to deny Sho's angry allegation. 'I haven't said yes yet! I'm still thinking about it.'

Sho frowned. 'Why would you want to leave Johnny's?' This matter was more serious than he had thought.

'Well, this isn't the first time I'm being approached by other agencies.'

'So what is different about this time then? Better payment?' Sho was clearly opposed to her idea of leaving the company. 'You've rejected the offers in the past, just say no again. Johnny's would pay you more to stay. You are too good to let go and you know it.'

'But not everyone see me as you do.' Mizuno said exasperatedly. 'That's just the problem. I am sick and tired of people continously questioning my worth!' Being asked to redo the choreography was the last straw for her. 'I've been discussing this with Kobe-senpai for a while now. And he even agreed that it would be better for me if I move on.' She had been thinking about it for a while now and the thought seemed to be more attractive each time.

Sho's jaw tensed. 'You are going to say yes.' It was a statement, not a question. He could see it in her eyes.

Mizuno exhaled heavily. 'I need to grow.' Her lips curled into a small grin. 'I told you before that my dream is to set up a dance studio of my own. I'm thinking, I could just be a free lance choreographer and take as many commissions as I can.' She had a good reputation among the choreographers' circle and the offers were plenty.

Sho heard her wistful tone and knew that if she decided to part way from Johnny's, she could be closer to realising her dream. However, there was one thing nagging at him. 'Where do I, us, come in this?'

'I don't know.' Mizuno replied quietly. They both jumped slightly when a rocket firework exploded in the air. Ohno was testing one to make sure his bottle had enough support and won't fall down.

Sho and Mizuno didn't say anything as they both looked on to the chaos Ohno had caused. The girls were shrieking and Matsujun was shouting angrily for Ohno to give them a warning before lighting the rocket. Aiba and Nino were laughing as they were out of harm's way.

However, Sho's thoughts were never far from what Mizuno had told him. 'Oozora.' He began again, ignoring the commotion. 'Did you even plan to tell me about this or not?' He had replayed every word she had said.

"I've been discussing this with Kobe-senpai for a while now."

When Mizuno didn't reply, Sho reached over for her hands. 'Oozora, tell me the truth. You weren't planning to tell me about this in the first place, right?'

Mizuno turned to meet Sho's eyes with much reluctance. 'It's true. I don't plan on telling you about it.' She could feel the hurt by the way his lips drawn to a hard line and the twinge in her heart as well.

'I see...' Sho clasped her hands tightly in his. He was hurt, but hopeful at the same time. 'But what changed? Why did you tell me just now?'

'I don't want to give up on us. I want us to part.' Mizuno squeezed his hands. 'I want you to be with me, Sho, and I don't want to leave you in a one way relationship anymore.' She smiled earnestly at him.

Sho's eyes searched hers curiously. 'Is that a proposal, Oozora...?'

'Huh?' Suddenly, Mizuno felt reality crumbling in. Oh my God! She quickly released her hands from his. What have I done?! She tried to get as far away from Sho as possible, but realised the pole had effective blocked her escape route. 'That's not what I meant! Of course we don't have to get married or anything.' Her face were drained of colour as she feared she might've scared Sho away with the idea of long-term committment! 'Don't misunderstand me.' It was her secret desire, but it might not be his! She needed to get away from Sho, pretend it never happened. 'Sayaka! Save me some fireworks!' She prepared to jump on to the ground, but she was lifted to the air instead, back into Sho's arms.

'Don't look for us!' Sho called back as he carried Mizuno back into the house. 'We still have a lot to talk about, Oozora.' He said under his breath.

'Where are we going?' Mizuno peeked helplessly at the others in the lawn over Sho's shoulder. 'I want to see the fireworks!' She did not want to talk anymore. Not when Sho might say he would like to break up with her before she got too serious!

With his mind squarely on their destination, Sho didn't even look at her when he simply replied, 'Your bedroom.'

Chapter 42

2006-05-17T13:26:00.000+01:00

Chapter 42

'They're coming.' Aiba jumped from the porch to the lawn, the empty bottles clanked against each other. 'I've got the bottles for the rockets and roman candles.' He eagerly ran to the other three guys at the end of the garden, where they were piling up some big stones into four mounds.

'Give me two here.' Matsujun beckoned Aiba to him. He had made two neat slots for the bottles. All of them were preparing a 'stage' to set the display fireworks. Ohno and Sayaka had bought a variety of fireworks for them to play with: roman candles, rockets and fountain fireworks and the unmissable sparklers. Kira also brought some sparklers which told the rest that she might be on to the ryokan weekend plan with Ohno and Sayaka.

While the boys were busy with the preparation, Sayaka, Kira and Haruko sat on the ground, sorting out the various fireworks from their packages. They took a quick look as Sho entered with Mizuno hanging on to him a few seconds after Aiba. Their cheeks flushed as their eyes met each other's, simultaneously reminded of the action they had disrupted in the changing room. 'Well, that was embarassing.' Kira whispered as they all pretended not to see how Sho gently laid Mizuno to sit on the porch, legs hanging down freely at the edge of it.

Haruko nodded. 'I didn't know they were that intimate.' She kept her voice down. 'To me, they don't seem that close earlier.'

'Mizuno has a little aversion to showing affection in public.' Sayaka tore at the plastic packaging of the roman candles. She was deeply horrified at their interruption as well and didn't want to dwell on it too much. 'She had experienced some pretty bad things.'

'From fangirls?' Haruko's curiousity piqued.

'That and at work as well.' Sayaka pulled a stick out. 'I don't know the exact details with the fangirls, but I think she might've been stalked. As for work, they are a lot of jealous people who would do anything to put her down. The company had to transfer her to Osaka after a riff with a former trainee.' She turned to Kira. 'The girl who hit Mizuno quit didn't she?'

'Yes,' Kira replied as she recalled her ex-colleague who attacked Mizuno because she believed Mizuno was dating Sho, 'She did it voluntarily, but I think the company might have pressured her a bit.' She shrugged. 'Kitagawa-san doesn't tolerate violence in the company.'

'Ohh...' Haruko's mouth formed a big 'O'. She found it fascinating to get a glimpse of the idol world. There were so many things she didn't know. 'So that's why Mizuno is so careful with how she acts with Sho in public?'

'Yup and once, she had to disguise herself as a guy in public.' Sayaka crumpled the packaging and put it into a plastic bag. 'She never said how bad it got, but to see her going that far...'

Kira leaned closer to Haruko. 'Our relationships with the guys can only work in secrecy.' Their eyes met. 'Do you understand what I mean? I think the management still doesn't know about you, Sayaka or myself being involved with the Arashi guys.' She crossed her fingers.

Haruko's eyes widened. With Sayaka and Kira looking intently at her, she suddenly felt overwhelmed by their expectations. 'Of... of course. I wouldn't tell anyone! I swear!' She knew an idol's love life ought to remain private and she had prepared herself for that, or so she thought. What she didn't expect was to carry the burden of knowing about the others as well! 'But they knew about Sho and Mizuno?'

Sayaka shrugged. 'Sho kissed her in public once. During the filming of J no Arashi, Ohno said. Not sure if you've seen it.' At Haruko's blank look, it was obvious she hadn't watch it. 'Well, not that they aired the kissing bit. Anyway, the management has been keeping their eyes on them since then.'

'Do they have to have any contract or something?'

'Mizuno didn't say.' Sayaka looked thoughtful. 'She doesn't discuss her work details with me.' Mizuno had become even more secretive of late and it was worrying her slightly. If they talked, it was about something general or about Sayaka's life - rarely about Mizuno. She only knew Mizuno was in a bad shape because it was obvious to see physically. There were times when she did wonder if everything was okay between Sho and Mizuno. However, judging from their kiss in the changing room, it was clear that behind Mizuno's ice cold facade, lies a hidden passionate soul. She didn't see it, but Sho did. No wonder Sho fell for her. Honestly, Sayaka did wonder sometimes how Sho could stand not being in contact with Mizuno and vice versa. Between her and Ohno, not a day gone by without at least a call to say hi. 'Anyway, those two seem to be in deep conversation...'

Kira stole another glance at the couple on the porch. 'Yeah. I wonder what they're talking about? They look serious.'

'Guess we shouldn't call them over...' Haruko said sheepishly.

Sayaka and Kira nodded readily. 'This time, we'll just keep quiet!' None of them wanted to repeat what they did earlier and received the knowing I-told-you-so looks from the other guys. 'Those two need some time alone.'

--->
If you guys are wondering, what J no Arashi? Please refer to Of water and storm. Reckoned Chapter 28-ish. ^^

Okay, no ShoXMizuno yet. Can't sleep and this was the best I can do when one is brain dead but the eyes refused to shut. Sorry about this. Now I'm off to sleep. Sorry for any incoherence in this chapter. --dies--

Chapter 41

2006-05-12T17:34:00.000+01:00

Chapter 41

In the quiet of her bedrrom, Mizuno slowly sat on the double bed, taking her time towel drying her hair. Since her room was designated for the disabled, the room had a bed instead of futons for convenience.

'Sometimes I feel as if you are putting a lot of walls between us even when I try to reach out for you.'

Sho's soft words replayed again and again in her mind. She sighed as she placed the towel next to her. There it was again. Kira and Sayaka had mentioned it before. Do I really seem uncaring and distant to Sho as well? She untied her yukata and slip it off her. But isn't that what's best for us? She frowned, confused as she took a pair of fresh underwear from her duffel bag on the floor beside the bed and exchanged the towel on her body for that, before reaching out for her pyjamas folded neatly in the middle of the bed. It would be bad if our secret is uncovered. She wore her red Felix the cat pyjama bottom and held up its reversible tank top with black 50% Devil on the back and grey 50% Angel on the front. Not 100% angel am I? She chuckled weakly as she decided to wear the grey layer outside before donning her yukata back on again.

'Don't be afraid to reach out for me, angel.'

Mizuno closed her eyes as she tried to sort out her thoughts. Sho's advance in the changing room kept coming back to her making her hungry with want for him. 'Oozora, get a hold of yourself!' She slapped her cheeks as could feel the tingle rose again from her stomach. 'This isn't the time to jump on him!' She winced again as the pain in her thighs returned. The image of her legs clamped around Sho's hips popped into her mind. The feel of her body pressed against his hot hard one sent another blaze through her core. 'Damn it!' She couldn't keep this insanity! Let's just say it was just one of your dreams. It's not real... Then the red three crescents on his back reminded her it was all too real. It had feel too good to be a dream too!

'Damn Sho! Damn him! Damn him!' And she still had to meet him for the fireworks later. 'Calm down, Oozora. Calm down...' She would never show him how much he had affected her. She won't lose to him. How could he be so composed when I'm... I'm... Mizuno shook her head. No freaking way! She plopped down on her bed. 'But how to show that I do care about him?' Without eating him alive. She groaned as that wicked thought came to her. Bloody Sho! She covered her face with a pillow. Must be cool, calm and collected about this. You can do it, Oozora... It took her several long minutes before she could decide on what to do when she met Sho later.

While Mizuno was pondering over her agony, Sho was back in his room and dried himself before slipping on his black boxer brief. God, I have to have her soon! He thought as he tied his yukata. If it was only a few seconds longer, he would have seen her gloriously naked and moaning with desire under him. He cursed. So close! And yet he had promised himself not to rush her. And now I'm contradicting myself. He paced around the room to release the tension in his body. 'Why shouldn't I go to her room and take her now?' He needed a logical reason to maintain the distance between them. His conscience came through.

'Protection...?' He voiced out slowly before going through his bag and wallet to see if he even had one on him. Oh hell no! He didn't have any. Kuso! Well, he knew for sure now that there was no way he could attempt to seduce Mizuno again for the rest of the weekend. Talk about a bummer! His eyes lit up a bit when he thought that the other guys might have some with them, but immediately dashed the thought as it wasn't a one size fit for all. What a big problem for him! Damn! Having a strong responsible streak in him, it sure dampened his enthusiasm. 'Of all the times, why now?' He looked to the ceiling, laughing at the irony of his situation. It was several minutes later, after he tidied up the mess he caused from the search, before coming down the stairs and almost tripped when he saw Mizuno all ready waiting for him in the corridor.

Mizuno nervously looked up at Sho as he was descending the stairs. Damn Sho! How does he do it? Looking calm and all?! She grinned, pulling all her acting skills into action. 'I thought you might want some of these.' She opened her right palm to reveal three blue chococat plasters in them.

Sho raised an amused eyebrow. 'Whatever for?' It was the last thing he would've expected Mizuno to say. He stood an arm's length away from her, resisting the urge to run his hand through her hair which she had left untied.

Mizuno blushed. 'For your back. I... Umm... I...' She stumbled to find the right words. 'I... Sort of... Well...' It was harder than she thought. Her idea was to prove to herself and Sho that she wasn't so affected by their tryst in the changing room. 'Why don't I just put them for you?' She rushed the words out, wanting to get it over and done with. 'On your left side.'

Sho was shocked. He didn't know she had left a mark on him! He didn't feel a thing back in the changing room. Besides, her nails were short. That thought made his good intention wavered immensely. 'Well, if you say so...' He took his left arm from his yukata sleeve before shrugging the left side of his yukata off his shoulder. 'Be gentle with me, Oozora.'

'This will be quick!' Mizuno kept a stiff grin as she took two steps to stand behind him. Her eyes widened when she saw the cut up close. Although the impressions from her nails were the most evident, there were also five red streaks running over his left shoulder blade. Her fingers fumbled with the plasters. 'I hope you don't have a topless photoshoot next week.' She kept her voice light.

'Oh...?' Sho couldn't help teasing her. 'Is it that bad?'

Mizuno bit her tongue. This guy!!! She pressed the plaster hard on his cut and was rewarded when his muscles flexed slightly. 'They will disappear soon enough.'

Standing still, Sho wished he knew what was going on in Mizuno's mind. Although he could hear the other people playing happily in the garden outside, he couldn't believe that she was voluntarily touching his body in the middle of the corridor where anyone could just walk passed by, when in the changing room, she was trying to make herself as small as possible! Oozora, what kind of game are you playing with me?

'Right, I'm done.' Mizuno clapped her hands before raising Sho's yukata sleeve up. 'Here, give me your arm...'

Intrigued, Sho let her help him get dressed again. He put his arm in and watched silently as Mizuno fussed over the left flap of his yukata, trying to work it on top of the right flap while being constrained by the belt. He held his breath as her right knuckles brushed against his collarbone as she pulled the left flap over to the right.

Mizuno could feel herself going red again at the skin contact. She didn't dare to look up at Sho's face and thus kept her gaze on his chest, the hollow in his collarbone and the vein popping on his neck. She swallowed as she finally finished her task. 'Ha...ha...' She nervously patted his chest with her hands. 'Now you're decent again.'

'Oozora...' Sho caught her hands in his. 'Why are you doing this?' He pulled her to his chest and forced her to meet his eyes. 'There is nothing decent I can think about you right now.' His voice was low and seductive.

Mizuno trembled as she could read the desire in his eyes. 'I... I...' Her lips felt dry. She licked them.

Sho groaned. He pulled her to the stairs hiding them from view, trapping her between him and the wall. 'What is it?' His voice became deeper. He held on to his last vestige of control.

Mizuno closed her eyes. 'I'm trying, Sho.' Her voice wavered as she opened her eyes. 'I don't know how you expect me to reach out for you.' She met his gaze. 'It's hard for me to express my feelings for you openly.' She could feel Sho easing himself off of her. Her frustration was coming out of her now. 'I know I am not as affectionate as Sayaka or Kira or Haruko, but it doesn't mean that I don't like you anymore or that you are in a one sided relationship.' Her fisted her hands on her sides when Sho released them from his hold. 'What do you want me to do? Text you 21 times a day? Call you 12 times daily? Bring you lunch every damn da...'

Sho didn't let her finish. He put his right thumb on her mouth to stop her from sputtering the nonsense. 'No, Oozora, you don't have to do that.' His voice gentled as he caressed her bottom lip. His left arm hooked around her hips, tying them together. 'I'm sorry. On hindsight, I think I did put on a certain expectation on you.' His thumb ran along her left cheekbone. 'And stupid me only realised just now that you never asked for anything from me.'

It was true. He thought back of all the months they were apart from each other. Mizuno never demanded him to give her a call. Never asked him to reply her texts or forced him to make time to go out with her. And when she knew he was busy, she only contact him if there was something important. She would just go happily along when it was convenient to both of them. And yet, he was expecting her to make time for him even when he knew she was busy. Dropping by unannounced whenever he felt like it. She was afraid of being caught, but he kept pushing his luck. 'I'm sorry. Am I a burden to you?'

Mizuno nodded once. 'Yes, sometimes you are.' She could see Sho wincing at her reply. 'And I am. We are.' She tugged on his yukata. 'Umm... Sho, can we sit down, first?' Her feet started to hurt again.

'Oh, yes, sure.' Sho immediately lifted her up on his arms. 'On the stairs?'

'Yes, here's fine, I gue...'

'Oi you two!' Aiba suddenly called out from one end of the corridor. 'Are you not joining us?' He was carrying a couple of empty bottles.

Sho looked at Mizuno. Mizuno nodded, she felt she would be safer amongst company than being alone with him. 'Yes, we're coming.' He replied as he walked towards the tv room where Aiba had disappeared to. 'Oozora, we are continuing this conversation outside.'

Mizuno had her arms around his neck. 'I think it's long overdue.' She leaned her head on his chest and drew in a deep breath.

'What is it?' Sho caught her determined eyes when she looked up at him.

'I have something to tell you.'

--->
Kuso - Damn

Chapter 40

2006-05-09T16:37:00.000+01:00

Chapter 40

It was the only thing he could think of to shut her up. Sho was simply going to ask Mizuno to dry his hair for him, but kissing her was infinitely better that his original intention. His left arm came around her and settled on the small of her back, pulling her to the edge of the counter, pulling her closer to him.

A moan escaped from Mizuno.

Louder... Sho silently encouraged as he tilted his head to the left. The sound was heaven to him. Their tongues tangled, fanning a searing heat deep within their body. The towel covering Mizuno's head slithered down her back unnoticed. The one on her legs was pushed up to her lap. Sho sucked on her bottom lip drawing another long moan from Mizuno.

'Sho...' Mizuno managed to breathe out before Sho once again claimed her mouth. Her lips were moist, red and swollen.

Louder... Sho's right hand went up her side, cupping her left breast. He felt Mizuno's sharp intake of breath. Louder, Oozora... He traced her fullness underneath the towel before hooking three fingers on the edge of the towel. His thumb circled the sensitive nub.

'OH MY GOD!'

Sho tore his lips away from her. His breathing ragged. It wasn't Mizuno.

'Oh my God, oh my God...' Sayaka's mouth was wide open as she stood at the doorway of the changing room. Haruko was beside her looking shocked and embarassed at the same time.

Sho and Mizuno turned to look at the unexpected presence. Mizuno was having a hard time focussing on the intruders, but when she saw pink silhouettes, she knew this time it was definitely the other girls. She was still breathing unevenly as she burrowed her face on Sho's left shoulder.

Sho was doing a better job at controlling his erratic breathing. He noticed that Sayaka's eyes were focussed on his right hand. 'So...' His voice was thick as his fingers released their hold on Mizuno's towel. 'What brings you here?' He began casually as he pulled the other towel on the counter to cover Mizuno's head again.

'We... we heard a scream and... and...' Sayaka didn't know where to look as Sho's eyes regarded Haruko and her lazily, as if there was nothing unusual with the situation they were in. 'And we thought Mizuno might be in trouble.' She felt like she had to explain their intrusion. 'Like... like... you might take advantage of her...' She gulped. 'And... and...' Let me die just now! This time her intuition was wrong! Mizuno was clearly not being 'taken advantage' by Sho. Even if she couldn't see Mizuno's face, she could see that Mizuno's left hand was buried in Sho's hair and her other hand was digging into Sho's back. And if there ever was any doubt of Mizuno's willingness, she was rest assured with Mizuno's legs clamping around Sho's hips. Somebody kill me!

Sho cleared his throat, but that still wouldn't immediately vanish the red flush on his cheeks. 'Well, let me assure you that...'

'Hey, what's going on here?' Another voice interrupted Sho from the corridor. It was Kira's. She and Matsujun had just entered the back door when they heard a scream followed by the rush of footsteps towards the onsen. Naturally, they followed and by the time they reached the corridor to the changing room, they saw Aiba, Ohno and Nino standing outside the room.

'Oh, it was just Mizuno.' Nino replied as the couple went past him to enter the room. 'And Sho.' He added, effectively stopping Matsujun from following Kira inside. Matsujun raised an eyebrow and the rest of the guys exchanged knowing glances. Since they did not enter the room, Sho couldn't accuse them of being a crashing nuisance later on. They had done their best.

Kira didn't share the guys' common sense and walked in. 'What happened he...' She screamed. 'I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it! I didn't know!' That followed by her profuse apologies told the four guys outside that they had made the right decision.

Sho's patience ran low even when his right hand gently massaged reassurance on Mizuno's spine. 'As I was saying, you ladies have nothing to worry about.' He stopped short when Mizuno's legs slowly fell to his sides and her hands released theri tight hold on him. 'I'm taking good care of her.' He flashed an innocent smile at the three dumbstruck girls at the doorway. 'I was going to put plasters on her feet.' The girls nodded. 'So can you leave us alone now?' Eventhough his voice was calm, there was a trace of irritation on his lips.

'Right away!' Kira grabbed Haruko and Sayaka's arms. 'We'll see you guys later. We're going to have some fireworks!' And within seconds they were gone and the door slid shut.

Sho let out a sigh of relief as he heard the footsteps moving away from the room. However, at the same time, Mizuno pushed him away and went further back on the counter, spreading the towel crumpled on her lap back on her legs again. Talk about awkward. He rubbed the back of his neck. Mizuno had disappeared into her white cocoon and he was standing pressed against the wooden counter, thankful that it had helped him control his more baser instinct and hid his full form.

'Like I said,' Sho spun quickly, not wanting Mizuno to see that he still wanted her even after the interruption, 'I'm going to get the plasters now.' He walked to Mizuno's basket where he spied the blue chococat plaster box on her neatly folded yukata. 'Why don't you dry yourself first. You're wet.' That drew a surprised gasp out of Mizuno. 'We spilled the tea somehow.' He said nonchalantly referring to the green tea bottle now on the floor and the pool of tea dripping down Mizuno right leg and the counter.

'I know!' Mizuno growled between gritted teeth as she automatically crossed her knees together. Her right leg over the left. She could just feel the cocky smirk on his face as she wiped her leg and the table furiously with the towel which was covering her head earlier. How can he regained his composure so quickly?! She was still embarassed when they were walked in by her friends, more so when her eyes chanced upon the three red crescents on the edge of his left shoulder blade where her fingers had dug in his skin. I did not just do that... Colour fused back into her body as the details became clearer. Bloody Sho!

Meanwhile, Sho took his time unfolding his yukata. He needed the respite to calm the flame in his groin and to give time for the rattled Mizuno to regain her composure, of course. Since she had pushed him away, it wasn't in him to, as Sayaka put it, "take advantage" of her even if he knew he could and she would yield eventually. He chuckled silently. Oozora doth protests too much...

--Poof!--

A crumpled damp towel hit the back of Sho's head as he was putting on his yukata. 'Once you're all dressed, just leave me be.' Mizuno said as she stared a hole on his head. 'I can put the plasters myself.' She saw his shoulders shook just then and she just knew what he was thinking about. Sho, you arrogant jerk! I'm not that easy!

Sho smiled as he tied his obi, belt of the yukata. 'But I promised.' He snatched the packet and walked back to Mizuno who was glowering at him. 'This time it won't be so rough, angel.' As he drank in the sight of the furious, but thoroughly kissed Mizuno, he made a secret new vow. He'd make sure their first time would be just the two of them and it won't be a five minute lusty affair. The sooner the better..., he added as an afterthought.

Unaware of Sho's future intention for them, Mizuno closed her eyes in frustration and concentrated on trying to get through her present predicament. 'Just give the plasters to me!' His pout did nothing to assure her! She realised she had little defence against him if he chose to tempt her again. Damn Sho!

Sho ignored her as sat back on the chair on took her right ankle and inspected it. 'Oozora...' He said as he pulled the towel covering her legs to the floor, 'You don't have to hide the bruises away from me.'

'Wha... What are you talking about?' Mizuno replied incredulously as she was taken aback by Sho's sudden turn to seriousness.

Sho took several plasters out of the packet and laid it on his lap. 'Sometimes I feel as if you are putting a lot of walls between us even when I try to reach out for you.' He stuck one plaster on the cut on the back of her ankle where her shoe had dug into her skin. The other blisters on her toes and the ball of her feet were caused by friction. 'These must have hurt.' He tended to each one of them before moving to her other foot.

Mizuno kept still and silent as he administered her damaged skin. 'Sho...' She called out to him as he was putting the last plaster on her foot. He looked up. 'Suki desu.' I like you.

Sho's breath caught at the intensity of her dark eyes boring into his. His fingers quickly finished its job. 'Oozora, what is it?' He reached for her hand, but she dodged them as she leapt to the ground.

'Ah... It's not that bad anymore. This onsen must be very effective!' Mizuno took her yukata out of her basket and immediately put it on. 'Looks like I'll be good as new by Monday.' She tied her obi finishing with a nice bow on her right side. She would get rid of the towel in favour of her pyjamas later.

'I'll walk you to your room.' Sho simply said as he opened the door for her.

'There's no need.' Mizuno waved him away. 'Don't you need to take off your towel too? And they said something about fireworks?' She walked off. 'Ahh... It's been a while since I play with fireworks~~~'

Sho followed her. 'I'll see you to your room.' He stopped at her doorway after she entered her room. 'Oozora,' he began to slide the door shut. 'You're doing it again.' The door closed with a click. 'Don't be afraid to reach out for me, angel.' And with that he left and went up the stairs. It might not be much, but he felt that she was slowly opening up to him, even if she scrambled to hide again. 'One step at a time...' He mumbled as his feet took on each step towards the upper floor. 'One step at a time...'

--->
Obi - The yukata's belt
Suki desu - I like you

Ha...ha... Surprisingly you guys don't have to wait for long again! --stupid Sho!-- The last cliffie kept calling, so I had to continue it. I don't know what else to say. The scene is up a notch again. Is it okay? --first time I'm bordering the explicit boundary-- Or is it all ready......? --runs away--

Chapter 39b

2006-05-07T20:50:00.000+01:00

Chapter 39b

'What's the chord again?' Haruko checked with Nino as her fingers moved to their positions on the guitar's neck. Nino and her had been entertaining Aiba, Sayaka and Ohno on the porch outside the tv room.

Nino strummed the note on his guitar. 'This one...' They were refreshing their memories of a song Ohno had requested them to play. Somehow Aiba had managed to get them to do the music while he and the other couple sang to their hearts' content. 'Aiba, next time do remember to bring your karaoke machine! So annoying...' He whined as he listened to Haruko perfecting the score.

'Haruko doesn't mind, right Haruko-chan~~~' Aiba slid behind Haruko and gave her shoulders a massage.

'Hai~~~' Haruko replied happily. Aiba's cheerfulness was infectious.

--Pap!--

Aiba winced as Nino slapped him hard on the head. 'Get off her, baka!'

Haruko chuckled and stopped playing as Aiba made a big drama about his pain. 'Nino, don't hit him. It was nice.' She patted Aiba's head. 'There... There... Thank you for the massage.'

Nino pushed Aiba away from Haruko. 'He doesn't need it. Probably didn't feel it as his head is full of air.'

Aiba looked shocked. 'That is so mean, Nino.' He went to Ohno and Sayaka. 'He is mean, Leader!'

'Yes, Nino is mean.' Ohno agreed as he controlled his laughters. 'Nino shame on you!'

'But of course...' Nino sounded proud of that accusation.

The girls just laughed at the three idiotic guys around them. 'Hmm... I wonder when the rest are going to join us?' Sayaka asked out of the blue as she saw the hands on the grandfather's clock in the tv room. She couldn't help but worry about her other guests.

Ohno stopped laughing. 'Sayaka, don't fret. Jun and Kira are probably walking around taking in the fresh air here.' When he went to the kitchen to get more snacks, he noticed that Kira's car was still parked in the backyard.

'Well, I'm not too worried about those two, it's Mizuno and Sho...' Sayaka turned to the clock again. 'I think they've been in the onsen for too long. What if they fainted?'

Nino snickered. 'Trust me. Sho knows what he's doing.'

Aiba nodded. 'He'll take care of everything.'

Haruko tilted her head to one side. 'Well, maybe we should just check. Maybe Sho was just waiting for Mizuno in the changing room and Mizuno could be unconscious in the onsen.'

'Impossible!' The three guys said in unison. Seemed like Haruko still wouldn't believe the 'gentleman' Sho would actually join Mizuno in the hot spring.

'I agree with Haruko.' Sayaka slid over to Haruko. 'Let's check on Mizuno, at least.'

Aiba, Nino and Ohno rolled their eyes. 'We really don't have to do that.'

'What if Sho is taking advantage of Mizuno when she is unconscious?' Sayaka replied stubbornly. The guys might understood Sho, but she knew Mizuno. She noticed just how Mizuno wasn't her usual strong self. Even if she had a black belt in karate, Sayaka could see that Mizuno didn't have the strength to push Sho off if she wanted to, and she had the strong urge to protect her best friend.

No refute came from the three Arashi members. Well, Sho wouldn't do it, but there is a small possibility... They eyed each other as the second thought entered their heads. But it wouldn't be cool for us to interrupt his game... It was wo girls against the three of them and for once they didn't know what to do. They knew they were defeated. Sho would kill us!

'Well, I'm going to check on them.' Sayaka made up her mind and got ready to stand up.

'Wait!' Ohno raised his hand up. 'Let's go after one song! After one song...'

'Nino start playing!' Aiba jumped in enthusiastically. They had to delay the girls. 'Haruko, you play too. Duet... Duet!'

And thus, without knowing it, Sho's bandmates managed to hold Sayaka and Haruko off from interrupting his precious alone time with Mizuno, even as he was trying to mend his case of foot in mouth at the onsen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Mizuno, there's nothing going on between Kira and me, okay.' Sho said exasperatedly. 'I'm being used!'

'Riiiigggghhhtttt....'

'It's true!' Sho turned only to meet the back of Mizuno's head over the boulder. 'And you know it too.' He splashed some water at Mizuno. 'Why are you changing the subject anyway?'

Mizuno brought a hand to her head as if trying to wipe the water off of her. 'I'm not changing the subject. It was related.' She knew she was being petty when she knew Sho had nothing romantically to do with Kira, but it didn't stop her from feeling jealous and angry at the mere thought of it.

'Oozora, I was asking you about your choregraphy.'

'And you were only asking that because I got pissed at Kira.'

'That's not true.'

'Don't lie, Sho.'

'Okay, not entirely true. I admit, I was surprised when you blew your top at Kira, but I have nothing to do with her. Not in the past and definitely not now. Believe me.' Sho sighed. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. 'Oozora, we haven't been talking to each other much for the past few months. Isn't it natural for me to worry about you?'

'Well, don't worry. I'm fine, thank you.' Mizuno lied through her teeth and it didn't work.

'So bandages and plasters are the latest accessories these days is it?' Sho said mockingly. 'You were limping.'

'Sho...' Mizuno's head lowered from his gaze. 'I really don't want to talk about my work.'

'Is your work more important than me?'

Mizuno stilled for a long moment. 'That's not fair, Sho.'

Her dejected voice pierced through his heart. 'I'm sorry, you're right, that wasn't a fair question.' Sho unconsciously reached for a few strands of her hair. She didn't move away. 'What I mean to say is, you shouldn't keep too many things inside you. If there is a burden on your shoulders, I want you to share it with me.' His fingers slid down to draw a line on her right shoulder.

Mizuno moved further from the boulder leaving Sho to glide to the side of the boulder where he can see her better. The combination of steaming pool and with only lights from lanterns hanging on the roof over the edge of the onsen, there wasn't much he could see of her except for her straight wet hair plastered to her neck and back. 'Your hair is longer.' It reached a few inches past her shoulders.

'It grew.'

'Are you going to keep it long?' Secretly, Sho wanted to see her with her long hair hanging freely, framing her face and caressing her shoulder blades. Most of the time, her hair was hidden under her cap or hoodie or tied in a ponytail. He wanted to run his fingers through the silken threads.

'I'm going to shave it.'

'Oozora, I'm sorry okay. I shouldn't ask for the ultimatum just now.' It was a slip which Sho regretted immensely. He sounded like a selfish bastard.

'Sho, can you get out.'

'But...'

'I don't feel too good.'

'Huh?' Sho perked up with concern.

'If you don't go out, I can't get out.'

'Oh! You're dizzy?!' Sho panicked. He started for Mizuno.

'Don't come near me and just get out quickly, baka Sho!' Mizuno screamed as she could feel the waves hitting her.

Sho stopped. 'Oh, right...' He reversed. 'I'm out.' He pulled himself over the edge and wrapped his towel around his hips. 'Now you hurry.'

'OUTSIDE!' Mizuno's head throbbed. The heat of the hot spring finally got to her, but she'd be damned if she was going to parade naked in front of Sho!

'Ah, sorry.' Quick as a flash Sho slid open the door, entered the changing room and shut the door. 'I'm out.'

Mizuno waited for a few seconds until she was sure Sho wasn't around before paddling back to the edge. She wiped her face before wrapping the towel around her body. She needed to get somewhere cooler. Her visions were a bit blurred, but she managed to pick up her bucket and walked over to the door. 'Kuso...' She muttered as she slid the door open.

'Give me your bucket.' Sho immediately snatched the bucket away from her and put it on the floor. Then he pulled her towards him as he put a hand on her forehead. 'How are you feeling?'

A part of Mizuno's brain was ringing warning bells when their wet towel-clad bodies made contact. Another part didn't care as her legs buckled under her and Sho wholly supported her weight. 'Sorry...' She mumbled onto Sho's neck.

'Don't worry.' Sho replied as he picked her up and closed the door with his foot. 'Let's get you dry and in your yukata first.' Under the bright white light in the changing room, for the first time he noticed green and purple bruises running from Mizuno's feet up to her knees and also on her arms. The blisters on her toes and ankles looked painful. He placed her on a side wooden counter where a couple of white towels were folded neatly on it. He grabbed one and wrapped it around her shoulders. Then spread another one over her legs.

'Breath slowly and deeply...' He said gently as he walked over to his basket on the cupboard rack adjacent to the counter. He took a bottle of green tea, which he had grabbed from the refridgerator before entering there earlier. He twisted the cap open and tilted the bottle to Mizuno's lips. 'Here, drink this.'

Mizuno took the bottle between her hands and drank thirstily. Sho stood back before grabbing a chair and sitting in front of her. 'Slowly angel...' He smiled indulgently as he took off the towel hiding her legs and began using it to pat her legs dry.

Mizuno choked as she felt Sho's warm hand holding her right ankle. 'Sh... Sho...!'

'Hmm...?' Sho took his eyes of the leg he was patting. 'I told you to drink slowly.'

'What...' Mizuno cleared her throat. 'What do you think you're doing?' She brought her knees together. However, she didn't slap him or kick him away.

'I'm going to put some plasters on your feet after I finish drying your legs.'

The cool air and drink had cleared Mizuno's fuzzy vision. She could see clearly that Sho only had a towel wrapped around his hips and water droplets were sliding down the length of his spine from his hair as he bent down to pay extra attention to her foot. Oh Lord! Her right foot twitched when Sho pressed his thumb gently on the site of the blister at the ball of her foot. 'Itai...' She drew a harsh breath in.

'Sorry, angel.' Sho raised the foot up and blew on it. 'Is that better?'

Mizuno didn't say anything. Better? It sent an exquisite shiver throughout her body.

'Are you cold?' Sho let her foot down carefully as he stood up and leaned towards her. 'Maybe I should dry your hair first.'

Before he could take the towel off her shoulders, Mizuno had it in her grasp. 'I can manage!' The words were rushed.

'Okay.' Sho simply said as he returned to his seat and began working on her left leg.

The little circular massage he did on the sides of her ankle as he patted her leg dry was driving Mizuno mad! Even if she could hide her flaming face under the towel as she work on drying her hair, she couldn't hide the delicious trembles on her leg. Since when is my foot so sensitive?! Sho ran a hand under her leg and she swallowed back a moan. Maybe it's because of the bruises... Something clicked in her head. Bruises!

Suddenly a towel was enveloping Sho's head and Mizuno twisted her ankle free of his hold. He sat straight and pulled the towel down. 'Oozora...?' He looked at her questioningly as she scrambled to cover her legs with another towel.

'Why don't you dry yourself first Sho.' Mizuno smiled uncertainly as she kept the towel wrapped around her legs. 'I'm okay here. You're going to get a cold if you don't.'

Sho raised an eyebrow and without a word began patting his arms and shoudlers dry before going further down to his abdomen. Never once did he let his eyes away from her.

'Don't forget your hair.' Mizuno stammered as her eyes darted everywhere else in the room except at him. She had cocooned herself in white towels, making sure nothing was exposed to him. And she was sure that was why she couldn't move an inch away from his lazy gaze. The play of his firm biceps as he brought the towel all over his body greatly unnerved her. Why can't he do it any faster?! The deliberate slowness of the towel going from his neck to his chest and then his tight abdominal muscles were killing her!

'My hair?' Sho picked a few strand of his wet black hair in between his fingers. 'Hmm...' That was his only warning before his face appeared a nose away from her.

'KYAAAAA!!!!!!' Mizuno screamed and was immediately hushed when Sho slip his tongue into her mouth and gave her a deep hot kiss.

--->
Itai - Ouch
Baka - Idiot

See... I told you I'd be good to ShoxMizuno. Fu...fu...fu... And to you lot too with the quick update this time. Ho...ho...ho... How did you like it? Heh...heh...heh... I swear it is still rated 15! ^^;;;

Chapter 39

2006-05-07T05:21:00.000+01:00

Chapter 39

After her initial fooling around in the onsen, Mizuno finally settled to one end of the pool facing the hills and the sky. She used one of the five big boulders scattered in the pool to support her back as she swayed her arms gently in front of her creating waves reverberating throughout the pool. She observed them with fascination and contentment. The only sounds surrounding her were of nature and her own breathing. Her hands came together to scoop up some water. 'With thy minerals and heat, let me heal~~~' The water trickled down on her face as she tilted her hands up above her. It was said that hot springs were found to be effective in healing battle wounds over a thousand years.

Mizuno closed her eyes as her muscles relax, not even opening them when she heard the entrance door slid open and shut. Hmm... So one of the girls decided to join me eh? She raised a hand up. 'Don't worry, I'm not feeling faint at all!'

'Well, that's good to know.'

The newcomer's deep voice startled Mizuno into opening her eyes. Okay, Oozora. Now you are hearing things in your head. It can't be Sho! He won't enter here since he knows you're in it. She felt the water rippling as her companion dipped into the pool. 'Nice view isn't it? Even without stars or moon in the sky.'

'Yes, it's a nice view indeed...'

Mizuno felt goosebumps on her neck as the tone turned to a very familiar husky teasing tone. It can't be! She turned slowly, keeping the water up to her shoulders, to peek over the boulder shielding her from the other person in the onsen. Her jaw dropped as she pointed shakily at the intruder. 'What are you doing here, Sho?!'

Sho winced slightly at the shrill of her voice before he flashed her a sexy grin. 'The onsen is more enjoyable with a partner...' His grin widened as he saw her eyes moved down to his six-packs above the water curiously. 'Much like food and sex.' The last word made her eyes jumped up to his face. Shock, embarassment and, finally, fury blazed in her eyes.

'Sho, you get out of here now!' Mizuno crossed her arms about her chest. 'I prefer to enjoy this onsen alone!' She gritted her teeth. This hentai baka! What is he thinking? Onsen like food and se... se... ARGH!!!

Sho chuckled as he neared the boulder separating her from him. 'Now now... It's not much fun doing it alone, Oozora.'

Mizuno moved close to the boulder, making sure the boulder hid most of her body from Sho. 'Don't come near me! Stay there! You can sit at that end!' She tilted her chin up to where the onsen met the dry platform where her wooden bucket with their towels in it was sitting. 'Hold on, why did you put your towel in my bucket too?!'

Sho shrugged as he came face to face with Mizuno. 'To keep it dry. Besides, I'm not supposed to wear anything in the water... Like you.' He touched her nose with his wet finger. 'Relax Oozora~~~' He laughed when Mizuno blinked at the contact.

Instead of calming her, Sho's words brought the tension back into her body. However, the tension this time was different from the one earlier. 'Of course I knew that. No clothes and... and...' Mizuno stammered. Why the freaking heck did I just said? Confirming I'm naked like him?! Her cheeks were getting hotter as she realised something. He's naked too?! Oh God, I do not need to know that! She wanted to slap him or push him away, but somehow she was transfixed to her spot, unable to move as she kept looking warily at him and his unclad fit body. At least his modesty is under water. Argh!! What am I thinking?! 'Ju... Just don't come over to my side.' Her face was burning as she free one arm to make a slicing action on the boulder. 'This is the boundary. Don't cross it or I'll hurt you, Sho!'

'You can cross over any time.' Sho winked at her in reply. It wasn't everyday he got to see a very unsettled Mizuno... and without clothes on too. 'I'll satisfy you, Oozora...'

This guy is really... Mizuno gave him a glare that could sway dragons before turning her back to him. 'I'll be more satisfied if you leave me alone.'

'Liar.' Sho said with confidence.

Liar. Mizuno agreed in her head. Ah! Damn! She splashed water on to her exposed face and neck. 'Why can't I get any peace here?' She muttered under her breath.

'What's that, Oozora?' Sho said before submerging himself in the water quickly. 'You want a piece of me?' He resurfaced.

'Urusei!' Mizuno slid further down until the water came to her chin. 'I am not talking to you, baka!'

Sho raised an eyebrow as she disappeared behind the rock. Oh... She sure plays hard to get. His wicked grin appeared. But games are fun~~~ He towered over the boulder and looked down on her. 'What a pity...'

Mizuno stared wide-eyed at Sho's face hovering above her. Her left eye shut as a water droplet slid down from Sho's wet hair. 'SHO!!!'

Sho threw his head back before Mizuno's claws could reach him and laughed. 'What a pity...' The water was too dark for him to see any of her delectable assets due to the shadow casted by the boulder as well as lack of light. 'You don't have to be shy around me. It's not fair if you're the only one who get to see my body.'

Mizuno sat up, but still keeping the water just under her armpits. She threw daggers over her left shoulder to Sho's pouting face. 'It was at plain sight! I didn't mean it!' She bit her bottom lip in frustration.

Sho's pout disappeared as he ran his tongue unconsciously on his lips. Lust gnawed in him as his eyes met hers. He doubted that she realised how beautiful she was with her wet hair framing her flushed face and her mouth glistening with moisture. If she did, boy, she sure was a tease! As the seconds lengthened, he noticed that the fury in her eyes changed into a different kind of fire. 'Oozora...' His voice came out deeper than he expected.

At the mention of her name, their gaze was broken as Mizuno quickly turned away and dipped into the water again. Why is he looking at me like that for? And his voice... Her heart was beating fast and loud that she feared he might heard her. Beneath the water, her body was trembling slightly and she scooped more water to wash her face again, hoping to calm herself down. This is ridiculous! Images of Sho's wet well-toned body kept assaulting her. His dark hot hooded eyes and the way her ran his tongue on his lips just then... So sexy... So tempting... Great kisser as he is... Ah! NOOO!!!! She massaged the sides of her forehead. Remember that your body is a mess and you are here to relax! Play it cool... Don't let him get to you...

As Mizuno once again disappeared from his view, Sho was slightly relieved that she did. He could feel his control slipping faster than he had anticipated. Damn! She's killing me stiff! He dived down and stayed underwater as long as he could. Oh hell! He breathed deeply as he leaned back on the boulder. Think of something else! At the rate his imagination was going with a bare-skinned Mizuno just behind the boulder with no one else to disturb them, he was in a rather uncomfortable and painful condition. He had to distract himself from the mental and physical torture he was in! 'Oozora, have you finished your choreography?'

'What?' Mizuno croaked at the sudden serious question from Sho. Talk about a mood killer! What the heck is he playing at?! She cleared her throat before answering again. 'Yes, I've completed it yesterday.'

'Is it good?'

'What is that supposed to mean?' Mizuno's body stiffened automatically at what she perceived as an insulting question.

Judging from her defensive tone, Sho knew he had made a bad move. 'Don't take it the wrong way, Oozora.' Oh boy... 'I was only asking.'

'Of course it's good.' Mizuno sneered. 'Why wouldn't it be?' She sat back up.

Sho sighed inwardly. Maybe I should've just kept my mouth shut! He looked up to the sky. 'Oozora, don't you think you're being a bit too sensitive with your choreography these days?'

'Screw you, Sakurai!' Mizuno thundered as she punched the water.

Sho flinched when the water splashed onto his bare shoulders. Talk about a distraction! He'd be lucky if Mizuno would even talk to him after this! 'Did you have a problem at work?' Since he had started it, might as well get the whole thing out in the open now. 'Tell me about it, maybe we could work something ou...'

'Oh, so you're defending Kira now?' There was no mistaking the anger and disappointment in Mizuno's voice. 'Maybe you're the one who need to tell me something!'

Sho's jaw tightened in frustration. So she really took to heart what those two idiots had said earlier. He knew where this conversation could lead to and he wasn't looking forward to it. Not at all...

--->
Hentai - Lewd, pervert(ed)
Urusei - Shut up; Noisy

Okay... I don't know what to say about this chapter. Not what you guys are expecting or just as what you think would happen? A sudden big blow up (?) towards the ending... No!!!
Hmm... Anyone expecting H-scenes (ha...ha...), I think the scene here is still PG. Just in case any underage is reading this, I had to compromise. :X If it's over the rating, please tell me. Ha...ha... ^^;; Such a short chapter, will continue to part b.

Chapter 38

2006-04-30T15:24:00.000+01:00

Chapter 38

'What are you doing?!' Kira finally pulled her hand away from Matsujun's tight grasp causing both of them to stop in their tracks. 'Where are you taking me?' She looked around nervously at the trees surrounding them, the air was still except for the occasional whirling of insects breaking the silent and dark night.

Matsujun ran a hand through his hair. They weren't too far away from the ryokan as its light could still reach them, but they were far enough for their voices to be carried to the establishment. Kira was panting hard as she bent down to make her breathing easier. His chest heaved up and down as he too drew in more air into his lungs. When they had stormed out of the house, he realised that neither he nor Kira had her car key and instead of turning back to retrieve it, he continued dragging her into the woods the boys had explored earlier during the day.

'Jun...' Kira managed in between her ragged breath, 'I'm sorry.'

Matsujun didn't reply. There it was again, her apology. He studied her shuddering form, not a word came to his mind. He was at a loss of what to do when suddenly something caught his eyes. A familiar necklace slipped from Kira's yukata and hung suspended in the air. The Claddagh. It was the necklace he gave her on the last Valentine's day. Hands for friendship. Heart for love. And the crown for... He reached down to put the weight of the necklace on the palm of his hand.

Kira was startled at the intrusion and immediately straightened her spine. 'Jun...?' Her hands immediately went to her necklace.

'Loyalty.' Matsujun breathed out before turning away, his hands on his hips. What the hell am I doing? Both of them didn't say another word until their breathing had calmed down and almost executed identically. Their little exercise served to clear away their highly strung minds and emotions. Matsujun turned back to face the dishevelled looking Kira. 'I'm sorry, Kira. I didn't know you felt that I'm leaving you out from my life.'

Kira's breath caught. 'Maybe I was just being paranoid...' Her lips wavered as she was finally able to digest all the words Matsujun had thrown at her during their arguments earlier. 'I'm sorry I was out of line.'

'Don't cry, Kira.' Matsujun stepped forward and drew her into his arms. With the cloud of anger fading away, he began to make his amends to his girlfriend. 'Maybe I've been blowing this out of proportion too. I'm sorry.' Mizuno's attack on Kira and Sho's reprimanding them made him realised that they had inadvertantly brought other people into their conflict and had ruined the night for everyone at the ryokan. On top of that, he was once again reminded that he would rather see Kira smiling rather than crying. 'But I am serious about us taking a step back in our relationship.'

'Why? Can't we just continue as we were before?' Kira raised her head to meet his eyes. Her eyes large and pleading.

Matsujun reached for her hands. 'You don't trust me completely and after what had happened...' He squeezed her hands. 'My trust in you is shaky as well.'

'So you're saying we have to build up our trust in each other again?'

'Yes.' Matsujun planted a kiss on her forehead. 'I'm not breaking up with you, Kira. But for now, we would be better off taking things slow. Do you understand me?' It hurt him knowing Kira was suspicious of him when he thought had given her no cause for such things.

Kira nodded. 'We're not breaking up right?' She needed assurance.

'We're not.'

'So what do we do now?' Kira pulled away from his embrace. She didn't know how long it would take to gain Matsujun's trust again, but she didn't mind as long as she could still be by his side. She brushed her tears away as she regained her composure and smiled at him.

Matsujun felt a load on his shoulders had melted away with that smile. 'I suppose we should get back to the ryokan and apologize to the others.'

'Especially Sho and Mizuno.' Kira winced as she was reminded of the two being furious with them.

A loud sigh was drawn out from Matsujun. 'Yes, those two. We better prepare to grovel, just in case.' He gave Kira a teasing smile.

Kira chuckled nervously. She had missed talking and sharing laughs with him. 'I guess we should walk back slowly and hope they've calmed down too.'

'Your hand...' Matsujun bowed slightly as he offered his hand to Kira. It wasn't that far to go back to the ryokan, but, as he took her hand in his, he hoped their friendship could stand the unpredictable journey in their love and the tests of their loyalty towards each other. 'Let's go.' They took the first steps together. 'Slowly now...'

Meanwhile at the ryokan, Mizuno had finished cleaning and washing up and was about to step into the steaming onsen. 'Ahh... The hotspring only for me~~~' She tested the water tentatively with her right foot. 'Atsui...' The water was hot, but bearable. She put her wooden bucket down and shed off her white towel before slowly entering the water. The feel of the water on her naked skin was soothing. She could feel the tension in her muscles ebbing away.

She paddled around in the pool, splashing water everywhere, enjoying having the onsen all to herself. 'This is the life~~~' She mumbled happily as she tried to swim in the water, which is a major no-no in the onsen etiquette. At that moment in time, little did she know that the onsen would not be exclusively hers for too long...

--->
Atsui - Hot

Read a bit about what to do at an onsen (with pics) - http://topadventure.net/Onsen/Onsenrules.html

Phew~~~ Short update, but at least we can all stop worrying a bit about JunxKira. Exercise refreshes the mind ne... Think they made a good compromise, somehow. ^^;;

Chapter 37b

2006-04-30T15:20:00.000+01:00

Chapter 37b

No one dared to speak immediately after Mizuno’s angry exit from the room. Only the wooden floor creaked when Ohno, Nino and Aiba crossed the room to stand beside Sayaka and Haruko. Sho was still standing between Matsujun and Kira. Haruko and Aiba jumped slightly when the grandfather clock chimed at 9 o’clock on the dot.

1… 2… 3… 4… Aiba counted the chime as the pendulum swung from left to right. 5… 6… 7… 8… 9… The pendulum came to a stop. 10! And finally somebody made a sound.

Sho cleared his throat and took a deep breath and exhaled. He looked first at Matsujun, then at Kira. ‘Are you two drama queens satisfied with your performance just now?’ Suppressed anger laced his voice as he put his hands on his hips. ‘It wasn’t enough to bring me into your argument, but why do you just have to drag Mizuno into it as well? Bakayero na…’

‘Urusei!’ Matsujun exploded. ‘We’re sorry okay!’ It only took him 3 long strides to be by Kira’s side. ‘Please excuse us.’ He grabbed the unsuspecting Kira and pulled her along with him to leave the room as well. Ohno stood up in alarm. Matsujun had a quick temper. ‘Don’t wait up for us. We’re going for a quick drive.’

Ohno followed them to the door. ‘We’ll leave the backdoor unlocked for you.’ He called out to the couple. ‘Take care!’ He watched their retreating backs in the corridor as he waved at them. Well, at least they’re coming back. Then he turned to Sho. ‘Daijoubu?’

Sho sighed. ‘I suppose…’

‘Well, I didn’t see that one coming.’ Aiba joined Ohno and Sho in the middle of the room. ‘Those two will be fine. They just need to get their steam off ne.’ He threw his arms around the two older guys. ‘You guys shouldn’t worry too much.’

‘I know.’ Ohno gave a dejected smile. ‘But I still don’t want them to fight like that.’

‘Daijoubu, Captain!’ Nino called out as he helped Sayaka and Haruko placed the tea cups back onto the tray. ‘Jun was just being his stubborn and sadistic self. He is probably regretting everything now, that baka.’

‘But is Mizuno okay?’ Haruko asked hesitantly as Sayaka stood up to gather the beer glasses and empty plates on the porch.

‘Hmm…’ Sayaka bit her lower lip. ‘I guess the pressure with the new choreography really got to her.’ She met Ohno’s eyes. ‘I was hoping she could wind down when she’s here. Get her mind off things and let her body rest, you know.’ She blinked as tears threatened to escape her eyes. ‘Ah, I better get the dishes outside.’

Ohno quickly followed her to the porch and gave her a comforting hug. ‘Things could only get better from now on na, Sayaka…’ He continued to hold her until she regained her composure, whispering sweet nothings and pointing out the humour in their situation.

In the room, the sound from the television could finally be heard as the tension ebbed away. ‘The atmosphere is not good ne…’ Aiba whispered to Sho as he looked around for something to do. When girls cry, he would panic and try to make them smile.

‘Aiba-chan, can you get Haruko’s guitar upstairs?’ Nino leaned back as he called out his request. ‘It should be by the door, so you don’t even have to step into their room.’

‘Eh? Why should I?’ Even as Aiba said that he was all ready walking towards the door. ‘Fine, I’ll do this as a favour for you. This time only yo!’

‘Then I’ll go take a bath.’ Sho suddenly announced as he stretched his arms up in the air.

‘But you all ready have a bath.’ Aiba pointed out before his eyes lit up and he gave Sho a conspiring grin. ‘Ahh…’

‘And Mizuno is in the onsen. You can’t go in yet.’ Haruko piped up. The ryokan only have one big onsen which the girls and guys took turns dipping in.

‘I know.’ Sho replied with a dead-pan look as he went past Aiba.
‘Huh? Then why is he going?’ Haruko’s cheeks went red as Nino and Aiba let out a weird chuckle. ‘He can’t go in since Mizuno is still in there.’ The two laughed even harder.

‘Cho kawaii na~~~’ Nino tried to contain his laughter. Aiba continued to laugh as he followed Sho to the upper floor. ‘That’s Sho for you, Haruko.’

‘Eh?’ Haruko stared blankly at Nino’s knowing smirk. Suddenly, it dawned on her. ‘Oh?’ Nino’s grin widened as her face became even redder. ‘Oh….’

‘Oh, indeed.’ Nino mocked her as he continued to laugh. He really isn’t letting his chance slip away~~~ Ganbatte Sho! He winced slightly as the embarassed Haruko pinched his left arm. ‘Took them long enough!’

--->
Urusei – Be quiet; Noisy
Cho kawaii – Very cute

Hmm... I do wonder what this equation would produce: Sho + Mizuno + Onsen + Alone = ?

Hmm.... indeed.

Chapter 37

2006-04-30T15:11:00.000+01:00

Chapter 37

Matsujun sat cross-legged on the floor looking extremely bored. The small square clock on the wall indicated 12 minutes had passed since Sho had pushed him into Kira's room and slid the door shut telling them to sort themselves out. And yet, neither Kira nor he had said a single word during the time. Sho, that interfering son of a...

'I'm sorry, Jun!' Kira bowed down her head. 'Please forgive me!' She maintained her bowing position.

Matsujun let out a long exasperated breath. He had been hearing that phrase over and over again for the past week.

'I swear I won't do it again!' Kira sobbed. She was at the end of her tethers. She didn't know how else to express her regret than apologising as many times as she possily could.

Kira's first harsh intake of breath was almost Matsujun's undoing. In the small room, her sobbing seemed to be magnified. She sniffed. 'Wakatta! I know!' He broke his silence. 'Stop crying!'

Kira brought her yukata sleeves to her face, wiping away her tears. 'Am I forgiven?' She kept her face hidden behind the sleeves.

'Yes, you are.' Matsujun still sounded angry.

'Does that mean we...' Kira peeked hopefully at him.

'Please don't misunderstand me.' Matsujun said not smiling. 'I've forgiven you, but I don't think we should be together for the time being.'

'You are still angry with me!'

'You think?!' Matsujun stood up. He felt tired. 'We have been friends since forever and you didn't even trust me! How do you think that makes me feel?!'

Kira's body shook. She was scared. It was the first time she had ever seen Matsujun's temper flaring as fiercely as right then.

Matsujun turned his head up and took a deep breath before continuing. 'You have known my feelings for you and yet you still have to throw another guy in my face. And not just any other guy,' His hands curled into fists, 'Sho. Sakurai Sho. I've known him far longer than I do you. I mean, what the hell was that?!'

'I'm so sorry...' Kira's words came stumbling out one by one. 'I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry.' Then she stood up slowly. 'But you are at fault too.'

'What?' Matsujun looked at her incredulously.

'If you just be more honest with me, I wouldn't have to do it in the first place!'

'When did I lie to you?'

'Why didn't you tell me about that co-star of yours? Why do I have to learn it from the damn news?!' Kira's fears needed to be heard too.

'You are being ridiculous!'

'Fine! I am being ridiculous! Yes, I am an idiot!' Kira met his angry gaze with the same intensity in her eyes. 'But I don't think we should have secrets between us.'

'Who my co-stars are and would be, are none of your business.' Matsujun ran a hand through his thick slightly wavy hair. 'I can't deal with this right now.' He turned and and quickly left the room.

Kira was right behind him. 'Matte! Hold on! Why do you keep running away?!'

Matsujun ignored her and thundered down to where the others were lounging around hoping Kira would stop her tirade in the company of people.

'Jun, matte!' Kira didn't stop. 'Answer me! Why do you keep running away from me?!' Her shriek replaced the cheery music from Nino's guitar.

The other seven people who were in the tv room stared at the couple now standing face to face in the middle of the room. Ohno and Sho stood up slowly and walked to the dividing line between the room and the porch. Aiba and Nino remained where they were and so did the other three girls in the corner of the room. They could tell from Matsujun's highly unamused expression and Kira's tear-stained face that they were obviously in a very big argument.

'You ask too many questions, Kira!' Matsujun huffed. 'Why this? Why that? It's annoying!'

'That's because I know nothing! You tell me nothing!' Kira pointed at him. 'You jerk!'

'Hah!' Matsujun narrowed his eyes. 'Me, a jerk? Then why don't you just go to Sho then?! He is a really really nice guy!'

Sho stiffened at the mention of his name. He quickly turned to Mizuno and became more tense as he saw Mizuno raised an eyebrow before swiftly donning a blank expression. Kuso!

Kira cackled. 'Yes, maybe I should! He is more understanding than you will ever be!'

'Damn it Kira!' Matsujun threw his arms in the air. A flow of curses from him could have turned the air blue. 'You are going to debut soon. Surely, you of all people, understood that sometimes I can't even keep track of time or day, let alone the people I work with.'

'Debut?!' Kira made a big gesture with her arms. 'How can I understand when all I'll be doing is dancing and singing to some stupid choreography with Kattun! I'm not some big shot like you are!'

'Stupid choreography?' A deceptively calm voice attracted their attention. It was Mizuno's. 'Stupid choreography ka?' Kira actually faltered slightly when Mizuno come to a stand.

'Mizuno...' Sayaka mumbled tugging at the end of Mizuno's yukata. 'I'm sure she didn't mean...' She was silenced when Mizuno took a big step forward. Haruko, meanwhile, just sat wide-eyed in surprise.

Nino left his guitar on the porch as he followed Aiba to join Ohno at the door frame. Sho had stepped inside the room, but he stood with watching eyes a few feet behind Matsujun.

'I ask you again Kira, which part of the choreography is stupid?' Mizuno's voice was cold as she stared straight into Kira's eyes.

'This has nothing to do with you Mizuno.' Matsujun took a step towards Mizuno.

'Where did you see the dance steps cause I sure as hell haven't shown them to you.' Mizuno ignored Matsujun. Her lips drew a grim straight line.

Kira clutched her sleeves even harder. She hadn't meant to offend Mizuno. In fact, she wasn't even aware of what she said in her anger until Mizuno pointed it out. 'I... I...'

'Oi Mizuno!' Matsujun grabbed Mizuno's left upper arm. 'Stay out of our business will you.'

Mizuno smirked. 'Then you better stop dragging Sho into your freaking mess.' Matsujun couldn't retaliate her charge. His fingers went slack. With her right hand, she released his hold on her. 'And right now, this is between me and Kira.' She harshly dropped Matsujun's hand away from her. 'You just mind your own damn business, Matsumoto.' Her tone was pure ice before she turned her attention back to Kira who had taken several steps back.

'Haraguchi Kira.' Mizuno closed the distance between them. Her voice lost none of its coldness. 'How dare you dismiss my choreography before you have even seen it?'

Kira tried to make herself as small as possible. She would rather Mizuno shouted at her rather than talking down at her. 'I'm sorry...' She mumbled. Her palms went clammy.

Mizuno studied the petite girl cowering in front of her with disdain, but didn't say anything. A couple long seconds went by without anyone saying anything.

'Oozora...' Sho went up to Mizuno and placed his right hand on her right shoulder. 'Let it slide this time, angel.' He gave her a gentle squeeze. As soon as Kira uttered the two words, he knew Mizuno would take it personally. He understood the taboo most as he himself had first hand experience in facing Mizuno's wrath when her work was brushed off without a good reason. However, he was surprised at the intensity of her anger and had decided to lay low before approaching her.

'Sakurai, get your hand off me.' Mizuno shook her shoulders to rid his hand and turned to face him. 'You better have nothing to do with her.' She said under her breath before she made another turn and left the room with her chin held high. 'I'm taking a bath. I don't want to be contaminated with the freaking stupidity in this room.' She slid the door shut with a bang. The other guests at the ryokan were left wincing at the noise.

--->
Wakatta - I know
Kuso - Damn

Phew~~~ Take a break, have a kit kat. Part b is coming straight after this!

Chapter 36

2006-04-30T15:08:00.000+01:00

Chapter 36

'So Mizuno...' Haruko handed Mizuno a plate of honeydew cubes as she sat next to her. 'Do your feet still hurt?'

Mizuno took the plate with a smile. They had retired to the tv area after the dinner, except for Sho and Matsujun who were forced to do the dishes since they didn't help with the cooking. 'Thank you, Haruko.' She promised herself to be less intimidating to Haruko as Sho had requested after she refused his help to lift her to the tv room. 'No, they don't hurt much. Not a pretty sight, huh?'

'Ah, iie, no...' Haruko shook her head. 'Well, umm...' She looked a bit distressed. What do one say in this condition? Her feet do look bad.

Mizuno chuckled as she picked up one of the moist, juicy pale green honeydew cubes. 'This is why I hate high heels!' She chomped on the cube, a drop of juice escaped at the corner of her mouth. 'Oishii~~~'

The tv room was opened to its adjoining porch where Ohno, Nino and Aiba were hanging out eating their fruits and drinking more beer. Sayaka and Kira were still in the kitchen preparing some tea. Nino stole a look inside the room where Haruko was chatting with Mizuno. He thought of joining them, but decided not to seeing how the two seemed to be getting along like a house on fire.

She is actually really friendly. Haruko noted silently as she laughed at something Mizuno had said about Nino. It almost made her forget Mizuno's earlier hostility. The difference was so huge that for a moment she even thought that maybe Mizuno had a split personality! However, she also realised that Mizuno scarcely talked anything about herself.

'Well, well, well, what are you guys talking about?' Sayaka walked in carefully as she balanced a tray of ceramic tea pot and cups.

'Nothing much.' Mizuno replied as she put another cube into her mouth. Haruko just smiled in agreement.

As soon as Sayaka put down her tray, she stood up again. 'Do you want a cushion for your back, Mizuno?'

'Well, since you're taking some, might as well.' Mizuno was sitting with her back on the wall and her legs stretched out before her. She tried not to fold her legs as much as possible. 'Thank you, Sayaka.'

'Here you go.' Sayaka handed the cushion to Mizuno before sitting next to Sayaka. They formed a triangle around the tea set. 'Kira and the other two will join us later.' She informed the other girls just as Mizuno was about to open her mouth. 'They're changing. Got water all over themselves when they were doing the dishes.'

'Ohh...?' Mizuno raised a questioning eyebrow. Haruko didn't say a word as she poured out the tea.

'Well, anyway...' Sayaka didn't want to discuss it further. She didn't think Mizuno would appreciate knowing Sho was yet again caught in the middle of Matsujun and Kira's argument. Kira once again tried to apologize to Matsujun who was washing the dishes with Sho when without warning Matsujun roughly dunked the wok causing the soapy water to splashed all over the three of them. 'Haruko, did you know that Mizuno's mother works at your college?'

'Eh? Really?' Haruko perked up with interest at finding something personal about Mizuno. 'Which department is she in?'

Mizuno shrugged. 'Ahh.. So you're at the Empirial College. Music stream, isn't it?' She picked up her cup. 'I just remembered Sayaka mentioning you play guitar and violin...?'

'Ah, yes, yes, that's right.' Haruko was inwardly disappointed that Mizuno once again dodged away from her question. 'The guitar and violin. Ano sa...'

'So is that how you met Nino?' Mizuno was quick to prevent Haruko from asking her anymore personal questions. She didn't want to get too close to her until she knew she could be trusted. Right now, she was only playing the part of the perfect guest so that everyone feel at ease in the ryokan. Besides, this was a rare free weekend for her and she intent on having it as hassle-free as possible.

It was after Mizuno finished her second cup of tea that Sho entered the tv room. 'So what are guys up to?' He acknowledged the girls' presence, but didn't stop. He came in with a guitar in his right hand. 'Nino, you lazy bum! Next time get it on your own.' Nino had texted him to bring down his guitar.

'You're much more covenient.' Nino answered simply as Sho joined them on the porch. He waited for Sho to sit down before asking, 'So why do you need to change?' They heard everything that Sayaka had said earlier.

'We were washing dishes. What do you expect?' Sho leaned back on a pole where he could see Mizuno. 'We're not the most domesticated of people.'

'Uh huh.' Nino wasn't convinced. 'Where are Kira and Jun then?' He dropped his voice.

'I asked them to take some time to really talk to each other.'

Ohno and Aiba exchanged worried glances. Sho was much too calm about the whole business. Since when is he their middleman? Ohno crawled over to Sho and whispered, 'You didn't throw them together, did you?'

Sho just shrugged.

He did! There was no doubt in the other three guys' mind that Sho most probably forced those two together. Sho was always looking after the boys like a mother hen - and would probably do what he thought was right when the situation calls for it, inspite of any opposition from the members.

Nino started strumming his guitar. 'Those two better make up this time.'

'Oh, they better.' Sho gritted his teeth as he turned up to look at the starless sky. Those two caused enough trouble as it is!

--->
Iie - No
Oishii - Delicious

Chapter 35

2006-04-17T13:05:00.000+01:00

Chapter 35

'Huh?' Mizuno stared wide-eyed at Sho's moving lips. Then her eyes travelled down the length of his slightly tanned exposed neck and collar bone and further down to her hands which were clutching on the sides of his hips. Sho's hands had left her face to take off a white face towel hanging around his neck.

Sho gave an amused grin as Mizuno stood as still as a statue. She studied him warily, but didn't let go off him. 'Can you even hear me with these on?' He took off the orange ear plugs and threw them to the nearby dustbin. 'I am really here.'

'USO!' Mizuno pushed him back without much effort. 'What are you doing here?!' Her gaze followed Sho's movement towards the sink. What's he doing now? She was still unable to believe that Sho was within her touching distance. Her back tensed when Sho came back to her.

'Relax...' Sho was enjoying himself attending to the unguarded Mizuno. 'I'm going to wipe your face, sleepy head.'

'Eh?' Mizuno closed her eyes at the cool touch of the damp cotton towel on her forehead. She felt Sho's left hand supporting the back of her neck and his hypnotising whispers close to her ears as he continued to pat her face gently. When she felt the cloth left her face, she opened her eyes, but immediately shut them again as Sho's hands came up to brush her hair. All the tension evaporated from her body. It felt so good!

Sho tapped Mizuno's nose when he had finished prompting Mizuno to open her eyes. 'Now how about a good morning kiss?' He lowered his head to claim her lips.

'Ah, ittai...' Mizuno's right knee gave way causing her forehead to bump into Sho's. 'Aww!'

Sho had her in his arms in an instant. 'Hey, are you all right Oozora?' He blew on her forehead as she pulled herself up on his shoulders.

'Sumimasen.' Mizuno coughed slightly as she choked on her own saliva. 'I'm fine.' She tried pushing herself away from Sho. 'Really. I'm fine. Fine. Fine.'

'You really outdid yourself this time, didn't you?' Mizuno yelped as Sho swung her up in his arms. 'Let's eat with everyone first.'

Everyone...? Mizuno quickly snapped her head to the direction they were heading. 'Eh?'

'Aiba, move.' Sho nudged Aiba to switched with his original spot so he can sit next to Mizuno.

Aiba had not problem with the new arrangement. 'Just don't touch my meat, okay.'

Sho ignored him as he concentrated on putting Mizuno down as gently as possible on the floor chair. 'Is it more comfortable if you keep your legs outright?' Ohno had slipped out earlier to bring an extra chair in for her.

'Uh, hai.' Mizuno didn't think she could meet the other guests' eyes yet. She winced slightly as Sho helped moved her legs to go under the table. 'Sumimasen.' She mumbled.

'Don't worry about it, Mizuno.' Sayaka passed on a rice bowl to Ohno who in turn passed it on to Matsujun and Kira to give to Mizuno. 'I could've woken you up earlier...'

Mizuno waved her hand as she bowed her head slightly to thank for the rice. She had warned Sayaka not to wake her up or she would kill her. 'Itadakimasu!' Eating seemed to be the best option to get rid of the awkwardness around the table. Plus she just realised that all of them probably witnessed what Sho and her were doing in the kitchen. So embarassing!

Sho noted with interest as Mizuno's cheeks began to flush as she ate her rice. 'Here you go...' He placed a steaming piece of meat on her rice. She's so cute! His grin widened at the thought that Mizuno will be spending the weekend with him. 'Here, I'll put on some more for us.' He said as the fresh meat slices slizzled upon contact with the hot grill. Onions and peppers joined the meat as well.

The dinner resumed as if nothing ever happened. All except Mizuno drank in the sake Ohno had generously brought for them. Sayaka had thoughtfully made a pitcher of iced lemon tea for Mizuno. Mizuno didn't join their conversation until she was comfortable enough to look up past the food and Sho to the other guests. 'Ah, so you guys have made up.' She commented casually seeing Kira and Matsujun sitting side by side on her right.

Kira gave an awkward giggle and just continued eating. Matsujun took a healthy gulp of sake as he avoided looking at the two girls.

Seeing the couple's reaction, Mizuno turned to Sho with a raised eyebrow. Did I say something wrong?

Sho nodded as he understood her unspoken question. He poured more tea into her glass. 'Let's just mind our own business.' He told her quietly.

Mizuno cleared her throat as she clipped the last prawn tempura for Kira. 'Ahh... It's finished!'

'Don't worry, we still have some in the kitchen.' Haruko piped up as she quickly placed down her rice bowl and chopsticks on the table.

Mizuno froze when she saw the unfamiliar face and she automatically distanced herself away from Sho. 'We used to work together. That's all.' She panicked. Oh no! She saw everything too!

Sho scowled. 'Oozora, it's okay. She's here with Nino.'

'Huh?' Mizuno hadn't met her before and treating her with caution. Her foremost concern was that the stranger must not know about her relationship with Sho.

At the other end of the table, Haruko scrambled to sit on her knees and bowed down. 'I'm Shikikawa Haruko. This is our first time meeting.' She bowed again. 'I'm sorry, I should've introduced myself sooner.'

Mizuno kept studying her warily. Shikikawa?

'She's Nino's girlfriend.' Sayaka put her hand on Haruko's shoulder to keep her at ease. Mizuno was being uncharacteristically jumpy. 'We told you about her last time, remember.'

'Ahh... Shikikawa...?' Though her tone was relief, she still kept her distance away from Sho. 'Nice to meet you.'

'You can call me Haruko, Oozora. Everyone...'

'Mizuno.' Mizuno quickly cut her off. 'Call me Mizuno.'

'Ah, gomen gomen!' Haruko felt smothered by Mizuno's presence when she reprimanded her. Now she understood how she could survive being a choreographer to the Johnny's boys. At first she thought Mizuno was a gentle character what with her acting docile and cute with Sho. No wonder Kira is scared of Mizuno. Sayaka had helpfully kept her up to date with Kira and Matsujun's progress since their last meeting at the bar. Suddenly she felt a tug on her right arm.

'Let's go get more tempura for them.' Nino said calmly and waited for her to stand up.

'Hai hai.' Haruko was relief for his intrusion. She was at a loss of words with Mizuno.

A look of understanding passed between Nino and Sho as Haruko stood up. Both of them didn't expect Mizuno's hostile reaction to Haruko being there with them.

'Maa maa...' Ohno clapped his hands to ease the atmosphere again. 'Ah, Aiba, your meat is burning!' Suddenly they became aware of a putrid smell and thick smoke coming from Aiba's grill.

'EHHH!!!!' The glasses rattled as Aiba hit the table as he tried to save his meat. 'Ahh! Yabai yabai!'

'Oi! That's not water!' Mizuno suddenly screamed. 'Don't pour it in, baka!' She, too, was intent on saving her portion on the grill. 'Sho, get it! Get it!'

Sho slapped Aiba's head after he grabbed hold of the glass of sake on his hand. 'Don't panic Aiba.' Mizuno was all ready scooping out the burnt meat to the empty tempura plate. Opposite them, Ohno and Matsujun were laughing uncontrollably. 'Dou S!!! You sadists!' Even Kira and Sayaka couldn't hold on their laughters for long after Sho's exclamation.

After the ruckus, all the strain in the room was dissipated. Mizuno became her bubbly self once again and all the discomfort between Haruko and her were gone too. However, though the company was cheery again, Sho couldn't help but feel that Mizuno was only putting on an act. She didn't dare touch him again for the rest of the dinner. I'd be damned! This isn't good at all! Watching Mizuno laughing and teasing from her side, but knowing that she was actually building her guard up again made Sho determined that he would make her truly at ease with their relationship before the night was through. Definitely will make you unable to get your hands off me, Oozora... A wicked smile formed on his lips. Zettai ni!

Absolutely!

--->
Uso - It's a lie. No way!
Yabai - Not good.
Dou S - Lately, Sho usually used this term when Matsujun was being sadistic. S = sadist. ^^;; (From their tv shows)
Zettai ni - Absolutely

Ahhh~~~ It's been a while since I wrote back to back updates! Yokatta ne! It's all good ne!

Heh...heh... Sho and Mizuno are always fun to write about. --author bias!-- Sho Sho Sho... Oozora, yabai...?! Ho...ho...ho... Man, this ryokan weekend is going to be a long one. ^^;;

Chapter 34

2006-04-16T12:52:00.000+01:00

Chapter 34

The kitchen was busy. Various noises of knives hitting the cutting boards, rushing tap water, cooking instructions and general chit chat and laughters filled the quite spacious cooking area.

'Make sure the meat is cut very thin, Ohno.' Sayaka said as she surveyed the cutting activity on the work table in the middle of the kitchen.

'Ah, hai!' Ohno's eyebrows drew together as he concentrated on his task. Next to him, Aiba was also doing the same job, but at a much faster pace. Yakiniku, grilled meat, was the menu for their dinner. After the fiasco of their unsuccessful fishing trip, it was a great reward to have such fine food to end the day.

In the stove area, Haruko was patting some root vegetables dry with a kitchen paper while Nino was stirring ice cold water into the tempura flour. The first bubbles in the oil heating in the wok signalled that it was hot enough for the deep frying.

'And here's the prawns.' Kira squeezed in between them to place a bowl of fresh clean prawns next to the vegetables.

'Thanks Kira.' Haruko rearranged the bowl and plates on the kitchen counter for efficiency. 'Ah, Sayaka we need a strainer.' She had to raise her voice as the oil sizzled noisily when Nino dipped in a carrot stick.

In another part of the house, Sho and Matsujun were detached from the lively going ons in the dinner preparations. They had decided that they would only be a hindrance rather than a help and had slipped away into the tv area where Matsujun continued studying his drama script while Sho laid down on the floor watching a documentary about ancient civilizations on the television.

They were out of the inn for 5 hours getting lost in the forest and having fun trying to fish. They didn't catch any fish, but they did managed to get wet and messy when they realized they had to catch some bait for the fishes - either worms or a grasshopper or cricket. Ohno, being Ohno, the Captain, didn't think of bringing a spade or a butterfly net which could make their lives easier. 'Ohno, you should have called Tsuyoshi-senpai first!' Nino had wailed as he was trying to spy any cricket jumping around as Aiba ran along the grass river bank. He was refering to Domoto Tsuyoshi of Kinki Kids who was well-known for his love of fish and fishing.

Anyway, Sayaka had shoved them straight into the shower as soon as they had returned. Then they had dipped in the onsen for half an hour before clothing themselves in the ryokan's navy blue yukatas. It was another hour later before Sayaka called sho and Matsujun over to join them for the meat feast.

'Waah!! Sugoi!' Sho's eyes were wide as he saw the spread of food on the low dining table. There were two electric grillers, one on the middle of each of the two tables joined together for the big group. Surrounding the grillers were pieces of meat arranged neatly in big plates as well as the accompanying fresh onions and red and green capsicum slices and other side dishes and soup prepared by the chefs. 'This is really great!' He sat between Aiba and Nino leaving Matsujun no choice but to sit to the spot between Ohno and Kira. Sayaka hadn't return to the dining room with them (as she had to go to the toilet), but there was something in Ohno's expression which told him not to sit between himself and Aiba.

Haruko finished scooping steaming rice from the rice cooker and handed the bowl to Nino on her right. Aiba and Sho had all ready started putting meat slices on their griller. Each of them giving a warning to the other not to take their meat as they did so.

'Itadakimasu!' They all said in unison.

The door slid open. 'Hurry Sayaka before Sho and Aiba finished everything off!' Ohno called Sayaka over, but Sayaka didn't walk towards him, but instead went to the kitchen without a word. 'Sayaka..?'

'Hai?' Sayaka replied as she popped into the room. 'I'm coming.'

'Huh?' Ohno's eyes went from one pink figure to the other. The girls, too, wore matching yukatas. His eyes concentrated on the other girl.

'Oozora?' Sho put down his chopsticks as he observed the messy haired girl limping her way past them. She was walking on her heels keeping her toes and the ball of her feet off the ground. She didn't seem aware of their presence. He put up a hand to stop Sayaka from approaching Mizuno.

Sayaka slipped to her seat. 'I'm so sorry. Today is so hectic I forgot all about Mizuno!' She grinned awkwardly. 'She has been sleeping in the ground floor bedroom since she arrived with me here yesterday.'

All of them had halted their eating as they watched Mizuno pouring a glass of water and then reached for the first-aid kit box on the refridgerator. She opened the box and fiddled with something before pulling out a white sheet.

Sho left his seat and walked towards Mizuno, now popping a pill and drowning the water as she leaned back on the refridgerator. Her eyes were closed as she gulped down the pill. As he neared her, he noticed that she had something orange in her ears. Ear plugs? No wonder she can't hear us. He quickly scanned her appearance. Her yukata had loosened up to reveal a tank top and matching pyjama bottoms which only came down just above her bandaged ankles. The bandage continued to wrap around her feet, thickening on the ball of both of her feet. To top it off, her toes were covered with blue plasters with black cat prints on them. That made him grin slightly before a gasp drew his attention back to Mizuno's face.

'My God, now I'm even seeing Sho here.' Mizuno patted both of her cheeks hard. 'Must be a side effect of the painkiller.' She winced as her leg muscles tensed again. 'Yare yare...' She took a step forward and bumped straight into Sho. 'Huh?'

Sho cupped her face in his hands and his thumbs made soothing circles on her cheeks. 'This isn't a dream, Oozora. I am real.'

--->
Yare yare - Just a saying, much like 'Oh boy...'

Woo hoo!!! Mizuno is in the house! Heh...heh... Yeah, well, I miss her too. This has been a super quick update! Ha...ha...ha...

Chapter 33b

2006-04-16T02:17:00.000+01:00

Chapter 33b

'Maybe I shouldn't have come...' Kira said slowly as she wiped a plate dry.

Sayaka held out her hand to put the plate back into the cabinet above the sink. 'Don't be silly, Kira. You're my guest, so just enjoy your weekend here.' The plate made a slight click sound as Sayaka placed it on top of the stack. 'Is this about Matsujun?'

Kira nodded, but didn't elaborate more on the matter. Next to her, Haruko turned off the tap and took off her rubber gloves. 'Umm... To be honest, I feel the same way too.' Haruko had finished washing the dishes. 'Uh... It's not that I don't like this place,' She rushed at the questioning look on their host's face, 'but I feel out of place amongst the rest of you guys. I haven't been with Nino long and...'

'Daijoubu!' Sayaka cut her off as she closed the cabinet door. 'You guys think too much.'

'You and Ohno set this up, didn't you?' Kira bit her lower lip, trying not to cry. Matsujun's cold indifference to her over the meal on top of his ignoring her since her drunken 'confession' wore her resolution down. Seeing Matsujun's displeased countenance when he saw her was like a slap on her face.

Sayaka pulled Kira for a hug as Haruko looked on, unsure of what to do. When Nino and Ohno picked her up earlier on, she knew that she'd be spending the weekend with the rest of Arashi members, Sayaka and Kira. After Kira's question, it appeared that this might not just be a weekend of relaxation and getting to know Nino's friends better as she had assumed. Nino didn't say what the gathering was for either. She looked outside the open kitchen door and saw two small cars parked in the backyard, a green one and a white one. Ahh... No wonder I didn't see their cars in the front parking lot. She thought for a bit. So Kira came on her own.

'There there Kira...' Sayaka patted Kira's back gently. Her eyes met Haruko's over Kira's shuddering shoulders. 'Why don't we go to your room first ne.'

Haruko came towards the two and helped Sayaka walked Kira back to their shared room. 'Yeah, I need to unpack too.' She didn't know what other appropriate thing to say at that moment. When they reached their room a question came to her mind. 'Uh, Sayaka, where have the guys gone to?' All she could remember was Nino rushing by saying goodbye as she was dumping some cutlery into the sink.

'Oh, they're going fishing.' Sayaka replied with a smile as they all sat on Kira's futon. Kira had arrived at the inn a few hours after Sayaka.

'Fishing?'

'Yes, there's a stream close by here.'

Kira had regained her composure enough to ask, 'I don't remember seeing a stream around here when I walked in the morning.' She was trying to cover up her embarassment for weeping a few moments ago. I feel so stupid now.

'It's about 30 minutes walk from here. Somewhere over there.' Sayaka pointed out to the beautiful serene hilly forested view from the room's window. 'I've given them the map to go there. Not sure if it's too early in the season to fish though, but Ohno seemed determine.'

'But I don't see any fishing rods in his car.' Haruko was sure they had cleared Ohno's car of the supplies he had brought for the weekend.

Now it was Sayaka's turn to look uneasy. 'He said he has some strings and hooks...'

'You mean, they're going to make the rods themselves?' Kira went back to her normal mode. 'Do they know how to make one?'

Haruko made no comment as she didn't know the guys well enough while Sayaka's eyebrows came together.

'Well, Ohno did mention that they are going to do some team bonding.'

Kira rolled her eyes as she could just imagine Matsujun's reaction to the do-it-yourself project and the orienteering to get to the stream. It won't be pretty. 'I hope they won't get lost though.'

'I'm sure they'll be fine...' Sayaka wasn't very confident with her statement after Kira's response. 5 city boys going in the wild without a tour guide. She groaned inwardly. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to leave them on their own. 'Anyway, why don't we help Haruko to settle in before soaking in the onsen?' She used the hotspring to distract themselves from worrying about the boys. The other two girls agreed readily. The call of the onsen was too much to resist!

Meanwhile, somewhere in the forest, the 5 guys were all ready squabbling about where to go. They had been gone for half an hour and they still couldn't here any sound of rushing water.

'Captain, are you sure this is where we're suppose to go?' Nino asked Ohno again. 'This place looks familiar...'

'I think we should retrace our tracks.' Matsujun took off his cap and wiped off the sweat beads on his forehead. 'We don't even have a compass!'

'No way! We should continue! I want to fish!' Aiba was still eager to fish. 'Look, I've made myself a rod while we were walking just now.' He showed his rod which was just a stick with the string and hook attached on the tip.

Sho laughed. 'The stick isn't strong enough. It'll break for sure!'

'Ne minna...' Ohno began calmly, 'I'm sure we're getting close to the river. We cannot give up yet.'

'You don't know where we are do you, Captain?' Nino started whining. 'Let's just head back. I'm tired.'

'But we have gone this far. I think we should just continue.' Sho objected. He sounded reasonable, but his main reason was not to get back to the house yet and be subjected to Nino and Ohno throwing their lovey-doveyness on his face and to avoid the Matsujun-Kira confrontation.

'We'll be in more trouble if we keep walking. We're lost!' Matsujun raised his voice. 'I say we go back.'

'Dame!' Aiba waved his rod around. 'I want to fish, Captain!'

Ohno nodded. 'We will continue.' He knew his members would agree with him anyway. 'Minna ikuzo! Let's go!'

With a groan, Nino and Matsujun dragged their feet behind the other 3 who were chattering excitedly about the best way to make a fishing rod. Nino naturally didn't like anything inconvenient and he'd rather spend time with Haruko and their guitars which they brought along with them while Matsujun simply didn't feel like doing anything as his mood was ruined by Kira's presence. However, his pride won't let him admit that a small part of him was glad to know that Kira was together with him.

In the end, it took them close to an hour to find the stream. The team bonding exercise was really a tiring business.

--->
Onsen - Hot spring
Ikuzo - Let's go

Ryokan scene next?! I felt like I've dragged this chapter for too long all ready. --Korean drama influence?! Ha...ha...-- Who wants to see some actions?!

Chapter 33

2006-04-09T18:32:00.000+01:00

Chapter 33

'Yatta! We're finally here!' Aiba jumped out of the car and stretched his body before running towards the ryokan eagerly. He had texted Ohno who then replied that they would have a brunch ready for them when they had arrived. Of course, he had 'innocently' neglected to tell this to Sho and Matsujun. Food! Food! Here I come!

'Thank goodness for that.' Matsujun muttered as he took off his seatbelt just as the car's engine stopped roaring in the car park. 'Now where's my bag?' He turned around to fetch his bag, which Aiba had stuffed underneath the back passenger seats when Matsujun was complaining of his drools on the side of his bag.

Sho stepped out of his driver's seat and took in a deep breath of fresh air. 'Looks like they're all ready here.' Ohno's car was parked just beside his. He peered inside. 'Seems like they have settled in as well. The car is empty.' It took them just past 4 hours to reach the ryokan as they made a 'quick' pit stop to buy some light snacks for breakfast - or more accurately to shut Aiba up! His stomach grumbled. 'Ahh... I'm hungry again...'

Matsujun slammed his door shut and opened the back passenger's door. His bag was stuck. 'I'll kill him!' He cursed Aiba as he tried pulling his bag from under the seats. 'That baka king didn't even bring his bag with him!' He threw the offending duffel bag on to the gravelled parking lot.

Sho chuckled as he opened the back door and slung his own travel bag over his right shoulder and then grabbed a couple of plastic bags loaded with food and bottles of beer. Although Ohno said he would provide the food and drinks, he couldn't resist buying some before he picked Aiba up. 24-hour convenient stores were a great concept!

'Hey, I thought you said we don't need to bring anything.' Matsujun eyed the plastic bags having successfully retracting his bag. He closed the door at the same time as Sho butting the back door shut. 'You need help?'

Sho just shrugged as he handed two plastic bags to Matsujun. 'Who's going to bring Aiba's bag?' He asked as he locked the car using the remote on the key chain attached to the key before pocketing them back. Matsujun's answer was to kick Aiba's bag rolling underneath the car. Sho shook his head as Matsujun walked casually to the inn. Both of them are so childish... He thought to himself as he bent down to retrieve the bag.

At the entrance, Matsujun took off his shoes as he shouted his greetings. Sho came in a few seconds after him. 'Oi Leader! Nino! Where are you?' He can smell food and he was hungry. 'Aiba! You better not eat all of them!' It didn't take him long to figure out that Aiba knew about the food when they arrived.

Sho wasn't as energetic as Matsujun. He slipped his feet into a pair of indoor slippers arranged on the platform opening into the reception area before stepping inside. Matsujun had thundered past him in search of the source of the mouth-watering smell. His stomach grumbled some more. 'Do they still have some left for...'

'What is the meaning of this?!'

Sho quickened his steps to stand beside Matsujun who stood on the doorway to the dining room with a big scowl on his face. 'Jun, what happened?' He raised an eyebrow when he saw who were sitting around the low dining table. 'Ahh...' It was Kira. She was fidgeting in her seat, her lips quivering. On her sides were Sayaka and, to his surprise, Haruko. Forgetting about Matsujun, he pushed himself in and his eyes searched the room and to the kitchen attached to the open plan dining area. Maybe she's here...

'Now now, calm down Jun.' Ohno stood up and threw his arm around Matsujun's sholders to welcome him as well as to prevent him fron leaving the scene. 'The more the merrier ne~~~'

'Don't ruin the atmosphere, Jun.' Nino said as he poured tea into his cup. 'It's not everyday we get to have a ryokan all to ourselves.' He blew over the steam before taking a sip. 'Sayaka got us the inn and we're not her only guests here.'

Matsujun glared at Kira who was now feeling very uncomfortable under his intense scrutiny. 'You two planned this didn't you?' His glare turned to Ohno and Nino.

'Maa maa...' Ohno pulled him in, slightly surprised that Matsujun stepped into the room without much resistance. 'You must be hungry from the long ride.' He patted Matsujun's back. 'Come, you sit here next to Aiba. Look, you don't want Aiba to finish all the food do you?'

In reply, Matsujun slapped Aiba's head before settling quietly and picking up his chopsticks. He ignored Aiba's howl of pain and picked up his rice bowl which Sayaka had filled during the guys' exchange of words. Folowing Sayaka's lead, Haruko had left Kira's side to fetch the plastic bags Matsujun had dropped on the doorway and brought it to the kitchen and she had placed Matsujun's bag to the side so as not to block the door. In truth, she too had felt uneasy with Matsujun's glare and needed to remove herself. Matsujun's outburst was a surprise to her. Now she understood when Sayaka said Matsujun still hadn't forgiven Kira. Having put the bags away, she returned to her seat next to Nino.

'Daijoubu.' Nino whispered to her as he poured more tea into her cup.

'Hai.' Haruko nodded uncertainly.

'Just ignore them.' Nino grabbed her left hand as assurance before letting go and resuming his brunch. Haruko did as she was told and continued to eat after Nino put a piece of grilled fish on her rice. 'He's an idiot.'

Meanwhile, facing Nino, Sho too had settled and started eating. He didn't say much to the conversation led by Ohno after the hostile entrance as he was too busy stuffing his mouth with the food as well as hiding his disappointment that Mizuno wasn't part of the guest list. He had checked the kitchen when he brought his groceries to the kitchen table and found it to be devoid of people. When he returned to the dining area, he deliberately took his time to put his bag to the side and took off his outer shirt and glasses. During that time, he counted the set of cutlery prepared on the dining table. There were only 8, enough for 5 guys and 3 girls. Only 3 girls. If Mizuno was present, surely there would be an extra one. When it came to food, Mizuno won't miss out on it. He swallowed his disappointment with the rice. It was too much to hope for. [i]Baka! She is probably busy with her choreography. She doesn't have much free time.[/i] The disappointment left a bitter taste in his mouth as was in his heart.

After the brunch, Sayaka and Ohno showed the 3 newcomers to the room. It turned out that the ryokan was owned by a friend of Sayaka's father who was out of the country to visit his daughter who was studying overseas. He had entrusted the inn to the care of Sayaka's father for the month of his abcense, not to resume the business, but to merely housesit for him. As such, Sayaka's family members had took turns to stay at the ryokan as they can't all go and leave their business at the same time. It was usually her grandparents who stayed at the place, but Sayaka managed to claim her turn for the weekend.

'Okay, Sho, Aiba, this is your room.' Sayaka slid open the first door next to the staircase. It was a small inn with only 6 bedrooms on the first floor and 3 more on the ground floor. She said the room downstairs were for the senior citizens and disabled people.

'Why are we sharing this room?' Sho asked as he counted the rooms on the landing. '6 rooms should be enough for me to get my own room.'

'Ahh... Well...' Sayaka motioned to the two rooms at the end of the corridor. 'Those two rooms are filled with my grandparents' and parents' stuff when they stay here. So we really only have 4 rooms, so that's why you have to share.'

Ohno chuckled as Sho rolled his eyes and Aiba all ready rolling onto his futon. 'Anyway, Jun, you can put your bag in here...' He slid open the door to the room on the opposite side of Sho and Aiba's room. 'You're sharing with Nino.'

Aiba sat up on his futon. 'Then where are you sleeping Leader?'

'Heh...heh...heh... With Sayaka of course!' He replied smugly.

'Ahhhh!!!! So jealous!!!' Aiba wailed. 'Not fair! Not fair!'

Sayaka blushed as Ohno looped his arm around her waist. 'Umm... Well, Kira and Haruko are staying next door to Jun and Nino.' She looked uncertainly to Matsujun. 'So... Umm... If you want to change rooms, I think you can...'

'I'm fine here.' Matsujun answered her curtly. 'Thank you.'

Sayaka didn't know what else to say. This is so awkward! She gave a nervous grin. 'Well, I guess I should leave you three to change.'

'Huh?' Sho turned to the couple questioningly. 'Why?'

Ohno beamed as he announced, 'Guys, Arashi are going fishing!'

'Ehhhh?! Majide?!!!' Aiba and Sho said in unison. Ohno just smiled as he slid the door on them as he told them to hurry up and change to something suitable.

Sho blinked, hardly able to comprehend the situation. Leader is actually serious about the team bonding exercise?!

'Sho,' Aiba began slowly, 'I think we should call Ohno ''Captain'' now.' He was all seriousness as he said it.

'Unn...' Sho agreed numbly. 'We're going fishing...?'

--->
Daijoubu - It's fine.
Majide - Really? (What the heck? - something to that effect)
Unn - Yeah (agreed)

Hmm... Now where is this story going? Ha...ha...ha...? ^^;; Sorry for the unfrequent update. Thank you for your patience! mOm Been fighting the internet with my sister too. >_<* But really, I don't know how to develop the story from here onward. Feels like the chapter is lagging, eh? Where's the drama? Ho...ho...ho... >I shouldn't be saying that as the author... Ha...ha... Woops...<

Chapter 32

2006-03-29T20:39:00.000+01:00

Chapter 32

'Ohayo...' Matsujun muttered as he opened the gold Range Rover's door and slid into the front passenger seat.

'Morning.' Sho replied in kind as the door close shut. It was a few minutes past 6 a.m. and he watched as Matsujun clicked in the safety belt. 'This is going to be a long drive.'

Matsujun turned around to see Aiba sleeping on the back seat, his head pillowed by his duffle bag. 'Leader better make this trip worthwhile!' He threw his own weekend bag on Aiba's stomach. Aiba winced but didn't wake up.

'Yeah...' Sho looked at his side view and rear view mirrors before driving away from Matsujun's house. 'The ryokan seems to be in a remote area.' He scanned the details to the traditional Japanese inn on his car navigation system. When they had met up the day before, Ohno had announced that he had booked all of them to spend the weekend at his friend's ryokan for some 'team bonding'. He had suggested for Sho to drive Aiba and Matsujun to the destination while he would give Nino a ride. '3 hours to go if we're lucky.' The Sakurai family car drove on silently heading towards the main road.

Matsujun took off his cap and ran his hand through his slightly damp hair. Both of them didn't say anything and just minded their own business as the radio softly filled the gap in conversation. He was trying to keep himself awake as he planned to read the script for his new acting project. 'Hope the traffic isn't too heavy.' Slipping on his reading glasses, Matsujun opened the script booklet and began to read.

Sho looked left and right before leaving the T-junction into the roadway's main artery. His sunglasses shielded his eyes from the glare of the early morning sun. As his family car was the only one dispensable for carpooling, he was automatically elected as the driver. Within minutes of driving, the car stopped at a red light. Sho sighed as he sunk back into his seat. This is going to be a long ride! He stole a look at the rear view mirror of Aiba peacefully hugging Matsujun's bag and drooling slightly while beside him, Matsujun's lips were reciting the lines he was reading silently. Great idea Ohno! He wasn't relishing his role as their chauffeur at all. As the green light came out, he stepped on the speed gear and the car began to crawl again. A song from Black Eyed Peas came on, bringing a smile to Sho's face. His fingers tapped on the steering wheel as he rapped along to one of his favourite songs, "Where is the love?" He was careful to keep his voice low as not to disturb his two passengers.

'~Makin' wrong decisions, only visions of them dividends
Not respectin' each other, deny thy brother
A war is goin' on but the reason's undercover
The truth is kept secret, it's swept under the rug
If you never know truth then you never know love
Where's the love, y'all, come on (I don't know)
Where's the truth, y'all, come on (I don't know)
Where's the love, y'all~'

A sudden movement caught Matsujun's eyes. He tore his eyes away from his script and his lips curled to an amused grin as he saw Sho's left hand went up in the air as he echoed the song playing on the radio. You dork! He rolled his eyes before turning back to his study. It wasn't until an hour later, when Matsujun put down his script and took off his glasses and Sho had long ceased to karaoke along to the songs that the two began to have a conversation.

'Do you think we need to buy anything before we go there?' Matsujun asked as he read off a sign for a shop coming up on the navigation system.

Sho shook his head. 'Eventhough Ohno said we have to cater for ourselves, he said he'll treat us.'

'Does that guy even know what to buy?'

Sho chuckled. 'Well, he has Nino with him. Plus Ohno-mama probably packed him some stuff all ready.'

Matsujun chuckled. 'Sou da ne.' Then he took a deep breath before posing his next question. 'Do you think this 'team bonding' thing is because of us?' Both of them had no delusion that there was an uneasiness within Arashi.

'Most probably.' Sho answered reluctantly. He guessed despite his effort to hide his frustration with Mizuno, his band mates had noticed anyway. 'I thought we are both clear on the kissing business all ready.'

'Yeah. I know you wouldn't have done it in the first place.' Matsujun put on his cap. 'Gomen.'

'It's okay.' Sho waved Matsujun's apology aside. If he was in the same position, he might have done the same thing too. 'Anyway, have you talked to Kira since then?'

Matsujun looked away. 'I don't think I am ready to forgive her yet.' Trust was a big issue with him.

'Sou ka...' Sho didn't say anything else as he switched lane as the traffic began to thin approaching outside Tokyo.

'What about you and Mizuno? Have you guys been talking?'

'I saw her two days ago.'

'And...?'

'We talked a bit.'

Matsujun turned back to look at Sho. Sho was sure tight-lipped about Mizuno! 'How's she?'

'She's fine... I guess.' Sho stepped on the speed pedal. 'I hope she's okay.' Mizuno only texted a thank you for the song he sent, but didn't say anything much nor do anything else since.

'Oh? She's not much of a mobile user is she?' Matsujun remarked that in contrast to Mizuno, Kira always sent him text messages and voicemails everyday. He hadn't been replying her though.

'Waiting's a biatch.' That was Sho's only comment on the matter. He can understand Matsujun's reluctant to reply to Kira, but Mizuno he cannot fathom. He hadn't seen her since they met at the dance studio either. Only by keeping busy that he could lessen his worrying about Mizuno.

'Are we there yet?' Aiba's question halted any further discussion between the two in the front seats. 'I'm hungry~~~'

'Urusei!' Matsujun slapped Aiba's head with his rolled script book. With Aiba fully awake, Sho and Matsujun didn't lack for entertainment and something to laugh at as they continued their journey. None of them even try to guess what Ohno had in mind for their ryokan weekend break.

--->
Ohayo - Good morning
Ryokan - traditional Japanese inn
Gomen - Sorry
Sou ka - Is that so?
Urusei - Shut up/Noisy

Just came back from a bit of plane hopping. Will reply to comments next time. Gomen ne. ^^;; Short update too. --dies--

Chapter 31b

2006-02-26T20:52:00.000Z

Chapter 31b

'This might be good for you Mizuno.'

Those were the words which greeted Sho as he pushed open the dance studio door. From the surprised and the swift frown on the respective faces of the studio's occupance, it was clear that his presence was unwelcomed. 'Ah... Sumimasen...'

'Don't worry about it Sho,' The frown was replaced by a quick grin on Mizuno's mentor, Kobe-senpai's face, 'I was just checking up on her.'

'Ahh... So desune...'

'Jya!' Kobe-senpai bent down to squeeze Mizuno's left shoulder with his right hand. 'Think of what I said.' He released her shoulder. 'Don't push yourself too hard.' Sho took a step inside the room as Kobe-senpai walked towards him. Kobe-senpai paused when he stood shoulder to shoulder with Sho. 'You better be careful, Sakurai.' His tone carried a warning. 'Just because most people had left the building, it doesn't mean you can lower down your guard.' He was one of the few people in the company who knew of the couple.

'I know. You don't have to tell me.' Sho replied annoyed. 'I wasn't born yesterday.'

Kobe-senpai smirked. 'Well then...' He stepped out of the room. 'Oyasumi.'

Sho let the door closed on him before walking towards where Mizuno was sitting on a wooden bench facing the opposing mirrored wall. The newspapers were left taped to the glass window on the door sealing the room completely from outside eyes. 'Oozora...' His voice sounded gentle but rough as if his throat was dry. He quickly cleared his throat. 'How have you been?' He stood directly in front of her feet encased in a pair of flesh-coloured high heels. He noticed that instead of socks, white bandage covered her feet up to her ankle. 'Do they hurt?' He knelt down to touch her ankles.

'Sho, don't!' Mizuno finally broke her silence and raised her head. 'Leave them alone.' She quickly tore her gaze away from meeting Sho's eyes.

Sho was taken aback when he saw Mizuno's eyes were glassy with the beginning of tears. 'Oozora, do you need help?' His hands automatically reach out for her face.

Mizuno slapped his hands away. 'Sho, leave me alone.' Her voice wavered. 'This isn't a good time.'

'But...' Sho's protest died on its track as he saw how Mizuno recoiled from him as he tried to get closer to her.

'Please.' Mizuno pleaded, sniffling. She turned her back on Sho. Please understand, Sho. I don't want you to see me like this. She closed her eyes and hoped that Sho would walk away and leave her on her own.

Sho's fingers curled into a fist. He was torn between respecting her personal space and the urge to wrap her in his embrace and sooth her pain. However, when he saw Mizuno's shoulders slumped as if she was trying to shrink, he decided with a heavy heart to do as she wished him to. Walk away and leave her alone. 'Umm... Call me anytime you want Oozora.' He was about to stand up when his eyes was drawn to Mizuno's personal mobile lying open on the bench next to her.

-FLY BAKA OUJISAMA-

Fly idiot prince? Sho thought surprised. He supposed that the display name was the person Mizuno was about to call. He stood up. Who the heck is this oujisama?! The embers of jealousy began to light up. 'Oozora, who is this flying baka oujisama?' He had to know!

'You baka!' Mizuno grabbed her mobile, her cheeks were as red as tomatoes. 'Just go away!'

'Fine! I'm leaving!' Sho gritted his teeth as he stomped away from the room. Why is she getting so defensive about?! He fumed as he walked towards the elevator. Flying baka oujisama?! Who the hell is this flying guy of hers? Sheesh... He stabbed the up button several times. What? Does the guy freaking fly? Superman?! The button was vandalised several more times when suddenly a realisation hit him and his finger stopped. Fly guy? Could it be? A smile slowly crept to his lips. Is she for real?! A chuckle escaped him. 'I am the flying baka oujisama!' The chuckle turned into a full blown laughter. It just dawned on him how ridiculous it was that he was actually jealous of himself!

Sho shook his head as he entered the elevator. Mizuno probably used fly as a pun for his name. The kanji used for Sho, 翔, is used as a radical for 'flying' or 'to soar'. Looks like it wasn't just him who used nicknames for his contact list for extra privacy. He pressed his floor number and the door closed. A bit of his tension was released from the laughing and when he thought back of what happened in the studio, Mizuno actually answered his question about the nickname! "You, baka!" He chuckled as the elevator door opened to his floor. She was probably very embarassed when he commented on it! 'She called me oujisama~~~' His mood was improved a bit as he entered his empty dressing room. The other Arashi members had left earlier. Even with his better mood, he still hadn't forgot about Mizuno with her bandanged feet and tears in her eyes.

'Hmm... What should I do?' Sho laid down on the couch trying to think of a way to reach the prideful Mizuno. He was confused with what Mizuno was doing to him. She needed him yet she pushed him away. He didn't get it at all. In the corner of his eye, his bag gaped open revealing his iPod and his platinum coloured portable iBook he brought everywhere with him. He needed the laptop to do music mixes and experimentation with music production when he had the urge. He turned to stare at the iBook as an idea began to form in his head. There are other ways to get Mizuno to listen to his words!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mizuno gave a deep sigh of relief as the door shut close. Sho had gone. She slowly set her mobile back on the bench. Her fingers felt a bit numb from clutching the mobile much too tightly. She waved her hands to cool down her face. That was embarrassing! I should have changed Sho's nickname to something simpler! She was about to call Sho, just to hear his voice, after Yagawa had left when Kobe-senpai arrived unannounced. He had something interesting to tell her.

As Mizuno calmed herself down, the pain returned. What Kobe-senpai said made her momentarily forgot about her pain, but when Sho arrived, she felt a yearning to just throw herself in his arms and forget about her ordeal. She felt herself weakened at the sight of Sho and she didn't want him to know that! Come on Oozora! Stop weeping! She sucked in a deep breath as she slipped off her shoes and noted that blood had seeped on the white layers at the back of her ankles as well as the plasters on her toes.

Her eyes twitched as her blisters stung as she peeled off the plasters. 'I hate high heels!' She didn't usually wear heels to dance in, but as she wanted to put herself totally into the choreography, she just had to grin and bear the discomfort. Besides, she needed to know the difficulties of dancing in the heels to understand what the problems her students could be facing later on. After unwrapping her feet, she took out her fresh supply of plasters and a disinfectant. She had been to the nurse's office a couple of times since she started on Wednesday to get the bandages, plasters and some painkillers. On top of the shoes, the dance proved a test for Yagawa who kept stepping on her feet or elbowing her! She realised that she can't expect him to follow up to her speed, so once again she refrained herself from damning him to hell when he made the mistakes.

'Itttaaiii~~~' Mizuno hissed as she swab her cut with a disinfectant before covering them with plasters. This was what she didn't want Sho to see. Her feet were a mess! Thinking of Sho, she felt her eyes began to water again. 'No, no. It's better this way. It's better this way. Must not depend on him...' Hell, I'm a mess!

Suddenly her mobile rang. The LCD screen indicated an e-mail from Fly baka oujisama. 'Hmm...?' Mizuno flipped open her mobile and clicked the open button.

"Oozora, I hope you're okay. Listen to this and read the lyrics here. My feelings should be clearer to you. I'm going home now and so should you! Don't hesitate to call me if you need anything, angel. Take care!
xx Your fly oujisama. Drop the baka!"

Mizuno can't help laughing at Sho's words. Thank goodness Sho is an understanding guy. A smile of relief followed her thought that Sho didn't take it to heart that she told him to leave her alone. 'Now I'll just have to download the music and read the lyrics...' Mizuno finished plastering her blisters and put her heels in her bag and slipped on her flip flops as she waited for the attachment to download. She had thought of wearing the heels to go home to get used to them, but decided against it after reading Sho's message.

'Right, let's see what you sent me Sho...' Mizuno said eagerly as she plugged in her earphones to her mobile for clearer sound. The first few beats all ready notified her what song it was. 'Yume de ii kara? Why is he sending me his solo?' The music was easy listening and soothing. It brought a smile to her face just listening to it. She really didn't need to read the lyrics for Sho's solo from Arashi's One album, she knew it by heart! 'But if the baka said to read the lyrics...' She scrolled down the e-mail for the lyrics.

"
*******************************************************

Yume de ii kara
~It's all right even if it's a dream~

(Oh) I see you
Everyday in my dreams and I just wanna say
Yume de ii, right
C'mon yeah! S.H.O. What?!
Yo, I need you girl! Yeah ha ha
Check it out

~(Oh) I see you
Everyday in my dreams and I just wanna say
It's ok as a dream, right
C'mon yeah! S.H.O. What?!
Yo, I need you girl! Yeah ha ha
Check it out~

ima kankei wa one way
Dream kara mezametemo o.k.
ni naru ni wa kimi no ai ga hitsuyou oh
kono doa mukou ki ni naru hito isshou
nanimo kamo kimi no tame Baby
takanaru kodou yakusoku shiyou
kimi to kanjiru shiawase
Please be my lady

~Right now this relationship is ONE WAY
If I wake from this dream it'll be OK
(but in order to be okay) I need your love OH
Go beyond this door (to be) as one with the one on my mind
Anything and everything for you BABY
A throbbing (heart)beat, let's make a promise
This happiness I feel with you
Please be my lady~

honki ka na? sou tabun kimagure uso demo ii mou jikan ga nai
kotoba kurikaeshte omoidashitemo yappari shinjirarenai

~Is this for real? Yeah, maybe it's just on a whim. It's fine if it's a lie, I'm already out of time
Repeating words, even if I recall (them) I can't believe it after all~

kumoma kara sasu hikari boku wo terasu yo
sukoshizutsu jimen kara ukabiagatteyuku
ryoute hiroge sora wo tonde machi ga chisaku natte
kimi no hora egao sagashite ah- yume demo ii kara

~From between the clouds a brilliant light shines on me
Little by little, I float up from the ground
I spread my arms and fly into the sky as the town becomes smaller
I search for your smile, ah- it's all right even if it's a dream~

tsukinami no koto iitakunai
The way I feel inside
kore wa yume ja nai it's real
uso no nai kanjou wa L.O. no ato V.E.
de kimi to make a monogatari
hikari sasu to tomadou koto wa naku
jikan tatsu to sodatsu
This love song is for you
mou kimi ni muchuu
You are my sun and my moon
futari de tabi suru uchuu

~I don't want to say something trite
The way I feel inside
This is not a dream, it's real
Feelings that aren't lies, after L.O. (is) V.E.
and you, together, make a story
If the light shines then there will be no confusion
If time passes then I will mature
This love song is for you
Again in a daze (because of) you
You are my sun and moon
(on) this earth that we journey on~

doko ikou mou nanimo ukabanai nandemo ii kanojo to ireba
kimochi karamawari boku wo tasukete kudasai dou sureba ii

~Where shall we go? Nothing comes to mind, anything is fine as long as I'm with her
Please help this me who has fruitless feelings, what should I do?~

mayou yori nayamu yori kimi ni totte no
yorokobi wo kokoro kara oshiete ageyou
taisetsu na taisetsu na kimochi wo wasurenai de
kimi no hora namida ni furetara ah- yume demo ii kara

~Before being lost, before being tormented
I'll show you the happiness I feel for you from my heart
Don't forget these precious, precious feelings
If I can touch your tears ah- it's all right even if it's a dream~

yume ja nai kore dake wa ieru koto boku ni totte wa
kore made ni keiken mo shita koto nai hodo
ugoiteku kawatteku hito wo ai suru koto no
imi wo hora mitsukerareru no?

~'It's not a dream,' to me, this is all I can say
I've never had experience (of this sort before)
moving forward, changing, the meaning of loving someone
Am I able to find it?~

kumoma kara sasu hikari boku wo terasu yo
sukoshi zutsu jimen kara ukabiagatteyuku
ryoute hiroge sora wo tonde machi ga chisakunatte
kimi no hora egao sagashite ah- yume demo ii kara

~From between the clouds a brilliant light shines on me
Little by little, I float up from the ground
I spread my arms and fly into the sky as the town becomes smaller
Look, I search for your smile, ah- it's all right even if it's a dream~

********************************************************

My feelings should be clearer to you, Oozora.

- Sho
"

'Huh?' Mizuno reread Sho's final message again. 'What does he mean? Am I supposed to see something?' She scrolled up to the lyrics again and noticed what she hadn't the first time she read it. 'Why are some of the words in bold?' The song was still playing on repeat. She read the bolded words only. 'Eh...? They are a message?' She reached for her sketchbook and a pencil to write down the emboldened words. 'Why is this guy being so troublesome?!' She muttered as she copied the words on paper.

I see you
Everyday in my dreams and I just wanna say
I need you girl!

Right now this relationship is one way
I need your love
Anything and everything for you
let's make a promise
Please be my lady

I search for your smile
it's all right

The way I feel inside
it's real
L.O.V.E.
there will be no confusion
This love is for you
You are my sun and moon
(on) this earth that we journey on

Where shall we go?
Please help me, what should I do?

Being lost, being tormented
I'll show you the happiness I feel for you from my heart
If I can touch your tears
it's all right

I've never had experience (of this sort before)
moving forward, changing, the meaning of loving someone

Look, I search for your smile
it's all right

Mizuno was dumbfounded when she reread the words put together. Maybe Sho didn't understand her as much as she had anticipated earlier. 'Ii kara? Is it all right like this?' She put her book and pencil back into her bag.

Where shall we go?
Please help me, what should I do?

Mizuno gathered her bag and carefully stood up. Those two questions flashed across her mind and for a moment her mind went blank. She didn't know where their relationship was headed and for the first time she admitted that her relationship with Sho wasn't as stable as she liked to think. Does Sho think I don't like him anymore? Having lost the security provided by her denial, Mizuno was scared. The pain on her feet as she left the room was nothing compared to the emotional turmoil within her. 'What should I do?'

--->
Oujisama (Ouji) - Prince

You can download Sho's song here - Yume de ii kara by Sakurai Sho: http://www.sendspace.com/file/1eovm9

For romanji and translated (in italics) lyrics to Yume de ii kara by Sakurai Sho:
Credits to noesunexito - www.livejournal.com/community/honyakukonnyaku

Note:
For the emboldened romanji for the lyrics, don't pay much attention to them as my Japanese is limited - I could be wrong. >_<;;

I must admit, doing the coding for this chapter is really tiring na~~~ --dies--

Chapter 31

2006-02-25T23:34:00.000Z

Chapter 31

It was the third time Sho had been down to see Yuki in his dressing room. The first time was to give Yuki his quarter full water bottle he left in Arashi's dressing room after their lunch.

'Uhh... Thanks Sho.' Yuki took the bottle with a look of confusion. 'You can just throw it away.'

The second time was to remind Yuki to return his mixed CD. He needed it back to sample with something new with his music mixer.

'Ahh? The one you lent me 6 months ago or something?' Yuki looked troubled. 'It's in Osaka. Sorry Sho.'

An hour later, the third time, it was to ask if Yuki wanted to grab something to drink. By this time, Yuki caught on what Sho was actually doing.

'Hey Sho, use your mobile next time.' They were the only two who were in Yuki's dressing room by then. Toma had gone home while Yuki stayed behind to go to the gym as he always does every Thursday evening. 'She not out yet?'

Sho had the gall to look as if he had no idea what Yuki was talking about. 'There's a new bar just opened about 3 blocks from here.' He plopped down on the faded purple couch which swallowed him. It must have seen better days before being used by generations of Johnny's boys. 'I heard it only have seats for 5 people.'

Yuki changed into a white tank top. 'Come on Sho. You know I have to do some crunches and stuff to get some iron abs like yours.' He patted his slightly flabby stomach. 'Unlike you exercise is torture for me, not an escapism.'

'I don't know what you're talking about.'

'Sho, Sho, Sho...' Yuki shook his head and clicked his tongue in disapproval. 'Come off it. You're only coming to my room so that you have an excuse to pass by the studio where Mizuno is, right?'

Sho's eyes narrowed. 'If you don't want to go just say no, you baka!'

'Aww... Don't pout!'

'I do not pout!' Sho stressed as he stood up. 'Don't make me an excuse to be late for your gym session.'

'Hai hai...' Yuki chuckled as he watched Sho opening the door. 'Why don't I leave my room unlocked for you to...' He didn't finished his sentence for at that moment Yagawa was walking past his room, sweating, huffing and cursing.

'Damn that woman! Thank God it's over now!'

Sho and Yuki waited until they heard the ting of the elevator indicating that Yagawa had went into the lift. They made certain to hear the elevator door closing.

'Well, I guess you should make your move now.' Yuki patted Sho's back. 'Gambatte. You're not as baka as I thought you were.' Sho was really worried about Mizuno despite his aloof appearance during lunch.

'Whatever.' Sho replied trying hard not to grin as he walked away from Yuki's dressing room without turning back.

Yuki chuckled silently as he locked his room. 'Gee... If only my steps are half as light as Sho's.' He slipped his key into the right pocket his black basketball shorts. 'Yare yare yare... What I do for vanity...' He said as he grudgingly headed for the gym.

Going in the opposite direction, Sho was busy trying to find something appropriate to say to Mizuno. It had been too long since they actually talked properly to each other. Far too long...

--->
Gambatte - Good luck
Yare yare yare - just a saying without any particular meaning (something like Aigoo or Aiyah... ^^;;)

A very short update. Probably a part b coming up. ShoxMizuno moment? Ho...ho...ho... ^^V

Chapter 30

2006-02-21T19:22:00.000Z

Chapter 30

'Guess what we've heard!'

'Huh?' Sho replied mildly as he opened his lunch bento. Unusually for Arashi, Yuki and Toma were in their dressing room, joining them for lunch. 'What, Yuki?'

'Guess first!'

Sho ignored him. 'Itadakimasu...'

'Ceh!' Yuki pouted. 'You're so boring.'

'Ne ne, what is it then?' Aiba asked curiously as he came to sit next to Yuki. 'Ah, are you not eating that brocolli, Toma?'

'Want it?' Toma who sat adjacent to Aiba offered his steamed brocolli to Aiba. 'Don't feel like eating them today.'

As the brocolli exchange took place, Yuki cleared his throat as if he had something important to say. 'Well, we were talking to the security guards earlier,' Both of them had a tendency to stop by for a chit chat with the other staff in the building while waiting at the lobby doing nothing, 'It seems like Mizuno didn't go home last night. She slept in her office.'

'Ehhh...' Ohno's eyes widened in shock. 'I didn't know that anyone is allowed to stay overnight in this building except the security people.'

'Sou da ne...' Toma agreed. 'Apparently she can't walk and was too tired. The security guys said that they couldn't bear to shove her out of the building in her condition.'

Sho stopped eating. 'Can't walk? What happened to her legs?'

'Don't know.' Yuki raised his shoulders. 'When we went past the dance studio on our floor, she was dancing fine with Yagawa.' He munched on a piece of chicken before continuing. 'That's why it's a mystery. Was it really Mizuno who slept at her office last night?'

Ohno, Nino and Aiba leaned forwards to discuss the possibility of ghosts in the building with Yuki. Matsujun kept quiet and concentrated on eating his lunch. Talk of ghosts didn't interest him much. Sho, too, had resumed eating though his creasing forehead betrayed his deep thought on the matter. Even more so when Toma said that he saw Mizuno leaving the nurse's office when he arrived earlier in the morning.

'It had to be Mizuno. Maybe she can dance now because she got some medicine from the nurse's office. The security guys did woke her up and it was Mizuno who told them that her feet hurt.'

Yuki nodded. 'It must be hard for her to come up with a completely new choreography. Kame said the music is totally different from their original set.' Since Kat-tun, Kanjani 8, Yuki and Toma were on the same floor, along with Mizuno, they often get to hang around and gossip with each other, except for Mizuno who revered her privacy. People only enter Mizuno's office if they have business with her or when she asked them to come. Otherwise, Mizuno's office is out of bounds. 'And it seems that Mizuno is trying to get the choreography together by the coming Monday. That's like today, Friday, Saturday and Sunday... 4 days to go!'

'From what we managed to see just now, the routine looks complicated.' Toma added conspirationally. 'Can't watch longer as Mizuno immediately stopped as soon as she saw us.' Mizuno had taped some newspapers over the small viewing windows on the doors after she caught them spying on her dance session. It appeared that she meant to keep the choreography to herself and Yagawa before showcasing it to anyone. 'Yagawa looked half-dead and in pain!'

'Mizuno seemed normal though.' Yuki recalled Mizuno's form as she walked towards the door to shoo them away. 'Well, maybe just a little bit scarier and stricter than usual.' He turned to the rest of the guys in the room. 'You know how she gets when her patience is tested when someone is being intentionally dense to pick up the steps after she had shown them repeatedly for the zillionth time.' He turned his gaze meaningfully to Sho. 'Someone here should know the most...' Yuki, of course, wasn't that someone.

Sho narrowed his eyes. He can't say anything in his defense as he had done exactly that several times when she was their (and his solo) choreographer a few years ago. The words haughty ice queen and dominatrix came to mind. Well, at least Yagawa is miserable! He thought with some sense of satisfaction. 'So she is fine now?'

'I guess...' Yuki answered unsure. 'But isn't it worrying that she can't walk last night? She isn't the sort to say anything, you know.' If Toma didn't tag along with him, he'd probably be more direct about the situation to Sho. As it was, Toma was still clueless on the relationship between Sho and Mizuno. Get the hint all ready, baka-Sho! Mizuno needed some loving.

'If she can dance, she's okay.' Sho's careless reply made Yuki felt like giving him a kick to force him to come to his senses!

'Waah... That's logical. If she's in pain, she won't dance ne.' Aiba and Toma seemed satisfied with Sho's deduction. 'Hey Aiba, give me some of your salmon.'

'No way! Salmon cannot be traded!' Aiba immediately shield his bento from Toma's incoming chopsticks. 'Dame dame!'

And thus the ensuing struggle for fried salmon distracted most of them from the Mizuno topic. Most, not all. Leader Ohno kept eating in silence as he thought of how the recent news could impact his team members. Even then, the members, especially Sho and Matsujun, still seem to keep a distance between them. Sure they were on friendly talking terms, but there was an air of caution between them that was affecting the group's dynamic. He didn't like it. Then he thought that if Mizuno's choreography was as hard as what Yuki and Toma had said, wouldn't it also affect Kira which in turn would worry Matsujun? Nope, he didn't like his members being unhappy. Not at all.

Ohno looked at Sho thoughtfully. Still trying to look cool, aren't you, Sho? He sneered mentally for he knew the surface didn't match what's going on inside the Keio boy. He swallowed the meat he had been chewing as he was thinking and came to a decision. I'm going to do something about this! Definitely! Must do something!

--->
Sou da ne - That is so... (That's right)
Dame - No way

Dum dee dum... Just a quick update, but Ohno has a plan?! Should they be worried? o_O?!!

Chapter 29

2006-02-12T05:33:00.000Z

Chapter 29

And they are still pretending not to see each other... Ohno observed Sho and Mizuno silently as he gave up trying to concentrate on what was said in the meeting. He lost interest after the agenda turned to the costumes department. Besides, that's Matsujun's forte and even if he missed anything he knew he could count on Sho to fill him in with the worthy details later.

On the right to Ohno, Nino contemplated on whether to nudge their leader back into the meeting or not. Ohno's dazed expression amused him and in the end he decided not to disturb Ohno for the sheer fun of it all. He wondered how Ohno was going to react if he was caught by Johnny-san droning in his own world. Patience, patience... The evil thought manifested his mind. Heh...heh...heh...

Meanwhile, on Ohno's left, Aiba tried not to fidget in his seat too much. He was bored. He needed something to do and the only thing he could do was watch other people in the conference room. The people were seated according to their departments, so the stylists sat at one corner, the choreographers at the other and group managers sat behind their charges and so on, like little clans around the room, with Johnny heading the meeting. Like King Arthur and the round table thingy... He mused to himself. Ahh... Too bad Sho is sitting next to Nino. I want to see how he looks like with Mizuno sitting right in front of him. He glanced slightly to Matsujun on his side. Can't see Kira from here. They were seated on the same side. Man, this meeting is so boring. Why do we need to know what the other groups are doing anyway? Ahh... I want to eat ramen~~~

Matsujun prevented himself from slapping Aiba's head as Aiba slid even further down on his seat. He didn't want to attract unwanted attention, plus he was trying to appear as if he actually took in what was said in the meeting. His anger and hurt had reappeared when his eyes met Kira's as they were entering the room earlier. And along with that emotions, he also felt a surge of relief when he saw her grinning at him. A grin which he didn't return. Well, she didn't really mean it. And she was drunk... His mind wandered back to the night he left her alone in her house and then to Ohno's saying Mizuno didn't give a care about the Sho-kissing-Kira comment. Maybe I was being too harsh on her...? He missed her, but he'd be damned if he were to talk to her first!

Slip your mask off, Oozora, slip it off! That was what Sho felt like screaming at Mizuno who was sitting comfortably next to Kobe-senpai, the one in charge of overseeing the choreographers in the company. He was annoyed that Mizuno was still behaving as if everything was going smoothly for her when he was tormented by her cryptic text message and her purposely ignoring his calls. Heck, two can play this game, woman!

Sitting adjacent to Sho, nodding her head as she listened to the stylist's progress, Mizuno kept a relaxed composure and a smile plastered on her face at all times. Looks like Sho is okay. He'd probably understood what I said. Her smile widened slightly seeing how Sho was being attentive to what was being presented in the meeting. Well, that is what being professional is all about. I can't lose to him! However, if truth be told, she wasn't as confident as she looked on the outside. Aside from a slight pang of guilt upon seeing Sho, she all ready had a bad feeling when her office phone rang with the announcement.

Mizuno had spent the morning with Kat-tun and the six girls to get a feel of their chemistry when dancing together. They had ran through several steps, changing partners and watching their interactions before she retired back into her office to finalised the partnership with Yagawa while giving their charge a chance to get to know each other. Her discussion with Yagawa went well which surprised her. He agreed to her choices readily without any of his smartass comments. It made her suspicious.

'Well, now that everything seems to be going as planned with the costumes, why don't we move on to the choreographers.' Kitagawa-san pointed at the said group expectantly.

Kobe-senpai stood up and reported the progress of each group, moving from V6 to the agency's latest debut, Kat-tun. He was very up to date with the development of each of them as he made it a point for the choreographers to send him weekly reports of their groups' progress. 'And I believe, Mizuno has started teaching the final choreography for Kat-tun which would be a couple dance with the six selected girls from the sister's branch.' He nodded once. 'Everything is fine and dandy and very much on schedule.'

But of course... Mizuno bowed her head slightly to hide her smug grin. I am good. Heh...heh...heh... Maybe she was being overly biased against Yagawa. Maybe the meeting was just Johnny's way to keep them on their toes.

Kitagawa-san cleared his throat as Kobe-senpai took his seat. 'Now about Kat-tun's final set...'

Mizuno froze in her seat, her head was still down. Or maybe not...

'I've heard from the sister's branch that the song and choreography don't suit what they have in mind to highlight their girls.'

Mizuno raised her chin up and squared her shoulders. She kept her face neutral eventhough several questions ran in her mind. What the freaking heck?! They were the ones who chose the freaking song! And the girls were just support dancers. What the hell are they talking about?! The smile was still on her lips.

'After seeing the previews of the choreography,' Kitagawa-san continued referring to Mizuno's clips which she submitted as part of her weekly reports, 'I've agreed with them. We want to put the spotlights on the girls as well.'

'Why?' Mizuno interjected impatiently. Did I miss something? She didn't look calm anymore.

'Well, Mizuno...' Kitagawa-san threw her a disapproving look. 'The sister's branch has plans for them to be debuted officially by the end of the year. They need the added exposure.' He raised an eyebrow. 'You're supposed to know this.'

'Ahh... I guess that was my fault.' Yagawa stood up with a sheepish look on his face. 'Maybe I didn't explain to Mizuno-san properly. Gomen nasai!' He bowed.

The hell you didn't! Mizuno refused to look at Yagawa for fear of actually strangling him to death at the very moment.

'Mizuno...' The sound of Kitagawa-san's fingers drumming on the gleaming black oak table echoed around the room. 'I know you know you're good, but maybe you have thought too highly of yourself.' Obviously he didn't think that Yagawa could have actually not mention that little bit of information to her. 'So what are you going to do about this?'

'I can redo the choreography.' Mizuno replied meeting the founder eye to eye. 'We haven't begun the training yet. It's not hard for me to do some modifications to suit your objective.' Her words were confident. She wouldn't let the little maggot get his way!

Kitagawa-san grunted. 'Well, there is that...'

'But...?' Kobe-senpai leaned in, interested in the unexpected development of the meeting. Mizuno was his responsibility and he didn't believe for once that Mizuno would miss such an important detail.

'I've decided with something more spectacular...' Kitagawa-san paused for added dramatic effect. 'I've decided for Kat-tun's final set...' Mizuno could feel tension rising in her body. 'A new song!'

'A new song?' Kobe-senpai asked incredulously. Beside him, Mizuno was strcuk dumb with the implication of the change. 'That means a whole new choreography. With their schedule all ready jam-packed with other activities, we could fall way behind schedule.'

Kitagawa-san held up his right hand to silence the whispers in the room following his announcement and Kobe-senpai's objection. 'The song is called 'Prelude to ecstasy' which Kat-tun had recorded a few days ago.' He brought his hands together on his lap. 'I heard it yesterday and after trying to figure out what to do with the problem, I think this is the best solution.' He leaned back on his plump black leather chair with a triumphant smile. 'I like the song. I think we'll be releasing it as the next single just before the summer bash.'

Mizuno stood up. 'A new single? Does that mean the deadline would be earlier than August?' Her brain was all ready trying to work out how she was going to make it all possible. For heavens sake, she had never heard the song before!

'I'm thinking of filming the video in July.' Kitagawa-san nodded agreeably. 'So they should be able to do the dance smoothly by then.'

'That's less than 2 months from now! With their increasing activities building up to summer, their training time was cut down all ready.' Mizuno's mind boggled at the prospect. Kat-tun and the girls would suffer!

'But you can do it, right Mizuno?'

Mizuno's lips twitched at the challenging tone carried by the simple question. Why this troublesome delusional old man!

'I can do it!'

What the hell? Mizuno's head snapped to Yagawa who uttered the statement with confidence.

'I mean, it was my fault that the choreography is bad...'

BAD?! Mizuno gritted her teeth. Yagawa, you ass-kissing bastard!

'I would give my best to come up with the ideal choreography.' Yagawa said before bowing, trying to show his sincerity.

'He's not good enough.' Mizuno wasn't going to stand around doing nothing while the good-for-nothing creep was trying to snatch her position. 'Kitagawa-san...' She turned back to face the old man, 'You know I deliver quality. Of course it won't be a problem for me.'

'Ohhh...?' Kitagawa-san drawled lazily as he studied the fiesty female choreographer, tilting her chin up arrogantly. He liked her. 'Well then... I think we've got it settled.' He snapped his fingers and his secretary stood up and walked towards Mizuno. 'Take the CD and get started on it.'

'Arigato...' Mizuno thanked the secretary as she took the CD. 'I'll work on it immediately.'

'Oh, and you don't have to go to Osaka until the filming of the PV.' At Mizuno's blank look, Kitagawa-san chuckled. 'I want you to concentrate on the choreography. Besides, seems like you have build the confidence of the choreographers in Osaka. Now they want to test their abilities with the kids there. Said observing you taught them a lot.' He gave her a thumbs up. 'Good job, Mizuno.'

'Uhh... Thanks.' Mizuno sounded slightly confused and embarassed at the praise. She didn't realise that she had made an impact at the Osaka branch.

'Right, then. Meeting adjourned!'

With those words, Mizuno felt the enormous task she had set for herself. Dear God, please give me strength... How in the world was she going to handle it?

Chapter 28

2006-02-11T05:24:00.000Z

Chapter 28

It started off well enough. "Dear Sho..." That made him smile.

However, the second line wasn't so great. "If you have something to ask me, just call me, baka! -_-*" The smile dampened a bit.

Then it went downhill. "I'd have thought you'd be more understanding. I won't even lend my towel to Yagawa!" The smile changed to a frown.

It got worse. "Baka! Baka! Baka!" He groaned.

And then she had the nerve to wish him to sleep soundly! "That's it. Sleep well. Nite nite." He cursed! There was no way he could have slept after reading such a text from his much longed for girlfriend, Mizuno Oozora.

What the hell was she on about?! Sho thought angrily as he shoved his sweaty used clothes into his rucksack. It was late afternoon on the day after he got the text message and he had just showered and changed into his clean clothes with plenty of time to get ready for his radio show recording session later on in the evening. Didn't even answer her damn mobile, that little liar! His mood turned darker as he recalled calling her one time, three times, ten times or was it 17 times before he gave up and slid his mobile to the other side of the room in frustration. 'Maybe this is one of her evil mind games...' He muttered as he wrung his towel before punching it into his bag. Just looking at the towel brought a deep frown on his handsome face. How am I to be more understanding? And who freaking care if she doesn't lend her towel to the damn bastard?!

'Uhh... Sho...?'

'Freaking idiot!' Sho shut his locker with a bang. 'I'll kill him if he asks for her towel!' Nope, he truly didn't care.

'Err... Right...' Aiba gulped as he took three steps back away from Sho. 'Still high tension eh, Sho.' It looked to the rest of Arashi, who had been watching Sho warily in their dressing room, that their dancing and singing session did little to ease the gloomy atmosphere surrounding Sho ever since he showed up in the morning. Even Matsujun didn't say a critical word when Sho missed a step or two during their session, unlike the day before. 'Dai... Daijoubu?'

Sho glared at Aiba. 'Mind your own business.'

'Now now Sho...' Leader Ohno finally spoke up. He couldn't bear to see his bandmates squabbling. 'Let's all calm down...' Sayaka had told him what had happened during the girls' dinner, so he had expected a certain hostility in the air. On the one hand, he had Matsujun who was still directing his anger at Sho and on the other, he had Sho who seemed to be pouring his wrath on his towel. Though Sayaka didn't know what Mizuno had written in her text message to Sho, he had a fair idea that it was definitely the message which could cause Sho to behave like a madman. 'Sho, sit down.'

Sho took a very deep breath before walking towards their seating area and plopped down on one of the individual couches. Aiba followed behind him and sat in the long couch with Nino and Ohno while Matsujun sat on the other single couch. 'Sorry, I'm not in a good mood today.' Sho grumbled with little hint of sincerity.

'Gee, we hardly noticed it.' Nino said sarcastically. 'Mizuno problem?' He worded it straight, Sho could take it. Silence hung in the closed room as they waited for Sho to reply.

Moments passed as Sho calmed himself before answering the question. He didn't wished for his bandmates to worry about him. 'Women are really troublesome. I don't know what's going on in their heads!'

'Tell me about it.' Matsujun grumbled his agreement. 'Sometimes they don't make sense at all.'

'For all I know they were speaking in a different language altogether.' Sho continued with frustration edging in his voice. 'Can't they just keep it simple and easy to understand?'

'I'll drink to that.' Matsujun tipped his water bottle into his mouth. They were now comrades in the battle against the other sex. 'Why do they keep things complicated and expect us to understand them?'

Sho sneered. 'Like we are mind readers or something.'

'Sou da ne...' Aiba joined the conversation. 'But Sho, what does it have to do with towels?' The towel thing baffled him still.

'Damn if I knew.' Sho sank into the couch dejectedly. 'She said to call her if I have anything to ask her, but I kept hearing the freaking I'm-sorry-but-the-number-you-have-dialled-is-unreachable shiet.'

'Mizuno took off her mobile battery right after she texted you.' Ohno volunteered an answer.
'Figures...' Sho closed his eyes. Oozora, you are really driving me crazy!

'So Kira had told her about, you know...' Matsujun turned to Ohno with a raised eyebrow. Ohno nodded. 'How did she take it?' He was curious.

'Sayaka said Mizuno didn't care.' Ohno's statement attracted Sho's attention once again and their eyes met. 'She said Mizuno just shrugged it off as Kira's drunken funny incident.'

'Ohh...' Sho voiced the general response in the room. Between the five of them, there was a muted understanding that women were indeed mysterious creatures.

'But towels?' Aiba couldn't let the matter go. 'Why did she mention towel?' Now there was a mystery.

'Towel ka...' Nino drawled as if deep in thought. 'Could it be...?'

Aiba's eyes lit excitedly at the prospect of an explanation. 'Nani?'

Nino shifted to sit straighter as he thought of a possibility. 'Remember the towel incident?'

'What towel incident?'

'The one where Sho put her towel into our laundry basket and caused the big rumours and her subsequent transfer to Osaka.' Nino studied Sho's face. It was an ugly truth. Sho did caused Mizuno so much trouble because of a towel.

And the truth was hard to swallow. Shock and guilt washed over Sho's face before understanding and confusion warred in his eyes. 'That woman is really...'

---Bang!---

Sho didn't managed to complete his sentence as their door suddenly flew open admitting Yuki and Toma. 'Hey guys, Johnny-san just called for a meeting now!'

'Now?' Sho echoed, baffled.

'Yes, now.' Yuki pulled Sho off his seat. 'We met your managers and told them we'll fetch you lot up.'

'Why the sudden meeting?'

Toma shrugged. 'We heard that Johnny-san wanted to see how all of us are progressing with the summer bash concert.'

'All of us?'

Yuki nodded impatiently. 'Yes, all of us. Singers, managers, stylists, choreographers...' The last one caught Sho's attention. 'Maybe the old man has something else up on his sleeves.'

'Well, what are we waiting for then?' Matsujun stood up. 'Let's go people!' It didn't take a minute for the dressing room to be emptied as the guys rushed towards the headquarter's conference room for the abrupt meeting called by their agency's founder.

Along the way, they wondered what Kitagawa-san had in store for them.

--->
Johnny-san/Kitagawa-san - Johnny Kitagawa. Founder of Johnny's Entertainment.

The towel incident - Please refer back to 'Of water and storm'. Mizuno lent Sho her labelled towel which Sho stupidly left in their laundry basket which caused ugly rumours to start about Mizuno and the Arashi guys.

The bond between guys is a mysterious thing. One minute they're enemies, the next they're friends. ..... Eh, I don't know what I'm saying! --dies--

Chapter 27

2006-01-24T22:19:00.000Z

Chapter 27

'So, is she rich?'

'Huh?' Kira stopped rummaging in her blanket chest for a second and turned to Mizuno sitting on the floor cushion. 'Rich? I don't know...' They were continuing their conversation about Nino's girlfriend from the dinner.

'Is she older than him?'

'Mi-zu-no~~~' Sayaka drawled exasperatedly from Kira's bed where she was lying on her stomach waiting for Kira to take out the dorayaki from her secret stash in the chest at the foot of her antique iron-wrought bed. 'Give him a break! She isn't his sugar mummy! He's not in it for the money, you know.'

'Hmm...' Mizuno didn't sound convinced as she played roll-the-ball with Kira's Balinese cat, Momo. 'Are you sure she's not some rich businessman's daughter or something?'

---Poof!---

That comment earned Mizuno a flying pillow from Sayaka. 'Iiiittttaaaaiii!!!'

Kira and Sayaka laughed at Mizuno's exaggerated expression of pain. They had finished their dinner and went up to Kira's room where she had promised them some dorayaki. 'Here you go...' Kira said as she handed Mizuno a packet of the pancake 'sandwich' with red bean paste and a dollop of custard filling before joining Sayaka on her bed. 'Haruko is cute ne. She studies at the Imperial Music and Arts Academy. Final year right, Sayaka?'

Sayaka nodded. 'Majoring in music.' She tore open her dorayaki package. 'Definitely Nino's type whether she is rich or not...'

Mizuno just shrugged. 'If you say so...' She would've thought if Nino were to have a girlfriend, she should at least have a fat bank account. She remembered from her days working as their choreographer, Nino had a way of not paying for his meal when they ate out together and it was well known that Nino preferred to be treated than to treat people. 'What's her name again?'

'Haruko. Shikikawa Haruko.' Kira replied in between munching her dorayaki. She was still trying for the right moment to broach the subject of her slip-up. Sayaka had told her it would be best to tell Mizuno when she was in a good mood and after getting well-fed. Sounds like Momo... She grinned as she observed Mizuno running her free hand on Momo's soft long fur as she took a bite off her dorayaki. 'Hey Mizuno, your mother works at the Academy right? Maybe we should arrange to meet up with her again and ask if she knew your mother.'

'Definitely no.'

'Huh?'

'I don't want to see Haruko.'

'Eeh?' Sayaka sat up upon hearing Mizuno's response. 'Why?'

'I just don't want to.' Mizuno simply answered. 'I don't have the time anyway.'

'You can't say that. I can help you make the time.' Sayaka said as she turned to Kira for support. They didn't expect the brush off from Mizuno at all. 'I mean, it'll be nice for all of us to get to know each other.'

'I'd rather not.' The last piece of dorayaki disappeared into Mizuno's mouth. 'But if you guys want to meet up with her, I don't have anything against it.'

Kira's confused expression mirrored Sayaka's. 'I don't get you, Mizuno. I found it a relief to know you guys are in the same situation as I am when the boys are away, so I...'

'I don't want to be part of the support group.' Mizuno's eyes followed Momo who now jumped on to the fawn suede blanket chest before tearing her gaze away to meet Kira and Sayaka's. 'Anyway, sounds like you guys have a great night out yesterday. Sho didn't drink too much did he?'

Kira winced at the abrupt change of subject. 'No, no, he didn't I don't think.' She gave a nervous chuckle. 'Well, not that I would notice as I was the one who got drunk...' Her face flushed. 'Badly.'

'Really?' Mizuno gave her a wicked smile. 'So did you do anything naughty?' She turned to Sayaka with a conspirational look. Sayaka can drink like a fish, so Mizuno knew any Sayaka would know all the drunken antiques of her drinking partners.

Kira's lips drawn into a grim line. The dreaded moment had come, now she had the opening to tell Mizuno of her mistake. Just say it... say it... She didn't know how Mizuno would react to her news. Beside her, Sayaka placed a comforting hand on her back to give her the courage to come clean. She took a deep breath. 'Well, I did something really really stupid...'

'Really?' Mizuno said distractedly. 'Momo... Momo... Come here...' She was waving for the cat to saunter back at her.

Sayaka nodded at Kira to start. Mizuno wasn't one to get angry easily. 'It's really funny when you think about it ne, Kira...'

'Yes... Yeah...' Kira stammered, grateful for Sayaka's help. 'I was so drunk that I told Jun that Sho is a great kisser.'

Mizuno smiled. 'Yes, he is. That baka...' Kira and Sayaka were stunned at Mizuno's reply. 'How did Jun take it? Was he drunk as well?' She picked Momo up and stood up. 'You sure were brave, Kira. I would've thought Jun would explode!' She laughed as she walked to Momo's white cat house placed next to Kira's 'celebrity' vanity table with the light bulbs going around the mirror and its glass chair with pink cushion.

Kira only managed to echo Mizuno's laughter. 'Actually, he did explode and now he's not talking to me.'

'Really?'

Kira felt like crying at Mizuno's uncaring response. Why isn't she worried about Sho at least?! 'Yeah, he's not talking to me at all.' She watched Mizuno coercing Momo to enter his lair. 'Mizuno, why aren't you angry?'

'Why should I?' Mizuno patted Momo as she managed to get him to lie on his bed. 'Hey Kira, can I take a picture of Momo? Kawaii na~~~'

That was the final straw for Kira! Either Mizuno wasn't listening to her problem or she was an idiot. 'Mizuno, were you even listening to me?!'

'Kira, chotto...' Sayaka tried in vain to calm Kira who was now flushed with anger and was close to tears.

'I said Sho was a great kisser in front of Jun and you are okay with it?!'

Mizuno turned around uncertainly. 'Yeah... You were drunk. It means nothing to me.' Her eyebrows were drawn together in confusion. Why is she angry all of a sudden?

'You... you...' Kira clenched her fists tightly. 'Aren't you even worried that Sho could actually had kissed me before?! That he could have other women besides you?!'

Sayaka kept mum, not sure how the drama was going to end. Mizuno was now standing up as well, her face was unreadable. In a way, she could feel Kira's frustration at the matter being brushed off by Mizuno, but she thought Mizuno could have been more understanding - or at least give a more normal jealous girlfriend response instead of passing it off without a thought.

'Kira, Sayaka...' Mizuno said slowly in a tone that brook no interference. 'I am only going to say this once.' She met their eyes one by one. 'I don't want to know anything, no woman, nothing at all about Sho's past relationships from either of you. I just don't care.'

'How can you not care?' Kira made a big gesture with her hands. 'What if he still can't forget about his ex-girlfriends? Don't you care at all that since you're not even paying any attention to him now that he might go for other women?!'

Mizuno went rigid at the string of questions she rather had not been asked. 'If this is about Jun not speaking to you for your lack of discretion last night, why don't you go and apologise to him and admit your stupidity.' The sentence was uttered calmly and coldly. What the hell is she getting angry with me for?!

Kira was struck speechless for a moment before lashing out at Mizuno again. 'Stupid?! Are you calling me stupid?!' She pointed an indignant finger on Mizuno's face. 'At least I am doing something to reaffirm Jun's love for me unlike you who left Sho in the dark with all the rumours about you and Yagawa!'

'So you were testing him?' Mizuno said in a disgusted tone. 'Now wonder Jun isn't talking to you. You don't trust him at all.' She refused to take the bait and discuss her relationship with Sho to anyone else.

'I do trust him! I just want to know if he really loves me and not go around seeing another woman behind me.' Kira's tears were flowing in earnest and her voice wavered. 'It's not wrong for me to test him, is it? How else would I know his feelings then?'

Mizuno gave a long sigh. She really didn't like seeing anyone cry. 'Tell you what, why don't you grovel at his feet and beg for forgiveness. Add incentive to it, like a love cheque book where you write stuff that you are willing to do on the cheques and he only need to sign and give the cheque to you and you guarantee to do what the cheque says. Go buy some magazines for ideas.' She shrugged as Kira gave her a blank look. 'Heck, give him free nail painting service or something.' She motioned at the nail art material neatly arranged in it's own labelled rack on the other side the vanity table. 'Anything to show your sincerity.' She walked up to Kira and patted her right shoulder. 'Right, thank you for dinner. I'll see you tomorrow then.' And with that she left Kira's bedroom.

Mizuno's leaving sprung Sayaka to make her goodbye as well as she was the one who brought Mizuno there, so she had to drive her home. 'Umm... Kira, don't take it to heart. That's just the way Mizuno deals with things.' She hugged her and wiped her tears away. 'Go to sleep and get some rest. Don't think about it anymore, okay. At least Mizuno hears it from you ne...' She gave her another hug as she promised herself that she would have a talk with Mizuno in the car later. 'It'll be all right, you'll see.'

A few moments later, Kira could hear their car leaving her driveway and was once again left alone with Momo meowing comfortingly at her feet. As Sayaka had said, she really hoped that everything will be all right...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Right, just take me to the nearest station and I'll go back home from there.'

'I can drive you home, Mizuno.'

'Nope. It's in the opposite direction to your house. It's a waste of your time, Sayaka.'

Sayaka stole a look at Mizuno sitting in the passenger seat next to her. It was a while before the silence in the car was broken with Mizuno's instruction. 'You know, I just have to ask this. Do you really not care that Sho might be worried about the rumours about you and Yagawa?'

Mizuno rolled her eyes. 'I don't see why he should be worried. They're just rumours.'

'Well, maybe you should give him a call...'

'He's busy.'

'What are you talking about?' Sayaka said as she pressed the brake to stop before turning at a junction. 'You can call him anytime. I mean you are his girlfriend.'

'It's his turn to call. If he doesn't call, I assume he's busy and won't bother him.'

'What?!'

Mizuno sighed exasperatedly. 'He has his own life to lead and so have I. I'm not going to go Big Brother on him and monitor his every move.'

'Well, have you guys talked about the rumours at least?'

'There is nothing to it. He should know that.'

Sayaka's mouth dropped open. This girl is either really clueless or insensitive! 'Mizuno, as your friend and his friend, I am going to tell you this.' She shifted her attention away from the road for a moment to look at Mizuno. 'Sho is really worried about the rumours going on at the office. Now I know you don't want to hear anything about this from me, but I think you should be the one to call him this time and explain everything to him.'

'Why can't he just called me and ask himself, that baka?' Mizuno replied stubbornly. She had enough of people telling her what to do with Sho.

'Mizuno...' Sayaka's voice carried the note of a plead. 'Just do me a favour and call him, okay?' Ohno was worried about both Sho and Jun and she couldn't just stand by and not give a hand.

Mizuno went quiet before giving up and reached for her mobile. 'Fine, I'll text him!'

Sayaka smiled, relieved. 'Good.' Mizuno does have a soft spot in her heart. 'That's really good. Thank you Mizuno.'

Mizuno gave a non-commital shrug and proceeded to type her message.

"Dear Sho...
If you have something to ask me, just call me, baka! -_-*
I'd have thought you'd be more understanding. I won't even lend my towel to Yagawa! Baka! Baka! Baka!
That's it. Sleep well. Nite nite."

'There...' Mizuno said as she pressed the send button. 'The message is on its way. Happy now?'

Sayaka chuckled. 'Yeah... Eh? What are you doing?' She looked in alarm as she saw Mizuno dismantling her mobile.

'Taking out the battery.'

'What if he wants to call you.'

'I don't feel like talking to him.' Mizuno shifted in her seat as she saw the sign for a nearby station. 'Look! Just drop me there, Sayaka.'

'Mizuno...' Sayaka gave up. There is only so much she could do persuade Mizuno. Oh well... A step at a time... With that thought it mind, she manouvered her compact green Toyota Passo car into the direction of the underground station.

--->
Itai - Ouch!
Chotto - Hold on
Baka - Idiot

Chapter 26b

2006-01-24T22:12:00.000Z

Chapter 26b

'This room hasn't changed much at all.' Mizuno mused as she stood looking around at her old office when she was working with Arashi. 'It really is small...'

'Okay, okay, stop rubbing it in, sugar.' A bespectacled plump woman smiled as she handed Mizuno a couple of stapled document. 'Here's the finalised list of the girls who will be working with Kattun in the summer concert. Their biodata and schedules etc etc. Them girls and their managers could be a pain to sort out!'

Mizuno chuckled as she took the papers. 'Domo arigato gozaimasu Junko-san...' She nodded once at the personnel liaison officer for the sister's organisation who was sent to the headquarters to oversee the girls' projects and schedules. 'Let me treat you for lunch some time eh?'

Junko let out a huge laugh. 'Hora hora! You haven't changed at all since I last saw you. Still rewarding people with food! Why can't you just give me some diamonds? They make better investment you know!'

'Ha...ha...ha... I am not that rich!' Mizuno replied as she opened the door to exit. 'Right, I'll see you around eh. I've got a date to keep! Jya ne!' A big grin was still plastered on her face as she closed the door behind her and quickly checked the list of girls who would be working with Kattun and her starting from the next day. 'Let's see... Endo Tomomi, Irie Aiko, Haraguchi Kira, Kobayashi Rika, Watanabe Kaori and Watanabe Kaoru. Oh, I have identical twins!' She exclaimed as she scanned through their biodata and their photographs before going back to the list. 'Aiko and Kira eh...' Those were the only ones she knew. 'Should be fine...' She squared her shoulder and finally took a step away from the office door.

'So you're working with Kira next eh?'

Mizuno's eyes widened when she realised that Sho was resting his tired body on the door frame of Arashi's dressing room - which was, of course, next to her old office. She swore the room was unoccupied when she went past it to go to the office a few moments earlier. 'Oh... O-hisashiburi. I didn't expect you to be here.' She lowered her voice and took a step away to keep a respectable distance away from him. 'Umm... Where are the rest?' She managed to peek past him, but saw no one else was in the room.

'At the dance studio. Just coming back to grab some water.' Sho straightened up so that he blocked the doorway. 'Was going to go back when I heard your voice from next door.'
'I was just getting the list,' Mizuno waved the papers in front of him, 'that's all.' Her eyes searched his when she noticed that his neck looked tense and his hands were free from any water bottle. She didn't think he came out for water. 'Umm... Is everything okay with you Sho?' She asked tentatively, coming closer to him unconsciously. 'Is your new dance hard or...?'

'Mizuno! There you are!' Yagawa's abrupt presence put an end to Mizuno's question. 'Have you got the list?'

'I've got it here.' Mizuno gave him a frown when she handed him his copy of the list. 'I was tired of waiting for you to bring the list for me, so I came up and got it myself.' She wasn't pleased with Yagawa. He hasn't shown any respect for her as the head choreographer at all.

'Well, at least we have the list now.' Yagawa winked at Mizuno. 'It's all in the past now.' He gave a quick hug to Mizuno who stood frozen at being caught unawares.

'Excuse me. Get a room will you?' Sho growled as he pushed past the two figures and made his way back to the dance studio. That bastard! Sho clenched his fists tightly and thought of how he much he would've enjoyed beating the crap out of Yagawa if only they were at a different place. As it was, he could only feign indifference to Mizuno if he was to keep their relationship a secret. Damn it all to hell!

Mizuno reawaken from her numb state swiftly pushed Yagawa away. 'Yagawa, don't you ever touch me again.' She spelt out her warning slowly before turning away, ignoring Yagawa's teasings which followed her departure. Her face had drained of colour at the look of Sho's angry back as he left her in Yagawa's embrace. She knew it was for their own good, but it still left a slight twinge in her heart. It hurt. Stop it baka! She forced herself to get her act together as she entered the elevator and pressed the button to the lobby. Don't think too much about it. It's better that way. She took a deep breath and forced a smile on her face. Look happy now. Don't want to spoil the dinner later. And later, with her cheerful mask on, she came out of the elevator and readied herself for a fun and enjoyable girls' night at Kira's house, foreseeing a carefree conversation and good food to lift her spirits up.

--->
Domo arigato gozaimasu - Thank you very much (formal)
Hora hora - Look here (some sort of saying)
Jya ne - See you (goodbye)
O-hisashiburi - Long time no see; It has been a while.

Chapter 26

2005-12-04T18:19:00.000Z

Chapter 26

'Shitsurei shimasu...' Sayaka slowly opened the door to Mizuno's office and peeked in before proceeding further. It was not always that Mizuno rang to have her lunch delivered to her office. Usually she would come down to the cafe or forgot to eat all together.

Mizuno tore her gaze from her computer screen and stopped typing. 'Oh, come in, come in Sayaka.' She rolled her chair back and stood up. 'Just put the food on the table over there.' Her left pointing finger motioned at the glass coffee table in her lounge area as her other hand searched for her money in her backpack pocket.

'So...' Sayaka sat down on the couch after she put Mizuno's lunch bento on the table. Her eyes followed Mizuno walking towards her. Mizuno with her bangs clipped haphazardly on her head avoiding the cold patch stuck on her forehead with her face still looking a bit flush. 'How are you feeling today?'

'Dai-jou-bu! I'm feeling much better.' Mizuno rolled her eyes as she handed her dues and then sat down next to Sayaka. 'Just a little behind with my work, you know. Oh, and don't mind the hair. I can't be bothered to undo Jin and Ueda's masterpiece.' The two mentioned had been extremely helpful when she was about to put her cold patch on before leaving them to get on with their footwork practice. She lifted the bento lid open smiled as she saw the neatly placed conical temakizushi. 'Waah! I am so hungry! Itadakimasu!'

Sayaka laughed. 'Slowly now. Don't choke on it.' Then she looked past Mizuno to see if there is any drink in the room since Mizuno didn't order any. 'Let me just get your water for you.' Mizuno just nodded as her mouth was too full to talk. So Sayaka walked around Mizuno's work table and bent over to get her big water bottle on the floor. 'Busy aren't you?' There weren't any free space on the table for the bottle. Papers full of sketches, coloured only with several splotches of fluorescent post it notes covered the entire area with Mizuno's sketchpad wide open on top of them. Her backpack was hanging onto the chair unzipped revealing a box of aspirin and a bottle of vitamin supplements amongst her other belongings. Well, at least she is taking care of herself.

Mizuno made sure her mouth was empty before making any replies. 'Just doing some scheduling and improving on the choreography as I go along. Was supposed to do them over weekend and all, but you know how I was.' She shrugged and ate another temaki as Sayaka came back to the couch.

'You're leaving early today aren't you? 5 o'clock?'

Mizuno nodded.

'Good. I'll drive you home and get you some free food as well.' Sayaka swore Mizuno's eyes sparkled at the mention of free food. 'By the way, Kira is coming with us as well. We'll be eating at her place too.'

Mizuno lifted an eyebrow and swallowed. 'Kira? Why?' She didn't know that Sayaka and Kira had become very close.

'Just because...' Sayaka twisted open the bottle cap and handed the bottle over to Mizuno. 'Just a bit of girl talk over food in a different environment, you know.' She received a text from Kira asking her to help her get Mizuno together with them, saying that she wanted to tell her about last night personally before she heard it from someone else. Thankfully, Mizuno decided to return home early making her job easier. Seeing that Mizuno still looked at her uncertainly, she brought out her trump card. 'Did you know that she has a cat with fluffy tail called Momo? It is so kawaii~~~'

'Okay! I'm in!' Mizuno almost choked on her water over her excitement. Other than food, cats are one of her other weaknesses. Sayaka found out accidentally when she saw her feeding some stray cats around the secluded parts of the building ground several times if there were any around. She had said that she had always wanted a cat, but her living circumstances made it impossible for her to have a pet. Her parents don't like animals around the house and now she was too busy to own one. 'I'll meet you at your car at 5.'

'Good good!' Sayaka's intention had been accomplished. 'I'll leave you now and get back to the kitchen then.' She stood up and walked over to the door. 'I'll see you at 5.'

'Jya ne!' Mizuno waved before continuing on her lunch, not thinking much of the dinner at Kira's at all.

--->
Shitsurei shimasu - [Excuse me for] I am being rude (in this context. Being polite when you are off, or coming in, usually toward a senior person. Here Mizuno is a customer... Umm... One of those cultural things that I can't explain very well. Sorry. >_<)
Daijobu - I'm fine (in this context)
Jya ne - See you
Temakizushi (temaki) - Conical sushi.

Sorry for the short chapter. Definitely a part b coming up! Need to tie some of the ideas together first. ;)

Chapter 25

2005-11-19T16:26:00.000Z

Chapter 25

Sho is a great kisser. The statement echoed loudly in Matsujun's head. His indulgent smile turned into a deep frown. 'What did you say?' His back became as stiff as a board as his eyes searched Kira's flushed face.

Kira giggled and threw her arms around Matsujun. 'Maybe you should ask him for some tips, Jun~~~'

'SAKURAI!' Matsujun abruptly broke Kira's embrace and stood up, glaring menacingly at Sho who sat adjacent to them. 'What the hell?!'

Sho sat calmly on his seat though his eyes were hard. 'She's drunk Jun. She doesn't know what she's saying.' He put down his beer bottle on the side table. Damn!

Both of them stared at each other as the rest of the group became silent spectators to the unexpected animosity which was aroused from Kira's drunken announcement. 'When?' Matsujun growled. 'When did you two kiss, Sakurai?!' Kira had always been around Arashi since the two of them became the best of friends. She had told him that she fancied someone in his group and said she would kiss the person if she ever got the chance. Though Matsujun dismissed her musings as empty talk to rile him up, deep inside he had his moments of insecurity. He thought back at how long it took Kira to accept his proposal to become his girlfriend and not just a best buddy. Then he thought whether it was just pure coincidence that she had finally said yes after knowing Sho had his eyes set on Mizuno around that time. Kuso! Am I her second choice?!

Sho raised an eyebrow. His jaw tensed. 'We've never kissed, Matsumoto.'

'You lying bastard!' The empty cans on the floor were scattered and crushed as Matsujun charged at Sho. Ohno and Nino stood up, but didn't stop him. There were some issues which needed to be straightened out first.

Hell! Sho quickly stood up as Matsujun grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. 'I don't lie, Matsumoto.' He formed the words slowly hoping that they would penetrate into Matsujun's jealousy shrouded consciousness. 'I never kissed her.' However, Matsujun was having none of it.
'You think this evens you out with Mizuno? What a pair you are!'

Something in Sho snapped. 'I DON'T CHEAT!' He pushed Matsujun hard straight into Ohno, who was standing behind him. 'You better watch your mouth Matsumoto!' His tone was deadly.

'Maa... maa...' Nino jumped in between the two of them. This is a disaster! Here he was trying to give a good impression to Haruko and this happened! On his left, Ohno somehow managed to hold on to Matsujun, preventing him from lunging onto Sho again. And on his right, Sho's chin tilted slightly upwards giving off a menacing aura. 'Why don't we call it a night eh?' He pointed towards Aiba who seemed to be lost in his own world. 'Sho, why don't you take Aiba home. I think he had too much to drink all ready.'

'Yes, Jun. You should take Kira home too.' Ohno told Matsujun in his right ear. 'It is getting late.' Sayaka and Haruko helped Kira to her feet. Ohno loosened his hold on Matsujun.

'Wakatta!' Matsujun shrugged Ohno off of him and pulled Kira off the other two girls, surprising them with his force. 'Let's go Kira!' He dragged Kira towards the door, not even stopping when Kira tripped on her heels. The rest watched in silent as Matsujun swung Kira on his right shoulder and went down the stairs, leaving the room with a very awkward atmosphere.

Sho grunted as he went back to his seat and grabbed the neck of his beer bottle. He tipped the bottle to finish the rest of its content. The false accusation riled him up badly. Women! What the hell was Kira thinking?!

'Umm...' Sayaka shifted uncomfortably and looked at Haruko for support. 'I think we should get going too...'

Haruko nodded readily and turned longingly at Nino. 'I have class to go to tomorrow.'
Ohno and Nino both attended to their girlfriends' hints. Ohno and Sayaka apologised for the less-than-merry ending to their first meeting with Haruko and hoped that they could meet again next time. 'Well, at least the night started off nicely.' Haruko replied jokingly. 'Maybe we just ease up on the alcohol next time.' That drew a few chuckles from the two couples to lessen the tension surrounding them. Then she turned her attention to Aiba who was now lying limp on the whole length of the couch. 'What about Ai---'

'I'll take him home.' Sho answered simply. He wished they would just go and leave him alone all ready!

'Right. That's sorted.' Ohno extended his left arm to Sayaka. 'Shall we?' And soon enough, only Sho and Aiba were left in the room.

Sho let out a long exhausted sigh as he slouched down on his seat. He ran his right hand through his hair in frustration. God, what a mess! Why am I dragged into this?! He shifted slightly to look at Aiba drooling on the couch. How annoying! He threw a cushion at Aiba's peaceful form. 'Wake up baka!' As Aiba groggily woke up and then fell on the floor, Sho stood up and groaned. 'Damn! Looks like I'm paying for the taxi again!' He noticed that Aiba had resumed sleeping on the floor and he took another cushion. 'This guy is really...'

--Poof!--

The cushion hit Aiba even harder than before. 'Itaiii!!!!' Now Sho was sure Aiba was awake.
'We're going home, Aiba.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elsewhere, Matsujun and Kira sat apart in the taxi. Matsujun was looking out of the window while Kira stared at Matsujun. When she had reached for his hand after they entered the taxi, Matsujun quickly took his hand awy from her. Though her head was still feeling fuzzy, the silent drive did home in the ugly confrontation at the bar and she was mortified. 'Jun, I'm sorry.'

Her apology was met with silence. Kira waited for a few moments before resigning herself to look out of the window as well. She had seen Matsujun got angry before, but not like this. When Arashi was promoting their album, the time they spent together was also limited. And it was just a few days after Matsujun had come back that it was announced that he had accepted a lead role in a drama which was scheduled to start filming in mid-May which was less than two weeks away. Normally, she would be ecstatic about this, however, she later found out that the lead female role was a singer and actress who she wished she could be, but knew she didn't even come close to in terms of beauty, talent, popularity and everything else. What irked her was that she didn't find out about this from Matsujun, but rather from the news. He somehow forgot to mention it when he first told her of his new job. As soon as she knew about the actress, a question had been plaguing her mind. How can I compete with her?

The taxi passed by some buildings she recognised and knew that they were getting closer to her house. Her parents had gone on their yearly honeymoon trip to Europe and left her on her own with the family cat. Well, Jun is going to stay for the night... She smiled to herself as the taxi finally pulled over outside the gate of her house. Jun paid the fare and then went over to her side to take her out of the taxi.

'Hold the taxi.'

Huh? Kira's head tilted up to look at Matsujun's grim face. 'Aren't you staying with me?'

Matsujun didn't answer her as he opened the gate and continued to walk her to her door.

'Jun...?' Kira asked him again, confused. 'You're staying right?'

Again no reply except for Kira's cat meowing as Matsujun unlocked and opened the door. He then helped her took off her shoes and slipped her feet into her indoor slippers. 'I'll see you tomorrow.'

'But Jun!'

'Tomorrow Kira!' Matsujun bellowed as he turned to walk back to the door. 'I need you to be sober.'

'Don't leave me Jun.' Kira stood rooted to her spot, convinced that Matsujun would stay. 'I'm sorry. I lied.'

At her admission, Matsujun stopped on his tracks, but didn't turn around to face her eye to eye. 'What do you mean?'

Kira gulped as she felt tears coming on her eyes. 'I lied. I just want you to be jealous. Sho and I never kissed.'

'Why? Why do you want to make me jealous?!'

Kira cringed at Matsujun's harsh tone. 'I'm sorry.'

'Damn it!' Matsujun slammed the door open to the wall and stepped out of the house before turning back to Kira. 'Is it because you don't trust me?!'

'No, that's not...'

'Or is it because you think that I don't love you enough?!'

'Jun please...' Kira was now crying in earnest as she saw the hurt etched on Matsujun's handsome face.

Matsujun shook his head. 'No. I'll see you when you're sober.' He let the door closed on him. 'Oyasumi.'

The seconds stretched long as Kira listened to the door clicking shut as Matsujun's footsteps slowly faded from her hearing and followed by the sound of the taxi pulling away from her house. She fell on her knees with her cat nudging its head on her thigh. Her tears continued to fall. The realisation of her action fuelled by dutch courage hit her like cold water. 'Oh no... Jun...' She sobbed. 'I'm so stupid!' She had never felt so lonely and scared of really losing him than at that moment. Her cat had leapt onto her lap and meowed. She looked down into its big eyes and choked, 'I am an idiot aren't I, Momo?' Momo meowed as if he understood what she had said. She grinned sadly, 'Yes, I am an idiot.' And as she picked Momo up and hugged him, she wished that tomorrow would be a better day.

--->
Kuso - Damn
Wakatta - I know
Itai - Ouch
Oyasumi - Good night (sleep tight)

~ Right, I'll have to find a picture of the cat later. I don't even know what its breed is yet. It was a last minute decision along with its name. Momo is not the most original of names and most of you would recall where that name could be inspired from - Jun's character in the drama Kimi wa petto (you are my pet). So yeah... ^^;;

Chapter 24

2005-10-30T20:49:00.000Z

Chapter 24

The alley going to the back of the building was dark and silent. Only the sound of his own footsteps echoed down the narrow passageway. Sho stopped in front of a glistening black steel door. He knocked on the door three times and waited for the door to open. Costa bar belongs to one of Matsujun's friends, so Arashi were given special access to escape any opportunistic paparazzi roaming around the Roppongi Hills area.

'Domo...' Sho nodded an acknowledgement to the bouncer as he entered the premise.

'May I take your jacket, Sakurai-san?' The receptionist standing in front of a small cloak room smiled politely at him. Sho took off his jacket and handed it over to the uniformed guy. 'The rest of your company are expecting you upstairs, sir. Dozo.'

'Thank you very much.' Sho followed the direction of the receptionist's gesture and walked up to the VIP lounge where Arashi usually hang out en masse without fear of attracting unwanted attention. He pushed open the frosted glass door and immediately the loud conversations in the room stopped. 'It's just me guys...' Sho chuckled. 'So what did I mis...?' His eyes widened as they rested upon a familiar face. 'Oozora?'

'Kawaii huh?' Aiba nudged Sho's ribs as he brought Mizuno closer to Sho. 'Ah, ah, ah~~~' He slapped Sho's hand away when he tried to get hold of Mizuno. 'Not so fast Sho-chan~~~'

Sho narrowed his eyes at Aiba. 'Aiba, do you want to die?'

'Hmm...' Aiba contemplated on the question as he looked at Mizuno. 'Oh what the hell... Mmwaahhh!'

'Get your disgusting lips away from her, Aiba Masaki!' Sho charged over at Aiba causing both over them to fall over on the couch with the roar of laughters around them. 'Damn you!'

'Okay, okay, Sho...' Matsujun pulled Sho away from Aiba who was clearly not in his right state of mind from all the drinking he had before Sho arrived. 'It's only a photo, Sho.'

'Give it to me!' Sho growled at Nino who had snatch the photo of a sleeping Mizuno from Aiba's clutch. 'Where did he get it from?!'

Ohno was still on his couch trying to control his laughters at the scene enfolding before him. Nino and he thought that teasing Sho would be a lot of fun and they all nominated Aiba to be the sacrificial lamb as he was the only one who didn't come with a girlfriend (plus he was slightly tipsy by then). 'Chill out guys. Sit down, you are making the ladies nervous. Pfft...' He laughed again.

'Hmmph...' Sho took the photo away from Nino as soon as Matsujun released his hold on him. 'Somebody better explain this to me now!'

'Temper temper Sho...' Nino patted Sho on the back and motioned for him to look in front of him. 'Don't ruin her good impression of you. This is Shikikawa Haruko.'

Sho took a deep breath and forced a smile to the girl, Nino's girlfriend. 'Please excuse my behaviour just now.' He bowed slightly. 'Sakurai Sho. Hajimemashite.'

Haruko stood up and bowed back. 'Shikikawa Haruko. Hajimemashite.' She smoothened unexistent wrinkle on her skirt and pulled her top down slightly. If she was honest, her first impression of Sho changed every image she had of him as seen in the media! She smiled nervously as she could feel Sho was assessing her. 'Umm... I hope we didn't call you at an inconvenient time.'

'Don't mind.' Sho shrugged non-commitantly as he gestured her to sit down. 'I wasn't doing anything anyway.' He shoved Aiba to give him some room. 'Nino hasn't caused you any trouble has he?' He gave her a gentle smile. His polite persona had come to the fore again.

'Well, he hasn't really.' Haruko answered shyly as Nino took his seat next to her again. 'I have nothing to complain so far...'

'Oi oi!' Nino intercepted as the rest of the group laughed. 'What is the meaning of this?!'

As Nino began whining and arguing with Haruko, Sho took the time to see who was in the room. It seemed that only Aiba and him didn't have any company. He thought that Haruko was a pleasant looking and rather cute girl in her red sleeveless peasant top and strawberry print skirt. He reckoned the girl would only reach up to his shoulders if she wasn't wearing her white lace wedges. Not bad at all, Nino... He smirked before turning his attention back to the photo of Mizuno's face, sleeping with her left side pressed on her pillow. But of course, nothing beats Mizuno Oozora! All else faded into the background when he first saw the photo. He traced the outline of her face with his pinky. Maybe I should call her, but eh... He tore his gaze away from the photo. 'How come Oozora is not here?'

'She is actually sick.' Sayaka told him slowly. She was wondering when he would get around to asking them about Mizuno. 'Her temperature shot up on Friday. We had to cancel our sleepover.' She rushed out her explanation as she saw Sho's concern etched on his face. 'Don't worry. She is getting better. We, Kira and I, took the photo just now after I cooked some food for her. She should be better by Monday.' Or so Mizuno had said.

Sho leaned back on the sofa. 'So ka?' He eased his grip on Mizuno's photo. 'Yokatta...'

'Hai Yokatta! Yokatta!' Aiba suddenly threw his arms around Sho. 'Ring for the waiter Jun. Let's get more drinks for Sho!'

'Hai hai!' Matsujun answered back and called for the waiter. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Sho slipped the photo into his trousers' pocket. He thought since this was the time to get to know Haruko, it might be rude to make the atmosphere awkward if they continued to focus on Mizuno. 'Yosh!' He called out as a waiter entered the room. 'Name your poison, Sho!'

Thus the night progressed as intended, with Haruko slowly getting comfortable with the rest of Arashi as well as the other two girls. She found that Sho actually lived up to his image of a well-mannered highly educated idol and even more, though she felt that he was still keeping her at bay from knowing the real him. However, Nino had told her to expect that before meeting Sho, so she wasn't offended or anything. Aiba, Matsujun and Ohno weren't so reserved. Then there were Sayaka and Kira who she warmed up to quickly. The two, she thought, were really friendly and open. They freely gave her the insight into keeping their relationships strong amidst the tight Johnny's regulations and their personal hurdles. She also learnt about Mizuno from the duo and sympathaised with both Sho and Mizuno over their dilemma.

'Hey guys, want to hear something good?' Kira raised her hand up to attract the others' attention. The night was chasing dawn and they had downed a considerable amount of sake and alcohol. Inhibition and guards lowered. She smiled as she got the attention. 'I have something to say...' She hiccupped and then laughed.

'Nani? Nani?' Aiba went forward and knocked some of the empty cans to the floor. 'Oops...'

'Forget it Aiba...' Nino chuckled. 'Tell us Kira, tell us.'

'Well...' Kira leaned over to Matsujun with a dreamy smile. 'Sho is a great kisser.'

--->
Domo - Thanks
Dozo - Please (enter)
Kawaii - Cute
Hajimemashite - Nice to meet you
Yokatta - Good (said in relief)
Nani - What.

Chapter 23

2005-10-19T16:39:00.000+01:00

Chapter 23

'IMS - Irritable Male Syndrome. A state of hypersensitivity, anxiety, frustration, and anger that occurs in males and is associated with biochemical changes, hormonal fluctuations, stress, and loss of male identity.' Mai read the definition before looking pointedly at her elder brother before continuing. 'It turns out that it's not only women who suffer from hormone related irritability. Depression, anger, fatigue, moodiness, anxiety, lethargy, low libido, and confusion are just some of the symptoms of a recently identified condition that affects men. IMS (Irritable Male Syndrome) is a lot like male menopause, but it affects men of all ages.' She raised an eyebrow and looked up from the magazine. 'Niichan, I think you should get this book by Jed Diamond ne~~~'

Sho threw a cushion at his sister sitting at the other end of their floor sofa. 'Urusei! I do not have IMS!'

Mai chuckled as she managed to duck from the flying cushion. 'Come on bro, Acceptance is the first step to recovery. Let me help yo...'

'URUSEI! I can't hear the damn tv.'

The more annoyed Sho became, the more Mai became unable to resist teasing him. Since his return from Osaka, Sho had been hell to live with. He usually has his anger under control, but lately, it seemed as if anything could just make him blow his top off without any warning at all. While others would have steered clear from the landmine, Mai, being family, seemed to have certain immunity from the danger. 'Honestly...'

'Aniki, when is Oozora-neechan coming here again?'

Mai nearly laughed out loud when Shu, the youngest of them three, suddenly popped up the question. She stifled her laughter as she made a side comment to Shu's question to irritate Sho even further. 'Yeah, it's been a while since she was here. Wonder who's she's hanging out with these days? I wish she would bring me along with her - just think of all the guys in Jyannis!'

Shu looked at Mai with confusion. 'Eh? Isn't Oozora-neechan aniki's girlfriend? Why is she hanging out with other guys?' He turned back to Sho as he reached out for a double chocolate chip cookie on the table. 'She is your girlfriend right?'

Sho slapped his brother's head as Mai's laughters drown the tv volume. 'Shu, isn't it time for your bed and Mai, stop your howling! I'm trying to watch the news!'

Shu pouted as he patted his head. 'No. Haha said I can stay up late tonight.'

'What for?' Sho chose to ignore his deranged sister and concentrated on his brother. It was Sunday night and Sho had been spending the entire day in the tv room lying on the floor sofa doing nothing. Mizuno have yet to communicate with him and he was also hoping for a call from Ohno for any news from Sayaka. The wait is killing him, but he couldn't let go of his grudge when he had all ready kept it for days. 'Where's Haha anyway?'

'Haha is upstairs, reading.' Shu came up to Sho's side and took Sho's mobile off the table. He fiddled with the buttons before smiling and forgetting what Sho had asked him. 'Yay! You have Pokemon Crystal!'

'Yeah. I have it for a while.' Sho sipped on his ice lemon tea and continued to keep his eyes on the tv. He installed the game for Shu, not for himself, of course. He only played it a couple of times when he had nothing else to do when he was on the road. The room became peaceful again as Mai seemed to be concentrating on reading something else in her magazine. Pfft... IMS my arse! Sho's anger cooled as rapidly as it was prompted earlier.

A couple of minutes later, with the news anchors saying their good nights, Sho's mobile rang.

'Argh! I haven't saved the game!!!' Shu wailed as Sho grabbed back his mobile and pressed the button for the SMS.

Sho ignored his younger and he was slightly elated to see Ohno's name on the screen, he opened the message.

'Costa bar. Usual room. Nino & gf. Aiba's nagging worked! Someone you want to see is here too. See you now!'

Sho sighed as he stood up. Much as he didn't feel like going out, he was just too curious to see what kind of girl is dating Nino and the 'mystery person' Ohno mentioned which made him grinned slighty. Besides, if he didn't come, he'd bet that Aiba would be nagging at him come the next day. 'Sorry Shu, I've got to go.' He patted his brother's sulking head. 'Tell you what, I'll buy you the cartridge for your GBA next time, okay.'

'Okay!' Shu quickly brightened up.

'Niichan, buy me this new magazine called...'

'I'm going!' Sho pretended not to hear his sister and slid opened the door and disappeared from their view.

'Sheesh...' Mai shook her head in disgust. 'Vindictive baka!' She returned back to her reading. Well, at least, the bad vibe is gone now. Ha...ha...ha... She pursed her lips, looking thoughtful. Can't be Oozora-neechan he's seeing though. She could tell from his expression that the text wasn't from his brother's girlfriend. He usually has a stupid grin on his face if it was from Mizuno. Oh well... I'll just get Shu to poke around him later. Ho...ho...ho... With that thought in mind, she went back to reread the last paragraph before her mind started wandering again.

--->
There really is a book on The Irritable Male Syndrome by Jed Diamond. I quoted some of the extract from the book which I found on the internet. Go check Amazon if you want to buy it. ^_^

Chapter 22

2005-10-19T16:29:00.000+01:00

Chapter 22

'Hey Haruko, sorry about this afternoon. Sho was in one of his bad moods again.' Nino opened the phone call conversation with Haruko after their how-do-you-dos greetings were over.

Haruko chuckled. 'That's okay. He's still not any better yet? You made him sound as if he has PMS or something!' She checked her wall clock and finished tidying up her study desk. 'I'm sure he's not that bad.'

'Don't be fooled by his Keio boy image. He can be evil!' Nino whined. 'He kicked my knee just now, I'm telling you, don't be fooled!' He blew up the incident of Sho bumping his knee in the afternoon slightly to win some sympathy vote from Haruko.

'Aww~~~ Poor Nino...' It worked. 'Are you sure you didn't do anything to him first?' Well, almost worked.

'He was just jealous. I can't help being the man of envy.' Nino gave a snobbish sigh. 'With you by my side, it's inevitable.'

Haruko coloured, unexpecting something so sweet to be said so casually. 'Ha...ha... You're just saying that aren't you?' Sometimes she felt that her being with Nino was surreal, what with Nino confessing he liked her just before they parted after they had coffee on the day he first went to her work place a few days ago. She, too, confessed that she liked him and that was it. They were officially a couple. No hiding behind the bushes, just straight to the point. 'Has he called her yet?' They had made good use of the short break Nino had to meet up and spend time getting to know each other and if they weren't together, their SMS inboxes bear the brunt of their constant flow of messages to each other.

'No, he hasn't and he's miserable.' Nino continued his tirade with a smile on his face. He just heard a light strum of the guitar on the phone. He imagined that Haruko was taking her guitar off her bed and put it on its stand. She told him that she liked to keep everything tidy before she went to sleep so that she can sleep longer and have no problem finding her things if she was running late for classes. 'And I wasn't just saying that as well, you know.'

Haruko grinned. Nino never failed to amuse her with a touch his own brand of sardonic humour. 'I think you should tell him to call her soon or she might ditch him thinking he's not into her anymore.'

'Eh?!'

Haruko tsked as she heard Nino's loud exclamation. 'Sex and the City. If the guy doesn't call you when he said he would call you, then he's just not into you.' She sat cross legged on her bed. 'Isn't that true Nino?'

'Oi oi! Maybe he was just busy... Or in Sho's case, he was waiting for an explanation from her.' Annoyed as Nino was with Sho, he still defended his close friend automatically. 'Although, that would usually be the case. I wouldn't call a girl if I'm not interested in her. But not in Sho's case.'

'Really? So he was being stubborn eh?' Haruko shook her head. 'Let me just say, girls don't like waiting for the phone to ring - we might tolerate it for a few days, but longer than that and you're not worth it anymore and officially a jerk.'

At the other end of the line, Nino sneered. 'You're saying that as if all the girls are like that.' He thought of all the girls he said he would call, but didn't. So they must think I'm a jerk now... Interesting.

'That's the general consensus from my girl friends. Might not be the point of view of ALL the girls in the world, but I just counted those who's opinions mattered to me.'

'Ooh... Is this what you girls talk about during your girl talk sessions?' Haruko's openness made Nino feel at ease talking to her. It was one of those things which he had found attractive about her ever since their first meeting on the rainy day. He was sometimes surprised at what he could freely say to her which he wouldn't divulge to anyone else. 'Trying to dissect our actions?'

'Amongst other things, yes. We like to be in control.' Haruko said sounding serious. 'Men manipulation is one of our favourite past times.'

'Ehhhh!!! Yabai! Yabai!' Their laughters then mingled after Nino's mocked bewilderment. Between her laughters, Haruko asked Nino what made him brought up the subject of girl talks. 'Well, Sayaka is going to have some girl talk session with Mizuno tomorrow, so I want to get a few gist on what to expect.'

'Hold on, let me get this straight first. Sayaka is Ohno's girlfriend yeah?'

'Hai. Leader's girlfriend who can cook. She brings us lunch.'

'And Mizuno is Sho's girlfriend who he hasn't called, right?'

'Hai. The choreographer for our last concert.'

'Ahh... So desu ne...' Haruko nodded, getting all the facts in her head. The revelation that most of the Arashi members have girlfriends was a surprise to her. Although Nino hadn't said anything about it quiet, she knew that it wasn't something to be spread about lightly. She could only guess that Nino probably told her to give her an idea of how their relationship could work, even in secrecy and lack of in-person contact. Anyway, whatever his intention were, knowing about them did ease her anxiety about dating an idol. She wished she could meet up with them one day and see just what kind of girls they are, especially Mizuno since she seemed to be having the most problems with Sho. She had seen Kira in some of the dramas on the television and in one of the random pictures Nino had sent her on the MMS, Ohno was cheerily feeding Sayaka a cupcake. Mizuno was still a mystery to her. 'Hmm... I think I know what they're going to talk about definitely.'

'Good. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me~~~'

'You're not going to use the insider's info against Sho, are you now?'

'Only in dire circumstances.'

'Yeah right. You're probably going to use it whenever you can!'

'Ah! How'd you know?!' Nino groaned theatrically before guffawing.

Haruko joined in his amusement. 'I knew it! So no, no tip off from me mister! Leave the boy alone.'

'Pfft! Sho doesn't need the sympathy.' Nino's playful whining started again, delighting Haruko with his wittiness and sarcasm. Until they finally agreed to hung up, they couldn't care less of what they were talking about. Maybe it was about music or what was on the news' headlines or how the weather was getting hotter or whatever. But when the call was over and as they closed their eyes and waited for sleep to claim them, their voices still rang in each others' ears, melting away their day's stresses, blanketting them with comfort and finally easing them to sweet sweet dreams.

Unfortunately, not everyone was as content as both of them. To some people, a storm was brewing their way...

--->
Yabai - Danger / Not good (?)

Chapter 21

2005-10-19T16:24:00.000+01:00

Chapter 21

'The food's getting cold.'

'Hey, watch where you're going Sho!' Nino glared at Sho who went past him looking all innocent just after he bumped into his knee.

'There's not much space between the table and you, Nino.' Sho answered in a tone which implied that Nino was behaving like a child. 'Please be considerate to others.'

Nino gritted his teeth. Lately, Sho had been getting testy with him everytime he was caught sending a message to Haruko on his mobile. 'Okay fine. I'm finished now okay.' He replied mockingly as he pocketed his mobile, out of Sho's view. I should have never asked him to check my message! The rest of Arashi found out about Haruko after Nino had asked Sho to check his mobile as he was too tired to stretch over to get it himself after a gruelling dance session on Tuesday. It just so happened to be a text from Haruko thanking him for a CD he had sent her. He regretted it ever since as Aiba kept calling him a traitor for joining the 'coupled side', Ohno and Jun just gave him knowing looks everytime his mobile rang or vibrated or even flashed while Sho just ignored him, most of the time. 'Wonder what is Mizuno and Yagawa up to today?' Nino couldn't resist twisting the knife at the cause of Sho's irritable mood. He smirked when he saw Sho glowering at him, splitting his chopsticks roughly. Hah! Served you right!

'Now now!' Ohno intervened the tension around the table. 'Let's just eat. The food won't taste as good if they're cold.' The leader had been playing the role as the peace keeper of the group more often than he liked since they came back from their short holiday. Sho became an almost insufferable workaholic perfectionist and he expected everyone to be the same as well - and all because he was snubbed by Mizuno (Aiba had blabbed about it as it was too good an opportunity to tease Sho with) and there was a rumour of Mizuno going out with another guy (Sho's worst nightmare) and that the other guy was Yagawa (whom Sho hated on first sight). 'Itadakimasu! Dig in everyone!' Ohno said cheerfully, biting off a big chunk off his prawn tempura.

'Itadakimasu.' Sho said quietly, ignoring Nino and concentrating on eating his lunch. Nino's question pissed him off. He didn't want any mention of Mizuno and Yagawa in the same sentence! She's probably in Osaka right now. Not even saying hi to me all this week. He stabbed his chopsticks into his mound of rice. Sho wasn't pleased at all after being stood up and ignored by Mizuno and then having to listen to all those gossips swirling around in the company. He hadn't heard of either Mizuno or Yagawa denying that they were dating, which irked him even more. Baka Oozora! As a result, he had ceased texting or calling her, waiting for her to call him first and give him an explanation, which she hadn't done yet. Three days! What the hell is taking her so long?! He stabbed the rice again. Damn woman!

'Ah, Ohno!' Sayaka suddenly spoke up as she just remembered something. Arashi had taken to eating their lunch in their changing room which Sayaka always delivered happily enough. She usually stayed in the room for a few minutes longer than necessary to present Ohno's order herself. 'I won't be in tomorrow.'

'Why? Is there any problem?' Ohno asked, worried. Aiba and Jun looked at them both with interest.

Sayaka shook her head. 'No, no. I don't have any problem.' She said taking Ohno's free left hand. 'We're having a girls' night in at my house.' She grinned at Ohno's blank look and squeezed his hand. 'Mizuno is sleeping over. It has been ages since we have our girl talk.' Sho raised his head at the mention of Mizuno. Nino, too, had stopped eating. Sayaka continued on, 'She is given a short break til Sunday and she couldn't be bothered to go to Osaka, so since she's in Tokyo, thought we need to do some catching up.'

'Ohh...' Ohno nodded trying not to laugh at Sho's annoyed expression. He thought everyone could definitely tell what Sho was thinking. Looks like he didn't know about Mizuno's holiday. He tugged Sayaka's hand to signal her to look at Sho.

Sayaka's face turned a slight shade of red as though she was guilty of some sort of crime with a glance at Sho's hard expression. 'Umm... Well, Mizuno just knew about the holiday yesterday. She texted me early this morning and said she'd be sleeping all day today. Then I asked her to stay at my house tomorrow. A girls' night only, you know. I asked Kira too, but she said her schedule was packed. So it'll be just me and Mizuno.' Explanation rushed out from her to try to ease the tension emanating from Sho. Argh! How come he didn't know about this? What the hell are you doing Mizuno?!

If all of them were expecting an outburst from Sho, they were disappointed. Instead of getting angry or assaulting Sayaka with probing questions, Sho just turned back to his food and resumed eating his lunch in silent, as if nothing happened. Thanking her lucky stars, Sayaka excused herself from the room with a little prompting from Ohno. 'I'll call you later, Sayaka-chan.' Ohno whispered to her ear as he let go of her hand and waved her goodbye.

With that parting note, Sayaka came out of the room grinning, all the tension engulfing her in the room was broken by Ohno's promise. Oh well... I can always get the details from Mizuno tomorrow. With that thought, she skipped her way back to the cafeteria. Friday couldn't come soon enough...

Chapter 20

2005-10-19T16:17:00.000+01:00

Chapter 20

‘Oh… oh…’ Mizuno’s eyebrows lifted as she took in what Kame had just said to her. ‘Well, I didn’t know we look that close…’ She didn’t know why they kept pressing on the matter of her love life when she had been trying to change the subject several times. Nosy little buggers…

‘So you are going out with him?’ Kame asked encouraged by Mizuno’s reaction to his deduction based on his and the other Kattun’s members’ observations on their secretive choreographer. Mizuno normally didn’t indulge in talking about her personal life, but they found out that when she gets exhausted, she was more vulnerable to open up more about her private life. Come on, come on… Say his name all ready! He just needed a confirmation from Mizuno so that Ueda, Junno and him can win the bet they made with the other three Kattun members.

‘Whatever made you guys think of that anyway?’

Ah, an evasion! Ueda, the master of lying, recognized a tactic used to avoid telling the truth. ‘Any normal person would think like that, Mizuno. Besides, your couple dance choreographies are absolutely scandalous!’ It seemed Mizuno’s drink went up the wrong way when he made the statement. ‘We are so embarrassed to perform them!’ He pouted, looking harassed.

‘Yeah, felt like you are taking advantage of us, Mizuno.’ Junno added quietly, as if he was scared to voice his thought out.

‘You… you…’ A shaky finger pointed from Ueda to Junno. ‘You have no right to say that to me, you little brats!’ Mizuno retaliated angrily. ‘You guys were all ready prepped up to this sexy ladies’ killer image way back before you lot even debuted. And besides, I don’t see how the choreographies have anything to do with your assumption that we’re together.’

Kame made an expression of being hurt. ‘Mizuno, we weren’t prepped up to be how we are today.’ Then he leaned to her right ear. ‘We were born this way…’ His cockiness gained him a hard shove and a look of disgust from Mizuno. ‘We can’t fight fate, can we?’ He shrugged his shoulders like it was such a big burden for a guy to be the object of a lot of girls’ fantasies. Ueda and Junno bopped their heads up and down in agreement.

‘You guys are morons.’ Mizuno simply said without a trace of amusement. ‘Freaking bakas.’

‘Anyway,’ Ueda continued on, not wanting to break their flow of interrogation, they have money on the line here. ‘Not just the dance we performed today, but also the couple dances you are currently choreographing. I mean, from the demos you showed us, the ballroom dancing inspired steps, the too close body contacts, those gyrating of hips and stuff. It seemed as if you are venting out your fantasies on the dance floor! What is it Mizuno, have you not been getting any, you know…’ He wiggled his eyebrows and let the sentence hang in the air, hoping Mizuno would think of the obvious and replied accordingly.

However, he had no such luck. ‘Any what, Ueda?’ Mizuno feigned clueless at his obvious insinuation. She maybe tired, but not that exhausted as not to be able to think properly! ‘What are you on about?’ Her nerves were spiked at their probing questions. Not since five days ago. Friday night. Osaka. She caught herself blushing at the thought of the last searing kiss she shared with Sho. ‘Man, the chilies in the salsa are finally kicking in!’ She fanned her face as she dipped another nacho into the salsa tub. Have to escape soon. Looks like I am really losing it…

‘I told you to be careful with it. They served it here a little too spicy for most people.’ Junno informed her as he offered her a glass of water. ‘But really Mizuno, if you tell us, maybe we can help you two get together more often.’

‘Why would I want to spend more time with him?’

‘Well, I would’ve thought you could stop being so cold to him. He was obviously itching to be alone with you…’

Mizuno chuckled, her right hand waving a dismissal at that thought. ‘Yeah right! Please guys, don’t try to play cupids on me.’ Her laughing demeanor didn’t betray the panicking voice in her head. What the hell?! I was so careful. No, we were so careful. Sho wouldn’t slip! Kuso! Where did we go wrong?!

Kame let out a loud snort. ‘Come on Mizuno, you guys were so obvious!’

‘I have no idea what you guys are talking about.’ Oh God! Oh God!

‘Oh come on!’ Kame snapped. He couldn’t handle prolonging the moment of truth anymore. He was getting tired and he just couldn’t wait to see Jin’s face when he handed the money over to them. It was time to use the magic word. ‘Mizuno, why are you still trying to keep it a secret when everyone in the company knows about it all ready?’

‘Huh?’ Mizuno’s breath seemed to be caught at her throat.

‘Yeah Mizuno. It was all over the place from last week.‘ Junno took her lifeless hands in his and gave her a gentle smile. ‘Everyone was saying how you two made a great couple and all. We are so happy for you!’

‘Hmm…?’ Mizuno’s lips quivered as she forced a smile in return. She didn’t know how to react to all these new revelations about their relationship.

‘Hai. It’s not like you guys are bound by any rules.’ Ueda continued. ‘You and Yagawa-san are perfect for each other.’

Mizuno’s eyebrows drew tightly together as she thought she had heard something amiss with Ueda’s statement. ‘Ya… Yagawa?’ She asked weakly, hoping to make sure that she had heard wrong.

‘Yes, Yagawa-san!’ Kame grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him. ‘There’s no need to keep secrets between us. Yagawa-san obviously adores you and when you two dance together, you guys were just amazing! The steps were in sync and you two seemed to be living in your own world.’

Mizuno closed her eyes at the revelation. What the hell is happening?

‘It’s true isn’t it, you guys are together right?’ Kame pushed the question further gently, so as not to seem too intruding.

In reply, Mizuno opened her eyes and looked at him blankly before removing her gaze down to her hands now with Junno’s thumbs drawing circular motions in an act of assurance. She should have said something witty and humorous to counter his questions, but her mind and emotions ran amok by all the things that they had told her that she couldn’t even say a word.

‘I guess the silent means a yes.’ Kame and Ueda grinned with satisfaction, both thinking that Mizuno was rendered speechless that her relationship had been found out. ‘Omedeeto to the Mizuno and Yagawa couple!’ Kame raised his glass to Ueda’s. ‘Kanpai!’ Both drank the remaing liquids in their glasses in one go, content with the knowledge that they had won their bets.

By that time, Mizuno was all ready deaf to the outside world, still trying to make sense of the recent development in her love life that she didn’t even knew existed. Unaware that Junno was still holding her hands and looking at her with a thoughtful look in his eyes – which immediately disappeared when Ueda pulled him up to celebrate their winning bets with Kame. Oh Lord. What is going on…?

Chapter 19

2005-07-16T13:22:00.000+01:00

Chapter 19

'Scratch!!!' Mizuno howled in frustration as the white ball went into the top left pocket of the billiard table. 'Argh! And I got the number 9 ball in as well!'

Junno, Ueda and Kame laughed from were they were standing. Junno cheerily took out the white and number 9 balls and put them back on the table while Ueda sat waiting for Kame to take his shot, wising the shot would be bad. Junno had managed to drag Mizuno to the pool cafe after they finished filming for a tv performance. As the performance was only scheduled at the last minute, Mizuno and Kattun were given the next four days off for their hard work, which meant that Mizuno didn't have to go back to Osaka on this Wednesday night. 'Bad luck, Mizuno. Bad luck...'

'Did you do something to the ball, Junno?' Mizuno glared suspiciously at her opponent who was taking his position to make his shot. She went to sit with Ueda. 'I thought you're going to take it easy with me.'

'Gee Mizuno. We all ready played for two hours, surely you don't need any more of the beginner's handicap.' Ueda said calmly as he took a sip of his glass of water.

Mizuno slapped Ueda's back causing him to choke. 'I'm not talking to you!'

Ueda moved away from Mizuno. 'First, it was Ryo, now it's Mizuno. Must be something wrong with the Osakan water.' Mizuno fumed as Junno and Kame laughed at Ueda's comments. 'Two evil people from the same place. Can't be a coincidence.'

'Hora! Why the heck did you compare me with Ryo?' Mizuno poked Ueda's bottom with her billiard cue forcing Ueda to slap the stick away and poking Mizuno in return. 'That was rude!'

'Oi Mizuno, stop bullying Ueda.' Kame grabbed hold of Mizuno's cue as he made his way to the seating area. 'I don't want him to waste time from our game.'

Mizuno pulled her cue off Kame's hand. 'Hey, isn't this supposed to be a fun, destressing game as you lot had told me earlier?' She groaned as from her table, Junno just won the set again. 'Dammit Junno!!! You suck!'

Junno just shrugged and gave her a big innocent smile. 'I guess it's a good time to take a break na...' He set his cue to the stands before joining Mizuno and Kame at the leather couch which seemed to be very well broken in all ready. 'Ueda is going to finish the game too.'

'Good idea. Let me get us some more snacks and drinks.' Kame offered before Mizuno could say anything. They had just discovered how competitive Mizuno could be!

Mizuno just sank further in the couch. 'Junno~~~ Tap dance for me!'

'Sorry, Mizuno. I don't have the shoes with me.'

'Pfft... Spoilsport!'

'Gee... Someone's still cranky.' Ueda ran his hand through his hair. 'Wonder if it's PMS or frustration.'

'Still cranky? Frustration? What are you on about?' Mizuno asked carefully. She thought she was acting normally for the past few days since she had to cancel her date with Sho. Surely, the little liar was bluffing right?

Ueda made himself comfortable next to Mizuno. 'Missing your boyfriend?'

'Boyfriend? What boyfriend?' Mizuno tried to look pass his question off as a silly matter.

Kame had returned with their orders and gave Mizuno another glass of mango juice. 'Did choreographing for this show ruined your date or something during the weekend?'

Mizuno took her time sipping her juice. Have they found out about me and Sho?! She eyed the three younger guys sitting around her. No way! Can't be. We were so careful. I didn't even say hi to him these past days... She had purposely avoided meeting Sho after she cancelled on their date. Sho~~~

'Well? If you want to vent your frustration on us, we're all ears.' Junno said, his face turned all serious.

Gosh, he's good looking! Mizuno can't help thinking when she saw Junno in his non-smiling mode. 'Yeah, well, thanks for the offer, but no.'

'So you did stood up on your boyfriend.' Ueda observed calmly.

'I did not!'

'Poor guy must be pissed right now.'

'No way. He can't be.'

'Are you sure? Have you seen him?'

'Well...'

'Aha! So you haven't seen him at all!' Ueda smiled triumphantly. He actually didn't know anything about Mizuno' love life, but it seemed his lies were working its magic to loosen Mizuno's lips. Now it's up to Kame to sweet talk Mizuno into indulging her secrets to them and Junno to use his looks to hypnotise her. Wonder what else we can get out of her? He met Kame and Junno's eyes and they nodded conspiratorily. Let's see if we can confirm our suspicions and get some money out of Jin, Maru and Koki's pockets! Ho...ho...ho...

Chapter 18b

2005-06-24T22:57:00.000+01:00

Chapter 18b

'Aiba!'

The person who got called quickly hung his apron into its hanger and went to the backdoor where the voice came from. 'Hai! I can hear you!' He rolled his eyes as he saw his visitor all ready putting on the indoor slippers. 'Make yourself at home why don't you, Sho?'

Sho just shrugged. The sky was all ready dark outside and there weren't any custromers' cars left at the restaurant's parking space. Keikarou had finished for the day. 'Were you helping your dad?' He followed Aiba to the family's private dining room. 'You didn't poison anyone did you?'

'Ha...ha... Very funny Sho.' Aiba narrowed his eyes at Sho who went into the dining room first. 'What's with this evil mood of yours? Something sticking up your arse?'

'Masaki! Mind your language!' Aiba's mother slapped his head as she suddenly popped up from behind him. 'We're going to eat dinner.' She smiled apologetically when she saw Sho. 'Nice of you to drop by Sho. I made cold soumen tonight.' The table was all ready ladened with a mountain of white wheat noodles in a bamboo basket sitting next to its accompanying big pot of soup. Aiba and Sho have very healthy appetites, so Aiba-kaasan had prepared accordingly. Ironically, even though they live upstairs of a Chinese restaurant, the Aibas eat Japanese food for their meals as Aiba-kaasan was the one doing the cooking.

Sho nodded appreciatively at the sight of the noodles. 'Ahh... Cold noodles are the best with the weather warming up for the coming summer.' He took his chopsticks and began to get his noodles as invited by Aiba's father sitting on the floor next to him around the square low dining table. 'Itadakimasu!'

Aiba took his seat in front of Sho and started to put his noodles in his soup. 'Hai, itadakimasu!'
Sho slurped in his noodles and waited until he swallowed them before asking Aiba where his brother was. 'Yusuke not home yet?'

Aiba-kaasan just gave a smile as she poured beer into Sho's glass. 'He has a date.' She giggled. 'At least one of my sons is on his way to make us grandchildren.'

'Okaasan!' Aiba choked on his beer. 'How could you say that? So embarassing!' He turned to Sho. 'Don't listen to my mother, Sho!'

Sho just threw his head back and laughed. 'Yes, Aiba, you're falling behind...'

'Sho-chan!!!' Aiba glared at Sho. 'Well, I'm not the one getting ditched by his girlfriend am I?' The question was meant to be just a tease, but somehow it must have hit a mark as Sho's laughter abruptly died. Woops...

Aiba's father dug into the pile of noodles. 'Ahh... Women trouble.' He clipped some noodles into Sho's bowl. 'Here, eat more and take your time.'

Sho's shoulder drooped. 'Not women trouble. Just woman. One devious woman.'

'Hey Sho, aren't you supposed to be in Osaka for the whole break?' Aiba asked, slurping his noodles.

'She went back to Tokyo this morning.' Sho took a gulp of beer. 'Apparently Kobe-senpai wanted her for some emergency choreographing.'

'This woman, does she have a name?' Aiba-kaasan asked curious. 'She works at Johnny's I presume.'

Sho nodded as he put his glass down. 'Mizuno Oozora. She was our choreographer for the last concert.'

'So she ditched you?' Aiba-tousan went straight to the point. 'Choosing her work over you? What kind of woman is this?'

'Otousan! It's not like that.' Aiba stopped eating. 'You know we have to keep these things a secret even at work. Dakara, she couldn't be selfish.'

'Ahh... So ka?'

Sho chewed on his noodles slowly before entering the conversation again. 'Even when I know that, I still don't like it. I planned the date all ready.' He didn't intend to come to Chiba and vent out his frustration with Aiba's family, but Aiba was the only one who was free. Nino's mobile was somehow unreachable and no one answered at his house when he called him. He didn't call Ohno nor Matsujun becaused he knew they would be off with their girlfriends like he should be as well! Oozora, you are so going to pay for this! He thought, forgetting totally to be logical and understanding of her situation.

'Date? Does that include the Shinobiai?' Aiba raised a conspiring eyebrow.

'What Shinobiai?!' Aiba-kaasan cut in immediately, perked up by the dodgy sounding name. 'Masaki...' Her tone came disapprovingly.

'Okaasan! I thought you wanted grandchildren! It's a good place to start... Fu...fu...fu...' Aiba's reply earned him a slap on the head again. 'Itai!'

'What is this baka boy saying, I don't know!' Aiba-kaasan turned her attention to Sho. 'Now listen to me Sho, she is probably as frustrated about this as you are, though she might not show it to you. It's a women's thing.' She patted Sho's left shoulder blade. 'I'm sure she'll be willing to make it up to you when she is able to. And I do not mean going to the bed neccessarily!' She narrowed her eyes on her son who was trying not to look guilty as he put more noodles in his bowl before returning to Sho. 'I reckoned you two don't meet up very often. Trust me. Be patient. She is probably regretting it as much as or more than you.'

'Hontou ka?' Sho's voice was small. He really didn't believe Mizuno could even understand his frustration since he always see her all-smiles and energetic. Even on the phone, there was no trace that she was discontent or anything, which worried him into thinking that she might be seeing another guy. 'Maybe she has someone else.' Mizuno is one special lady, how could other men didn't notice her?

Aiba's parents laughed at Sho's question. Aiba-tousan slapped Sho's back heartily. 'Don't worry about it boy. If you're all ready worried about that, try to imagine how she's feeling dating an idol adored by hundreds and thousands of other girls all over the world.' Then he poured more beer into Sho's glass, silently pleased that his words made some sense to his son's band member. 'Drink up Sho. You're making a huge mistake if you underestimate her feelings for you.'

Sho lifted his glass with a thoughtful look on his face. He never thought about that before. Gomen nasai Oozora... He made a mental apology to Mizuno for even thinking of doubting her feelings for him. God, I am such an idiot!

'Kanpai!' Aiba suddenly clung their glasses together. Sho had the glass in midair for longer than neccessary. 'Drink up!'

Sho smiled. 'Yosh! Kanpai!' He felt slightly better after hearing the advice from Aiba's parents. Arigato gozaimasu. He toasted Aiba's parents as well.

Aiba-kaasan smiled. They had managed to lift Sho's mood. 'Now does Mizuno have a friend she can introduce to Masaki by any chance?'

'Okaasan!!!!' Aiba's protest was loud. From then on, the conversation turned light hearted and Sho ended up sleeping at the Aiba residence since the men went on to get really drunk.

--->
Okaasan - Mother
Otousan - Father
Kanpai - Cheers

Chapter 18

2005-06-24T22:54:00.000+01:00

Chapter 18

'Where are you?!'

Aiba was taken aback by the question being barked at him from his mobile. 'Hey calm down. I'm at home in Chiba.'

'Why didn't you tell me earlier?' The person grumbled exasperatedly. 'I'll see you later. Bye!'

--Duud....--

The line went dead. 'Hmm... Nani kore?' Aiba flipped his mobile shut with a confused expression on his face. He slipped the mobile in his sewed on apron pocket and went back inside the restaurant's kitchen.

'Who was that?' His father asked him as he washed his hands at the sink.

Aiba wiped his hands dry as he faced his father, the owner and chef of Keikarou, who was slicing a red snapper. 'Looks like we're going to have company later.' He went back to his cutting board to continue where he had left off to answer his call just then. 'Do we have a lot of beer in the fridge?'

'Of course! What do you think this place is boy?!' His father's sharp knife swung in front of Aiba's face. 'We have plenty, don't you worry!'

'Otou-san! Abunai yo!' Aiba stood back slightly from his cutting board which was adjacent to his father's. His reaction only prompted his father to laugh out loud.

'Nothing to be afraid of. See, you should help around more often.' His father smirked as he took in his son who was looking suspiciously at him in his black apron with the English words 'DANGER MEN COOKING' etched boldly on it. It was a gift from Sho on Aiba's birthday who said that the English words meant that he was a good cook - which they all had believed readily for the short moment before Sho burst out laughing and told them the actual meaning of the sentence. 'I'm an expert, baka!'

'Still...' Aiba mumbled as he slowly went back to his job of cutting the onions. 'Otou-san, do you really need this many onions?' He kept complaining to his father, but didn't ever stop from doing his chore. Aiba was proud of his father being a chef. Their Chinese restaurant, Keikarou, has been his father's own establishment and was their source of livelihood. He had good memories of this place, growing up in a place where he could have ramen at any time of the day. Aiba helped around the place when he was around and free from any of his idol commitments. It was Saturday which meant he only had one more day before he would be busy again and had no time to muck around in the kitchen. It was now coming to the dinner rush hour and there was a sense of urgency in the kitchen's atmosphere. 'Hai! Gambarimasu!' He called out, filled with enthusiasm. With his hands busy slicing the onions, he quickly forgot about the phone call until the caller arrived at their place as their restaurant was closing its door.

--->
Nani kore? - What's this?
Otou-san - Dad
Abunai yo! - Danger! (Careful!)
Gambarimasu - Do (my/your) best

Yes, Aiba's father has a Chinese restaurant in Chiba, where they live. It's called Keikarou and it's offical website is - www.keikarou.com. Just refer to the map on the webpage if you want to go there. ^_^

Chapter 17

2005-06-19T15:41:00.000+01:00

Chapter 17

'So, what do you think Sho is up to in Osaka?' Sayaka asked Ohno as she peeled another orange. They were sitting in Ohno's bedroom on a Friday night. Ohno had invited Sayaka for dinner with his parents, who stayed in the living room watching tv after the dinner was over, giving some privacy to their only son. His elder sister was having a night out with her work colleagues and wasn't at home. Sayaka had come to their house by taxi.

'Probably sorting out stuff with Mizuno.' Ohno said nonchalantly taking an offered orange slice from Sayaka. 'He doesn't force women.' He added quickly at Sayaka's enquiring look. 'Don't worry, Sayaka. He's not that kind of guy. Hentai as he may be...' He nodded looking all-knowledgable causing a smile to appear on Sayaka's face.

Sayaka bit into her sweet orange slice. 'Okay okay. It's just that I can't help worrying about those two stubborn baka.' She peeled off another slice for Ohno. 'I'm also worried that Sho might get hurt if he's not careful.' Ohno laughed at that statement which was rewarded with a slap on his left thigh from Sayaka who was sitting in front of him. 'I'm serious Satoshi! You don't want to piss Mizuno off. She's a black belt.'

Ohno had a hard time stopping his laughters as the image of Sho getting beat up by Mizuno appeared in his head. 'Imagine that...' His grin became wider. 'What I would pay to see that!' His comment prompted Sayaka to share his amusement.

'Actually, that would be really funny...' Both of them continued joking about Sho being chopped and trampled on by Mizuno in between finishing their orange. Ohno even drew a quick caricature of Sho filled with bruises and bumps on his head and body bearing a white flag with a smug-looking Mizuno surrounded with a fiery aura reminiscent of Son Goku from Dragon Ball manga in a ballet pirouette pose, wearing a karate uniform, standing in front of the battered Sho. 'Ha...ha...ha... Sho is going to kill you if he sees this!'

'If that happened, I want you to tell Mizuno to avenge me.' Ohno said with a straight face causing Sayaka to laugh even more. 'I'm the leader! Leader!' He held the paper up to the light. 'I am invincible!' He flicked at Sho's bedraggled cartoon and put on a superhero anime voice. 'This pathetic creature can't get rid of me! Just look at him... All beat up by his girlfriend. How utterly sad!' He grinned and stopped his comedic tirade seeing that Sayaka was fanning her face with her hands, tears streaming from her eyes from laughing too much. So adorable! He thought and acted on his impulse to give her a quick kiss her. That managed to freeze Sayaka into silence and Ohno used the opportunity to wipe away her tears with his thumbs. The caricature paper laid forgotten on the floor. 'Sayaka, you're cute.' He whispered as he studied her prettily flushed face. They stared into each other's eyes and slowly leaned towards each other in mutual attraction. Their eyes closing as their lips met in a tender and sweet kiss.

--Tok tok!--

'Satoshi, it's getting late. Why don't you drive Sayaka home?'

Ohno and Sayaka broke their kiss when Ohno's mother's voice penetrated through his door. 'Hai, okaasan!' Ohno replied, feeling slightly frustrated. Sho wasn't the only one feeling the heat of being separated from his girlfriend after all these time!

In front of him, Sayaka was all ready standing up and straightening her pale green prairie skirt which fell just below her knees and her white blouse. She made an extra effort on her appearance although she was a regular guest at the Ohno residence. Her skills in the kitchen proved to be a winner with Ohno's mother especially, so she was in good terms with all his family members just as he was with hers. 'Well, time sure flies fast when you're having fun.'

Ohno opened his door and motioned her to go first before snatching his car keys on the tall CD rack next to the door. 'Yeah, it sure does.' He followed her down the stairs and into the living room to greet his parents goodbyes. Then they went out and Ohno unlocked the doors to his white Alfa Romeo 166 with the remote and opened the passenger door for Sayaka. 'My lady...'

'Well, thank you sir...' Sayaka replied, entering the car with a flourish in tune with Ohno's sense of humour. Ohno bowed slightly before closing her door and going to the driver's side.

The engine came alive when Ohno turned his key on the ignition. 'Right, we don't want your parents to worry and start calling the police as my mother seemed to believe.' He smirked. 'Let's get you home then.'

'Drive slowly.' Sayaka gave him a shy smile. She wasn't ready to end the night yet. 'And I wonder how the breeze feels like at Tokyo Bay at this time of the year.'

'Ohh...?' Ohno raised a conspiring eyebrow. 'No curfew?'

Sayaka chuckled slightly and winked at him. 'No curfew.'

Ohno nodded and pushed down the brake lever. 'Yosh! Ikuzo!' And away they go, determined that the night has just begun.

Meanwhile, in the western part of the country, Mizuno was lying on her side on her bed with her phone glued to her left ear, talking to Sho. Due to her workload, they didn't have the opportunity to meet at all that day. 'You want me to go there again?'

'Yes, the Shinobiai for tomorrow night.' Sho's voice sounded full of assurance as he was determined to have his way with his thwarted date plan last Thursday. 'We did it your way last time, now we have to do it my way.'

'Since when do we have that sort of agreement?' Mizuno asked trying her best to not go through with Sho's plan. Aren't we moving a little too fast here?!

Sho's sigh carried over the wire. 'Oozora~~~ Let me treat you. I don't want to be indebted to you.'

'You chauvinisitic pig!'

'So is that a yes then?' Sho seemed deaf to her obvious rejection of going to the Shinobiai. He wasn't going to give up this time!

Mizuno turned to lie fully on her back. Sho was really getting on her nerves! 'Urgh! Even if I say no, you're going to pester me until I say yes, aren't you?'

Sho laughters was full of satisfaction at her admission of defeat. 'Saturday night at the Shinobiai. Wear something nice.' Mizuno imagined he had an evil grin on his face while talking to her right then. 'And I promise you that I will treat you well. Very very well...'

Mizuno gulped nervously. What exactly does he mean by that?! Her eyebrows furrowed. It felt like she was selling her soul to the devil! 'Fine. It's a date.' She faked an uncaring reply which didn't seem to have the effect she hoped for from Sho.

'Yes Oozora,' Sho's voice turned low and mysterious. 'Definitely a date you will never forget.' He smirked. 'Until tomorrow night then, angel. Oyasumi nasai. Sleep well.' With that, he put the phone down, leaving Mizuno's thoughts and feelings in more of a jumble than ever.

--->
Ikuzo! - Let's go!

Chapter 16

2005-06-11T19:25:00.000+01:00

Chapter 16

The flow of the Okawa river murmured, at peace with the cool late spring evening as Sho and Mizuno leaned on the railing of the narrow walking bridge crossing the breadth of the river to see their reflections on the water. The Osaka Amenity Park was still breath taking, even though the best view would be had when the sakura, cherry blossoms, are in full bloom. It was a night of new moon and few stars twinkling in the sky. Artificial light brightened the area.

'Did you manage to go for hanami, Sho?' Mizuno asked as she waved at their reflections. Hanami is sakura viewing, one of the most popular activity to do during spring. 'My parents came to Osaka for the weekend and we walked around the Osaka Castle area and here. Kireii desu yo!'

Sho shook his head. 'Nope, we only managed to catch a glimpse of the sakura when we passed them by.' Mizuno turned to look at him. 'We were working as usual.' He met her gaze with a defeated smile. 'Anyway,' He stretched his arms and turned so that he can lean his back on the railing, 'What's past is past ne.'

Mizuno followed his suit and nodded in agreement. It was time for a new topic of conversation. 'Hey Sho, how did you know when I finished off work? Were you stalking me?' She gave him a suspicious look.

'Nah, too risky!' Sho grinned. 'My mobile has text delivery confirmation, so I know when my text had reached you.' Mizuno had two mobiles now, one for working use and the other for personal use. She only switched on her personal phone after work. Sho was one of the handful of people she gave her personal number to.

'Ooh...' Mizuno sounded impressed. 'But how did you know I might not go there?'

'That's easy.' Sho's grin became wider. 'Because it's you.'

'A-re?! What is that supposed to mean?'

Sho chuckled. 'So are you getting to the part of apologising for slapping me now?' He quipped, raising a teasing eyebrow.

'Ah...' Mizuno's eyes avoided his as she gave a nervous laugh. 'Ano ne... My hand slipped.'

'For a slip, it sure stung.' Sho placed his left hand on his left cheek and made a sad puppy look. Mizuno gulped. 'Don't you trust me, Oozora?' His voice sounded hurt.

Mizuno blinked a couple of times and her lips wavered. Guilt came rushing through her, but she wouldn't let him undo her. He should share part of the blame too! 'It's not that I don't trust you. I was just wary.' Her hands moved when she talked face to face with him. 'That place was dodgy, what do you expect me to think?'

'What were you thinking really Oozora?' Sho's eyes had a devilish twinkle even though his question sounded innocent. He leaned closer to Mizuno. 'Hentai ka?' And Mizuno's flustered look he threw back his head and laughed. 'Do you really want me that much?'

This guy is really annoying! Mizuno narrowed her eyes. 'Your perversion is corrupting me.' She pinched him when his laughters grew louder. 'Urusei yo!'

Sho rubbed his right bicep where Mizuno had pinched him. It hurt, but he couldn't help to tease her further. 'Kiss me and I'll shut up...' He pouted his lips before they turned into a smirk.

'Hah!' Mizuno gasped, incensed at the provocation. Sho snorted at her surprised and livid expression causing Mizuno to become even more annoyed. Suddenly her eyes flashed with mischief as something wicked crossed her mind. 'A kiss...?'

Her sultry voice caught Sho's attention and he stopped laughing to meet her gleaming eyes. Definitely can't resist a challenge, can you, Oozora?' He cleared his throat. 'Yes, a kiss to seal my mouth.' His mouth curved with lazy invitation as Mizuno stepped closer to him.

'Well, in that case...' Mizuno brought her face closer to his. Their breaths mingled as the distance between them shortened. Her hands came up to cup his face. Sho's eyes closed with the disappearing separation between them. 'Mwah!' His eyes snapped open in surprise as Mizuno quickly planted a kiss on the tip of his nose before pushing his head back. Mizuno ran away, her merry laughters trailed behind her.

Laughters came choking out of Sho. She was playing him! 'Run Oozora run!' He called out to her as he started to come after her. 'You are so going to pay for that!'

'Catch me if you can, buster!'

The chase didn't stop until both of them reached the spherical fountain in front of the Imperial Hotel Ltd. building. Mizuno was out of breath having to push herself even faster than normal for Sho could run faster than she had anticipated. She sat on the marble periphery of the fountain and made a time out sign with her hands as Sho came closer. 'I give up!' She huffed. 'Gomen gomen!'

'You give up? Gomen ka?' Sho grabbed hold of her shoulders, both shaking as they tried to get as much oxygen as possible into their lungs. 'You think I'll let you go that easily you little vixen?'

'Chotto ne...' Mizuno put her palms together in front of her face. 'I am very very sorry!'

'Hah!' Sho huffed. 'Sorry is not good enough Oozora~~~' He taunted her.

'Then what do you want me to do?' Mizuno coughed as she choked on her own saliva.

Sho released her and patted her back. He tsked. 'Fine fine. I can't bully a sick woman.' He smirked as Mizuno glared at him after her breathing stabilized again. 'I forgive you if you answer my question.'

Mizuno nodded readily. 'Okay, okay. Ask away!'

'Who was the guy you told to piss off in Tokyo?'

Only the sound of water rushing down greeted Sho's question. Mizuno froze, her eyes wide staring at him. She clearly wasn't expecting him to say that at all.

'Oozora...' Sho's voice gentled. 'Who is he?'

Mizuno exhaled audibly. 'Yagawa ka?' Her lips wavered. 'I didn't see that question coming.' Sho said nothing as he sat next to her, patiently waiting for her to continue. She took several deep breaths before continuing. 'He's a choreographer with the sister's branch who is going to work with me as the instructor for the girls when the couple dance training start officially this month.'

'You don't like him.' Sho stated what was obvious in her voice when she talked about Yagawa.

Mizuno hmmphed. 'There's something about him that I don't trust.'

'What did he do to you?'

'He thought I was an easy lay.' Sho's hands turned into fists as Mizuno gritted the words out. 'He tried to kiss me that night, telling me he should get his share as well...'

'That bastard!' Sho's jaw tensed, anger rose within him. Both of them knew what Mizuno was talking about. They weren't deaf to the rumours about her sleeping her way to her current position. It was sickening! 'I'll kill him!'

Mizuno let out a constrained laugh. 'I kneed him in the stomach and ran.' She snorted. 'I was thinking of smashing his face when you came to tell him to go away.' She put her right hand on his left fist. 'Arigato ne.'

'Next time, kick him in his family jewel.' Sho told her seriously. 'Don't show that bastard any mercy.'

'Ha...ha...' Mizuno grinned. 'I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Sho.' She kissed his left cheek. 'Thank you for trusting me.' Somehow his words comforted her more than he knew how. It felt really nice to have him trust her beyond the rumours and the event which could easily be misinterpreted by a lesser man.

'Ah baka.' Sho threw his left arm over Mizuno's shoulders. 'Of course I trust you, I was just worried.' He planted a kiss on her forehead. 'You said you were going to talk to him, did you?' His right fingers entwined with hers.

'Yes, I did.' Mizuno leaned on his shoulder. 'I made sure he understood some boundaries... or else...'

Sho smiled. 'You threatened him?'

'Makes the conversation ran smoothly...' Mizuno snickered as she told Sho how she pinned him to the ground when he tried to touch her after she made clear for him to keep his hands to himself. 'Told him not to mess with a karate black belt holder!'

Laughters of amusement rang the surprisingly deserted fountain area. 'I have to keep that in mind as well!' Sho said teasingly. Outside he appeared to taking her words to not worry about Yagawa, but inside he had a nagging feeling that it might not be the end for the guy yet. He also had an instinct that Mizuno knew as well, but since Mizuno seemed to want to end the conversation, he didn't want to ask more than she was willing to tell him. Now he just wanted to keep her mind off the other guy. 'Ne Oozora...'

'Hmm...?' Mizuno lifted her head to look at him. 'What?'

'Forget about him.' His tone turned velvet smooth as he pulled his right hand away from her hand and cupped the left side of her face. 'Just think about me.' With that, he tilted his head to the right and their lips met. His kiss was first gentle and attentive, but soon turned hot and hungry with both their pent up frustration and need, sending delicious shivers down Mizuno's spine.

Needless to say, only one man dominated Mizuno's mind: Sakurai Sho.

--->
Kirei desu yo - (It is) Beautiful!
Urusei yo! - Shut up!

Chapter 15b

2005-06-09T01:39:00.000+01:00

Chapter 15b

'Umm... Oishii ne~~~' Mizuno said cheerfully after chewing on her piece of seafood thin crusted pizza. 'Hontou ni umai!!!' Delight radiated from her face.

Sho chuckled at her reaction. 'Hai hai! This pizzeria is really good.' He bit into his meat lover's pizza slice. 'I'm convinced now, so stop with all the praising all ready baka!'

Mizuno pouted. 'But it is really really good! I should come here more often.' She took a slice of Sho's pizza. When they were ordering they couldn't decide on which pizza to choose and in the end, chose to order two and share them. 'Food tastes better when eating with company.'

Sho kept munching on his pizza as he watched Mizuno scarfed down another slice. 'Do you usually come here alone then?' He discovered that the pizzeria was two subway stops away from her area and not at all close to the place where he asked her to go earlier. They took the underground train to go there.

'More like all the time.' Mizuno replied grinning when the cheese thread finally broke and she hooked it on her left pointing finger and put it in her mouth. She waited until she finished swallowing the piece before continuing. 'Not many people have compatible free time with me. I don't mind eating alone here anyway.' She found the pizzeria while walking around aimlessly around the area the first few weeks she arrived in Osaka.

The Aroma Pizzeria was quaint with a Mediterranean theme. The walls reminded her of a sunny day and the scent of freshly baked pizza permeated throughout the place. It felt welcoming. The owners were a friendly Japanese couple who seemed passionate about what they do. Apparently they took cooking courses in Italy before setting up the pizzeria. Their menu offered both authentic recipes as well as their own creations and Mizuno had fun trying a different one at each of her visit. There were small circular dining tables greeting the customers as they entered the pizzeria while the booths occupied the left wing of the place. Mizuno adored the booth. The booths were designed so that it was as private as possible with trellis screens, trailed with fake ivy and purple wisterias entwining and hanging on them, set up above the bench seats to prevent prying eyes from seeing what's going on in the other booth. This seclusion allowed her to eat alone undisturbed and gave her time to collect her thoughts and call for inspiration to come when creating a new choreography. Moreover, the Latino music playing unintrusively in the background was soothing.

Mizuno told as much to Sho as they ate their pizzas and drank chilled Chrysanthemum tea which came in a glass pitcher. The tea was refillable free of charge as well. At the beginning of their dinner, Mizuno was conscious about her looks. She was wearing her much loved oversized pale blue hoodie over her grey t-shirt and black combat trousers. Not really dressed to impress. Sho, on the other hand, looked cool in his casual smart get up. He wore a cotton ivy cap which matched the colour of his slightly baggy khaki trousers. His toned body was well presented in his choice of layering the New Zealand All Blacks rugby short sleeved shirt over a white long sleeved shirt. A brown lens Giorgio Armani glasses hung on his unbuttoned rugby shirt. The period after they ordered the food and before their appetizers came was really awkward as Mizuno's confidence was shaky - what with the whole date scenario pricking at her feminine conscience and the fact that Sho came down to Osaka unannounced. However, as soon as their warm blue crab bruschetta arrived, the tension gradually melted away with every bite.

Food is her weakness... Sho noted mentally as he observed that Mizuno became more and more animated as their dinner progressed. He could feel her unease since they had first met. It was hard not to notice when she had slapped him! That episode aside, he liked seeing her enjoying her food and not just picking on it and talking about their diet being ruined as some girls he had dated did. Him, being a big eater as well, didn't have to feel guilty for eating a lot.

Sho grinned as Mizuno closed her eyes as she chewed on the last piece of her pizza. He hid his smile behind his napkin, wiping his mouth. His eyes then noticed the little details about her face. Her hair had grown long enough to be secured in a pony tail, but some strands from her bangs escaped the pale blue hair band and caressed the side of her face. There was a smudge of tomato base on the left side of her mouth. He kept his gaze on her lips as Mizuno wiped the smudge with her left thumb and licked it off, unaware that Sho was staring at her. 'Umm... Man, that was delicoius! Now I can't wait to taste the dessert! How about you Sho?'

I can't wait to taste you, Oozora! It was at the tip of Sho's tongue to say it, but he didn't. 'Yeah. I can't wait either.' That was all he said instead as he averted his eyes away from Mizuno's lips and onto the menu card. Down boy!

'It's probably my favourite here.' Mizuno grinned widely after she set her napkin down and saw the waiter coming their way with their orders. 'Snickers cheesecake!' She was practically drooling at the sight of the cake!

Sho laughed out loud. 'I should have known!' He waited for the waiter to move away after putting their cheesecakes in front of them. Mizuno had eagerly asked to let her order his dessert for him and he had agreed readily. 'Are you ever going to get tired of Snickers?'

'Never!' Mizuno laughed merrily as she cut a bite size chunk through the layers of tart cheesecake, laced with chunks of Snickers bar and caramel and topped with milk chocolate and fudge, with her fork. 'Eat up Sho! It's gorgeous, I'm telling you!' She placed it in her mouth and started chewing. 'Mmmm...'

Sho's laughters rang her ears before he cut his cake and proceeded to mimick her reactions inviting Mizuno to share his amusement. Suffice to say, their dinner ended on a high and happy note.

Much later, after Mizuno had adamantly insisted on paying for their dinner, they decided to go for a walk. At night, it was much easier for Sho to go unrecognised on the streets. Hand in hand they walked heading towards the park in the area. They chatted about everything under the sun except what Sho really wanted to talk about. He had been searching for the right moment to bring the subject during the dinner, but rejected the idea as he didn't want to destroy the plesant and chirpy mood they had created. By now, without the food as distraction, his curiousity was gnawing at him. The guy. Who is he?!

--->
Oishii / Umai - Delicious

Chapter 15

2005-06-08T15:40:00.000+01:00

Chapter 15

'Chotto!!!'

-Bang!-

With her free hand, Mizuno pushed the gate closed just as Sho pulled it open slightly. 'I... I... have to go back early!' She sputtered the first excuse she could come up with, a wavering apologetic smile graced her face.

Sho didn't look amused. He put her down none too gently on the ground. 'What do you mean?'

'Well, you see...' Mizuno began as she tried to side step Sho, but was forbidden from doing so as Sho's arms came up to the door to form barriers around her. She cleared her throat. 'Friday is a busy day for me. I was planning to have an early night today so I can have more energy tomorrow.'

'So ka?'

'Hai!' Mizuno bowed her head down. 'Gomen nasai.' She lifted her head up. 'I'll make it up to you next time.'

Sho's raised his right eyebrow. 'You'll make it up to me next time?'

'Eh? Ah...' Mizuno nodded vigorously. 'Unn... Next time I'll do whatever you want.' Hope began to fill Mizuno as Sho seemed to consider her words. For all she knew and from what they had gone through the past months, getting together was hard and rare. Besides, she thought, Sho's probably going back tomorrow anyway. He doesn't have anything to do here.

Sho let his arms down. 'Okay. We'll have it your way then.' He stepped aside to show her that she was free to go. 'Where are we going for tonight then?' At Mizuno's blank look, he smirked. 'You still have to eat, you know.'

'Ah!' Mizuno gave a small curse in her head. She should have known Sho wouldn't let go so easily. Being near Sho was enough to make her brain go hay wire - somehow her ability to think slump in his presence. This guy is dangerous! 'Oh yeah, eat. Eat. Umm... Let's go to a pizzeria!' Casual setting, good food, nothing too intimate, won't give him any funny ideas. Perfect!

'Lead the way, Oozora, just lead the way...' Sho raised his left arm up pointing towards the end of the alley where it met the main street and cocked his head up so that Mizuno would go first. 'Tonight is all yours, angel.' He said as she stepped past him.

Mizuno gulped slightly. Danger! Danger! Danger! Alarm bells rang in her head. Sho was being too compliant for her liking. Very very suspicious. Think brain think! He had surprised her one to many times and she hoped she could be the one to surprise him instead!

'Ne Oozora...' Mizuno nearly jumped out of her skin when Sho's left arm suddenly snaked possesively around her waist. 'Don't go away from me.' His words and breath caressed her right ear.

Mizuno gave out a nervous chuckle. She longed to fan her burning face. 'Baka Sho! Where would I run to anyway?' She nudged him playfully. 'Honestly...'

A low chuckle came from Sho. 'Yes, where indeed?' His tone was filled with humour, but underneath it, he was still worried about the relationship between Mizuno and the guy who hugged her in Tokyo. One question remained in his head ever since that night. Who the heck is that guy?

Chapter 14

2005-05-30T23:00:00.000+01:00

Chapter 14

'Take it off...'

'Chotto...'

'Don't be shy...'

'Chotto matte!'

'Don't be such a tease. Hurry and take it off.'

'URUSEI!!!' Yusuke threw a bath sponge at his elder brother, Aiba, who was laughing merrily in the bath tub. 'You sound so disgusting aniki!' He sneered as he took off his towel and hung it on the towel rack.

'Maa... maa...' Aiba replied as he submerged further up to his chin. 'It's been a long time since we have a bath together ne...' The water lapped on his mouth as Yusuke entered the bath tub. 'Nothing beats a hot bath at the end of the day.'

'Hai hai...' Yusuke agreed after quickly dipping his head in the water. 'Give me a massage, aniki.' He moved to sit in front of Aiba cracking his neck.

'Oi oi!' Aiba slapped his younger brother's head. 'This is not how you treat your oniichan!' He complained, but his hands all ready began to knead Yusuke's shoulders.

Yusuke just gave a sigh of contentment as Aiba massaged his shoulders, easing his muscles. Aiba drove down to his hometown in the Chiba prefecture in the late afternoon. It would only take an hour by train from Tokyo to Chiba, but he'd rather have a spin in his red Aston Martin V12 Vanquish S car. 'Ne aniki, can I drive your car... Itai!!!' Yusuke screamed as Aiba clamped his shoulders hard upon mentioning his request. 'Wakatta! I was only asking!'

'Urusei na, Yusuke...' Aiba chuckled as he splashed water on his brother.

Yusuke coughed as some water entered his mouth. 'Aniki!!!' He moved to the opposite corner and retaliated. 'This is war!' Water splashed everywhere in the bathroom as the two brothers fought and wrestled like children.

'Okay okay! I give up!' Aiba choked as Yusuke managed to strangle his neck. 'I have no energy today...'

Yusuke harrumphed, but then both of them burst out laughing before settling on opposite ends of the tub and sitting quietly. After the moment of peace, Yusuke asked Aiba a question. 'You still haven't got a steady girlfriend again?'

Aiba shrugged as he sponged his birthmark on his left shoulder. 'I'm too busy.'

'So ka?' Yusuke nodded before sliding down in the tub so only his head remained above the water. 'Once bitten twice shy...' He referred to the time when Aiba was almost kicked out of Arashi after compromising photos of him were made public, breaking one of the rules of the Jimusho. It was something Aiba would rather forget and not experience again.

Aiba dipped the sponge and wrung it. 'Yusuke, you have a crush don't you?'

The water rippled as Yusuke sat upright. 'Wha.. What are you talking about?' His face was flushed.

'Fu...fu...fu...' Aiba grinned knowingly. 'Tell me! Tell me!' He coaxed his brother to spill his secret and they began talking, each filling up the details of the happenings in their lives when they were apart until their mother came knocking on the bathroom door asking them to get ready for dinner.

'Hai!' Aiba got up from the tub. 'We're coming Okaasan!' He pulled his brother up.

Yusuke rubbed his head before pausing. 'Ne aniki, are the rest not coming to eat at our restaurant anymore?' Their father operates a Chinese restaurant on the ground floor of their house.

Aiba continued running his towel down his back. 'I have no idea.' He thought of his other bandmates. They were probably spending time with their girlfriends, except for Nino who he imagined locked himself in his room playing videogames all day long. 'I think not since they have other things to do.'

Yusuke gave him a big grin and held up his right pinkie. 'Girlfriends?'

Aiba glared at him before snapping his towel on his brother's bottom. 'Why must you say annoying things?' Of course, another brotherly fight ensued.

'Masaki! Yusuke!' Their mother's voice interrupted their towel war. 'Keep it down!'

'Hai Okaasan!' Both of them replied in unison and tied their towels around their hips. Having chastened themselves they went out of the bathroom and went to their own room.

Aiba put on his clothes and thought of how long it had been since the last time the other Arashi members ate at his restaurant. They always said they would go, but he knew if some people would kill him if he invited them this time around. He thought of Sho who said he was going to spend his break in Osaka. He smirked. Sho didn't take it too well when he saw another guy hugging Mizuno. Wonder if he's going to take her to that place? His shoulders shook as he gave an evil chuckle. 'The Shinobiai. Fu...fu...fu...'

--->
Chotto (+ matte) - Hold on/Wait
Urusei - Shut up/Be quiet/Annoying
Aniki - Elder brother
Okaasan - Mother

Chapter 13b

2005-05-29T19:32:00.000+01:00

Chapter 13b

'Shinobiai...?' Mizuno mumbled curiously as she read the black engraved plaque only barely visible by the light from the lantern. She was standing in front of the iron-wrought gate, still contemplating on whether to go in or not. The place was located in a narrow quiet alley which made her grew even more suspicious of Sho's intention.

【忍び逢い】 - *Shinobiai: clandestine meeting/rendezvous/tryst. - quoted from JEDI.*

Mizuno stared at the plaque bearing the name of the place. She tried to peek through the iron-gated entrance only to be met by her reflection on the dark opaque glass which covered the spaces in between the elaborate gothic designed gate. What kind of place is this? She took a deep breath and decided the best way to find out is to open the door and get inside the building. She exhaled as she held on to the cool iron handle. Yosh! 1, 2,...

'Darling~~~'

Mizuno jumped back as a couple stumbled out of the door, kissing each other without restraint, showing no awareness of her presence. She lowered her gaze as the couple finally broke their embrace and staggered out of the alley in between them laughing and more kissing. She eyed the plaque nervously. Could this be...? She stepped away from the door to assess the whole building. The only light was provided by a plain red lantern. The plaque was only barely visible. It was in a narrow alley next to a quiet road. In other words, it was in an isolated place. She flipped open her mobile and checked the picture message again. No matter how many times she looked at the picture, she was in the right place. She snapped her mobile close.

'I'm going to kill him!' She gritted her teeth as she put her mobile in her trousers' pocket and turned her back on the gothic entrance. 'How dare he play a prank on me?!' Her hands turned into fists. The guy definitely doesn't want to live anymore! What the hell was he thinking sending me to a... She stomped away from the dodgy building towards the main road. She was very furious! A bloody love hotel?! She had a hard time forming the last two words. 'Sho, you are so dead when I see you!'

'Why?'

Mizuno took a defensive stance as a guy's voice startled her, an automatic response from her karate training - especially in her violent mood. 'HYAA!!!'

'Whoa... whoa...' The guy raised his hands up. 'Calm down now, Oozora...' Sho took a step towards her in the alley, an amused smile plastered on his face. 'Kowai na~~~'

Mizuno's mouth twitched upon seeing Sho. She glared at him as she returned to a more relaxed stance. 'What the hell are you doing coming out from no where?!'

'Gomen gomen.' Sho put his hands together in a show of apology. 'I thought you can hear me coming.' He reached out for her hand. 'Let's go and...'

'I'm going home.' Mizuno said stonily as she brushed past him. The nerve!

What in the world? Sho was stunned for a moment at the rejection. That was not what he had expected from Mizuno! 'Hold on Oozora!' He caught up with her and turned her to face him. 'What's wrong?'

--PAP!!!--

Sho closed his eyes at the impact of Mizuno's hand on his now stinging left cheek.

'Go play on your own!'

Easy Sho easy... Sho took several deep breaths as he watched Mizuno walking away from him. The girl was driving him crazy! 'Oi Oozora! Chotto matte!' He groaned as he saw that she had no intention of slowing down and started to run. No way is she going to get away with it!

Mizuno quickened her pace as she heard Sho coming towards her. She, herself, was shocked after slapping Sho's face. It wasn't her intention to slap him that hard! She was caught up in the moment, she didn't mean it. Argh!!! In her head, she knew she should apologise, but she didn't know how to face a furious Sho. So she ran instead. However, knowing him, she doubted he would back away without an explanation. Baka baka! True enough, in a flash she felt him grabbing her biceps and locking her between him and the wall. She closed her eyes. Itai!

'You're coming with me, Oozora.' Sho's tone brook no argument as he lifted her up. Mizuno opened her eyes and was about to protest when something in his eyes made her changed her mind. Sho was grateful that there weren't many people around as he made his way back to Shinobiai. Well, at his current mood, he couldn't care less if there were other people watching them now. Mizuno conceeded her defeat by hooking an arm around his neck, easing her weight on his arms.

Oh God... Mizuno gulped as Sho opened the iron-wrought door of the Shinobiai. Save me!!!

--->
Kowai - Scary
Gomen - Sorry
Chotto matte - Hold on/Wait
Itai - Ouch/It hurts

Love Hotels: "The main purpose of love hotels is to provide couples with a room to spend some undisturbed time together. Also known as boutique or fashion hotels." - quoted from japan-guide.com(Osaka, is apparently, a trendsetter when it comes to love hotel designs... amongst other things. Google for more info. :P)

JEDI - Japanese-English Dictionary Interface (Online dictionary)

Oh, I just like the word 'Shinobiai' and it's literal meaning. Heh...heh...heh... Don't know if it's 100% right though. Oh well... ^_^;;

Chapter 13

2005-05-26T16:56:00.000+01:00

Chapter 13

'Yatta! It's time to go home now...' Mizuno stretched her arms up as she entered her office in Osaka. She couldn't wait to curl up on her sofa and watched the telly as was her routine every Thursday night. With her going back on the shinkansen every Wednesdays, she assigned Thursday nights as her official night in to rest. She began to find commuting to be hard work. She had heard from the Kanjani members that going back and forth to Tokyo could get irritating after a while and she whole heartedly agreed. She sighed as she took her bagpack and closed the lights as she exit the door. Thankfully, the day's activity consisted mostly of going into meeting for group planning and just observing the juniors practising with their choreographies. Mizuno usually leave the dance instructions to the other choreographers after their Saturday show to prepare for the coming week's one. Fridays were her time to come up with the choreographies, so she needed plenty of rest beforehand.

'Otsukaresama.' Thanks for a job well done at the end of the day greeted Mizuno as she went past the lobby on her way out of the building. As soon as she was out she remembered to switch on her mobile.

Mizuno stood still as her mobile screen came to life - she didn't want to bump into people when her concentration was elsewhere. Wonder if Sho texted me today? She thought as she waited for her mobile to pick up the reception. She gave a sigh as she recalled the scene on the early Wednesday morning. She regretted snapping at Sho when he had politely asked her about Yagawa. She was hoping to see Sho before she returned to Osaka, but that didn't go as planned. Only when Kattun were commenting on how they too wanted a break like Arashi that Mizuno remembered that they started their holiday and won't be back at the headquarters til Monday.

Sudddenly her mobile rang. Mizuno looked at her screen in surprise. It had been a long time since she had heard the MMS ringtone. 'A picture message?' She clicked on the MMS icon to open the message. It was from Sho. 'What the...?' A picture of an iron-cast gated door with only a small lantern hanging on the wall on the top left corner of the door came up on the screen. She raised one eyebrow as she scrolled down to read the message attached.

''You've just finished work. Should take you less than an hour to go to this place. I'll see you there.''

Mizuno read the address supplied as well. 'This place is in Osaka?' She scrolled up to the picture again. 'How is he going to get there in an hour?' She mumbled to herself as she began walking to the subway station to get to the given address. She pondered on this problem for a few moments before it dawned on her that Sho must be in Osaka at the moment! 'Oh Lord...' She paused her steps to take a deep breath. 'He's here.' She looked at the picture again. Looks dodgy... She knew how unpredictable Sho could be and she wasn't sure what he had in mind. He hadn't contacted her after the time he saw her with Yagawa and suddenly he was in Osaka texting her to meet up at a place she didn't know. Maybe I should call him to meet up elsewhere...

Just as Mizuno was about to call Sho, her mobile rang again. This time it was her SMS ringtone.

''Don't think too much, Oozora! Just come here! I'll behave... -_-;; Honestly.''

Mizuno choked as she read the text message from Sho. That arrogant baka! How the heck did he know what I was thinking? She flipped her mobile closed and made up her mind. The man needed a slap! She grinned evilly as her pace to the subway quickened. Sho, you'd better keep your words... The boy was sneaky. Wonder what's he up to this time?

--->
Otsukaresama - Thank you / Many thanks (said when leaving your work place kind of thing)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry about that. An extremely short chapter. Had writer's block so had to stop. >_< Please bear with me! Probably a chapter 13b coming up after this. Ha...ha... Gomen ne!

Chapter 12

2005-05-26T16:50:00.000+01:00

Chapter 12

Shikikawa Haruko...

Nino's eyes peered over the guitar strings' rack, surveying the musical instrument store behind his glasses. It was the 19th store he visited today. Wouldn't it be nice if he stumbled into the girl he met at the park? The girl with the pretty hands who can play the guitar and violin. He sighed when he couldn't see the one familiar face which had been haunting his dreams of late. The same one who appeared in his vision when he had the urge to compose songs.

Shikikawa Haruko...

Nino smirked. What the heck is going on with me? He adjusted his cap slightly. Being with those lovesick baka must be doing these strange things to me! His infatuation lasted longer than he anticipated. He really didn't expect to even remember the girl after that one chance encounter, but somehow she managed to stick to his memory. Today was the first day of his five day break and he had been out since after lunch, walking around the periphery of the park trying to find the shop where Haruko was supposed to be working. He pushed opened to glass door to exit and casted his eyes on the surrounding shops. Damn it! Should have asked her to be more specific!

Walking to the next shop at the end of the block, Nino adjusted the strap of his guitar bag. It would have been easier to just grab one of the guitar string packs from any of the stores he had visited earlier and go to the park and take the now-getting-heavy load off his back! Suddenly he chuckled at the absurdity of his situation. He felt like a fool! What in the world am I doing? He never knew just how many of these shops there were around the park. She could be anywhere! Baka!

He entered the 20th store and went straight to find his guitar string. This flight of fancy had to stop, Nino decided. He also decided being around Ohno, Matsujun and Sho could be detrimental to his state of mind. I'll call Aiba later and see if he wants to hang out and play my new video game later.

'You just need to practice a little bit more and then you'll be perfect.'

What the...?! Nino's head snapped up to the direction of the smooth friendly voice he had heard once before. 'Haruko?'

'You take care now, okay.' Haruko patted the head of a pig tailed primary school girl who went straight to her awaiting mother sitting on one of the chairs next to the opened teaching room she was coming out from. She bowed to the girl's mother. 'Ino-chan has been doing very well with her violin. I don't think there would be any problems with her school's performance next week.'

'Thank you very much.' The mother beamed as she took the girl's violin case. 'You're a great teacher.'

'Maa maa...' Haruko chuckled and waved her right hand in front of her face. 'She is a great student.' They talked for a bit before parting. She waved them goodbye before turning to get back into her classroom.

'Ano... Sumimasen...'

'Hai.' Haruko turned, smiling at the customer calling for her attention. 'How may I help you?'

Nino held up his purchase, 'How much is this guitar string?'

'Hmm...' Haruko came forward to inspect the product. 'Let me just check. One moment please.' She took the pack and went to the counter to check the price. Though she doesn't usually do this, sometimes she helped around with the odd enquiry or two directed at her. The store could sometimes be understaffed when there were an unexpected number of customers coming in. That or some customers needed more attention than usual. Either way, Haruko was always happy to help ease the burden when she doesn't have class to attend to.

Nino stared at Haruko who was scanning the barcodes on his string. Doesn't she even remember me?! His ego was wounded. He finally met her and she didn't even recognise him! It took a few moments before he decided on what to do next. 'So did you buy the album?'

Haruko stared at him blankly. 'Ahh... Nani?'

'Hontou ni...' Nino took off his glasses. 'I thought we had an agreement...' He forced himself not to look too smug when he saw her eyes widened with recognition. Her mouth dropping wide open as she finally realised who he is.

'Nino...!' Haruko put a hand over her mouth. 'What are you doing here?' She kept her voice down so as not to draw attention to this particular guest. Of all people, she didn't expect to meet him ever again. Not since the rainy day at the gazebo in the park.

Nino shrugged. 'I ran out of strings, so I came by to get some more. What a coincidence that we met again.'

Haruko chuckled. 'Coincidence indeed.' If only she knew. She gave him the price of the string. 'Are you buying this?' She had no idea how to comprehend with the situation. Nino nodded and she punched in the buttons at the cash register and packed the string into a small plastic bag. Between the last time they met and Nino standing in front of her then, she had grown to have a crush on him. 'Just to make it clear, I did buy your album.' She took the cash Nino handed to her. 'You guys did well! I love it.' The plastic bag also changed hands.

'Of course it's good.' Nino grinned. 'Which songs do you like then?'

'Ahh... Everything really.' Haruko closed the cash register. 'I particularly like 'Dandelions' - the guitar in there is very soothing.' She blushed slightly. 'And I'm not just saying that because you composed that song. Honest!'

Nino's grin grew bigger. 'Say Shikikawa, are you finished for the day?' At her confused look he added, 'Want to grab a cup of coffee with me? I want to hear more of your honest opinions on our album.'

'Ahh...' Haruko bit her lower lip before chuckling. 'Okay, what the heck? I'll just get my stuff yah.' She pointed towards the classroom. 'Give me a minute.'

Nino nodded and waited until she disappeared into the room before breathing a huge sigh of relief. He couldn't believe he just did that! He thought of the Johnny's rules on dating, the press and everything else, but... Thank God she said yes! As much as he hated to admit it, if it weren't for his lovesick baka friends, he wouldn't be as daring as that. Especially Sho.

After seeing Mizuno with another guy back at the headquarters, Sho's eyes took a more determined light which surprised them all after he had taken his shower. He remembered Aiba tentatively asking Sho what he was thinking and the scheming look he gave them. ''Well minna, I've just decided what to do with my break. I'll be in Osaka.''

And they all knew that when Sho had made up his mind, there was nothing anyone could do to stop him.

'Nino, are you ready?' Haruko stood in front of him with her guitar bag and violin case.

'Unn...' Nino nodded and put his glasses back on. 'Oh, let me take you violin.' He saw her hesitation. 'I won't drop it or anything.' His comment drew a smile on her face and she handed him her violin.

'If you say so...'

'By the way...' Nino suddenly said as he followed her out of the store. 'Can I call you Haruko?'

Haruko stopped short as they stepped out of the store. She looked at Nino with a disbelieving look. 'Umm... If you want to, I guess it's okay.' She blushed again.

Nino gave her a satisfied smile and then pulled her hand so that they would start walking together. 'Haruko it is then...' He tightened his hold on her hand. The girl who had been in his mind for the past few weeks. 'Let's have fun together now, Haruko.' Tagging along beside him, Haruko only managed to smile, just taking the moment as it comes. She didn't know where this relationship of theirs would lead to, but she hoped that it would go further than just companionship.

On the other hand, elsewhere at that moment, a silver Mercedes Benz SLR was on the highway heading out to Osaka. Its driver was hoping that what he had witnessed the night before was nothing more than just a spat between two colleagues.

--->
Nani - What
Minna - Everyone
Yokatta - Good (said in relief...)

Chapter 11

2005-05-26T16:45:00.000+01:00

Chapter 11

Arashi staggered into the Johnny's Jimusho headquarters. It was the end of April, approaching 2 a.m., and they had finally ended their nationwide album promotional activities. They had just returned from a late night tv show recording after a long list of magazine interviews and photoshoots during the day. They were exhausted and couldn't wait to have a quick shower to refresh themselves before heading home in their own cars. It would not be a good idea to fall asleep on the wheels! Their manager had driven straight home after leaving them at the headquarters.

'Finally...' Aiba sighed as he pushed the elevator button to go up. 'I just want to have a lie in for the rest of the week.'

The floor numbers kept decreasing as the elevator made its way to the lobby. 'I'd probably be dead to the world.' Nino said leaning on the wall next to the lift. They were granted a short vacation lasting only five days before starting on their Johnny's Summer Bash preparations. 'What's taking this lift so long?!'

Ohno just shrugged while Matsujun and Sho simply stood, lifeless. Their tiredness came crashing down as soon as the director yelled cut. There was only so much their professional persona could take.

~Ting... You have reached the ground floor...~

The recorded voice in the elevator announced as the doors slid open. Nino who was about to step in took a step back as he saw that the elevator was occupied. However, the occupier seemed not to be aware of any obstructions and just walked off without looking up from the ground. Likewise, they just minded their own business.

~Ting... You have reached the ground floor...~

The lift next to theirs opened as Nino was pressing the 7th floor button to where their dressing room was.

'Mizuno!' A blur of white went past their closing door.

'Mizuno?' Sho's voice was weak as he poked his head and almost squashed it too if Nino hadn't pressed the open door button fast enough. He, however, was oblivious to all these as he stepped out and frowned when the white figure hugged Mizuno. 'What the hell?'

'Piss off!' Mizuno's angry voice echoed down the deserted lobby attracting the attention of the guards sitting at the reception. They stood up quietly to get a better view and offer help if necessary. 'Get off me, Yagawa!'

The man in an oversized New York Knicks basketball jersey and matching baggy white trackpants eased the angry Mizuno from his embrace. 'Mizuno, can we just talk about it first?'

'I'll talk to you tomorrow!' Mizuno glared at him before turning away and making her way to the door.

Yagawa wasn't giving up easily. 'Mizuno...' He grabbed a hold of Mizuno's right hand. 'I can take you home.' The subway is closed after midnight.

Mizuno pulled her hand away from him. Hard. 'I'll get a taxi.'

'Mizuno...' Yagawa came in front of her and block her path. 'Please...'

'Hey, didn't she said to leave her alone?' Sho's tone was dangerous as he walked towards the two who were oblivious to their surrounding until he burst their bubble. Yagawa took a few steps back as Sho came to stand in between him and Mizuno who was still glaring at him. 'Well, what are you waiting for?' Sho raised an eyebrow as he gave a look of pure irritation at the other man.
'Sakurai-senpai...' Yagawa bowed quickly looking slightly flustered. 'Well, Mizuno and I...' His speech faltered completely when Sho narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw. The rest of Arashi had come to stand behind Mizuno as well. Yagawa bowed again. 'I'll see you tomorrow then Mizuno.' With that he walked away and exited the building.

Sho followed Yagawa's retreat until he disappeared around a corner before turning back to Mizuno. 'Are you okay?' He put his hands on her shoulders. 'Come with us...' He carefully guided her back to the elevator with his other three bandmates shielding them from the guards' eyes. Ohno went to the guards to assure them that everything was fine. Mizuno remained silent as Sho hugged her protectively as the lift went through the seven floors, patting her head gently.

When they reached their floor, Aiba and Nino went out first to make sure that no one else was outside. Though they doubt that they were anyone else on their floor, they didn't want any nasty surprises either. Matsujun unlocked their dressing room and they all waited while Sho eased Mizuno to sit on their sofa before they themselves sat surrounding the couple. Ohno came in a few moments later, with a can of hot tea in his hand. He placed it on the coffee table in front of Mizuno before sitting down at the end of the sofa.

Sho looked at Ohno gratefully as he opened the can and offered it to Mizuno. 'Oozora, daijoubu?'

Mizuno took the can from his hand and let out a forced smile. 'I'm fine, Sho.'

All the guys weren't convinced after the display they saw at the lobby just then. Who the hell is he?! None of them actually recognised the guy from memory. A new choreographer? He definitely wasn't a Johnny's Jr. Lots of questions flew in their minds as they sat there waiting for Mizuno to say more.

Mizuno put the can down after taking several sips. 'Well, I guess I should be going now.' She stood up, smiling, but avoiding their eyes. 'Thank you for everything.' She bowed. 'Oyasumi...'

'Oozora...' Sho stood up in front of her. 'Let me take you home.'

Mizuno shook her head. 'Thanks, but I'll manage.' She was still looking at the floor.

Sho didn't budge. 'Oozora...' He tipped her chin up so that their eyes met. 'Who the hell was that guy?' His tone made Mizuno winced even though he thought that he had reined down his anger from his voice - apparently not. He sighed as he placed his right palm on her left cheek. 'Why were you angry with him just now?' His tone gentled.

Mizuno turned away from his touch and pushed him back. 'Sakurai, mind your own business.' She said seriously, standing eye to eye with Sho before walking away.

Sho was about to go after her, but Ohno tugged on his shirt tail, stopping him. The door closed with a click as Mizuno disappeared from his view. 'Why did you stop me Ohno?' He was irritated, he could have just gone after her, but something in her eyes told him not to.

Ohno patted his back. 'Give her some space, Sho. Obviously she doesn't want to talk about it now.'

Sho turned around to see that his other bandmates were nodding with agreement. Sho closed his eyes as he tried to calm himself. It was almost two months of him not seeing Mizuno and when he finally got to see her, a guy had entered the scene. 'The guy...' He opened his eyes, furious. 'Who the bloody hell is he?!'

--->
Daijoubu? - Are you okay?
Oyasumi - Good night.

Chapter 10

2005-05-26T16:43:00.000+01:00

Chapter 10

'Ahh... So jealous!'

'Yeah, how come she gets to sit with them?'

'I wish we could eat lunch together too!'

Aiko glanced towards the direction of six guys cracking up jokes and teasing a girl at a corner bench in the cafeteria. The girl seemed to be at ease with her companions. The girl was Mizuno, her housemate. She sighed as she turned back to her three friends sitting in the square table in the middle of the cafeteria. 'Mizuno is very lucky ne...'

'Hey Aiko,' Rika, with her long and layered blonde hair swaying as she turned to talk to Aiko sitting next to her, raised an eyebrow and asked, 'Why didn't you ask her to introduce us?' She rolled her eyes. 'I know that we're working with them soon, but I want us to be much more than just working colleagues, you know.'

The two identical twins, Kaori and Kaoru, sitting in front of them nodded their agreement. 'Lunch would be much better with all those pretty boys around!' Kaori began.

'Not to mention, we could have them as our boyfriends!' Kaoru added, winking at her twin who gave her a peace sign.

Rika put her chopsticks down. 'Anyway, don't you have any tid bits about the Kattun guys from Mizuno?'

Aiko shook her head and pouted. 'Mizuno doesn't talk about them when she's at home.' She frowned. 'Well, if I see her that is. She always comes back around midnight. Guess she stayed here and caught the last underground train back everytime.'

'Really?' The twins said in unison. Kaori turned to her sister before speaking up again. 'She's a very hard worker ne...'

'She ought to be considering she rose fast as a choreographer in the company.' Kaoru stirred her watermelon juice with her straw. 'Too bad we weren't in the company yet when she was working at our branch.' She looked at Mizuno who was slapping Jin's hand away from her food. 'She seemed like a friendly and easy going person...'

'But she did made a few of our seniors quit some time ago.' Kaori finished her sister's sentence. 'If the rumours were to be believed, Mizuno was supposed to be a man-eater underneath all that friendly image.' She held up a finger. 'Plus, they said she used to act for her school's theatre productions, so she wasn't a stranger to acting.'

Aiko waved her hands in front of her. 'No no no! She is a really nice person!' Her eyes widened and she grinned. 'Even though we seldom sit and have a chat together, she took the time to do the grocery shopping so our cabinet and fridge are never empty.'

'Well, she should considering you always cook and leave food for her to eat.' Rika pointed out matter-of-factly. 'Maybe she's just using you too.'

'No way. She didn't ask me to cook for her, but I love cooking!' Aiko denied Rika's suggestion of Mizuno being a user. 'She can't be that devious, Rika...' Her voice carried a note of uncertainty as she looked at the street smart Rika who was now smirking at her.

'If that is so, then why hasn't she invited you and us over to have lunch with them when we walked into the cafe together.' She clipped her chopstick into a piece of tomato dice. 'A bit rude, don't you think? But maybe she didn't want us to get in her way.'

Aiko gasped along with Kaori and Kaoru and they all turned to peek at Mizuno's table again. This time Jin and Koki threw their arms around Mizuno, sandwiching the laughing Mizuno in between them. They wondered what made Mizuno so easily accepted by the group when the guys were always so aloof when talking to them. Then they tore their eyes away from the scene and looked at a smug-looking Rika. 'The rumours we heard at our company couldn't be true... Right...?'

Rika just shrugged and flipped her blonde hair. 'I don't know, but you guys can't deny the possibility, can you?' Her question was left hanging in the air amidst the laughters erupting from Kattun.

Doubt and jealousy began to smoulder in the heads of the four girls about Mizuno, who was enjoying her lunch with her charges - happily clueless of the rough emotions she was stirring from the square table in the middle of the cafe.

Chapter 9

2005-05-26T16:35:00.000+01:00

Chapter 9

'What's that?' Junno asked after staring at Mizuno for a while. Mizuno and Kattun were having a rest, sitting in a circle, after going through a routine. He reached over and lifted Mizuno's bangs back over her right ear. 'It's new.'

Mizuno pushed Junno's hand away. This guy could really be forward at unexpected times - or more accurately at unwanted moments. 'It's not like you've never seen anything like it before.'

'Oooh...' Jin's eyes lit up. 'Come on Mizuno, why be so secretive about it ne?' He moved closer to her. 'Tell us! Tell us!' The rest of Kattun, too, shifted making their circle smaller. Each having an expectant look on their faces.

Mizuno rolled her eyes. 'Go away, you guys! Give me some space to breathe!'

Kame and Maru glanced at each other and then they held up their thumbs. 'Boyfriend?'

Mizuno's face coloured and she abruptly stood up. 'I need a drink.' Her walk to the door was accompanied by laughters and teasing from the six guys. Kuso! I hate them! She fumed as she went to find the nearest vending machine. Of course she had her water bottle in her bag at the dance studio, but because of the six baka, she had to spend some yen getting a drink. Will have to make them do more backflips later... She grinned evilly as she stood in front of the soft drinks vending machine and took her time choosing her drink. However, her evil grin didn't last long when she saw a reflected glint on the vending machine glass window.

Mizuno couldn't help, but reached up to her right ear where the the glint was reflected from. It was Sho's gift to her on the last White Day. Sayaka was baffled when she showed it to her early in the morning. She didn't have a chance to hide as Sayaka was all ready waiting for her arrival at the headquarters lobby and then dragged her to the cafe and demanded that she told her what Sho's gift was.

'Err... That's nice... Not something I would call a typical gift, but it is very pretty...' Mizuno smiled as she recalled Sayaka's exact words when she saw the piece of jewellery. Mizuno shook her head as she took out some coins to feed the vending machine. She herself was surprised when Sho handed it to her after slipping it from a small velvet pouch. It was a silver ear cuff, shaped like a wing. Sho had chuckled when he saw her expression.

'It's a wing. It reminds me of the day you first confessed that you like me back in Osaka.' Sho whispered as he gently slipped the cuff on her right ear, adjusting it so that it rests on the cartilage at the top of the ear. 'When you literally flew into my arms.' He gave her a teasing grin when he saw her blushed. 'I hope you like it, Oozora, my angel.'

Mizuno bit her bottom lip as she pressed on her drink selection button and breathed out, trying to control the silly grin from appearing on her face as Sho's words and actions replayed itself in her head. Baka Sho! She bent down to get her can, still feeling giddy from the memory.

'A yen for you thought?' The voice in her head materialize in reality causing her to almost dropped her can.

'Sho!' Mizuno's eyes widened and she quickly looked around. 'I don't think you guys would be here seeing how busy your schedule seemed to be.' Sho was standing in front of her with his waistcoat unbuttoned showing the white shirt opened at the neck with his tie hanging careless around his neck. He was wearing his performance costume. The sight made Mizuno's mouth went dry.

Sho shrugged and ran his hand through his hair. 'The recording finished early and we thought we come back here for a rest before going to the radio station.' He took a step towards her seeing that Mizuno seemed to be frozen on the spot. 'Fancy meeting you here.' He brushed Mizuno's bangs to reveal her ear cuff. One other reason he chose that particular piece was because it can be hidden easily, so it won't arouse many people's suspicions.

'Yeah, well, only the dance studio on your floor is free for us to use today.' Mizuno backed away to stand in front of the vending machine. Sho's presence was overpowering her. She picked on her can opening. 'I was just getting a drink, you know.'

Sho raised an eyebrow, amused that Mizuno couldn't seem to be able to open the can. 'Let me.' He took the can away and opened it with ease. 'Let me taste it first.' He sipped on the can, all the while keeping eye contact with Mizuno. 'It's good.' He smirked as he gave the can back to Mizuno. His eyes glinted with challenge.

Mizuno gritted her teeth as she glared at Sho. 'So ka...?' She brought the can to her lips and downed a couple of gulps.

'Uso! An indirect kiss!' Jin's voice shrilled down the corridor. Mizuno and Sho's heads snapped to Jin's direction and saw six heads poking out from the corner wall. Well, five heads since Kame and Koki pulled Jin's shirt over his head. Junno gave a wide grin as he came out of hiding with Ueda who was also wearing a huge smile on his face.

Mizuno walked quickly away from Sho and slapped their heads. 'Were you spying on me?!' She asked indignantly.

'Hai.' Ueda simply answered. 'You took too long to get the drink and we got curious.'

Mizuno took a very deep breath, trying to steal some time to clear her head. Kuso! What should I do now?!

'Can't get the opportunity to get a free drink passed me by.' Sho suddenly interrupted her thoughts. 'Domo arigato gozaimasu...' He bowed mockingly in front of her before walking haughtily away.

Kattun went silent at the display from their Sho-senpai. Jin's mouth was gaped open. 'Sho-senpai is so kakoii!'

'Hontou ni...' Koki added.

'Subarashi yo!' Junno turned to Mizuno whose face was far from impressed. 'Eh? Mizuno, daijoubu desu ka?'

Mizuno rolled her eyes as she pushed past the six guys blocking her way back to the studio. 'Sho was bullying me!'

'Hai hai...' Maru came walking next to her. 'It was really mean of him ne...'

Kame nodded as he walked on her other side. 'But Sho-senpai still looks cool.'

'Urusei!' Mizuno pushed both of them away. They weren't even trying to comfort her! 'Okay, as soon as we enter the room, I want you lot to give me 50 push ups.'

'EH?!'

'Get in!' She pulled all of them into the room. '50!'

'But that's evil!' Koki moaned as all of them dropped to the floor to begin their punishment.
'That was for you spying on me. Don't make me add more to it!' She threatened them with an evil look on her face.

'Ah... Kowaii~~~' Jin said mockingly as they counted the numbers.

'50 sit ups after this.' Mizuno announced as she took a seat in front of them, sipping on her drink leisurely, ignoring the groaning from Kattun. 'I am all ready being lenient.' Her calm demeanor didn't betray a trace of worry within her. Instinctively she could feel that Kame and Junno might have noticed that there might be something more going on between Sho and her. Kame being rather observant and she felt Junno is smarter than he let on to be. Hmm... Abunai! That was really dangerous. Mizuno thought as she fiddled with her hair, so that her bangs would cover the ear cuff. Must not let my guard drop again! She inhaled deeply. Will definitely not be careless again!

--->
So ka - Really?
Domo arigato gozaimasu - Thank you very much
Kakoii - Cool
Hontou ni - Really
Subarashi - Great
Kowaii - Scary
Abunai - Dangerous/Careful (depending on the context)

Chapter 8

2005-05-26T16:27:00.000+01:00

Chapter 8

Sho took a sip of water from the bottle offered to him by their manager. They were at the backstage, the stage was still being prepared for filming. Aiba walked over to him and put out his bottle to have a toast with Sho.

'Kanpai!'

Sho smirked as their bottles clashed. Aiba smiled too, noting that Sho was definitely in a much better mood than he was before lunch. Or should he say, before Mizuno came? They sat at their assigned Arashi sofa corner while the other three were having their final make up touches and wardrobe checks. 'Too bad Yuki and Toma came barging in this afternoon.' Aiba began the conversation.

'Yeah. Those bloody idiots!' Sho shook his head as he leaned back on the sofa. 'I wish I could spend a longer time with her...'

Aiba patted the top of Sho's left knee. 'Well, at least she came to see you. Quite a high risk she was taking now that she doesn't have anything to do with us.'

'I know.' Sho grinned with tenderness. 'She's something special isn't she?' He chuckled, feeling slightly embarassed for talking like this with Aiba. 'Don't you dare make fun of me!'

Aiba shrugged. 'Maybe another time I'll tease you about it.' He nudged Sho who nudged him back. 'Anyway, when was the last time you guys went on a date?'

'Well... It was...' Sho abruptly stopped and eyebrows furrowed. He searched his mind for the memory of Mizuno and him going out and his frown deepened. 'We've never gone out together before.'

'Eh?!' Aiba's raised voice attracted a few glances. Sho slapped his head and Aiba bowed several times to the on lookers as apology. Then he whispered to Sho, 'You two haven't been out on a date before?' He leaned back on the sofa with a disbelieving look on his face. 'You're kidding right? How the hell did you managed to get together in the first place then?' Sho never told them anything about Mizuno and him. Not any of their meetings, nothing at all. At least, not the exact details.

Sho's face flushed slightly. 'I don't want to talk about this anymore.' He said as Nino and Ohno came to join them at the sofa.

Aiba was having none of it. 'Nino, Nino...' He pulled Nino to him. 'Did you know that Sho never took Mizuno on a date?'

'Eh?!' Nino's response mirrored Aiba's which irritated Sho. 'Hontou ka?' He kept his voice down after Sho glared at him. Hard. Ohno remained quiet and waited for Sho to say something.

'Guys, I really don't want to talk about it now.'

'Talk about what?' Matsujun piped in while adjusting his scrunch tie. 'Don't leave me out.'

Sho sighed as he stood up and smoothened his dark gold waistcoat. As a special treat to celebrate White Day, they dressed up in two piece black suits complete with embroidered waistcoats and scrunch ties, to go with the romantic date theme of the show. 'Betsuni.'

'Sho and Mizuno haven't went on a proper date yet.' Ohno said matter-of-factly with his innocent expression.

Matsujun just raised an eyebrow. 'So ka?'

Sho's jaw tensed and his eyes narrowed in annoyance. 'Gee... Thanks guys. I was so happy that we've met up today, albeit briefly only, and you guys just have to get dogged down with that little tiny bit of fact, do you?' Sarcasm dripping with every word he said.

Aiba stood beside him with a sorry expression on his face. 'Gomen ne, Sho-kun.' The other three were also looking guilty. Sho's mood went bad again.

'Forget it.' Sho shrugged as he walked past Aiba and Nino. 'Excuse me, I need some air.'

'Okay.' Ohno replied half-heartedly and then looked at his younger bandmates. 'Well, Sho'll be fine.' His reassurance was met with weak agreements. Sho really doesn't like people probing and meddling in his private life, so they should have expected him to be defensive about it.

Aiba bit his lower lip. 'I think he just realised that fact just now.'

Nino slapped Aiba's head. 'Baka!'

Aiba winced, his eyes mirroring his worry. Ohno came to pat him on the back. 'Don't worry about it, Aiba. He'll talk about it when he's ready.'

'I didn't mean it.' Aiba said in a small voice.

Matsujun threw his arm over Aiba's shoulders. 'Daijoubu. Come on, you know Sho'll be okay later.' He squeezed Aiba's left shoulder. 'That guy will get through it fine.'

'The baka is probably hatching a plan to kidnap Mizuno or something by now!' Nino said in a teasing tone, coaxing a smile to form on Aiba's lips. With that the tension slowly ebbed away and they prepared themselves for Sho's return and the filming to start.

*************************************************************************

Meanwhile, Mizuno had just arrived back to her apartment in Osaka. Since it was Wednesday, she took the shinkansen back to spend the other half of the week with the Kansai Jrs. She quickly took off her shoes and ran to her tv. She was five minutes late for the tv show Arashi was scheduled to appear. Her plasma tv switched on and screaming of girls made her winced. 'Where is Sho?'

Mizuno pulled her big brown velvet floor cushion and took off her duffel bag. She would unpack after she watched the show. She reached for her apartment remote control and switched on and adjusted the brightness of her living room. 'Stop talking and show him all ready!' She screamed at the tv as the camera was still focussing on the hosts instead of the guests. 'Hayaku!!!'

~And now let's welcome Arashi...~

'Oh my God!!!' Mizuno squealed in excitement as Sho appeared on the screen looking devastatingly handsome in his suit. 'Sho!!! So kakoii!!!' She succumbed to her fangirl moment, though she would die if anyone, especially Sho, found out about this side of her! She has her moments of madness. She turned the volume up when Sho began talking, grinning stupidly all the while.

Mizuno was in a great mood, didn't even feel tired after her train journey from Tokyo. Just that lunch time, she had some time together with Sho. They began by just sitting side by side without talking and just smiling sheepishly at each other, Sho was waiting for her to start the conversation and she did. The bentos were left untouched as they just kept talking about everything that they had done over the past weeks that they didn't manage to see nor talk to each other. Both of them were either too busy or too tired to even speak on the phone. On top of that, they have a strong sense of letting themselves and the other a time of their own, so neither wanted to encroach on the other's private time unless they planned to call each other first. Mizuno talked about how Aiko and her were getting along very well, maybe a bit too well for Mizuno's liking, she admitted to Sho. And then Sho was telling her about how worried he was about their album release, what with the delay and their fans' expectations. They gave comfort and reassurance to each other with their words and actions.

A blush crept up Mizuno's neck as she recalled taking Sho's hand in hers. She stared at her left hand and clenched her fingers into a fist, imagining that she was holding Sho's warm hand again. On the tv, Sho was laughing at something Aiba was saying. Her grin became bigger, sharing Sho's amusement. Then the host announced that it was time for them to perform. Sho stood up and Mizuno's heart jumped a beat when she saw him pat his trousers right pocket and winked at the camera. 'He brought it with him!' Mizuno hugged her cushion.

Before they parted with the unexpected arrival of Yuki and Toma, she managed to hand him a talisman, an omamori, to bring him luck and success for the year ahead. She had gone to a shrine in Kyoto on the Sunday before she went back to Tokyo to get the small royal blue pouch embroidered with gold thread and white flower design on it. She had felt stupid when Sho looked surprised when she placed it in his hand that she almost took it back. However, instead of Sho calling her an idiot as she had expected, he kissed her cheek and told her he'd be bringing the charm everywhere with him bfore slipping it in his right trousers pocket.

'Sho...' Mizuno muttered as Arashi performance began. 'Damn! He looks so good in that suit!' At times, she felt that having Sho as her boyfriend was too good to be true. 'Kakoii na...'

When the performance finished, her mobile rang causing her to jump. She flipped open her mobile and answered it. 'Moshi moshi. Who's this?'

'It's me, Sayaka.' An excited voice replied. 'Did you see them? Did you see Ohno? Isn't he gorgeous?!'

'Ahh... Hai hai.' Mizuno answered less enthusiastically. She barely noticed the other members if they didn't take up the whole screen. 'It was a good performance.'

'What? Aren't you at least excited of seeing Sho?!'

'He always looks good.' Mizuno kept her voice calm. Her fangirl side is only for her to know and no one else.

Sayaka tsked. 'Whatever. Anyway, let me get straight to the point, what did Sho gave you? You promised to tell me after their performance!'

'Ahh...' Mizuno smiled. 'You have to tell me what Ohno got you first.'

'But!'

'We agreed that you tell me first then I'll tell you.' Mizuno reminded her friend much to the annoyance of Sayaka.

'Oh fine!' Sayaka said exasperatedly before her voice gentled and sounded dreamy. 'Ahh... Ohno is so sweet! Do you know what he gave me? A watercolour portrait of us two together! It is so beautiful. He is so talented!' She gushed. 'and that's not all. The frame was in the middle of the box in a its own box lined with red satin. Surrounding the portrait frame were strawberries coated with chocolate. I'm eating one now.' Mizuno heard her munching. 'Hmmm... So delicious!'

Mizuno laughed good naturedly. 'You have to send me a picture! You are so lucky Sayaka.'

'I know.' Sayaka agreed readily. 'Now, tell me, what did Sho gave you?' She wasn't going to let Mizuno distract her from what she wanted to know.

'Well...' Mizuno hesitated. She really didn't want to sound like Sayaka just then - all dreamy and stuff. 'I'll show you in Tokyo.' She needed more time to compose herself from being over the moon with her gift.

'What?! You can't do that!' Sayaka screamed on the phoneline. 'That's not fair! You can't make me wait for Monday!'

Mizuno chuckled evilly. 'I never did promise to tell you immediately after you told me what you got.' She winced when Sayaka cursed her. 'Gomen ne. I have to go now. So tired...'

'Liar!' Sayaka replied with disgust before bursting into laughters. I guess I can let her go this time. 'Okay fine, go to sleep.'

'Arigato ne.' Mizuno sent a flying kiss to Sayaka. 'Oyasumi.'

'Oyasumi.'

Mizuno flipped her mobile shut and lie down on her cushion. Arashi appeared again on the tv, but her eyes were only on Sho. Tiredness began to creep up on her. 'Ahh... I hope we can spend more time with each other, Sho.' She touched the screen where Sho was. 'A date would be nice.' Hearing herself say that out loud, Mizuno slapped her forehead. Who am I kidding? Like that's going to happen! She thought sadly as she was very much aware that with their conflicting schedules and secrecy shrouding their relationship, it was almost impossible to see him face to face nor call him on the phone, much less go out on a date! She watched the tv again. 'Oh well, at least I can see him on tv.' She comforted herself with a sigh.

At that time, Mizuno was completely unaware that behind his composed face and easy demeanor on the programme, Sho was also thinking of the same thing and was in the process of planning to steal some time to go on a proper date with her.

--->
Kanpai - Cheers
Hayaku - Hurry
Moshi moshi - Hello
Oyasumi - Good night

Chapter 7

2005-05-26T16:21:00.000+01:00

Chapter 7

Matsujun moved from his seat facing the corner bench where Mizuno and Sho were heading to give them more privacy. Aiba and Nino had taken their fold up chairs so that they can crowd over the coffee table for the same purpose as well. Together with Ohno and Sayaka, they ate and chat as normal. Matsujun picked up a piece of meat from his bento, feeling slightly envious that Sayaka and Mizuno came to have lunch with Ohno and Sho while he was left alone. He chewed on the meat slowly and thought, Well, I can't be greedy. His White Day had begun early with him driving Kira out to the highest point he could reach overlooking their neighbourhood to watch the sunrise together. He smiled as Kira's face filled with surprise and delight came back to him.

***Flashback***

'I want you to stand in front of me, so you can have uninterrupted view of the sun coming up at the horizon.' Matsujun coaxed Kira to take a step away from him.

'What's wrong with standing side by side, Jun?' Kira asked amused, but did as she was told anyway when she turned to see Matsujun's determined look.

'Well...' Matsujun came to stand behind her. His arms came around her waist, hugging her. 'I can't do this if we stand side by side.' His low voice caressed the back of her neck. 'And then I can't do this...' He planted a soft kiss just behind her right ear. He felt her trembled slightly and smiled. 'Are you cold?'

Kira chuckled nervously. 'Don't tease me, Jun...' Even if the dawn air was rather chilly, it wasn't the temperature which caused her to tremble and she knew Matsujun knew it as well!

'Hmm...' Matsujun entwined his hands with hers. The mist had began to clear away to reveal the horizon. 'Look, Kira, the sun is coming up.'

Kira's eyes widened as she saw the first rays of light filtering upwards from the horizon. She had never seen a sunrise before, never had the chance to. 'Wah...' Her mouth gaped open and her hold on Matsujun's hands slackened.

Matsujun slowly unlock their embrace and let her to walk a few steps further to the barrier on the cliff's edge. Satisfaction and happiness filled him as her praises of beauty reverberated around him. No matter how trivial the matter is, he wished he could fulfill every wishes she has. Every hopes and dreams. Maybe he could not fulfill them all, but by God he would try! He let her savour the moment before joining her. 'Beautiful, isn't it?' He whispered, not wanting to destroy the serene atmosphere.

'Hai...' Awe laced Kira's reply. 'Hontou ni kirei...' She turned to meet his eyes. 'Thank you for this, Jun.'

Matsujun just smiled and tipped his chin up asking her to keep her eyes on the horizon. The sunrise was only a part of his gift for Kira. He reached into his jacket pocket and grinned as the object glimmered in the sunlight when he lifted it up over Kira's head.

Kira gasped when she saw a shimmering thread descended in front of her, breaking her mesmerised state. 'Jun...?' Her eyes followed the small heart pendant weighing the necklace down as Matsujun lowered the necklace until it finally rested against her throat. She remained unmoving as she felt Matsujun snapping the ends together and then pulling her hair up so the necklace can hang on her neck.

'The Claddagh.' Matsujun said in a low tone as he ran his fingers through her long hair to make it neat again.

'Claddagh...?' Kira asked as she touched the pendant. Her voice was barely audible.

'Unn...' Matsujun stepped beside her and turned her to face him. He placed his left palm under the pendant and took left pointing finger to trace the gold and silver heart design. 'The Claddagh is a Celtic symbol.' He brought her finger to slide on the gold band first. 'The hands represent friendship.' He brought her finger to the silver hands before pointing it to the heart held in between the hands. 'The heart is for love and then the crown here...' He guided her finger to the crown on top of the heart. 'Means loyalty.' He let the pendant down as his left hand tipped her chin up and their eyes met. Keeping their eye contact, he lowered his lips on hers. 'Let our love and friendship reign, Kira.' A tear escaped Kira's eyes as she returned his kiss, touched by the words from her friend, her lover.

'Let our love and friendship reign, Jun.'

***End of flashback***

Aiba and Nino fumed silently as they noticed Matsujun's dazed look, biting the tip of the chopsticks with a silly grin on his face. They really can't win against these happy I've-got-a-girlfriend people on White Day. BAKA! Sitting on the other end of the sofa were Ohno and Sayaka, who were considerate enough not to go off on their own lovey dovey world in the company of other people. Aiba clipped a pea and threw it on Matsujun's face causing Matsujun to winced.

'What did you do that for, a-ho!' Matsujun glared at Aiba who appeared to not have a care for his actions.

'I don't want you to break your chopsticks.' Aiba answered matter of factly. 'I don't want to share mine.'

Matsujun coloured at Aiba's words. He can't believe he was caught daydreaming! 'Urusei, baka!'

'Baka? Dare dare?!' The door suddenly flew open and two familiar faces came in, smiling and giving peace signs. 'Who's the baka?'

Nino immediately stood up to distract the two from seeing how close Sayaka and Ohno were sitting. 'Yuki, Toma! What brought you guys here?' His voice was intentionally louder to inform Sho and Mizuno of the unexpected visitors. Yuki wasn't he problem, it was Toma - close as all of them were, he didn't know of Arashi's relationships yet as he wasn't in the headquarters much during the time the couples got together. He was busy with acting on location and the theatres.

Yuki saw through what was going on in the room. He threw his arm across Toma's shoulder so that he can't walk past the lockers which acts as a partition on the room hiding the shower room door from view. The bench was enclosed within the space created. From his guess, Sho might be in the bench area with Mizuno seeing he wasn't sitting on the couch. 'We thought we'd congratulate you lot on the release of your album today! Right Toma?'

Toma replied enthusiastically and went on asking how they were doing and stuff. Sayaka stood up and picked up a bento box which Ohno had given her. The bento box acting as a wrapper of the present he told her not to open until she was at home. She hoped Toma didn't notice anything weird with her being there.

'So there you are Yuki!' Sho came out from behind the locker and hugged his friend. 'Toma! Nice of you to drop by!' They, too, hugged.

'Yeah, well, are you prepared for the tv station?' Toma enquired before his eyes saw Mizuno standing behind Sho with two bento boxes. 'Eh? Mizuno!' He slipped past Sho and Yuki. 'Long time no see! How are you?'

'O-hisashiburi Toma!' Mizuno smiled. He used to be one of her charge in the early days. 'I'm fine, thank you, and you?'

'Never better!' Toma laughed and patted her back like they were best friends. 'Didn't expect to find you here though. Heard you're working with Kattun now.'

Mizuno grunted and rolled her eyes. 'They ordered so much food that I was pulled as a delivery volunteer.' She lifted the bento up and shook her head. 'Sayaka, you better give me some free lunch later.' She winked at her friend who was standing stiffly next to the door. 'Here, take the top bento, Sho said he ordered in for Yuki, but I guess you can share with him.' One had to be creative at moments like these.

Toma raised an eyebrow as she referred to Sho at given name basis. 'Sho?'

'I worked with them for their last concert.' Mizuno replied calmly.

'It was like working with a she-devil!' Sho muttered as he took his bento from her.
Mizuno narrowed her eyes at him. 'That's because you guys were a bunch of baka!'

Toma laughed as he opened the bento lid. 'Ooh... Chicken tempura!!'

'Oi Toma! I should be the one eating it first since Sho ordered it for me!' Yuki snatched the bento from Toma's hands. 'Ahh!! Take it out!!!' He shouted at Toma who was happily munching on a piece chicken tempura.

Mizuno took this opportunity to walk towards Sayaka, ignoring the guys in the room. 'Right, we better get going. Jya ne!' She waved them goodbye and dragged Sayaka out of the room. Sayaka followed Mizuno's quick pace to wards the elevator, not saying anything until they enetered the empty elevator and it had closed its door.

'You're a very good actress, Mizuno.' Sayaka said hugging the bento present box to her chest. 'My heart was beating so fast just now, I can't even think!'

Mizuno hmmphed. 'Well, I have my moments.' She might look calm on outside, but inside her nerves were on its edge with the fear of discovery. 'We're cool.'

Sayaka nodded then turned to Mizuno with a questioning expression. 'So... How's your plan with Sho?'

'Huh?' Red crept up Mizuno's face. 'We were just talking.' She looked down to her shoes. 'Nothing special.'

'Uhuh. Right. Like I'd believe that.' Sayaka nudged Mizuno. 'Come on. He must've given you something!'

'Unn... Something...' Mizuno answered vaguely while resisting the urge to sweep her bangs behind her right ear, which could expose her nervousness. Beside her, Sayaka mumbled something about being a bad friend when she kept mute. Then the elevator door opened to admit more people going down and they stopped talking. Mizuno grinned as she counted the number of floors they were passing. Sho did give her something. Maybe she'd tell her friend later, after she composed herself enough not to sound like a besotted fool when talking about it.

For White Day, Sho had given her wing.

--->
Hontou ni kirei - Really beautiful
A-ho - Idiot
Dare - Who (pronounce: Da-rey)
O-hisahiburi - Long time no see

Chapter 6

2005-05-26T16:18:00.000+01:00

Chapter 6

~~~March 14th~~~

Arashi gave a sigh of relief as their manager finished his speech. A final reminder before they went on the tv station to perform and start promoting their new album. Moreover, it was just in time for lunch too, and Ohno was looking forward to see his girlfriend walked through their closed door bearing great food from her cafe. Their new album was supposed to come out in February, but due to some unforeseen circumstances it was delayed causing some grumbling from their fans. To make up for it, Kitagawa-san vetoed that their album would come out on White Day, come rain or shine. Frustrating for the three Arashi members who planned to spend the day with their special someone, but they had no choice.

'Leader...' Aiba said sounding slightly annoyed. 'Get that stupid look off your face!' He hit Ohno.
'Sayaka will come soon enough!' He rolled his eyes at Ohno who just kept grinning stupidly. 'So annoying!'

Ohno laughed and pat Aiba on his back. 'I can't help it yo... It's White Day!' He stretched over to their coffee table to get his bag. He had prepared a gift for Sayaka all ready and can't wait to give it to her. Just the thought of seeing her opening the gift brought a big smile on his face. 'Ahh... So happy...'

'Urusei!' Aiba covered his ears with his hands and glared at Ohno and then at Matsujun who also have a smug look on his face. 'Annoying!'

Nino and their manager laughed at Aiba's action. Sho was in a world of his own, studying the notes he had prepared about their album and other things he could talk about during the tv interview. He was the spokesman of the group and though he was all ready a pro at it, he still felt that there is room for improvement. However, on this particular day, he was feeling tense as their tv appearance wasn't the only thing on his mind.

'SHO!' Nino's loud voice made Sho looked up from his notes.

'What?' Sho answered calmly, not seeming perturbed by Nino's shout.

Nino gave him a disbeliving look. He had called Sho three times before resorting to shouting at him and his response was like that?! 'Stop reading the notes! You knew everything on the paper by heart and you're making the atmosphere very tense.' He snatched the paper away from Sho. 'Chill man!'

Sho gave a careless shrug. 'Okay.'

The other people in the room looked at each other warily. They knew exactly what was bothering Sho, though he was good at trying to hide his frustration from them. He had only talked to Mizuno face to face only once since she came to Tokyo. They were so close yet so far away. The burden of keeping their relationship a secret is much heavier on Sho than on Ohno or Matsujun. They don't know how to comfort Sho, but Sho seemed to find working a viable way to channel his frustration, which made them worried when they felt he was doing it to the extreme. 'Today should be a good day ne!' Aiba exclaimed trying to lift the mood up.

'Hai hai!' Nino agreed and playfully punched Sho's right arm. 'Take it easy as always, Sho.'
Sho nodded and closed his eyes. He felt tired. I want to see her...

Ohno clapped his hands. 'Sayaka should be coming at any minute now.' As if on cue, their dressing room door suddenly opened. 'See!' He stood up to help her carry the deliveries. They ordered more than usual to give them energy for their performance later, but he didn't even took a step towards her when he saw that she had a helper. 'Mizuno!'

Sho's eyes flew open as he heard Ohno saying Mizuno's name. He leaned forward from his seat as Ohno was blocking his view of the door. There, standing behind Sayaka, Mizuno was carrying two plastic bags with bottled and canned drinks in them. Their eyes met and the air seemed to become electrified.

Sayaka tried not to grin too much upon seeing Sho's surprised expression. 'Well, lunch is here!' She turned her head to wink at Mizuno. 'Thankfully, Mizuno was at the cafe and willing to give me a hand.' She walked normally to Arashi's seat. 'You guys sure have a big appetite today!'

Mizuno was frozen momentarily when she saw Sho. It felt like forever since she had last saw him. Of course, it wasn't a coincidence that she was at the cafeteria. She had planned it. She knew they eat extra before a live performance and that during lunch time, the cafe only have Sayaka as the delivery person. She told Sayaka of her plan and she agreed to act on it. They're friends, no one would be suspicious if she asked her for help. Plus to buy her some free time, Mizuno had sent Kattun to the gym in the morning saying that after the last few weeks' practice, their stamina was not up to her standards. They were to get their physicals and new training routines from the instructors. With that they won't be able to see her until late afternoon. She grinned. Sho wasn't the only one who could come up with a plan.

'Let me just take my bento.' Their manager picked up his food container and his bottled water. 'I'll be in my office and I'll see you guys in the van later. Don't be late!' With that he exited the room and closed the door neatly behind him. He wasn't an evil person after all.

'Hmm... I think we need to spread out more. All the food and drinks won't fit on this table.' Mizuno commented as she took Sho's bento and drink as well as hers and walked to the bench on the opposite corner of the room next to the shower room entrance. 'Sho and I'll sit over there to give you guys some room.' She said it so casually that they couldn't tell that inside she was as nervous as hell!

Sho followed her meekly, his mood suddenly got better and he can't seem to stop grinning. My my... Wonder what is inside her devious mind? He knew this wasn't serendipity at work when he glimpsed a quick smirk on her face as she turned around. Oozora Oozora... What have you got in mind?

Chapter 5

2005-05-26T16:13:00.000+01:00

Chapter 5

Nino hummed along as he walked leisurely on the gravel path in the park. It was late afternoon and Arashi was given a day break before their new album came out in the stores the next day. He had been walking around the city after getting his lunch, just revelling in his precious day off before their scheduled promotional activities started rolling. A couple passed him by, hands held tightly together. He rolled his eyes behind his Adidas Cubic Lush sunglasses. As luck would have it, their management thought March 14th would be a good time to release the album. March 14th, White Day, the time for men to return the affection they get from the women during Valentine's Day. He smirked, remembering Sho's annoyed expression when they were told at the last minute about the slight change in plans. Though Sho didn't say anything about it, he knew that Sho was probably cursing the management to hell five times over with the evil look he gave their manager at the announcement. The manager wisely had chosen to not look at Sho's direction when giving the announcement.

A chuckle escaped from Nino. He felt slightly guilty for laughing at Sho's predicament, but he just couldn't help it! The only time Sho and Mizuno managed to see each other was on the day she had arrived in Tokyo. After that, on top of keeping their relationship a secret, with Arashi's busy preparations for their album release and Mizuno's working arrangement, they were lucky to just get a glimpse of each other across the corridors! Poor poor Sho... He sighed. Being in Johnny's Entertainment does have its drawbacks with regards to having a relationship. There are rules to follow.

Nino pursed his lips as he thought of his bandmates relationships. Sho seemed to have the worst end of it. Ohno and Matsujun were able to see their girlfriends on a regular basis without raising much speculations. Sayaka can use the excuse of delivering food to meet up with Ohno and going to the cafeteria wouldn't be as suspicious as going to a personal office without a good reason. Kira was known to be Matsujun's long time friend and they lived in the same area, so going home together was expected now that Kira was also involved in the Summer Bash which has a musical theme to it. Mizuno, on the other hand, lived in the opposite direction from Sho's neighbourhood. Must be very frustrating for Sho and Mizuno ne...

A drop of water on his glasses drew his attention to the sky. More droplets spattered on his lenses. Nino quickly looked around for the nearest place to get some shelter. This wasn't a good time to get sick! Just a few metres away from the path was a small gazebo. Without wasting his time, Nino quickly walked to the gazebo as the drizzle became stronger. No sooner than he stepped into the gazebo, the rain began in earnest. 'That was close...' His dark lenses made him missed the warning signs of the darkening sky.

Suddenly the strumming of a guitar caught his attention. He just realised that there was another person in the gazebo all ready. He turned to see and his eyes automatically zoomed down to the fingers strumming the guitar. Nice hands... Nino mused, he has a thing for women's hands. His eyes went up to see the person's profile, making sure that the hands belong to a woman. Ah... A girl! The girl seemed to ignore his presence as her gaze seemed intent on her fingers playing the chords. Kawaii na... His bandmates once voted him as the most likely to fall in love at first sight, but of course, it couldn't be that easy!

Nino tried to decipher the song the girl was playing amongst the sound of the rain around them. Sounds very very familiar, but what is it? Then the music came to an end.

The girl looked up with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. 'Ahh... Such a good day today!'

Nino's eyebrows raised at the exclamation. Not many people would consider a rainy day as as good one. 'It's raining.'

The girl's eyes snapped open in surprise, then the gaze turned into confusion before she gave him a sheepish grin. 'So it is. Sorry, I didn't notice you were here.' She bowed slightly as she began to put her guitar back into its case.

'Ah, I don't mind at all!' Nino said quickly said to stop her from packing her guitar away. 'You were pretty good, but what song was it that you played just now? Sounds familiar...'

The girl now raised her eyebrow in amusement. 'You mean this one...?' Her fingers moved over the strings again. 'It's Canon by Johann Pachelbel.' Her smiled widened. 'Lovely isn't it?'

Nino grinned as he took a seat next to the girl. 'Yes, it is a good piece. I should play it sometime.'

'I never get tried of listening to it.' The girl laugh and winked at him, inviting him to her personal space. 'I better intoduce my self. I'm Shikikawa Haruko. Nice to meet you.'

'Ahh...' Nino's hand came forward to prompt her for a handshake. 'Ninomiya Kazunari desu.' They shook hands. 'My pleasure.'

'So ka?' Haruko nodded as she rests her hand back on her guitar. 'You really are Arashi's Nino.' She grinned when she saw him looking slightly surprised. 'Don't worry, I won't go berserk!' She laughed. 'And I won't take pictures either.' She reassured him.

Nino took off his glasses and slid it on top of his backturned cap on his head. 'That's good to know.' His eyes wondered around the area for a bit, feeling slightly calmer after noting that no one would come up within close proximity to the gazebo in the heavy rain.

Haruko began to strum the guitar, playing the Canon again. She won't push him to a conversation if he didn't want to. Ecstatic though she was of meeting an idol, she still have to respect his personal space. They kept to themselves until the song finished.

During that time, Nino decided he could trust the girl enough for a conversation. 'So... Do you live around here Shikikawa?'

Haruko looked up at him, secretly glad that he wished to talk to her! 'Not really. I commute to work here. Home is at the other side of Tokyo, close to the Music Academy.'

'Eh?! You're studying at the Empirial Academy of Music, Theatre and Arts?!' Nino looked impressed. 'Sugoi! No wonder you're good!'

'Maa maa...' Haruko waved her hands in front of her. 'Still have a very long way to go!' She chuckled. 'Coming to my final year.'

'Anyway, where do you work here?' Haruko suddenly became more interesting to Nino.

'At a store selling musical instruments somewhere around here. I teach guitar and violin over there.' Haruko put the guitar bag to her side to show Nino her violin case.

Their conversation continued until the rain finally stopped. They talked with ease about themselves and random things and even showed each other their talents with the guitar. Nino didn't push her when she refused to play the violin when he asked her if she could play it for him and in return Haruko didn't ask anything about his idol work. Nino was a bit disappointed when she said she had to go as the sky began to clear. He surprised himself by enjoying talking to her over the period of time they were together.

'But before I go...' Haruko's eyes gleamed mischieviously as she took out her organiser from the pocket of her guitar bag. 'Can I have your autograph please?' She said cheekily, handing the organiser to him with a pen.

Nino chuckled as he opened the organiser to a blank page. 'For this you have to buy our album tomorrow, okay!'

Haruko eyes widened. 'Ah! After you said that I don't have a choice, do I?'

Nino smiled as he scribbled his signature and, after hesitating for a second, wrote a short message to her. Then he closed the organiser shut causing Haruko to groan as she would have to search for it later before handing it back to her.

'Okay then, Ninomiya, I hope your album will sell well!' Haruko said after she put on her guitar bag, ready to leave. 'Take care!' She bowed.

'You must buy the album for it to sell well.' Nino reminded her again with a smile. 'And you take care too, okay.' And with that they parted.

Nino, with his glasses back on, walked slowly on the gravel path again. This time his mind was occupied by the girl he just met at the gazebo. 'I hope we'll meet again, Haruko.' The corners of his mouth turned up as he voiced out her given name. He hummed a happy tune. Spring has come...

Chapter 4

2005-05-26T16:06:00.000+01:00

Chapter 4

'Hai! Follow me!' Jin said enthusiastically as he led the way for the rest of his Kattun bandmates and Mizuno to her office.

'Oi chotto!' Ryo cut in and grabbed hold of Mizuno's left arm. 'Mizuno-chan is coming with me. You guys don't have to do anything.' Uchi grabbed hold of Mizuno's right arm and together they pulled Mizuno away from Kattun. It just so happened that Mizuno's office is between Kattun and Kanjani 8's dressing rooms. As soon as Mizuno knew of her office location, she knew her privacy would be very limited!

From behind them Ueda smirked. 'Doesn't make any difference to me.'

Ryo's head snapped back to Ueda. 'Who cares about you anyway?!' The relationship between Ryo and Ueda was simply bordering zero percent. Mizuno groaned inwardly - her position didn't look too good now!

The meeting ran longer than she had expected. Mizuno legs just dragged alongside Ryo's and Uchi's automatically and she did her best to ignore the continuous bickering between Ryo and Kattun. In her head, she was all ready trying to see how the organisation of the Mega Bash would turn out. Around 4 hours for each show... V6, Arashi, NEWS, Kanjani 8 and Kattun would do most of the singing bit... Yuki and Toma would be acting as the hosts and might do a bit of performance as well... Then the girls... Her head throbbed from the thought of the immense project. From the looks of it, she would be required to work together with the other choreographers as well. Some routines would require girls which means more couple dance! She didn't know whether to laugh or cry when that matter was announced. She almost looked away when the chairperson looked meaningfully at her direction when saying that, but doing so would mean she would have to face Sho, which she simply couldn't do at all!

'We're here Mizuno-chan~~~' Uchi's face suddenly appeared before her jolting Mizuno away from her thoughts. 'Welcome to your office!'

'Ahh... Arigato.' Mizuno said as she walked and pushed the door open, but only to bang her head on the door. 'Itai!'

Ryo and Uchi laughed loudly. The door was locked. 'Baka Mizuno-chan! You need the key!'

Mizuno glared at them as she rubbed her forehead. 'You could have told me first!' With her other hand, she hit their heads before taking her office key out from her trousers' pocket. Their laughters were still ringing in her ears as she opened the door and walked in. 'Oh... This is much better than the one I had last time I was here.'

'Sugoi!!' Jin somehow managed to slip past Ryo and Uchi to join Mizuno in the room first. 'Look at your sofa!' He said before throwing himself on the burgundy micro suede two seater sofa, hugging one of the matching cushions as well. 'Why can't we have one as well?!' Of course, such a display irritated Ryo and Uchi who felt that they should be the one who made the comment in the first place. A heated argument thus ensued between the two Kanjanis and six Kattun.

Ignoring all the fuss in her office, Mizuno took off her slingbag and placed it on the chair which made up the set of furniture in her now named 'lounge area' along with the elegant moon rectangular table. Then she walked to her working table. A glass and steel creation complete with the usual computing stuff and a black and red Corvette office chair. At that moment, she vehemently buried the fact that the office was only for working guests and not exclusively her own. The room was designed to impress the invited composers, choreographers and other foreign guests who came to work with the company. She sat on the office chair and heaved a sigh of appreciation. 'This is very nice...'

'I agree, this is a nice room you got here.' The bickering stopped as Sho walked in casually. The juniors quickly bowed and greeted him and the rest of Arashi who followed behind him. Sho nodded and left the niceties to Ohno and Aiba as he continued to walk towards Mizuno. 'Tired?'

'Not... Not really...' Mizuno had to clear her throat before managing a smile. She would've thought Sho would greet her in an accidental scenario fashion, not as blatantly as this!

'Hmm...?' Sho raised an eyebrow. 'Your cheeks are a bit flushed.' He said as he placed a cool can on her cheek as if it was the most normal thing to do.

Mizuno gasped at the contact, looking at him suspiciously as she took the can away from him. 'What are you doing?' She hissed in a low voice as her chair backed away.

Sho's expression was innocent as he replied, 'Let me just turn down the heater behind you.' He leaned over her to reach the heater switch on the wall above the top of her chair. 'You're hot.' He said in a low tone meant only for her and smirked. His evil grin widened further as he saw Mizuno squirming in her chair, probably thinking of throwing the can at him!

Mizuno took a deep breath before giving him an insincere smile and opened the can, pretending he didn't bother her at all. 'Thank you. By the way, while you're at it, can you open the window a bit.' She pointed to the window to her right. 'It's a bit stuffy here.'

Sho grinned and backed away. He went to the window and opened it a little bit. 'Enough?'

Mizuno just nodded as she pulled her chair closer to her work table so if Sho wanted to stand in front of her, he had to stand with the whole width of the table in between them. She turned her attention to the other people in her room. 'Are you guys going for lunch?'

'Yes, we're just waiting for you so we could eat together.' Kame replied with a slightly confused look on his face after seeing Sho and Mizuno together just then. Is there something between them?

Both Mizuno and Sho recognised that look. Sho thought maybe he had gone too far. 'What's with the look Kame? If you don't want us to come, just say it.'

'Ah... Gomen Sho-senpai!' Kame shook his head vigourously. 'That's not what I meant at all!'
Aiba slapped Kame's head. 'Hai hai... That's what we want to hear.' He smiled as he turned the boy around and pushed him to the door. 'Don't mind Sho, he was just kidding!'

Nino nodded as he patted the backs of two other Kattun members, Junno and Koki, who looked slightly alarmed at their respected Sho-senpai's challenging tone. 'You guys will get used to his humour eventually.' He chuckled. 'Now let's go get some food.'

Jin breathed out his relief loudly. 'Yokatta! So Sho-senpai is always this forward with women as a joke eh?' He laughed. 'Kakkoii yo!'

Matsujun smirked. 'Next time just ignore him!' He walked towards the door. 'Are you guys coming or what?' He asked the other guys in the lounge area, Ohno, Ryo, Uchi, Ueda and Jin.

'Coming! Coming!' Uchi said excitedly pulling Ryo and Jin off the couch. 'I'm so hungry!!!'

Ueda looked at Ohno. 'Aren't those two coming as well?' He asked referring to Sho who was standing in front of the table at Mizuno who was sitting sipping her mango juice. 'Are they not in good terms?' Mizuno was evidently glaring at Sho.

Ohno chuckled. 'Hai. They used to work together for his solo performance last time and they fought a lot.' He went out of the room with Ueda by his side and closed the door behind him. 'They are like cats and dogs!'

'Ohh... So desu ne.' Ueda nodded. 'The solo was really great though.'

Ohno continued to chatter with Ueda and the rest of the group, distracting the Kattun members from noticing anything weird with leaving Sho and Mizuno alone. So far, the only other people on Johnny's Entertainment who knew that Sho and Mizuno are a couple were Arashi and their managers as well as Yuki and the rest of Kanjani 8. With Sayaka and Kira, they too made a pact with Sho to keep the relationship a secret.

Meanwhile, back in Mizuno's office, Sho's head turned around at the sound of the door clicking shut. 'Hmmph... Finally! Took them long enough!' Then he gave Mizuno a sexy smile. 'You miss me.'

'No, I don't!' Mizuno was still glaring at him. 'What were you thinking just now, you idiot?'

Sho shrugged. 'Don't worry about it. It was part of my long term plan, so they don't suspect anything when we get together next time.' He grinned. 'Looks like it's working.'

'Oh...' Understanding dawned on Mizuno. She smiled. 'You're really smart, Sho.' She offered the mango juice to him. 'Why don't you have a taste as well? It's sweet.'

Sho's eyes twinkled at her show of apology. He leaned down and took the offered can. 'Itadakimasu.' Then his head swooped down and his lips caught hers in a long gentle embrace. 'Hmm...' He looked into her half opened eyes when he broke their kiss. 'Sweet...'

Mizuno's face flushed as Sho stood up again. She wasn't expecting that at all! In front of her Sho ran his tongue on his lips which made her face reddened even more. Oh God, how am I supposed to deal with him?! Then she suddenly stood up. 'Umm... I guess we should get going now. We don't want them to get suspicious do we?'

'True, we don't want that.' Sho agreed as he followed closely behind Mizuno towards the door. He would love to tease Mizuno more, or maybe steal a kiss or two, but she was right if his plans were to succeed, they can't delay for too long. 'Oozora, welcome back.'

Mizuno stopped short from pulling the door open at Sho's words. She turned around to meet his eyes and smiled. 'I miss you, Sho.' Sho smiled back and their heads leaned towards each other.

'Mizuno!' A cheery voice made Sho pulled back quickly as the door was opened to reveal a smiling petite girl with long light brown hair. 'Let's have lunch together!'

'Ah... Aiko.' Mizuno quickly put on an act. She knew how close they were to being caught! 'Oh, we were just about to join the rest for lunch.' She pointed to Sho. 'Why don't you come with us as well?'

Aiko's eyes widened when she saw Sho standing behind Mizuno with a can of mango juice in his hand. 'Sakurai-senpai!' She blushed.

Alarm bells rang in Sho's and Mizuno's heads. 'I thought they said we're meeting in your office, Mizuno.' Sho said sounding annoyed. 'Those baka! I bet they were scarfing my lunch which I asked them to order all ready!'

Mizuno chuckled. 'I bet they did!' She put a hand on Aiko's right shoulder. 'Let's go before they finish everything ne.'

Aiko nodded and then seemed to be awakened from her star-struck moment and became hyper again. Mizuno indulged in her conversations whilst Sho remained silent as he followed behind them.

That was a really close call. Sho thought to himself and frowned. Kuso! This is definitely not going to be easy...

Chapter 3

2005-05-26T15:57:00.000+01:00

Chapter 3

'571, 571, 571...' Mizuno muttered as her eyes searched for the said door number, pulling her huge suitcase behind her. 'Ahh... Here it is!' Her eyes lit up as she let the suitcase to stand and fished for her shared apartment's key from her jeans' pocket. She had arrived to the apartment complex alone, in a taxi. Yuki and Kanjani 8 had come to Tokyo two days earlier. The key barely reached the lock before the door swung opened, startling Mizuno.

'Welcome to Tokyo, Mizuno!' A heart-shaped faced girl with a sweet smile came bursting out and hugged Mizuno. 'I hope your journey was okay.' She gave air kisses on Mizuno's cheeks. Three times.

'It... it was fine. Thank you.' Mizuno replied hesitantly. 'You must be...'

'Irie Aiko.' The girl gave a peace sign as she reached for Mizuno's suitcase. 'Just call me Aiko or Ai-chan.' She pushed opened the door wide with her leg and motioned for Mizuno to go in first. 'Go in! Go in!'

Mizuno went in and took off her shoes. She was still wary of her new flatmate who just went past her all ready pulling her suitcase to, presumably, her bedroom. Her assumption was correct when Aiko excitedly told her to hurry and see the room for herself.

'So how do you like you room, Mizuno?' Aiko twirled around the wood-panelled floor of Mizuno's bedroom in front of Mizuno's large single bed. 'Although this room isn't as big as mine, but since you're only here for half of the week, I don't think you'd be needing much dressing space would you now?' She laughed cheerily as she jumped to stand behind Mizuno so Mizuno could survey the room.

Mizuno looked around. The room was smaller than what she was used to and from what she was expecting. 'It's nice.' That was the only comment she could say.

'Do you want me to help you unpack?'

'No, no. I'll be fine on my own.' Mizuno hurriedly declined the offer and turned around to the younger girl. From her internet search, she found out that the girl was three years younger than her. 'I guess, I'll see you later then.' She hinted when Aiko didn't seem to start making a move out of her room.

'Oh yes, yes. Later then.' Aiko backed out, pulling the door close with her. 'Dinner would be ready at 7, okay.'

Mizuno was about to say that Aiko needn't cook for her, but she was too late. The door was closed and she was left standing in her new room. Mizuno sat down on her bed and took off her socks. She laid back on her bed and wiggled her toes in the air. 'I am really in Tokyo again...' She put her legs down and closed her eyes. The total journey had left her exhausted. It took about three hours by the shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo. She had taken the late morning train, but the traffic in Tokyo added more travel time to her schedule. Lugging her suitcase with a month's worth of clothes and other essentials at the train stations and up and down the train were the worst part of her journey. 'Just fifteen minutes...' She promised a short catnap to herself before she started unpacking. 'Just fifteen minutes...'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

--Good morning Tokyo!!!--

Mizuno opened her eyes slowly when she heard the greeting coming from outside her room.

--Another beautiful day this Tuesday with the sun shining...--

'Tuesday?' Mizuno sat up and rubbed her eyes. 'Isn't it still Monday night?' Confused she walked to the source of the sound and almost got a heart attack when Aiko came out of no where greeting her good morning.

'Ne Mizuno, you must be really tired yesterday. You didn't even wake up when I called you for dinner.'

Mizuno just nodded. 'Aiko, what time is it now?' She yawned. She wasn't the best of company when she first woke up.

'It's 7:45.' Aiko answered cheerily. 'I made some pancakes for you.'

'7:45...?' Mizuno suddenly became alert. 'Kuso! I need to be at the headquarters by 9!' She rushed back into her room to open her suitcase. 'Aiko, where's the bathroom?!' She asked in between throwing her stuff out in search of her towel and her shower bag. Argh!!! Should have unpacked last night!

Aiko stood away from Mizuno's door as she pointed to a lilac door just opposite to the living room where the tv was showing an NHK morning show. 'It's over there. That purple door...'
'Arigato!' Mizuno breezed past her clutching her towel and bag towards the bathroom. I mustn't be late today!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Hmm... How come Mizuno isn't here yet?' Ryo's question to Uchi was loud enough to be heard by everyone in the meeting room. He wasn't one to tolerate tardiness from anyone.
Hina hit him on the head. 'It isn't even 9 yet, baka!'

Uchi pouted. 'But we miss her!' Mizuno hadn't been working with them for over two months after she was asked to concentrate mainly on the Kansai Jrs.

Hina slapped Uchi's head as well. 'Baka! It's not like she'll be working with us this time around, you know. She'll be working with Kat-tun yo!'

Ryo and Uchi glared at the said boyband sitting next to them. 'Lucky!' Both said in unison.

Upon hearing their comment, Jin laughed loudly. 'Hai hai! We are so lucky! Lucky lucky lucky!' He smirked at the Kansai duo who narrowed their eyes at him and the rest of his Kattun bandmates who were looking smug of that fact. 'We want her magic touch too yo!' Everyone in the room laughed along at his comment.

After the last episode of Yuki's drama was aired, there were reported increased in people signing up for Latin dance classes across the country. The dance Mizuno had choreographed was deemed responsible for the sudden phenomenon. It became a trend in the country for a while before another one took over. In the meantime, it had worked a great deal in rising Yuki's profile and commercial worth. Rumours in the headquarters had it that Mizuno wasn't part of the plan for the Summer Mega Bash, but Kitagawa-san made the addition just before the final minute was sent out to the cast and crew. He was rumoured to have said that the show needed a splash of magic.

Sho just grinned as he kept looking at the door for Mizuno's arrival. Much as he wanted to see her yesterday, it was impossible with his busy schedule. Moreover, both Mizuno and him knew they were certain rules that they have to abide to, which made it hard for them to meet up. They were told to keep their relationship under wraps which meant not everyone in the company knew that they were a couple. Kitagawa-san was really adamant that they must remain strictly on professional terms when working. Not a hint of them having a more personal relationship should leak out to anyone else. Suddenly the door burst opened.

'Sumimasen! Sorry we're late!' Two girls bowed at the entrance. The door slowly closing behind them.

Some people chuckled as the meeting's chairman just told them that they weren't late at all and asked them to go to their seats. 'Mizuno, take your seat with Kattun and Aiko, you can sit with the other girls.'

Both Mizuno and Aiko made their way to their seats. Aiko waving excitedly at the other girls from Johnny's sister branch and Mizuno sitting warily next to Jin who was grinning widely at her. She smiled back and focussed her attention to the head of the table. She just gave a brief nod to Arashi who was sitting on the opposite side of the room. She, like Sho, remembered Kitagawa-san's words when they told him they were in a relationship.

~At any cost, your relationship must be kept a secret!~

--->
Kuso - Damn
Arigato - Thank you
Baka - Idiot
Sumimasen - Excuse me.

KAT-TUN

Click to enlarge aye. Oh, Jin is the one holding the letter A which stands for his surname Akanishi. His full name is Akanishi Jin (Surname Name).

Chapter 2

2005-05-26T15:55:00.000+01:00

Chapter 2

Mizuno looked questioningly at the assistant director of the Johnny's Entertainment Kansai branch. 'What do you mean I have to share a flat with what's her name again?' She was sitting uncomfortably across the table from the calm faced man in his forties who just smiled as he took out a photo from a brown folder.

'Irie Aiko.' He replied as he handed the girl's studio photo to Mizuno. 'She's a talent with Johnny's sister branch in Tokyo. Recently her popularity is on the rise after her acting in a drama.' He chuckled slightly when he saw Mizuno frowning, unable to recognise the face. 'You don't watch much tv do you? Anyway, you'll be living with her during your stay in Tokyo.'

'I don't understand Takahara-san. Yuki and Kanjani 8 are given their own place.' They too are involved in the concert, of course. She put the girl's photo down on the table. 'It isn't really necessary that I share a flat with anyone is it?'

'Ahh... That's why I called you in today.' Takahara-san relaxed in his plushy chair. 'We still need you here in Osaka to take care of the Kansai Jrs.'

'What do you mean?'

'Well, you'd only be in Tokyo on Mondays to Wednesdays. You are expected to be in Osaka on Thursdays to Saturdays to prepare the juniors for their weekly Saturday show. Sundays are your days off.'

'So I'm spending the first half of the week in Tokyo and the next in Osaka? Isn't there anyone to cover for me?' Mizuno asked confused. 'There are other choreographers not listed to work with the summer concert left here.'

Takahara-san shrugged. 'That's how Kitagawa-san wants it. He said he didn't want to disrupt the rhythm of the show you have carefully created. All the atmosphere, he said.'

'But surely...' Mizuno didn't managed to finish her sentence when Takahara-san continued talking.

'Moreover, you'll only be working with the newly debuted group, Kat-tun. He said they would be a piece of cake to work with and didn't want you to get bored when you have nothing else to do.' Takahara-san chuckled. 'That's why it's much more economical to have you live with Aiko than renting your own place.'

Mizuno rolled her eyes. Logical solution, but what a cheapskate! She definitely wasn't looking forward to having a housemate. 'Fine fine. Anything else, Takahara-san?'

The man picked up a big yellow envelope he uncovered from underneath a pile of folders on his table and handed it to her. 'You can find more preliminary information about the concert, your accomodation details and the keys to your new office and your flat. Aiko's expecting you on Sunday.' He stood up prompting Mizuno to do likewise. 'Congratulations on your new post and do your best!'

Mizuno clutched the envelope in her hands placed firmly in front of her and bowed to the assistant director. 'Thank you very much. Gambarimasu.' She gave a quick smile before leaving his office. She walked straight to the elevator, pushed the down button and waited for the doors to open. She sighed. Her earlier enthusiasm was slightly marred by the information she was given. She stepped into the elevator when the doors opened and pressed her intended floor level. She sighed again as the doors closed. 'Tokyo, here I come...'

Chapter 1

2005-05-26T15:46:00.000+01:00

Chapter 1

‘You’re coming back to Tokyo? When?’ Sho’s surprised voice made Mizuno grinned even bigger. She spun on her office chair as she replied excitedly.

‘On the Monday nine days from now.’ Mizuno chuckled. ‘I can’t believe it when I got the e-mail. Kitagawa-san is indeed a really interesting person.’ She referred to the founder of Johnny’s Production who was said to have a rather unconventional way of choosing his artists and staff.

Sho too chuckled as he mentally checked his schedule. They were finishing their album with only two songs to record. After that they would have to go for a makeover and a photo shoot as well as learn the dance steps to the single from the album. ‘Ahh damn! We have a photo shoot on that day.’

Mizuno shushed him endearingly when she heard his disappointed tone. ‘Daijoubu dayo Sho! Says in this e-mail I’d be with you guys until the last day of the performance, so we’ll have plenty of time.’ Her eyes skimmed through the e-mail again. In her excitement she couldn’t wait for the weekend to share her good news with Sho.

‘We better! I’m just worried that we won’t get to meet much since you’re assigned to my juniors and not us.’ Sho’s frustrated breath could be heard. ‘Plus we’ll be busy doing our album promotions and stuff. Damn it! What was the old man thinking?!’

Mizuno’s laughters rang through the line. ‘Now now Sho. At least Kitagawa-san chose me as one of the choreographers for the Johnny’s Summer Mega Bash.’ She exhaled her contentment. ‘Which means I get to see you in the flesh!’

‘Oh?’ Came Sho’s teasing voice. ‘I’ll bare anything for you if you just ask…’ He laughed merrily when he heard her gasped.

‘HENTAI!’ Mizuno screamed at Sho. Her face flamed at the image his words conjured. ‘Baka Sho! That’s not what I meant!’

Sho hmmphed conceitedly. ‘I can promise you I won’t disappoint…’

Mizuno was rendered speechless when he said that in a sultry note. Her face burned even hotter. She swore under her breath. Meeting him again with what he planted in her head just now won’t be easy.

‘What did you say, Oozora?’

Mizuno calmed herself enough not to take Sho’s bait. She won’t corrupt her thoughts with his wicked insinuations. It was time to get back on the subject. She cleared her throat. ‘As I was saying, I’d soon be in Tokyo and I thought it’d be nice to tell you first.’

‘Ahh…’ Sho’s voice lost none of its velvet caress. ‘Mizuno Oozora, I miss you.’

Mizuno’s heart thumped hard at Sho’s admission. She smiled shyly; she was still unaccustomed to hearing words of endearment from him. ‘I miss you too, Sakurai Sho.’

In the background, Mizuno could hear Ohno’s voice calling out for Sho to go back to the studio. Sho sighed. ‘I’m sorry love, but I have to go now. Leader just called me. I’ll see you online tomorrow ne!’

Though slightly disappointed that their call was short, Mizuno said her goodbye and cheered him to do his best with the recordings. She flipped her mobile shut and looked at her office’s ceiling. ‘Only nine days to go. Nine days…’ She stretched her arms up in the air and spun her chair slowly so that she could look out the window to the dark sky. ‘Soon, Sho, soon…’ Outside, the North Star seemed to be winking its consent.

-->
Daijoubu dayo – No problem!
Hentai - Pervert
Baka - Idiot.

Prologue

2005-05-26T15:38:00.000+01:00

This is a sequel to my first long fiction: 'Of Water and Storm' which you can download from here: http://filepost.us/userfiles/jihunny79/Of%20water%20and%20storm.doc

http://www.sendspace.com/file/fzy9ou

Disclaimer: Arashi is a Japanese boyband under Johnny's Entertainment. This work is merely fictional, although some parts referred to actual events which had happened to the band. By the way, Johnny's Entertainment Kansai and its Tokyo sister branch don't exist. I made them up. Rated G/PG. Hope you enjoy reading the story. Thank you. ~Jahrani.

Of heavens and storm

Prologue

Mizuno leisurely walked back to her office after another rehearsal for the Kansai Jr.’s weekly variety show. As far as she was concerned, everything went smoothly, so she had nothing to be worried about. Moreover, she was really looking forward to video chat with Sho over the weekend. She chuckled as she opened her office door, sometimes she pinched herself to make sure that everything was real. ‘Ahh… Can’t wait for the weekend.’ She grinned stupidly. ‘Sakurai Sho, I miss you.’ Her cheeks warmed up. She was still not used to be open with her feelings yet.

It had been about four months since they last saw each other. That was the day in October when they officially became a couple. After that, they didn’t have any opportunity to meet face to face which was frustrating at times especially during Sho’s birthday and the last Valentine’s Day, but they just conceded that being in a long distance relationship, there have to be some sacrifices. Now, March is approaching.

Mizuno sat down on her chair, faced the desktop and keyed in her password to deactivate the screensaver. She always checks her company’s e-mail before going home. She logged on her username and password and waited while the page loaded.

-You have 1 new message-

Her eyes widened when she saw the message title: URGENT ANNOUNCEMENT! She clicked the message and her eyes widened. ‘Oh my…’ Mizuno whispered softly as she read her e-mail. ‘I can’t believe this.’ She reread the message three times to make sure she didn’t misunderstand the content. She took a couple of deep breaths to let the fact sink in. Then the corners of her lips lifted. ‘I’m going back to Tokyo!’