~No More Hiding~
Akaya Kirihara X Aya Soran
The room is dark. Two figures huddled together on a bed.
Suddenly a figure sits up and looks around. Eyes adjusting to the dark, shadows become objects. Standing up from the bed the figure distinctly a girl finds her clothes and gets ready to leave. With a hand on the door handle, she gives a final look at the figure still on the bed. The figure, noticeably male, yawns and lays a hand where the girl's body used to be. With that last look, the girl quietly opens the door and leaves. Not knowing if she will ever see the young man again.
That was 4 years ago.
Now that same girl is sitting in an office. Her desk littered with pictures, papers, and candy wrappers.
"Hey Soran! You done with your projects yet?" An older man asks teasingly as he walks up to her desk.
She blinks while moving her medium length brown hair out of her eyes and says "Huh?"
The older man chuckles at his much younger co-worker. She smiles and points to a desk next to hers. It was neat and orderly with a papers piled high.
He raises and eyebrow and says "How long have these been done?"
"These are 3 days to today." She replies absently.
"Do you have a life?" He asks.
"I'm here aren't I?" She replies with a smirk.
"I mean a social life..." He replies to her dryly.
"Nope." She mutters, tiring of the conversation.
"You need one." He starts on reasons for her to become a socialite.
This is how Soran Aya spent her workdays. Overworking to pass the time, and save money so that she could leave. Her plan to leave town 4 years ago failed. She did not want to see anyone she knew, much less anyone she grew up around.
With a sigh of annoyance and an exasperated look signaled the older male to let her continue her work in peace. This did not last long.
A slam of doors signaled the oncoming tirade form the boss. Co-workers scurrying to their desk was Aya's measurement of the size of his temper. In her mind, she calculated it all up and came up with a level four of 10 temper. Judging from the direction people were scurrying she figured out whom her boss was headed for. Sakuno Ryuzaki. The braided brunette was silently shaking in her seat knowing the man was headed to her desk.
Aya allows herself a moment of composure and grabs the last file on her desk. Skimming the pg as she navigated the desks, she found what she needed and stopped at Ryuzaki's desk just as the boss got there.
"Ryuzaki-san I want you to help me with this project. "Soran Aya announces as she drops the folder onto Sakuno's desk.
"Huh?" Sakuno squeaks out. Looking at the woman with confusion. Not but 30 seconds ago she thought she was going to get fired. Actually, by the looks of her boss she was still going to be fired.
Aya looks at the small quiet brunette and then their boss. The short, balding man was red in the face. His ears the color of his ruby red tie. With an internal sigh, and an outside smile Aya comments to her boss.
"Good morning Mr. Kishiyama."
The man looks at her with a questioning expression. "Soran-san do you know what she has done to your last 3 projects!?!" He cries out to his best employee.
"Yes sir, I am well aware of Ryuzaki-sans previous shortcomings. But practice makes perfect." Aya replies with assurance, knowing her boss would give in to anything she wanted. The man deflates and gives in to Aya. With a warning to Sakuno to practice her work more often he leaves.
Aya sighs and looks at the brunette one year her junior, who was still shaking in her seat. Aya grabs a empty nearby chair and pulls it up to show Sakuno what needed to be done.
"9:30! Soran-san let's go!" Several of Aya's co-workers call out to her.
"Okay." She replies never looking up from her work.
Some of the guys her age stopped at her desk and one asks.
"Soran-san would you like to catch dinner with me sometime?"
Aya thinks for a moment and then looks at him with a wry smile.
"Sorry, I'm booked up for the next few weeks." Which was a bold faced lie. She watches as the group of young men leave commenting on how Aya was no fun and wondering if she already had a boyfriend.
At 10 pm Aya finally shuts down her work-station. She lived in some apartments two blocks away so travel was easy. Small restaurants in between made meals quick and easy. On the way to her apartment she ducks into a small quaint restaurant and heads straight for the back booth. A few moments later a waitress brings her, her usual plate without needing to be asked and Aya eats her meal quietly. Silently watching as young couples come in and order their meals and have fun together. She then turned her attention to the window and watched people walking by the window. She froze, fork midway to her mouth. Walking past the window was a young man. His hair was short, black with very messy curls. His eyes an emerald green were furled together. He was looking at the outside menu wondering if the food was any good. Aya watched him...fixated on his every move. She said a silent prayer that he couldn't see her from where he was standing but she was afraid he would come inside. She watched as two other men walked up to him and started talking. One had medium length blue hair. He was a beautiful man almost girlish....but definitely male. The other was wearing a hat with his black bangs hanging down. She fondly remembered all three of them. Kirihara Akaya, Yukimura Seiichi and Sanada Genichirou. Aya watched as Kirihara tried to convince the other two that they should eat here. A chuckle escapes her lips as she watches as Kirihara starts pointing at all the dishes that looked good to him. But she knew that Sanada and Yukimura knew that everything on the menu wasn't very healthy. Therefore they would never agree to eat in such an establishment. Aya laughs quietly as her former senpai's shook their heads and pointed out another more healthy choice, and as Kirihara sighs in defeat. Thanking Kami-sama she quickly pays for her meal and leaves. Rushing through the crowds she decides that she should take a week off from work and mentally reminding herself which restaurants delivered to her apartments.
Running the last few blocks to her apartment she throws open the door then slammed it shut and locking it. Breathing hard she surveys her apartment. It was dark and for the most part empty. Aya jumps a little when her cell phone rings. Looking at the front screen it shows a picture of sakuno and her name at the bottom of the screen. Aya answers it hesitantly.
"Hi Sakuno-chan.....of course I'm not busy.....you know I don't want to see Niou....I figured that he knew that I'm still here and I'm thankful he hasn't told anyone...promise nobody else will show up?.....Because I saw Kirihara, Sanada and Yukimura in the plaza today.....okay....I'll be there. Bye."
Aya sighs to herself knowing that she should learn to say no to her friend. She also knew that she was probably going to regret seeing Masaharu Niou. Sakuno's boyfriend and probably soon to be fiancé. Thinking of the unlikely pair made Aya think of past school days. Days she didn't want to think about. She sighs and gets ready to go to bed.
Aya is standing at Sakuno's house door ringing the door bell. Praying that Sakuno answers the door. The door opens and in Aya's mind she curses. Standing in front of her is not the sweet and quiet Sakuno but instead it is Masaharu Niou.....or to Aya the trickster.
Niou looks Aya over. Noticing that she's grown since he last saw her. He opens his mouth to start a conversation but Sakuno comes to the door and promptly pulls Aya into the living room, closes the drapes over the windows and turns on some lamps. Raising an eyebrow at his girlfriends antics he shuts the door and locks it.
"Dinner will be ready in just a few minutes!" Sakuno calls out to the other two.
Aya takes this time to sit on the couch and stare at the pictures on the mantle. Noting that they weren't of just the two of them but of many of her old friends...one stood out particularly to Aya. It was of Akaya Kirihara and her at the beach. They were sitting on a towel together with Akaya's hands around her waist and hers were resting on his. Aya stared at that picture until her eyes started to water. She quickly averts her eyes to other pictures.
"You know....He's never gone out with another girl." Niou tells her.
"He should just forget about me." She mumbles
"He doesn't seem to think that is possible." - Niou
"Then can't you convince him?" Aya asks exasperated.
"Nope. I think you two should've had 2.5 kids by now." He replies
"Not going to happen. We're never going to see each other again." - Aya
"He appears to think otherwise. He's hired a detective to find you." - Niou
"What!" Aya calls out in surprise. She looks at Niou with a frightened look. "Why!?"
"Why else! He wants to see you again. Hell we ALL want to see you again!" Niou replies his teeth clenching and fists balling up.
Aya looks at Niou. She sees the frustration in his eyes. They stare each other down.
"Dinners ready!" Sakuno calls out while walking into the room. She sees her boyfriend and friend staring each other down. Frustration clear on their faces. Suddenly the door bell rings. Aya freezes.
"Sakuno-chan. You said nobody else was going to be here." Aya looks at her friend questioningly.
"I haven't invited anybody over." Sakuno replies, confusion clear on her face.
"I did. I invited Yanagi and Yagyuu. I didn't know you were coming. Not like it matters to much." Niou admits walking to the door to admit his old school friends.
Aya mentally bashes him over the head with a lamp, while secretly thanking him for not inviting Marui or Kirihara. She sighs and sits back down on the couch wondering if she should just run out the back door. Her escape plan almost done she looks toward the door way to see Yanagi and Yagyuu walk into the room. Both young men stop and stare at Aya. She mentally kicks herself for not running sooner and smiles at them.
"Hi guys." She mumbles to them.
Both boys just stare at her, so she decides to stand up. She surveys them as they her. Yanagi is the first to recover from the shock.
"Soran Aya....Nobody has seen you in 4 years....Where have you been" He softly asks to her.
"Yeah, it has been a while." She replies not volunteering any information.
"Soran....Where have you been?" Yanagi asks again with frustration in his voice.
"Around." Is Aya's reply.
"Dinner is ready so if you all will please come to the dining room we can all eat." Sakuno calls out trying to ease some of the tension.
As dinner proceeds Niou, Yagyuu, and Yanagi catch up with each other. Occasionally the boys would ask Aya a question in which she would reply with short answers. When dinner is over Aya helps Sakuno clear the table and wash the dishes, whilst the boys go into the living room. As they finish with the dishes the boys walk back into the kitchen. Aya looks at them apprehensively.
"We've decided we won't tell Akaya about you still being in town. As long as you promise to keep in touch with us." Yagyuu states to her.
Aya sighs but then remembers about the detective.
"What about the detective Akaya hired?" Aya asks them. She pauses realizing her use of his first name.
"We won't do anything about him." Yanagi states.
"You also have to agree to meet with Yukimura and Sanada." Yagyuu adds in.
Aya glares at the two men then at Niou when he walks in. Making a mental note to never eat at Sakuno's again Aya agrees to their conditions and they give out cell phone numbers.
Aya is laying in bed looking up at her ceiling. Her body still tingling from the hugs Yanagi, Yagyuu, Niou, and Sakuno gave her before she left. Remembering Yanagi calling Jackal, Sanada and then Yukimura. Then agreeing to have dinner with them the next night. She then closes her eyes and goes to sleep thinking about the picture of Akaya and her on the beach.
Over the next few weeks she got to catch up with old friends and keep tabs on Akaya. She became much more sociable at work, though she still declined dates from her co-workers. It came to the point of her thinking about Akaya more and more. She blamed the boys for this and knew they were doing it to make her want to see him. Then one day she is invited to go to a social with Yukimura as her escort. Ignoring the feeling that something was going to go wrong she agreed because he promised that Akaya would be in America for the whole week. Yukimura wasn't the type to lie.
The night of the social has come. They walk into the room full of people who start to stare at Aya and Yukimura. Yukimura handsome as always wore a simple tux, while Aya, who had Sakuno, Niou, and Yanagi shopping with her for the dress, wore a black and green halter dress with shining silver lines wrapping around it.