So..uh..as you can see guys, this is my very first story. Kinda like a trial test. he he.
Anywho, I hope you guys can spare some few seconds of your precious time to read and hopefully review this story.
I will be using lots of OC's for this multi-chapter story, and some of them were introduced in this first chapter.
So, tell me what you think of this guys. Thanks in advance!
Chapter 1: When Bells Ring…Or Not
Hi! My name is Akiko Moriyama or Aki-chan for short! I am 26 years old, and I am working as the head of the Creative Department of a company that some of my friends own. I have light gray hair and blue-green eyes. I have a very bubbly personality, a little loud every now and then, but very, very nice. So yeah, my life was actually quite simple. I work five days a week, from 8 to 6, after that, I go home to a fairly large house with some of my friends in downtown Tokyo. I eat dinner, watch TV and sleep. On weekends, I play tennis with my friends and eat lunch with the rest of the girls. Sometimes I go shopping, or to the salon or to a pet shop. I can say that I am fairly contented with my life. Until this morning, that is.
Right now, I am 100% sure that a man named Sanada Genichiro is about to kill me.
You might ask why, right? So let me tell you the whole story, okay?!
-August 18, present year- Friday, 6:45 p.m. -
Akiko Moriyama stared pitifully at her crying cousin. Her strong, independent cousin, Saki Moriyama, who never, ever cried—not even when her parents died when she was 13 years old, or when she lost a tennis match during their junior high and high school days, or when she broke her nose because of a stupid driver who was texting and driving at the same time (though the guy was really, really cute, Akiko amended). She instantly kicked herself mentally. Her cousin is crying, and all she's thinking is some hot guy who has phenomenal abs—not that she looked intentionally, gorgeous green eyes, pink, kissable lips…
Okay. Yeah. So her dear cousin is crying: big, fat, angry tears rolling down her pale cheeks. Her gorgeous dark-gray hair, which was usually swept up in an elegant but tight bun, is now messy, as if she hadn't brushed it for the last few days-or, as Akiko untangled a lock, weeks. Her skin is blotchy and pale, her eyes puffy and red, without any trace of make-up. Just shows how miserable her cousin is feeling.
"Saki-chan, tell me what happened." She coaxed gently, her fingers rubbing her cousin's back gently. "I can't help you if you didn't tell me what's wrong!"
Saki just shook her head, her sniffles getting louder. "Hrochi ish gettching mmaeerrriiead!" her cousin wailed.
Akiko sighed, long and suffering. "Can you repeat that? This time in English?"
"Hrochi ish gettching mmaeerrriiead!" Saki repeated.
Akiko closed her eyes. "Saki-chan, you know I failed German right? Or was that French? So please, try speaking in English? Or I can call Kisana-chan."
Saki punched her arm. "Ouch!"
She rubbed her arm, feeling the stinging sensation the punch has given her. "Sheesh! Your punches still hurt!"
Her cousin just glared at her. Sighing, she dropped down in her knees in front of the crying girl. "Okay, fine. Just cry it out. I'll wait until you're ready to tell me what's wrong. Okay?"
Akiko run her fingers down her hair, all along looking worriedly at her cousin. It hurts her to see Saki like this. Saki has always been the stronger girl between the two of them. The Fighter. So to see her like this…
Saki's loud sobbing finally died down; she was still sniffling, but not as hard as earlier. Akiko sat down beside her.
"Ready to tell me the story?" she asked her cousin gently. Saki nodded.
"Hiro…shi…is…he…is…" Saki sniffed, Akiko nodded her head, encouraging her to continue. "He's….get…get…ting…mar…married!" Saki wailed as she buried her face in her hands, her sobs came back full force.
Akiko's jaw dropped. "WHAT?!" she exclaimed, blue-green eyes widening. "Hiroshi is getting married?! How the hell did that happen?! You didn't tell he proposed to you!"
Saki glared at her through tear-stained dark-violet eyes. "He isn't marrying me baka!"
Akiko blinked. "Oh." She nodded. "Okay. I thought you only forgot to tell me he proposed to you…wait! WHAT?!" her eyes widened. "He's getting married?! And you're not the bride?! How the hell did that happened?!"
Saki cried harder. "That stupid idiot…has been…very secretive…He wouldn't answer any of my calls…so I visited his office today. I heard him talking on the phone about…flowers and gowns…and bridesmaids and best man…and the rings…he said it should be a secret!" she tried to explain through her sobs. "I heard…it's…a western wedding…"
Akiko stared at her sobbing cousin with a dumbfounded expression in her face. She couldn't believe it! Yagyuu Hiroshi, Saki's boyfriend of 5 years, the perfect boyfriend, the gentleman. Has. Cheated. On. Saki. Ohhh…that little shit head!
Who would have thought? Yagyuu Hiroshi is the definition of perfect. Handsome, smart (he's a freaking lawyer), incredibly rich (he's driving a Porsche convertible, need I say more?), gentleman (he opens doors and carries Saki's bags whenever they go out), and extremely generous (Saki's birthday gift was a 64 karat gold necklace with a peridot as a pendant). She was so envious of her cousin when the handsome young man dated Saki, and even after years of dating, Hiroshi never showed a hint that he was actually cheating. Damn lawyers! Akiko swear they are the slyest creature in the whole galaxy!
Her face hardened, her resolve was set. The stupid shitface is about to go down.
"Just forget about him for now Saki-chan. You don't deserve him anyway!" she rubbed her cousin's back. "Just go get some rest okay?"
Saki nodded and Akiko helped her cousin walked towards her bedroom. After tucking Saki in, she walked back to her own bedroom. Opening her laptop, she opened a window and started searching.
She will not sit around and let her cousin suffer like this. Yagyuu Hiroshi will pay. She'll make sure of it.
She has a plan. A plan that will ensure that shitface won't be enjoying his marriage just yet. Hah! He crossed the wrong man, or woman. No one messes with a Moriyama and gets away with it—scotch free.
…If only the stupid search engine would cooperate and give her the information she needed! Goddammit!
"Arghhh! Come on!" she whispered in frustration, typing in her laptop so hard her fingers are already hurting. "Come on my dear, lovely Google! Don't fail me now! Arghhh!" she threw her hands up and entangled them in her hair. Dammit! How is she supposed to know where the wedding will take place?! Surely there are only few churches here in Tokyo? But what if it is a garden wedding? Or perhaps a private ceremony in some huge, gigantic building? How the hell is she supposed to know?!
She stood up and started pacing in her room. How about asking her friend in the publishing company? Or their friends at that famous wedding shop? Surely they would know right? Shit, the wedding was supposed to be a secret, of course they wouldn't know. Stupid lawyers.
Hmmm…how can she get information which was supposed to be a secret?
She stopped pacing and stared hard at the cream wall of her room—wait, is that a stain?! What the hell? Since when there is a stain in her wall?! And why the hell is it a little stuffy in her room? Oh right. The windows were closed. She walked towards them and opened the windows, letting a breeze come in—choking her to her early death.
Damn Tokyo and air pollution.
But—back to the topic—how the hell is she to know about the stupid wedding? Think. Think. Think.
Her eyes suddenly found its way on the framed photo in her nightstand. In the photo is a group of girls—wearing different high school uniforms, all smiling with their arms around each other. She traced each face with a smile, reminiscing a little about the times when everything is so simple, when she doesn't have to worry about a deadline, or how to make do with her salary so she can still save for her dream vacation, or how to put on make-up while on the train just so she'll arrive to her office at the right time.
She sighed, and her hand stopped at a particular girl who was wearing smart looking glasses, hiding her light-green eyes. Ayame-chan. A light bulb suddenly appeared, making her grin like a Cheshire cat.
Giggling to herself, she whipped around and went to search for the phone. Fishing the apparatus beneath her bed—just how in heaven's name did it get there?!—she dialed Ayame's number.
"Come on, Aya-chan," she whispered to herself as the opposite line kept on ringing.
Her friend picked it up after 6 rings. "Hello?" a hoarse voice greeted her.
Akiko grinned. Her friend probably pulled an all-nighter reading articles for the magazine where she's working as an editor. "Hey Aya-chan! Are you busy?"
"Not really, why?" yawn.
"I need a favor." Akiko crossed her fingers behind her back.
"Hmmm?"
"Can you help me find the listings of weddings this week?"
A pause. "Weddings? What for?"
"Well, you see…I wanted to get some ideas about a western wedding here in Japan. It would be for my next project!" Well. It's not a total lie, right? She nodded to herself.
"Hmmm…well, let me see okay?"
"Okay! Have you eaten already?"
"Yeah. Just a little bit sleepy." Akiko can hear her friend typing furiously in her computer, probably going around ten thousand characters per second. She waited on the other end. Ayame doesn't want to be interrupted when she's in her 'robot mode', as their friends fondly called back in high school.
"Okay, got it. Want me to send it to your e-mail?" Ayame asked.
"Hai! Arigatou Aya-chan! You're such an angel!" Akiko grinned. She can almost see her friend rolling her eyes.
"By the way, don't forget on Sunday. We're meeting the others at the café okay? Don't be late."
"Hai! Wouldn't miss it for the world!"
"Ja."
"Ja!"
Akiko grinned as she excitedly opened her e-mail. She waited patiently while the list was loading. 'Finally!'
Her eyes scanned the list excitedly. There were no names, she noticed, but the locations and dates and other information were there, so it was okay. There were only two western-style weddings to be held this week. And one of them is tomorrow, at a posh ballroom at one of the most prestigious hotels in Tokyo, or in Japan-heck, in Asia. The other one is a simple wedding, in the outskirts of Tokyo, so using her awesome deduction skills, she figured that Hiroshi's wedding is the one that will be held tomorrow. She immediately jotted down the address, time, and all necessary details. She read the list one more time, just to be sure.
After making sure she got the correct details, she went to her closet. Peering at her clothes, she made a mental note that she needed to shop once again. Come to think of it, the last time she shopped was two weeks ago. Damn! She's slightly outdated now. Shame!
She emerged with three different light colored dresses in her hands. Laying them down in her bed, she went back and retrieved her shoes. She debated between the dresses. The first one is a light yellow Grecian dress with a low neckline. She mentally crossed it out. The second one is a soft lavender off-the-shoulder floor length dress with a dainty slit on the side, displaying her toned legs. Hmmm. Not bad.
Her eyes went to the third one. It is an ivory dress, with a beaded top and flowing skirt which ends at the top of her knees. It will go nicely with the shoes, she noted, and it is appropriate. After all, she'll be visiting a wedding, right?
A diabolical smirk formed in her lips.
-August 19, present year Saturday, 9:15 a.m. -
The ballroom was decked in a simple yet elegant decoration. Fresh flowers and cream and light-lavender colored lace covers the chairs which were aligned at either side of the make shift aisle, which was covered in the deepest velvet-red carpet. The guests, who were actually very small in number, were wearing formal suits, with small white flowers in the breast pockets; the three females in the room were holding a small bouquet of fresh orchids. Yagyuu Hiroshi is standing at the end of the aisle, his blue hair glinting along with his glasses. Beside him is a man who was also wearing a suit, this man has dark hair, and the brownest eyes Akiko has ever seen on a man. She ignored the tiny voice in her mind saying that other man looked familiar. She looked around from where she is standing (behind a rather large stand which is holding a wide variety of flowers and leaves, which she thought earlier were grass), careful not to be seen or heard. Aside from the two men standing at the end of the aisle, she can also see some other men standing near the chairs, all of whom were wearing formal suits. 'Why do they look so familiar?!' she frowned. That tiny voice at the back of her mind is bothering her, she felt like she's going to miss something entirely important.
She didn't get enough time to entertain it as the doors opened and the bridal entourage begun.
Her eyes immediately shifted to the entrance of the door, and her jaws dropped. 'This is the girl he cheated Saki with? What the hell!'
Not to be mean or anything, but the girl is ugly. No amount of make-up could've covered or changed that fact. She has the ugliest shade of brown for her hair, Akiko thought it looked like mud, the kind that you get when it is raining too hard and people kept on stepping at a certain part of the street...that kind. It was ugly, she was ugly, and Akiko couldn't wrap her mind around the thought of the almost-perfect-but-turned-out-to-be-a-lying-piece- of-a-scumbag Yagyuu Hiroshi marrying this girl.
She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice the ceremony starting. Her mind just suddenly picked up the words about someone having objections to the ongoing wedding and what not.
Of course, she studied about that part (last night, she actually watched videos about it so she'll get it right), so she was ready when the priest finished saying the long line.
"I OBJECT!" she shouted with all her might. "Stop this wedding this instant!"
Heads turned towards her, mouths agape and eyes wide, but she didn't care.
"That man is a two-timer! I am his wife!"
The whole ballroom suddenly turned eerily quiet. She can actually hear crickets in the background.
All at once, the (ugly) bride seemed to have gotten her bearings back and started shouting at the silent man beside her.
Akiko continued her drama. "You lying piece of shit! How dare you leave me for that girl! How could you do that you shit-faced Yagyuu Hiroshi?!"
Only the man she was shouting at wasn't Yagyuu Hiroshi.
The real Yagyuu Hiroshi is now staring at Akiko with his jaws dropped and eyes wide behind his glasses. And he definitely isn't the one who was supposed to get married.
Akiko blinked her eyes, confusion clearly written in her face. Somewhere in the ballroom, a chuckle erupted.
She shifted her eyes at the man standing stoically beside the hysterically crying (ugly) bride. His dark eyes are boring down at her, a promise of a lifetime of pain and torture ringing in their depths, making Akiko shiver down to her pinky toes. She stood her ground.
Only to be taken aback when aside from that lone chuckle, snickers erupted at the corner of the ballroom, blowing into a full-out laughter fest among the men standing together at that side.
"Ne, Sanada-fukubuchou," a cheerful voice called out, "I didn't know you've gotten yourself married even before I do."
-XXXXXX-
" .God Moriyama! How could you do that?!" Akiko winced as she moved the phone away from her ears. Her friends are currently killing her with their loud screeching and hysterical laughing.
She is currently holed up in her room, having an nth-way Skype call with her friends from the other sides of Japan and the world. She just loves technology.
She didn't know when and how, but after the whole stopping-the-wedding-by-creating-some-drama-by-tur ning-up-and-acting-like-a-deranged-married-slash-c heated-on-woman, she made it back to her house. She figured her mind had gone in an auto-pilot the moment she realized she made a huge mistake. Like a huge, stupid, freaking mistake. Screw her life.
"Shut up Aya-chan," her other friend, Saiya Hyuki, said, giggling uncontrollably on the other line, "Tell me more Aki-chan!"
"Saiya! Stop encouraging her!" Shira Anazawa hissed irritatingly."Akiko, what the hell did you just did?!"
Akiko groaned. "I just made a major flop Shi-chan!"
"Flop?! You interrupted a wedding for no apparent reason and you say flop?!" the ever-worrying-over-everything-mother-hen of the group, Miyuki Kanama screeched at one end. "That is not a flop Aki-chan! You ruined someone else's life today!"
Resha was still laughing hysterically, she's already hiccupping. "Holy cow! I wish I was there Aki-chan! You're the best!"
"Yeah!" Sora Tachibana agreed readily, "That was the best prank ever!"
If the two were at the same room, they would probably roll in the floor while holding their stomachs which were hurting from too much laughing.
"Resha-chan! Sora-chan! Stop encouraging her!" Miyuki chided.
A chuckle was heard, and Akiko groaned mentally. "Aki-chan, you did apologize for the intrusion, didn't you?" Kisana asked softly.
Akiko can hear Resha and the others silently breathing.
"You didn't." It wasn't a question.
"I didn't." There's no use in lying. The girls would know if she's lying or not.
All at once, Saiya, Resha and Sora burst out laughing, while Ayame, Shira and Miyuki groaned.
Akiko didn't know whether to be happy or not. Times like this, when they could talk to each other just about everything, were one of the things she missed from high school. Of course, they still talked, but they were usually scheduled and rather short because of their busy schedule. Not to say that some of her friends were in another country, or continent.
"But I did it for Saki-chan! I know I acted rather harshly, but I was just so angry when Saki-chan told me Hiroshi was getting married!"
"Does Saki know Aki-chan?" Kisana asked.
"No."
"Oh…you're doomed." Sora commented.
"Better find a hiding place now Aki-chan!" Resha added cheerfully. "Don't worry! I'll always remember you, and you can give me your adorable cat!"
"Yeah! Give me the password to your computer and your account okay?!"
"I hate you two." She grumbled, making the two hysterically laughing girls laugh harder.
"Come on, you two. This is serious!" Miyuki snapped.
Shira sighed. "What is your plan now Akiko?"
"You should tell Saki-chan about this," Saiya gently said, "She should know."
Akiko sighed. "I know, I know…but," she bit her lip, "not now. I need to form a plan for this. Please, guys, help me."
"I can book you a flight to Beirut, or maybe somewhere in Pakistan if you like." Kisana offered, a light teasing tone in her voice. The other girls laughed/chuckled. "Just apologize, Aki-chan." she advised.
"Yeah, they'll come around eventually." Ayame supported.
"Just do it. The earlier, the better." Shira added.
Sora snickered, before adding. "Don't forget to offer the girl a make-over. You said she's ugly right?"
Resha was laughing when she said, "By the way, if the groom wasn't Hiroshi, who was it? And what was he doing there?"
Akiko frowned. "I don't what he was doing there, but he seemed to be the best man." She racked up her brain, remembering the name of the groom. "Ah! I remember now. The groom's name was Sanada! I heard one of the guys call him 'Sanada-fukubuchou'. Weird name."
Her friends suddenly went quiet. She checked her connection. "Uhm…guys? You still there?" she asked uncertainly.
Saiya chuckled nervously. "Ah…Aki-chan, you said 'Sanada', right?"
Akiko nodded, and then said "Yeah. Why?"
Sora chuckled. "Oh my God Akiko Moriyama. You better run for your life now."
"Or better yet, plan for your funeral. I'll take care of the flowers." Resha added.
"God Moriyama! What the hell were you thinking?!" Shira hissed.
"Shi-chan, I think she wasn't really thinking at that time." Ayame commented, "Aki-chan, remember the emperors of Rikkai high tennis club back in our high school?"
"Aya-chan! Of course I remember! We're from the same school, so how can I forget? Why?"
"Do you remember their members? Their captain and vice-captain?" Aya-chan continued.
Akiko smirked. "Yukimura-san? You dated him, right?"
Saiya and the others snickered.
"Yes." Ayame's voice was tight. "Do you remember his vice-captain?"
"Sanada-san? Yeah sure. Isn't he that one who was very scary and slaps people around and was doing kendo?" Akiko stared lazily at her ceiling.
"Yeah, that one. Remember what his team mates used to call him?"
"Sanada-fukubuchou, right?" Akiko answered.
She can see Ayame nodding her head. "You do remember that Hiroshi-san was a member of that tennis team, right?"
Of course Akiko knows! Who wouldn't? Every high school student during that time knows all of the tennis players from Rikkai, Seigaku and Hyotei. You have to be living under a rock or the sea if you didn't know that!
"Yes, yes I know. So?"
"You're hopeless Moriyama." Miyuki sighed.
"Aki-chan," Kisana, the one with the patience of a saint,said, "Remember, Hiroshi-san was a member of Rikkai tennis team."
Akiko nodded, "Yes."
"And Hiroshi-san is friends with the fukubuchou, right?"
"Yes."
"And that fukubuchou's name was 'Sanada', correct?"
"Hai."
"And the groom was called 'Sanada-fukubuchou', am I right?"
Akiko frowned at the last question. So what if one of the guys at the wedding called the groom 'Sanada-fukubuchou'? Was it a big deal? Surely there were so many people in Japan who has the same name, right? Only, Hiroshi was friends with that specific Sanada.
And they played tennis, in Rikkai. She remembered that Hiroshi went to Rikkai during high school, and he played tennis.
And he has a team mate named Sanada, and that person was the vice-captain. Who slaps people around, and who practices Kendo.
Sanada-fukubuchou. Sanada-fukubuchou.
Slaps people around.
Kendo.
Tennis with Hiroshi in high school.
The groom…was called…Sanada-fukubuchou.
Akiko's eyes went wide, her mouth dropped. She couldn't even make a sound.
Her life, her oh so wonderful life, is officially over.
She heard Kisana chuckle. "So, when do you want me to book that flight to Beirut?"
So, what do you guys think? :)
Send me a thought or two. Ja!