3
Kana
"I'm really nervous," I said softly to Natsuki, who I followed into the house he shared with the other members of STARISH. They chose to live in a dorm, still on campus at Saotome Gakuen (mainly since they were one of the top bands at the school, second only to Quartet Night). It was nice for them all to stay together in one place, anyway-they were always swamped with projects to do to rise even higher, and since rumor had it that no one at Saotome Gakuen was allowed to fall in love, it only made sense they'd stay in the same place. Their composer, Haruka Nanami, lived in a girls' dorm not too far away, so she visited them often. They were all very close, according to Natsuki, since she'd been the one that brought the seven of them together. If all went well, I'd be meeting her for the first time today.
"No need to be nervous," he said, the grin on his face wide like usual.
Otoya was in the middle of the common room when we walked in, the smile on his face blinding as he bounded toward me. "Hey! I didn't know Natsuki was going to bring you back here!"
"I wanted her to meet Haru," the blond said excitedly. "And we're gonna use this kitchen to cook together!"
I saw the flash of terror once again on Otoya's face before it disappeared into another grin."Haruka's in a meeting right now, but you're welcome to hang out until she gets back! What are you making?"
"Well," I said, and found that talking to Otoya was a little less nerve-wracking than talking to any one of the other members that I'd been introduced to so far. "I talked about making some bentos for everyone for lunch, and Natsuki was going to bake a cake." At the word "cake", Otoya visibly paled and coughed, and I tossed a glance at Natsuki. What is up with those looks? "Are you okay…?"
He laughed it off after a second. Obviously he didn't want to say anything in front of Natsuki, but at this point, I was a little bothered that no one had mentioned anything to me. He quickly changed the subject, grabbing my hand to lead me toward the room he shared with Tokiya Ichinose, one of my favorite singers of the group. I protested as he pulled me along, my face nearly as red as the tomato in my bag. Ichinose was sitting on his bed reading a magazine, looking over the top as Otoya burst in, nearly yelling his name. I stood in the doorway, waving tentatively, then holding my bag straps so tightly my knuckles turned white. "Tokiya, this is Kana! The girl that Natsuki met and cooked us lunch that day. And she drew that," He said, gesturing to the picture he'd hung up on his wall.
I rubbed at my face a little, flustered and really just wanting to hide from the attention. He waved at me, catching my attention back to him, and if possible, I blushed harder. "Hello," he said, then went back to reading his magazine.
I excused myself to walk back to the common room, where Syo and Ren had both gathered with Natsuki. I waved to both of them, taking a seat on one of the couches and putting my bag down on the floor. Whew, that bag was heavier than I thought it was. Ren sat down across from me on the opposite couch. "It's nice to see you again, Kana."
"Mmhmm," I said, then laughed. "This time I'm not gonna cry, though."
"Good to hear," he said with a laugh of his own. "What are you doing here?"
"Natsuki brought me to meet Haruka," I replied. "Also, bentos. I probably should have asked if there's anything that anyone doesn't like…"
"Tokiya's really picky," Syo said. "You don't have to worry about him."
"Aw," I said before thinking. "Okay. Well, I'll think of something so he's not left out. What about everyone else?" After getting everyone's likes and dislikes, I nodded and smiled, turning to look at Natsuki. "Ready?"
He nodded excitedly, and I followed him into the kitchen. As I looked around, I noticed they had a decent kitchen set up, and put my bag down on the counter to begin emptying it. Most of what I had in the bag were ingredients for the bentos-rice, a couple of nice-sized steaks, veggies, that kind of thing-and my favorite spices to use on them. I didn't consider myself a professional by any means, but I definitely wasn't afraid of spices in my food. After leaving my parents' house (and my mom's awesome homemade cooking), I found that living on bland foods-the only foods I knew how to cook-was damn boring and started to experiment. Not without studying recipes, and putting in little bits of spice at a time, as to not overpower whatever I was cooking. Slowly but surely, I improved at it, and got to the skill I had now. I had a long way to go to be a professional, but for being self-taught, I did one hell of a job.
I hooked up the rice cooker in the kitchen, watching Natsuki look over the recipe out of the corner of my eye. So far so good, I guessed, but didn't miss the shock of blond hair out the door. Syo was watching us? Did he want to join? I opened up my mouth to call him back, but when I looked out the door he was nowhere to be found. Frowning, I stepped back into my spot, grabbing a cutting board to start on the vegetables. Knowing that it didn't take long to prepare the steaks (cooked medium-rare, like steaks are supposed to be eaten), I grabbed a yellow bell pepper and started to slice.
I glanced at Natsuki, who was measuring out a cup of sugar. He didn't notice me watching, so I kept my eyes on him just a little longer. I wasn't seeing anything to be afraid of, unless he just burnt the life out of the cookies or cakes he cooked. Even then, that still wasn't really any reason for Otoya to pale like he had. I went back to my slicing, moving on to cucumbers and carrots. Once I finished those, it was time to cook the steak. I grabbed a few things, throwing the steaks into a hot pan and searing the outside of them before about 10 minutes in the oven.
Natsuki was still adding ingredients to his cake. They don't...typically have that many ingredients? After watching the oblivious blond for another moment or two, I watched in horror as he picked up cayenne pepper to add to it. Cayenne and chocolate? Sure. Cayenne and vanilla? Not so yummy. And, God, he added a lot.
"Na…" I began, and shook my head. No matter. If that's the worst part of it, I'll choke a bite down. That's what people do when they like each other, right? "Mm. Nevermind. Smells good!" Kana, you're going to hell for lying to that sweet man.
"Yours does too!" he said with a smile, plopping in what looked like few cucumber slices from my cutting board. Then more spices-this time I didn't catch what it was-and stirred it up, looking really, really pleased with himself. I had to keep from grimacing. Those things didn't go together...and he had the recipe right there. He leaned back on his heels, looking down into the bowl happily, then at me. "Want to try the batter?"
Even with all the fibers of my being screaming OH GOD NO! I smiled at him, taking the spoon he offered me, and licked it, him watching me expectantly. It certainly didn't taste like I expected it to. Oh, noooo. It was much, much worse.
It was quite possibly the most disgusting combination of ingredients I'd ever tasted in my life, and that was before the cayenne hit and I couldn't taste anything anymore. With a cough and tears threatening to stream down my face, I choked out another lie to make him feel better, and turned my back to sniffle and will away the burn. Oh, God. My idol was literally going to kill me.
Right now.
In his dorm kitchen.
My timer went off, and I grabbed my oven mitts to remove the steaks and let it rest while I busied myself waiting on the rice to finish. I grabbed a few boxes to start filling the bentos for lunch while Natsuki threw the disastrous cake in the oven. No wonder Otoya and Syo ran away. My stomach ached from the spice. I could have sworn I tasted some nori in it, and I had literally zero idea of where it could have come from. He looked at me, smiling like always. "Is there anything I can help with?"
"Sure," I said with a smile. "You can divide up the rice, if you want. Or put the veggies in. It's up to you-I need to cut the steaks."
He nodded, walking behind me and doing as I asked, as I began to slice the steaks into strips. Once they were done, I turned toward him, standing at his side and laid a few strips out on top of each bento. Noticing there were a few leftover slices, I picked one up and held it towards Natsuki, just as he was adjusting the side of his glasses. The bump of our arms was just enough to knock the glasses to the side and off his face, and my blood went cold at the expression he wore. I'd never, ever expected to see this kind of look on the sweet man's face, and moved to take a step back. He slapped my hand away from him, and I took another step back, my heart pounding.
Oh, no.
"Don't fucking try to feed him, girl," he said, voice deeper and rougher than Natsuki's normal voice, and the sound of it sent chills down my spine.
"I'm sorry," I apologized without thinking. "I'm...I just wanted you to try it."
"Are you afraid of me?" His lips curved into a sadistic smirk, his blond bangs sliding down over one of his eyes as he leaned closer to me and tilted his head to the side. He was taunting me now? This absolutely was not the Natsuki I was used to. "You should be, girl."
"My name is Kana," I said, forcing bravado. My voice shook. He didn't miss it. "Don't call me 'girl'."
"I'll call you whatever I damn well please, hussy."
"I hope you choke on that damn cake," I snapped and immediately teared up. No, I don't mean that. But who is this man?
He laughed, loudly. "Such charm, from such an annoying little girl," he murmured, leaning closer still, grabbing the hand that had been holding the steak. "Still want to feed me? Maybe it'll improve my opinion of you." He brought my fingertips to his lips, licking off whatever juices may have still been there. My heart rate skyrocketed at that point, and as much as I wanted to hate him, I couldn't. His tongue was like velvet, and as gross as this really was, I was enjoying it. Maybe it was because only moments before, this pervert had my Natsuki's face and voice, and I was attached to the image of who I thought he was.
"Stop," I said, trying to pull my hand back. He was a lot stronger than I was and refused to let me go. I tugged, causing him to nip at me, and I could see the irritation in his eyes.
"Stop? This is what you wanted from him, right?" He said, looking me dead in the eye. "To get him in bed with you?"
"No," I said as the timer went off. I managed to yank my hand away, holding it to my chest, face flushed in embarrassment and anger as I looked up at him. "Why are you doing this?"
"You haven't figured it out yet?"
"Figured what out?" I asked. I tried to move around him, only to have him hook an arm around my waist and slam me back into counter. I winced as I hit. That's gonna leave a mark. "Ouch."
"You're just as dumb as everyone else," he said leaning back into my face, before arms reached out behind him and slipped a pair of glasses back onto his face. Immediately, his demeanor changed and he blinked at me, the cold aura from before completely dissolving. "Kana? Are you okay?"
I looked at him, speechless, shaking my head. I pushed past him, walking into the common room and sitting hard on the end of the couch not currently occupied by a male body. I paid them no mind, until someone cleared their throat. Oh. Masato Hijirikawa, one of the two remaining members of STARISH left to meet. "Are you...are you alright?"
"I think Natsuki poisoned me," I said deadpan as I looked at him, still holding that hand to my chest. I still felt the warmness of Natsuki's mouth (Natsuki? No. What the hell just happened?!) and rubbed my hands together. Ugh. I didn't even stop to wash them. "Uh...I'm Kana. I'd shake your hand but they're pretty gross so I'm keeping them to myself before I go back into the kitchen."
"Masato Hijirikawa."
"It's very nice to meet you. I'm also very sorry I'm so spacey right now," I said. "I've got food in the kitchen ready to eat, but I had to clear my head a little bit."
"I see," he said, a little smile on his face. "Natsuki baked something for you?"
"Crap, that reminds me that it's currently burning," I said, though didn't rise from the couch. "Yes. But it's better to leave it to burn. I almost died, I think."
"Hey," Syo called as he walked into the common room. "Kana, you and I need to talk."
"Okay," I said. "Okay. Multiple personalities?"
He nodded at me. "If he takes his glasses off, Satsuki comes out. He's been there ever since we were kids." Syo's face was grim as he looked down. "He's a genius when it comes to music, but he's got no patience and he's hurt a lot of people, so be careful."
"Thanks,"I said. "For giving me a heads-up. That was pretty terrifying."
"You got pretty lucky," he said. "Most people aren't. Haruka was lucky like that, too."
"Does he go easy on women?"
Syo shook his head. "No," he said. "He doesn't go easy on anybody. But you and Haruka, so far. He's not even nice to me."
"Yikes," I grimaced. "Well, now that I know what the hell is going on, I owe Natsuki an apology. Also, I'm hungry." I looked toward the kitchen. "I just hope that awful Hellcake is burnt."
He grimaced with a nod in agreement. "Yeah."
We chatted on the way back to the kitchen, where Natsuki bounded to me as soon as he saw me coming back. " Kana! Are you mad at me?"
"No," I said, and smiled at him. A little forced at first, but genuinely widened when he breathed a sigh in relief and grinned back. "I was just a little flustered when you suddenly were leaning over me." I didn't mention the personality thing-he didn't seem to notice anything was amiss at all, beyond my leaving the room as quickly as I did. "I just needed a second."
He nodded at me, and we sat together at the end of the table, joining everyone else already there. The remaining group member was there, a younger boy by the name of Cecil Aijima. He was exotic, dark-skinned with catlike green eyes and a kind look to him. Not quite like Natsuki, but he was warm and friendly and I found myself quite liking him after a quick introduction. Through a bit of conversation, I was surprised to learn he was an actual prince, that the rumors weren't actually rumors at all. And the tattoo on his chest the fans would see every now and then? It was real.
I looked up at one point to see that Tokiya had a bento of strictly vegetables in front of him and smiled to myself. Good to know for next time I fix lunch for everyone. Haruka walked into the kitchen as most everyone was finishing up, and I jumped up, bowing to her respectfully. "My name is Kana, and I'm really happy to meet you!"
The coral-haired girl (a hair color similar to my own, though mine was a few shades lighter) looked at me, bowing at me as well. She looked a little flustered. "Haruka Nanami. Nice to meet you!"
I smiled at her, walking forward to grasp her hands in mine. "Natsuki brought me to meet you. I'm sorry to ambush you as soon as you come in the door, but I just wanted to tell you how much I love your music. I'd...um.."I looked toward the kitchen. "I cooked an extra bento for you when you came back, if you want it."
Her eyes widened slightly. "Oh! I...okay. Thank you!" She smiled brilliantly.
"I hope we can be friends," I said, inwardly cringing at myself. She didn't seem to mind and nodded instead.
"Natsuki's told me about you," she said as she put her bag down underneath a chair and sat down. I grabbed the extra bento from the refrigerator and handed it to her, taking the seat next to Natsuki one more time.
"All good, I hope," I said without thinking, and got a laugh from most everyone at the table. Natsuki nodded, looking a little sheepish, and I looked at Haruka. I felt myself blushing. "Look, you're probably going to hear this a lot from me because I'm a huge fan, but...it's still so surreal that I've met you all. I'm in your house!" My voice squeaked at the end, and I looked down at my hands in embarrassment. "Sorry, I'm really excited."
A hand atop my head distracted me for a brief second, and I looked up once my hair had been ruffled a bit. Ren smiled at me. "I'm glad to have met you, too, Kana." Natsuki gave a wholehearted agreement, followed by everyone else.
"You guys really are the best," I said with a smile. "Thank you."
Once I got home that night, Miruka was waiting on me, sprawled on my couch sleeping. I glanced at my clock. She must not have to work tonight, I thought, looking at her. She must have been lonely at her house after Shinobu left. I patted her head gently as I walked toward my room to get her an extra blanket, since she'd fallen asleep uncovered and it was a little chilly in my apartment. Since it was getting to be late summer outside, the weather was typically nice during the day but got pretty chilly out at night, so my apartment always got a little colder, as well. It wasn't too late, around 6pm, but the sun had started to set around 5:30pm these days, and it was dark outside.
"Kana?" I heard Miruka say groggily from the living room. "Welcome home."
I stepped out of my room, seeing her sitting up and yawning, running her hands through her hair. "Thanks," I said softly. "Sorry to wake you. You can sleep in my room if you want to, I'm probably going to get some work out of the way."
"I don't need any more sleep," she said, shaking her head. She smiled at me through the wild mess of wavy hair on her head. "I'll get a headache. I'm fine."
"Gotcha," I nodded. I grinned. "In that case, make yourself at home, because I still have to work."
"Where were you?" she asked, and though the words could have been accusatory, the tone was not. She hadn't been overly worried, since she hadn't texted me at all while I was gone.
I smiled to myself. "Na-Shinomiya came to get me today. I cooked lunch for STARISH." Walking back out to the couch, I sat down beside her. "It was awesome. I met Hijirikawa, Aijima, Ichinose and Nanami, and I'm honestly still on Cloud Nine."
"I'd like to meet Ren Jinguji," she said. "If at all possible."
"I think I can talk them into dinner here," I said with a laugh. "If nothing else, they seem to enjoy my food, and Ren seems to like me." I rubbed my cheek. "They're all pretty friendly and I think I've made a good impression, but sometimes it's hard to know for sure."
She nodded, a hopeful grin crossing her face. "That sounds great!"
We chatted for a second longer, about how my day went with the boys, though I omitted the run-in I had with "Satsuki"-I didn't want her to worry about me being alone with Natsuki. Now that I knew he wasn't batshit bonkers, I was prepared to speak with him again, but this time armed with an apology for how I spoke to him. It was still Natsuki, though a harder, wilder, more aggressive side of him, and the last thing I wanted was for any part of Natsuki to be angry with me. It wasn't taking me very long to fall head over heels for the blond and the sooner I got his de-spectacled side to realize I wasn't a threat to him, the better. Hell, maybe he'd come to like me, too. I held in a snort at the thought. No. No, I didn't think Satsuki would come to like anyone.
I excused myself to my room, grabbing my tablet and computer to get caught up on some work that I'd been putting off for the last day or so, and walked to the table to get set up. I didn't really have an office here, so I did my work at the kitchen table. Miruka joined me, as she usually did, watching quietly and offering a helping hand if needed. I put on some classical music as background noise, reading over an especially detailed email for a logo I was to draw. They'd pay handsomely for this one, and I was excited to get it finished. They usually took me a good day or so to knock out, depending on when I got started. This would take at least two days, since I was beginning on it so late at night.
