Sigh For Me
A/N: Your reviews are delicious; they taste like strawberry caramels. I have plumbed the depths of the internet to bring you a touch of authenticity. The Metropolitan Government Office in Shinjuku district/ward, Tokyo, opens its observation decks to the public for free. Southern deck by day, northern deck by night—Tokyo breathes for you. True story.
People hold their pinky up in Japan when they're indicating a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship. That's not weird at all. (I'm not sure if they still do that—just that they definitely did in the fifties. Hey, people still give high-five in America.)
Chapter Three: Make My Day
x.x.x.x.x.x
"…reported by Sono Noriaki. Sono-san received a call yesterday at 10:00 AM from a woman identifying herself as top singer and idol Fuwa Shou's mother. During the call the woman admitted that she had no means of contacting Fuwa because he is estranged from his parents, and then asked about Mogami Kyoko's well-being, addressing her with the familiar –chan. Reporter Sono-san inquired further as to why Fuwa's mother would be acquainted with a girl her son barely knew, upon which Mama Fuwa let slip that Mogami was from the same household that her son was! That's right—the two were childhood sweethearts growing up in the same house after Mogami's mother abandoned her…"
"God damn it!"
Shoutaru slouched over his phone, grinding his teeth at the internet broadcast recap of the news airing still on television. Shouko had called LME and found out where Kyoko was—at headquarters, being briefed on the situation. She took the fact that Shou wanted to meet her even though this was not Kyoko's fault as a good sign. Probably Shou wanted to stand by her and protect her in her hardship, like he had at Karuizawa with the stalker…
"I am going to kill that woman," he said with deceptive calm.
"Shou!" Shouko glanced sideways at him, working the wheel of her car masterfully. As the one mostly responsible for Shou's road skills, she felt partly responsible for yesterday's mishap. Like she'd been a bad teacher. As a manager she felt wholly to blame for Shou's poor emotion management. "Don't say things like that!"
"They found out my name, Shouko-san! I'm ruined—hold on, I'm getting a call from the agency." He scowled at the number on his phone that dared interrupt his streaming video. "What now?"
Shouko shook her head as he took the call. 'Shoutaru' was pretty lame, and fickle fangirls had options. She wondered how many of the revelations the reporters had unearthed were true. The part where they claimed Shou had impregnated Kyoko then forced an abortion was outrageously false: Shouko knew that much. Vicious lies always surrounded professionals of their ilk; she and he weren't even dating and the rest of the world was convinced they were living in sin. Understandable given the amount of time they spent together…
The news also reported that the supposedly shattered couple had reignited passion's fires when Shou showed up on the Dark Moon sets with a dazzling bouquet and a public kiss for Kyoko. Shouko remembered that day. Had the kiss really happened?
"That's so stupid! Like there's any way she and I slept together! The stupid woman's a virgin, I swear. Unless Tsuruga Ren seduced her, or that Kijima Hidehito… Yeah, we lived together, but I never touched her! I had school and a career, I—but—no! That's—argh! …Fine."
Shouko kept her eyes on the road. "What's up?"
"They want me to come in. LME is off-limits to us for the moment."
Shouko took the next U-turn. "If you have a message for her, I can pass it on."
"No, Shouko-san. I can't make you say the sort of words going through my head."
He'd never made her shiver like that before. Not even as a Deva King statue of cold antipathy. Shoutaru was angry. Shouko could fall in love. How dangerous.
000
Unlike Shou, who wasn't allowed to come, or Ren, who didn't allow himself to come, Hikaru hitched a ride and showed the hell up. Sebastian had something of a crush on the star, and opened him a path directly to Lory's office, where he and Kanae were talking to a shell-shocked Kyoko. She was sitting with her perfect princess posture, hands in her lap and eyes cast downwards. Kanae was telling her how Lory had gotten her a day off, so she was going to spend it with Kyoko.
"I'm with you. The whole day. Please stop making that face."
What face?
Hikaru stopped short; he wouldn't approach.
Oh.
Shou was very familiar with her extremely sad, painful, heart-wrenching crying. It wrenched his heart a hundred times a year and he'd never learned to deal with it. But this wasn't just that. Kyoko had on her face a fungal look reminiscent of decayed anguish rising slowly up. Memories of her mother that she hadn't relived in years were coming back.
Lory came to stand next to Hikaru, giving the girls a false sense of privacy.
"She looks like she could use a hug," Hikaru sympathized.
Lory dryly inquired, "From whom? Kotonami-kun is not the hugging type and I'm too far removed. And you…? You're a stranger. Try hugging her—see how well she takes it."
"President, you too?" the rocker had about had it with this shit, "You have to stop treating her like this! Stop encouraging her aversion to affection!"
The magnificent man held his arms akimbo. "By all means. Won't you take the lead?"
"I will, you know. I'm not afraid. I mean, a hug from me would be inappropriate, but I could hold her hand for comfort at least."
"Yes, you could."
No one made a move.
"She's Tsuruga-san's favorite, isn't she? Where's he? He could probably hug her."
"Ren's withdrawn his patronage," Lory nudged Hikaru. "The position of her dependable sempai is open. Interested?"
"President, you make the word 'patronage' sound very, deeply wrong. And she needs a friend, rather than a sempai. Why won't Kotonami-san hug her? Kotonami-san," he hissed to attract the brunette's attention, "Kotonami-san!"
Kanae looked up. He put his arms around an imaginary Kyoko. She misunderstood.
"Hey, Kyoko. Ishibashi-san says he wants to hug you. How about it?"
"Wha…?"
Kyoko raised her eyes first to Kanae, and then turned them on Hikaru. She shivered a little, as if to turn him down, and then gave a swing-any-way shrug. Kanae caught Hikaru's eye and shrugged too. Hikaru looked at Lory, who shrugged.
Ishibashi Hikaru was as tall as he needed to be, old enough to know better, of fairly normal hair and eyes. He could jam sweeter than strawberry cheesecake and had a voice that could raise cheers and boners all across Japan. He fapped like any other man and dreamed like any other human. This is what he was. This is what he did. He walked over to Kyoko's chair and kneeled in front of her.
"I meant for you, Kotonami-san, to hug her."
"Oh…"
"Kyoko-chan," he went on gently, "Will you look at me?"
She did. Mogami Kyoko was of reasonable height, coming just short of Tsuruga Ren's abnormally high shoulders. She was seventeen years old with issues in her tissues and large, liquid amber eyes. Hikaru had no idea how she'd gotten those eyes. Her mother was a demon. Had her father been an angel? Was he dead, or had he run away? The news hadn't said.
Hikaru rose on his knees, put both arms around her neck, and pulled her to his shoulder. She leaned out of her chair a little awkwardly, palms against his chest. Kanae watched on tenterhooks for a reaction. Lory, strangely, had a flashback to himself and Ren last night.
"So, um. Kyoko-chan…do you wanna talk about it?"
"This is all Shoutaru's fault," she shared Ren's sentiment, her voice steadier than he'd expected; "I can't believe how much I hate him. Hikaru-san, why do people fall in love?"
Kanae, who had already supplied an answer, watched Hikaru like a hawk. Lory, who had a thousand answers ready, shook sadly his head that a child would have to ask a question like that.
"Well, Kyoko-chan," Hikaru said thoughtfully, "Why do you love anyone?"
"I don't love anyone."
"Kotonami-san? That couple you live with?"
"I…" she pulled away from him and looked troubled. "Is that love? I just. I want it back." Tears filled her eyes suddenly, and he reached to wipe them away before they smudged her make-up. "The feeling of giving myself away, the feeling of floating on air. The human emotion that he took away from me. I want it back."
Hikaru took a seat on the floor, hands in his lap, and gazed up at her. "You've done a better job of regaining it than you seem to think. I see the way you throw yourself into work—you're the only reason I watch Box R, you know that? Beautiful and cruel Natsu-sama. Sophisticated and tainted Mio. Cute and funny Bo. You've got all the passion you need! You just have to work out the kinks."
"I just don't—I don't feel like—I can't trust love. I want that feeling back but." Her frustration was breaking her voice, breaking his heart, "How do you do it, Hikaru-san? Naie-san pushed you aside. How can anyone love again after having their heart broken?"
"Because it's worth it."
Lory wanted to applaud. Kanae wanted to interrupt. But neither said a word, and merely sat down themselves to hear Hikaru out.
"You know it's worth it. Or you wouldn't be chasing it. The hardest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return. All you need is a little time and a good man," Hikaru spoke without care, without thought, "To restore that grace—to remind you how good it can be, when it gets good."
Kanae nodded without meaning to. She couldn't see love looming large in her own future, but she could picture her younger friend turning the spotlight of devotion on another man. This time, Kyoko would be accommodating, but not entirely acquiescent. A darling, not a doormat. Kyoko appraised Hikaru with wide, innocently calculating eyes, abruptly realizing that he'd hugged her—and she hadn't had a meltdown. A freak out. Did she trust him that much? If this person went away from her, would she feel a gap in her life? …Was he a good man?
"Hikaru-san, um. Will you be my boyfriend?"
Lory raised his eyebrows sky-high, and the Love Me lady sitting at his side went forebodingly motionless. Hikaru was kinda thunderstruck.
"What? A little out of the blue, Kyoko-chan. Are you confessing? Have you been attracted to me all this time?"
She stood; he stood. A singularly earnest expression conquered her face.
"I don't have any feelings for you, Hikaru-san," she began (what poetry! What romance!), "But you feel so good. I want to be like you. Please, teach me what a good boyfriend is. I have no experience at all."
The poor man gaped. Forgive the naïve, nonchalant proposal. Feign ignorance of the laid-bare ulterior motives of a child. Forget the legal-pedophile barrier. There was no conventional emotion in the proposed relationship, except for all the girl's longing. And Hikaru's ocean-wide anxiety. And the furor to be raised by anyone that found out… Breaking up was tough for him, but its effect on this young lotus blossom clean dizzied him. Hikaru didn't believe in rebound relationships. Committing to Kyoko would be committing to Kyoko, not volunteering to make her feel better or nurse his own battered heart.
"I know I'm not pretty enough…"
It wasn't just Shou that shattered her confidence. This girl had been a mess for a while.
"I'm also very…very young…"
Replacing Naie with a younger woman? Could this possibly work out?
"I'm probably being too forward."
Could Ishibashi Hikaru handle Mogami Kyoko and any drama that she brought?
"Hikaru-san?"
They'd make a pretty good team. He knew it. He knew her.
"Kyoko-chan," he swallowed hard. "I wanna go out with you."
Lory leaped to his feet and called for cake, for champagne, for a double decker bus. Kanae rose, dignified, to congratulate them. Hikaru didn't know if he'd been asked out or if he'd announced his engagement. Sebastian came in with a call—Akatoki Agency had formulated a plausible story and wanted to speak to Kyoko's manager.
"I'll take it," Lory cut in and received the receiver, "Hello, I'm the head of the Love Me section. Is it Fuwa's manager? …Oh, Naoya! You old bastard, is this what it takes to get Akatoki's president to talk to me? I finally have you— …what do you mean you knew I'd take the call? As you planned, huh?" he covered the mouthpiece and smiled at his stars. "Can I toss you all out of my office? Thanks. Sebastian, see to it."
The right hand of God—uh, no—ushered them out of Lory's chambers and into another, smaller room. Four hot pink couches with small yellow pillows surrounded a parrot green carpet on which a sunshine-colored table sat. The walls were a full-bodied blue. The children's eyes were brown and black and gold and wide.
Sebastian said, "Maria-sama's father designed the look himself as a gift to the President. Please wait here. Call for me if you need anything."
Kanae pulled Kyoko to the furthest couch and engaged in a muted conversation. Hikaru was left to stand alone and fend for himself.
000
Shin'ichi was kicking Yuusei's ass at Mario Kart when he realized he wasn't on the top screen. Also, he got a call from his big brother that didn't make a lot of sense to him but served as a platform from which to mess with Hikaru's head.
"Yuusei's cheating, mamma! …Hello, where are you? Still at LME? How's comforting Kyoko-chan going?"
His brother wandered away to the kitchen, snagged a can of cola, and wandered back to the rec room with a bag of strawberry caramels. Shin'ichi had gleeful disbelief dawning on his face.
"Talk about comforting her! Our Kyoko-chan," he crowed to Yuusei, "Asked Hikaru out!"
"Hikaru-nii? Lies."
"Truth. Go bring me a soda too, asshole. Call yourself a brother? …Yeah Hikaru, I'm listening. Is she coming home with you? Because you have to introduce us! What do you mean we already know her? Exactly how did this happen anyway? You're not nearly smooth enough…" he noticed Yuusei pulling on a pair of pants instead of fetching him a drink. "Yuu. You suck. …Not you, Hikaru. Sure, sure. Being smooth obviously had nothing to do with it, big brother. …Of course it was an insult! Brains for shit. No, I got that right. No, you grow up. No, I won't quit it. Clean up? Why do we pay the freaking maid for? She's skipped today. Why would I know what she was thinking? …Congratulate you? Hikaru, you're dating the chicken. And two days ago you were crying in front of her for another woman. I predict this steamy affair will last, like, five days."
"Less." Yuusei sank into his seat and texted their local pizzeria for a delivery, "We're going to Los Angeles this weekend."
Shin'ichi bumped fists with him and relayed the message. He listened to Hikaru's reply intently, and then laughed, "Aw, come on. Listen, bring her home. We'll be good. We love Kyoko-chan! Probably more than you do—where you going? Hikaru? Hikaru." He looked sadly at his phone. "He hung up."
"Wonder why," Yuusei grunted, "You're the worst person to talk to when love gets you down."
"Hnn? Whatever. Kyoko-chan and Hikaru…pfft. What was he thinking? It'll never last. Why'd he have to choose her? She's too nice, too sweet, to close to us to get her heart broken by being his rebound."
Yuusei clamped a caramel between his teeth and picked up his controller. "Hikaru-nii doesn't believe in rebounds, so he must really want to make it work. And hello? Do you know Kyoko-chan? She's not as sweet as she looks. Can kick some ass when the mood takes her."
"Like I'm kicking your ass right now?"
"…You're looking at the wrong screen, bro."
000
Kanae said, "So you understand then. Why I'm leaving."
Kyoko nodded. "It's a really bad day for you to take off. The director didn't have a choice because the President asked but they'll never get anything done without your character. Since I'm out of commission for now it's up to you and Amamiya-san to uphold Love Me section's good reputation as sincere workers. Also you really want to see Hiou-kun."
"That last part is not true. Kyoko, he's just a child. The real third reason is that you should spend some time alone with your new boyfriend. I would be awkwardly sitting there, and I am not putting myself through that."
After she'd left, Hikaru helped himself to her seat and grinned at Kyoko.
"Glad to have me to yourself?"
The young girl lost her composure and went a little red…and a little blue, a little green. Was she now? Alone with Hikaru in a room not easily disturbed; allowed and expected to look into his face and hold his hand and listen to that rumbly-crumbly voice capable of quaking hearts… Contemplating him in a way she'd only ever contemplated Shou also led her to contemplate another man doing to her what Shou had done, saying what Shou had said. Kyoko was not plain bread, was not vanilla. Not a wallflower that thought only of romance. Did Hikaru know that, though? Did anyone ever see that?
His jaw dropped.
"Wow, quite the phobia you have there..."
"Sorry," she didn't quite gasp. If this was heartbreak, the aftermath of betrayal, then Hikaru had never been hurt. He watched her shrewdly for a minute and seemed to confirm something to himself.
"Wait right here, I'll be right back."
He stomped out and she stared and he stomped back in, holding a handful of lollipops.
"Have one?" He sat down and spilled them onto the table. "They're from the President's office," he explained, "He gives me one every time I go in. Like an apology after a trip to the dentist…do you like him? The President."
She chose a chocolate flavored lolly and stuck it between her lips. "He's been very kind to me. Why are you giving me these, though? What do you have to apologize for?"
Hikaru took the question way too seriously. "I would give any relationship my best shot. I thought Fuwa did too, and it didn't work out. I didn't know what an asshole he had been to you—sorry I trivialized your vendetta against him."
Kyoko's hair fell away from her eyes as she raised her head to better meet his gaze.
"I'm also sorry that I can't promise to never hurt you. I'm not a perfect boyfriend—if I was, Naie wouldn't have left me. No girl would have left me. You thinking I am scares me a bit. I'm gonna do my best, but it might not be enough. Will you let me know when it's not, instead of bottling it up?"
Her cheeks sucked in, her chin went down—and back up. A half-nod? For Hikaru, it was enough. He slurped his own grape flavored sucker. It was Kyoko's turn.
"I…I know you're big on hugs and kisses. I don't want you to hold back on my account." A firm, fetching blush. Hikaru had never seen her so coy. "I mean. When you hugged me just now, I—I've been sealing my heart up so tight without even admitting it to myself, Hikaru-san. I have got to stop." They were agreeing with each other's opinions already. "You feel nice."
"You mentioned." He smiled.
She refused to let embarrassment show. "I…I think that's it."
"Nah," Hikaru said, "But we'll make the rest up as we go along."
The gravity on her face cracked with the weight of the monumental grin she delivered, and the music maker found himself casting around for a topic to keep the atmosphere in a lighter vein. Kyoko beat him to it.
"You know that band you and Yuusei-san were telling me about? Abingdon boys school? I went and listened to it."
Hikaru's face took on a remarkable glow. "They're great, aren't they? Shin'ichi doesn't think so—but then Shin'ichi is an idiot."
"Mm!" she was obviously pleased to be putting such an expression on his face. The thrill of easy banter ran through her. "I like your band better, though."
"You're lying. No one could listen to them and think we're better. Compared to them we're bubble-gum rock."
"You're not as loud—I like that better."
"I don't think you understand the whole point of rock music, Kyoko-chan…"
"Um." She went a little red, a little blue… "Since we're going out, it's okay for you to call me just Kyoko."
Hikaru ducked his head too, and bit through to the chocolaty center of his lollipop. "Okay. Will you call me Hikaru?"
"No way." She kinda broke his heart with how firm her response was, "You're my sempai!"
"I'm your boyfriend," he corrected, carefully watching her reaction. Her fair visage went a little weird, but she contained herself. "Seriously. It's okay to call me Hikaru. Or a nickname, if you want. Like you call Kotonami-san Moko-san…"
He hadn't been able to help overhearing their conversation a little after all. Kyoko was a filled with mortified curiosity as to what he might have heard. Filled with mortified curiosity as to how he'd suit a nickname.
"I think I'll just call you Hikaru…if you don't mind."
He pressed a hand to his heart as if knowing he wasn't to be honored with an alias injured him personally, and she went a little…
"Kyoko, you've gotta stop blushing so much. You're gonna make me blush."
"So do you have any abingdon boys school songs on your phone?" She was about as subtle as Shou in a wig, but he could take a hint. He could give her a break. His phone had loads of music, and they spent an affable half hour swapping tunes. Then Sebastian came in and said:
"Takarada-sama will see you now."
000
This time, Yuusei took Hikaru's call. Only because Shin'ichi was having a whiz.
"Hikaru-nii~! How is Kyoko-chan? Have you taken her on a date? …still at headquarters? You used to be so romantic, what happened to you? Oh, crap—I lost the game."
Indeed he had, and the narrator told him: "You're not yourself today. I noticed the improvement right away. If you don't win this race, I'm not going to love you anymore. Your wins are like diamonds: very rare."
"Hahaha, I loathe that guy. Better by far than the usual drivel though. Hikaru-nii, are you still talking? A press conference? With Fuwa? Well, yes, I know they have to explain everything that's been going on. Clear the air…why do they need you there? He has to attend," he told the returned Shin'ichi, "A press conference as Kyoko-chan's boyfriend."
His sibling wiped his hands on Yuusei's pants and took his controller. "I thought he was her boyfriend."
"As her boyfriend," Yuusei pulled a face at Shin'ichi's wacky hijinks, "Of longer than two hours."
"How much longer?"
"Three weeks."
"Naie will hear, and Naie will flip. 'He got over me so fast!' she'll say, 'And why was he sending me flowers when he was already seeing other women?'."
Yuusei passed it on, and Hikaru pointed it out to Lory, who pointed a finger or something, because Hikaru sounded disgruntled as he responded to his brother's logic.
"Her boyfriend of a week, then. That's completely pointless," Yuusei complained, "They might as well go ahead and say you only got together today. How much can you bond in a week? …You were ready to propose to your first girlfriend after a week because you were thirteen, nii-san. No, I don't think you had a point to make; you simply like being disputatious. Is too a word! Read a dictionary sometime."
Shin'ichi swore at the narrator, who informed him that he didn't have an inferiority complex; he was just inferior. The drummer turned to Yuusei, going, "My question is—what's their story for the press?"
Yuusei waited for Hikaru to finish before he recited, "Fuwa and Kyoko-chan did go out; they broke up in Kyoto itself but remained friends, coming to Tokyo together to become stars. Kyoko-chan became an idol after Fuwa because she sucks, or something. What?" he listened to his brother explode in his ear, "It was a joke! You know how much I love Natsu-sama! Kyoko-chan became an idol later because someone had to work—wow, is this true? Did she really support him before his career took off? What a douchebag, making his girlfriend work for him."
"She chose it because she was in love," Shin'ichi shrugged it off, "What else?"
"Uh, they cohabitated innocently. Fuwa moved out after Akatoki picked him up. Kyoko-chan didn't want to be under the same label as him because she feared the public would cry nepotism—really? Oh, okay. It's actually," he explained to Shin'ichi, "Because she'd had enough of his antics and dumped his sorry ass. I think I love her, nii-san."
Shin'ichi was less adoring. "And then LME took her on?"
"Yeah…the Prez heart'd her and created Love Me for the explicit purpose of honing her skills." Yuusei's eyes widened. "Is that…is that true? God, he goes to a lot of trouble to not see talent wasted, doesn't he?"
"That's why we're here," Shin'ichi reminded him, "If he hadn't seen us play at Golden Gai and thought we were too good to go unnoticed, we'd…well, probably still be playing at Golden Gai."
"Prez, I love you! Yell it at him, nii-san. No, I'm for real—tell him I love him. …Good. Hahaha," Yuusei was amused! "He says he loves us too," he told Shin'ichi.
"Ask him who he loves more—us, or Tsuruga Ren."
"No. Go away. Hikaru-nii, you were saying? Okay, you weren't saying. Well, say something now. You want us at the press meet or something? …Fine, we won't come. Didn't want to anyway. …Yep, been playing all along. Manager-san will be here first thing tomorrow morning to make us pack. And then we'll suffer separation from the consoles for two whole weeks! Easily more if we end up going to Copenhagen from L.A."
"I keep telling you," Shin'ichi moaned, "One Earth will never happen for us."
"Stop whining; we get to play at L.A., don't we? Bring some J-rock to the American masses. Prove not all of us sound like the remixes on DDR."
"Some of those are actually really good."
Yuusei was pressing the phone harder into his ear. "Hikaru-nii, did you hang up? Oh my god," he looked offended, "He actually did."
"About time. Help me beat the shit out of this narrator."
"You can't. He'll just insult your punches. I've tried."
000
"Another one of those shiny bouquets, please. And a box of chocolates to go with it."
The florist looked delighted, and called her friend the chocolatier. Whenever Fuwa Shou came to Yamada Hanae's flower shop she could pay her rent and her kids' school fees. Shouko thought he knew that and that was exactly why he chose this florist of all the ones in the city. His real reason, if he had one, was kept to himself.
"This will be expensive," the manager protested halfheartedly. If the blond babe wanted to do something for Mogami Kyoko, she was not about to stop him. He did halt, though, and seemed to consider.
"The bouquet might bring back shitty memories. That was a worthless kiss."
"Oh lord." Shouko went pale. "You kissed her. You actually kissed her? In front of Tsuruga Ren?"
He growled deep in his chest. "That man doesn't own her. And it wasn't a kiss…not really. I think I'll get the bouquet—but I won't give it to her." He suddenly smiled at Shouko. "I hardly ever appreciate you. How would you like a pearl spray?"
"One that you didn't think was good enough for your ex-girlfriend? Oh Shou, you really know how to flatter a woman."
"Hey, Yamada-san," he threw out an arm to call Hanae's attention. "What's a good apology gift to give to a girl you ran over?"
The woman's dark eyes lit up. "Goodness! Then you and that Mogami-san are…?" she held up a pinky. Shou rolled his eyes. She put it back down and spritzed her choicest flowers with water. "She broke her arm, didn't she? Ouch. You should take her to dinner at a neat restaurant and buy her jewelry."
"Can I just do the jewelry bit? On account of spending time with her ends up with one of us trying to kill the other."
"You're one of those couples, eh?" Hanae looked tickled pink. "My husband and I are just the same. He'll be bringing your box from the chocolatier's when its done up, by the way. Won't you take a seat?"
Shou did. Shouko sat next to him, ignoring the way he patted his lap as if to indicate she should perch there. He smirked in that aggravating, juvenile Casanova way and leaned in.
"That kiss was really nothing, Shouko-san. I definitely prefer you."
"You're so charming." She pinched his cheek. "So few people know the monster that lurks under that beautiful face. Poor Kyoko-chan."
He looked into his lap. Shouko looked into his eyes. "Shou?"
"I'm apologizing, aren't I?" he asked. "I didn't mean to hurt her, Shouko-san, please believe me. I'm not that bad a person. I'm not."
The blonde woman studied him some more and took his hand into hers. "No," she said in a crystal-clear tone, "You're not. Yamada-san, do you know where we could get a nice necklace?"
Hanae was plucking magnolias for the mega-bouquet. "Uh, there's that place by that building. You know, the fancy one?"
"Yes, that's informative."
"Haha—sorry. Concentrating. Tell you what; my husband'll take you there once he gets here. You've got an easy hour to kill, I'd say. Shall I order some lunch?"
"That would be nice," Shouko told her, distracted by her ringing phone. It was the agency, calling to give her the final details of the press meet. One of the details blew her mind. She turned to tell Shou and hoped it wouldn't blow his fuse.
000
Hikaru and Kyoko ate their meal at the LME cafeteria rather than sitting in Lory's office like he'd asked them to, or tailing him to his lunch appointment with someone or the other like he'd also asked them to. They could be bloody dumb when the mood chose them. Just about everyone else in the cafeteria was discussing the morning's and yesterday's news telecast in tones not nearly hushed enough.
"This was a bad idea," she muttered to her chopsticks.
"This was your idea."
"I grovel at your feet for forgiveness," she ventured, putting one palm up to meet the other, cast'd one and pleadingly gazing at him. Hikaru glanced up from his rice bowl and felt his heart skip beats left and right. An impulse seized him and he acted on it.
"Don't worry about that. Just don't freak out about this."
"About wha—" she got her answer when he leaned over the table and kissed her nose. Their immediate vicinity immediately reacted with renewed hisses of gossip. Kyoko let her forehead fall to the table, just missing her soup.
"What was that for," she mumbled.
"You told me not to hold back with the public displays of affection," he told her cheerily, "So I didn't. Kyoko, please? I'll apologize if you want me to."
"It's fine. You don't have to." She furtively surveyed the area around them. "That was just…"
"A bad idea."
"It was your idea."
"I grovel at your feet for forgiveness."
She raised her head and saw him in the same palms-together stance she'd assumed earlier. Only, well, he actually didn't have one arm rolled in plaster. He closed his eyes and thrust his face forward. She stifled her giggles with a napkin. He opened one eye.
"Well?"
"I am not going to kiss you."
He dropped his hands. "O cruel and accursed princess…"
She laughed outright, and clapped both hands to her mouth. "Not here, at least…"
"What kind of place would do?"
The girl stirred the straw in her blueberry milkshake around and round, trying to be eloquent. "When I was…when I thought he was my prince, I thought he would take me away on a white horse to a gorgeous church in the countryside—my mother is Christian—and I would be wearing a bell of a wedding dress while he'd be in purple velvet and the entire town would celebrate our marriage. And we'd kiss after the vows." A half-grin, embarrassed to admit it. "I thought that was what chastity was. I thought that was romance."
"Now what do you think of it?"
"Nothing but a cosmic cliché." A tired air wrapped itself around her like a stole. "You can kiss me anywhere, Tsuruga-san says, as long as both our feelings are in it. As long as you're not stealing it from me on the sets of my show."
Hikaru winced. "That thing about him showing up with a bouquet was true?"
She shuddered. "Mm. He wasn't trying to make up, though—only wanted to humiliate me in front of people I worked with and respected."
"And Tsuruga Ren told you it wasn't a kiss," Hikaru deduced, "Unless both the kissers' feelings were in it?"
"Yeah…"
"He was right," said the rocker, "And the more I hear about Shou the less I connect him to the kid I was with two nights ago. It's making me angry."
"You don't sound angry."
"My angry face is sneaky, isn't it," agreed Hikaru, "You never know when I'll strike. Roar!" he shouted suddenly, curling his fingers at her. She stared stolidly back.
"Kyoko, at least pretend to be scared."
"Ah," she Mio'd, "I scream."
"Was that sarcasm, or are you secretly a terrible actress?"
He killed an hour after lunch following her around as she walked from the Love Me section's room to Sawada Takanori's office to get her cast signed, stopping anyone she vaguely knew on the way to shove a sharpie at them. It was Takanori that noticed—after demanding and receiving all the expected explanations for all the adventures she'd had the last couple of days—that Hikaru hadn't signed yet. Kyoko turned him with aggrieved eyes.
"I'm so sorry! I'm the worst girlfriend in the history of the world!"
"Relax," he said, "I'll sign it now. Actually I wanna draw…may I?"
"Definitely," she collapsed into a seat and he knelt in front of her again. She rather hoped he wouldn't make a habit of it. He really did remind her of herself, and she didn't like the thought of him being as subservient as she'd been.
Takanori was like, "Excuse me? Girlfriend?"
Kyoko was like, "Oh, dear."
"Exactly," Hikaru chuckled, and let her explain that too while he sketched on the underside (other side) of her arm. A heart, cradled by a sickle moon, and a few squiggles to represent a river. His humble attempt at being artistic with an unfamiliar medium. Shin'ichi might've laughed, but Kyoko loved it. If he ever wrote this girl a song, Hikaru thought, she'd shine like a goddamn star. He'd written Naie a song, once. It was on the album that was coming out. Now that was something to wince about; if he and Kyoko were together and that song came on the radio…
He told himself he had gotten his heart broken, and she had too. He told himself Naie was the past, and Shou was too. He told himself to look at Kyoko, and liked what he saw. He really did. He asked himself if he was a bad man for liking it so much so soon after loving someone else. That question didn't get an answer.
"Kyoko," he said, and Takanori jumped again at the rapport they had going on between them, "Where did Tsuruga-san sign?"
"Um," replied his girlfriend, his paramour, his divine dewdrop of blushing girlhood (ahaha, if he ever put it quite that way…) "He didn't. I never did ask him. He'd think it was childish."
"You should've offered," Hikaru stuck his tongue between his teeth, put a few final touches to his masterpiece, and took a seat next to her on the other side of Takanori's desk, "Who knows, he might've made an exception for you."
"There's no way he would've."
The guitar player shrugged, as if to say Kyoko knew best, and peered at the obviously shocked Sawada Takanori. "Sir, do you want us to get you a coffee or anything?"
"I…I'm fine, Ishibashi-kun. And I suppose I'm happy for you. Our Kyoko-chan is innocent, please take care of her. I leave her in your capable hands."
Hikaru got that feeling again, like he was taking a bride off her father's hands. Kyoko was staring at Sawada, a little touched and a little scared. Bridge Rock's big guy threw his arm around her, and drawled.
"Sawada-saaaaaaan, you have nothing to worry about. She's gonna be my princess."
He squeezed her shoulder; she leaned into him. Takanori beamed like a lighthouse. They left his presence.
"Sorry," she whispered, still stuck to his side. He slid his arm around hers and twined fingers.
"What for?"
"Sawada-san might've embarrassed you…"
"He only told me what I've already realized. A Love Me section member is seriously loved at LME. By Takarada-sama, by everyone." He cracked up. "I feel like I married the dearest daughter of a rich man."
"And that doesn't scare you?" her eyes had gone round as the moon at the mere mention of marriage.
"I was here before you, remember? I know how crazy people around here can be." He smiled. "And I know how warm they can be. People pity Bridge Rock because we three brothers have only each other. They forget where we come from. LME is one big family—not always happy, but what family is? It's entirely the President's fault, of course."
Kyoko worried. "If you're part of the family, and I'm part of the family, does that mean we're practicing incest?"
"…You're weird, Kyoko."
"Answer the question, please."
"Um, no. It doesn't. It really, really does not."
Out of nowhere, Joan Jett started to sing I think of you every night and day/ You took my heart, then you took my pride away~ and Hikaru blamed Shin'ichi for fiddling with his cell phone ring tone. That song was way too appropriate for the heart-ripped Hikaru of yesterday and way too awkward for the hooked up version of right now. Kyoko, luckily, didn't have the grip on English she'd need to figure out what the device was crooning before Hikaru took the call.
"President? Yes?"
He told them a car was ready to take them to Akatoki Agency, who'd won the coin toss (what? Seriously? Wait—this was Lory; there was no need to be surprised) for the venue of the press meet. Shou and his manager would meet them at the back entrance and go over the answers to the questions they were expecting. He held Kyoko's hand until they slid onto the leather upholstery of the LME company vehicle, and then she had to let go to fix her hair. He probed himself to see if it hurt to not hold her hand and found it didn't. That didn't mean anything, he told himself, and it was because he knew he could hold her hand again if he wanted to. Stop talking to yourself, he told himself, and to talk to the girl sitting next to you.
She wasn't done with her hair, though, so he changed his ringtone first.
000
A stony silence rang out (no, really) in the room adjoined to the conference hall. Shouko would later reflect that it was the least fun she had ever had in her career.
"Heads up—I don't care about the massive amounts of drama in your lives right now, or how much you hate each other. When you get in there," she was fairly threatening them, "You will be cordial. To the reporters and to one another. You're three best friends. There is no love triangle, do you understand me? There was Shou and Kyoko; now there is Shou and Hikaru."
"What?"
"I mean Hikaru and Kyoko! Jeez how'd I ever make a mistake like that I shudder to think." She laughed nervously.
Kyoko bowed low. "You don't have to worry about me, Shouko-san, ma'am. As a Love Me section member and a representative of LME, I will be on my best behavior."
"Oh?" Shou sneered, "Then you won't be attacking handsome young idols tonight?"
"Not if they keep their hands to themselves I won't," she shot back. Hikaru took her arm in an attempt to cool her down, and Shou glared daggers at him. The eldest (and by far the most mature) star stared back in cool disregard.
"I give," Shouko griped, "Get out there." And, as Shou passed her, quieter: "Don't let the vultures tear you apart."
He gave a lightning-flash smile. Hikaru held the door open for first Kyoko, and then her ex.
The reporters dug right in.
Oh wait, no they didn't. They sat like civilized human beings through first Shou's address, and then Kyoko's add-on, and finally Hikaru's soft words of assurance that their glittery world was fine as ever. Shou even signed Kyoko's cast in front of the rolling cameras. They loved it. Tsuruga Ren didn't. No one cares about him, though.
Shouko stepped onto the dais and called, "We'll take your questions now—just a few, please. We'd like to wrap this up."
After a couple of no-brainers on Kyoko's not-pregnancy and Hikaru's relationship with her, a columnist hollered, "Fuwa-kun, is your full name really Shoutaru?"
Shou was expecting this though, and even with Kyoko's demoralizing gaze on him he was one hell of a smooth talker. "Yes, yes it is. I wished to keep my identity hidden for as long as possible so as not to be found out by my family—well, I'm ultimately a runaway teen." He gave the cameras a rebellious, heart-throbbing smirk. "Looks like I could've done a better job, huh?"
An appreciative round of chuckles swept the room, and then came his downfall.
"Fuwa-kun, this humble person remembers footage of the Yappa! Kimigure Rock episode where you said the day you revealed your true name would be the day you retired from your music. What does this mean for your career now?"
Shouko froze; Hikaru cringed visibly. Kyoko's eyes were still on Shou, full of horror. The blond batted lazy lids and drawled,
"By all means—I have retired. From pop! I plan on being a serious musician now, not just an idol for my fans. But believe me." Another show-stopping smirk. "The fans will have more reasons to stick with me than ever."
He set sight on his manager's shoulders, and the way they relaxed ever so slightly was all he needed to tell him that he'd done a bang-up job of keeping it together. Hikaru couldn't help but admire his quick thinking. Kyoko couldn't help but be a bit disappointed. He could've squirmed just a little before coming out looking cooler than ever. She imagined a thousand fangirls viewing the interview at home must have had the screaming faints all due to that last line. She sure would've when she was dating him.
Shouko delivered the closing statement and ushered them back to the other room before her charge was endangered in any other way, and then returned to have a word with the correspondents as to how Akatoki and LME wanted the interview written about. With no one to watch them and no one to stop them, Hikaru got Kyoko her coat.
"Are you sure we can leave?"
"Sure," he said, "If they do need you for anything else they can call. But there were plenty of photo-ops and you've said everything you need to say. What's the point in lingering?"
"Right," she agreed, and made for the door. He turned to Shou even if she wouldn't—they'd been drunk together, after all. He couldn't just ignore the man, even if he had once been heinous to his new girlfriend.
"Well, Fuwa," Hikaru held out a hand for Shou to shake, "Thanks for being decent about all this."
And because no one but Shouko had ever dared accuse Shoutaru of being a decent human being and got away unscathed, he took the hand and replied, "No problem. Hope my leftovers taste good, Ishibashi."
Kyoko whirled, eyes blazing, and Shouko walked in to catch Hikaru throwing Shou to the floor with one neat punch to the jaw. She shrieked and slammed the door behind her, utterly grateful that the reporters had all but left. Before she could rush to his side, Hikaru squatted by the stunned blond superstar.
"Why would you be such a giant pain in my ass all of a sudden? Because I'm going out with Kyoko?" Shou twitched silently at the name. "You deserved that punch, you know that right?"
Shou responded with a fist to his face. Hikaru caught it in both hands and had the gall to look surprised.
"What was that for?"
"You were seeing her when you were with me!"
"Oh, jeez."
Shou sat up and cursed. "You deserve a punch too. Admit it. Spending all that time with me crying over your stupid ex-girlfriend when the whole time you were dating mine!"
Kyoko towered over them both. "We only began dating today, Shoutaru. Stop acting like a dumped teenager. Oh wait," she could smirk too; he'd never known that. "That's exactly what you are, right? Hikaru, don't waste your time on this guy. Let's go."
Hikaru looked at Shou and said, "She's right, you know. About us beginning today and the other thing too."
"Ishibashi…"
"The funny thing is," the chestnut-haired hero lowered his voice so the girls had to strain to hear him. "You don't seem like such a bad guy when I'm face-to-face with you. But man, you were a douche to her. Do you even have an excuse?"
"She was really easy to be a douche too?" Shou lowered his voice too, not wondering why he bothered.
"You definitely deserved that punch."
"So we're cool?" Shou was eager to know. He had issues with Ren and Kyoko because Ren was his rival; who gave a flying fuck if Hikaru, a fellow musician (lower on the charts than he was) wanted her? Take her, and his blessing. Take her, and good luck.
"Uh." Hikaru looked to the impatient, affronted actress. "I don't think so, no." Nonetheless he clapped the boy on the shoulder before getting up and bowing to Shouko.
"Thanks for having us, ma'am."
"It's not a problem," she whispered faintly back.
He wanted to take Kyoko's hand as he walked out the door, but Shou called out to him. The girl loitered in the background as Hikaru walked back.
"What?"
"Here." The pop prince threw a prettily wrapped package at him. "It's to make up to her for yesterday—like Takarada-san wanted. Give it to her later." He saw the way the other man was eyeing it. "It's not a bomb, you know. Or a live snake. Or a—"
"I know."
"Okay."
On the verge of words, Hikaru was distracted by the thought of Kyoko waiting for him. He nodded to Shou, who nodded back, and they separated.
000
"Do you not want to open it in front of me?"
The car thrummed smoothly along the road; the driver in the front seat was really good at pretending he couldn't hear them. Nonetheless, Hikaru leaned in and spoke quietly. The faux fur on her faux leather jacket tickled his nose, and he fought back a sneeze. The golden evening sky was hardly visible through the windows' dark tint. That was how most celebrities liked it, but Hikaru preferred something like the honey glaze on his own hot ride. Kyoko covered the package in her lap with both hands and looked into his eyes. His head reeled a bit. Talk about honey…
"That's not it at all! I'm mad at him because he gave it to you—because he knew I'd just play toss with him if he tried to buy some comfort for his conscience like this." He couldn't deny that found the dissonance between her familiar, kind face and the flat scorn in her voice striking. Like blood on snow, or a monster in your fridge.
"You know," he spoke carelessly again, "I think we should really spend more time with that guy."
The pained pinch between her eyes informed him of his blunder. "Why? Oh no—oh no, Tsuruga-san was right. You're friends with him, aren't you?"
"It's not about that." Hikaru leaned his neck back against the seat and twined their fingers together. Kyoko glanced at the contact—and shrunk away. He raised his eyebrows, and she shook her head, and he scooted away, and she gave a moue of mourning like she regretted her reaction. Hikaru touched his knuckles to hers. "Uh…what was I saying?"
"It's not about you being friends with Shou."
"It's not. It's that I feel this entirely different you when you're near him. I've known Mogami Kyoko for what, a year now, and sometimes I get to wondering if she's the real thing. It's not you—I get that way with any actor. You're a creepy bunch. I never know if you're putting on airs or what. Somehow, ever since that first episode with Shou, I just knew that at that moment at least you weren't faking anything. You didn't remember any training, didn't call on any etiquette and didn't use any mannerisms."
"It's hard to fake ice cold hatred that sears like a thousand suns."
He almost laughed, because she was almost joking.
"I meant that I wanna see more of that side of you. Don't get me wrong—you're the bestiest, most well-mannered girl I've met but…"
"I'm more attractive as a demon?"
Hikaru noticed the change in her tone and proceeded with caution. "It's a cheap thrill, courting a demon. The danger takes your breath away…and then eventually frustrates you. I happen to like nice girls."
"Good. Because I'm not a demon." She covered his hand with hers. "Shoutaru's paid me more attention and—in his own, twisted way—been sweeter to me after I started hounding him for revenge. But that's not the person I want to be. I…I don't know what I want to be. My manners that you like so much? His mother taught me them, and I learned because I wanted to make her happy. I can't jettison them now…"
"And the kindness?" Hikaru's voice sent lonely shivers down her spine. "Who taught you that?"
"…"
"I'm well aware of the dangers of dating a seventeen year old," he admitted freely, "Personality liable to change, right? Some things won't, though. Some traits you were born with."
Her lower lip quivered. "Dangers? So I'm a cheap thrill for you?"
Ah, he'd been careless once more. Fix it, fix it. "I don't know what you are." Honesty so was not good at fixing things. "Do you wanna open it?" He patted the peace offering. Kyoko waited a beat, acquiesced and slit the wrapping sleekly on the side with a lacquered fingernail. A slim, rectangular wooden box appeared, obviously made to hold necklaces.
"Oh, wow," hissed her boyfriend, amazed. Inside laid a thin silvery chain with a large sapphire pendant on a blanket of white satin. Two smaller sapphires, encircled by more silver, constituted the earrings and nestled in the curve of the trinket. "He's really set the bar way up there for me. If the ex gives such spectacular gifts, what do I do? Fuwa, you son of a bitch."
Kyoko rubbed a finger against the bulbous sapphire adorning the chain. Was she pondering what Hikaru was pondering?
"That sapphire at dinner on Tuesday," he began slowly, gaging her antiphon with every word he spoke, "Does that mean something to the both of you?"
She laughed, taking him unawares. "To Shoutaru? No. Apparently he thinks I like sapphires. I'm shocked he even noticed that I had Corn."
Confusion, naturally, struck hard. "What does corn have to do with anything?"
"That's the name of the stone."
Hikaru knew better than to ask, you name your gems? Yuusei had once given monikers to every pair of socks he owned. Fame had fucked with that kid's head in an outlandish, other-worldly way for a while.
"Are you going to…wear it?"
"No."
"Are you going to…pawn it?"
A longer lapse to reply.
"No…"
"Should I never buy you sapphires?"
Her eyes darted up to meet his in frank alarm. "You should never buy me anything expensive! I'm not worth it!"
"Hey, if Fuwa can—"
"Shoutaru should spend recklessly on me to start to repay my youth, my old self—not that he could ever put a price on it."
"What if I think you're worth expensive things?"
"Then you'll know you've lost it."
"Kyoko, please. You know the two monkeys I grew up with. Do you think I ever really had it to begin with?"
She giggled and took the time to pack away the necklace box into her day bag. An interminable span of comfortable silence later, the driver announced, "Darumaya Inn—will madam be disembarking?"
"Um." She didn't want to go, of course. It was warm inside the car, and Hikaru was the right distance from her. He didn't want her to go either—and hit upon the perfect excuse.
"No way. Driver, move on. We only got together today," he explained to her, "I haven't taken you on our first date yet."
"First date?" she bit her lip. "I thought lunch was it."
He was aghast. She apologized for underestimating him. He understood they were both tired, and told the driver to take them to his building.
"You're taking me home?" she squeaked.
"Yes," he replied quizzically before grasping what she'd meant. "No—not. In. That. Way."
The driver pulled up to his building and announced it. Hikaru asked her to wait in the car while he ran upstairs for some stuff. Kyoko demurely looked into her lap and thought of calling Kanae, but the call didn't go through. Sighing at the shitty signals, Kyoko looked out into traffic.
Everyone and their brother finding out about her mother, about Shoutaru had been a nasty wake-up call. The world she had chased her not-prince to wasn't always one full of hard work and good people. It was a life of invaded privacy and divulged secrets. Strangely, she wasn't as devastated as she thought she would be. Until she came to Tokyo there had been no one to hide her mother's cruelty from. Everyone in her neighborhood knew of it; knew also how the Fuwa family had taken her in. She'd been judged for both her parents' shortcomings and being Shou's…what?
It still drove her nuts to think that the boy she'd grown up with never thought of her quite so fondly as she'd thought of him. Oh, he had never been evil—Shou had never been born cruel or raised cruel, had never been able to hold a candle to her mother. His callousness came later to him in life.
Unlike her mother. Mogami mamma never did tell her daughter why she hated her so much. Mogami mamma had never confessed to anyone else for Kyoko to overhear because she had no one to talk to. There was no one in her life but Kyoko…and she'd left that burden behind…
"It's been twenty minutes! My brothers are terrible. I'm sorry—I brought you ice cream though." Hikaru peered at her through the open window. "Are you okay?"
She quit musing instantaneously. "Where are we going?"
"We're taking my car to the Metropolitan Government Office," he elucidated as he held the door open for her. Handing her the ice cream cone, he tipped the driver and sent him off. Kyoko was like,
"Fudge and strawberry is an unusual flavor. Plus, don't the observation decks close at five?"
"Ah," Hikaru was glad she asked, "I called in a favor from a friend that manages the café on the Northern deck. He's promised to keep it open just for us. We'll watch the sun set and watch the city awake."
"Doesn't the sun set in the west?"
"Ah," he was unhappy she asked, "A common misconception."
He led her to his ride and she took the passenger seat with some pride. As he ignited his engine (innuendo unintended) he said, "To be completely honest? Not my choice for a first date."
"What?" Kyoko looked at him like he was crazy. "My 'first date' with Shou was when he took me to a teriyaki stand on my birthday rather than making me cook. Believe me Hikaru-san—um, Hikaru. You've surpassed him."
"If you don't mind," crossly the guitarist said, "I'm not gonna use him as a standard, okay? I was joking when I said about the necklace…"
"Fine," Kyoko relented, "What was your first choice for a first date?"
"With you. There's this place in Hakone where they'll do whatever you want for the right amount of money…"
"In the red light district?" she asked innocuously. Hikaru slammed the brakes at a red light.
"What! No. …You knew exactly what you were saying, didn't you? Cute. No, this is a respectable place. I'd have arranged a dinner for two and whisked you away overnight there. Well, I know how much you love Disneyland," because Yappa! Kimigure Rock had shot a special episode there and Kyoko had nearly expired of joy, "The place would be set up as a palace banquet hall. And you'd be a princess, and I'd be King Henry or whoever."
She clapped her hands together. "That sounds perfect! Who's King Henry?"
"Someone too dead to talk about." He turned up the volume on the stereo. "Listen! I love this song."
"Yeah," she fondly recalled, "When it first came out you had it playing constantly on the show sets between takes. Drove Yuusei-san mad."
Later, after arriving at their destination and having a good look around the empty-but-for-a-waiter café, Kyoko beamed and told Hikaru:
"Forget Hakone. That sounds like a fairy tale, but this is really nice too. Thank you."
"You're right: forget Hakone. I should've kept that a secret to surprise you with later. We were going to do that—Yuusei and Shin'ichi and I—for your birthday this year. To make up for not knowing about your birthday last year. Is it last year? I can never tell with people born at the end of December."
"You were what?" her eyes were wide. "Why? To go that far for a colleague…"
"How many dinners and lunches and after work snacks do we have to ask you out for it to sink in?" demanded the brunet, waving at the waiter to bring over some virgin drinks, "You're not a colleague, you're a friend. One of our favorite people. One of my favorite people."
"S-sorry," she stammered, flattered and flustered at once.
"Mm. If you think you'll forget it, I can have a poster declaring it super-glued to your back."
He was teasing. She was at ease again.
"I don't think you need to go that far…"
"Hah."
"Hikaru-san? Hikaru?"
"Hmm?"
"You're one of my favorite people too."
He closed his eyes and smelled the strawberry-something the waiter brought to them.
"I won't forget."
And outside, the day faded to night.
x.x.x.x.x.x
abingdon boys school is a real live Japanese band that makes amazing music. They're named for the school Radiohead was formed at and wrote music for notable anime like D. Gray-Man and Darker than Black; also for one video game whose name I can't remember. Name lower cased on purpose.
The narrator is real and the video game is Wave Race: Blue Storm for the GameCube. It's an Easter egg unlocked by a cheat code. Go to YouTube and search "You have chosen poorly" for more details on how to unlock it.
Hey there, anonymous reviewer. In response to your criticism—I believe that any and all fanfiction is 'out-of-character'. But I see what you mean; I can't really help you there because these guys play out this way when I get inside their heads. As for discrepancies from the manga canon, I wish you'd tell me what they were so I can fix them. Also, this is how I was gonna put Kyoko and Hikaru together. Like it? Love it? Lemme know.