Story: Knots of Gray
Chapter: 3. Powder Lunch
Author: The Last Kitten
Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Dir en Grey and I don't personally know any of its members. I'm not making any money off this fic…trust me. Tear
AN: If Kaoru and Kyo's real last names are wrong I apologize profusely. I must have read about them on twenty different web sites, excluding their official site because the characters and stuff wouldn't show up on my computer. I saw their real names spelled about ten different ways so I eventually just picked one. Again I apologize to Kao-kun and Kyo-kun if they're spelled wrong, and I hope you can overlook that small detail. Gomen.
Author's Note:
"Dude!" Means talking.
'Duuuude!' Means thinking.
Ooooooooooooooo Means a scene change.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Konichiwa, Mr. and Mrs. Dimitre. I'm so pleased that you selected to dine at our humble establishment."
Camera bulbs flashed furiously as a tall lean man bowed at the waist. Aleksis and Skyler stood in front of their sleek black limo, flanked by three enormous gun-wielding bodyguards. The stylishly seasoned man in front of them was instantly imprinted in Skyler's mind, and she was only slightly put off by his stale businessman demeanor. "We've prepared one of our two VIP dining rooms for you, and today we have an excellent menu of specially selected dishes in your honor," he brownnosed.
Skyler barely listened as the man prattled on about the menu. The breeze was picking up, and she pulled her fitted charcoal colored leather coat closer. Her eyes wandered to the dozens of photographers still snapping pictures, as Aleksis and the stuffy man shook hands and chatted. The limo pulled off behind them, and as she turned to watch, time began to lag.
Every building, car, license plate, streetlight, street sign, and human face in sight began to form and stick in her mind.
Suddenly, there was a huge gust of wind and the photo was interrupted. Skyler blinked confusedly and shook her head. That had never happened before. Her photographic memory was automatic and nothing had ever interrupted it.
The tiny mistral had come from the same direction they'd driven to the restaurant, and Skyler turned her face into the wind. The breeze was crisp and cold, like an early winter morning. But it was noon now, and the sun was high in the sky, having already melted last night's sprinkling of snow. The crispness of the air was notably strange to her as she looked around again, watching the visible exhaust of Tokyo's lunch time traffic.
"Baloven," Aleksis broke in to her thoughts putting an arm around her shoulders.
Skyler took one last look back and just caught sight of another black limo pulling up to the restaurant as they walked through the front door.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Damn it Shinya! Why'd you give him that shit right before we went out in public," Kaoru shouted.
Shinya and Kyo looked at each other and began snickering. Shinya barely hid his laughter behind his hand, and turned to look out of the tinted window. Kyo rested his head on Daisuke's shoulder and ignored his concerned stare.
"Oh come on Kao-chan, we'll behave…I promise," Kyo grinned. He extended his leg and nudged the inside of Kaoru's thigh.
Toshiya and Kaoru were seated, facing Daisuke Kyo and Shinya, in the adjacent leather limo seats. Toshiya also attempted to hide his laughter and looked out the window. He knew they were in for a hell of a weekend if Kyo and Shinya were already flying at noon on a Friday. Lunch would be a complete spectacle, and Kaoru would probably end up trying to strangle the two.
Shinya wasn't so bad when he was high, it was alcohol that one wanted to steer him away from. When high, the normally stoic man would open up and hold deep, all be it nonsensical, conversations; a real treat for Daisuke. One could ask him anything and he would almost always give an answer. But sometimes, even dancing with the white lady, Shinya could be hard to probe for answers to personal questions.
Kyo, on the other hand, became more unpredictable, moody, and potentially dangerous than normal when he flew. They all knew the man's skill, greatly needed in their…other line of work. In the domestic setting, one would be wise to steer clear of his temper when he was under the influence. Toshiya recalled a time when they'd all nearly been arrested because of one of Kyo's night club brawls. The man had been damn near a foot taller than him, but Kyo took the giant down with the first blow and continued kicking him until the cops pulled their guns on him. No one had been able to restrain the slight man as he kicked in the man's teeth and ribs.
When the girl he'd been fighting over called him crazy, he smacked her in the face and continued kicking the stout man until the cops arrived.
Only Kyo had been arrested that night, as he insisted Kaoru Shinya and Toshiya hadn't been involved, a sober moment in his drug induced rage. Luckily, Andohara-sama had been blackmailing the judge at the time and got the charges dropped. He threatened the battered man and paid both him and the girl off. They had narrowly escaped that time and Toshiya was glad, for a moment, that his father was Yakuza.
Toshiya snapped back to attention when Kaoru slapped Kyo's foot away from his crotch.
"You better fucking behave yourself Kyo. People are going to start recognizing you now. You can't act like a jack ass in public anymore…it's bad for business," Kaoru complained loudly.
Kyo chuckled to himself and poked Shinya in the side, but Shinya just snickered louder and kept his face turned away. Kaoru shook his head as the driver opened the door for them to step out in to the cold autumn air and bright camera flashes.
The weather had been unusually cold this year. It was barely October and it was already snowing. The five men shivered slightly as the lanky adulate restaurant owner approached them.
"Konichiwa, Mr. Niikura, Mr. Nishimura, Mr. Terachi, and Mr. and Mr. Andouhara. I'm so pleased that you've selected to dine at our humble establishment. My name is Hana Chairoi and…."
Kyo suddenly burst into laughter and Shinya turned around to hide his face.
"Um…," the stuffy man continued. "We've prepared one of our two VIP dining rooms for you, and today we have an excellent menu of specially selected dishes in your honor."
Eventually Kyo's laughter settled into a barely controlled chuckling, and he tuned the man out as he blatantly continued kissing Kaoru's ass. The air had grown deathly still as they stepped out of the limo, but now it was picking up again. Kyo shivered as a particularly strong gust of wind blew open the doors of the restaurant.
The gale nearly knocked him over and he held on to Shinya for support, but the photographers weren't so lucky. Cameras went flying, along with several of the men attached to them, when the gust hit.
"Please, come inside," Chairoi called as politely as possible over the howling wind. "The room has already been prepared."
Kaoru nodded and the group quickly followed the man inside.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Inside the men followed a tiny woman dressed as a geisha toward the back of the large restaurant.
The main dining area of the Midori Nihon was set up in the usual way, with individual tables and booths, but the decor was embellished with traditional Japanese art. Each table had its own individual mini stone lantern as a center piece, and some tables were sectioned off by Bamboo folding screens decorated with pictures of Banzai trees, Kabuki Theater, famous Samurai, and even Sumo wrestlers. The dark mahogany floors were polished to a perfect shine, interspersed with ornate azure rugs splayed with lush white Sakura trees. The walls were adorned with crisp rice paper detailing masterful calligraphy, enhanced with smaller lights positioned on the floor. There were no windows, but there was a wide stage at the far end of the room for dinnertime entertainment.
Shirakawa Gunpachirō sang about a pair of fallen lovers over the speaker system, and the room was alive with gossiping whispers as they passed through.
Two large adjacent rooms, separated both from the main room and each other by way of a narrow hallway, served as the VIP rooms. Each one was huge and furnished more extravagantly than the main area.
There were several lavish silk cream and bamboo colored pillows surrounding a low set table as the Nishimura party entered their room. The floor underneath the long auburn table was covered with a deep emerald green rug, and the dining party stared in awe as they sat down.
"Neko and Inu will be your waitresses today…," Chairoi nodded at the two mock Geisha.
Again Kyo and Shinya began snickering, and Daisuke elbowed Kyo in the side lightly, trying to hide his own smile.
"If there is anything else I can do for you, please, do not hesitate to ask." Hana bowed and stepped out of the room, closing the sliding paper door in front of himself.
As soon as the door closed Shinya let out a bark of laughter, holding his side in pain. Daisuke and Toshiya also began laughing, and even Kaoru began chuckling. He outright laughed when he saw the two geisha with their hands over their mouths and eyes squeezed shut against the giddy air in the room. Kyo alone stood quiet, staring at the inordinate paintings surrounding them. Eventually the laughter faded as the group noticed the missing mirth.
"Kyo, what's wrong," Kaoru asked.
Kyo didn't answer, he merely wondered further away, down the wall.
"Kyo," Shinya asked worriedly, a moment later.
Kyo stood fixed, staring at the wall as if he hadn't heard them.
Calmly and quietly, Daisuke stood and walked over to Kyo. He touched his shoulder and the shorter man started, wide eyed.
"Kyo," Daisuke asked in a small voice. "You ok?"
Immediately Kyo's face broke into a smile.
"Yea. Why?"
Daisuke looked up at the wall. "Well you weren't talking and you were staring at the walls and we were…."
"I'm fine," Kyo cut in and looked back at the wall. Abruptly he turned away from it, pulling Daisuke with him back over to the long table. When they were all seated everyone quietly waited for some sign that the day hadn't been ruined, and finally Kyo sighed.
"Utsuku-chan told me the story of "The Robe of Feathers" when I was little…and I'll have the niku dongo, cabbage roles, and the grilled tuna." Kyo tossed the pre-placed menu back on the table with a smile, and laid back on one of the larger pillows.
Time seemed to speed back up to normal as soon as his head hit the pillow, and the group continued on as usual. Shinya and Kaoru began discussing a television appearance for Kyo, Toshiya flirted the telephone number out of the cat geisha, and Daisuke pretended not to sneak glances at Shinya while giving his order to the dog geisha.
Kyo sat quietly and stared at the painted wall upside down.
Although nowhere near the quality of his own work, the illustration was beautiful. The shape and white of the feather robe hanging on the pine tree, the wonder on Hairukoo's simply drawn face, and the classic beauty of the sea-maiden were intriguing to him.
He followed the story with his eyes and frowned as the maiden danced in her newly returned white feather coat.
She would leave him soon. She had tricked him into giving her the thing he coveted most in the world, and although she had kept her word, the thing he treasured most was now lost to him.
Kyo closed his eyes.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Keiniku and Gyūniku will be your waitresses today…," Chairoi nodded at the two Geisha.
Skyler looked down at her lap and discreetly hid her smile behind a well groomed hand. Aleksis shot a warning glance at her when she looked up.
"My name is Hana Chairoi…."
Skyler pretended to cough lightly and looked away again, trying hard to control her laughter. Aleksis squared his jaw and glanced at the wall to calm himself before nodding at the slightly seething man kneeling by the door.
"I am the owner and manager of this establishment," he said tightly. "If there is anything else I can do for you, please, do not hesitate to ask." Hana bowed and stepped out of the room closing the sliding paper door in front of himself.
As soon as the door closed Skyler let go of the bubble of laughter she'd been holding in.
"Is he serious," she asked the geisha. "Is that really his name?"
"Skyler," Aleksis half laughed, and the geisha began giggling.
"Oh come on Aleksis, his name is brown nose," she chuckled.
Aleksis shook his head, and began looking at the menu. Skyler glanced around the room and did the same.
Their room was decorated the same as the other, only the fairy tale mural was different.
"I'll have the sake marinated mushroom salad, the tonkatsu, and the shu mai," Aleksis said indifferently. Keiniku bowed, collected his menu, and shuffled over to the sliding door. As she stepped through, Skyler looked out across the hall at the closed door of the adjacent VIP room.
'I wonder who's in there.'
"I wonder if it's…," Skyler mumbled.
"Excuse me miss, are you ready to order," Gyūniku questioned quietly. Skyler looked away just as the second room's door opened and their door closed.
"Hai, sumimasen. I'll have the tofu donburi, the meat and potatoes korokke, and the cabbage roles. Argato Gyūniku-san."
Gyuniku looked surprised for a moment but quickly bowed to hide her smile. She shuffled over to the door and again it was opened as its twin was closed.
Aleksis took a moment to look around the room and nodded his approval. "This restaurant is very nice, even by my standards." He inclined his head towards the wall he was facing. "Do you know that story," he asked.
Skyler turned on her large pillow. "Yes, actually. The story is called "Kyūketsuki Neko"…"The Vampire Cat". It's a story about Ito Soda, a brave and loyal infantry man, who saves his Emperor from a monstrous shape shifting goblin cat." Skyler gestured menacingly and Aleksis smiled.
"A natural story teller," he chuckled. "Too bad your goblin cat looks like an angry kitten." Skyler stuck her tongue out at him just as his phone rang. "Dimitre," he answered in a deep voice. Skyler pouted and listened in for a moment, but Aleksis looked at her seriously and whispered to her while standing up. "I have to take this."
Skyler nodded and sat patiently.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Kyo opened his eyes and sat up.
He rubbed slowly at the back of his neck and pulled out a cigarette. For a moment he watched the dance of the two VIP room doors opening and closing, but then stared down at his tea.
"Kyo, you can't smoke in here," Daisuke whispered across the table.
Kyo looked him right in the eye as he proceeded to flick his lighter open and hold it to his cigarette.
"What are they gonna do," he inhaled. "Kick me out."
Daisuke shook his head and Kyo looked at him seriously.
"What's wrong Kyo," Daisuke whispered.
Kyo rested his elbows further across the table as he leaned in to speak, and Daisuke listened quietly.
"I had a weird dream last night," he began, and took a drag. "I dreamt that I was Ito Soda…you know from that story. I forget what it's called."
"Kyūketsuki Neko," Daisuke nodded.
"Yea, that was it. Anyway, I was sitting in the palace watching the Emperor sleep, but…the Emperor wasn't the Emperor. He was…." Kyo stopped to take a puff and a glance at the rest of their distracted party. "The emperor was Sky-chan." Daisuke's eyebrows rose. "Funny thing was, the goblin cat was also Sky-chan."
Daisuke furrowed his eyebrows, "That is weird."
"Yea," Kyo replied. "And you know she has those eyes." He gave a mock shiver.
"Oh yea, I know," Daisuke said with an uncomfortable expression. They sat lost in thought for a moment before Daisuke stole Kyo's cigarette and took a puff. He choked on it when the door opened again, and Kyo began snickering.
"Will you be requiring anything else," Neko asked, coyly sneaking a glance at Toshiya.
Kaoru began speaking but Kyo gradually tuned him out as two more geisha slid open the second VIP room door.
Past Daisuke, past the two geisha at their door, and past the two geisha kneeling at the opposite door, he saw her. Curling locks, cat eyes, and all…every doll in the world wished it looked like her.
He stared unsure of how to react, and then she looked up.
There was no shock in her smile, only cheer, and Kyo thought he could see her small eyes sparkle even from where he sat in the next room.
It was his imagination of course, he knew, and when Aleksis wandered by the connection was broken.
Aleksis was in the middle of a heated conversation with someone on his cell, and Skyler's eyes followed him.
Suddenly, the doors began to close and Kyo watched her stand to follow him as his view was blocked.
He sat rigid for a full minute before Shinya's words reached his ears.
"Nani," he asked snapping to attention.
"I said are you ok," Shinya chuckled. "You were looking a little…."
Kyo coolly got to his feet and took a drag. "I'm going to the bar."
"What…why," Daisuke chimed in.
"Why do you think?" It was said without thought as he began walking toward the door, but Kaoru narrowed his eyes.
"They can bring you a dink," he said suspiciously.
Kyo took another puff as he stepped between the two geisha. "Well I want to go to the bar."
Kaoru, Shinya, Toshiya, and Daisuke all looked at each other and sighed. Kyo was notorious for his drug induced mood swings, and time alone was usually the cure.
In the hall, Kyo glanced at the Dimitre's door.
"This is such a bad idea," he smirked and shook his head.
Rummaging through his pockets he managed to find a small scrap of paper and a pen. He scribbled quickly and took Neko aside before heading out to a secluded corner of the bar.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Well I don't give a damn if Vanechka didn't like the opening proposal," Aleksis yelled in Russian. "It's my God damned company and I liked it. I want a fresh copy of the entire presentation on my desk when I get back. Do you understand me, Stesha?"
Skyler lightly touched his shoulder and Aleksis turned to look into her worried eyes. She put her hand over his heart reminding him of his high blood pressure, and he smiled tightly, covering her hand with his own.
"I'll be back in three days," he said warningly to his secretary. "I want the proposal and the contact information on my desk." He snapped his phone shut and took a breath. "I'm sorry, Ljubitel'. Can you set up my lab top? I'm going to need to make a conference call and I need to have the files in front of me."
Skyler sighed, "You said we could have lunch together today."
"I know, I know, and I'm sorry. Vanechka put in a vote to veto the Kaatje account," Aleksis said tiredly.
Skyler nodded in understanding and went to retrieve his briefcase. Fadey Vanechka had been a thorn in Aleksis's side for nearly five years, ever since his father died. He had used his father's connections and the sympathy of his friends to gain a position on Aleksis's Board of Trustees, but what he was really after was the company itself. Back dealing and underhanded hostile takeovers seemed to come naturally to the young man. And Skyler often wondered why Aleksis never gave the order to have the thorn removed permanently.
Aleksis sat down on a large cushion beside her and began dialing another number while she booted up his computer. As she typed in the pass code Gyūniku came in to kneel next to her. Aleksis turned away from them, speaking very low as not to be overheard, and Skyler turned to Gyūniku to thank her. Gyūniku blushed and bowed as she handed Skyler the tea, but she quickly turned and shuffled back to the door.
Skyler stared after her for a moment, and then at the note hidden beneath the teacup. She glanced back at Aleksis before opening it, and almost laughed at the poor handwriting.
"Come to the bar. Kyo," it read.
Skyler's smile fell as she remembered Aleksis's reaction to her wandering off the day before.
'Nothing happened,' she thought.
"True," she mumbled.
'It was completely innocent…and you both agreed that you would try to make some real friends.'
"But I think he feels threatened," she whispered.
'Well he shouldn't. You love him…we know you love him.'
"I do," she murmured.
'Or maybe…he does have a reason to be threatened.'
"No, he doesn't," Skyler said angrily.
"Skyler," Aleksis said firmly.
She jumped and turned hiding the note under her palm on the floor.
"I'm fine," she squeaked.
Aleksis narrowed his eyes and studied her face closely.
She smiled nervously and met his eyes. "Really, I'm fine."
The voice on the other end of his line began speaking again and he turned back to his laptop.
Skyler took a small breath in relief and closed her hand around the note. She sat quietly, sipping her tea as the thoughts began again.
'Oh, come on…five minutes.'
She frowned again. 'That's what he said last night.'
'Well, then you plan on sitting here eating your birthday lunch by yourself?'
Skyler sighed and rolled her eyes. She looked over the painted walls again until her eyes came back to Aleksis. Silently she watched his fingers fly over the laptop keys as he balanced the cell phone between his head and shoulder. She'd always admired his diligence and, smiling, she leaned over to peck him on the cheek.
"Hold on," Aleksis put the phone down and caught her lips for a second kiss.
"I'm going to the bar for a minute," she whispered.
"Are you sure," he frowned.
"Yea, I'm sure. The guards are positioned at the end of the hall." She slid a long streak of blond behind his ear and kissed him again. "Ten minutes, and I want that laptop put away," she smirked and kissed him one more time.
Aleksis raised an eyebrow before nodding and picking up his phone.
Skyler stood and turned towards the door.
'Ten minutes and that's it. I mean it.'
'Ten minutes.'
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Ok! If you're like me, you looked at those Russian words and thought, 'wtf!' I know, I know, but I just can't resist putting people's native languages in to a story. I used an online English to Russian translation dictionary…thingy. So I don't know how accurate the translations are, but Aleksis is basically calling Skyler things like beloved and lover…you know, your average terms of endearment.
Anyway, I'll answer a spoiler question for whoever guesses the names of Skyler and Aleksis's geisha waitresses. u
Also the references to the Japanese fairy tales are from this site
http:// www. pitt. edu/ dash/ japanlove. html
I had to put spaces in the url so that it would show when I posted it, so don't forget to take the spaces out. And you might want to read "The Robe of Feathers" and "The Vampire Cat" because I chose those two stories for a reason. They're not long, and there are a few other Japanese fairy tales on the site that you might like.
Also, Shirakawa Gunpachirō is a famous Japanese Shamisen player. Google is a wonderful thing. lol
