Chapter 3
This part gets a little fluffy at times. And I am continuing with the switching POVs for this chapter. Please let me know if there is one you prefer better or if you think the story would flow more easily in another style. I'm always up for suggestions, and thank you for reading!!
Hyde gets a visit from some old friends and they decide to go out on the town, where they run into Gackt.
-Hyde's POV-
I closed the door behind me, leaning on it and clutching my wrinkled, wine-stained shirt to my chest. I was feeling a little euphoric at the moment, unsure if it was Gackt's Egoiste cologne that had lodged itself in my nostrils during the car ride over or if I was really just feeling genuinely happy from the evening I had.
Realizing that the real reason might be the latter made me a little nervous.
But as I remained in the dimly lit foyer, leaning on the door, eyes closed, and dare I say a dreamy smile across my face, I was suddenly aware that I was not alone.
When I opened my eyes I saw none other than my wife Megumi, in her most classic pose; wearing a patented pout with a hand on her hip. She held the house phone in her other hand and was glaring at me with a confused and angered expression.
"Hey…Meg," I started, standing up straight and dropping my hand with the stained shirt at my side. Her eyes were drawn to it and narrowed as she noticed the large stain. "Who's on the phone?" I asked, slowly making my way down the long foyer's hall toward her.
"Where have you been and why is your shirt ruined?" she demanded, ignoring my question completely. I stopped in my tracks, tossing my shirt to the floor. She looked at it and then back up at me. I gestured to the phone she still held, eager for a reply on who was waiting on the other end. "Your agent is on the phone." She started and I'm sure that I visibly paled right in front of her. "He's wondering why you left the party so early..."
She held the phone out toward me, her pout tightening as she did so. I swallowed and took the receiver from her hands.
"H-hello?"
Instantly I heard my agent's voice billowing back at me – not because he was angry, moreso because he could barely hear, and I could barely understand him. He must have called me right from the location of the party because it was noisy and there was loud music blaring behind him. All I could make out is 'where are you?' and 'I hope you met with someone or other' and 'call me tomorrow morning, early'. I nodded and tried to respond in kind but already he was saying he'll see me later and hanging up.
I exhaled and turned the phone off.
And then realized I was still standing in front of an angry Megumi.
"Look I've had a long night, we can talk about it tomorrow," I started, walking down the hall with all intents of passing her by.
"Hideto," she scolded just as I brushed past. But I continued to walk. "Hideto, if you left the party early then where have you been all this time?" I heard her voice following behind me and continued up the stairs. "And what the hell did you do to this shirt?" I turned my head back and saw her holding my discarded shirt, turning it around in her hands. As I reached the top of the stairs, I rounded the corner, leaving the phone on a table in the hallway. Megumi continued to ask me questions but finally I was nearing my room and entered it, starting to close the door just as she was approaching.
"Hideto…" she started with a sigh. I closed the door just enough that I could still see her face through the crack.
"I had to stop at Gackt's house for something dealing with his movie project after the party," I responded, hoping it would make her leave me alone. I looked down at the shirt she was holding. "I spilled some wine on my shirt at the party and thankfully had another one in the car to change into," I lied, thinking it best not to go into details about the long night at Gackt's house that she was unfamiliar with due to being out of town the past two days. "Is that all?"
She narrowed her eyes and bundled the shirt in her arms. "I thought you said this movie thing with Gackt wasn't going to be happening." I averted my eyes from hers. If I had just agreed to do a movie, I was going to have to tell her sooner or later, lest she find out more information from my management rather than directly from her husband. "I have to stop at the dry cleaners tomorrow so I'll drop this off while I'm there." she said with a sigh.
"Thanks," I said about to shut the door when she held out a hand to stop me.
"And Kitamura-san called while you were out. I told him you were at the party all night, since I assumed that you were," she said mockingly, "But he said it was fine if you called him back late. It sounded important."
"Wait, Ken-chan called the house?" I asked, pulling the door open a bit more. Megumi rolled her eyes before turning on her heel to leave. "Wonder why he didn't ring my cell if it was so important…" I mused to myself as I shut the door. I tossed my jacket on my bed and lifted open my laptop, letting it load as I discarded the rest of my clothing in favor of some comfortable pajamas and retrieved my cellphone.
I dialed Ken and padded back to the main bedroom as I listened to it ring on the other end.
"Moshi moshi!?" I heard from the other end, but it didn't sound like Ken's voice.
"Ken-chan is that you? It's hyde…"
"HYDE?" I heard back, as if it were the most incredulous thing. The voice sounded familiar but I couldn't quite place it.
"Yea, um, this is Ken's cell phone, right? Can I talk to him?" I started, sitting down on my bed and loading the Hydeist website.
"I don't know, can you? Ken's kind of pre-occupied at the moment." The voice answered back and I thought I heard laughter in the background.
"Look who ever the hell this is, stop playing games and give Ken back his phone!" I yelled in aggravation.
"Hyde. You weren't always this quick to anger, what happened?"
I paused my actions. I swallowed hard. I knew who the voice was now.
"S—Sakura-chan?"
-Gackt POV-
The day after Hyde agreed to the film, I had arranged a special meeting at the Shochiku studio lot for us to film a screen test. Hyde was feeling leery about his capabilities on screen and I figured the best way to give him confidence was by giving him the opportunity to prove to himself that he could do this.
He met me that morning, dressed casually in what seemed to be perfect attire for his laid-back vampire character Kei. After an exec showed us to the studio lot we could use, I explained a little about the scenario to Hyde.
"There is no script. Put yourself into the character – you know what he is like by now. Just act what you feel," I told him and Hyde gave me a nervous little nod as he stepped onto the bedroom set. It was dimly lit, fitting for me and the case given his character's vampire nature – the walls were red and there was a small bed in the corner, with an accompanying night stand, a fish tank on the other side, and a fake window covered with deep red curtains. Hyde wandered slowly onto the set, taking in his surroundings and sitting on the bed. He took a deep breath and sat back as the cameras lined up and started to film.
I gave him some time to get a sure feeling of himself and just watched as he sat up with a jolt from the bed as though awaking from a bad dream (just as in the script it was described that Kei often had nightmares of his former mentor Luka's death). I was impressed that he was already pulling ideas for his character from the storyline as he stood up from the bed and eyed the fish tank curiously before showing the camera some real angst as he played with the features on his face in the reflection in the mirror.
I couldn't handle having to watch such beauty in action from afar so I stepped into the set, adding some minor dialogue to get things going. I didn't quite feel like Sho, despite Hyde's great attempt at becoming his character Kei. Hyde went back to the bed and lied down so I decided to test his skills at keeping in character by pulling open the curtains on the window. Hyde immediately reacted vampirically by shielding his face and moving away from the light. I smiled at him and he called me a 'baka' before giving me the subtlest 'come hither' look from the bed. I walked over to it, wanting to sit on the bed with him and giving him the impression that I just might before I slid to the floor and lit up a cigarette.
We shared some more minor, unimportant dialogue together and then the camera men called 'cut' saying that they thought they got some really great footage of our interaction. Hyde nervously scratched his head as we fell out of character and I acquired the tape from one of the camera man as we went into a back room to watch what we just filmed.
I had a nervous excitement at seeing the intense chemistry I felt being displayed on a screen. It could be no more evident to me now that Hyde was ideal for this role and I was hoping he would see it too.
-Hyde POV-
Filming the screen test with Gackt was astonishingly much easier and familiar than I thought it would be. I was able to fall into my character Kei quite naturally, much to my surprise, and much to Gackt's delight as we watched our interactions on screen.
Gackt had a knowing smile on his features as we reviewed the tape and although I was pretty impressed with myself, I was also now very aware of the intense chemistry hidden beneath it. At first I told myself it was because we were Sho and Kei, not ourselves, and that they have a strong bond so of course that would show. But we filmed it without script, without any pretense whatsoever – what I was watching was Gackt and I playing off of each other – this was our chemistry. It was immediately clear to me that there was something more serious going on between us – even the camera could pick up on it.
We couldn't stay at the studio very long, as the lot was needed for some semi-popular stars to film a dorama and Gackt had to run to band practice so we departed shortly after that, Gackt telling me he'd get me a copy of the tape for me to watch and review, and to feel more confident about myself.
It's not that I wasn't confident, I thought as I drove home. It's that what I was seeing on that screen – the, dare I say, 'intimate' connection between Gackt and I – that had me worried. There was no denying it now - something had started between us.
-Gackt POV-
The music came to another screeching halt.
In frustration, You sighed loudly and sat down his violin on the chair behind him. "Gakkun, this is getting to be a nuisance. Not to mention it's very unlike you. What is wrong?"
I sighed and grabbed my water bottle, moving to the corner of the room to sit down. All the music, all this practice, all these lyrics… I should know this stuff, I love doing this. And yet ever since I practice this afternoon I couldn't seem to get anything right and now I couldn't even concentrate on my work. You followed me and sat very near to me on the corner couch, placing an arm around my back and giving a small squeeze.
"Gomen ne, You-kun," I apologized quietly. You looked over at the rest of the band members and waved a hand indicating for everyone to take it easy for a moment. All I could do was sigh loudly, causing You's attention to focus on me again so I leaned my face into my hands. "I have too much on my mind right now, I haven't been able to focus right."
"It sure appears that way. I even called you the other night and you never answered your phone; it had me worried. Tell me, what's wrong?" You pleaded. I had seen You's calls. He called me twice, leaving messages both times. And yet I couldn't seem to bring myself to answer it or call him back.
It was the strangest thing for me to not tell You-kun all the things going on in my life right now considering how close we have always been. But I didn't want You or any of the members of GacktJOB to be too involved with my personal life. While they were completely aware of my plans to go through with the movie project and my choice to have Hyde star in the film, the other things going on between Hyde and I, mainly my strong desire to have Hyde also star prominently in my love life, especially after the amazing success of our screen test this morning, I planned on keeping secret. But if my future advances toward Hyde weren't going to be returned, if this destiny I had been anticipating were never to be fulfilled… well I didn't want to have my band mates spend time occupied with my personal quest, as I could only see it causing more trouble than good in the end.
And You-kun, while I adored and trusted him more than anything, would probably react in jealousy, causing a strain in our relationship. Right now I needed him to help keep me sane.
I stood up, leaving You's one-armed embrace. He looked up at me with concern in his eyes.
"I'm fine, You-kun. Let's rework the song once more and then why don't you and I go out for a late dinner, ne?" I took his hands and helped him stand up. You flashed his brilliant smile.
"Ok. Come on guys, let's play through it once more," You said, picking up his violin and starting the intro as everyone else got ready to join in.
-Hyde's POV-
I paced the hallway for what had to have been the 20th time or more. Why was today giving me such hassle? First the phone call with my agent turned out horribly, as he said I had no right to leave when I did, should have made more face time, and that he only received about seventeen calls and emails from prospective clientele wanting to book me for an event. Only seventeen? Well gee, I'm so sorry that out of 200 elite invited guests, half of them working artists and agents just like us, only seventeen of them wanted me. I probably faired way better than any of the musicians there, including Tetsu. And then made a mental note to give him a call later.
Then there was the screen test with Gackt this morning - which went perfectly and scared the shit out of me at how amazingly we interacted with each other. I couldn't stop thinking about how casual and natural we looked around each other. And Gackt's disturbing words about Sho and Kei's intimate bond and connection was apparently transferred from our characters into our real lives. I couldn't shake the thoughts of it from my mind.
Still pacing the floor, I pulled out my cellphone to glance at the time. Finally, to relieve my feet of the pain of these new boots, and my carpet from the trench I was starting to wear, the doorbell rang and I raced to answer it.
"Ken-chan!" I exclaimed and Ken and all his shaggy hair leaned in to give me a hug.
"Hyde, you remember Sakura-chan…" Ken said, stepping into my home and revealing the still beautiful Sakura, just as he was finishing up a cigarette and tossing it into the bushes outside of my door. He looked at me and exhaled the pale grey smoke from his mouth, giving me a grin just as I was smiling back at him.
"Of course I remember…Sakura-chan," I said quietly, stepping forward and offering a hand. It had been so long that a hug didn't feel appropriate. Sakura looked down at my hand and made a face.
"C'mon Hideto, a hand-shake? That's all I get? It's not even Japanese, what is this?" He said in his usual joking tone before grabbing my hand and pulling me roughly into his embrace. God, I missed this.
Hours later the three of us were sprawled out in my living room, talking loudly and using boisterous gestures to explain silly stories as we continued to empty the contents of my liquor cabinet and share in on the years we've missed being around each other.
"So what are you up to now, Hyde? I see your new album –yaaawn– is selling well," Ken said, faking the yawn mid-sentence and causing me to throw the nearest pillow at him. Sure Roentgen was a lot slower and more balladic than most would expect from the rockstar lead vocalist of L'Arc-en-Ciel but I didn't expect to endure so much grief from my bandmates about it. It was only fueling inspiration for my upcoming work.
"You know, I think one or two of those tunes sounded familiar to me," Sakura started, pouring himself another shot of vodka. "And I couldn't figure out why, but some days later it hit me. You totally wanted to use some of them for L'Arc songs, didn't you?"
I glanced over at him and held up my shot glass, indicating to fill mine up too. "How did you remember that? I wrote some of those songs back in 97." I held up the glass when he was done pouring and gave him a smile before bringing it to my lips.
"Hyde, I remember everything from back in '97…" Sakura replied quietly, his eyes baring into mine. I downed my vodka quickly. Thankfully Ken can't stand being quiet for too long-
"So what plans does everyone have for the summer?" he interjected.
Sakura turned to look at him. "What, don't you want to continue on with the band or something? Man, we should get ourselves invited to BubbleFes, that's something that would really help promote us!"
"I didn't mean you Sakubaka," Ken said, punching Sakura in the arm and they both turned to look at me. My face felt warm but I was trying to blame it on all the alcohol I had consumed thus far.
"Yeah, what are you doing this summer?" Sakura asked, leaning on the coffee table and grinning ever so slightly at me.
"Um, well I might be uh… well there are a lot of things in the works, I'm not quite sure what all-" I stuttered, both in nervousness of giving a real answer and partly due to the large consumption of Vodka I had in the past hour.
"Hey I have an idea!" Ken interrupted, again the situation boring him and having a great need to hear himself speak. "We should totally go downtown to that new bar-restaurant,"
"Right now?" I asked, thinking he must be delirious for suggesting we go out in our drunken stupor.
"Oh you mean the Miyagi Bar? I am so for that," Sakura said standing up and grabbing onto my arm to hoist me up as if he thought I'd want to join them. Ken jumped up into the air and started pushing me from behind.
"Wait-wait, guys! This is crazy!" I protested but I was too weary from the alcohol to fight back and already they were pushing me out of the living room and it wasn't until I was in the taxi and fumbling around to see if my wallet was in tact, that I realized I had no house keys.
-Gackt's POV-
I led You through the crowd as we made our way back to the VIP section. I had wanted to try out this restaurant since it opened and knew there'd be no better person to experience it with than You.
"This place is really busy tonight," You started as I held a hand on his back so not to lose him through the crowd. I pointed off to the right and he went through the VIP door. It was a lot quieter back here and darker as well.
"Well the place just opened a week ago, You-kun," I started, seating myself next to him. A waiter came so we ordered something light along with a pot of sake. You folded his hands over his legs and looked around before settling his eyes on me and giving me an anxious look.
"What?" I asked, unable to stop smiling at his adorable expression.
"Tell me, Gakkun," You started, his expression suddenly serious. I looked down at my hands resting on the glass table, pondering on how to start telling You what I thought I was beginning to get myself involved in when the sake arrived, momentarily breaking our conversation. It was already warm so I poured a cup for You and myself and began to sip.
You looked up from his sake and into my eyes. "Tell me what it is that has you reacting like this. I've never seen you so flustered in studio before."
I was going to have to find a way to tell You about Hyde and hope that it wouldn't make him react negatively. But You had always been supportive of me, I was just going to have to trust that he would continue that way…
"Well You-kun. You recall my movie project?"
"Of course I do! Have you been in contact with any of your prospective cast members yet?" He said, leaning into me as he spoke. I had already told You I was saving a small part in the film just for him and a few other close friends of mine. You had shown nothing but sincere interest and supportiveness for this project. I took my sake in my hand, swirling around its last remaining contents and watching it whirl.
"Only just recently, yes. In fact, I think I may finally have my dream cast. Even, it's star…"
You's eyes widened and he sat up straight. He placed a hand on top of mine.
"You mean you were able to convince—um, Gakkun?"
I imagine that You had noticed my stark expression by his abrupt pause in speech. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him turn his head to see what was causing my reaction.
Then I stood up just as he was entering the room.
"Hyde? What are you doing here?"
-Hyde's POV-
Ken and Sakura stood perfectly still in front of me, leaving just enough space between them that I was able to see Gackt suddenly stand up from a table in the back corner.
No, what the hell is he doing here?! I inwardly cursed, thinking I should be outwardly cursing Ken and Sakura for deciding to take us here in the first place. But there was no time for any of that because already Gackt was crossing the room and leaving a very confused Ken and equally confused Sakura following his every move, slowly turning their bodies to watch as Gackt stood directly in front of me, a smile forming across his face.
"You know Gackt?" Ken blurted and I saw Sakura's eyes narrow conspicuously.
"Hyde, what a fantastic surprise," Gackt quietly started. My eyes were strangely drawn to the table he came from, recognizing, even in my drunken state, the figure as the one and only violinist of GacktJOB, You. And he did not look pleased. "I never thought I'd have such luck to run into you here of all places." Gackt continued.
"Ken Kitamura," Ken suddenly interjected, shoving his hand in between us to shake with Gackt. Sakura gave Ken a glare at the Westernized expression he disliked so much.
"You're a wonderful guitarist," Gackt replied, offering his hand to Ken with a smile. They shook and I almost think Ken blushed. What was this strange emotion filling me all of a sudden? Surely it had to be the alcohol making my blood course warmly through my body. But as Gackt focused on Ken and they exchanged kind words, I couldn't help but feel neglected and suddenly wanting to have Gackt's interest back to me.
"Gacchan," I cooed, instantly forcing his – and everyone else's – attention on me. Good god, just how much Vodka had we drank back at my house for me to be reacting this way?! I had told myself I would never use that name unless I was alone with him and here I was flaunting it in front of mine and his closest friends. But it caused Gackt to smile even more fondly at me and I loved that he was looking into my eyes again.
"What the hell did you just call him?" Sakura loudly questioned, interrupting our tender moment. Sakura poked me in the arm, his pointed finger jarring my flesh just hard enough that it actually hurt and was the only cause of my eyes leaving Gackt's faux baby blues.
"Apparently you've known Gackt for a while…" Ken supplied, mumbling out of the corner of his mouth.
"Actually, quite the contrary," Gackt confessed, and I winced at what my friends would think of what he was going to say next. "I've only been acquainted with Hyde a mere few weeks, yet in that time I'd say we're becoming fairly knowledgeable about each other. Actually, he invented that nickname for me while he was quite drunk on brandy and lying in-"
"Oh!" I loudly (and moreso than usual, due to the alcohol consumption) interrupted, fearful of the next words to leave Gackt's mouth and the situation it would have me end up in. "Is that You, your violinist sitting back there?" I pointed past Gackt, causing Ken and Sakura to glance to the back at the skinny looking angry man slouched over some sake at a table in the corner. Gackt's eyes went wide as though he forgot something and then he turned around as well.
"How rude of me for not introducing everyone!" Gackt apologized, quickly heading to his table and lifting a reluctant You from his seat to join our little meet and greet.
You did not look pleased. As I studied his facial expression closely, he didn't look like he was hungry waiting for food, or upset at Gackt for jumping from the table… but he was glaring at me. I couldn't figure out why this talented violinist would have anything against me; he didn't even know me.
But as Gackt's voice, fogged to my ears when I became lost while studying You, started to resound more clearly to my brain as he went on about destiny or something, Gackt moved to my side suddenly, draping an arm around me and it was then I noticed the slightest bit of eye widening, nostril flaring, and vein popping on You's neck.
Gackt pulled me a little closer and said something that I missed but apparently no one else had, due to their wide-eyed shocked expressions. Oh shit, what did Gackt just say? I looked up at him and he was wearing a smirk of satisfaction.
"I just remembered I told Cha Cha I would stop by his house this evening," You suddenly interrupted, heading back to the table to dab his mouth politely on his napkin and then brushing past us.
"You-kun?" Gackt called out, his arm quickly falling off of me as he turned to watch You make his way to the door exit.
"I'll see you tomorrow at the studio," You coldly said, without so much as a wave before pushing through the VIP door and out of our view. I looked up at Gackt who was shaking his head.
"Mind if we finish the rest of this sake, Gacchan?" Ken said, sweetening the nickname on purpose and earning a full-on death glare from me. But Gackt didn't seem to hear him and Ken didn't seem to care either, already downing a cup full of the warm drink. Sakura had pulled out a cigarette and lit up, purposely blowing his first smoke in my and Gackt's direction, interrupting the awkward moment.
"I'm sorry, Hyde," Gackt apologized, turning to face me. "I don't know why You reacted in such a jealous manner."
"Jealous?" Sakura butted in, causing Gackt to look over at him. "What the hell would he have to be jealous about?" he questioned, approaching Gackt closely, the cigarette dangling from his mouth as his eyes narrowed and he turned to stare down at me.
I have to say that if anyone was acting in a jealous fashion, it was Sakura, in the sense that he didn't like having to share our time out dealing with this tall, blue-eyed intruder. Ever since we encountered Gackt, he'd been giving short quips and speaking rudely toward him. Perhaps it was the Vodka; I know how Sakura can be short-tempered when drunk. But I get like that too and I was beginning to lose my cool with the way he was treating Gackt.
"I'm not sure. I just told him that Hyde signed on to do my movie project and he's always been supportive of that before…"
"Movie project?" Sakura lifted his arm and leaned it on my shoulder, pushing his full body weight onto me as he did so. He looked down at me. "You're quitting the music biz to be an actor now?"
"No!" I shouted, pushing his arm off of me. Sakura blew more smoke in my face and I brushed it away with a hand. "I'm not leaving my music for anything."
"Actually, Hyde and I are going to collaborate to write a song for the film," Gackt filled in and I could have kicked him right at that moment.
"Is that so…" Sakura said, blowing his smoke in Gackt's face this time as he closed in. "You know, the last time I saw you and you had all those questions about what it was like to work with Hyde, I thought you were just trying to make small talk or piss me off or something. But if I had any idea you were planning on dragging Hideto into some goddamn movie, I would have kicked your ass right then and there."
"Sakura-chan!" I scolded him, surprised at what he was saying about Gackt inquiring him for information on me (was it true?) and worried that he was trying to start a fight.
"Sakurazawa, I've only ever shown the utmost respect to you and your work," Gackt began, using the kindest tone in his voice to soften the situation. "I don't understand why his decision to make a movie should be such a big deal to you. Hyde agreed to this on his own accord. I haven't forced him into anything," Gackt explained and I tried to keep my scoffs to myself.
Sakura turned to look at me. "Why didn't you tell us this earlier, Hyde?"
"It's just too early. I haven't even signed anything yet," I quietly spoke.
"That's true," Gackt stepped in, looking at me with a small smile and placing his hand on my shoulder. "It literally just happened last night when Hyde was over at my house and agreed verbally,"
"Yea, I'm sure he did," Sakura said under his breath, glaring at me as he tossed his finished cigarette to the ground, stomping his boot down hard to put it out. "C'mon Ken, we're getting out of here," he yelled to the back table at Ken who was slurping up the last of the sake and bounced over to our side.
"Nice meeting you, Gackt," Ken said, again offering his hand but shoving it in the wrong direction in his drunken state. Sakura smacked Ken's hand down and gave me one last glare at me before he grabbed Ken's arm and left. "See ya Hyde!" Ken yelled out as they brushed through the door.
"Oh my god," I muttered and then I felt Gackt's hand tighten on my shoulder. I looked up at him and he was wearing an expression that I couldn't quite place. "Gacchan… I'm sorry. My friends, they--"
"Are wonderful, just like you Hyde," Gackt said, his expression still stoic and focused on the door. "Making the leap to acting is something not everyone can deal with, I've experienced these reactions from many others already,"
"No," I said, pulling out of his grasp to forwardly face him. "Sakura had no right to be treating you that way," I gestured my hand toward the door he recently left through, feeling slightly wobbly as I did so. "It's my choice to do the movie! Why was he getting mad at you?! He doesn't even know you…" My head was feeling light as I yelled in frustration.
"Actually I have already been acquainted with Sakurazawa, Hyde, have you forgotten? We have a mutual friend," Gackt concluded.
I think I tipped slightly but my feet reacted fast and caught me before I toppled over. "So… those things he was saying… you asking him about working with me, that was… true?" I felt unbalanced again and tried to concentrate my eyes on a chosen focal point; Gackt's lips.
"Yes it is. I figured that was an opportunity to get real insight on what it would be like if I chose to pursue having you in my film project. Who better than one of your closest friends, former or not, right?"
I didn't hear what Gackt replied, just saw his moist, plump lips moving back and forth. Then my vision blurred and I felt myself falling forward.
-Gackt's POV-
I would be lying if I didn't say that one of the most pleasant and sweetest images in my lifetime has to be watching Hyde sleep. His eyelids closed, gentle long lashes brushing his slightly pink-hued cheeks, a stray bleached hair or two hanging over his face, just brushing past his small little nose which sat perfectly aligned above his slightly parted lips. As I sat in the booth watching him rest, another loose hair slipped from his slicked back locks, swaying down across his face to brush his cheek and land just short of his lips. I traced the hair's action with my finger, dragging it from Hyde's ear along his cheek and pausing just before I reached his mouth. How precious he looked as he lay there, unaware to the rest of the cruel world.
"Excuse me Sir, would you like me to box your desert?" A waitress interrupted me and I turned to face her. She blinked quickly as I smiled at her and I wondered if she had recognized who I was and who Hyde was and was wondering what she had just witnessed.
"That won't be necessary, thank you," I said, sliding a large yen across the table toward her. Her eyes widened as she recognized the amount of the bill and put it in her pocket, bowed deeply, cleared my plates, and left. Hopefully if she did recognize us, that would keep her quiet.
Since You and I had ordered a meal and now I was left alone with Hyde and still hungry, I had decided to share the meal with him. Unfortunately only moments before the food arrived, Hyde had passed out in what I could only assume to be a drunken condition, due to the amount of Vodka I could smell on him and his friends who had stormed out prior to this happening.
I was now left with a satisfied stomach but a dead-to-the-world rockstar at my side and the dilemma of getting him back to his home. I hadn't wanted to wake him so I gently slid out of the booth and took his small, limp body into my arms. I called Joe to have him round the limo to the back and have the door ready to take me and my guest. Thankfully VIP sections always have a back door made just for these situations – well, maybe not this particular situation.
As I exited the back door cautiously, trying not to disturb Hyde, though I don't think he would have woken to much anything at this point due to the drool slowly exiting his mouth, Joe gave me a strange glance while I carefully placed Hyde in the limo.
"Boss," Joe started, touching the end of his dark sunglasses that weren't needed at this time of night. "Just letting you know that You-san had called me earlier to come pick him up and I didn't ask any questions but now I must admit to being somewhat curious at what is going on…"
I put a hand on Joe. "I can explain later. For now, just get us home please," I said, climbing into the backseat beside Hyde's sleeping form. Joe nodded and made his way to the driver seat. As I sat quietly in the back, my hand resting on Hyde's leg as he lay, I decided I would drive Hyde to his home once I had a chance to wake and sober him up a bit. A cellphone started to buzz, interrupting my thoughts.
I knew it couldn't be my own so I figured it must be Hyde's and tried to ignore it. But it kept going off and I realized it could have been important so I began to search his person. Thankfully Hyde was in a deep slumber and therefore not phased in the slightest as I reached roughly into his jacket pockets fishing for a phone to stop the incessant buzzing. Well. It must be in his pants.
Calming my nerves and steadying my hands, I took a deep breath and slowly reached down into his front pant pocket, my eyes never leaving Hyde's sleeping face as I did so. My fingers felt something so my hand retreated, only to realize what I had grabbed wasn't a cell phone but an audio recorder. I quickly put it back and then I heard a buzz again.
It must be in his other pocket, the one in the side that he's laying on. Gingerly I moved my body so that I was now suspended directly over Hyde and snaked my hand down to his other pocket, my tongue raking across my teeth in determination to somehow get my fingers into his pocket and find his cellphone without him waking. The way he was lying it was proving to be difficult so instead I decided on trying to turn his body just enough that I could reach my hand in successfully. Slowly, I moved Hyde's body, forcing him onto his back as I continued to hover on top of him. Finally, now I could get that blasted buzzing little machine, I thought, reaching my hand into his pocket. Just as my fingers connected with his phone, I darted my eyesight back to his face and made contact with a pair of wide eyes.
-Hyde's POV-
…Oh… My…God…
This had to be some bad dream, some strange nightmare… I can't actually be awake right now, or if I am then I've accidentally flipped the big-screen television channel to some raunchy late night movie and the actor I'm seeing just bears a strangely striking similarity to Gackt.
Because if I were really awake then why don't I recognize where I am? Why am I lying stiffly on my back, yet still feel like I'm moving? And for God's sake, why is Gackt hovering over me like that and why does it feel like someone's hand is in my pocket?
Then, the sharp hand of sobriety smacked me square in the jaw.
"AAAHHH!!" was about the only sound I could muster before Gackt's hand was covering my mouth. He stared at me wide-eyed and I ignored my first thought to chomp down on his hand and demand what the hell was going on.
The warm feeling in my pocket quickly disappeared and I saw Gackt's hand move away from my body to place a finger on his lips in telling me to keep quiet. Oh dear God don't tell me his hand was….
I wrestled with my weak body to sit up, pushing Gackt's hand and hovering form away from me in the process.
"Hyde, try to relax. You fainted in the restaurant," Gackt hurriedly spoke.
"WHAT?" I shrieked.
But Gackt shushed me again and I began to dart my eyes around, twisting my head in attempt to get some answers. "Where the hell am I? What's going on? WHY WAS YOUR HAND IN MY POCKET?"
Gackt blushed and forced a small chuckle. "We're in my limo. I'm taking you home because your friends left you drunk at the Miyagi where you then passed out. And I was trying to get your cell phone which hasn't stopped buzzing for the past three minutes."
I swallowed and reached into my pocket for my phone, seeing lit up on the display one missed call from Ken and three missed calls from Megumi. Shit.
"I'm sorry but I felt it was my duty to take care of you, considering. And I was only going after your phone in case it was something important. Forgive me," Gackt said and bowed his head.
I couldn't stay mad at him now. For all I know, Sakura and Ken would have left me at the bar, probably in a drunken and drooling state of sleep, and they'd be laughing about how the restaurant's management would get a kick out of taking pictures on their cell phones of the infamous Hyde of L'Arc-en-Ciel passed out at the newest bar and the news would leak into the gossip magazines and my solo career would be shattered… Yes, I could actually see them doing that.
But not Gackt. Gackt would never leave me in such a situation and rather probably had to deal with carrying my heavy, drooling, slumbering form into his limo in a state of embarrassment. How stupid I felt for yelling at him.
"I'm sorry Gacchan." I said with a long sigh. "Why are you so good to me?" I looked up at him with a little laugh. He simply smiled back and settled comfortably into his seat. I glanced at my phone again, realizing that Megumi was probably pissed and considered checking my messages but didn't want to damper my mood any. I still had a headache and my outburst of yelling probably didn't help that any.
Just then we were pulling up to what was now becoming a familiar location to me and Gackt opened the door as I stepped out of his limo and followed him to the entrance of his house. As I looked back at the limo-driver taking off I wondered why I hadn't asked Gackt to just drop me off at my own home. Probably because the idea of having Megumi bitch at me the second I entered the door was only increasing my headache even just thinking about it.
Gackt opened the door and made way for me to walk in ahead of him but I paused at the doorway. Not only was it dark as usual, but I was technically still drunk and had little doubt I'd make it more than five steps in without having Gackt lead me around.
As if on cue, Gackt made his way to my side, wrapping his arm around mine and walking me slowly through his home and into my favorite room--I mean, thelivingroom I had grown to know so well. He sat me down gently on the open futon and told me to wait. I closed my eyes, the room still spinning beneath my eyelids as the headache pounded away at my skull.
What a night. It had started off well enough; Ken, Sakura, old stories and good ol' fashioned Vodka chugging. Just like the old days. It wasn't until Ken decided that some bar-hopping was in order that everything went downhill. I shouldn't have let them lead me away, but how was I to know that of all people and of all the bar-restaurants in Tokyo, that Gackt would happen to be at the one we ended up in. Not only that, but his jealous violinist and my jealous ex-drummer crossed paths at the sight of what they thought might possibly be going on between Gackt and me.
But what was going on between us? I didn't even know at this point. As if my mind wasn't already swirling enough, I began to recalculate all the events between us in the past week; from our first talkative dinner, to visiting him at his house, my drunken statements and waking up in this futon with Gackt at my side…Then the sensual shirt removing, and then the subsequent stain on said shirt and accidentally landing on top of him in this futon… then our eye-opening conversational drive home and now the unexpected run-in at the bar, causing fights between our friends and me passing out only to wind up on this futon once more.
Somehow I always ended up on this futon with Gackt near me, or under me or right next to me handing me two aspirin and a bottle of water.
"Take this, it will make you feel better in the morning, I promise," Gackt said, sitting very close to me on the futon and administering my actions as I swallowed the pills and took a long gulp of cool, crisp, Volvic water, which I imagine Gackt probably had cases of sitting in some back room somewhere.
He brushed back the stray hairs hanging in my face as I took another sip of the water and willed the pounding of this god-awful headache to just go away. I had no idea what time it was and I just didn't care either. With a groan I leaned my body to the side, sprawling myself onto the opened futon and closing my eyes. I felt Gackt take the water bottle from my hands and move away from me. When I peeked open my eyes, he was kneeling near the futon, looking at my face.
"Hyde, do you want me to take you home?" He asked, his hand reaching up to my face again and stroking gently. "You should really get some rest,"
"I am getting rest," I slurred, my eyes falling shut as his hand gently brushed the side of my face. His fingers were cool and it felt good.
"Don't get me wrong, you are more than welcome to stay here if you like. I just worry about your wife--"
"Screw her," I muttered. "She's heading out of town again tomorrow anyway; I doubt she's even awake right now. And I have no house keys to let myself in," I sighed and rolled onto my back, a hand clutching at my stomach.
Gackt must have noticed this because he placed his hand on top of mine and asked had I eaten recently. I couldn't remember if I did and when I tried to think back, I realized that I hadn't ate anything since breakfast.
"I will get you something little to munch on so you don't get sick," Gackt said and his hand brushed my face again before he disappeared.
I couldn't figure out why it always ended up that Gackt was catering to me in some form or another; Helping me when I tripped, supplying me with food and drink when I required it, offering me a place to shower, clothing to change into, a drive home, a bed to sleep on… It seemed that his generosity went on forever so I couldn't allow myself to hate him in any shape or form. I started wondering if maybe working on the movie would be a good idea in the end. It would show to the fans that two of the biggest rockstars in Japan can get along, no matter what the critics may say about us separately. It would prove to the industry that I had what it took to keep a successful music career and act in what would probably end up being a money-maker of a film, due solely to our names being attached to the credits. And it would give me a chance to prove to my friends and band mates that I could do whatever the hell I wanted and be good at it.
But mostly, it would give me more opportunities to be in the kind company of Gackt, who I was starting to become fonder of as time went on, and not just for all the things he was offering to do for me, although I was quite enjoying the pampering wholeheartedly.
Gackt returned shortly, a plate of toast in his hands as he knelt beside the futon again, holding up a small piece for me to eat. I propped my head up and took it from him as he broke off another to hand to me after I finished the first. Somehow, quiet moments like these made me realize what a true friend Gackt was becoming in my life.
My mind drifted back to Ken and Sakura and the horrible night and how if we never ran into Gackt tonight, I would probably be at home right now tossing my cookies into the nearest sink, or toilet, or trash can, depending on how fast I could run in my sordid state. But already my stomach pangs were decreasing as Gackt continued to feed me toast and nurse me with water and when the plate was naught but crumbs, he doused what dim lights remained lit and joined me on the futon. The only light now was the faint candles from the glass bath room in the distance and the hint of moonlight streaming in from the windows behind us.
"Gacchan," I started, taking another sip of water to clean my palette. He turned his head to look at me and even in the darkness, I could see how tired he looked. I suddenly felt guilty for taking advantage of all his matronly-like services on my sorry drunken ass. "I don't think I have enough words to really thank you for this. For all of this, I mean, everything you've done for me since I met you,"
I hoped I wasn't coming off corny or slurring too much that he thought my sentiments weren't carefully thought out.
"No need to thank me, Hyde. I enjoy doing things for you," he responded, kind as ever and again if it weren't for how bighearted he was, I would want to hate him for somehow maintaining such a calm and caring demeanor in every situation.
"But I feel like I have to," I said, twisting my body to face him as I slumped down, my head resting on the pillow now. "There has to be something I can do for you," I replied, instantly biting my tongue at what such a statement might possibly imply. Gackt shifted his body as well so he was lying beside me. I swallowed as his blue eyes smiled at me and bore right into my soul.
"You already have, Hyde," he said, cooing my name at the end of his sentence. "You've agreed to be in my movie and that brings me the utmost joy. You really haven't any idea just how happy it makes me."
"Oh, I might have an inclination…" I teased with a grin causing a small blush to dance across Gackt's cheeks. I then noticed just how becoming it was on his features.
"I should leave you to your rest," he said, slowly sitting up as he started to move off the futon.
"Wait--" My hand reached out of its own accord, gripping onto the fabric of Gackt's sleeve. Gackt turned to face me, his blush still evident. I think I might have been blushing too because my face suddenly felt hot. What am I doing? I thought. Gackt stared at me in anticipation of what was coming next but my tongue was tied up in my mouth. I didn't even know what I was planning on saying or doing or why I reached out for him in the first place.
But the thought of Gackt leaving me alone in the bed right now when I wanted nothing more than to lie here and talk for endless hours, or at least until the pills took effect, was disheartening. I searched his eyes and I could still see that tiredness resting behind the colored contacts. It'd be cruel of me to ask more of him when he'd already done enough for me and was in need of rest. I let go of his sleeve.
"Nothing, sorry," I said, recoiling my hand and staring into the dead space of the wall on the far end of the room. But the cushion shifted beneath me and soon Gackt's face was obstructing my otherwise boring view as he lay down beside me once more. He smiled tenderly.
"Of course I will," Gackt quietly said to me.
"What?"
"Stay with you," he finished, closing his eyes.
"You don't--"
"Go to sleep, Hyde," He whispered. I looked at his face a little while longer as he lie perfectly still beside me. Soon my own eyelids grew heavy and I succumbed to the sleep long-awaiting to claim my body.
-Gackt's POV-
It is without doubt that Hyde is a perfect angel when he is asleep. Already I'd been granted with this vision earlier in the evening and now here it was beside me, once again in my futon, which I was starting to think of as 'our bed', given the three beautiful opportunities I'd been granted to share with Hyde in this spot since a mere few days ago.
I was certain that by now that his system had shut down for the evening so I cautiously removed myself from the futon and went to the far end of the room, retrieving my cell phone as I walked toward my piano room.
I hit the #1 key for speed-dial and waited as the other end rang and I was brought to voice-mail.
"You-kun, it's Gakkun. I'm terribly sorry about what happened tonight, I hope you can forgive any mishaps that may have occurred. I'm unsure of your reaction and never would have wanted you to storm off the way you have. Please if you're awake, give me a call back. Oh and I might be late to the studio tomorrow morning so please get started without me."
I flipped the phone shut and sighed, setting myself at the piano bench and plunking out some random notes with my right hand. Before I could get too far into the piece, my phone was ringing and You's name flashed on the display.
"You-kun…" I started.
"Gakkun…" he replied.
"I apologize for calling so late. I had to deal with a few things but I figured you might still be awa-"
"Like what?" You accused.
"I'm sorry?" I asked, spinning around on the piano bench to keep my hands from drifting across the ivories unintentionally.
"What 'things' did you have to deal with, Gackt? Hyde and his rambunctious drunken buddies? What was going on tonight?" You accused. I knew he was angered because he almost never called me 'Gackt' unless he was upset with me.
"You-kun, I can explain. I wasn't expecting to see Hyde and his friends this evening; that was purely chance--"
"Chance?" You spit out. "It was rude, that's what it was! They stomped in and the moment they arrived you left me to join their side and didn't even include me! It was as if I didn't exist!"
"No, that's not it at all. When I saw Hyde--"
"He blinked his big goo-goo eyes and you rushed to his side. I know; I saw it all happen, Gackt, remember?" You bit at me. "What is going on between you two?"
"You-kun, I haven't any idea why you're acting so jealous," I tried to reason.
"Jealous? I'm not jealous!" You sounded as if he were pouting on the other end. "I'm just upset that you would get involved in a relationship and not tell me about it."
"I'm not in that kind of relationship with Hyde, I--"
"Save it for the tabloids, Gackt. I saw the way he looked at you and the way you acted around him. You can't hide something like that. All I want to know is if he's the reason for causing our practice sessions to suffer recently, then you need to get out of this because it's only hurting your career. Besides, I don't approve of his friends, so I don't see how you possibly could, and I don't think it's very smart business practices. If the two of you are working on a film, then work on the film and keep your private feelings out of it. It's only spelling disaster."
And with that, he hung up.
I tried to reason that You-kun was only saying these things for my own well-being and yet I couldn't let the fact that he was able to notice the way Hyde and I reacted around each other leave my mind so easily. Not only did this mean that it was evident to those around me just how I was feeling about Hyde, but it was a glaring signal that Hyde's feelings toward me weren't something my love-sick mind was conjuring up either. There was something real going on between us.
I began to pad back to the living room, peeking my head in to see Hyde still in a peaceful slumber. Part of me wanted to join him but the rational side of my brain said it would be best if I stayed away. I began to wonder if we were going to face another awkward morning like the last time. More so, I wondered how I was going to gently get him out of my house and to the studio in time tomorrow morning. Not wanting to dote on the thought, I made my way back to the piano room and began to play some more until my fingers grew tired and I eventually retreated to my bedroom.
In the morning just as the sun's rays were gracing the earth I rose from my bed, went through my workout routine and showered, just as usual. I alerted the cooks to prepare a larger sized breakfast and made my way down to the living space where Hyde still slept. I was due in at the studio in 2 hours but dealing with rush hour traffic and getting Hyde awoken and safely home was not going to see to that. I recalled making mention of this on You's voicemail the night before, but figured I should probably call in and alert another member of GacktJOB that I was going to be tardy.
Just as I was about to flip the phone shut, it rang and I saw my manager's name across the display. He told me that he had drawn up the movie contracts to be signed and sent them out to all the cast mates, save for Hyde, whose address they didn't have. I told them I would add it to my list of errands today to drop by and pick it up, as I was seeing to personally hand-deliver it to Hyde myself. This was the next big step – once Hyde received this paper, his management would become involved in the project as well and things would really start to make way. I inhaled in anxious excitement of a dream becoming a reality.
My other dream was not just to have the opportunity to work with Hyde, but to become more than just his friend. That reality didn't seem so far out of reach either, I thought, as I knelt down beside his sleeping form on the futon. Last night he'd willingly invited himself to stay over at my place and nearly pleaded with me to stay with him through the night, which I wanted to take as a sign to something developing beyond our friendship. I reached out, gently stroking the side of his face in an attempt to calmly wake him from his peaceful slumber. He stirred slightly and a small smile began to upturn his lips.
I pushed back some of the hairs covering his angelic face and cupped his chin, staring intently at all his features in this blessed moment I was given to be so close and openly observe him as much as I wanted. Slowly his eyes fluttered open and he looked at me wearily through blurry eyes.
"Ohayo," I quietly said, resting my chin on the side of the futon as I gave him a smile.
"Gacchan…" his groggy voice quietly called out to me. And how delightful it was. I decided right then and there that I'd give anything to experience this every morning of my life.
Ok that was too much fluff for my likings, but it seemed to fit ; Next chapter will be better I swear! I started to involve lots of other characters now, hopefully to keep the story more realistic and add some interesting twists into the plot. Thanks for the reviews!!