The Duties of a High School Guitarist
Chapter Nine
"Red is such an interesting color to correlate with emotion, because it's on both ends of the spectrum. On one end, you have happiness, falling in love, infatuation with someone, passion, all that. On the other end, you've got obsession, jealously, danger, fear, anger, and frustration."—Taylor Swift
Mari lifted her hand to wipe the sweat from her brow, the gritty sand bristling uncomfortably along her forehead, and she glared hatefully at a smirking Subaru. Since today was Ami's special day and Mari had promised that she'd do anything the little girl wanted, she couldn't back down from the special volleyball match Ami demanded they play. Of course, Mari had a sneaky suspicion that Tsubaki and his partner-in-crime, Kyoko, had convinced Ami to place a match between Subaru and Mari. From the corner of her eye, she could see Tsubaki collecting wagers from his other siblings (except for Wataru and Ami, the two of them having gotten bored and were now amusing themselves by building a sloppy sand castle with Ema-chan) and it seemed most of the bets were against her. She may not be as strong as Subaru or able to deal with the thick sand, but her legs and lungs had more stamina from years of running and conditioning.
She frowned, even though she said that, Subaru wasn't having any trouble wading through the golden, hot dunes. Was he the perfect athlete or something?
"Arararara, I've never seen Subaru-kun so cocky before," Tsubaki taunted from the sidelines, clearly amused by the entire situation.
Mari rushed back, Subaru having taken that moment of distraction to serve the ball, and barely made it in time to make a return hit. Her heel dug into the scalding sand as she changed direction, returning to the center of her side in preparation for the basketball player's next move. Knees bent and hands at the ready, Mari cursed again as he made another attempt to spike and blocked it with a sharp slap of her hand. Navy met glittering sapphire with surprise as the sand gave way and the jeering of their family and friends silenced. She landed in a squat, grinning widely at the lanky giant as he stared rather dumbfounded at her. Hey, it wasn't her fault that people thought she didn't play sports.
He shook his head and picked the ball up to hand to her with a hard glint in his eye. Mari moved to the far corner of her side and served the volleyball as far back to the make-shift lines as possible to lessen any chance of thwarting her scheme. She blinked as he immediately followed the arc of the volleyball with little trouble and made a complicated move Mari had never seen performed before in her life. So distracted by this otherworldly play the basketball player had made, she had very little time to stop the ball from reaching no-man's zone. Grunting, Mari leapt to the side and bit her tongue as the ball slipped just past her fist. Blood poured into her mouth and sand swept into her eyes as she crashed into the ground.
Eyes stinging and sand shifting as feet rushed forward to help her up, Mari frantically held up her hand for some water. Plastic perspiring with sweat was shoved into her hands as she sat up and someone brushed away her bangs while guiding her hand. Foreign fingers helped pry open her eye much to her cursing protest as water invaded her corneas, but relief was soon to follow as the gritty sand washed out. Slowly, her left eye began to focus and blurred images of Masaomi-san taking care of her right eye came into view along with Subaru biting his lip. It took a few more minutes before Mari could see clearly again and a few swings of another water bottle to clear the rusty tang of blood. She waved away Subaru's apologies and brushed off her bikini top and stomach of any excess golden dust.
"So, guess that means I lost, huh?" Mari sighed, clearly aggrieved as she raised an eyebrow at the Asahina twins and Kyo. "What was the bet?"
"Um…" Kyo scratched her cheek and casted her eyes away nervously. "Well, you see…"
"You're making me do that, aren't you?" The blonde deadpanned.
Her sister had the nerve to smile in apology as Tsubaki began to laugh hysterically at just the thought of what Mari was about to do. Around them, the other Asahinas began to gather (even Ema-chan had ushered Ami and Wataru from their sand castle), and Mari wondered why she had made such a promise to her baby sister if Kyo was going to take advantage of it. She shoved her way out of the crowd and searched for the right model for her "punishment" for losing; though, in her opinion, biting her tongue and losing to Subaru were enough penance. Her eyes darted along the crowd of beach goers until she found a man with just the right amount of built for the job.
"You so owe me, Kyoko," she murmured over her shoulder as she started for her target. This poor fellow was about to be an unknowing accomplice to her scheme, and she almost felt guilty for what she was about to do. She took a deep breath and smiled brilliantly as he caught her eye.
Almost immediately, he changed direction from his buddies to catch her first before anyone else could, and Mari fumed silently at the thought of being someone's piece of meat. She held out her hand shyly, the short nails painted an innocent beige, and he made it a point to kiss each knuckle before introducing himself. "Masuda Hiroki at your service. Why is such a beautiful lady like yourself wandering about alone?"
How cliché. And gross. Aren't you like, twenty-three or something? She allowed the flush to flow down her neck and fluttered her eyelashes. With her other hand she giggled coyly into her palm. "My friends and I got separated, but I guess it's alright if you're here." She took a step forward, brushing against his sun-kissed skin and touched at the hard planes of his abs with a nail. His breath shuttered as her index finger travelled the well-defined muscle, never once going to the waistband of his trunks, and caressed the hardening nipple. She flashed pearly whites at his eager gaze and he lifted his hand to part the wild curls blocking the sweet line of her cheeks.
"Why don't we go back to my place, baby?" His eyes became hooded in way that was meant to be sexy and seductive but only sent her blood boiling in disgust.
As if I'm some kind of slut? Puh-lease! "You want that, don't you?" She whispered it along his collarbone, having to stand on her tippy toes just to reach it, and barely brushed her lips across the chilled skin. His hand tightened ever so slightly around her wrist and the other flinched along her jawline. Mari rolled her eyes and peeked over her shoulder.
Sure enough, watching every single detail and laughing uproariously, was the entire Asahina family and her sisters. Ema-chan looked more disturbed than amused as she tried to distract the two younger children by pointing out the crashing waves a pair of surfers were riding. Kyo, on the other hand, looked ready to pass out from lack of air she was guffawing so much, and Tsubaki didn't appear that far behind her either. Mari fought back another eye roll and returned her attention back to Hiroki. Poor guy was about to get the shock of a lifetime. Well, it's kinda his fault for falling under her ditzy, flirtatious, and sexual innuendos. Did men nowadays find these type of women attractive? Talk about nasty.
Her hand stilled along his chest and she pulled his palm away from cupping her jaw. Pretty sapphires became covered by a canopy of thick lashes, and the world around them seemed to fade away as Hiroki leaned down to capture those pouting lips.
Without warning, he found himself flying over a narrow shoulder, his head curled in tightly to his chest as his sense of balance became eschew, and the next thing he knows, he's staring up at the blonde vixen. She was smirking, those brilliant cobalts alight with mirth, and she tilted her head slightly as a boy came running up to her. Hiroki didn't know what to make of anything as his head was still trying to catch up with the rest of his body. The boy was average in height but still taller than the blonde babe by a foot and was leering at her behind a pair of pink-tinted sunglasses. His hair was styled in a natural curly mess with hairpins pulling back a few strands from blocking his eyes.
The poor college student couldn't fathom why the two were arguing heatedly while he continued to lay on his back, completely dumbfounded as to what just happened. One minute he was about to kiss this hot vixen and the next thing he knows, he's on his back with her smiling at him.
"I was just having some fun! Jesus, Asahina, get off my back for once!"
"You do realize that I had to stop our photo shoot because you're out here goofing around like a whore."
Dark blues flashed dangerously and a group of men appeared between the two teenagers before either one could continue. A handsome blonde dressed impeccably in a dashing robe helped Hiroki up with a genteel smile while two identical twins with clashing hair colors pulled the blonde and brunette away from each other. Hiroki was so startled by it all that he only nodded his head when another man asked for him to breathe deeply as he pulled out a stethoscope from his beach bag, of all things!
"I'm really sorry about our friend, sir," another short-haired blonde man with glasses said with a smile. "She shouldn't have done that."
"Done what?" Hiroki asked, blinking at the sudden crowd they had attracted and it appeared they were all somehow related to one another!
The doctor frowned, "You didn't notice? She threw you over her shoulder. Maybe you should go to a hospital if you're having trouble remembering…"
"W-wait, what?! She's the reason I was…?"
Cheerfully, the robed man said, "Yup. I must say, it was quite the throw, too."
"Apologize," Four-Eyes said sternly to the platinum blonde girl, crossing his arms and indicating Hiroki with a tilt of his head.
Mari sighed, of course she'd get in trouble now because the college boy probably had a concussion (she highly doubted that) and grumbled incoherently to herself. She glared at Kyo who was still grinning like an idiot at the entire situation and snarled openly at Tsubaki when she caught his eye. He had taken charge in grabbing Fuuto while his twin pulled her back into his chest before she could mutter another word about the matter. She shouldn't have taken their bait or given in so quickly if this was going to be the result.
"I am very sorry for leading you on and throwing you to the ground like that. My sister and friend dared me to and that's not an excuse but an explanation." She bowed formally before moving away without another word and latched onto Kyo's arm in a death vice as she passed. "You and I need to talk," she hissed and began to drag her laughing sister away.
~o~
Mari gritted her teeth in frustration as another make-up artist invaded her personal space with a little too much zest for her liking. Taking pictures for albums or magazines wasn't so bad despite her hatred for flashing bulbs, but the constant nagging about wardrobe and her make-up was a completely different story. She would never tell Kyo about enjoying being the center of a camera's focus, and it took a lot of effort on her part not to shove the annoying woman fixing her lipstick away. Just what the hell was the lady yapping about anyway? Something about her eyes maybe? Mari flashed a small smile and pretended to pay attention to the "wisdom" the make-up artist was trying to impart.
"Oi, Izumi, we need Mari-chan," the manager called out from the set and Mari danced happily in her head as she ducked under Izumi's brush. Finally, someone rescued her from another lecture on beauty products.
She hurried to the set and ignored the growing crowd of spectators as word spread of Fuuto taking photos along the beach. Of all the places for him to do the cover for his new album, it just had to be on the beach where plenty of people could watch the spectacle. Why would he do this if she was a "secret"? Then again, not once was her name released to the press and any interaction she had with the paparazzi was in the parking lot as the band made their way inside the stadium. Was the manager paying those buzzards to remain quiet about her name? If that was the case then it was only a matter of time before someone decided that the money of figuring out who the mystery guitarist's name was better than keeping quiet. She wondered how long that would take, but since no one had spoken up yet then it was clear that they were satisfied with keeping their mouths shut.
Her hair fluttered in the gentle breeze as she took her spot between Ryou and Kai only for the lead photographer to direct her elsewhere. "No, no, Mari-chan!" He said, "You need to be up front beside Fuuto-kun otherwise we won't be able to see you."
Fuuto raised an eyebrow at her, his eyes brimming with mirth as the crowd of girls seemed fixated on the sudden order for the guitarist to be closer. She sighed, of course this would be a trip in which she'd never be able to show her face again without being mauled. Kai shared a look with Ryou and before the drummer could shake his head, the mischievous bassist shoved Mari forward and forced Fuuto to catch her. The sudden screaming was enough to burst her eardrums as Fuuto shifted his footing while simultaneously moving her around in his arms. Her cheeks heated the longer she remained smashed against his chest, and he didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry to release her yet. Over her head, the pop star raised a sardonic brow at the hysterical bassist and crowd of girls glaring daggers into Mari's shoulders. If he wasn't going to let her go then she sure as hell was going to push—
"Don't worry about them," his breath whispered cheekily at the shell of her ear, causing her to shiver slightly much to her mortification. "Just finish this and then we can go."
"You're teasing me again, aren't you?" She mumbled, burning sapphire glaring up into honey brown.
His signature smirk was firmly in place as he winked at the crowd before placing her back on her feet. She steeled her spine against the sudden flash of goosebumps rising along her arm where his hand brushed. Kai was still laughing at the look of utter surprise that had crossed over her face before Fuuto had halted her fall, and the blonde slammed her fist into his shoulder in annoyance. "Asshole," she growled.
"Oh, but it was priceless!" He crowed, rubbing his shoulder with his other hand.
Ryou rolled his eyes and smacked the back side of the bassist's head. "Shut up and pose before Fuuto gets irritated."
Said pop star was currently working the crowd back into a lovey-dovey attitude before a riot could start. The photographer was gracious enough to snap some pictures of him posing with a few lucky fans, calling out to the girls that they were beautiful little models-in-waiting. Mari crossed her arms and waited for Fuuto to return from his social call, completely disgusted by both his behavior and the obnoxious girls practically swooning at his voice.
"You're not jealous, are you?" Kai asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
She scoffed, "Of what?"
"All those girls are pining for his attention…" He nudged her shoulder and darted away from another punch aimed for his face. "Ne, ne, Ryou, she's jealous!"
"The hell I'm jealous, you bastard!" Mari lunged for the elusive bassist with a growl.
Ryou pinched the bridge of his nose and grabbed the two younger band members by the collar, halting their standoff completely. "That's enough. Fuuto is coming now."
Mari huffed as she was released and turned away from them both as Fuuto gave one final wave to his escatic fans. She wasn't jealous of those hormonal idiots. If anything she was irritated with having to wait and be in the middle of this crazy spectacle when she was supposed to be vacationing with her sisters.
"Hurry up, Yatsume-san, or I'll die of old age," she sneered.
His smirk slid into place as his eyes darkened dangerously. "What a lovely obasan you'd be, too."
She refused to flush from the way he eyed her and growled wordlessly as the photographer called for their attention. The laughter that sounded from him was ignored as she took her place in front of Ryou and Kai. He wasn't going to play around with her.
She'd see to it that her heart remained protected so he couldn't try any of his tricks.
