A/N:
*apologises profusely*
To anyone who has stayed around long enough to be reading this now:
Thank you for your patience. I'm sorry that it's taking me forever to continue both versions of LNR, but my muses buggered off for a three month stretch, and are still rather reluctant to return. Also I have…other issues to deal with, and so my fanfiction becomes rather low down on my list of priorities.
Also I haven't been in the right frame of mind to be writing this for a long time, and I can't see the situation changing any time soon.
Please be patient. I haven't given up on this yet, even though it might seem as if I have. The 4th part of LNR should, with any luck, be making an appearance some time soon, as it's nearly done. But with the problem I've been having with access to ff.net, and my current (rather huge) workload…who knows?
Also please, to the person who did, and anyone else who may have felt tempted to do so, don't write reviews which say 'I hate you' over and over again. It doesn't help me in the least. Rather the opposite in fact.
Thank you for having taken the time to read this rather long author's note. I hope the new chapter was worth waiting for.
Late Night Radio (Edition 2) Pt.2
Yamato to the Rescue
Nearly six hours later, Yamato's limousine was parked outside of the KPLD radio station, where it had been for several hours. Hitoshi was snoozing quietly in the front. The chauffeur had been rather hesitant to fall asleep, but the singer had assured him that he didn't mind in the slightest.
Taichi, a.k.a. DJ Chi, was just finishing off his set. He was really rather good at it, the blonde thought idly, and he should know after having listened to the entire show.
"And that's it from me, DJ Chi! See you tomorrow at midnight everyone. Now it's over to Mark for this mornings news..."
A new voice took over, and Yamato turned the radio off, no longer interested. He yawned and stretched. Funny how he didn't really feel tired, even though he had been awake for so long. In fact he felt almost...excited. Pulling out his cell phone, he keyed in the number of the radio station, and then impatiently watched the second hand on his watch tick around. It seemed to be going far too slowly...
As soon as the time changed to 6:01, he pressed the key to dial, and waited for someone to pick up.
"Hello, you've reached KPLD radio station. How may I help you?" a different receptionist than before answered.
"Hi, I'd like to speak to DJ Chi, please."
"I'm sorry, but DJ Chi's show has just ended, so you can't request a song now."
"I think you misunderstood me. I'd like to actually speak to him, rather than making a request. He can't have left the building yet."
"Erm..." she hesitated. "I'm afraid that I can't do that as it's against company policy."
"Even though I'm a personal friend of his?" he countered with.
"Er..."
"I don't want to get you into trouble, but I really need to talk to Taichi." he said, determined to keep his word to his friend. "Can you just put me through to the station manager? I'll talk to him."
"Uh, sure, okay. I'll just have to put you on hold for a few moments whilst I put you through..."
"That's fine by me."
Yamato drummed his fingers on the seat as he waited, hoping that he'd get through to a reasonable person for once.
"Yeah?" an irritated sounding man grunted. So much for that hope. There was nothing for it...
"Hi," he said coolly, practised disinterest and disdain in his voice, practice come of too many annoying interviewers who thrust microphones in your face, screamed questions in your ear, and talked out of their arses. "I'd like to talk to Yagami Taichi."
"Well you can't."
"May I enquire why not? After all, I am a personal friend of his."
"Yeah? Then why don't you call his home phone number instead of bothering me?"
"Because he is currently still at the station, and it will take him some time to get home. And I wish to speak to him now, rather than later."
"Well tough. Goodb-"
"Don't you even want to know who I am before you hang up on me?"
"No."
"My name is Ishida Yamato."
There was a pause.
"Ha ha. Very funny." he said, but didn't sound convinced.
"Try actually listening to my voice. My name is Ishida Yamato."
"Yamato!" the station manager gasped. "I'm so sorry..." he smarmed, and the singer was glad that he wasn't in the same room as him, as he would have probably punched the arse-kissing bastard in the face without any further ado. He loathed and detested people who were only nice to him because he was famous. "I didn't realise that it was you. I can call you Yamato, can't I?"
"You didn't exactly give me much choice in the matter, did you?" he muttered to himself under his breath. He cleared his throat and spoke loudly to cut through the excited babbling's of the man on the other end of the phone. "Look, can I speak to Taichi now please?"
"Of course, of course... I'll go get him now..."
"Good." he said, abruptly.
Yamato heard the clunk of the phone being put down on the desk, and a moment later, that station manager yelling for Taichi.
"Phone call for you!" he heard said excitedly, but the sounds were muffled, the speaker some distance from the mouthpiece.
He heard the receiver being lifted, and the cautiously spoken "Why?" perfectly clearly, and it made him smile. Any tension he felt left him in that moment.
"Because it's me." he said, suppressing a laugh. He heard his friend's sudden, sharp intake of breath, although he wasn't sure that the brunette was aware of having done so.
"Oh, hi Matt." came the curiously bland reply a moment later, although he sounded surprised. Yamato picked up the conversation with a comment to that effect, and was amazed at how well it flowed from there. He had expected there to be at least some awkwardness, a few silences as they talked. After all, five years was a long time to be apart... But, no, it all just flowed as well as it had when they had been in high school together. He even hazarded a few guesses as to what his friend's reaction would be to various things he said, and was amazed at how accurate he was.
It was almost as if they had never been apart at all, it just went so naturally... But actually, that wasn't quite true. There was...something in the way Taichi was talking that made his half of the conversation seem oddly stilted.
"Is the station manager still in the room with you?" he asked a little while later, with a frown. He had run through all the possibilities for his friend's guarded responses, and had come up with that one as the most likely... Other than that of the brunette not really wanting to talk to him. But if that was so, then he was one hell of a good actor as his happiness had sounded genuine enough to him...
"Yeah." Taichi's voice cut through his thoughts, and Yamato let out a silent sigh of relief upon hearing that positive response. Thank god... "How did you know that?"
He went through some of his reasoning with him, enjoying their light-hearted banter more now that he knew the reason for the slightly stilted tone, and knew that it wasn't because of him. Pretty soon, however, he heard the brunette yawn in the other end of the line, and a flicker of concern passed over his face.
"You really that tired, huh?" he asked, belatedly realising that as his friend had just come off a six hour shift, the last thing he probably needed was a long conversation keeping him awake.
"Uh-huh." came the mumbled reply. It soon became obvious that he was far more tired than he was letting on...but still, despite this, he was still so keen to talk to him. That realisation caused something to flutter, deep inside. He wanted to talk with him that much? It made him smile to himself, but didn't stop the growing sense of guilt.
"Perhaps I had better let you get some sleep then. We don't want you getting tired out."
"No, don't." Tai pleaded, sounding miserable, and making Yamato feel even more guilty. Damn him... He had never met anyone else outside of his immediate family that was capable of making him feel that way. "Just don't. I like hearing your voice."
"So do I, Tai-chan. So do I. But you really sound like you could do with some rest. I'll give you my number, you'll be able to call when you wake."
"It won't happen like that."
"Why not?"
"Because there'd be no chance of me getting any rest until much much later."
"Why?" He was beginning to wonder if he was being particularly dense so as to not get it, or if Taichi was being particularly difficult.
"Question time."
"Huh?" he started, puzzled, then realisation dawned a moment later, and he groaned. Kami, he was such a baka at times... He swore at himself under his breath. "Oh, your arse-hole of a boss, right? Shit. Sorry, I should have realised that he'd bug you with a million questions as soon as you finish the call. Damn it."
"Not your fault."
"Yes it is." he sighed, still busy mentally berating himself and trying to think of a way to rectify the situation. Suddenly, inspiration struck, and he grinned. Now that might just work... "Uh, hold on. I have an idea."
"What?" was the cautious reply. Had he always been so sceptical about his ideas?
"Nothing bad, and it'll work. I'm sure of it. Just do what I tell you to, okay?" he reassured him, praying that he would, and wasn't going to display that stubborn streak of his.
"Depends on what you ask me to do."
Okay, stubborn it is then...
"I said it's nothing bad."
"That doesn't mean anything!"
"Tai, just co-operate would you?" he said, exasperated. "Now hang up."
"What? Why?" There was genuine bewilderment in his voice.
"Just do what I tell you to, would ya?"
"But..."
"No buts. Do it!"
"Bye Matt." His voice was so mournful that Yamato felt another pang of guilt at having caused that effect.
"Don't sound like that! I'll see you in a minute, Tai." he said, and hung up before his friend could plead with him not to, because he knew that if he did, he'd give in. Closing his eyes, he took a moment to compose himself before he gently shook Hitoshi by the shoulder. The chauffeur awoke with a small grunt, and sleepily turned to look at him.
"Yes, Ishida-san?" he yawned.
"Listen, I'm sorry to have to wake you, but I'm going in there," here he pointed towards the radio station, "so that I can rescue my friend from the complete idiot that is his boss. Can you be ready to leave as soon as I return? I kinda want a quick get away."
"Sure, of course." the chauffeur grinned, looking more awake. Yamato looked at him suspiciously.
"Why are you grinning at me?"
"No reason."
"Hmm."
"Why don't you go in there and rescue your, ah, friend before he's lynched by his boss."
"I think I'll do that." he glared at Hitoshi as he continued to grin at him. "And no reading more into this than there really is."
"Would I?"
"Hmm."
He exited quickly before the continued knowing look could make a blush rise on his cheeks. Dammit... Sometimes there was a downside to hiring somebody who knew him fairly well...
Putting that to the back of his mind, he strode into the entrance foyer of the radio station. Striding up to the reception desk, he put on a mask of indifference as he stepped in front of the receptionist who was busy, head bowed, typing things into a computer. He cleared his throat lightly to get her attention.
"Yes, can I help you?" she said politely, not looking up, but with a slight edge to her voice that said 'please go away, can't you see I'm busy?'
"Hi," he said pleasantly. "Could you direct me towards the managers office?"
"Do you have an appointment?"
"No. Not with him in any case."
"Then with who?" There was a note of exasperation to her voice now, making a small smile tug at his lips. People rarely spoke to him like that because of who he was, so it was a refreshing change. But any moment she was going to look up, and call him sadistic, but that widening of the eyes was so funny to watch...
"I have an appointment with DJ Chi, a.k.a. Yagami Taichi, who I believe is currently in the managers office."
"Taichi doesn't have any appointments." she frowned. "Not just today, he never had any appointments. So who are you, Mr...?" she paused, waiting for him to fill in the blank. He obliged.
"Ishida."
He saw the stiffening of her body, and the way her fingers froze over the keyboard, mid-tap. A moment later he looked up, and yes, there was the widening of the eyes as she realised who he was.
"Y-Yamato Ishida?" she squeaked, and he nodded and smiled greeting. "O-oh my... Um, where was it that y-you wanted to get to?"
"The manager's office."
"Um, it's on the top floor, you just take the elevator over there..."
"Thank you." he said, and turned to go.
"Um, Mr Ishida..." the receptionist began nervously. When he turned back, she pushed a piece of paper and an pen towards him, blushing furiously. "Um, I don't suppose you would..."
Grinning, he snatched up the pen, quickly signed his name, and pushed it back to her. She beamed at him, temporarily speechless with joy, and he inclined his head towards her, and continued on towards the lifts. When he was there, and had entered one and was waiting for the doors to close and take him up to the top floor, he glanced back over towards the desk. He just caught a glimpse of the receptionist hugging the piece of paper to her chest before the doors slid shut.
He shook his head gently from side to side, smiling to himself. Taichi's suggestion a few minutes ago, when they'd been talking on the phone, that he should become a shrink, wouldn't have worked. He just didn't understand the reactions of people at times. After all, it was only a piece of paper and some ink, and yet it was treated as a valuable object. It made no sense...
Apart from the hum of machinery at work, it was quiet as he had miraculously managed to secure an otherwise unoccupied lift. He enjoyed the quiet for a little while longer, at which point there was a little 'bing!' to let him know he'd reached his floor, and the doors slid open and he was engulfed in noise once more. People hurried to and fro, moving paper, talking on telephones, preparing for the items on that day's schedule... The usual type of activities taking place in other words.
Yamato frowned as he stepped out into this commotion that largely resembled chaos. So many people, a lot of doors, so which was the office he was looking for? It wasn't immediately obvious, so he walked up to the nearest person who happened to have his eyes glued to a computer screen, and a frown on his face.
"Excuse me, which is the managers office?" he asked.
"That way." the man said absently, pointing the way. "Though you better be warned, he's in a foul temper at the moment."
"Isn't he always?" he remarked dryly.
"Hah! Yes. You met him before then?"
"Not really, but I meet his type a lot."
"Yeah? What profession are you in then, that puts you in the position to meet that god-awful lot?" The man was intrigued enough to look up from his work, and yes, again there was that widening of the eyes, this time also accompanied by the dropping of the jaw.
"Guess." he smiled, and walked off in the direction he had been pointed in. As he walked, he was aware of the little gasps, and the excited whispered conversation that broke out behind him, but he dismissed it as unimportant, concentrating instead on the door that was now in front of him. There was a small pane of glass set in the wood, allowing him to look in. He could see an extremely tired looking Taichi being yelled at by another man who he could only see the back of. The other man was presumably the station manger, and was short, rotund, and balding.
"The brunette, who had a strained expression on his face, turned slightly, saw him looking in, and smiled, his expression brightening immeasurably. Yamato opened the door quietly, and walked into the room. he coughed then, and tapped his friend's boss lightly on the shoulder.
The boss immediately spun round, and began to scream obscenities at him, and it was all he could do to stop himself form laughing.
"And what the hell do you think you're doing? Have you never heard of knocking? How dare you enter my office without gaining my permission first? Well, answer me then! Do you have a voice, or is it that your vocal cords have been affected by your lack of a brain you complete and utter id-"
Bingo! The point of realisation had struck. Widening of the eyes? Check. Dropping of the jaw? Check. Acting like a goldfish, doing that gawpy open-shut mouth movement? Oh yeah...
"Hi Matt." Taichi chirped, grinning broadly.
"Hey Tai, sorry about the delay." he smiled.
"Huh? You call that a delay?!" The brunette looked incredulous. "How'd you get here so fast?"
"I'll tell you later." he said, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible. "You coming then?"
"Er..." Taichi shot a nervous glance in the direction of his boss, confirming the blonde's suspicions that he'd been given a hard time about his call. He winked.
"I'll sort that. Hey you." He turned to the manager who was still pretending to be a goldfish.
"Hunnh? What? You t-talking to me?"
"Yeah, you. How about you quit bugging my friend here, and let him come with me."
"What?"
"And while you're about it, why don't you give him tonight off as well?" he added after a little more thought. "You do this for me, and I'll...forget about that little incident that just happened. How about it?" He knew perfectly well that the manager couldn't very well refuse his request. After all, the amount of bad publicity he could generate about that little outburst was astronomical, and if there was one thing a manager didn't like, it was bad publicity.
Taichi's boss also knew that, and just dumbly nodded his assent. He then turned to the brunette who was looking bewildered at the exchange.
"Uh, s-sure. T-Taichi, you go with your...f-friend here, and I'll see you in a few days. Take as much time off as you like..."
"That's very good of you." Yamato said smoothly as his friend was looking absolutely speechless. Sensing that Taichi was busy searching for something to say, he held up a finger to his lips lest he say something to make his boss change his mind. He then quickly ushered the brunette, grinning disarmingly all the time.
As he led him back towards the elevator he couldn't help but notice even more whispered conversations spring out around them.
"Kami-sama..."
"It can't be Yamato Ishida!"
"But it is. I can't believe it!"
"Who's that he's got with him?"
"I don't know..."
"It's Taichi!"
"No way!"
"Yeah, look! Who else do you know that has hair like that?"
"True..."
"But what's he doing with Yamato?"
"I don't know... What's Yamato doing here?"
"I don't know..."
Although Yamato kept his outward appearance carefully blank, inside he began to worry. Had he just inadvertently caused a problem for Taichi? It had seemed like such a good idea to come up and rescue him when he had thought of it...
He continued to fret as he waited for the doors of the elevator to open. He glanced at his friend who was leaning against him for support, blinking rapidly in an attempt to stay awake. The brunette appeared to be completely unaware of what was happening around him. Well, that at least was a good thing, that they weren't both having an anxiety attack...
The doors in front of him opened with a 'bing' at that point, distracting him from his thoughts. He dodged past the occupants getting out, pulling Taichi after him as he seemed to have retreated into a world of his own and wasn't paying any attention. They turned to look at him as he barged past, and hearing the sharp intake of breath, he hit the button for the ground floor repeatedly in quick succession, as if it would speed up the process.
"Hey, isn't that-" he heard one of then say before the doors slid shut with a whoosh, and the rest of the sentence was lost. He let out a sigh of relief, and noted with surprise that once again there was no-one else present in the lift. Now, either people were avoiding him, or... Or it was just coincidence and he was being paranoid. Most likely option two.
"Hey, Tai," he said, turning.
No response.
"Tai?" he repeated, waving a hand in front of the brunettes face. Still no response. Man, he really had gone off into a trance! Which meant that he was probably even more tired than he had thought him to be.
He was about to try again, when a 'bing' announced that the doors were opening. Funny, they couldn't be on the ground floor yet, surely... A glance up confirmed that they weren't, and a moment later three girls entered. So, going back to his earlier thoughts, it wasn't avoidance but definitely paranoia on his part. Oh well...
The girls crowded into the other side of the lift, talking amongst themselves. The blonde half turned away from them, hoping that they wouldn't look at his face, but at the same time trying to make his actions inconspicuous. No such luck. One of them sent a half glance his was in response to the movement. There was a pause, and then she looked back, directly at his face. She emitted an excited squeak and went into a huddle with her friends.
"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!"
"What is it?"
"That guy, he's Yamato Ishida!"
"No way!"
"Yes way!"
"Oh my god!"
Shit! He didn't need this at this time in the morning...
There was a bing, and Yamato looked up, hardly daring to believe his eyes. Ground floor! Thank god... He grabbed the still trance-like Taichi by the shoulders, and hurried out of the opening doors, across the entrance foyer, and outside before he could meet with any further confrontation. Hitoshi was standing next to the limousine, and opened the door for him when he saw him approach. The blonde dived in expertly, he'd had to dive into waiting cars too many times to mention, the brunette also being carried forward by the motion. Hitoshi shut the door behind them, and a moment later was in the driver's seat, starting the engine.
As they were pulling out into the traffic, he tried again to get his friend's attention.
"Taichi?" he asked.
Finally the brunette snapped out of whatever trance he had been in.
"How the hell did you manage to pull that off?!" was the first thing he came out with, and Yamato couldn't help but laugh.
"I've had to deal with an awful lot of people like him. You soon learn the best was to deal with them."
"Do you now."
"Yeah."
"Maybe you could teach me sometime."
"Sure Tai, whatever you like." he said softly, looking at the brunette as he yawned sleepily.
"S'nice limo, Matt. V'ry quiet driving..."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." he said in surprise after actually listening to the engine purr for the first time.
"Is it yours?"
"Nah. I've just rented it for a bit."
"Ah." he mumbled sleepily, and his head dropped to rest on Yamato's shoulder, but only for a moment as he soon jerked upright, trying to stay awake.
"Tai, if you're tired, then sleep. Don't mind me, I'm pretty beat myself in any case.
"Mmm. Thanks."
The shock of brown hair once again came to rest against him, and as the limousine rounded a corner he slipped an arm about Taichi's shoulders to prevent him from falling. He was surprised when the brunette snuggled in closer to him, but didn't attempt to stop him.
"Night, Tai. Sweet dreams." he whispered, and watched as his friend drifted off the sleep. He couldn't help but smile tenderly as he heard his breathing slow, and fall into the steady pattern of a sleeper.
"It's good to see you again..." he added softly, even though he knew that he wouldn't be heard.
Suddenly feeling that he was being watched, he looked up to see a pair of amused eyes looking at him in the rear-view mirror.
"No." he said bluntly.
"But I didn't say anything, Ishida-san."
"Don't 'Ishida-san' me, I know what you were thinking."
"Which was?"
"No, stop it, that's not going to work. We're just friends, that's all."
"If you say so."
"Just get me to the hotel please?"
"As you wish."
He hid his face in Taichi's hair so that Hitoshi couldn't see the blush that was rising on his face. Then he realised how else that action could be interpreted, and sat upright again. When the chauffeur made no comment, he allowed himself to relax, and absent-mindedly began to play with the soft brown locks as he thought.
It really was amazingly soft hair... He'd never realised that before. How come? Then again, why should he have? It wasn't as if he had really had any occasion to touch it before. He looked so peaceful as he slept, too. As if he didn't have a care in the world, no troubles at all...
He frowned as he thought of something else.
"Hitoshi?" he asked, wanting a second opinion.
"Yes?"
"You don't think what I did was wrong, do you?"
"I'm not sure that I understand the question."
"Was I wrong to go and get him out of there?"
"Why shouldn't you have done that?"
"Because... Because from everyone's reactions in there, I don't think that he'd told them that he knew me."
"Why should that be a problem?"
"I don't know. Just... People might start acting differently towards him because of it. Not...acting the way they normally would. And I know how awful it is to have pretenders all around you."
"Was his boss as bad as you thought he was?"
"Yes, but what does that have to do-"
"Then it's probably a good thing that you went in to get him. I'm sure that he can deal with anything else that arises out of it. He looks to be at least as strong as you, and you've coped perfectly well all these years."
"He's probably stronger than me." the blonde said quietly.
"Well then." Hitoshi said. He glanced at his passenger who was still looking pensive. "Look, Yamato, you're worrying too much. I'm sure that everything will turn out to be perfectly fine. Better than fine."
"You sure?" Yamato asked hopefully.
"Convinced of it."
"Thanks Hitoshi." he smiled.
"No problem. Now why don't you just relax, we'll be at your hotel in half an hour or so."
"Thanks." he repeated, leaning back into the comfortable seat, and closing his eyes. Listening to the purr of the engine, and the muted sounds of the traffic surrounding him, he felt oddly soothed by the familiar sounds.
And so, soon he too fell deep into peaceful sleep...
To be continued...
*points to the review button*
If you would be kind enough to let me know if you are still reading this, and whether you still feel that this is worth continuing, then I would be very much obliged. Thank you.
xxx
