A phone buzzed shrilly on the nightstand. Kyoko groaned rolling over to blindly reach for it hoping it was Kuon sending her a video of himself for her to see when she woke up. She lifted her heavy eyelids to glance at the name on the screen. Hateful creep flashed across the screen, and she closed her eyes hitting decline. There was no way she was listening to Shotaro scream at her at one in the morning. She fell back asleep quickly but, in her dreams, she could hear the trill of her phone. She rolled over wanting to escape the sound by burying her head in Kuon's pillow, but she had forgotten that she wasn't at home. She fell with a groan cursing Kuon for insisting on furnishing Kanae's apartment with beds and cursing herself for insisting on twin beds instead of letting him buy queens. She had grown too accustomed to his California king to sleep comfortably in a much smaller bed.
"Ow," she moaned sitting up. A menacing growl crawled out of her throat as she heard the phone still buzzing away. She reached for the cursed object and hit answer, "What!"
"Baby!" The drunk voice on the other end enthused. It was not Shotaro, but she could hear him laughing in the background.
"She's gonna yell at you. is she yelling at you?" Shotaro slurred his words.
"Shh shh, let me talk to your bitch." The drunk man on the phone said. Again, Shotaro spoke in the background with a jovial voice about how she would yell at him for the insult.
"I'm hanging up now." She said drawing their attention back to herself.
"God you'rs such a bitch." The man on the phone hiccupped.
"What do you want?" she growled annoyed. She knew that hanging up the phone would only cause them to call back and be ever louder.
"A ride stupid." The man said.
Kyoko sighed and rolled her eyes. "Call a taxi." She ended the call fully expecting them to do the decent thing and call a cab instead of bothering her further.
Though when the phone started ringing again, she had to admit that she wasn't surprised.
"Where are you I'll call a cab for you since you are so utterly incapable of doing anything for yourselves." She said in leu of properly answering the phone. If they were going to be rude then so could she.
"No, you have to come get us." The drunk on the phone demanded sounding pissed.
"I don't know what your friend has told you, but I can't drive. Now tell me where you are so I can send a taxi over before I get back to sleep." Kyoko said sternly. Drunks were nothing new, but they were just as annoying as she remembered. Thankfully Kuon knew his limits and didn't like.
"No, you have to come, or we won't get in the taxi. Are you that much of a bitch that you'd leave your boyfriend to freeze out here?"
"Yes, have fun with him he's a baby when he's cold." She replied without emotion.
"Give me the phone jackass." Another unfamiliar voice said and there was a scuffle on the other end. "Hi. Hello, Kyoko-san?"
"Yes?" she sighed.
"Hi, please don't hang up again. I'm Hirata Daisuke. The thing we sort of aren't supposed to be out. Our managers and bodyguards think we're all in bed. We could really use your help to stay out of trouble and avoid the tabloids." The stranger said pleadingly.
"I said I would call a cab for you if you would just tell me where you are." Kyoko said exasperated.
"Right but we all forgot our wallets." Daisuke said sounding embarrassed.
"I'll pay in advance it will be fine." Kuon always paid over the phone when she used to insist on taking a cab rather than letting him drive her home. She was sure she could figure out how to do that.
"You will? Thank you so much." Daisuke said relief evident in his voice. "Hey guys, she said she'll pay for it and send us a taxi."
"Awe what a nice little girl." She heard the first stranger say sounding like he was ready to pass out.
"No, no, no." Sho said irritably. "You say that bitch she has to come get me or I won't get in the car."
"Dude don't call your girl a bitch man."
"You're one to talk, Shingo-san. You should apologize to her." Daisuke said.
"I'm not getting in the car Kyoko!" Sho shouted into the phone, and she held it away from her ear.
"Fine freeze to death." She said wanting to be done with them though she felt a little sorry for Daisuke.
"Pictures." Came Shotaro's menacing threat.
"Whatever Shotaro, you're not going to remember this when you wake up. I'm going back to bed." She said hanging up and setting her phone back on the nightstand.
She crawled back into bed and set her head on the pillow. Her eyes closed easily body wanting nothing more than to get back to sleep. Her brain however began to spin tales. The three boys, two strangers and one childhood nemesis were drunk somewhere. Knowing Shotaro he was probably still drinking. They were bound to wander outside in the chilly late January air. They would no doubt get caught by paparazzi.
Kyoko squeezed her eyes tighter. Shotaro loved the paparazzi. He enjoyed the attention and didn't care about his reputation. Why should she care if he posed inebriated for them? Why should she worry about the stranger Daisuke who was just as culpable as Shotaro even if he was more polite?
"This is not your responsibility Kyoko." She growled at herself.
Let them call Shoko and get in trouble. She took a deep breath and released it slowing willing it to calm her body into sleep. After a moment of silence, she pressed her face into her pillow and let out an exasperated scream which morphed into a groan as she gave into her heart. She would never forgive herself if the news reported something bad about them in the morning. It would be even worse if one of them got hurt and she knew she could have prevented it. Growling she snatched her phone and called Shotaro to find out where they were.
She tiptoed out of her room after hurriedly getting dress. Her phone was her flashlight guiding her to the front door where her shoes and jacket were. She kept it low to the floor not wanting to wake the two men sleeping in the living room. Only one of them was already awake as evidenced by the feet planted firmly on the floor. She shined her phone up long strong legs to a broad chest with arms crossed over it. A firm frown was plastered onto Koga's handsome face, and she sighed. The man just had to be a light sleeper. Meanwhile Kijima was sprawled out and loudly snoring on the floor.
"Where are you going at this hour young lady?" Koga asked.
"Out." Kyoko replied sheepishly.
"Out where? Ren isn't in the country and there's no one else you need to see at this hour. Get back to bed." Koga said pointing to her room.
"I can't." Kyoko sighed then proceeded to tell him about the phone call.
"I'll go get him. You get back to bed." He said again sternly.
"No, you need your beauty sleep." Kyoko protested and Koga snorted.
"Not as much as you do, ugly. Go to bed."
"I have to call a cab for Shotaro. I promise I'll be alright Koga-san. Please just go back to sleep and forget that you saw me leave." She started walking towards the door but her caught the back of her shirt and tugged her backwards.
"I'm going with you." He said and when she opened her mouth to protest, he shushed her. "At least this way you won't have to pay a taxi."
"You didn't drive here Kijima-san did." She pointed out. Koga released her and vanished into the darkness. She heard ruffling and Kijima moaned.
"Wha?"
"Nothing. I'm taking your car just go back to sleep." Koga said and Kijima groaned before he resumed snoring. "Alright let's go."
Kyoko glared at him but said nothing as they put their shoes on. Thirty minutes later she was in Kijima's car outside of the back entrance to a popular celebrity club.
"Where is the little jackass?"
"Koga-san…"
"What can't I call Fuwa a jackass? He literally abuses you." Koga said annoyed.
"He does not abuse me." Kyoko said though she knew it was a lie.
"Why are you still protecting him? I don't understand this relationship at all. You have no problem calling him an asshole to his face and telling him to leave you alone but the moment anyone else calls him out on his bullshit you have to defend him." he said.
"I do not defend Shotaro. Ah!" Someone slapped her window startling her.
"It's about time. Open up." Shotaro slapping the door. "Hurry before the mosquitos see."
Koga unlocked the door and Daisuke climbed in the back. He thanked Kyoko and Koga before buckling himself in. "I'm Daisuke nice to meet you. Here is where Shingo-san and I need to be dropped off at please." He showed Koga his phone with the address.
"I wanna sit in front." The man Kyoko assumed was Shingo said.
"You heard the man Kyoko sit in back." Shotaro said before bringing a bottle of sake to his lips.
"No, Kyoko-chan stays where she is; you all can sit in back together." Koga said.
"Who the fuck are you?" Shingo slurred his words and opened Kyoko's door. "Move bitch."
"Seriously get out." Koga said.
"Koga-san it's ok." Kyoko said unbuckling her seatbelt.
"No, it is not Kyoko. They can sit in back."
"Give my my girlfren." Shotaro slurred grabbing her wrist and yanking her out.
"Nope. No. Absolutely not." Koga said reaching for his seatbelt.
"Koga!" Kyoko said raising her hands. "Koga just drive them home. They're drunk and stupid and this will all go faster if we just let them sit where they want."
"Kyoko," Koga began in a stern elder brother tone.
"Hiromune." Kyoko said her voice just as stern as his. "Just drive. Come on Shotaro get in the car."
Koga had to take a few deep calming breaths as he watched Kyoko help Shotaro into the backseat. He was clearly the drunkest of the three and he was spilling his sake all over the seat as he plopped into it. Shingo climbed in the front and laid his head back. Once Koga had calmed himself enough to drive, he reached over and buckled Shingo in.
"Shotaro, you reek." Kyoko said shoving at Shotaro to get his face away from her.
"Come on baby give me a kiss."
"Ew, stop."
"Come on man leave her be." Daisuke said trying to pull Shotaro off Kyoko. "She came to get you what more do you want?"
"I swear Fuwa if you can't keep your hands and lips to yourself, I will drag you out of this car and leave you on the sidewalk. I really do not care." Koga said gripping the steering wheel.
"Fusk you." Shotaro spat back lamely but he stopped trying to kiss her.
"Fucking asshole." Koga uttered as he started the car.
"Hey Kyoko, you want some?" Shotaro asked after a few minutes. He held the bottle between his legs and motioned to it. "Come ooooon, bet Tsuruga makes you play tis game all the time. Mines mush bigger ovlessy."
Kyoko ignored him as she continued to stare out the window. She should have just gone back to bed and let Koga deal with this. Better yet she should have shut her phone off and leave Shotaro to clean up his own mess. Why are you still protecting him? She glanced over at Shotaro to see him leaning back and staring at her with a sad look in his eyes. In that moment he almost looked like the boy she knew. The one she studied with every day after school. Except he hated studying and the moment Yayoi left the room he would turn on the television. Then they would have to watch whatever he wanted to watch. She would never forget the look on Yayoi's face when she came in to find them watching it instead of studying. Shotaro would always blame her and like an idiot she would play along and apologize.
"Kyoko-chan." Shotaro said in a sing song voice.
Yayoi never punished Kyoko for it. She was understanding and kind and Kyoko used to tell herself that Shotaro only made her take the blame for things because he knew his mother wouldn't be harsh on her. After all she was pitiful and parentless. Sometimes she had wanted to ask, however, if he had been trying to get her into trouble. Had he wanted her to be punished or thrown out even for being bad? He would run through the house and break things then hide them in her room. Once he stole his father's credit card to buy a guitar then said she had given it to him to use. Not that his father had believed him, but Shotaro insisted that Kyoko had stolen it.
"Don't touch me." she said catching his hand before he could touch her face.
"GUgh! Such a bitch." Shotaro said yanking his hand from her grasp. "I bet Tsuruga is getting his knob polished right now."
"You are so gross."
"Sho-san come on." Daisuke tried tugging Shotaro away from her but it only annoyed Shotaro.
"No, she's mine." Sho whined hugging her and spilling sake on her.
"Get off me!" Kyoko shoved at his head trying to keep his mouth away from her.
Daisuke's brown eyes looked down embarrassed that he couldn't help her out.
"Shotaro stop." Kyoko hissed as Koga swerved and pulled over to the sidewalk. Shotaro snuggled into her ignoring her protests.
"Give me a kiss." Shotaro demanded pressing his face to hers.
"Gross, no." She said putting her hand over his mouth.
"Come on just one." He tried again in a drunken cajoling voice.
"No, point your mouth the other way so I don't have to smell your vomit breath."
"Gahh!" Sho screamed as he fell forward his face hitting the pavement after Koga pulled Kyoko out.
"Koga don't!" Kyoko screamed as Koga dove for Shotaro. She got between them holding her hands up.
"Why are you still protecting him?" Koga asked his question again and she shoved him back.
"Because he's family. He's stupid and annoying but he's family."
"That's bullshit. Family doesn't treat you like trash. I'm your family. Kijima and Kotonami are your family. Ren is your family. This guy! This guy is a joke."
"Fuck man!" Shotaro groaned pushing himself up off the sidewalk.
"Sho-san are you alright?" Daisuke asked but didn't mover from his seat.
The few cars that were on the streets pulled over people rolling down their windows to see what was going on. One guy asked if they were alright. Another man gasped recognizing Koga.
"It is him!" A woman squealed. "And that's Kyoko-chan!"
"Shit." Kyoko said under her breath seeing in frozen horror the people take out their phones.
"Shit." Koga reiterated hearing the cameras snap their unexplainable situation.
In a flash Koga and Kyoko lifted Shotaro back into the car shoving him into Daisuke's lap. Kyoko jumped in after him and Koga ran around to start the car. The only problem was the other cars were blocking their exit. Daisuke tried sinking down in his seat to hide from the camera flashes. Kyoko covered her face as the people approached the car trying to peer into the thankfully tinted windows. They would still be able to make out shadows though and they had all saw the three of them outside the car.
"Sake! Hey, they dropped their sake!" One of the people shouted.
"Drinking and partying on the road. Young celebrities these days and I thought Kyoko-chan was a nice girl."
That was what all the headlines were saying in the morning. Almost none of them condemned Koga or Shotaro. Over and over the media shamed her for being drunk and underage. They picked apart her outfit which had been Kuon's sweater and her pajama pants because she had dressed quickly. They noted the sake stains and how it was obviously a man's sweater, but it wasn't Shotaro's style.
"Kyoko-chan stop reading that garbage." Yashiro told her as he spotted the article she was reading during lunch. Somehow the story had become one of her trying to drunkenly seduce Koga as he drove her home from a party. It had been spun in such a way that it sounded like she had been the one who had need to be picked up. Shotaro and his friends had called Koga because she had partied too hard on her night out with them. Concerned and not knowing what she had taken Koga had pulled over to try to talk to her when she started to come on to him. That was Sho had tried to get out of the car but had tripped on her bottle.
"Kyoko-chan." Yashiro said warmly as he took her phone and set it on the table.
"I didn't," she began tears filling her eyes. It wasn't fair. Why were they all so quick to make her the villain? "Do you see who they interviewed? Daisuke-san and Shingo-san. I went to help them, and they blamed it all on me."
"Yes, I know. Daisuke-san is a known gossip. He's famous because he's rich and has celebrity friends like Shingo-san who drinks and parties and shows up to sets high. Koga-san says that when he tried to tell them the truth, they shot him down. Three known bad boys getting drunk and needing a ride home doesn't sell as well as LME's sweetheart drinking before she's of age." He said patting her hand.
"I bet Takarada-sachou is mad at me. Is he mad?" She said gripping her head and leaning it down on the table.
"Nonsense Mogami-kun why would I be mad at you?" Lory asked trotting in on his white horse. "In fact I have rode in to come to the fair princess' rescue."
"Onee-sama!" Maria shouted riding up beside him on her black pony.
"Takarada-sachou. Maria-san." Kyoko said anxiously standing and bowing to them.
"She didn't hear a word I said, did she?" Lory said dismounting his horse. Ruto appeared out od nowhere and pulled Kyoko up from her bow. "Come. Come Mogami-kun you have places to go and people to see."
"I do?"
"Yes, Onee-sama we're going to fix everything and we're going to show that no good sorry sack of –
"Maria-chan!"
"– dung what's what." Maria finished despite her grandfather's attempted interruption.
Kyoko looked at the two of them they she closed her eyes sadly. "If the people you want me to see are reporters, then I'm not going."
"What? Why not? We have to tell them what's really been going on. Ruto-san has collected evidence that Fuwa-san was not only the one who was intoxicated but also that he has cheated on you. We even convinced Daisuke-san to turn on him and confess that Fuwa threatened him to get him to say those things about you." Maria said fuming. Why wasn't her big sister fighting back?
"No Maria-chan that's not me. I won't place the blame on him."
"But that's what he's doing to you. He's hurting you just to keep himself out of trouble." Maria said.
"I know that. That's why I won't do it. I'm not him and I never want to be like him. If you want me to deny being drunk and flirting with Koga, I'll do that, but I won't smear mud on his name for revenge. I will not stop to his level." Not that she thought the media would believe her.
Yashiro nodded proud of her despite his own desire to shove Shotaro in the mud. Maria crossed her arms with a pout.
"This way then Mogami-kun." Lory said and he led her to her press conference to do some damage control.
A/N: It is currently 4:30 in the morning and I have work at 9:00. Why am I awake? Because I'm an idiot and this stupid chapter was sitting there unfinished and mocking me. Fucking Shotaro and his... Whatever it's written and it's done. I need sleep.
