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Coffee Shops and Cameras
Chapter 18
"What do you mean you knew?!" I snapped and probed Hikaru in the chest with my forefinger, "Why the fuck didn't you tell me?!"
Hikaru raised his hands in defence, "I didn't think it was important"
I felt my cheeks turn red with rage, "You didn't think having my face plastered all over the tabloids was something important? Something that I might need to know?!"
I was mad, more than mad, I was beside myself with uncensored rage. I'd gotten no sleep the night before, I just sat up in bed and scrolled through google on my phone. I found more photos, more articles, more questions spread across website to website. I was starting to get sick of seeing my face. Including the ones of myself and Hikaru leaving the bar that day, I was also unfortunate to discover some photos of us at the first runway show we met at, standing outside with cigarettes, and some from the day Hikaru took me to that denim shoot, the camera catching close ups of me in the god-awful tight teal dress he'd made me wear.
Clearly after the original photos of us in the limo emerged, some asshole decided to dig up some more where we both featured together. Which only seemed to spark up more questions. At least they didn't have my name or any details I had to worry about.
When the sun came up I strode off on a mission to break the news to Hikaru. I found him at the breakfast table with Kaoru and his parents. In hindsight I probably should have pulled him aside privately, but I'd been bursting to say something since I'd discovered the first article.
So I blurted out... "Tabloids! Internet! Me! You! Photos!"
The Hitachiin tribe just stared at me like I'd just run into the room wielding a baguette with underwear on my head.
When I took a breath and properly explained what happened, that was when the air in the room became noticeably tense. My eyes trained on Hikaru, I had expected him to react similarly to myself, but instead he sipped at his coffee and shrugged.
That's when he told me he already knew.
And I lost my shit.
"When did you find out?" I demanded.
"I don't know...when it was posted I guess. I have alerts whenever someone publishes my name"
"Have you read what's being said about us?" I growled, lowering my voice. I glanced over his shoulder at his family who were doing a poor job at pretending not to listen. I grabbed Hikaru's forearm and dragged him from the room, pulling him out and towards the staircase. If we were going to have a proper discussion about this, complete privacy was required.
When we were inside my room I shut the door, then walked over to my laptop and loaded up the articles I'd bookmarked about us.
"Why aren't you more pissed about this!?" I snapped, taking in his nonchalant attitude as he perched himself on the edge of the bed.
"Because in a week this will be old news" he replied, "Calm down would you?"
"Calm down!?" Oh he did not just tell me to calm down... "You may be used to having your name plastered all over the tabloids, but I'm sure as hell not! One article is calling me a prostitute!"
Hikaru sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "See this is why I didn't say anything. No one will care about this news in a week. No one will care"
"I will care!" I blurted, "I'm all over the internet now, and it's going to be there forever! What if my friends see this? My family? This is your world, not mine, I don't want this! I never signed up to this!" my voice cracked thinking about my Dad seeing what these people were saying about me, and what if someone recognised me and told these journalists my name? What if this didn't go away?
"Hey, hey, hey..." Hikaru's voice cooed quietly, a tone I'd never heard pass his lips. I raised my eyes to look at him cautiously as he approached me. His arms then wrapped around my waist, and his body engulfed mine. My cheek rested against his firm chest as he pressed himself to me, and I found myself breathing in his masculine scent as I settled into his embrace.
Embrace?
"What are you doing?" I mumbled into him.
"I'm uh...comforting you..." he sounded awkward, "Is...it working?"
I wouldn't say it wasn't working...but I also couldn't say I was completely cured of my panic. I took a deep breath, allowing myself to relax. As I did so, I felt Hikaru's arms become less rigid, and slowly it felt less alien to be held by him so...innocently. Why was it that being ravaged by his lips and hands felt more normal with him than a simple hug? Why did this feel weird? Not a bad weird...but...still weird.
"I wish you'd told me" I murmured quietly.
"I guess I...didn't want to...upset you..."
"You mean to say that you were...worried about me?"
Hikaru Hitachiin was...worried about someone other than himself? Was that even possible?
He cleared his throat, "Don't get too excited" he said, hardening his voice, "If you got upset then our sessions would suffer"
I rolled my eyes, "Wow, I'm touched"
"But I mean it" he sighed, "These tabloids are just trash posts. Drama for the sake of clicks. They won't mean anything in a couple of days I promise you. There are far worse things they could have posted. In fact, these articles might be the most positive ones about me for a while now. I'm almost flattered that they think someone like you would..." he trailed off, like he'd caught himself saying something he shouldn't have, "What I mean is...it's fine. Stop panicking about it"
Stop panicking about it? Wow, thanks. I'm cured.
I sighed, deciding that going on about this wasn't worth it. It wasn't like Hikaru would understand anyway. His name was everywhere, and this was just another thing to add to his collection of publications. I guess being involved with the Hitachiin family meant that now I would get my own little collection...
But did I want that?
No. No I didn't. Not even a little bit.
Lips lowering to my neck brought me out of my inner-conflict, and my legs turned to jelly.
"What are you doing?" I asked breathlessly, as Hikaru's mouth parted to caress my pulse point. Shivers travelled down my spine and a small whimper escaped my lips.
"Taking your mind off things" he whispered deeply, "I like these pyjamas"
"R..really?"
"Yeah" he replied. His fingers trailed down the back of my thin baby pink tank top, then toyed the waistband of my polka dot shorts, "You look painfully sexy", his tongue darted out to taste the column of my neck, and I gasped loudly, "I don't think those photos did you justice" he breathed, "I mean...I might have saved some photos of you in those tight dresses for my own little collection, but this..." his fingers slipped under my shorts, trailing down across the soft cotton of my panties, "So innocent...so real. I like to think no one but me has seen you like this"
"You...you saved those photos?" my voice was shaking, my body was so weak with arousal that my head was struggling to formulate words, "Wh-why would you do that?"
I felt him smile against my throat, "Why do you think babydoll?"
Jesus, he's killing me...
"I...I don't know..."
"Well" he breathed huskily, "I find myself...thinking about you a lot. Last night I was looking at the photo of you in that short teal dress. So tight that your breasts were swelling out the top...and your legs...those fucking smooth legs..." he hissed with a groan, "You got me very excited. Do you want to know what I did when I was excited?"
His hand slid lower, under my panties so his hand could cup my bare backside.
"Tell me" I whimpered.
"I took in every curve of your body, every inch of your soft bare skin, I imagined having you in my bed just as you were that morning, and touching you everywhere" The hand on my ass moved around slowly towards my trembling core, my breath froze in my throat as his fingers made contact. I moaned and rested my forehead to his chest as his tips began making slow continuous circles around my sensitive spot. My legs went weak and I fought to keep myself from stumbling.
"Seems to me that you may be just as excited...I'm sure you can guess what I did to fix that. Maybe you need the same treatment?" Then his lips met mine, his tongue immediately fighting through the barrier of my teeth to seek out my own. His kiss was ravenous and claiming, causing me to moan out into his mouth desperately.
"Take me to bed" I pleaded, parting my lips from his for barely a moment before pressing them back against him.
I didn't need to tell him twice. Within 5 seconds I had been hoisted into his arms and thrown down onto the bed, and instantly covered by Hikaru's panting body. I tore at his t-shirt and discarded it across the room, seeing his hard muscled torso caused a needy groan to erupt from my chest. My tank top was also ripped away, exposing my bare breasts and stomach to Hikaru who stared at me hungrily. It only then occurred to me that this was the first time he'd seen me this naked.
"I take back everything I ever said about those shapeless shirts you wear...I'm glad you wear them, because no one else is allowed to see this, only me...this body...these breasts...only I can see this..."
His possessive words sent a heat of lightning straight down to my bundle of nerves. His hands went to my shorts, and desperately began sliding them down my legs, followed by my cotton panties. I instinctively went to cover myself, suddenly feeling embarrassed about being completely bare. But Hikaru wasn't having it, he grabbed my arms and moved them away.
"Don't hide yourself from me" he growled, "I want to see all of you...every inch of your perfect body..."
"Hika..." I moaned at his words, and suddenly his mouth found mine again. The feeling of his chest pressing to my pebbling nipples made me writhe beneath him, and his denim clad crotch grinding against mine was almost my undoing.
His kisses began trailing down my neck, across my collarbone and south to my breasts. His mouth enveloped one of my nipples, whilst his fingers toyed with the other. I hissed in pleasure, my hips gyrating against his, trying to get some kind of friction to ease the pressure building inside me. His teeth pinched and lips pursed around my peak, his tongue swirling expertly as his large hand massaged my other breast.
I whimpered when his worship on my breasts ended, but then his lips continued it's journey downwards, down my stomach, to my thighs...
Then suddenly he was on his knees in front of the bed, his eyes trained on my core as his hands held my thighs open wide.
"Hika?" I questioned, my voice barely above a whisper.
"Shh babydoll" he breathed, his tone laced with arousal, "I just want to taste you"
Then his mouth was on me, and I swear I almost blacked out.
Those lips, that tongue...the feeling of his dominating hands holding me open to him, and the sight of him buried between my legs with a look of utter pleasure on his face. I had no way to describe how incredible it was. Even though I'd had sexual experiences before, I'd never had anyone do this to me before. None of my previous boyfriends seemed to want to, so I never asked. But had I known how amazing it felt, I would have pushed for this a looooong time ago. Although I doubted that anyone could feel as good as Hikaru did. The way he seemed to worship my body was like seeing a dehydrated man devour his first drop of water. His eyes were so dark with need and lust that the sight of him alone was enough to speed up my release. His expert tongue tasted every inch of my core, and his lips encased and sucked at my most sensitive peak until I was almost feral with pleasure. I moaned aloud and my hands went to his hair.
"That's it babydoll, tell me how I make you feel" he panted against my flushed skin. He then dragged his tongue along my opening, causing my eyes to roll and my back to arch.
"So...good..." was all I could manage in a raspy needy voice. I could feel the pressure building inside me, burning more and more with each pass of his lips and tongue as he explored me. My breathing came in laboured pants and my fingers clung to his auburn locks. Everything was tightening, inside me...I could feel it...
"You're so close" he murmured. His arms wrapped around my thighs and pulled me impossibly closer to him, lifting my hips of the bed. His eyes met mine as his tongue dove inside me. My moans were more like gasping pleads now, begging for my release.
"Hika" I panted, "Oh god Hika please"
"Let go babydoll...let me taste your sweet honey"
Oh fuuuuck.
I cried out, biting into my hand to muffle my voice as I felt my insides contract around Hikaru's tongue, his lips sucking more desperately as I began to shudder beneath him. My orgasm racked through me, sparking every nerve. My back arched, and my body turned ridged as I rode the wave.
After several moments I felt myself coming back down to earth, it was only then that Hikaru's mouth lifted from my core, a smile spread across his handsome face, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. I flopped down on the bed breathlessly, my chest rising and falling rapidly.
"You're a dangerous man Mr Hitachiin" I slurred.
"Are you complaining?" he mused, lying above me to plant a tender kiss on my lips. His taste sent a new shiver down my trembling form.
"No way" I sighed, then kissed him again.
Hikaru and I must have laid there for a while just staring up at the ceiling, not saying a word to each other until I excused myself to the shower. I could tell her was hoping for an invitation to join me, but I reminded him that his entire family was only a few rooms away and his breakfast was getting cold.
Around lunch time I met Yuzuha in her office for our usual meeting, we went over patterns and textures as we discussed the men's suits she was working on. It wasn't exactly easy to focus on the designs when my sensitive areas still ached with the absence of Hikaru's tongue, but I did my best to ignore it as I asked my usual questions to Mrs Hitachiin.
In the middle of our deliberations she got a phone call, I couldn't hear what was being said on the other side, but from her reactions I could tell that it was something good. Her smile stretched from ear to ear and her voice went up several octaves with her excitement. I sat patiently staring at her as she hung up, waiting to find out what had her so giddy.
"We need to pack" she announced, jumping up and down in her black stilettos.
"Pack?" I questioned.
"Enough for two days!" she exclaimed. She ran to open the office door and shouted out the same instructions to her sons, moments later Hikaru and Kaoru were standing in the threshold with the same look of confusion on their faces as I had.
"What's going on?" they asked at the same time.
Yuzuha ushered them inside, clapping her hands together in jubilation as she began grabbing designs of the shelves and riffling through them. She then skipped over to me and took my book from me with a grin.
"We're going to Toshima" she said, "Ayame Jonochi wants to feature our upcoming men's wear in next month's issue of PARADISE"
"Holy shit" Hikaru gawped.
"Language!" Yuzuha scolded, "If I wasn't so giddy right now I'd smack you. Jonochi wants us
in Yokohama tomorrow. My assistant has already arranged transport and a hotel. We need the new designs of what we're working on, and...oh god we need a finished outfit to showcase"
"But we've barely finished sending the details off to the machinists" I grimaced. We'd spent the last few weeks designing for the men's wear campaign, and although we had plenty of completed designs, we'd only just started working out measurements and materials. We hadn't even ordered most of the fabric needed, and Yuzuha's sewing team had only started maybe one design, "We don't have any outfits to bring"
Yuzuha's grin fell and an expression of concern shrouded her beautiful face, "Oh gosh, I've been so distracted...I was meant to have production on the way right now" I could see the disappointment and fear paling her cheeks, and my stomach turned sadly.
"We only need one outfit right?" Kaoru spoke up.
Yuzuha nodded, "Just one that can be photographed, the forefront of the campaign needs to be the suits, but I only have a prototype blazer" her fingers went to her mouth and she began chewing anxiously on her nails that she'd been desperately trying to grow out.
I couldn't help but feel terrible. She'd been so distracted by Hikaru recently that her work had fallen behind. I'd helped as best as I could by putting in far more hours than she needed me for to draw out as many designs as possible. And although that process sped things along seemlessly, we were still a good 3 weeks behind on construction. Even though the machinists had some semblance of design to work with in her warehouse, they were still works in progress. We hadn't even managed to take a look at how they were coming along, for all we knew the finished products they were working towards didn't look as good as they did on paper. There was still fine tuning needed. There could be details missing, the fit might not be right with the fabrics used, it may not be comfortable...as I thought about all the ways the suits could have gone wrong, I began to feel the same panic Yuzuha felt wash over me.
"She only needs to see a prototype" Hikaru said. I looked up at him as he placed his hands on his mother's shoulders for comfort, "Yokohama isn't far, so we have all of today and tomorrow morning to finish off a shirt and pants"
"I haven't even tailored it to a model Hika" Yuzuha shook with panic.
"Then we'll tailor it to me, work through the day. We'll get it done" Hikaru gave her a tight hug, and I couldn't help but smile at how sweet he was being. I wasn't used to seeing him so concerned with other people. I knew he loved his mother, of course, but...I'd never seen him be so open about it. Apparently Yuzuha wasn't used to it either, as she looked at him with a tearful surprise in her glassy eyes, "Remember when we had that costume party when we were 9, and Kaoru and I forgot to tell you until the night before. By morning you'd whipped up two full scarecrow and tinman costumes that won us first place. A shirt and pants is nothing"
Yuzuha smiled sadly and cupped her son's cheeks, "There's my boy" she said quietly, more to herself than to him. It took me a second to understand what she meant. She'd always said that he wasn't the arrogant condescending man he made people believe, she knew that under that, even after all these years, he was still the sweet loving son she'd raised. Her boy.
Hikaru glanced at me over his mother's shoulder and met my eyes. There was no cockiness in his look, no hidden intentions. Just the swirl of his hazel eyes staring deeply into mine. And I swear to god my heart stopped beating.
"I'll pack up our designs" I blurted, jumping to my feet, "And I'll call your assistant and tell him not to collect from the machinists"
"I'll pack our bags" Kaoru nodded, lending his hand as well.
"And I'll stand here and look pretty" Hikaru winked my way. Once again, my heart jumped at the sight.
Fuck, what's happening?
It was then I saw that Kaoru had noticed our exchange, and a mischievous smile touched his lips.
I turned away and set to packing, ignoring the feeling of Hikaru watching me as I went.
Things are SPICING UP!
Sorry about the delay on things gang, the holidays have been stressful with travelling around :P My new years resolution is to actually stick to schedules and not fall behind quite so much. LTWB has just been...uggggggh. For a small explanation on that, the story matter is centred around mental health, and as someone who suffers from clinical depression and panic disorder, writing about that sort of stuff can take a lot out of you. You have to be in the right mind to properly represent those kinds of feelings if that makes sense. My goal is to write out a chunk of chapters before posting them one by one, as I can't guarantee I'll be in the right mind set to write them update to update.
For updates on all this shit, please follow me on twitter - yulisanwrites
Happy Holidays to y'all!
- Yuli xx