Hello, I am back with the next chapter. I was really hoping to be able to post it Sunday, but studying for my Biology test got in the way. Anyways~ HAPPY BELATED BRITHDAY TO UMI! I also want to thank all the people who reviewed and commented on my story. I enjoy reading them. Well then, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
-Zero
Ch. 4 Let the Party Begin
"Eiichi, could you at least stand still, even if just for a little bit." Amber eyes followed the blonde head as it paced back and forth.
"Sorry, it's just being in this kind of atmosphere makes me nervous. It's been awhile since I've been to these kinds of parties...and they kind of remind me of Arisa and my parents." Eiichi gave the bluenette an apologetic smile.
He was finally able to stand still, and when he turned his head his mouth opened with awe. Ushio looked in the same direction and was a surprised by the sight of Nozomi and Kotori walking up to them in their party dresses.
Nozomi had on a dark purple floor length dress. The top of her dress had a strap that covered her left shoulder, showing her bare skin on her right shoulder. Eiichi was in a trance as she made her way across the room.
Ushio on the other hand also couldn't keep his eyes off of the woman in front of him. Her pale green dress that complimented her fair skin came down slightly above her knees. She wore a light white jacket to cover the top of her dress. It was clear that she was very particular with what clothes she wore.
As expected of a fashion major. He couldn't help but think that way.
"My, you both look very handsome tonight." Nozomi teased the two hoping to get a good response. The blonde had a tint of pink from the comment while the bluenette was slowly getting used to the woman's teasing.
"I could say the same. You both look very lovely in your dresses." Ushio brushed off Nozomi's comment and decided to make his own moves. The purple haired girl was caught by surprise with his comment while Kotori slightly blushed from the words. "Wouldn't you say so too Eiichi?"
"Harasho..." The blue haired man elbowed the blonde back into reality. "Ow! Oh, yes! You look beautiful Nozomi."
Heat slowly crept up Nozomi's face. After the words came out of Eiichi's mouth he gave a smile that could melt girls hearts. Ushio was surprised by the fact that his older brother was bold enough to say that and that the purple haired woman was actually blushing from the comment.
"Ayase-san managed to catch Nozomi-chan off guard? That's a surprise." The gray haired girl teased her friend as she tried to control the heat on her face.
*Ahem* "Shall we get going then?" Ushio interjected before the teasing would get out of hand between the two.
"Wait, where's Masaki and Yazawa-san?" Eiichi wondered where they have been after they had left together after classes were done.
"Nicochii said that she'll meet up with us later."
None of them questioned it. It was very Nico-like to meet with the group later. The two bodyguards escorted their ladies to the room where the party was being held. Tonight's party was being hosted by the Minami Corperations, so that meant that Kotori was required to greet the other guests as they come and go. Nozomi may have not been the host, but there were plenty of people who wanted to speak with her, whether it was about business or just to...have a little "chat".
Eiichi and Ushio stood by in the sidelines. They didn't have to stand by their target at all times, besides other people would be giving them weird looks if they did. They wore their usual suits, although Eiichi likes to vary the colors he wore while Ushio like to keep it simple with black and white. It was about half an hour later before Masaki and Nico had showed up. Their eyes blinked with disbelief when they saw the two in linked arms together and...smiling.
Three other kids were following the two and as they walked away the couple quickly let each other go. Separating ways, Masaki made his way to his older brothers while Nico went to Kotori and Nozomi.
"Mind explaining what we just saw?" The blonde asked the redhead as he stood between the other two men.
"Well..." Masaki was close to explaining until the boy from earlier came up to them.
"Masaki-nii do you know these two?" The boy asked curiously with a hint of mischief in his eyes.
"Y-yeah, they're my friends...is there something wrong with that Kotarou?" Masaki paled at the boy's presence; the aura he emitted was nothing but trouble.
"Oh, that's good. Then I can ask them about you dating my sister. That is, if you don't mind." Kotarou grinned at the older male.
"Eh! Um-" Masaki stumbled to find the right words while Eiichi and Ushio gave each other questioning looks.
"Well-" The boy opened his mouth only to be interrupted by his older sister.
"Kotarou! What did I tell you about bother other people!?" Nico came at just the right moment and saved Masaki's butt. The small woman dragged her brother away as Masaki let out a breath of relief. The kid was persistent; he couldn't let his guard down.
"No excuses, explain everything now." The blue haired man glared at the younger man. The tone of the words made Masaki and Eiichi shudder. Ushio had a very scary look on his face.
"We're not here to fool around."
"I know. I know. It's not like I wanted this either." Masaki sighed out his frustrations. "She dragged me into this okay? Long story short, I'm posing as her boyfriend. Whatever happens, just say we are dating. Please, I'm begging you both."
He pleaded his older brother which wasn't like him. There was no way Ushio could be mad, not when he sounded so desperate. The navy haired male sighed.
"Just...don't get too into your role. I don't want you to end up hurt. And besides, we don't know how long we'll be with them. We also have other things to do."
The two nodded at his words. Any command from above and they would be given a new mission without complaint. They made a promise to each other; they'll stick together until the end.
"You know, sometimes I wonder why you're not the leader." Eiichi smirked at the younger male in a teasing manner.
"We all know you make a good leader. In all honesty, no one is the leader since we keep each other in check." Ushio returned the gesture at the blonde.
They never really cared who lead the group. What's more important to them is that they get through the situation together.
The trio left the conversation there and began observing the guests. The party was beginning to flood with people, meaning they would have to keep their guard up. Those who left and those who came, the three made sure to carefully watch them.
"Those people can be a little clingy." Nico was unamused with some of the guests at the party. The three girls approached the three men standing by the sidelines.
"You say that, but you always try to get their attention." Nozomi gave the small brunette a blank stare as she stated the sentence.
"What!? You and I both know that we have to keep our image up."
"Oh~ you had an image to keep up?" Masaki's sarcasm reached the ears of the brunette and received a glare from ruby eyes.
"A more important one than your's!"
And thus their daily quarreling began. It was part of their group of friend's daily routine. It wasn't a normal day if the two didn't have an argument. The two older males sighed at the sight, until a young couple came to intrude their little group.
"It seems like you three haven't changed one bit." All six head turned towards the couple and came face to face with a man with purple hair and turquoise eyes and a woman with light brown hair and lilac eyes.
"Eren! Anju!" The three males shouted the names out simultaneously which caused the two to smile.
"It's good to see you three again." The man flashed another smile at them and the woman slightly bowed her head as a greeting.
"We weren't expecting to see you here, let alone both of you." The blonde gave a light punch on Eren's arm.
"Well, considering that we're now engaged, I think you'll see us together more often." Anju stated the fact and looked into her fiancé eyes making him blush.
"Congratulations, I'm happy for the both of you." Ushio gave the couple a warm smile.
"You three know Toudou Eren and Yuuki Anju too?" Nozomi tilted her head in confusion. Who exactly are these three people to know and make friends with such people?
"Well, you could say we had a mission that sort of involved them..." Eiichi averted his eyes to avoid contact from curious emerald ones. That was a story that was not to be told at the moment for personal reasons.
"If you guys aren't busy or want to kill time we should get together and hang out." Eren then turned his attention towards the blunette. "I would also like to challenge Ushio to an archery match. I've been practicing over the year. I don't plan on losing either."
"Oh~, well we'll just have to see how good you got then."
Ushio smirked at Eren's statement. They were really fired up with the mention of archery. The atmosphere between the two became so intense you could cook something in between them.
"Would you two chill out?" Masaki wasn't too thrilled to see them so fired up.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Anju clapped her hands together. "If it's okay, I want to to see if you can actually beat him."
"Only if you're going to be rooting for me." The purple haired man smirked at his fiancé.
"Hm~ I didn't know Sonoda-san practiced archery." Kotori looked at the man that stood beside her. I don't know anything about him.
"I want to go too! I want to see how cool Ushio-kun is when he get even more serious!" Nozomi playfully shouted her desire which brought the matter to Ushio's attention.
"Hold on! I don't know if I'll be at my best if there are a lot of people watching me..." His words began to fade out as the three women in front of him began to bash their eyelashes.
"Ushio-kun doesn't want me there?" Nozomi made a pouting face that made the blue haired sweat.
"Do you not like me Ushio-kun?" Anju made a hurt face making him feel even guiltier.
"I want to see Sonoda-san practice archery too." Kotori made a pleading face to convince the man.
The three present males and Nico felt sorry for Ushio. They knew that the girls were teasing him to no end.
"Al-alright, you can come. It's not like you wouldn't come even if I said so." Amber eyes closed from the defeat. It was my lost from the beginning anyways.
"You guys are a bunch of kids..." Nico judged the girls as they celebrated with joy.
"Hm~ did I just hear that Nicochii wants to have my special Washi Washi Max service?" Nozomi crept up behind Nico and dribbled her finger in the air.
"I-I-I didn't say anything! Keep your perverted hand away from me!" Nico crossed her arms over her cheats and backed away from the purple haired female.
The conversation between them continued as time passed them by. They caught up with each other and joked around like regular people. Ushio, however, noticed that Kotori was not being herself and was concerned.
"Minami-san, is there something the matter?" Ushio was worried about her. She was usually cheery and would always smile when around their group.
"Eh! Oh, it's nothing much. It's just that the musicians we asked to come play today are kind of late so I'm worried that the guest might be a little bored that's all." The taupe haired girl gave him a small smile and tried to brush off his worries.
"I think we can help you with that, right Masaki?" Ushio's smirk caught the attention of the amethyst eyes and was answered with a grin from the redhead.
Masaki walked across the room and sat on the piano bench. He unbuttoned his jacket and fixed the seat to get himself comfortable. Guests eyed Masaki as he took a deep breath before placing his fingers on the keys of the piano. Ever so gently, Masaki moved his fingers and began to play. Each note resonated throughout the room and captured the attention of the people present.
"Pachbell, Canon in D Major. He sure knows how to show off when it comes to music." Eiichi grinned at Ushio as the girls watched him in awe as he played the piano.
"My~, even Masaki-kun has surprises up his sleeve." Nozomi cooed. "Aren't you impressed Nicochii?"
"Hmph, well he's not that bad..." The brunette crossed her arms and turned her head the other way, but then heard other women taking about the redhead. Nozomi shrugged her shoulders before she was taken away to talk with other guests.
"Who is he?"
"He plays like a professional."
"I wonder if he's single."
"He's pretty handsome; he looks like the type who would play with a girl's heart."
"I wouldn't mind if he played with mine..."
The whispers and comment reached the ears of Nico and it somewhat irritated her. What's so good about that slanted eyes? He always thinks he's better at everything. Showing off won't do you any good when it comes to me!
"Um...Yazawa-san, you look a little red. Is there something wrong?" Eiichi's face was really close to Nico which caught her off guard. Her face reddens a little more than before, but from embarrassment.
"I-I'm fine! Don't do weird things like that again!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." The blonde gave her an apology for his actions.
"W-well, how about you make it up to me...by dancing with me..." The words came out awkwardly as Nico averted her eyes from azure orbs. Eiichi complied and held out his hand and slightly bowed to the small woman. She took his hand and he walked her to the dancefloor.
There was a huge height difference between the two, but Nico didn't mind. The tall blonde in front of her was kept her mind from wandering. He put his left hand on her hip and had her left hand in his right. Following the music they both began to move. Nico's heart was beating so much that she thought she was going to die. The small moment with the man was all, but a dream to her.
Masaki traced his eyes towards the dance floor and saw the two together. He rolled his eyes at the sight when he saw how entrance Nico was with the blonde. Returning his attention back to the piano he pretended like it was nothing, but strangely, the heaviness on his chest was starting to annoy him.
Ushio continued to watch everyone from the sidelines. Eren and Anju had also joined the dance floor and where gushing over each other. Kotori had more guests to tend to which left him to be by himself. He noticed the change in mood around the aura of a certain redhead and purplette woman, but decided to brush it off when his phone went off. Not wanting people to hear his private conversations he made his way to the balcony outside.
Nozomi was being bored to death by her guests. They would bring up boring business conversations that would relate to her parents, but what bothered her more was men who tried to flirt with her. True she would say things that would leave them speechless afterwards, but one after another they kept coming. Her attention kept straying towards the direction of the dance floor. She would smile and sort of laugh at bad jokes her guests would make, but in the back of her head a nagging voice kept bothering her every time she caught a glimpse of blonde hair and blue eyes.
Ushio sighed into the night sky. There was a lot on his mind at the moment. A single star couldn't be seen at night due to the fact that they were still in the bright lights of the city, but the full moon shined brightly all alone. The sound of the small breeze put him at ease. If only everyday was like this. He wouldn't mind at all if they could live in such peaceful lives.
"Ho ho, what bring a young man like you out on the balcony alone?"
Ushio turned to the voice. An old man with grating hair gave him a playful smile as he walked up beside the blue haired man.
"Shouldn't the young be having the time of their life at a party?" His warm brown eyes shined brightly under the moonlight as he turned to the younger man.
"I needed a little air from the party. I don't really like things like these." Ushio replied with a small smile, but then frowned. "I'm sorry, how rude of me. My name is Sonoda Ushio."
"Haha, you can just call me Genji." The old man patted Ushio's back in a playful manner. For some odd reason the bluenette didn't mind the company of the old man. He felt more relaxed with him around.
"Then tell me, Genji-san, what brings you out here?" Amber eyes observed the body language of the older man and noticed a sad smile on his face.
"It's a shame that you can't see the stars in the city." Ushio was caught by surprise with the comment and looked back towards the sky.
"Yes, it is. Almost as if they lost their light as they're overpowered by the city lights. I wish I could see them though..."
"You're an interesting boy. As much as I would like to talk to you more, I have to leave to return to my wife. She gets worried about me when I come home too late. How about this?" The old man pulled out a small piece of paper and pen and started scribbling on it, handing it to the younger man. "Here's my address to my home. I'm sure my wife would like to meet an interest young man like you too."
"I'm sorry but-"
"Please, I insist. Believe me, you're more entertaining to me than those people cooped up in that room." Ushio took the piece of paper and the man started walking away before he could say anything else. "It was nice meeting you Ushio-kun."
"It was nice meeting you too, Genji-san." Ushio bowed down until the man was nowhere to be seen. He stared at the small piece of paper in his hand sighed. It wasn't like him to accept something so easily from a stranger.
"Sonoda-san, what are you doing here by yourself?" Once again, Ushio's thoughts were interrupted by a voice, but a sweeter one. He turned around and faced the slender woman. Her pale skin and amber eyes shined under the bright moonlight. The smile on her face was also just as bright.
"I just needed some air that's all." He gave Kotori a reassuring smile. "What are you doing out here?"
"I was wondering where you went and got a little worried." She giggled. "How silly of me when you're the one here to protect me."
"I don't think that's silly." His words surprised Kotori. He faced the girl and looked into her eyes.
"I think it's because Minami-san is always kind and caring to those around her." Kotori blushed at Ushio's comment, and his gentle smile was not helping. Not long afterwards she pouted at his words.
"Since when was Sonoda-san such a charmer. I hope you don't say such kind words to every lady you speak too." Kotori tried her best not to break her pouting face.
"Uh- no- I- well-" Ushio's gentleman persona quickly broke down.
Kotori tried her best not to smile at him. He's so cute when he's so flustered. She giggled at the awkward man in front of her.
"How about you make it up to me then?"
"Make it up to you...how?" Ushio tilted his head in confusion with a raised eyebrow.
"I want you to call me by my name." She sent him another pouting look. "It's not fair that you call Nozomi and Anju by their names."
Ushio was defeated by her words. There was no way he was getting out of this.
"Alright, I'll even let you call me by my name. In all honesty, I don't really like it when I get called Sonoda-san. It kind of makes me feel a little empty when I'm with my friends." He gave her a small smile to reassure her it wasn't her fault. "It that's okay with you...Kotori...-san."
"Drop off the honorifics and you have a deal." Her bright smile comforted him. It was strange how much of an effect she was on him when they had just met a week ago.
"Alright...Kotori." The name came out smoothly as he slightly blushed from embarrassment.
"Thank you Ushio-kun." She got on her tiptoes and planted a small kiss on his cheek. Kotori let out a small giggle from the look of his flustered face. Now I know why Nozomi like to tease him so much. He's so cute when he blushes.
"S-s-shall we head back? Everyone's probably wondering where we went." The bluenette tried to control his red face and act normal as possible which made her giggle. She agreed and they went back inside. Eiichi and the others were all together when Ushio and Kotori found them.
"Where were you two? We were about to send a search party out." Eiichi said in a half joking matter.
"I wasn't that worried though." Masaki played with his hair as he stated his sentence.
"Sorry, I went out to get some air and Kotori came looking for me." Everyone stared at Ushio.
"Oh~ you must be getting close now if you're saying her name without honorifics." Nozomi grinned at the two as they blushed. They completely forgot that their friends would tease them to no end for that. "My, how-"
"Ah, testing. Testing, one, two, three. Can you hear me?" A male voice could be heard from an intercom. Every guest in the room turned their attention to the voice. Was the part of the party?
"Good evening everyone. I want to thank everyone who was able to come. You probably think that it's almost the end of the party, but that's where you're wrong." The group of friends gave Kotori a questioning look.
"Kotori-chan, do you know anything about this?" Anju questioned the confused taupe haired girl.
"No I don't." Kotori shook her head.
"Well then shall I tell you a surprise?" The intercom voice continued to speak.
"In this room there are two hidden bombs. If you don't defuse them both at the same time within one hour the place will go BOOM!" Everyone in the room gasped, tension was beginning to rise.
"So...what are you going to do little soldiers? How are you going to save everyone?" The man hiding behind the intercom made an evil laugh. "Let the party begin."
With those last words the intercom went silent. Eiichi, Ushio, and Masaki froze at the words. Whoever that person was, he knew who they were. Guests began to panic from the words. What are they going to do? Where are the two bombs? What exactly was that person's motive?
Hope you enjoyed that. Hm~ Ushio you shouldn't be taking things from strangers so easily.
Let me know what you think or just spout randomness at me.
Until next time…