Chapter 2


Nozomi was woken from her peaceful slumber by a startling shake. Ugh, morning already? She always dreaded waking up so early to the sound of her obnoxious alarm clock. She reached up, patting something while mumbling, begging for 5 more minutes.

"Pat my head one more time and I swear, Nozomi, you'll be kissing your bedroom floor," a familiar voice said in a warning tone.

One of her eyes cracked open and saw the unsmiling face of her neighbour, Naoki, as her hand remained tangled in his raven hair. I should be the one looking grumpy, She thought.

Feeling a bit vindictive, she ruffled his hair vigorously and as a result, his hair stood up in all directions.

"Why you—" His hand moved swiftly but stopped when it was about to hit her head in a chopping motion. He poked her forehead instead.

"Must you be so barbaric in early morning, Nicocchi?" Nozomi complained as she slowly sat up with a hand over her mouth as she yawned. She was used to his antics to care anymore.

"If you're not in the kitchen in 15 minutes, I will drag you there myself. Got it?" She nodded sleepily. Loud stomping noises can be heard as he left the room. He sure makes a lot of loud noises for a little guy, she thought.

She sat there for a few seconds, having an inner struggle of whether she would flop back down on her bed or change into her work clothes. The latter part won as she did not want to face his wrath at such an early hour. Grudgingly, she rose to her feet, went to the bathroom to freshen herself up and then, she made her way to her dresser to pick up her clothes.

Once changed into a white long sleeved dress shirt, black pencil cut skirt, tights and heels; she got out of the bedroom and into her small kitchen, sitting at the dinner table. Naoki already prepared a cup of coffee for them. He prefers drinking it black but she likes her blend with lots of cream. She took a small sip and sighed happily. He surely knows how to make her blend perfectly.

"Are the kids at school, Nicocchi?" She asked, staring at his back while he cooked breakfast. He wore a simple white shirt, jeans and his favorite pair of boots. He was also currently wearing her pink "Kiss the Chef" apron.

"It's Sunday. School's closed today." He answered briefly without turning to look at her.

They're probably sleeping in, she thought as she took another sip from her cup. She wanted to ask him more but he cut her off by laying down a plate on the table. It's omelette rice.

"Eat," it sounded more like a command than a statement in which Nozomi graciously accepted. She made several attempts on starting a conversation but his replies were short and abrupt.

She helped him clean up after finishing their meal. "Say, Nicocchi..."

"What is it now?" He folded his sleeves, not really paying her attention. He's clearly not in the mood for niceties.

"Are you going to be late?" she asked innocently enough.

"If you knew that then why do you keep on distracting me?!" He snapped and threw the dish rug on the counter, "You know what? Screw the dishes. I'll do them later after we get back."

He took off the apron, hung it on the rack near the kitchen, and took his pink cardigan. He shrugged it on, his thin but muscular arms slipped through the sleeves easily.

He then grabbed for Nozomi's arm and led her towards the door. She barely had the time to snatch her purse which was on the table.

"Eh? But I haven't even put make up on..."

"You're fine." He said, locking the door behind them.

"Does that mean Nicocchi thinks I'm pretty?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at him. Not as pretty as me, Naoki thought but he didn't voice it out. Instead, he dragged her towards the car and shoved her in the driver's seat before he sat in the passenger's seat.

"Please don't manhandle me..." She said, feigning hurt. He snorted, seeing through her act without difficulty.

"Just shut up and drive." He said then he fastened his seatbelt and settled more comfortably in his seat. Seeing his unrepentant face, Nozomi could only pout. It was a wonder how Naoki could see through her act. Most of the guys would treat her nicely. She sighed. It was refreshing in a way so she won't complain. Then, she started up the engine so they could both get to work.

Nozomi sighed in frustration as she read another fan letter for Elliot. When she arrived this morning, her desk was already buried under a pile of colorful envelopes. She gets it, fans want to show their admiration by sending such passionate words but sometimes it's a little too much.

"Oh my goodness, at least keep it PG-13..." Nozomi muttered. She doesn't want to read yet another fan mail of what they want Elliot to do to them and vice versa. Some people have no consideration to the person who screens these, and unfortunately, that person is her.

She dropped the letter into the trash bin, clearly rejected. It's like in a hundred letters there's only five of them that are honestly good fan mails. If only the fans would realize that Elliot only reads the good ones she approved then they would stop sending about their delusions and start writing proper letters of appreciation. It will make her job easier and more bearable, too.

Nozomi looked at the pile of letters she has left to read and sighed. Elliot is real popular with the fans, especially women. There was something about his blond hair and piercing blue eyes that charms them. If she was blessed with good looks as he does, she probably won't be doing her desk job right now. Well, she can't really complain though. Some people would kill to be in her position right now, as the assistant band manager of the new hit band, Orpheus.

She stretched her arm above her head. She's not even half way done but her trash bin was already full. She picked it up along with scattered papers lying around her work desk and headed to the huge paper shredder down by the hallway.

When she heads back, she saw a familiar pair of icy blue orbs. Elliot Ayase; lead guitarist of the band, part-time model, guest star in a new soap opera series, and the very cause of Nozomi's frustrations, is inside her office.

"Just my lucky day..." She sighed inwardly.

"Elliot, what can I do for you?" She smiled thinly. She wasn't in the mood to deal with him but she still has to keep up appearances. His scowl deepened as he stared at her, his hand crossed over his chest.

The awkward silence and the rampaging elephant inside the room was bad for her health. So, she decided to walk pass him to her desk and grabbed the letters that passed her screening.

"Here. I was going through your fan letters and these are—" She was about to hand it to him but he flung it aside with the back of his hand, making the letters scatter on the floor.

"I- wha—" She took a step back, surprised at his actions. They never really get along with each other but they were civil. This is the first time he ever did something like this.

The back of her leg hit her chair, making her lose her balance and land on her chair with a flop. In a blink of an eye, Elliot towered over her with his palm flat on top of the arm rest on either side of her body preventing any means of escape. His face was only a few inches away from hers that she could feel his breath on her skin. For a moment, Nozomi forgot everything save for the set of beautiful icy blue eyes staring intensely at her. Now, she understood why his fans would often ask for him to look at them. His eyes were really captivating up close. "What makes you think that it's okay to make a suggestion like that?"

"Suggestion?" she asked, baffled. Her mind is still at a loss.

"The auditions…" Elliot said through gritted teeth, trying hard to rein in his temper.

"Auditions..." she mumbled. Yes, she did make that suggestion three months ago. Her eyes blinked as realization hit her. Wait, what? It was approved?

"Are you just going to repeat everything I said or—" he began but Nozomi quickly cut him off.

"Yes, yes. I didn't get the memo... Actually, I probably did and it's buried somewhere on my desk." She said, all business-like. She gently pushes him away to stand up and find the memo. Once she found it, she quickly read the content. Indeed, it was about the company's decision to launch an audition like she suggested.

"Care to explain?" He crosses arms once again, back to his usual calm.

"Ah, yes... about that," she racked her brain for a plausible reason. Actually, she only did it so everyone gets off her back. At that time, she didn't know it'll get approved. But she couldn't admit that she only suggested it on a whim, especially to this guy.

"It's the only solution I could think of to solve all our problems," she said confidently though she's not actually sure. Hopefully, he's not like Naoki who could see right through her.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you know what happened three months ago..." she explained, referring to the scandal where Haruki was involved in. Elliot nodded in response. "The higher ups want some fresh new eyes," she continued then she pointed at herself, "And I thought, what about new members?"

"Members? There's more than one?" he said, his anger starting to flare once again.

"We don't know that for sure..." she answered hesitantly.

"Can you explain to me this solution of yours?" he asked as he started to tower over her again.

"Well, people are complaining. On top of the scandal, there's no new song written, half of the staff members are getting fired, you're busy with different projects—"

"I was publicizing the band!" he exploded.

"And it did us good!" she said immediately. "But, I think we need a new set of eyes around here, don't you think so?" she said, eyeing him pleadingly. It's not like she wanted to cause trouble to the band. It might have been a suggestion that came out of the blue but the more she thought about it, the more it became clear that it could be the answer they're looking for. The new members would stir the public's interest and divert their attention away from the scandal.

Seeing her earnest expression, Elliot backed away with a grunt. "Okay, I understand. But the next time you pull a stunt like this again without consulting us, I won't be so forgiving." He warned.

At Nozomi's nod, he finally left the room.

As soon as he was out of sight, the tension in her body left her and she sank down on the floor. She recalled what had transpired between them a few minutes ago and her face flushed red as she hugged her knees to her chest. It seems she had just experienced something she read in one of the risqué fan letters she threw away. "This is bad for my heart." She said then she buried her face in her knees and groaned.

Meanwhile, as Naoki entered the back entrance of the ramen shop he's working in; the manager was already there with a deep scowl on his face. A brief glance on the wall clock told him he was late once again for his shift.

"Good morning, Manager. I'll just go get changed before you scold me." Naoki said then he marched towards his locker and changed into his uniform.

His indifference rubbed the manager the wrong way. So once Naoki stood before him clad in his white overalls and green noodle patterned bandana on his head, the manager scolded him with a passion. He couldn't stand his attitude anymore. To him, it was like the youth doesn't take his work seriously and doesn't even respect his authority. He had given the boy a leeway because he knew about Naoki's circumstances and he recognized that he's a hard worker but his patience is already wearing thin.

He has to come to work on time because he's disrupting the pace of work inside the shop. He has to be polite to all the customers even if they were disagreeable. Some of them have actually complained about his brash attitude towards them and threatened not to come back again. The manager went on and on about how he wanted Naoki to act and the person in question remained silent through it all. Naoki had tried to reason out before but it only dragged the lecture longer so he learned to just shut his mouth.

No matter what I say I'll always be wrong anyway, he thought in resignation. After the manager has vented out his frustration and Naoki nodded in response, he let him go to work.

His shift went well for the most part. Some customers might complain about his attitude but he always did his work perfectly. He never got the wrong order, the dishes he prepared were all well-cooked and he never messed up a bill in the register. Nobody can complain about his quality of work.

During lunch time, he overhead some girls chattering excitedly on one of the tables about Orpheus, the latest hit band of the year.

"Hey, have you guys heard of that rumor about the band?"

"Eh? Which one~?"

"About the auditions." a girl whispered but it was still audible to those nearby.

"Auditions?" Naoki's hands momentarily stilled as he was wiping a table clean. It's the first time he had heard of that particular rumor. He hadn't got the chance to surf the Internet for a few days now because of his work.

He leaned closer ever so slightly. Eavesdropping is bad but he has learned how to be discreet and besides, getting information has proven useful.

"Oh my gosh! I hope it's not just a rumor." The other girl said excitedly.

"I know, right? More cute and talented guys are coming~ Kyaa!"

"Ah! What about that Nico-nii guy? He does a lot of guitar covers of the band's songs." One of the girls mentioned. The others nodded their heads eagerly as they recognized the name.

"I know him! I've actually subscribed to his NND channel." A girl said proudly. "I wonder if he's hot..." a girl gushed.

"I dunno. He doesn't show his face but he looks kinda short."

"Heh~ But you like shorter guys, right?" the girl nudged her friend's shoulder.

"Heck ya!" the girl admitted and they all laughed good-naturedly.

Naoki smiled broadly, feeling a sense of elation as he finished clearing one of the tables. It gives him great pleasure to hear compliments from his fans in real life. It's proof of the popularity of his NND channel.

As he brought the dirty dishes to the side, Naoki wondered about the audition rumor the girls mentioned earlier. He thought of asking Nozomi, his direct access to the band, for confirmation later. For now, he decided to entertain his fans with a little background music as a thank you.

He went back at the register and plugged the speakers to his phone, scrolling down to one of his guitar covers that had almost a million views on NND. The girls immediately recognized it and started gushing. Their reactions pleased Naoki to no end.

"Argh! Can't I have a peaceful meal in here?" Suddenly, a guy with orange hair at a nearby table complained. "Stop fussing about Orpheus and Makoto is not even that great!"

The girls became angry at his outburst and started to throw insults at the male customer for being nosy and telling him to mind his own business. The male customer didn't back down and continued slandering the band members, especially Makoto.

"Heh~ he's a Makoto hater, huh?" Naoki concluded as listened in to the heated conversation. Since it's already kicking up a fuss and disturbing the customers nearby, Naoki decided to step in.

"Could you settle down? The girls are free to talk about what they want." Naoki said with his hands on his hip, "Please." He said as an afterthought, remembering what his manager said about being polite.

The male turned his angry, chartreuse eyes at Naoki. He was clearly upset at being put on the spot like it was his entire fault.

"I'm also a customer so I'm free to do what I want and I say they're annoying!" the guy said, pointing at the group of girls accusingly.

"Now you're being rude." Naoki said as he grabbed the guy's pointing hand and dragged it down forcefully.

"Let me go!" the guy said, struggling to get free. He couldn't believe such a short guy could have such strong grip strength.

"No. You'll come with me and get out of here peacefully." Naoki reasoned, trying his best to keep him still.

The thought of getting kicked out made the guy resist more desperately. He did nothing wrong. "The hell I am! I'm still not done with them!" he said heatedly.

"How childish can you be? Geez... calm down, dude!" Naoki said as he started to feel his grip slipping.

"I am calm," the male customer said and finally, he broke free from his grasp. "What? You wanna go, dude?" He asked, angrily jabbing his finger at Naoki's chest.

"Oi, I don't want trouble..." Naoki raised his hands in surrender but it only fueled the other guy's anger.

"Wha—" Naoki narrowly avoided a fist coming his way. "What is your problem?" he asked but the customer was beyond reason now and was letting his fist fly towards him. Naoki wanted to simply wait it out until the customer got tired but when he succeeded in landing a punch on his beautiful face, the blood rushed to his head.

Acting purely on self-defense, Naoki blocked his attacks and answered his punches with his own. He's dead now for punching his face. Their fist fight had caused a big commotion within the shop. Luckily, a passing policeman was nearby and the two of them were apprehended before they could do much damage inside the shop.

At the police station, the two involved and some of the witnesses, including the group of girls and the manager, gave their statements. Both parties decided not to press charges and have conciliation. However, as a consequence, the manager of the ramen shop fired Naoki from his job as a waiter and he assured the customer, Ryouta Hoshizora, he would get free meals from his shop for a month to compensate for the trouble his former employee caused.

Ryouta shifted uncomfortably at these turn of events. It wasn't his intention to get that Naoki guy fired. He just got fed up every time people were fangirling about Orpheus and that bastard Makoto. Having an Orpheus fangirl as a best friend was enough to last him a lifetime.

But before he could form a proper apology, Naoki took off his bandanna and gave it to the manager.

"I'll go collect my things in the shop. Thank you." he bowed then he walked out of the office with his back straight with dignity.

The ride home was unusually quiet. Nozomi was still shaken up from the events that happened in her office room this morning and from the looks of it, Naoki's bad mood had multiplied by a hundred. Did he seriously get fired for being late?

She was afraid to ask. Naoki's implusive and his hands move fast but he would never hit a girl. When Nozomi's teasing goes overboard, she usually receives a poke on the forehead or a light pinch on the cheek. But as his scowl deepens, he might actually hit her this time but the silence was so unnerving that she needed to say something.

"So, how was work today?" She blurted out without thinking. Already doomed from the get go, she thought.

"I don't want to talk about it." Naoki answered, without looking at her.

Nozomi sighed, relieved that he replied. She didn't know what to do if he started ignoring her. She's grateful that he's the type of guy who would always respond, no matter how angry he gets.

"You know what? I had a bad day in the office, too. But I have good news for you, Nicocchi." She said, hoping it will cheer him up a little.

"What is it?" Naoki asked.

"There's going to be an audition for Orpheus!" she announced, with barely contained excitement. "You'd love to be a part of them, right? So, here's your chance!"

Naoki blushed because she found out something she wasn't supposed to. "You! How did you know I—?" Her mischievous grin made him stop. "No, don't answer that. I don't want to know. Anyway, keep your eyes on the road!" he said angrily.

"You're so not honest. Did you really think I wouldn't hear you sing some of their songs while I'm in the bathroom or when you're cooped up in your room or—"

"S-shut up already!" Naoki said, trying to cover up her mouth to prevent her from spouting out other embarrassing things. He had been so careful but apparently, the walls are really too thin for him to hide anything from her.

Nozomi laughed. He was so cute being flustered like that. "Hey, stop it. I'm still driving."

Her reminder brought him back to his senses and he sank back on his seat, sulking.

"It's not a bad thing being a fan, you know." Nozomi said with a smile. "So, what do say? Are you going to participate in the audition or not?"

"Of course, I'll participate." Naoki said, confidently. "And you'll help me get in."

"Eh?" Nozomi blinked, she hadn't expected that. "I'm not sure I could—"

"You're the assistant band manager so, your words will carry weight. All you have to do is put in a good word for me and I'll be in."

"Uhm, isn't that illegal?" Nozomi said hesitantly.

"Am I part of your family?"

"No."

"Am I one of your relatives?"

"No."

"Are we married?"

Nozomi blushed. "Eh? Uhm, no."

"See? We don't have any solid relationship. They can dig up my past but they'll never find you there. So, there's no problem." Naoki concluded with a shrug.

He said it so nonchalantly and for a brief moment, she felt a slight pang in her heart. But before she could question the feeling, Naoki exclaimed that they're about to approach their street.

Nozomi maneuvered the car expertly to take a right turn and after a few more minutes, they have arrived in their apartment complex.

"Before we go up, promise you'll help me out in the auditions." Naoki said in a serious tone, offering his pinky finger to complete their promise.

Nozomi sighed. She can't say no to him now, can she? It was the first thing he ever asked something from her, after all.

"I promise." She said with a smile, entwining her pinky finger with his.

"All right!" Naoki fist pumped in the air. "As a reward, we're going to have a special dinner tonight. So, what would you like to eat?" he asked as they made their way to the elevator.

"Hamburger steak~!" Nozomi said, with her arm raised happily.

"Huh?! What are you a kid?!" Naoki protested at once. But Nozomi simply grinned and hugged him from behind.

"You said I could pick our dinner. Are you going back on your word?" she challenged while poking his cheek teasingly. "Maybe I shouldn't keep my promise too…"

"Argh! All right! I got it already! Now, get off me!"

The two continued their friendly chatter and bickering until they came to Naoki's unit and his siblings welcomed them home.


BETA & Co-writer: Keirajoy