Written o7.o5.o7

THANKS to the following reviewers: Lynette Meyer, nickygirl, JyouraKoumi, Waltz Turner, SkuAg, pain herself, puasluoma, blue9989, BrownEyesAngel, theladyknight, crest of music and scorpion05.

- X -

My Funny Valentine

Chapter Eight

Yamato awoke to the sound of sickening retching. He didn't bother to cover the look of disgust that he was warding off. Silence sunk in, but it was later vanquished with the noise of more vomiting. He winced. As uncaring and insensitive as it sounded, he was thankful that it wasn't him suffering from the major hangover that his best friend was dealing with. The stench flowed to his bedroom, fuelling his nostrils with the undesirable smell that prompted him to join Taichi if the routine went any longer.

To hinder it from happening, Yamato threw himself off his bed and scurried off to the kitchen where the painful sound was less audible. During his route, he would now and again stretch and let out stifling yawns. His body ached because he had slept in the clothes he had worn the other day. He hadn't managed to change into his boxers considering he was practically up all night; because he was keeping an eye on Taichi that he wouldn't do anything too drastic and out of hand. So…Mimi had kicked him out? Big deal. He wouldn't be heartless if he knew the outcome of their crazy little escapades that happened so constantly. In other words, regardless of the strange quarrel…the pair would be together again. It was naturally normal for both Mimi and Taichi to have these stupid fights once in a while. Yamato was so used to it by now.

At least they had the chance to be together. At least they sought through problems to make their relationship even stronger. Sometimes people's own dreams overrode love and corrupted the idea of it. For instance - his own parents. His mother complained how his father would always come home late from work, while his father argued vice versa. They were both hypocrites and knew that they were both in the wrong. Though he was saddened with his parents divorce, at that time, he knew that it was all for the best. His parents' relationship simply wasn't just working. He had witnessed the endless nights his parents would squabble – the tears his mother would shed, the vases his father would destroy. Yamato certainly knew that both Mimi and Taichi's relationship weren't like that.

The man marched to the stove and turned on the kettle. While waiting for the water to boil, he took out two large mugs from one of the cupboards and prepared some coffee. His thoughts drifted around till the kettle began to whistle loudly. He turned the stove off and poured the sweltering water into the mugs.

"Matt," his friend's voice groaned in pain. Even though he was on the other side of his apartment, Tai's calling was still rather perceptible. "I need coffee!"

"Yeah, way ahead of you. Coming!" Yamato replied, picking the handles of both mugs and walking down the hallway. He was quite terrified about making his destination there when he knew what mess would greet him. He hoped that his bathroom wasn't too bad.

He gruffly kicked the door open to see the subject victim of the hangover on his knees as his head hung over the toilet-seat. Like himself, he also was wearing the clothes that he was attired in last night, only that there were splotches of barf. His eyes were red and the guy's burnt-umber hair was in its typical dishevelled array. Taichi's right left hand was holding onto the toilet-bowl for support. Yamato was grateful that it wouldn't be all to challenging to clean up the mess since his friend hadn't puked much onto the tiled floor.

"About bloody time," he swore, putting his vacant hand out for Yamato to give him his mug. "Give it!"

Yamato eyed the scenario, shaking his head and avoiding his friend's plea. He placed both of the mugs onto the top of the sink. He rummaged through the drawers, pulling out a beige towel and rummaged further to pull out the thing that would make him feel much better. He took it into his hand and sprayed the air-freshner into the bathroom more than a couple times necessary. "Catch," he chucked down the towel at Taichi, which he narrowly missed.

"Not fuckin' funny…give me the coffee already! How can you treat me like a fool? I just -"

"Exactly, Tai. You're fully aware that you've got a hangover. I warned you. You drank more. I kept warning you repeatedly. It's your own fault and don't treat me like your goddamn maid when you pulled this on yourself," Yamato spoke up, taking a sip from his mug. As strict as he acted, he was trying to get his friend to stay sane and not surrender into more self-wallowing.

Plus, Taichi had done this a number of times. One argument with Mimi…then he'd go literally insane, get drunk, stay over at his place…and so forth. But it seemed a bit more serious that, this time, Mimi had kicked him out. Perhaps she was losing it to.

Even if Taichi was his best-friend, Yamato did have his limits. He was a busy person, following a busy schedule, abiding a daily hectic life. He understood that it would hurt if that had happened to him…but he was frustrated how, every time, Taichi would drink it off. Then again, he knew that he himself was being pretty harsh to him. 'Damn the stressors of life', he inwardly grumbled to himself.

"Alright, I'm sorry," Yamato sighed. "I'm being a bit of a dick." He handed Taichi his coffee mug. He then turned on the bath faucet on full blast and turned around to face the brunette yet again. "What I'm trying to say, Tai…is just…you know reality – Mimi loves you. Perhaps she was just confused at that time and didn't know how to react to what you did. She rejected the idea, so what? Try again. Isn't the humiliation worth it? She, as well, already knows that she's holding you by the lead. Pull yourself together, man."

"I should have proposed to you instead. Your more straight-forward when you want to say something," Taichi teased.

"Good…your awful humour is coming back, so I now know that I can leave you?" Yamato questioned his statement, turning off the faucet. "You won't commit suicide on me, no?"

"Shut-up," Taichi rolled his eyes. "Get out of here and let me take a good ol' warm bath already!"

Content and satisfied that his friend's spirit was back, he left him alone to clean himself up. He decided that he would change into a pair of indoor slacks and a loose comfortable clean shirt. He'd take a shower right before his performance that nigh-…damn

He stopped finding a clean shirt, jerked from what he was doing and hastily ran into his music room. How could he forget to not practice? His body was rigidly tense that he had to take deep breaths to calm his system down. He had been Taichi's side that whole night that he hadn't even thought about the show he had to put on for Alejandro. For crying out loud, Alejandro needed him so that he would be able to get a record deal! His gaze darted around the room then remembered that the pianist had given him the key he would be singing and the sheet music as well. After running back to his bedroom, he came back and was gasping for breath. His eyes flickered at the clock. It was almost noon.

Yamato spread the sheet music on top of his white piano. He switched on his CD player and observed the soothing way that Frank Sinatra sang to the song. Sinatra's deep alluring voice was sung without struggle or strain to his vocal chords with such poise and talent. His words glided so freely in the air and intertwined with the other instruments ever so perfectly without a single flaw.

Then again, Yamato picked up, it wasn't a strenuous song to sing to. He was beyond relieved that he wouldn't have to use any falsetto for the song. It was practically in the same reprising tune in not so terribly high or a not so terribly low key. Even if he was meant to take about two days to rehearse for this, he knew that he could pull it off with some conventional last minute cramming. Yamato just needed to make sure that he had the correct vibrato in his vocals and to make sure to capture the audience's attention to 'take a stroll with him' through the music. After the music was turned off, he approached back onto the piano stool and read the sheet notes.

Alejandro truly was a genius. The pianist hadn't given him his original version of the song, but just the right hand melody. He had written it in simple form so that it wouldn't be too troublesome to read. The melody wasn't that much different to the original piece, but Alejandro had evidently added his own flavour to the music that advanced it in a good way. Yamato sang with the keys, already knowing that it was bad. What truly made Yamato sing good was having a crowd to perform to. It was instinctive to him. The adrenaline of the moment and being put in the 'limelight' was what really mattered. He found rehearsals harder than the real thing.

'Just do it again and this time with feeling'

He was about to sing over the song for the second time when he felt his mobile phone vibrate in his pocket, breaking him from the euphonic state he was in. In irritation, he picked it up to only be yelled with an equally irritated person on the other line.

"Yamato."

His irritation impeded once he realized who it was had said his name. There was yet another thing that he had carelessly neglected as well…

"Oh, Kanji. I'm really sorry," he stuttered distractedly, trying to find the correct excuse to use. "Coming back to the studio completely left my mind! I was so-"

"How can something like that leave your mind?" the rhetorical question was spoken rather sardonically from his manager. "You're not a teenager anymore, Yamato! You've got to own up to your own responsibilities! Do you understand-"

"I couldn't make it, there was an emergency last night! My friend…he…damnit, Kanji. I don't think I can even get the composition done by tonight!" Yamato exclaimed, suddenly regretting what he had just said. He massaged his forehead, "So…did everyone turn up last night, Kanji?"

"Everyone…excluding you," the grumpy voice responded, emphasising his point further. "What do you need, Yamato? A whole week? You didn't used to be like this! You'd probably have a song given to me in one or two hours! And don't give me toss that you were busy-"

"But I am…I have to do something tonight."

The line was cut off. Yamato couldn't believe that he had not even thought about it. It was like he was more focused in performing that night. Is that how little it meant to him to be the lead singer in the band? He then recalled the sheets and tape that Akira had given him. It seemed as if Akira had a sixth sense and knew that he mightn't have the time…which was probably why he had offered his composition for him. Considering he was still wearing the same garbs from yesterday, he pulled them out of his pockets and placed them on one of his desks in the room. He'd have to check it out some other time. Before he could get back to practising, he had to make sure that everything was settled with his band. He basically needed to persuade Takahashi to explain to their manager his proposition. Yamato quickly informed Takahashi by messaging him on his mobile phone. Yamato acknowledged that he had to tell Takahashi the truth, so he did.

He let a sigh of relief when he found that the peacemaker had replied, understanding his dilemma. Takahashi had somehow won over Kanji to have a break off using some excuse that their lead singer was getting restless and needed time to revamp his energy. The drummer then threatened him that he'd better 'kick ass' that night. Yamato really didn't know how he'd survive without Takahashi. The blond headed man left his mobile phone outside of the room to get rid of any more diversions, practising for a good hour.

After going over the song for the eighth, he knew that it was already mastered. Still…it felt so dull. There was something missing. It lacked a taste that he couldn't quite put his finger on. It was flustering him with pure resentment. He somewhat wished that he had turned down Sora's suggestion…therefore his band wouldn't be disappointed at him. If it wasn't for Sora, he wouldn't be in this position in the first place.

Sora…

A smile suddenly took over his features. A plan had finally come to him. It was brilliant. He now knew what he had to do.

When she accepted to take the chance to be part of the 'Project Wife Ordeal,' she had given him all her basic contact information (from her mobile phone number to her home address). At that time, he knew they were 'more than strangers,' but he hadn't expected her to be so straightforward. He hadn't expected her to trust him so easily. All the same, she doubtlessly wondered why he had trusted and picked her to be his pseudo wife in the first place. Therefore it was equal; it made them an equally strange couple. Although she was one that trusted strangers easily…she was quite stubborn to convince. After a lot of persuasion on the phone she finally concurred to take a part in the stratagem.

- X -

He walked out of the limousine. He was already attired for that special night. Yamato appeared neatly groomed, having his face shaven and gelling back his dirty blond hair in an orderly fashion. He wore a crisp clean jet-black suit and a white dress shirt that was unbuttoned at the top giving off his neat appearance to be a bit dishevelled. With finishing touches he had slid on brown contacts, to elicit his disguise, over his azure eyes and a black bowler hat (that slanted on the left side of his head and showing off his own stylishness). He felt like a goofball wearing the bowler hat, but he knew it would be a good disguise and great costume for the performance.

He rang the doorbell again. Yamato found himself anxiously shuffling on his feet in front of her apartment, suddenly enduring a wave of nervousness as he waited for her to come out. Had he finally thought he lost it? To him…it felt like a date. It was inevitable that she was to be his date. But it had been such a long time ago since he had been out on one. He wasn't sure what to do and his dating skills had pretty much turned rusty and had gone done the drain by now. Well, it was his fault. He had turned the stupid night into a date without intending to.

As he stood outside, he could perceive muffled shuffling from behind the door. He peeked from the window and caught her doing some speedy tidying up. He then suspiciously noticed her draw a large curtain across a certain part of the apartment, blocking the once visible room from sight. The next thing he knew, the door swung open.

In greeting, she beamed at him, which he returned back. She was wearing a scarlet red dress but he couldn't completely see it since she had a taut charcoal coat wrapped around her thin frame. Her face was slightly pink, Yamato assumed from the beforehand shuffling she had been doing. She caught him staring that made her beam become wider. "You know…you're lucky I approved of this, Matthew."

He chuckled and held out the bouquet of flowers, "These are for you."

She took them from him, cradling the bouquet in her arms. "White roses, huh? Interesting pick," she commented. "They symbolize unity, sincerity, loyalty, secrecy, purity, and a love stronger than death."

Yamato had avoided getting her red roses because they symbolized love and it was too cliché. He wanted something else that was different. Out of the six interpretations that Sora had said, secrecy and purity were the two symbolizations that seemed to represent her from his perspective. Secrecy because he still hardly knew anything about her and her life besides bartending and being his Taichi's girlfriend's best friend remained a mystery; Purity because her aura seemed to emit a sense of innocence and fascination.

"You seem to know a lot about this."

"Once upon my lifetime I used to be a flourist," she smirked. "Though, my personal favourite are blue orchids."

"That obviously isn't a hint," he laughed. "I'll take note next time."

"These are fine…though. Just from the positioning and arrangement…I can tell that these were pretty pricey, even for you," she simpered gratefully. "But a love stronger than death? I didn't know you felt like that about me, Matthew," she teased.

"Fine, I get the point…just don't rub it in. Blue orchids next time, I know," he said. And then he caught himself. He inwardly groaned, something he was accustomed to these days. He was flirting. No, they were flirting. She, also, had caught onto their form of conversing too. He awkwardly scratched his back and nodded his head at the shining sleek limousine, "Jyou's expecting us. We need to be at the rehearsal asap."

She grasped the opportunity to change the subject as well, playing along. "Yes, I'll put these flowers away first." She was still standing there, staring at him. He then apprehended that she was taking in his new appearance in speculation. "I'll meet you in the limo. I won't take long." A twinkle stirred in her eyes as she quickly went back into her home.

He shrugged, sauntering down the cement steps and slipped into their ride that was parked in front of Sora's apartment. Yamato wiped his sweaty hands on his pants. Even though externally he looked calm and reserved, inside he becoming another story. He wondered whether they could pull it off…

The separating screen between the passenger seats and the driver wound down. His chauffer turned his head around to regard the musician with a peculiar expression.

"What?" Yamato scowled.

Jyou sniggered. "You were supposed to escort your lady." Among the few people that knew the idea about Project Wife, Yamato couldn't resist but tell his dependable driver, so was one of the people that was in on their little secret. "Shut-up, Jyou." Jyou chortled in response.

Nevertheless, Sora entered the vehicle and moved smoothly amongst the leather interior to take a seat next to him. "Hello Jyou." "Greetings Mrs. Ishida," he winked. "I'll leave you now." The screen slid up leaving him to survey her through his gaze. The limousine lurked forward and began to travel towards its destination.

Clutched in her hands was a branded purse. Strapped over one of her shoulders was a casual larger duffle bag; presumedly where she had stuffed her uniform in because she would be also working that night. Her auburn straight hair fell over her face as she placed the duffle bag off her shoulders and began penetrating it.

"Are you leaving your hair down tonight?" he queried.

As she continued to look for whatever she was in search for, she answered, "Actually, I was thinking of making my hair a bit wavy…but I didn't have time too…considering this wasn't properly planned out. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my hair. It's not really my expertise…I'm going to leave it for Mimi to do."

"She's coming tonight?" he said. "Yes." He was thankful that Taichi had decided against coming to the tavern since Mimi would be there. He was so certain that she would be attending. According to Sora, he was indeed on the mark.

"You know-" they both spoke in unison. "Ladies first," he held out a hand for him to say what she thought first. At least, now, Jyou wouldn't say that he didn't have manners of how to treat a woman. She pulled out what she was looking for, and with an unanticipated motion she was closer to him that he could feel her breath. He blinked, uncertain of her reason. His cheeks burned, but was appreciative that he didn't blush that easily. He loathed his hormones. The next thing he knew, he currently possessed a freshly folded handkerchief on his blazer pocket. She began talking as if nothing happened, "Yes. I'm guessing that you found out about what went on between Mimi and Tai. She whinged to me all last night about it. Crying, regretting…you know how they both can be so spontaneous. And with what Taichi did…that was something she least expected. Don't worry about them…I'm used to it. They'll be-"

"…back together in no time," he ended for her. "I know that too."

She nodded her head, displaying one of her smiles. Whenever she smiled…she looked like a completely different person. It was as if her heart sparked out from her eyes. Yamato felt her delicate fingers fix the collar on his white shirt and allowed her to add some touch to what he was wearing. He was impressed. "That's better." She passed him her make-up mirror and he checked what she had attached on him. He now knew the reason to why she had given him a quick scan before putting her roses away. She had looked-out for anything that was lacking on his outfit. The handkerchief, he understood that she'd have one. Though, he hadn't expected her to own a tie. In fact…it was the same colour as her dress.

"We're matching now," she stated.

"And so we are," he concurred.

The limousine stopped running. In seconds, their chauffer opened the door. Yamato stepped out first and gallantly offered for her to link her arm with his as they walked into the jazz bar. He'd show Jyou his lady man skills, all right.

- X -

From the dress-room he could hear 'Speak Like A Child' being played by the pianist. The tricky notes were played in an even faster beat than the original version that it swamped the crowd, stilling and awing them at the marvellous performance.

'Jazz is like a great blues band that fell down the stairs.'

He had once rented out a Michael Bublé DVD and the artist's quote still stuck in his mind. In fact, it somehow was true. Yamato now understood why jazz was the hardest genre of music to play. People, these days, usually saw it as old classical junk with notes that didn't make sense whatsoever. How wrong they were…

The tricky notes were added with skill and precision. If someone like Alejandro could master such skill…they were beyond talented.

He stepped forward towards the thinly laced curtains. In spite that the curtains were quite opaque, he could still see through the tiny grains. The bar was more crowded than usual. Apart from the consistent visitors there were a lot of unfamiliar faces. He guessed it had something to do with the subtle advertisements that swept small parts of the city. The sight of this made him fall into a fit of irregular breaths, but he recovered instantaneously. For some strange reason he didn't feel as nervous as he usually felt when he had to perform in his band. For once, in a very long time, the adrenaline that he elicited was excitement.

"You're on," the organiser of the event indicated. The man gave him an enthusiastic pat on the back. "Make Alejandro proud." He gave a gruff nod, clearing his throat. Adjusting his hat towards the left side of his head, Yamato drew the curtain away…stepping onto the stage.

The cigarette smoke and the warm blinding lights welcomed his presence and misted over the audience. It was mystifying to envision the throngs of people gathering around the stage because of this. The only persons that he managed to see were the people far away. Among them was the owner of tavern, Mimi and Suzanne whom had her thumbs up. It was all the encouragement he needed. This was for Alejandro – the person who worked so hard to attain such an amazing status. This was a real musician who really deserved all the fame and glamour that the world could give.

His feet wandered towards the shining pianoforte and languorously looked down at the celebrant of the night. Alejandro rigidly sat on his stool. They exchanged glances. The pianist gave him a quivering simper that Yamato had to smile at. Good luck.

A random person who worked at the bar handed him a microphone. He could feel everyone's eyes on him. Yamato tilted his head towards Alejandro, "Good-evening ladies and gentlemen. My name is Matthew…and isn't this man here spectacular or what?" The tavern was dominated with loud cheers and almost laughed aloud when he saw that the pianist's cheeks flushed a deep red. "My man, Alejandro, will be playing for you his own original version of the song called the Summer Wind. I will accompany him with my vocals. Hope you all enjoy this."

As soon as he had finished his sentence, the brass sounded. He closed his eyes. A few seconds later, the keys of the piano were to be heard. Yamato's voice then drawled out into the microphone. His husky voice combining into the melody, he sang. "The summer wind / Came blowing in / From across the sea. It lingered there / To touch your hair / And walk with me," as he ended that section of the verse the piano tumbled in and took advantage of the parts of the melody when he wasn't singing. And then he acted…

The satin red didn't fail to meet his eye. He didn't make a scene to pretend to catch that person sitting on of those tables, but was blatantly obvious to make the people see him act his part. Act his part…that he was in love with that woman. Thin spaghetti straps held up her crimson satin dress – the same colour as her cheeks. From her auburn hair being down, it was presently in a neat French Twist that caused her neck to be clearly visible…or kissable, as a male mind would think. Mimi had certainly done a well job in fixing her tresses.

Sora sat there, composed. Her legs wrapped around each other as she held her margarita glass with such grace and class. Some random guy whistled at the sight. The spotlight was now situated on her, and her silhouette hung over her with avid mysteriousness. Yamato slowly made his way towards her, singing into the microphone yet again. "All summer long / We sang a song. And then we strolled that golden sand. Two sweethearts / And the summer wind."

By now he had already made it down the steps of stage and took her hand, giving her a slight kiss on the back of her delicate hand. He took off his hat, holding it up, and then putting it back onto his neatly matted blond haired head. She batted her eyelash, feigning to be exceptionally girlier than she typically was. He still held it as he ushered her off from her chair, both walking slowly back onto the stage. She persisted on with him, in her cool demeanor. She was provided with a microphone and began to sing her verse so silkily that it made him shiver. "Like painted kites / Those days and nights / They went flying by. The world was new / Beneath a blue / Umbrella sky." She not to exaggeratedly waved her hair up at the ceiling. "Then softer than / A piper-man / One day it called to you. And I lost you, I lost you to the summer wind."

Although songs were mainly about the music and the instruments…there was always one thing that artists always lacked. That was the acting. Singers always managed to forget the feelings involved with the song. Yamato had even seen a fair amount of vocalists sing a sad melody with melancholy lyrics with a pure smile on their faces. It made him shake his head at music in utter disgrace. It didn't matter how good your voice was…it only mattered how you portrayed the song to the crowds and how you actually did it. That was a matter of acting – acting like you were that person singing your song. And Yamato was glad and appreciative when Sora took it on board, crooning soulfully from her heart.

"The autumn wind," he sang softly. "(The autumn wind)." He couldn't help but present another one of his smiles when she sang in second voice…repeating the words that he would sing. "And the winter wind (And the winter wind) / They have come and gone."

He gestured with the click of his fingers at the brass section on the stage, as they began to take the non-lyric part of the song to their own benefit to excel their brilliance. Off course, Alejandro's keys still kept the whole song bound together…the rest of the big band and the vocalists were just pawns on his chessboard of music. After pointing at the brass, he proceeded in singing. "And still the days (Still those days) / Those lonely days / They go on and on (On and on). And guess who sighs (Guess who sighs) / His lullabies (His lullabies) . Through nights that never end."

In unison harmony, they sang together in perfect pitch and tune, "My fickle friend / The summer wind." By himself, he sang the next short line, "The summer wind." "Warm," she then repeated, "Summer wind." And then, in conclusion…they sang the last sentence together, "Mmm the summer wind."

With one final tricky bar being played, the crowd stood up and applauded. A standing ovation. Yamato stared at the people standing before them in astonishment. He had never seen such a terrific view… He was so accustomed to performing in front of moshpits with the throngs of fans jumping up and down. But this – this held a completely different reason and carried its own stunning atmosphere. Still holding his hand, Sora lifted it up, doing a quick courtesy. He followed by doing a polite bow. Into the microphone, he spoke out, "Thanks for supporting, our man, Alejandro!" "Yeah!" his duet partner screamed. Later on, in his life, Yamato would come to realize that that moment in time would be one of his favourites.

After taking his hat off and attempting to mess his hair (with no avail because of the extensive amounts of gel he had used), he had Lady Luck on his side considering he had found himself a vacant table and chair to sit at. He blended nicely into the crowd and fortunately didn't capture any attention. Most of the people there still had their eyes on the main pianist who still was playing uncontrollably for the past two hours straight. He was playing only solo performances now.

Yamato sighed, his inner peace stirring within him, as he languidly leaned back on his chair…soaking in the instrumental music. The false smile that he had delivered to the audience was gone.

"You don't look so hot," the older bartender commented as she sat besides him, joining his solitary figure. He smirked, "Actually, Suzanne…I am very hot."

"Really now?" she snickered.

"Not exactly hot…just the lights are making me dizzy. I'm actually quite happy," he said honestly. Outside he may have appeared drained and tired…but in side he was satisfied. He was happy.

She pushed a huge glass of beer towards him, "Here. On me, you've earned it." "Thanks." Suzanne ruffled his hair and left his side to wipe down and clear out some tables next him. In the background he still could hear the sound of Alejandro pelting to a slower melody. Yamato took a swig of the drink, continuing to observe the new-yet-soon-to-be-famous musician. Alejandro had sweat visibly glistening on his brow and patently hadn't bothered to wipe it away because he was so focused. With no break whatsoever…Yamato wondered how he managed to sustain the entire spotlight on his own. He yelled out towards Suzanne, "Get him something to drink. He's getting dehydrated." She took a glimpse at the pianist and nodded, "Alright. I'll go do that." She disappeared past the people into the bar.

The cigarettes left the surrounding to be filled with smoky chocking air coinciding with the bitter scent of alcohol. A doze of perfume drifted towards him, lingering in the contaminated air. He already knew who was coming and soon enough faced Sora. She was dressed out of her guise and was now wearing her ebony uniform. "I heard," she started, gasping for breath, "That Al…that Al's made a good impression. They love him." "That's great!" Yamato exclaimed in reply. "Well, Matthew, I just wanted to say thanks."

In a swift movement she leaned forward and gave him a brisk embrace. "That was a superb idea. I owe you big." He chuckled, "Not as much as I owe you. You're doing me such a big favour with being my wife in the first place. Besides, you sang fantastically. Persuading you has certainly paid off."

"That was my first time performing to a crowd...and that," she looked at the people still in the tavern, "was huge. Anyway, Matthew…I gotta go back and help Suzanne. Again, thanks a bunch!"

He watched the second woman disappear from his side that night only to be accompanied by someone he had least expected. "What was that? Is she the reason why you've been neglecting us?" The drummer of the Teen-Age Wolves casually sat besides him. Takahashi was wearing a beanie…yet another infamous disguise in public of theirs. Yamato glared at him. "Hey…chill man, I was just kiddin'."

"Why are you here?"

"You know how it goes…wanted to know what you were so fussed over…what made you think of something else besides our band. In other words, I rang up your brother to find out the bar that you've been constantly going to," he said. "It's all for her, isn't it?"

"I'm just a normal husband giving a helping hand for my wife," Yamato said, amusingly waiting for how his band mate was going to react.

Takahashi blinked. Staring at the bar where she served a customer, then back at him. Appall overrode his facial expression, "What?" Like Taichi, he ended up filling in Takahashi with the whole Project Wife situation. The drummer had pretty much merited an explanation after the cover up with their manager, Kanji.

"Still…why do this…why blow all of this just for her? You're just talking to her because she's agreed to some idiotic plan you've constructed. There are more things you need to worry about as well, Yam-Matthew. Even Akira's concerned about your behaviour lately. You can't go off and suddenly do your own thing. We're a team?"

"You'd be pretty blind if you haven't realized that we haven't been a team in a long time," the lead singer objected.

"Just forget I brought it up," Takahashi spoke stressfully. "But I sort of understand why you came here tonight. It's great to see you up on stage."

"You're always on stage with me and the other members…"

"You're presence on stage tonight was like how you were when we were novices to the music industry. You were you. Someone who I haven't seen for a long time. You were actually happy out there…congratulations. You did really well, Matt."

"Thanks," Yamato said. He decided to take the compliment considering praises from someone as high-and-might as Takahashi were rare. "I think I'm going to crash home soon. It's getting late."

"Yes, that's right. You also need to compose that song that you've promised Kanji," the drummer said. "Good luck."

Yamato was about so say bye to Suzanne and Sora…but they appeared too busy serving the one too many customers, whereas Alejandro was still crying out this jazz flavours into the piano. Yamato separated ways with Takahashi at the car park and hopped into a taxi.

When he had arrived back home, he could hear engines blazing. He hurried into the living room to still see his best friend there with drool rolling down the tip of his open mouth. Taichi had fallen asleep and left the playstation on. Yamato assumed that Taichi had brought it in one of his bags since he didn't own one. Yamato didn't want to wipe the drool away and instead chose to take the controls out of his friend's hands. Before he was going to drop dead onto his bed…he chucked a blanket over his friend's body.

- X -

The next thing he knew his eyes opened blankly the red numbers of 4:32am in his dark bedroom. He sat up in bed groaning, damning the person to hell who was ringing him up at such an early hour. "Hello?" he croaked onto his mobile.

"Yamato?" a panicked voice spoke. "I…"

"Jun?" he questioned. Why was she ring up so early in the morning. Out of all people…he hadn't expected his Ex. Number one fan to be dialling him up.

"You know how I am…I get an early jog in the morning before going to work to open the store. And then I found Mimi…and one of her friends. They kept screeching about record deals and some dude called Alejandro and how their manager shouted them free drinks on the house-"

"MIMI! You spewed on my Gucci purse!"

"So Mimi's basically drunk?" he asked wearily. "Yeah, that wasn't her though. Some friend of hers," she sighed. "They're both completely out of it. Mimi's already passed out and the other girl is basically screaming at an unconscious body. I was about to ring up Tai before she collapsed…but Mimi got so freaked out, so I had no choice but to ring you up…because I don't know anyone else who will take care of her. I figured that she's had a fight with Tai to get her so…slaughtered."

"You figured right," he said. Yamato was already out of bed and had his keys dangling in his fingers. "Where are you now?"

"Besides the music store."

"I'll be there," Yamato said, slipping on a pair of thong slippers. "Oh…one thing…what colour hair does this other girl have?"

"Red," Jun instantly replied.

A voice slurred in the distance, "Are you talkin' about mee?"

It was a good thing that Yamato had noticed Sora bringing that purse of hers that night.

- X -

This is my favourite (and longest) chapter yet. It's almost 2am. I've gotta wake up 6am for school. Really sorry for the REALLY late update. My applicable reasons are on my profile.

At the beginning of this chapter…I was meant to make the manager go all out and Yamato and have Yamato scream back at him – but it didn't type well. HOPE you enjoyed this chapter as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks for reading and please review ;D

Flipstahhz

PS. If you're wondering how Yamato sounds like when he's singing…just think of Michael Bublé x Ryan Cabrera voice wise.

For Sora…think of the lead female singer from M.Y.M.P. If you don't know this band and want to figure out Sora's voice…I highly recommend you downloading 'Tell Me Where It Hurts.' (I repeat, by M.Y.M.P.) That band is one of my favourite acoustics.

Take care for now!