Disclaimer- Gravitation is not mine!
Warnings- still the same
Summary- yeah, can't repeat it. I'm not a parrot.
Author Notes- It's been awhile! I updated my profile.
(Chapter 3: Wani T.V. part 2)
"This is the place?"
Tatsuha drove past a large fifteen story building with "WTV" in giant letters at the top. Shuichi rode in the passenger seat and pointed at it. His finger pressed against the window, leaving a smudged finger print.
"Yeah, that's it," Shuichi answered, "pull over."
The red Mercedes pulled up along side a curb and parked outside of a restaurant a couple of buildings down. Tatsuha stepped out onto the street and Shuichi hopped out of the passenger side energetically. He wore a hat that completely covered his pink hair. Tatsuha stood next to him and smiled.
"You ready Shuichi?" he grinned.
"Wait a sec." Shuichi patted himself down and pulled out a pair of sunglasses from his pocket. He put them on to complete his disguise, then looked up at Tatsuha.
"Now I am," he smiled back, "let's go."
They walked down the curb towards the building and passed through crowds of people. Among them was a small group of high school girls dressed in their school uniforms. One girl with long black hair turned towards them and suddenly let out a high pitched scream.
"EEEEEEK!"
She pointed directly at Shuichi, "Oh My God, Oh My God! It's HIM!!
The other girls turned around and spotted him. They screamed also, and before long the air was filled with high pitched shrieks that could've been heard several blocks away.
"Aaaahhhh! You're right Miko, it is him!"
"Oh my God!" "Eeeek! Can I have your autograph?"
"Damn it! My cover's blown!" Shuichi whispered, and he ran behind Tatsuha with the intent of using him as a shield. Reporters in front of the building heard the girls and ran towards them. They pushed through the large crowd of fans that were now surrounding the two boys.
Without thinking, Tatsuha pushed Shuichi further behind him and spread both of his arms out wide. With one arm he blocked the path of screaming fan girls and with the other he stopped raging reporters.
"Where's K when you need him?" Shuichi panicked.
"So much for your disguise." Tatsuha replied. He then turned towards a male reporter, who had somehow gotten past him.
The reporter grabbed onto Shuichi's arm. "Just one question for the fans!" he yelled.
Tatsuha grabbed the man's collar and with a strong heave he pulled him back into the crowd. "Back off! Leave him alone!"
The crowd got too aggressive for him, and Tatsuha collapsed under the pressure of pushing and shoving. He fell backwards, on top of Shuichi. The sudden plummet sent Shuichi's sunglasses flying, and a crazed girl caught them. She raised them high into the air and waved them back and forth. "I've got them! I've got Sakuma-san's sunglasses!"
"Sakuma-san?" Tatsuha lifted his head towards the girl, "Sakuma-san? Where?"
Shuichi grunted under the weight of Tatsuha on top of him, "They mean me. Ugh,… Tatsuha you're heavy. Please get off."
Tatsuha got up and pulled Shuichi to his feet. The young lead singer brushed himself off and looked into one of the reporters' camera. There was an annoyed expression on his face.
A reporter jumped between him and the camera and began reporting his story. "What a special surprise folks! I'm standing right now, in front of the Wani television station with the Sakuma Ryuichi-san!" The reporter turned to Shuichi. "Sakuma-san, everyone's looking forward to your concert this weekend. What can you tell us about the up-coming performance?"
A vein began to throb in Shuichi forehead, and he grabbed the microphone from the reporter's hand. "I can't tell you anything!" he yelled into the mic. He gently pushed the reporter out of the way and looked directly into the camera. "I am not Sakuma-san! Don't you know who I am? Can't you tell the difference?"
The crowd let out random sighs of disappointment, and then became curious. Who could this stranger be if not Sakuma-san?
Shuichi growled, "I'm—mrymph!"
Tatsuha jumped in and covered Shuichi's mouth. He finished his sentence for him.
"He's a Sakuma impersonator. He was paid to show up here for a comedy they're filming today. Ha-Ha! I guess his costume might look a little too real, huh?"
He smiled at the crowd, but the people were not happy. They began to disperse. The group of girls sighing and walking one way, the reporters cutting camera's off and walking the other way.
Shuichi was still fuming, and Tatsuha patted his back to calm him down.
Shuichi felt something poke at his side and looked down. A hand reached out to him and in it was a pair of sunglasses. The high school girl who had caught Shuichi's glasses was now looking into his eyes with a feeling of disappointment and remorse.
"Here are your sunglasses," she sighed, "sorry 'bout that."
Shuichi took in a deep breath and smiled. "No problem. Really, it's o.k." and he let her keep them. The girl thanked him. She bowed and walked away.
"WAIT!"
Tatsuha jumped in front of her. After hearing a crowd screaming for Sakuma, he wanted answers.
"What's going on? Why were you all waiting out here for Sakuma-san?"
The girl smiled and began to clutch the skirt of her uniform. She was just now getting a good look at him, and realizing how good-looking he was.
"Well…we've all been hearing rumors of N-G collaborating with Wani on some special project. They say that Nittle Grasper is going to be in this building to meet with WTV's president today!"
In Tatsuha's excitement, he rushed into the building and completely forgot about Shuichi (who apologized to the girl for Tatsuha's hurry and then ran after him).
Tatsuha reached the lobby of WTV. It was an extremely large room. The floor was white marble tile, with blue tile that formed a giant "W". The ceiling was high in the air and plated with mirror tiles. There were elevators at the left and right sides of the room, and in the middle to the back was a very wide white desk where several secretaries worked.
A young girl with short hair wearing a short sky-blue dress and matching mini purse was talking to one of the secretaries. Tatsuha watched her talk to the woman, giggling and laughing. The woman at the desk handed the young girl a special V.I.P. tag. The girl put the pass in her purse and walked past him to the elevators.
"Ah!" Shuichi yelped as he ran into Tatsuha's back and hit the floor. He rubbed his head, "Ouch. How many times am I gonna eat the floor today?"
Shuichi got up and glared at Tatsuha. "Hey! What's the deal? Running off so suddenly and leaving me? And why'd you stop in the middle of the walkway?!"
"Where do you think Tohma could be?" Tatsuha asked, completely ignoring Shuichi's questions.
"Don't know. Let's go look for him." Shuichi walked to the elevators and Tatsuha followed.
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The boardroom where Nittle Grasper met with Wani's C.E.O. was one of the most luxurious meeting rooms the building had to offer. It was spacious, with blue walls. In the middle of the room was a long black table that stretched from one end of the room to the other. It was lined with thirty-one black leather chairs in all, the largest being at one end. The blue wall behind the large chair had a huge TV used for demonstrations. The wall adjacent to it boasted three-hundred and twenty-four golden plaques for best TV production, all of which were polished and lined neatly in rows.
Kannagi-san sat in his large leather chair and flipped through the papers in front of him. Tohma Seguchi sat in the chair to his right, while Ryuichi Sakuma and Noriko Ukai sat next to each other to his left. While Tohma, Noriko, and Kannagi talked business, Ryuichi talked to his bunny.
"Kumagoro, I'm bored." He yawned. He looked around the room and saw Noriko tapping her pen on the table's surface next to him. Tohma was directly across from him listening intently to whatever it was the president was saying and nodding his head repeatedly.
Ryu bounced Kumagoro on his leg. "This room is too big," he whispered to his bunny, "it makes me anxious. I can't sit still." He looked up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost 6:00.
"I really hope this doesn't take long Kuma-chan. We can't miss our appointment." A deep sigh escaped Ryu's lips, "I have something important to do there."
As he looked down at Kumagoro, he noticed a stain on its bowtie.
"Ah! Kuma-chan! You have a giant smudge on your bowtie!"
In the background Tohma and Noriko went back and forth over a disagreement. Noriko pointed at a paragraph on a piece of paper she held in her hand and Tohma motioned his hands to prove a point. Kannagi took a sip of water from his glass. Neither of them paid any attention to Ryuichi.
Ryu stared down into Kuma-chan's eyes with a look of displeasure. "I told you not to eat all that chocolate! Look what you've done! You ruined your dinner and your tie!" he scolded. He licked his thumb and rubbed it against the surface of the little red bow. "You better hope this comes out Kumagoro or no sweets for a week!"
The bunny hung its head in remorse for what it had done, and Ryuichi was instantly filled with regret.
"Oh, I didn't mean to be harsh Kuma-chan. Don't be sad." he pleaded, but Kuma-chan did not raise his head. Tears welled up in Ryu's eyes. "Kuma-chan, I…I…" he sniffed,
"I'M SORRY!"
"…"
Everyone stared at Ryuichi with confused expressions. Kannagi-san was both confused and surprised. "You're sorry, Ryuichi-san?" Tohma asked, "That's your answer? That doesn't make any sense."
"My answer?"
"To my question. I asked you if you agreed with this contract." Tohma lifted a piece of paper that he and Noriko had already signed. "Were you even listening?"
Before Ryuichi could speak Noriko came to his rescue.
"Chill Tohma! Don't upset Ryu-chan!" she turned to Ryu and patted him on the head. "There, there Ryu. He's just a little stressed Tohma!"
Tohma smiled with a small chuckle. "I understand. Then what do you think of the contract Ryuichi-san?"
Ryuichi looked everyone in the eye, and each person smiled back at him.
"Well…if it's o.k. with all of you, then it's fine with me." Ryu answered. He squeezed Kumagoro closer to him.
Kannagi got up from his chair with a triumphant laugh and shook Tohma's hand while Ryuichi put his signature on the paper.
"Then it's settled!" he exclaimed, "N-G and Wani TV productions are now partners. And for our first production project, we will do an exclusive broadcast of the upcoming Nittle Grasper concert! Let's celebrate! I'll have Koujima-san bring us Champaign."
Just then there was a knock at the door and Kannagi-san went to answer it. Tohma turned to Ryuichi and Noriko. "This will be an act of maturity for the whole country to see." When Tohma said maturity, he looked directly at Ryu who seemed to be having doubts about what he had just signed. Tohma re-assured his friend. "You'll see Ryuichi-san. This will be the start of a new you."
At these words, Ryu squeezed his Kumagoro tighter. Kannagi-san re-entered the room accompanied by a young girl. She had short hair and was wearing a sky-blue dress. She carried a matching purse.
"Everyone," Kannagi-san began as he wrapped an arm around the girl with a large grin on his face, "I would like you all to meet my daughter, Komako."
A smile graced the young girl's lips and she stood proudly next to her farther.
Kannagi-san pinched his daughter's cheek and laughed obnoxiously. "Yes! This little girl is my pride and joy! She's gonna walk in her old man's footsteps and take over for me one day."
The young girl blushed. Her face glowed a brilliant red, "Father please!"
The girl walked over to the three band mates and bowed beautifully, "It's so nice to make your acquaintance." Ryuichi looked closely at her. She was not a month older than 16, but she carried herself in such a responsible and mature way that she could've been mistaken for 28. She kind of reminded him of Tohma.
All three band mates bowed back and Ryuichi explained to her how excited Kuma-chan was to have made a new friend. She smiled at the comment.
Ryuichi looked at the clock and was surprised. "Look at the time! I have to go. Me and Kumagoro are going to be late!" he exclaimed.
Noriko walked towards the door, "Come on Ryu. You can ride with me."
Ryuichi turned to Tohma. "You comin' Tohma?"
Tohma motioned for the door, "No, you go ahead. I still have some work to do."
"O.K." Ryuichi turned back to Kannagi-san and Komako, and bowed once more. "Nice meeting you again, Komako-san."
Noriko walked out the door and Ryuichi followed. They walked down the hallway towards the elevators. "WAIT!" Halfway there Ryuichi felt a strong tug on his jacket. He turned around and saw Komako with her hand still pulling at his jacket.
"Huh? What is it Komako-san?" Ryu asked. He tilted his head in confusion.
Komako looked into his eyes and smiled sheepishly.
"Uh…Um…can I have your autograph?"
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"We've been up and down seven floors already, Tatsuha. He probably left. We should go home." Shuichi walked behind Tatsuha as he peeked through the windows of every door.
"But that girl, she said Nittle Grasper was here. Don't you want to see them?"
"Of course I do." Shuichi began, "But it's been three hours. If we haven't seen them by now chances are we won't see them."
Tatsuha stopped in his tracks. He turned around slowly to Shuichi. His face was sad and there was a look of disappointment in his eyes. "You're probably right, Shuichi."
Shuichi felt guilty. He had gotten Tatsuha's hopes up only to let him down. "Gomen, Tatsuha. I'm so sorry."
In a weak attempt to hide his disappointment, Tatsuha gave a smirk. "No problem. Really Shu-chan, its fine." He lied. "Let's go back to the Lobby."
Tatsuha and Shuichi re-traced their steps all the way back to the elevators. Four elevators lined the wall and Shuichi pressed the down button. It lit up and both boys looked at the floor numbers above each elevator. The two elevators in the middle were moving the fastest. One was coming down from a higher floor and the other was coming up from the lobby. The one going up was faster and reached the seventh floor first. When the doors opened both boys stepped in. When Shuichi pressed the button for the lobby, the elevator going down reached the seventh floor.
As the doors closed on Tatsuha and Shuichi, the other elevator's doors opened. In it stood Noriko and Ryuichi.
Ryu ran out of the elevator.
Noriko yelled after him, "Ryu-chan! Hurry up! We have to leave!"
Ryuichi's reply carried through the hallway, "I'll only be a second! I have to get something!"
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"That's it! That's it! I've had it!"
Down in the lobby Koujima-san and his boss (the director of Hit Stage) were having a loud argument and causing a scene. Soon people began to gather around and listen. Surprisingly, timid Koujima-san was winning.
"You've always disrespected me!" Koujima screamed, "I can't take this anymore! I'm never appreciated! I work too hard and I'm paid too little!"
"Don't you speak that way to me!" his boss yelled back. They stared each other down. "Don't act like you're so important to this company! Without me there'd be no you! I'm the director of Hit Stage! The only thing I ever asked you for was papers! But you can't even do that right!" he continued.
"Papers?" Koujima-san's anger rose when he heard that word, "You want papers?! Here are your papers…and mine!" and with that said he threw a stack of papers in his boss' face.
"How dare you!"
Koujima-san laughed, "You know what? I've always wanted to do that. And you know what else? I hate you! And you know what else, else? Whoa, man, I've always wanted to say this: You are a pompous jerk who couldn't wipe his own ass without complaining! I QUIT!"
Koujima-san walked towards the exit. His boss was fuming with an uncontrollable rage.
"HOW DARE YOU! You can't quit, YOU'RE FIRED!"
"You can't fire me! Because I quit!" Koujima yelled. He walked out of the building and his boss ran to the door and yelled at him. "You'll never work in this business again!"
Koujima turned around for a split second, "I can only hope!" He walked down the street and was gone.
Tatsuha and Shuichi walked into the lobby and saw crowds of people whispering and pointing towards the exit.
"What went on here?"
Shuichi shrugged his shoulders, "Don't know."
Just then the crowds began to go crazy and everyone ran to the elevators.
"AHHHHHH! RYUICHI! NORIKO-CHAN!"
Tatsuha heard the screams and ran towards the crowd. People were pushing and shoving. Camera's were surrounding the crowd, trying to get closer.
"It's them, it's them!" the people screamed. Tatsuha tried to push himself between people to get closer, but it was no use. The crowd was too big. There were too many people. The harder he pushed, the harder they pushed back. He couldn't see a thing. The lights from the cameras were blinding him, and people were starting to climb over each other. The crowd began to move towards the exit.
"Damn it! Move!" he yelled. He looked around and found the receptionist desk in the lobby. He climbed on top of it and from there he got a perfect view. In the middle of the crowd, both Noriko and Ryuichi waved to their fans. They were surrounded by security guards. Tatsuha's beloved Ryuichi wore sunglasses and a brilliant smile. He carried Kumagoro in his arms.
"Sakuma-san! Sakuma-san! Look! Over here!"
Tatsuha yelled at the top of his lungs, but Ryuichi could not hear him over the crowds of fans. The receptionist at the desk was getting annoyed. She tapped at his ankles with her pen. "Get down young man!"
Tatsuha paid her no attention and instead focused on Ryuichi, who was now at the exit. He yelled louder, "Sakuma-san! Look at me!"
Noriko and Ryuichi waved to the crowd once more and then left. The crowds dispersed, and Tatsuha was still standing on top of the desk. He stood motionless, the receptionist still tapping at his ankles. Shuichi ran to meet him. "Come down from there, Tatsuha."
Tatsuha came down from his perch. He stared at the exit and didn't say anything. Shuichi smiled, "Weren't we lucky? We got to see Nittle Grasper after all. But we still haven't found Tohma—" In the middle of Shuichi's sentence Tatsuha made a quick dash for the exit. "Hey! Tatsuha! They've already left!"
Tatsuha kept running. All he could see was the exit. Unfortunately, he did not see the man in front of it. They both collided and landed on the floor.
The old man rubbed his head and Tatsuha apologized immediately. "I'm sorry, Gomen!"
The man got up and brushed himself off. "You run pretty fast kid. I bet you could bring me my papers faster than that damned Koujima ever could."
"What are you saying?" Tatsuha asked as he rose to his feet.
"I'm saying you're competent."
"What?"
Koujima's ex-boss smiled and bowed to Tatsuha, who bowed back to be polite.
"I'm offering you a job kid. How 'bout it? I'm the director of Hit Stage and I need an assistant. How'd you like to work part time? I'll pay you handsomely."
Tatsuha thought about it, "If I get a job I can buy tickets myself. I won't have to ask Tohma for anything."
Afraid that the teenager was about to refuse him, the man threw in a special offer. "I'll give you this week's pay in advance, cash even."
"Deal." They shook hands on it, "You start tomorrow."
"I'll be here."
By now Shuichi was standing next to Tatsuha. He watched the older man walk away. "What just happened?"
"Nothing," Tatsuha smiled. "Let's go."
As they left the building, the young monk's smile grew wider.
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In the limo, Noriko watched the buildings fly past them. It was dark outside, and Tokyo was lit with bright multicolored lights and advertisements.
"Look at the lights, Ryu-chan!"
She turned to Ryuichi and the smile on her face disappeared. The cheerfulness in her voice was gone.
Ryuichi looked focused. His eyes were serious, and he didn't turn to meet Noriko's glance. He wasn't his usual bouncy self. His whole body kept still and he did not smile. Kumagoro was laying face-down on the floor of the limo, and in Ryuichi's hands instead was a little black box.
"Ryu…" she whispered, but he did not move. He only stared harder at the little black box in his hand.
"Ryuichi," she tried again, and placed a hand on his shoulder, "We're almost at the airport. She's waiting for you there. Smile. You don't want to worry her."
Ryuichi exhaled deeply. "I've finally decided, Noriko. I'm going to ask her."
Noriko smiled. "That's wonderful Ryuichi! You're going to ask her to marry you? We should celebrate!"
Ryuichi did not speak. They sat in silence for awhile, until Noriko broke it.
"Wow, I can't believe my good friend Ryu-chan is finally going to settle down."
"Yeah." Ryuichi opened the little black box. Inside a beautiful, sparkling diamond ring glittered. It was brighter than any light in Tokyo and clearer than any river. Ryuichi looked at his reflection in it and whispered to himself, "I can't believe it either."
Whoa! Is Ryuichi getting married? What about Tatsuha? Who is this girl? You'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out.
Thanks for reading!