Variance
Chapter Six
-Fabrication-
Natsumi stepped out of her steamy bathroom, and into her massive bedroom, a white fluffy towel wrapped tightly around her body. She was towel drying her hair with another and reached for the remote on the bedside table. She aimed it at the massive flat screen on her wall and turned it on, switching it to E! to see if she were in any of the headlines, as was her morning routine.
Not seeing anything interesting she continued to dry her hair and walked into her closet that was shaped like another small bedroom. She dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and a designer halter top, since she was going to go shopping, as was her previous Friday routine before she started shooting. She continued getting ready, listening to the woman talk about other interesting facts and hits in the celebrity world.
She was brushing her teeth when she heard Akito's name from the TV and walked into her bedroom, not stopping in her task she watched as a picture of him came on the screen looking absolutely gorgeous.
"Now some of the biggest news in Hollywood! As you all know, Hatake Kakashi has started filming for his new movie 'Heartthrob', starring A list actress and supermodel, Sabaku no Natsumi and the lead singer for Chaos Theory, Uchiha Akito. But this time the big news is not focused on the actress, but her co-star. Akito, known infamously for his player status, has surprised everyone. Has he really claimed America's hottest commodity? Natsumi, surprisingly, has stayed out of the lime light with her love life, and has yet to ever be seen with someone we would consider a significant other."
The woman continued on, but Natsumi was wide eyed and dumbfound, toothpaste sliding down her chin, since her jaw had dropped.
"Apparently, the two have been more than friendly on set, and while filming a more intimate scene she screamed out 'Akito' instead of the name of the singer's character. Obviously those two have something going on, and we can only assume in light of these facts it's romantic."
Natsumi muted the television, unable to hear anymore of this garbage and ran to the bathroom washing her face and spitting out the minty toothpaste. She dried off her skin and grabbed her cell phone, dialing her brother, who immediately answered. "I want a name and I want it now!" she screamed.
"Akito! Akito!" Haru yelled running down the halls to Akito's personal practice room. "Akito!" He screamed again, throwing the door open and seeing the dark haired man pause in his playing. He took off the headphones on his head and arched a curious brow.
"What?"
"Stop playing and watch this." The brunette ordered, looking around for the remote and hitting the power button. He switched the channel and on popped a nice looking woman who was talking.
Akito shifted his gaze to the TV, not fully understanding what he was having to watch, until a picture of him and Natsumi popped up, the picture being of them leaving the studio together on Wednesday. He was in his skinny jeans and aviators, and her in her normal gorgeous half covering attire.
"And here was the couple leaving the studio together, most likely off to continue their pretend intimacy in private. No one knows how long the two have been together, but from what we've gathered, apparently Natsumi's manager is Akito's best friend from high school, so we can only guess when this little love boat shipped off. All in all, this week they've been voted as the most attractive couple in the celebrity world."
It was then that Haru hit the mute button. "See!"
Akito blinked, his gaze still on the screen of the television. "Huh. Interesting." Was all he said, before picking up his pencil and writing something down on the sheet of paper in front of him. "Is that it?"
"Is that it?" he blinked. "Is that it?! Are you crazy, Natsumi's going to freak. Vincent is having a cow. And you're not at all bothered by the fact everyone thinks you're going out with her?"
"Why would I be?" the ebony haired man shrugged. "She's hot, and it's not like I've been with anybody else since we've been filming, I don't have the time." He explained. "And Vincent can get over himself. Natsumi would rather burn in hell than touch him."
Haru sighed. "That's not the point. What about her? Do you not even care about that?"
Akito looked as if he were having a realization, and he pulled out his phone and hit a speed dial number, holding it up to his ear as he waited for Natsumi to answer her phone. It rang for awhile before it finally picked up. "What do you want?"
"Now is that any way to speak to someone you've apparently been on a love boat with since I met Toshiro in high school?" he asked, smiling slightly to himself.
"Don't make me come over there Akito. I am on the precipice of a meltdown right now and I don't have time to deal with your incessant repartee."
"Okay, sorry, I couldn't help myself." He chuckled. "But if you need me to comfort you, you can go ahead and come over anyways. I'll make you something to eat, and we can go into my room and snuggle. Naked."
"Yeah. Cause that would make people think were weren't an item." And he could tell by her tone she was rolling her eyes.
"I'm just saying. It would be a lot of fun. We could give each other massages." He suggested. When silence greeted him he could only imagine the look he would be receiving if they were face to face. "But seriously, all joking aside, have you spoken to Toshiro about this?"
"Of course I have. What do you think I am? Stupid?" she seethed.
"Your rude comments are not necessary missy." He scolded. "I merely asked because I want to know what he said. Are we addressing this issue or are we ignoring it? Cause' if you're taking a course of action, I should probably know what it is so that I don't inadvertently ruin it."
"Oh. Right. Okay then. I'll be over there in a bit."
"Awesome, I'll see you then." He heard the line go dead and then looked over at Haru, who was still in the room.
"So…" he sighed. "What's going on?"
"She's coming over to see me." Akito said simply, rising and taking off his guitar. "We're going to discuss what to do about the press and whatnot."
"The house is filthy." Haru stated.
Akito looked a bit shocked. "What? Why?"
The bass player sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you mean 'What?' Don't you remember? You threw that party last night. Had a whole bunch of models over. Some other bands. Everybody got really drunk."
"Shit." He cursed, calculating in his head how long it would take for Natsumi to get here from her house around town. Then he got an idea. "Dude, I'll just get the little Asian kids down the street to come and clean it up. We can pay them and everything." He said.
"I dunno. Kyo threw up all over the kitchen, it's pretty bad."
"Eh, I'll make him clean it up then." He waved it off, walking out of the room. He rushed and gathered up all twelve of their Asian neighbor kids, giving them cleaning supplies and putting them to work. Then he went and dragged Kyo out of bed, forcing him to clean up the vomit while he supervised it. He continuously checked his watch, and when he heard Natsumi's car pull up on front of the house, he snuck all the kids out the back, handing each a twenty.
Then the doorbell rang, and he ran over to the front, swinging the door open wide. "Hey." He said, somewhat breathlessly.
Natsumi gave him a once over and noticed his breathless state. "Did I interrupt something?" she asked warily, stepping past him and into the foyer, looking around suspiciously.
"Nope. Just tidying up a bit." He told her, shutting the door. "Come on, we can talk in the living room." He placed his hand on the small of her back and led her over to one of the couches.
"So. I assume you've seen what's on the news." She sighed, sitting down and setting her purse on the cushion beside her.
"Yeah, Haru showed me." He told her, sitting next to her. "So what do you want to do about it?"
She looked over to him and shrugged. "Well Toshiro is already doing damage control. He says he'll have it all handled by evening today. He found out who spilled about those details, and they've been fired. So other than that I guess just deny it if you're asked."
"Alright, I can do that." He nodded. "So, what are you doing for the rest of the day?" he asked.
"Well I was going to go shopping, but I don't see how that's possible now, since I don't want to be assaulted."
She sighed, leaning back against the couch. Akito just pat her knee, trying to comfort her. "Well, if you want, you can hang out here with me. I was going to work on a new song, but we could just do other stuff."
Natsumi actually laughed. "You mean you don't just spew out crap when you begin to play?"
"No." he said, smiling slightly. "I actually put work into this stuff. It is my job after all."
"Hard to believe." She snickered.
He raised a brow. "Have you ever actually heard any of my music?"
She looked off then, avoiding his gaze. "Well…no."
"That's what I thought." He said, sitting back against the couch. "So, what do you say? You wanna hang out with me?"
"Not particularly. Nor would it be a good idea if someone saw us together. Besides. You and I don't really have civil conversations." She pointed out.
"We're having one right now." He replied. "On top of that, nobody will be able to see us if we stay at the house, we could just stay here and do stuff." Then he looked excited. "We could bake a cake! And decorate it!"
She blinked. "You wanna bake a cake?"
"Well yeah, we have all the stuff." he shrugged. "And it's fun. Especially the decorating part."
"Okay." She actually smiled, but then it faltered. "Um, is Vincent here?"
"No, he left last night with some model, and was pretending it was you. So he probably won't be back until later, especially if he's as hung over as he usually is." He told her, standing and holding his hand out for her to take.
She placed hers in his and allowed him to help her up. They went into the kitchen, which to Natsumi's surprise was very nice, and started getting out the ingredients. "So when you sing do you record before and lip sing? Or is it edited?" she asked curiously. "I heard some people do that."
"We sing everything live." He told her. "Cause' anything else is just lying to the fans, at least to me. I mean, they edit it a bit when we record, but that's what they always do. But for concerts and shows it's always live. We don't really do a lot of movements or crazy assed dancing, so lip singing isn't necessary."
"Huh." She nodded, leaning against the island in the middle of the kitchen. "Think I could make it as a singer?"
"I dunno, why don't you sing something for me." He smiled at her as he began to add all the ingredients to a bowl.
A small blush spread across her cheeks. "Now?"
"Sure, why not? No time like the present." He walked over and leaned against the island next to her. "Come on Natsumi, sing to me." He leaned closer to her.
"I don't have anything to sing too." She said, attempting to prolong this.
"You don't need anything to sing to." He replied. "If you need music just play it in your head."
Natsumi huffed and shook her head. "I meant what song."
"Whichever song you want."
"Can't you be un-irritating for like a second?" she growled out at him.
"Can't you be cooperative for like a second?" he replied.
She glared at him and huffed. "Fine."
"Good." He smiled, looking pleased. "So what are you going to sing for me?" he asked, leaning even closer to her. She glanced around and shook her head.
"Can't we do it somewhere more private?"
He sighed, but somewhat understood her nervousness. "One second, let me put the cake in the oven." He did just that, before grabbing her hand and leading her back towards the living room. "We can go into my private music room. It's where I write all my songs, and the guys know not to go in there unless it's extremely important."
"Ok." She nodded and grabbed her purse as they headed down the hall. They came to the soundproof door and went in. Natsumi pulled out her iPod and held it up with a small nervous laugh. "Can I plug it in and only have the music play?"
"Of course."
She handed him her iPod and he looked down at her chosen song. He smirked and glanced up at her, but before he could say anything she spoke up in a flustered tone. "Shut up ok."
"Sure, sure." He lifted his hands in surrender and went through the other door in the room to the recording studio. He plugged the iPod in and hit the microphone button, then spoke into it so she could hear him. "Now sit down, put on the headphones, and sing." He ordered.
Natsumi did as she was told, and once she heard the music start she took a deep breath and waited for her cue. "You think I'm pretty, without any makeup on. You think I'm funny, when I tell the punch line wrong. I know you get me, so I let my walls come down. Down." She sang and took another deep breath.
"Before you met me, I was alright but things were kind of heavy, you brought me to life. Now every February you'll be my valentine. Valentine. Let's go all the way tonight. No regrets. Just love. We can dance, until we die, you and I…will be young forever."
"You make me feel I'm living a teenage dream, the way you turn me on. I can't sleep. Let's run away and don't ever look back. Don't ever look back. My heart stops when you look at me. Just one touch, now baby I believe. This is real. So take a chance and don't ever look back. Don't ever look back."
That was when she stopped and removed the head phones, looking extremely nervous. Akito stopped the recording and came out of the booth, actually smiling at her. "That was amazing. You should really look into singing, if not on your own, then you could do some stuff with me and the band at first, to get a feel for it. We've got quite a few songs that could use your vocal talents." He told her.
She actually looked shocked. "Really?"
"Of course." He said. "Your voice is beautiful, and very unique. I think if you ever got tired of modeling and acting, you would make it big in the music industry." He grabbed her hand then. "Here, listen." He took her back into the recording room he had just been in and played the song back for her so that she could hear what she sounded like. When it was over her looked at her. "See? Your voice is incredible."
She smiled happily. "I'm so excited. I have been pretty bored lately. So this could be a nice new hobby. And there's nothing better than a hobby that you can make money off of."
"Exactly. Or a hobby that you can spend all day with someone just as attractive as you." He said, giving her a suggestive look.
Natsumi glanced over at him and leaned closer, a devious smirk on her face. "If we spend all our time together, we might actually get past this feuding stage. And I don't know if I'm ready to not find you insufferable yet."
He grinned, leaning over to her so that their faces were inches apart. "You're just afraid that if you don't find me completely insufferable you might actually start to like me, and then your sexual desire for me might break through and you'll jump me and take my innocence." He wagged his eyebrows at her.
She scoffed. "You don't have any innocence you liar. And I never said I didn't have sexual desire for you." she pointed out, standing back up from her leaning position.
"Oh I know." He stood, but moved so that they were close once more. "But you're controlling your want for me, whereas if you actually liked me you might let some of it free." He reached up and stroked her cheek. "Like now for instance. If you liked me, we would probably be making out, just like we did on set a few days ago."
Her eyes widened slightly, but he caught it before she could school her expression. "We only made out because it was what we were supposed to do."
"In the beginning." He concurred. "But then when we moved to the room, and even before that, it was real. Otherwise you would have stopped me, and you wouldn't have let me stick my tongue in your mouth, because we were actually supposed to fake that."
"Every actor knows not to fake that stuff." She huffed, looking away so he couldn't see the deceit in her eyes.
"Well excuse me for mistaking the way you rubbed against me and moaned and sucked my lip in your mouth for anything other than acting." He said sarcastically. "Or the way you threaded your fingers in my hair and pulled on it a bit, or how you kissed me here," he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him, kissing beneath her ear. "Or how you did this." He murmured, nipping her earlobe before licking over the area, soothing it. Then he pulled away slightly, but still kept her in his arms. "That wasn't real at all."
Her face was as red as a cherry. "Well excuse me for thinking you're a good kisser. It's not my fault. That's human reaction." She tried to explain. "My body reacted to yours, simple as that. I mean, you kissed me right back, and you only think I'm hot. So there, it's the same as that. There's no hidden motive or feeling or anything."
"How do you know mine didn't have a hidden motive or feeling?" he asked, giving her the look that Seth always gave Andy.
"Stop it." she warned, pointing her finger in his face. "Stop that now. And I know because you know nothing about me. Just because you know my brother and have some freakish affiliation with my sister, doesn't mean you know me. And surface stuff doesn't count. We've never done anything together aside from this. So how could you possibly have either?"
"Hn." Was all he said, looking at the floor. "Perhaps there was a hidden feeling behind my kisses that even I don't understand." He said softly, glancing at her.
Natsumi sniffed the air and a look of confusion crossed her face. "Is something burning?"
He did the same and mirrored her expression. "I think so." He said.
They both went wide eyed then. "The cake!" they yelled together, running from the room and to the kitchen, where the oven was now on fire.
Kyo was flailing around and spazzing, not knowing what to do. "I just added some stuff and turned up the heat so it would cook faster!" he tried to explain.
"You idiot! You ruined my vanilla cake!" Akito yelled, running to the pantry and grabbing the fire extinguisher. He pulled on the oven mitts and opened the fiery door, quickly spraying the white foam into it and putting out the fire. When he was done he glared at Kyo. "You're cleaning this up you know."
"What? But you already made me clean my puke! Why can't the Asian kids do it like they did the house?" the blonde whined.
Natsumi's eyes widened. "Are you a slave driver?! What's wrong with you?! Making children clean!"
"I didn't make them! I paid them each twenty bucks, and there were twelve of them! So it's all good!" Akito told her.
She just rolled her eyes and shook her head, walking out of the room with Akito after her. "Clean it up." He ordered, and left before Kyo could protest. The rest of the day, Natsumi actually stayed at the house and hung out with Akito in his personal recording room, though it was much more spread apart than the first time. And after showing her how things worked and giving her a CD of their band's work, he promised he would sing for her to prove that he could sing, just for her.
But as it got later and Vincent called, saying he would be home soon, Natsumi decided to take her leave and head home. After walking her to her car to make sure she got there safely, Akito went back inside to his music room, playing Natsumi's recording over and over as he worked on his song from earlier for the rest of the night.
