Variance
Chapter Eight
-Leak-
Akito stretched, raising his arms above his head. Scratching his chest, he made his way into his large bathroom and turned on the shower, quickly washing himself before throwing on a pair of faded jeans and a white t-shirt. Whistling the tune to his new song, he went downstairs and turned on the television, going into the kitchen to make himself something to eat for breakfast.
He didn't really pay attention to what was being said, until he heard Natsumi's name, followed closely by his own. His interest being sparked, he walked into the living room and turned up the volume, watching the screen.
"And so, the truth is out. No matter how much the two stars denied it, we can now officially say that Uchiha Akito, lead singer of Chaos Theory, and Sabaku no Natsumi, supermodel and actress, are an item, as proved by this video tape." The woman said, before a video appeared on screen.
Akito's eyes widened as a video began to play. A video of him singing his new song to Natsumi at the movie set yesterday. And the kiss he had given her afterwards. What they didn't play was the rest, when Natsumi had freaked out a bit and left.
"As you can clearly see, there is definitely some on-set romance going on between the two stars." The woman smiled knowingly at the camera. "Whether or not they want to publicly acknowledge it, we know the truth, and that's the important thing." She winked. "On to other news, Ryan Reynolds was seen-"
Akito cut off the television with an angry snarl. Somebody was going to pay for this. Nobody released a video of a song that he didn't technically own yet and get away with it. Nor did they sell a video of a private moment between him and Natsumi. He pulled out his cell phone and hit a speed dial number, immediately calling someone he could always count on to take care of business and make the right people pay. Hearing a calm, cool voice pick up on the other line, Akito didn't even wait to exchange pleasantries. "Itachi, I want this mess straightened out before I go find that dumbass and kill him myself."
"Alright." Toshiro nodded. "Uh huh. Yes. No don't worry Itachi, I've found the one who released the footage." He paused, listening to Akito's band manager continue on. "Yeah. Okay. Well I've already set up a press conference, made up the paperwork for you to sue this piece of filth. Everything will be handled, and we'll go over the story together at lunch. So we'll meet you at the restaurant in about an hour." He stopped again and sighed, glancing over at his sister, who was sitting on her couch, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. And she looked far passed pissed. "No…she's on the precipice of murdering someone right now, but I'm sure once she gets some food in that little stomach of hers she'll be okay." Toshiro hung up then and straightened from his slouched position.
"You ready?" he asked.
She stood wordlessly, straightening her skirt and pulling it down slightly. Ever since the movie started, she'd been given a new line of clothes that one of her favorite designers had made especially for her and was asking for her to promote the clothing so others would wear it. Which of course, she was more than happy to do. She had on a dark, chocolate brown jacket that cut off just above her belly button and zipped up to her bust, leaving it open at the top so she could show off the matching lacy silk shirt beneath it. And a short matching skirt that only covered the bare essentials, with a thick belt draped around her waist.
And she even had on the custom boots that had come with the outfit. They stopped mid-thigh and clung tightly to her legs. "Let's go." She said, still sounding upset. Toshiro and Natsumi left then and got in the car, heading into the city to meet Akito and Itachi for lunch before the press conference. They came up to a nice, known spot for the stars, and when Natsumi got out of the car, her oversized sunglasses hiding her gaze from the public, people immediately started to take pictures and ask questions.
Toshiro tossed the keys to the valet and went to his sister's side, ignoring the paparazzi as they went inside, since they were held at bay by thick red velvet ropes. The redhead spotted the two Uchihas and led his sister over, placing his hand on the small of her back. "Itachi." Toshiro nodded. "Akito."
The two Sabakus sat down, Natsumi not bothering with pleasantries as she slid her sunglasses to the top of her head. Itachi smiled slightly at the both of them. "Toshiro, Natsumi." He nodded to each of them. "Always a pleasure."
Akito remained silent, appearing just as pissed as Natsumi was. The elder Uchiha sighed minutely before looking to the redhead. It seemed they would have to begin the discussion. "So, we've already handled the whole song business, making it legally Akito's, though it took some work." he announced. "What is the story we're going with?"
"That they were practicing for a scene to come up in the movie. Kakashi is already ecstatic about getting to add the part. He wants Akito to sing in the movie for Natsumi, and make it the turning point of the feelings Andy feels for him to officially know she's in love with him.
"I am not in love with him." Natsumi huffed, looking off and avoiding any and all contact with Akito.
Toshiro glanced at her a bit warily. "No one said you were Natsumi. The movie characters."
"Well I'm just saying." She told him, glaring at her brother. "Cause' you don't just go and kiss people for no reason and weird stuff like that."
The redhead sighed, running his hand down his face. This was definitely going to be one of those days. Akito just looked at her. "You do if the moment calls for it." he pointed out. "And it's not like you didn't kiss me back."
"Akito." Itachi said in warning.
The younger ebony haired man glared slightly at his uncle. "I'm just saying." He said, focusing back on Natsumi.
"I only kissed you back because I was ambushed and I didn't know what to do. That's it." she glared at him warningly. "What was I supposed to do? Shove you off? It's not my fault you have your voodoo powers of sex appeal." She pouted, crossing her arms like a child throwing a tantrum.
This just made Akito smirk. "You know, admitting it is the first step."
"Excuse me?" she asked, her glare turning icier.
"You heard me." He replied, only to be hit over the back of the head by Itachi.
"Shut up, before you make things worse." The elder man ordered. "The both of you need to be a united front at the press conference in order for it to be convincing. The press will not only be analyzing your words, but your body language, and how you act around one another."
Natsumi scoffed. "It's not hard to act repulsed around him." she smirked.
Akito mirrored her expression, leaning back in his chair. "I knew you were acting."
The pink haired woman grew red with rage. "That's not what I meant and you know it!" she flailed, becoming flustered.
"Do I?" he raised a mocking brow. "Do I really?"
"Yes! Yes you do!" she leaned across the table, losing her cool.
"Ok now." Toshiro interrupted before the feud could continue, pushing Natsumi back into her seat. "Can you two please stop acting like children for at least an hour and just get along?"
Natsumi crossed her arms stubbornly and looked off. "Yes."
"Of course." Akito replied, amusement evident in his dark green orbs as he looked at Natsumi.
"Good." Itachi said. "Now let's get some lunch so that the both of you have some food in your stomachs before we do this thing. You'll be in much better moods."
"Oh I'm already in a better mood." Akito said, smirking slightly.
Both Toshiro and Natsumi rolled their eyes, picking up their menus together and beginning to read over the entrees, proving the same blood that ran through their veins. Itachi and Akito just sat there, having already picked out what they wanted to eat while waiting for the two Sabakus to arrive. Their waiter appeared then, taking their order before walking off.
There was silence then, up until the food arrived and they all began eating. Itachi and Toshiro made up most the conversation, until finally Akito perked up and began to get animated. Once they were finished, they all got up and headed over to the place they had set up for the press conference. Akito and Natsumi went into makeup, and were waiting for Toshiro and Itachi to finish up their explanation and call them forth. Natsumi peeked out the curtain and sighed, pulling it back in place. "This is gonna suck."
"It has to be done though." Akito said, straightening his clothes. He had changed from his jeans and shirt to a nicer pair of black skinny jeans, and a white and grey checkered button down shirt. He looked at her. "I'm sorry, by the way. About all of this."
"No you're not." She looked away from him. "You find some sick humor in making me upset and ruffling my feathers."
He walked over to her and cupped her cheek, turning her head so that she was looking at him. "That's because I think you're incredibly adorable when your feathers are ruffled." He told her honestly. "And it's easier for me to get attention from you that way, since you seem to think that I'm some gigantic asshole who only cares about screwing around and who I'm gonna fuck next."
"Well, your reputation sure does precede you." She glared at him slightly, but he could feel her somewhat relax with his touch.
He stroked her cheek with his thumb, searching her jade depths with his forests. "Then I promise that after today the only time I will kiss you is when we are filming, unless you wish otherwise."
She smirked, looking somewhat amused. "You are such a liar."
"Don't believe me then." He said, letting his hand fall to his side. "But we can't build a relationship without trust." He sighed a bit dramatically.
"We don't have a relationship." She pointed out, walking through the curtain when she heard her name announced along with his. Natsumi waved to the massive crowd that had gathered to hear the two and their hopeful 'declaration of love'. Akito smirked and followed her, waving as well and stopping just a bit behind her on the stage, the podium full of microphones before her.
"As you all have heard from my manager, Akito and I are not in a relationship. It is barely platonic, seeing as he is one of the most annoying people I have ever met in my entire life. We were simply practicing a scene from our new movie." She told them, making sure she was smiling and no negative emotions were showing, even though she knew she was lying. Because there was something between them, but she'd be damned if she allowed herself to influenced by that Neanderthal.
Akito rolled his eyes, and, an idea coming to him, he began to mimic what Natsumi was saying behind her back as she was speaking, earning a few twitters form the reporters. "Natsumi, can you list a few examples of how you find Akito to be annoying?" a man from the crowd asked, raising his hand. Hearing this question, Akito crossed his eyes and contorted his face into one he used to make all the time as a child.
"Well he's arrogant." She counted off on her fingers. "Self-centered, and I'm pretty sure he's a man-whore. But that's just my opinion." She smirked.
Akito rolled his eyes, and made an exaggerated sigh, though it was silent. Then he thrust his hips forward behind Natsumi, making the reporter's eyes go wide, and some actually laughed. Natsumi blinked, seeing their odd reactions and looked back at Akito, who was standing there looking bored and attempting to clean his fingernails.
"I have a question for Akito." A woman raised her hand.
He walked forward and stood next to Natsumi at the podium. "Yes?" he asked, leaning against it.
"I heard that in the movie, in one of the more erotic scenes you were both naked together. Is it true that in the heat of the scene that you two accidently became intimate?" she asked. Natsumi turned a dark red at the question and the memory of the ordeal when Akito had given her her first orgasm.
"Well," he said, glancing at her and smirking at the look on her face, "we were already intimate in the scene, so there really is no way it could have been accidental. When two people are completely naked and pretending to have sex, it's already pretty intimate, wouldn't you agree?" he said, covering up the truth expertly. The woman nodded, appearing to not find any fault with his logic.
Natsumi hit him over the head and glared threateningly at him. "What are you doing?" she seethed, so only he could hear.
He just waved her off and looked back at everyone. "Any other questions?" he asked.
Another reporter stepped forward. "Natsumi, is the rumor true that while filming the intimate scene we are discussing, that you called out Akito's name instead of his character Seth's?" they asked. Akito just stepped aside, so that Natsumi could have full reign on this one, since he had promised not to say anything about it.
She glared at him and shoved him slightly. "No." she blatantly lied. Akito nodded, though the way in which he was doing it could be taken either for agreeing with her statement, or contradicting it.
Another reporter shot their hand up. "Akito is it true that you wrote 'Beautiful Soul' for Natsumi?" he asked excitedly.
Natsumi's eyes widened slightly and she looked over to the man beside her, her own curiosity spiking. Akito's own eyes widened, all the arrogance wiped right off his face. "Who told you that?" he asked, pointing at the man as his eyes narrowed. "I want names."
"Just speculation from a few sources." The man replied, not intimidated in the least. "It's clear from the footage that there was something in your voice and your eyes. After all, this is much different than anything else you've recorded."
The ebony haired man straightened and crossed his arms. "I will not confirm nor deny that statement, since the song has yet to be recorded and officially released."
"So a tentative yes." The man nodded and jotted down a few things.
"Whatever."
"So what you're saying is that you two really are just the victims of unfortunate publicity?" another asked.
Natsumi nodded, leaning forward a bit. "Yes, unfortunately."
"If you people actually had lives and were better at your jobs, you would know the real story, and this entire thing wouldn't be necessary." Akito said.
The pink haired woman seemed pleased that they were finally seeing the truth and began to relax. "Thank you all for coming, and we're so glad we could clear this up. Besides," she laughed, "why would I even attempt to have a relationship with someone who would most likely not care anyways? You know those famous men, one is never enough." She said, waving off the matter and then waving to them before heading off. "Come on." She told Akito, touching his arm.
Akito frowned, and grabbed her hand, pulling her to him suddenly and kissing her passionately, wrapping an arm around her waist to hold her against him and threading his hand in her hair, tilting her head back to deepen the kiss. Flashes went off as the reporters took tons of pictures of the moment, and, just as quickly as he had kissed her, he stopped. Smiling, he looked to the crowd. "Read into that what you will." He told them. "Oh, and by the way, it wasn't a scene from the movie, nor was the first showing of Beautiful Soul. That was for Natsumi and Natsumi only." Then he looked back at the woman in his arms, smirking when he saw her stunned expression.
"As for you, I'll see you later, baby." He said, kissing her once more and patting her rear before walking off the stage. Itachi following after him quickly.
Natsumi stood there, absolutely shocked. Toshiro was wide eyed and hurried over, dragging his sister off before the onslaught could begin.
