Disclaimer: If you recognize anything, It's not mine. I only own Sorano Otsuki, My O/C.
-Chapter 2: Humble Sorano-
Sorano excitedly put a few of her favorite novels written by Shigure in a gift bag. Today was the day that she got to visit his home, and was hoping he could sign her books since she was a fan of his work. At any moment, Ayame would come by her house to pick her up to drive to the house, which was actually more of an estate as she was told. It made her wonder if the Sohmas were a wealthy family. She fixed her knee-length, dark purple skirt and black, low-cut sweater while looking in the mirror. She let out a sigh of disappointment when she looked at her face. She really did hate wearing glasses all the time, but never found the time to get contact lenses. Just then, she heard the doorbell ring, causing her to perk up and smile. She grabbed the bag and hurried downstairs to greet her guest at the door.
"I'm coming!"She called while straightening up a few things before opening the door. At first, she smiled, but then looked surprised when she saw not only the golden-eyed man she had met yesterday, But a different man with short, black hair with bangs covering mainly his left eye. He had a very serious expression and wore a sharp suit and tie. From his height, he looked about as tall as the man next to him, and he was not athletic, but lean.
"Good morning, Ayaa-kun. It's so nice to see you again."
"Likewise, Sorano-chan. I forgot to mention that Tori was coming along with us today. Sorano Otsuki, this is my cousin, Hatori Sohma. He's also the Sohma family doctor."
"I see, well, it's nice to meet you, Hatori Sohma-san."She bowed politely first, then he followed with a bow in return.
"Please, Hatori-san is just fine."
"Okay. Hatori-san it is. Could you two wait just one moment, please?"
The two men watched as she set the gift bag down to put on her black, close-toed heels at the door and put her grey, long overcoat on. When she picked it back up, Ayame decided to question it. "Are you bringing a gift to Gure-san?"
"Well, yes, but I'm also bringing a few of his novels in hope that he'll sign them for me."
"Wow, you really are a fan of his. Well then, shall we get going then?"
"Yes, it's better for you to be in the heated car when there's weather like this, Ayaa," Hatori said as he headed toward his car idled in front of her house. His comment confused the woman as she looked at the feminine man. He automatically knew what she was getting ready to ask and just answered right away.
"I tend to…pass out when I'm in extreme heat or cold for an extended period of time, so I have to be careful and stay in an area with a controlled climate."
Sorano followed the fashionable man into the car. He sat in the passenger seat next to Hatori, which annoyed him a bit, and she sat in the back seat, her eyes bright with anticipation and excitement. Although, as soon as she got into the car, the warm air in the car mixed with the cold air outside, created a fog on her glasses. Ayame chuckled at her when she flushed and cleaned them with her sleeve.
The silver-haired man paraded gleefully toward the door to a humongous house. It was two stories, and seemed quite spacious from the outside. As they were driving closer to the house in the car, Hatori explained to her that the road they were currently on was part of Shigure's property. That practically confirmed the blonde woman's assumption: the Sohmas were loaded!
Ayame was just about to pull the door open when he heard the woman behind him say, "Um, shouldn't we knock first?"But he didn't hear her and swung open the door quickly, took off his shoes at the door, and ran off in a random direction. Sorano hurriedly kicked off her shoes and followed him. The reserved man just sighed shaking his head and let them go on ahead with their hi-jinks.
"Ayaa-kun! What are you--?"
The golden eyed man seemed to sparkle as he pushed the door to a room open. From the look of the furniture, it appeared to be a sort of tea room used for entertaining guests. Sitting at a kotatsu was a young girl about the age of seventeen with mid-length, brown hair and bright, blue eyes. Next to her was a boy around the same age with short, orange hair and brown eyes that seemed guarded. Across from the boy and girl was a boy that looked eerily similar to Ayame, but with short, silver-purple hair and purple eyes that seemed very kind.
All three of them directed their attention to the shouting man. "WE HAVE ARRIVED!"
There was a silence in the room until the purple-eyed boy quickly stood and walked over to the long-haired man. As Hatori finally stood behind them, the boy stopped directly in front of Ayame with a dark expression on his face, "Do you have to burst into the room shouting every time you come to visit?"
"Come now, Yuki. Is that really how you treat your big brother?"He put an arm around the young man's shoulders lovingly and smiled at him.
Sorano could now say for sure that they were related from their behavior, and how much they really looked alike, "Oh, I see! This must be the brother you mentioned, right Ayaa-kun?"
"Mm-hmm! Sorano Otsuki, this is my little brother, Yuki Sohma."
"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Yuki-kun."
"And to you, Otsuki-san."
The two bowed, Yuki bending over lower than her out of respect. They came back up, and after he greeted Hatori, she gave him a warm smile as she said, "You have such manners, and it's amazing how similar you look to your Nii-san."
"Ah…really…"
He replied in a way that sounded like a statement, when it should have been more of a question. He looked over at his beaming older brother, letting the woman know that he didn't really like being compared to Ayame.
"Um…Otsuki-san?" The woman in glasses looked to her left to see the young brunette girl next to her. The second their eyes met, she quickly bowed from her waist respectfully, but in a ditzy way.
"Uh, I-it's nice to meet you! My name is Tohru Honda."
"Oh, it's nice to meet you as well, Tohru-chan."
Sorano bowed to her and smiled nervously to match her when someone suddenly stepped out of the kitchen area, "Yuki-kun, I thought I heard your--"He had short, black hair with bangs parted in the middle of his hairline, dark brown, cheerful eyes, and he wore a loose, comfortable-looking kimono, along with bare feet. He started to speak, but stopped as he stared at the silver-haired man for a few seconds.
He practically ran towards him, and thankfully Tohru pulled Sorano out of the way so she wouldn't get caught in their tight, loving embrace. "Ayaa!! It's been far too long!"
"You just saw him last week, Shigure!"Kyo grouchily commented at the two men's antics.
They both looked at him cheerfully while saying in sync, "Yes, but it felt more like ages!"
Everyone, excluding Tohru and Sorano, let out exasperated sighs.
"Kyon-Kyon, can't you be polite and introduce yourself to our guest?"The orange-haired boy growled at the nickname the golden-eyed man called him as he stood and came over to the woman.
He averted his eyes and seemed a bit shy as he said, "I'm Kyo Sohma. I-It's nice to meet you."
She didn't understand why he was uncomfortable to introduce himself, because he was intimidating to her. Even though he was shorter than Ayame, Shigure, and Hatori, he was still taller than her! He looked eight centimeters or so over her.
Still, after he bowed, she returned the gesture, "Um, it's a pleasure, Kyo-kun."
"And, of course, your main objective of being here was for this man."Ayame directed her attention to Shigure, who smiled, already knowing who she was.
He bowed, "Sorano Otsuki, correct? It's so nice to finally make your acquaintance."
"Oh, believe me, the pleasure's all mine, Sohma-san! I really admire your work."
"Thank you, and I've become quite fond of a few of your novels as well. Come, sit down." He went to sit at a spot at the kotatsu, being followed by everyone else. Hatori sat next to him, Kyo and Tohru sat across from them, while Yuki sat across from Ayame and the blonde woman.
"For an author on the rise, you're very talented, Otsuki-san." Shigure smiled at the uneasy blonde woman.
"Well, I'm not even close to your level, Sohma-san." She smiled back nervously
"That's so interesting. Both you and Shigure-san are romance novelists."
"Oh? Do you enjoy romance novels, Tohru-chan?" Sorano turned to look at the young lady that spoke.
"Not really, but It must be nice to stay home doing something you enjoy."
There was a sudden whistling noise coming from the kitchen. The brunette girl was the first to turn and look, then everyone else did the same.
She stood "Oh, that must be the water for the tea. Excuse me."
She went into the kitchen to make tea for everyone when the long-haired man looked to the woman next to him. "Sorano-chan, didn't you bring a gift for Shigure?"
"Oh, that's right!"She picked up the bag next to her, took the novels Shigure wrote out of it, set them on the table, then handed just the bag to him.
"I wanted to thank you by getting a gift for you."
"Well, how very thoughtful of you." He put his hand in the bag and took out a rather large box with a frilly bow tied around it. He opened it, and inside was an elegant case for reading glasses, a few energy-boosting espresso shots, and a picture book of scenic places of the world.
He smiled sincerely, "Oh, how nice."
"Yeah, Ayaa-kun told me that you use glasses for reading, so I got you the case. If you're like me, you'll need those espresso shots for late nights, and I always cure my writer's block by looking at picture books of beautiful scenery."
"That's such a creative gift idea. Thank you so much."
"He probably won't use any of it much, seeing as how he always misses his deadlines and tortures his poor editor," Yuki panged the cruel remark to his caretaker, getting a few laughs from everyone.
The woman then meekly slid the novels written by him toward him and smiled nervously. "And, if you don't mind, Sohma-san, could you autograph some of my favorite novels that you wrote?"
"Oh, I'd be happy to. And Shigure-san is just fine. There's so many Sohmas in here, it might get confusing at one point." He smiled at her, then leaned toward Hatori and sweetly asked, "Hey, Tori, could I possibly borrow a--"
The stoic man silently whipped out an expensive looking pen from the inside pocket of his blazer. "Please give it back when you're done."
"Oh, okay."
Tohru came back in with a tray of cups of tea as Shigure began signing the inside of a cover to a book. "Okay, the tea's ready. Did I miss anything?"
"Otsuki-san just gave Shigure a few gifts to help him while he's writing."
"Oh, how nice." She served the six other people their cups of tea before taking one for herself.
Before she took a sip of the hot liquid, Sorano asked the young girl, "If you don't mind my asking, Tohru-chan, are you part of the Sohma family as well? I noticed that your last name was 'Honda'."
"Oh, no. It's a long story, though. You see, my father died when I was young, and while I lived with my mom, she died in a car accident when I was in middle school. After that, my grandfather took me in at his home. A few years later, the house was being renovated, so he asked me if I had a place to stay until it was finished. I didn't want to burden my friends, so I started living in a tent. Coincidentally, I was living on part of the land that Shigure-san owned. He and Yuki-kun found out one night that I lived there, and thought it was a little odd."
A stifled laugh was heard from the kimono-wearing novelist. After everyone looked at him, he calmed down and said, "I'm sorry, but it's still a bit funny. Please continue, Tohru-chan."
"Yes. Well, that same night, there was a landslide, which destroyed my tent in the process. After they were kind enough to let me stay the night in their home, Yuki spent all night going through the rubble of the landslide to find my things. I was so glad because a very precious picture of my mother was in there. Knowing I had nowhere else to go, they allowed me to stay here with them."
"I see. You've got quite a big heart, Shigure-san."
"Not that big of one. He only did it if she agreed to be their housekeeper."
"Kyyyooo, don't make me out to be the bad guy." The man whined with a deflated expression, causing everyone to laugh once again.
"Anyway, Otsuki-san. How did you meet Ayaa?"
"Oh, I was walking down a small street looking through the shops in hope of finding one that sold some kind of formal wear. I was in need of a dress for my father's birthday dinner party. Luckily, I found Ayaa-kun's shop!"
"'Luckily'? What kind of 'formal' are you talking about?" Kyo's comment created an awkward silence in the room. Everyone, except Sorano herself, knew that Ayame mainly created clothing that was more on the costume side.
Realizing this as she recalled the maid's uniform she had seen in the shop window, the light brown-eyed woman waved her hand with a nervous smile. "Oh, no, no! There were some semi-formal pieces on display in the window that caught my eye. Although, I didn't really understand the costume-type outfits like the…maid and nurse uniforms."
Her hands were suddenly enclosed in the hands of the man next to her. They were soft and warm, which made her blush as he looked deeply into her eyes. "Tell me, Sorano-chan…Have you ever had a fantasy?"
"A…what?"
"Uh, Nii-san, I don't think it's best if--" Yuki tried to stop his brother, but he was too late.
The silver-haired man stood up and put a hand on his chest as he looked toward the floor sophisticatedly. Somehow, there were strange sparkles around him as he closed his eyes, seeming to enrapture his audience. "I had a dream to fulfill the desires of human beings, men especially."He opened his eyes to create a dramatic effect. "That was when I made the greatest decision of my life."
Along with the hand on his chest, the man held up his hand as if to present something to the heavens above him. It seemed as if he was so passionate, that he might…cry, "I wanted to create clothes to fulfill the deepest desires of every man who has ever thought their dream was impossible!"
There was a fatigued sigh from the Sohmas, and the young girl and the woman smiled nervously.
Tohru understood Ayame's…'career', but Sorano decided to say something to make the room feel a bit less uncomfortable, "Wow, Ayaa-kun, that's um…quite an interesting vision of yours."
He knelt down in front of her enthusiastically, his eyes sparkling with ambition. She had never met a man his age with energy like that of a child. "Yes, and I have an excellent proposal for you to help me in my growing vision."
"Oh, really? And, what would that be?"
He, once again, took her hands into his and boldly stated, "I would like for you to use my creations to write a romance story."
The whole room was silent out of utter shock and confusion. Yuki's fist suddenly met the top of Ayame's head, making Sorano flinch, "Nii-san, don't spread your stupidity to this poor woman!"
"Oh, no! It's not stupid at all, Yuki-kun. I'm just a bit surprised at his offer," The blonde woman's words caught everyone's attention. Did that mean she agreed to take the offer?
"Isn't there…someone else that you can get to do this job? You know, someone who's actually a good writer?" She looked in Shigure's direction.
"It's true that Shigure may have more experience as a writer, but your style of writing novels was what put such an idea in my mind. Plus, I think this idea really needs…a woman's touch."She blushed at his complement. His eccentricity was just too extreme to handle.
"Can you do this for me? Please?" She looked at his pleading expression with a worried one for a while until she finally caved. "Well, I did need an idea for my next project."
"You'll do it?"
"Really?"
The two brothers were equally shocked at her reply. She nodded once with a smile.
The silver-haired man jumped to his feet and hugged the young boy behind him, "That's so wonderful! Isn't it, Yuki?"
"…Yes…" The purple-eyed boy sighed out of exasperation, and everyone laughed and continued to converse with each other. Sorano thought to herself, 'First, I meet the author that I idolize, then, I somehow become a model. Meeting Ayaa-kun has just turned one thing into the next.'
(End of Ch. 2)
A/N: I LIIIIVE! I'm sorry for keeping this from you guys! If you re-read the first chapter, that's why it took so long to update! I promise to update faster! This story really is not finished!! Please bear with me! Reviews are love!
