BETA worked by Hephaestus1923

"Stay"

"What's important now is who you choose to be with." -Anonymous

Chapter 2: F.A.M.E.

"We're trying our best to get to know about this girl, who might be Tainaka Ritsu's girlfriend. We've asked some of her friends, and some of them said the girl really is a shy person, a straight-A student and also a transfer student in the University-" Tainaka Ritsu groans in annoyance. The fact that she can't do anything about the paparazzi is starting to get on her nerves. "Damn paparazzi!"

Right when Ritsu was about to turn off the TV, she changes her mind, sits back on her couch and pays a bit of attention to the news. "-Sad news. We just talked with one of the students in Tokyo University who seems to know about the whereabouts of the girl that we've been looking for. What a waste. He said that she has gone back home already, but with someone riding a motorcycle. People around here recognized this guy as the student council president, named Minamoto Isshi-"

"What?" Ritsu instantly reacts, staring at the TV confusingly. "-Some of them said that they often see the girl and the president talking to each other and sometimes, going out together. Who is this girl? Is she really Tainaka Ritsu's girlfriend? Or is she cheating him with a guy named Minamoto Isshi? Or we got the wrong girl?"

Without any second thought, Ritsu stands up from the couch and turns the TV off. She grabs her cell phone and dials her agent's number. "I've told you to clear it, haven't I?" She says, mockingly.

"I- I'm terribly sorry, Tainaka-san. I already told them that you and Akiyama-san do not share any bonds. Sadly, they're looking for other proofs about the truth, and I don't have the rights to stop them at the moment. I'm really sorry... I-I'll find another way to solve this! Don't worry, Tainaka-san!"

"You better be..." Ritsu sighs, "Tell me, do you know anything about a guy named Minamoto Isshi?"

Sebastian goes silent for a sec, and then he chokes a little. "Yes. Akiyama-san introduced him to me the other day. She said he's one of her friends at her University. Is there anything wrong?"

"Did you watch the news just now?"

"N-no." Instinctively, Sebastian turns the TV on in his office. He couldn't help but stare in an awe. "I- I just watched it now... I don't know if they-"

"I want you to find out who this Minamoto Isshi is and-" A certain girl grabs the cell phone from Ritsu's hand. Ritsu turns to see who just grabbed her cell phone, "Wha- ?"

The girl smirks, then she gives Ritsu a glare. "No need to do that. He's right here with me." It was the same girl who had stirred the people's curiosity this morning and probably this coming evening too. "Hello? Sebastian-san, this is me, Akiyama Mio. You don't need to do what Ritsu said, just go do what you really have to do. Sorry to disturb you, Sebastian-san."

"Ah, A-Akiyama-san... Uhm... Alright then, have a good evening and please tell Tainaka-san to take a good rest, and that I'll clear the mess."

"Thank you," Mio ends the call, handing the phone back to Ritsu, who's still quite stunned. Not because of Mio's presence, but the person who has been standing right behind her. "Ritsu, you've got a lot of explanations to do."

••••••••••••••••••

Ritsu chokes, "Wait, before I give you any explanations. I want you to explain to me about this guy. Who he is and what is he doin' here?"

"First of all, don't be so rude. He has been helping me get away from those weird people who tried to chase me down. So you should thank him rather than mock him"

Feeling tensed, the guy finally speaks up. "Uh... I guess I shouldn't be here... Well, you don't need to thank me. I'm glad to be able to help her-"

"No. Thank you, for your help and I'm sorry... for mocking you like that... I lost control for a sec there..." She laughs nervously as she scratches the back of her head.

"T-that's fine... I can understand how worried you a-are. It's normal to see s-someone acting like that in this k-kind of situation, so uh... It's okay" Isshi goes silent for a moment, then something snaps in his mind. "Ah yeah! S-sorry... I'm Minamoto Isshi, third year-" Isshi offers a hand as he introduces himself.

He's stuttering! Why is he acting like me when I meet someone new? I mean... this is Ritsu he's talking to, not the principal...

Ritsu cuts his words as she takes the offered hand. "-The President of Tokyo University's Student Council, right?" She raises an eyebrow.

The guy nods and smiles, "Yes and I'm a-also Mio's friend. It's such an h-honor to meet you in p-person, Taina-"

"Ritsu's fine. I'll call you Isshi, should that be fine, hm?" He nods once again. Ritsu takes back her hand.

Mio could only drown herself in her thoughts of the sight of Ritsu interacting with Isshi. Did they just smile at each other? They were shaking hands just now! This is easier than I thought.

She turns to Mio, who seemed like a stiff statue. "Mio?" Ritsu calls out, slowly shaking Mio by the shoulder.

"Huh?" Mio shakes her head lightly, smiling a little. "Sorry, uhm... you two really are getting along so well..."

"Ah~ That's just because Ta- Ritsu-san here is really nice to me... Etto, I guess I should be out no-"

"No! That wouldn't be a good choice here." Ritsu warns as she takes a seat on the couch. "Go sit and I'll try to explain what happened, okay?"

The two nod in agreement, then each takes a seat on the couch. The weird thing is, Mio sits next to Isshi rather than Ritsu.

Not long after Ritsu explains the crazy situation. The ringing of her cell phone cuts the story-telling. "Excuse me for a minute." She says, getting up. Ritsu walks to the balcony, leaving Mio and Isshi behind.

••••••••••••••••••

"Tainaka Ritsu's speaking-" Ritsu's voice fades out as she closes the balcony door. "Wow, I never thought that Ritsu-san is a very nice person... You know, I always thought that rich people are selfish, mean and are always looking down on people like... me." Isshi chuckles at the last part.

"Well, Ritsu is one of those kind rich people, I guess..." The black-haired girl turns her head to the guy next to her. "Ne, Isshi... why were you stuttering back when you were talking to Ritsu? You sounded like me when I meet someone new, because all along, I thought that you don't act the way you were back there."

"You know, for normal people like me, meeting someone who is as famous as Tainaka Ritsu, is a really really impossible thing to happen. But here I am, inside his fancy apartment, sitting next to his girlfriend and I just talked to him, face to face. Moreover, he's really nice... He's not as formal as I thought he would be, because he always had that serious look on TV." The last part makes Mio frown at Isshi.

"Does he... really often show up on TV?" Well, that sounded pretty doubtful, Mio thinks. Isshi, though, knows that there was a bit of hesitation with her question.

Nervously, Isshi laughs a little. "Not really. Well, last year he made a bomb with the news of replacing his dad about the big company thing. Then, by the end of last year, he threw shocking news of his break-up with one of a business man's daughter, but the private agent said both of them didn't have anything to do with each other. It ends there. The rest was just some random news about him and business... The paparazzi had also lessened their movements on him. At least that's what I thought..."

He's so up-to-date with Ritsu, huh? Mio almost laughed at her thought, but she keeps quiet. "So I guess they chased me down because..."

"Because they wanted the truth about you and Ritsu-san, and even if they found out the truth, they're not gonna just... stop there. Once paparazzi finds you, they'll force you to talk all about yourself. They'll ask deeper and deeper questions about you; from how you met Ritsu-san... even your childhood story." Mio shivers. She had no idea that society can act as scary as that about Ritsu and her.

Now Mio remembers how much she hated being the center of attention. She always hated it, but what if the paparazzi really found her? What should she say to them? How should she act towards them? Within a few seconds, Mio's eyes goes wide in horror, looking like as if she just saw a ghost or something scary.

Isshi keeps on shaking Mio's body lightly, "Hey, Mio? Snap back, will ya?"

"What happened to her?" Ritsu asks, standing behind the couch. "Mio?" Her soft and gentle voice finally snaps Mio back to the world.

Mio looks at Ritsu, the brunette having a worried look on her face. "I hate that look, Ritsu"

The other girl raises an eyebrow confusingly, "Just so you know, you had the same look on me." Chuckling, Ritsu walks back to the couch. "Okay, so you two know how crazy they are... Well, they're still spying on us down there, and it's kind of hard for you to feel comfortable, Isshi. Sad story, they know who you are and they suspect that Mio is cheating on me or they might've had the wrong girl. My agent will tell them that they got the wrong girl and that they should stop following you. However, I can't guarantee that they will one-hundred percent stop."

"I understand... If they ask me anything about it, I'll tell them that they got the wrong girl, don't worry." Isshi clears his throat, "So uh... you two really- you know..."

"Yes, Mio is my girlfriend. We're together, but remember this... You are the only outsider who knows about Mio and I, since it's no use to hide it from you. You get it?" Ritsu warns.

The guy gulps hard, "Y-yes. Absolutely, I understand. I'll keep my mouth shut about this."

"You don't have to be so nervous around him, Isshi." Mio deadpans at Isshi's behavior.

"Haha! Yeah, she's right. I'm not gonna bite you, y'know~" Ritsu says jokingly as she laughs at Isshi's expression. "Well, I only bite a certain someone~" Ritsu says teasingly, flashing a wink at Mio.

"Ritsu!" The brunette receives a death glare from her girlfriend. Mio soon calms down when she realized that Isshi is still sitting next to her. Mio lowers her head in embarrassment.

Isshi feels that there was something odd with the way Ritsu acts towards Mio. The thought that it's already time for him to just get lost hits Isshi. "Ah, well then... I guess it's already time for me to go home now," The brown-haired guy stands up from the couch. "My mom must be worried about me by now..."

"You still live with your mother?" Ritsu blurts out. The next thing they hear is a groaning that obviously came from Ritsu. "Sorry..." She mumbles.

"I'm sorry if Ritsu asked such thing... Sometimes, Ritsu just couldn't find a good time to actually behave~" Mio says as she rolls her eyes. I thought handling a business will be helping her with her maturity.

Isshi laughs nervously, scratching the back of his head. "That's okay, really. Well, actually today I promised my mother that I'll be home until weekend. I'm not really living with her, so uh..."

"Oh, yeah... Uh... You know, that's what I thought... Yeah, that's it" Feeling a little bit guilty that she blurted out something to him, Ritsu diverts her gaze.

"I told you it's okay, didn't I?" The guy makes his way to the door, "Okay then, thanks for your hospitality, Ritsu-san. I'm going now."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks again for your help, Isshi." Ritsu grins, waving at Isshi.

Mio puts a smile on her face, "Take care, Isshi~" With that, Isshi bows down one last time and walks out of the apartment.

On the way to the first floor, Isshi couldn't help but smile, almost reaching his ears. "Gosh, I just met him! Wow... just 'wow'..." Isshi shakes his head disbelievingly.

Bzz... Bzz... For the past twenty times, Ritsu's cell has been vibrating. When it vibrates again, she almost grabs it and throws it on the floor, but was stopped by a certain girl. "Doing that wouldn't make them stop, Ritsu."

Ritsu groans in annoyance, "I'm sorry..." She says, with a low voice, staring up worriedly at her girlfriend. "For putting you in this whole situation, I shouldn't act so careless like that..."

"And also blaming yourself wouldn't make anything better." Ritsu was taken aback at how patient her girlfriend is. It just makes her feel guiltier. Mio runs her hand down Ritsu's cheek, "You should stop treating me like my parents. I'm not a little girl anymore, Ritsu~"

Ritsu chuckles, "Yeah, you're an adult now; an adult who's scared of spiders, horror movies and barnacles, huh?" Ritsu says jokingly, even if it's hurting the other girl who is trying her best to comfort her.

"Gosh, you're so insensitive, Ritsu," Mio stands up and walks to the bedroom.

"What? Mio~~ I'm just joking ~~" Ritsu pleads as she follows Mio to the bedroom.

"Whatever, I'm taking a quick bath and then sleep. You... I don't care what you're gonna do tonight..." She finishes with a groan.

Ritsu raises an eyebrow at that. Does she really mean it? Come to think of it... Slowly she takes her towel and walks in the bathroom, following the other girl. It's kind of weird that Mio didn't lock it in the first place, or was she already planning this ahead? Well, whatever it is, Ritsu was grateful for that.

Soon enough, Mio notices that Ritsu was inside the bathroom with her, outside the glass door. "Ritsu!" She shouts, surprisingly. "What in the world are you doing here!"

"Taking a bath?" Ritsu says absentmindedly. She smirks, raising her eyebrow at Mio's action.

"GAH! Ritsu, can't you just wait until I finish!" Mio says, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Noticing that Ritsu's gaze hasn't left her, she warns. "And stop observing me through this glass door, Ritsu!"

"It's not like this is my first time seeing you naked, Mio~" She winks at the fully naked Mio behind the glass door. "Besides, it's been months since..." Ritsu takes off the last piece of clothing on her, then slowly walks and slides the glass door. "...we did that, right?" She notices that Mio has turned to the other way, her back facing Ritsu and her eyes shut tightly. As Ritsu walks slowly towards Mio, she soothes Mio's name. When she gets quite near, she wasted no time to slowly sneak her arms around Mio's waist.

Mio shivers over Ritsu's touch, she never did this before or more likely they never did this before. Sure it was quite a long time since the first time they had sex, and she knew how badly Ritsu wanted to do it just as much as herself. But for the sake of her desire, she never thought of doing any of that inside a bathroom! She wouldn't have dreamt it. But the way Ritsu kisses her hotly on her neck, the way Ritsu's skin presses against her own, the way Ritsu whispers sweet things in her ear, everything, was just too much for her to deny.

"~" She bites her lower lip to shut her mouth from moaning when Ritsu bites her on the neck. "...R-Ritsu..." She suddenly feels weak. This is it... Another trick of her Magic to affect me... Why can't I let myself fight it? Oh right, I'm so bad at hiding it and she's so clever to figure it out. Again, Ritsu pushes her body against Mio's back while whispering in her ear. Mio couldn't really tell what it is, but she lets out a faint smile whenever Ritsu does that.

Ritsu hears a little moan escaping from Mio's mouth, she smirks upon hearing it. Looks like someone just got turned on, huh? Finally, Ritsu manages to say something without whispering. "Looks like you need to take a second bath, hm?" Normal voice, but a little bit seductive because Ritsu didn't leave Mio's neck yet.

"Ritsu... I- I don't t-think- mmhm- I don't think it's a g-good... idea..." Mio couldn't help but bite her lower lip as hard as possible, keeping her voice as normal as she could. But sadly, the other girl makes it ten times harder. Everything she does on her is a little more intense than before. Soon, something in Mio's mind clicks. She shouldn't let Ritsu dominate her just like their first time. With all her might, she turns around slowly and traps the brunette on the wall. "That's...enough, Ritsu," Mio says, panting. Ritsu hasn't made any further movement but Mio was already exhausted.

Ritsu frowns at Mio's sudden attack. She never expected herself to be pinned by Mio on the wall. "Mio... are you okay?"

"I'm... perfectly fine." With that, Mio kisses Ritsu roughly on the lips. At first, she didn't get any response from Ritsu, but then after forcing her to open her mouth, Ritsu kisses her back hungrily. I won't let you take the lead again, Ritsu.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Moments Later •••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Ritsu was still panting heavily because Mio really didn't give her any time to take a deep breath. Her legs feel so weak, and during the moment, Mio keeps her standing by holding her waist to keep her balance. "Looks like you will need my help to take a bath, hm?" Mio giggles a little as she helps Ritsu to get inside the bath tub. "So I guess we're even now"

"Even? Not even close, because I'll definitely- mhm~" Mio shuts her with her own lips. She smirks when she finds out that Ritsu's weakness was everything sexy and unexpected she does. Mio pulls back slowly, "Look who's finally found my weakness." Mio could only smile over Ritsu's words. She walks to get the shampoo. "Hey, c'mere~ I'll help you with that"

Ritsu puts the shampoo on Mio's head and slowly massages it. Mio closes her eyes, enjoying how talented Ritsu's hand is when it comes to massaging her head. "Hm... It's kind of relaxing..."

"Really? Well, I'm glad though~" Ritsu feels how smooth Mio's hair is, how beautiful it is on Mio. "Have I told you, Mio? That I love your hair..."

"No you haven't, but now I know you like it... I love yours too, especially when you don't have a headband on..." That makes Ritsu frown. "...You look cute without it, Ritsu"

And that hits the spot, Ritsu was stunned. The truth is no one ever told her she's 'cute', heck she's even shivering when Mugi said it. Unconsciously, her face heats up. She could feel the blush on her face. "T-thanks... Uh..." Mio turns around, being able to catch that blushing face.

"Oh, are you blushing, Ritsu?" Mio asks teasingly causing Ritsu to turn her head away. "Okay, it's time for me to wash you off, okay?"

"Uh... N-no, I mean... I can do it myself... Really, uhm..." Ritsu has that troubled look on her face. She's blushing yet why does she look troubled?

Mio seems to know that there's something in Ritsu's mind, "Alright then. Don't take too long, you might catch a cold." She decides to just take her towel and walk out of the bath room.

God, what's wrong with me? Was all Ritsu could think of. My head suddenly hurt... Dammit...

"You took a quite long time in there," Mio says. She's working on something using Ritsu's laptop. "Have you taken your medicine?"

"Yeah... and sorry, I was so caught up with my thoughts there." She places her palm to her forehead, then plops herself next to Mio. "Mind if I sleep on your lap, Mio?"

"But I'm-" Mio stops when she noticed how tired Ritsu was. "You know what? Come here," She lets Ritsu lay her head on Mio's lap. Maybe it's because of her Anemia, I mean she was supposed to take a rest, but there was just so much things that made her think too much. Mio looks down, realizing that Ritsu has been staring at her for a while now. "What is it?"

Ritsu shakes her head, "No, there's nothing. I'm... going to take a nap, okay?" She shrugs and let herself drift off to sleep.

"I love your hair! It's beautiful!" It's a voice, a familiar voice... wait, it's her own voice. A five-year-old Tainaka Ritsu.

"Ah! E-etto... Uhm... Y-you're cute too..." Says the other girl in front of Ritsu. "Who...are you...?" Ritsu weakly says in her sleep, making Mio frown.

"She's sweating pretty badly..." Mio whispers, wiping off some of Ritsu's sweat with tissue. "Well, must be the pills' effect"

Slowly, the brunette rubs her eyes sleepily, staring at Mio. "Why does it feel so hot?"

"It's the pills' effect, Ritsu. You better get used to it, and... Did you have a bad dream?" Mio raises an eyebrow, knowing that there must be something that made her talk in her sleep.

"Uh, no... I don't think that was a bad dream... Just- It's just some of my past memories, I guess..." There comes the silence. Ritsu keeps on trying her best to get rid of that dream. She couldn't possibly find whoever that girl is in her dream. It was a long time ago and there is just no way she could find her. Moreover, she have Mio now, there's no point in meeting that girl. "Anyway, you have assignments to do, right? I'll just-"

Mio holds Ritsu from getting up from her lap. "I don't mind. You need to take a rest, Ritsu..." With that, Ritsu lets herself drift off to sleep again.

"Thanks." Ritsu squeezes Mio's left-hand, while Mio's right-hand continues on wiping Ritsu's sweat on her forehead.

Name: Aldrich Sebastian
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Born in: 5th August, 1988
Relatives: Tainaka Ritsu (Private Agent), Mr. Tainaka (Private Agent)
Applying as: The Private Agent of Tainaka Big Company's CEO
Facts: He's an old worker. Ritsu's father really trusts him and now, he's being Ritsu's Private Agent. He still doesn't know anything about Ritsu's real gender.

A/N: Gyahahha! How evil, I skipped the lemon part! Huahahahahahaha! Well... be patient, kay? Soon, just soon enough... LOL xP

Hint: Next, maybe I'll make some surprise. By the way, 'Aldrich Sebastian' I took that name from some anime. I forgot how I had that 'Aldrich' name from. Gyahaha!