Hey everyone...
So, I edited some stuff with this story especially with the pairing. I just realized that I sucked royally in the grammar and I didn't know then that the tense is supposed to be past tense.
I didn't edit everything, mind you. I'm a loyal slacker so I guess you could see that in the story. I think I started in chapter 2 with the major editing...
Anyway, I've written two new chapters after a very long hiatus (sorry i didn't warn any of the guys waiting for almost a year-major problems came up in my family and school). Second year high school was hectic in Phil-Sci. At least in my third year this year, it won't be so hectic.
I'm done with promising you guys for a certain time for my update. I'm done with breaking my promises. I can't even tell you guys how sorry I am.
Since those who had been waiting for this story to update probably got sick of waiting, I'm just going to say sorry and i hope you'll forgive me. To those who had been reading my stories and making Story Alerts and some even gave a few reviews, thanks a lot. I really appreciate it.
P.S. : This note is just going to repeat from the first chap until the 22nd chapter of my story.
Chapter 10 – The number one playboy/chick-boy
"What do you want for a disguise, Tsubasa-senpai?" Sumire asked as she sipped her chicken soup.
"Oh, um…" Tsubasa mumbled as he took as sip with his own. "A bodyguard, a geeky kid, whatever you can do. Just so that I'm not recognized."
Currently, we're in the kitchen eating Filipino-style lunch (since Anna and Nonoko made it a "law" to have the breakfast and lunch the same theme with dinner). In the menu is chicken soup, an eskabeche (a fish with some sort of sauce that's super yummy), and of course, rice. We have Coca-cola for our beverages. I'm still amazed of how fast they got the recipes for these things for such a short amount of time.
"How easy…" Nonoko muttered sarcastically. "You wanna see the show or behind the scenes?"
"Show," he replied quickly and took a sip. "Man, this is good!"
"Thank you!" the Twins replied as they beamed at him.
Tsubasa-nii-sama arrived 30 minutes before lunch and boy, how chaotic the Room was. Let's have a little peek, eh?
Flashback, 11:20 am
"Okay, I'm sure this could work," Yuu said as we finished planning about the cover-up of my mistake and our butts.
"It will work," Hotaru corrected, emphasizing on the "will". She must be really sure of the plan to work.
Nonoko then shot her hand up as if she was in a classroom. "We need to inform the teachers about this and the staff. We can't risk the possibilities."
"Good point, Noko," Anna agreed while nodding her head, causing her pink, wavy hair to bounce.
"And Snowbelle?" I interjected their happy moment. "How are we supposed to return her without raising any suspicion?"
Hotaru's brows furrowed as she thought about it and looked up to my eyes. "I'll give Nogi a message to meet you—"
"In the homeroom," I interrupted. "His last hour is Chemistry, much closer to the room."
"Fine then," she muttered. "And get Snowbelle someplace where she wouldn't be found." She crossed her arms in front of her. "You're in charge of the hiding place."
I nodded at her just as a knock came to the door.
"I'll get it!" I said and left Snowbelle on the couch to run towards the door. I turned the knob and almost gasped at the person.
"Can you guys please close your eyes?" I asked as I turned back to them. "It's sorta private."
They complied and I tugged on the person's jacket sleeve and led him to the room.
"Now open."
They opened their eyes and the next second—
"SENPAI!" They yelled (except for Hotaru who only raised her eyebrow) and ran towards Tsubasa-nii-sama to hug him.
"Hey guys!" he said and grinned as they hugged his body like little kids. Yuu, of course, being a guy, only did that manly embrace (they grab their hands and bump their shoulders. That kind of embrace).
I just chuckled while covering my mouth with my hand. "Give the guy a room."
They did but they still held on to him with stupid grins.
"Whew, that was rough," Tsubasa said. "Fans came up and I had to go around the whole Tokyo to lose 'em."
"Well, at least you alive," Permy said. Hotaru walked forward and punched him straight in the gut.
"Or not," I muttered as he rubbed the sore spot.
"That's for breaking my invention," Hotaru said darkly and he just chuckled while straightening up.
"You can't forgive easily, huh?" he teased. She only smirked.
He patted them—Permy, Anna, Nonoko and Yuu—on their heads and looked around the Room.
He whistled. "You had a make-over?"
True, the Room did look different to him since he only came here 6 months ago. We did some painting, rearranging, and the usual works of art.
"Yeah," I replied sheepishly. "Um, aniki… we've got a problem and I think it would be best if we tell you." I glanced at the five of them, who, in fact, nodded encouragingly.
We then launched our story from Hyuuga, to the plan, and the end. He half-smiled and messed my hair.
"Well," he started. "I'm sure it's a great plan and who knows, this problem would vanish in thin air." He grinned.
"Hopefully," we chorused and he only chuckled.
"So how was Europe?" Permy asked eagerly, obviously excited for some stories.
"It was okay," he replied and sat on the couch. I sat on my place at the right while Hotaru at the left. The other three sat on the floor Indian-style. "But, I didn't get much presents for you guys 'cause I was in a hurry to get here for the concert."
"Did you meet someone?" Anna asked.
"Uh…" he hesitated. "No."
They all frowned at his answer except for me (I was rolling my eyes) and Hotaru (who just snorted).
"Why, senpai?" Yuu inquired this time.
"None of them met my taste," he replied with a shrug. "Too fancy. I'd like to be faithful to my manager."
Silence…
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Nonoko said while shaking her head. "You've got dibs on Misaki-sempai?"
"You both fight regularly," Yuu added as a reminder.
"Guess that's just a habit," aniki said. "She fights. I speak."
"Such a dork," I muttered under my breath and he bumped me on the head.
"So when are you gonna ask her out?" Permy shot.
"Hmm…" he murmured. But I already knew the answer. "Already did." Bingo.
"Really…?" Anna and Nonoko gushed. "How was it?"
"Enjoyable," he said. "Kinda reminds me how mom and dad dated."
"Oh joy," Hotaru and I muttered but we were proud of him, of course. Seeing him happy with someone he loves is something I've always wished for him. He banged us both on the heads much to our delight.
"Okay, enough about me," aniki said and smirked. "How are you doing?"
End of flashback
I ate my fish and rice as they talked about his disguise and whatnot. When I finished, I took my plate and glass and put it in the sink to let the mechanical hands wash it and dry it. Just then, Snowbelle entered the dining room/kitchen and immediately jumped in my arms.
"Who's the furball?" aniki asked.
"Remember the Snowbelle we were talking about?" I asked him back. "This is her."
Since we told him about Snowbelle and her past, he nodded as he remembered her features.
"Does she still remember me?" he asked hesitantly. Maybe she does because he was the one who saved her at the time when he was in 6th grade and we were in 2nd grade.
"Snowbelle," I said directing my statement to Snowbelle who looked at me curiously. "Do you still remember Tsubasa? The one who saved you from those bullies and from falling from the bridge to the river?"
She jumped out of my arms and padded towards aniki. She gave him a sniff first before jumping onto his lap and standing on two's to rub her face on his.
"Yeah, I knew you'd remember," aniki murmured as he scratched her head.
Just then, Com sounded over the speaker.
"Narumi Anjo, valid, please enter," Com announced and we could hear a door opening.
"Anyone here?"
"In the kitchen, Naru," Yuu shouted back.
The door opened to reveal M 'n' M in his black, leather jacket, white inner shirt, black slacks and polished, leather shoes—the image of a professional.
"Hey, Tsubasa! Long time no see, eh?" Narumi said as he saw aniki sipping his soup.
"Naru!" Tsubasa greeted back. "How ya been?" He stood up and shook hands with him.
"Same old, same old," Narumi replied. "You?"
He just shrugged and smiled at his favorite teacher.
"How's Noda-chi? Is he doing fine?" Tsubasa asked as Narumi pulled up a chair.
Narumi snorted. "He's better than fine. He's getting a girlfriend."
They both laughed and then I sighed. "How does it feel to be ignored?"
Narumi snapped his attention to us and smiled apologetically. "Sorry," he said.
"Any news?" Nonoko asked.
"Other than the fact that you have to get ready by five and get your butts in the concert," he said sarcastically and paused. "I have one."
We leaned towards him to listen more closely.
"It seems Hyuuga-san—" he began but was cut-off by me.
"Ugh, not that subject again," I groaned as I thumped my head on the table.
"Huh…?" Narumi drawled his question. "You knew that Hyuuga-san has registered in the dorms and that Dark Sky would be coming in the concert to watch it?"
"The first one, yes," Anna replied.
"The second one, no," Nonoko muttered.
"Ah…" Narumi murmured as he nodded his head and took a bowl of the chicken soup. "Okay, first things first: How did you know that Hyuuga-san's registered?"
We retold him the story of how it happened and included the plan. Of course, he agreed to the plan and promised to tell the teachers about it.
"How long do you plan to keep this up?" He asked.
"As long as they stop sniffing our asses," Hotaru replied darkly and I flinched at her word and other meaning. Okay, I'm not green but my mind does this thing that makes other meaning outta words. Kinda like denotation and connotation in English class.
"You sure you don't mean it the other way?" Permy asked my question out loud and gained a glare. "I thought so."
They finished their meal and put all the plates in the sink to wash and dry.
"Okay, get dressed up first and then Tsubasa," Narumi ordered. "We need the time to fix him up since he's so noticeable in any way."
We hurried towards the dressing rooms and quickly changed into our desired clothing. I changed into my high-cut, black and white shoes, white cargo pants, my white t-shirt with sleeves that reached the elbow loosely, and black, sleeveless hoodie. I tied my hair into a tight, one-sided ponytail and kept the silver cross that hang below the hollow of my neck. I checked the others.
Hotaru was wearing the opposite of mine. If you try to picture it, everything is the opposite (I meant the clothes). Sumire was wearing a low-cut black and white Converse, black pants that reach the mid-leg, white t-shirt, and black, fingerless gloves. She just tied her hair into a loose ponytail. Anna and Nonoko, being twins, wore the same thing: black and white army pants that reach mid-leg, white t-shirts, and over it was a black, button-down, sleeveless shirt. Anna had her hair in a low ponytail while Nonoko had hers in a low one-sided ponytail.
We nodded to each other and got out of the room. We saw Yuu getting out of the men's dressing room and saw that he wore a loose, black t-shirt (but we could still see his muscular chest), black, baggy pants, and black shoes. Everything he wore seems to be all black except for his cool-looking glasses with rims of white and his silver necklace. His hair was combed with the front spiky but flat at the back.
"Looking good, guys," Tsubasa commented as he stood up with Snowbelle in his arms.
"Get used to it," Narumi replied and turned to Permy, Nonoko, and Anna. "Can you get him ready?"
They looked at each other and grinned from ear to ear. "In a snap."
They towed Tsubasa (who let go of Snowbelle who luckily landed on four feet) towards the men's dressing room and silence came.
Snowbelle ran up to my arms and let my hand caress her head.
"Hopefully, he doesn't die," Yuu muttered as he sat on the cushion-chair comfortably. "Last time I did, I almost suffocated."
"You have no idea," Hotaru mumbled as she rested prone on the couch.
I sighed and sat on the loveseat. "She's right."
We were just resting there (Narumi was just watching the star news for updates of any problems that may occur during the concert) for an hour or so when a door opened. We turned to look for the source and saw Permy, Anna, and Nonoko coming out first… then Tsubasa came out.
"What did you do to him?" I shouted… in amusement.
He was wearing some rubber shoes, baggy jeans, sleeveless white shirt with black, sleeveless, no-button jacket over it, and a blue trucker's hat with a print of "Your respect is worth $1" on the front and "Mine is a million" at the back. In addition, he has a black star mark on his left cheek which I'm sure is henna tattoo.
"You don't look like the brother I know!" I continued my comment. They just grinned proudly and Tsubasa scratched his head while laughing like he was embarrassed.
"These girls were beasts!" Tsubasa exclaimed. "I didn't know someone could work that fast." And he shuddered.
They beamed at him and chorused a big "Thank you!" with additional hugs.
Then Narumi sniggered. "I was expecting you to reject them and make a clown outta yourself."
"I tried," Tsubasa pointed out. "But failed."
We laughed at that and in the midst of all the laughter, Narumi checked his watch.
"We still have about 3 hours before John arrives," Narumi stated. "Do you wanna be early or just hang around here?"
We looked at one another and I looked at Snowbelle.
"I think it would be best to be early so as to not to slip up," I replied for all of them. "Also, you must promise to keep Snowbelle in your arms and hide her from the Dark Sky from seeing her, okay?"
"I give you my word," Narumi said and mocked a bow and flourish. He then grinned.
"Just call John and we'll pack up the necessary things, aight?" Nonoko said and all of us, including nii-sama, went to the music room to get our guitars and equipments.
I directly went to my portion of the wall and pushed the buttons Fender Stratocaster, Epiphone SG, Gibson Les Paul, and Fender DG-8S. All of them went out one by one showing off their beauty and glamour.
In each slot, there was a button with a label "Case". I pushed it and it immediately closed the cases of each in which where the guitars were in. In the cases were the necessary equipments: wires, gadgets, tuners, picks, and other stuffs. I was about to get the third guitar when an arm shot and grabbed it. I looked at the owner and saw aniki getting my fourth guitar, too.
"I figured you need help," he said and smiled at me.
"Thanks," I mumbled as I followed him out of the room towards the living room. I then returned towards the room to get my amplifiers, when Narumi's voice interrupted my step.
"Your necessary things like gadgets, amplifiers, and other things are already in the concert hall. Don't worry about bringing so much stuff," he said kindly and returned to his call.
I mouthed him my thanks and went to the dressing room to get extra clothes (the others got theirs already, I'm sure). I put them in a duffel bag and carried it towards the living and dumped it near the guitars.
I heard Narumi close his cell. "John's coming here in about 15 minutes," he reported.
Just then, Permy, Hotaru, Yuu, Anna, and Nonoko got out of the room with their guitars and other instruments.
"Great!" Permy said. "What about dinner?"
"Let's just order some when we're in the concert hall," Hotaru said. "We can't waste our time eating in some sort of restaurant."
"She's right," Yuu agreed as he nodded solemnly.
After 15 minutes, as Narumi estimated, we could hear a car honking near the trapdoor. We scurried towards the black limo with some of our luggage while John got out of the car to retrieve the remaining luggage. We put ours in the trunk while Tsubasa and Narumi, with Snowbelle in his arms, got in the car. The driver returned with the rest of the baggage when we got in the limo. He reversed the gear shift as he backed up and moved forward towards the gates towards the outside world.
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The trip was silent but comfortable. We just listened to the humming of the engine and the music playing softly through the speakers.
Finally, we have arrived in the Tokyo Concert Hall where most of Japan's most famous stars perform. We went through the back door after Narumi gave orders for our dinner. We went through a lot of halls before arriving at the dressing rooms. Hotaru and I shared a dressing room, Permy, Nonoko, and Anna shared one, and Yuu and Tsubasa shared one.
In the limo, Narumi mentioned that only 6 people were given V.I.P. tickets: Dark Sky and Tsubasa. I was thrilled and at the same time anxious about the news. I was thrilled because I could talk to Bro and anxious because what if Hyuuga notices the similarities? What if something slips up and war breaks? Hopefully not.
I put my guitars on a carrier and pushed it towards the stage with Hotaru right beside me. The stage was huge, as in, BIG HUGE! In my estimation, there's about 8,000 seats and man, how big the place is. There are amps near the edges of the stage connected to the big speakers of the concert. I connected my guitars with one amp each with long wires. My gadget was a board with pedals. I connected a double-connector to the wire slot on the gadget and connected each wire to the amps for lesser hassle. It would be very embarrassing if I don't step on the right one.
When I worked, I could see the others fixing their instruments, gadgets, and others. Anna was checking the spring for the bass drum, Yuu was testing the effects if there are any faults, Nonoko was still connecting the wires of her keyboard, Permy was tuning her bass, and Hotaru was finishing attaching the long wire to the amp for her Les Paul. Just then, aniki arrived bringing dinner.
"Dinner's up!" he said and gave us our fast food dinner. He put them down on the table near the far left of the stage and ran out to go somewhere.
I got a beef burger with light mayonnaise, some fries, and not too cold water. I sighed knowing the reason why I didn't get a soda. Since I'm singing, I'm not allowed to drink anything that's too cold or acidic because it would cost me my voice for my performance.
"Why am I part of the band?" Permy grumbled quietly but not enough for me not to hear.
"You wanna quit?" I asked. I made my voice sound hurt and a bit mad. But truth be told, I'm just mocking her.
She slurped her noodles. "Nope, I really just want a soda right now." That makes two of us.
"Isipin mo nalang, merong soda," Hotaru stated in a language very familiar but foreign to me.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Nonoko asked.
"Just think there's a soda," she replied curtly and gobbled up her, yup, you guessed it, crab brains.
I scowled at her. "What's that language?"
"You've been there 2 months ago," she muttered and took another bite at her crab brains.
It took me a second to process what she meant. "Then… how did you learn to speak their language so easily?"
Hotaru just tapped her temple and went back to eating.
I rolled my eyes and finished my fries quickly. I checked my watch. 4:43 pm. Two hours and seventeen minutes to go before show time.
"Hurry up," I said as I put my food away. "People are about to come in."
Hotaru finished first then Yuu then the Twins then Permy. We put our leftovers in a garbage bag and ran towards the dressing rooms. I got first on the sink and since my toothbrush was there, I brushed my teeth furiously. I finished and saw Hotaru take charge of the sink. I looked at the mirror and put on some powder on my face, a light pink eye shadow, and strawberry flavored lip gloss. Hotaru reached the mirror with her face and the hair above her forehead wet. She quickly wiped her face with some towel and put on some powder, purple eye shadow, and lip gloss. I took out my black bowler and put it on my wrist for style. She wore a thick, black necklace that clung to her neck and has a purple pendant below it.
I was pacing back and forth in the room when she held me on the shoulders and looked at me in the eyes.
"You're never nervous during a concert," she said as a reminder.
"I never had someone who almost knew our secret and stay in the dorms," I retorted. I never meant to be snappy at her but I couldn't help it.
She only snorted when she let me go. "Guess what? I'd like it better if they did."
I just gave her a blank look.
"You know why?" she asked rhetorically. "'Cause it's so much better if people knew who they're messing with."
I laughed at her statement and she smiled a little.
"You're right," I said as I chuckled. "Guess I could just let things be."
"Now that's the Mikan I know," she said and extended a fist.
"Yeah," I said and connected mine with her.
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"Hey, Miks!" Futon almost shouted as he hugged me tightly. "Long time no see!"
"Ca…can't…breathe…!" I choked and (thankfully) he let go and also hugged the rest (even Hotaru).
"Yo, Futon," Yuu greeted with the guy-hug (grab hand and bump shoulders. You get what I mean, right?).
"Where're the others?" Permy asked, looking behind him for any signs of the Dark Sky members.
He shrugged. "Said they'd rather stay in their seats and listen to the ladies shouting their names." He saw us raise our eyebrows. "Okay! Koko said that but the others said that they'd rather see the show." He added a half-smile.
"Uh huh," I muttered and remembered something. "Oh yeah, did Ruka lose some sorta snow-white cat?"
"Snow-white cat?" he repeated. "He said he did and, oh boy, was he a lunatic. Got us into the game of 'find the cat around the whole campus', you get what I mean?"
"Perfectly," Anna replied with a gulp. He cocked an eyebrow.
We retold him our story starting from the time when Snowbelle got in the Room until the part where we brought her with us but hidden.
He drew a deep breath and looked at us seriously.
"You do know what this means, right?" he asked as he stared. We nodded in synchronization.
"Okay, I'll go out telling them some lies and facts and act as if nothing happened but you've got to be extra careful," he said. "Those guys may look and/or act like idiots but they're cunning. They may beat the info-crap outta ya in a second."
"Which reminds me," I said suddenly as I pulled him a bit further away from my friends. "Is there anyone in your group who's a playboy or somethin' like it?"
He thought about it for a minute. "Yeah," he finally said. "There's Koko, number one, Kitsuneme, number two, and… Natsume, the worst playboy/chick-boy ever."
I could feel myself stiffen and pale. Futon looked at me worriedly.
"Hey, Miks? You okay?" he asked as he touched my forehead as if I have a fever. The others approached us.
"What happened to her?" Hotaru demanded.
Futon's brows furrowed. "I don't know. She just paled and stood like a statue."
I could see Permy's hand wave in front of me. "Hello? Earth to Mikan, we've got a concert to prepare ourselves."
Her voice seemed distant to my ears. I feel cold and numb. Why am I like this?
"I gotta go to the dressing rooms," I muttered. Hotaru started to follow me.
"No," I said. "I need some time alone." I smiled weakly at them. "I'll be fine. I won't commit suicide."
They gave me understanding looks—especially Futon—and I left them and hurried to our dressing rooms.
I opened the door quickly and almost slammed it shut. I walked shakily towards the mirror and looked at myself.
Now what would Zoey say in Marked during these kinds of situations?
"Oh no," I moaned. "It would just be my luck to get a raging case of diarrhea."
That's it.