Hidden Beauty
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Basket Twenty-Eight: A Day with a Model
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The next morning, Kuroi woke up on the good side of the bed (if there really was one). She blinked slowly, still half asleep, and grinned suddenly. For some reason, she felt so... free.
Free from Kira.
She sat up, and gave her room a stare, before spotting a small paper on her desk. With a quick glance to her clock, reading the time as 10:51 A.M., Kuroi got up lazily. She took her wig off, before reaching for the note to inspect it. She read it, and immediately noticed that it was Kise's number, from a while back.
Kuroi remembered what Kise had said a couple days ago, about visiting his work place with him, and Kuroi smirked. Since she was free from Kira, she could actually go.
The black haired girl reached for her cellphone, dialing her blond team mate's number, and held it close to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Kise-"
"Yasuhirocchi! Why are you calling me? Do you wanna go on a da-"
"Don't make me hang up, Kise." Despite the blond's attempt, she was still smiling. She heard silence, and took that as her cue to continue on. "So, you were inviting Kasamatsu and I to go to you-"
"My work! Yeah! Can you go!?"
"You don't have to shout." Kuroi huffed into the phone, resisting the urge to laugh.
"Hehe, sorry! But, can you?" Kise asked, sounding excited all of a sudden.
"Y- yeah. Also, I just wanted to say I was sorry, from before..." She knew she hadn't apologized yesterday, since the blond seemed to be nowhere near her, as practice continued on. "I thought you were mad at me." She admitted, sounding sheepish.
"I'm not mad!" Kise replied, "Sempai just had me doing other things, since we were split into different groups."
"That's right." Kuroi mused, leaning back in her chair.
Kise chuckled, letting a hum out, before speaking up again, "Oh! I was going to meet Kasamatsu-sempai at the tea house by the school, you know, the one we passed by when we went to visit Kurokocchi? My work isn't that far from there, so do you just want to meet us there?"
Kuroi nodded, but then felt like smacking herself since Kise couldn't even see her. "Uh, yeah, sure." She replied quickly.
"Okay! Be there at 12:00!"
"Today?" Kuroi raised her eyebrow.
"Yup!" Kise chimed through the line.
"A- Alright."
"Oh, Yasuhirocchi, one more thing,"
"Hm?"
"Make sure to dress as a girl!"
"E- uh- Kise!"
"Bye bye, see you soon~!"
"Oi-!" Kuroi heard the familiar beep, showing that Kise had hung up. She sighed in defeat, and put her cell back on her desk. She turned in her office chair, and faced her room. Kuroi stared at the mess she called her room, reveling in thought that she hadn't actually bothered to clean it much, as she had been so busy with school and practice.
Grumbling to herself, she stood and searched for clothing that wasn't dirty, and eventually settled with a dark grey, almost black skirt, with weird lacey-frills under the bottom. She remembered her mother had bought this for her on her last birthday. Kuroi had replied with how she wasn't the "Lolita type of girl", but wore it anyways, just to please her mother. She hadn't worn it in a while, so it would probably make her mother happy, in the least.
Accompanying the weird skirt was a tank top her father had bought her, claiming she needed more clothes, even though her closet was full of clothing. It was a purple color, with a turquoise colored heart with pale green stripes. This, also, had frills, but only on the straps.
Kuroi didn't understand her parents' choice in clothing for her, but didn't really care all that much. She pulled on a matching pair of ankle socks, and grabbed her cellphone and wallet, before pulling her unruly wig on.
'The only good thing about this skirt is that there are pockets in it.' She thought, shoving her wallet and cell inside said pockets, before she went into her bathroom to brush the knots out of her wig.
Once she was finished, she quickly left her room, and ran down the stairs. Her mother was seated on the couch, watching a TV show Kuroi didn't recognize. She turned from her position on the couch, giving her daughter a curious look.
"Mom, I'm going out!" Kuroi said, pulling her sneakers on.
"Where to?"
"My friends." Kuroi stated, giving her mother a wave of the hand, before leaving the house swiftly.
OoOoO
Kuroi had successfully made it to the school. Now, all she had to do was get to the tea shop, or whatever Kise called it. She continued forward, the school slowly disappearing from sight.
She pulled her cellphone from her pocket, deciding to check the time. "11:40..." She murmured. Depending on how far it was, which she wasn't clear on, she could probably make it on time. Picking up her pace, Kuroi quickly moved forward and rounded a corner, walked down a half-busy street. She paid no mind to the people around her, and only focused on reading the signs around her.
After a few minutes, she found a tea shop, that had the word "Chashitsu" painting in black characters. She quickly spotted a blob of girls surrounding the doors, and Kuroi was sure that was the right tea house.
She made sure to look both ways before crossing the street, before making her way towards the shop. "Excuse me," Kuroi said. None of the whispering girls moved, and Kuroi twitched. "Excuse me!" She tried again. No one seemed to recognize her existence, so Kuroi heaved a sigh, and pushed past the girls, and managed to squeeze her way into the shop.
It was easy, she was used to it.
"Yasuhirocchi!" Kuroi blinked, and searched the many tables and chairs, before spotting Kise. The blond was sitting beside a freaked out looking Kasamatsu, whose face was almost entirely red.
She walked over, and sat down. "Hey." She smiled.
"I'm glad you could make it!" Kise grinned, letting his hand drop onto the table softly. He had a cup of what appeared to be simple green tea, whereas Kasamatsu had a cup of a reddish-orange tea. Kuroi briefly wondered what flavor it was, before her attention was drawn to the black haired boy. Her eyes met his, and he quickly looked away, almost shyly.
She blinked, and looked around awkwardly. "So, uh... Can't wait for the first match in the Preliminaries. I know we'll win, and get accepted into the Interhigh!" She smirked, leaning back in her chair, making herself more comfortable.
Kise looked daze, only for a moment, before grinning in agreement. "My fangirls are everywhere." He muttered after a moment. "I feel like I can hardly do anything with seeing them everywhere I go."
"You should wear a disguise." Kuroi said, chuckling.
"Uh.. Yasuhirocchi..."
"What?"
"I don't think they like you..." Kise muttered, his eye twitching as his fangirls all glared at Kuroi through the glass of the doors and windows. Kuroi stared, before turning away disinterested.
"Not my problem."
"Thankfully the lady that runs this shop knows my mother, so she's closed it off from all those girls." Kise laughed, taking a sip of his tea.
Kuroi nodded in understanding, before shifting her gaze to Kasamatsu. "Still... afraid of girls?" She asked quietly. Kasamatsu twitched at the word "afraid", and shook his head. "No." He replied, sitting up straight in his seat, putting up a front.
Kuroi smiled, and shook her head. Silently, she slipped her hand under the table, and slowly laced her fingers with his.
She watched his expression turn into one of surprise and soon his whole face was red. Kuroi was also surprised that he didn't let go, and only let her hold his warm, clammy hand.
Kise, who didn't seem to notice, kept on talking about what he was going to do with this photo-shoot. Kuroi tried to pay attention, but she couldn't help but lose interest every so often.
After half an hour, they stood up to leave. Thankfully, the owner of the place had managed to shoo all the eager fans away, so now they were free to leave. Kuroi had taken her hand away from Kasamatsu's, and followed Kise out of the shop.
"Tada~" Kise cooed, waving his hands at the long limousine that just pulled up next to the shop.
"Baka! I thought we'd walk there!" Kasamatsu glowered at the blond, making Kise back up into the limo, almost tripping over his own two feet.
"You said it was close!" Kuroi added, hands on her hips. Just then, a familiar looking butler-dude stepped out, and Kuroi could have sworn he was the first guy from when they all went on the training camp. She blinked, watching him open the door, motioning for them to enter.
Kise stepped inside, ducking his head as he did so, and settled by the window seat. Kuroi shared a look with Kasamatsu, before going inside. She looked at the interior, amazed at the colors and small decorations. It definitely didn't look like any normal limo, not that Kuroi could complain, since she hasn't even been in a limo before, until now.
Kasamatsu got in after them, and the butler closed the door, and climbed into the driver's seat, way at the front. The engine hummed to life, and they started off towards Kise's modeling company.
As predicted, it didn't even take four minutes to pull up in the back of the company building. Kuroi rolled her eyes at Kise, who said he was too lazy to walk, as she climbed out after Kasamatsu.
"You're not allowed to be lazy, Kise." Kuroi said, fixing her skirt.
"Especially since the match is in two days."
"Speaking of which," Kuroi cut in, Kise's shoulder deflating as he was interrupted. "Is it during school?"
"Yeah."
"Awesome!" Kise erupted, grinning from ear to ear.
"Idiot, we still have to do the work we missed." Kuroi shot back, sticking her tongue out childishly. Kise went back to pouting, as he led the way inside. Suddenly, as soon as he entered, his expression changed into one full of energy, as he practically bounced on his toes as he showed them around, before making his way to his dressing room.
"Ah, Masami-san! These are my friends from school. This is Kasamatsu Yukio, and this is Yasuhiro Kuroi! Guys, this is my manager, Takahashi Masami." Kise made the introductions, motioning to each of them. His manager, Takahashi, looked up, soft alluring raspberry red eyes hidden by dark red framed glasses. She held up her finger to Kise, and quickly wrote something down before giving a soft sigh. She took her glasses off, and Kuroi had to admit that she was very pretty. "Hello, I've heard lots about you guys from Kise." She smiled, holding out her hand. Her hair was in an up do, hair carefully spun into a tight bun, giving her a professional appearance.
Kasamatsu slowly reached forward, twitching momentarily, before his hand shakily took a hold of hers. "N- nice to meet you." He stuttered out, before pulling his hand back.
"Oh-ho-ho. So you're the one who's afraid of women! Don't worry, hun, I won't bite!" Takahashi grinned, patting Kasamatsu's back with a surprising force. Kuroi chuckled, and she held her hand out.
"And let's see, you're the one wh- Holy crap!" Kuroi blinked, watching the women stare at her in shock. "Y- You're so cute!" She squealed, pulling Kuroi into a crushing hug.
Kise laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that, Yasuhirocchi... She's a bit... crazy. She finds practically every girl cute." He smiled.
Kuroi tried to pry herself from Takahashi's grasp, but the red haired woman was too strong for her. After a moment, the women let go of her. Kuroi breathed a sigh of relief, and awkwardly smiled up at the women.
"Don't listen to Kise! He's just a little brat!" Takahashi waved her hand around, fiddling with her glasses. "Oh, feel free to call me Masami."
"Masami-san." Kuroi nodded, smiling once she realized the women wouldn't attack her with any more hugs again.
"Anyway!" Masami coughed, clearing her throat. She once again looked more professional and proper, as she turned on her heel, and entered the dressing room which had "Kise" written on it in golden characters. Kise followed after, with Kasamatsu and Kuroi trailing behind him.
Kise's dressing room had shades of yellow, not to bright, around the room. He had a large black desk in the middle, against a wall, which held a large mirror as well as a bunch of knick-knacks and such.
Two other women, one with black hair and turquoise eyes and the other with lilac hair and silver eyes, stood inside. "These are my make-up artists."
"H- Hello, my name is Watanabe Rie." The purple haired women bowed her head in greeting, offering the teens a shy smile.
"I'm Hayashi Ume!" The black haired women grinned brightly, thrusting her thumb at her chest. "But you could just call me Ume! We're all family here."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Yasuhiro Kuroi." Kuroi bowed her, giving both of them a friendly smile.
"K- Kasamatsu Yukio." Kasamatsu stuttered out, his gaze kept to the floor.
"Oi, Masami! Are they here to model?" Ume asked cheerily.
"Oh, n- no. We're here to, uh, watch." Kuroi waved her hands in the air, shaking her head at the same time. Kasamatsu appeared to be too freaked out to say anything, and just settled for staying silent.
"Awh, okay. If you wanna try, just give me a call!" Ume winked, before forcefully sitting Kise down in the chair. The blond complained and whined as Ume and Rie began to do his make-up and hair.
Kasamatsu and Kuroi sat at a plush couch, which was white, with soft golden speaks. Kuroi sat there, admiring the couch, before her stomach grumbled.
She chuckled awkwardly, getting everyone's attention. "If you're hungry, there's a food cart near the studio." Masami smiled, her pen pointing to the door. "I'd take you there myself, but I just realized I'm late for a meeting." She groaned, checking her watch again. "Ume, Rie, I entrust our wonderful blond to you!"
"Y- Yes." Rie nodded, sending the red haired women a soft smile.
"Right-o!" Ume replied, saluting Masami, as the women quickly left the room. Kuroi stood, putting a hand over her stomach.
"Where am I going?" She asked, almost shyly.
"Oh, just, uh- take a right, walk all the way the hall, take another right, then take the first left, then take a right again, then go straight, and then there's a large room, with a table of food and drinks and other things, then right across from it is the place where we shoot at." Ume explained, using her hands to maneuver in the air. Kuroi blinked, clearly confused.
"A- alright." She murmured, before leaving the room. She tried to remember everything Ume had said, and turned right. She walked down to the end of the hall, reading all the names on the doors. It seemed that not only Kise worked here, as well as other young models. So far, there were only male names. She found herself wondering if any girl models modeled here. She reached the end, and took another right, proceeding down to tell she met another opening.
She paused, and looked right then left. "Was I supposed to go right? Or left?" She asked out loud, grabbing her head in frustration at not remembering. "I think left." She made up her mind, and continued to the left. As there were no other halls, she went right, and went straight.
"Finally." She sighed, reaching the room that Ume had described. It was, indeed, filled with foods of all sorts and different kinds of drinks. "This is heaven." She muttered to herself, taking an apple off a fruity looking table.
Not wanting to impose on anything, she took her apple and left, deciding to just eat a late lunch, or simply have dinner, when she got home. It all depended on how long she was going to stay here.
On her way back, she heard a sudden door slam, making her jump. She peered down a different looking hall, and saw a teenager, probably around her age, stomping towards her.
It took a moment, but the boy noticed her. He blinked, and Kuroi stared into his pumpkin colored eyes. He had apricot colored hair, which appeared almost blond in the sun, and was fairly tall. "Who're you?" He asked after a moment.
"Er... Yasuhiro Kuroi..." She answered slowly.
"Oh... Are you new here? Model or employee? I'd say, if you're a model, you're a very pretty one." He grinned wolfishly.
Kuroi faltered, and crossed her arms. "I'm not a model..." She muttered, twitching slightly.
"Ah. Then you must have fallen from the heavens. An angel rejected because of her beauty..."
"... Seriously?" Kuroi chuckled. "You, are very funny,..."
"Takeshi. Abe Takeshi." He grinned, showing his pearly white. He held his hand out, and Kuroi took it after giving a moment of debate. He pulled it close, and gently kissed her hand, before letting go.
"..." She glared at him, frowning. She put both hands behind her back, and just settled for glaring up at him. "So, Abe-kun, do you just flirt with every girl you see?"
"Only the pretty ones."
"Hmph."
"Awh, don't be like that, Kuroi-chan." Takeshi grabbed her wrist, pulling her close to him.
"I didn't say you could call me that!" She huffed out, trying to pull her hand from his grasp. "Bastard." She whispered under her breath, tugging her arm back. But to no avail, Takeshi's grip only tightened.
"So, tell me, what are you doing here, if you're not a model?"
"I'm here to visit my f-"
"Oho? Boyfriend?" He interrupted.
"No. My friend." Kuroi tensely replied, wishing to hit the guy or something. It wasn't the best idea she had, since he was clearly a model. He also had lots of money, and could possible sue her. Even the company could, if they wanted too. Kuroi didn't feel like baring any bad news to her parents.
"And who is that?" His eyes narrowed, making Kuroi twitch in anger. She stayed silent, choosing not to answer him. "Answer me." He growled out, pushing her into the wall.
She stared up into his heated orange eyes, and stuck her tongue out. "Nope." She smiled sweetly. Takeshi's grip tightened on her wrist, and a thread of fear wove its way into Kuroi's heart.
She couldn't play in the match if he broke he wrist. "Let go!" She shouted, sounding almost desperate, as she tried pulling her wrist free again.
"No." He smirked. His grip only tightened further, and Kuroi whispered out a noise of pain.
"Oi, bastard," Kuroi blinked, surprised. She turned her head, and saw Kasamatsu standing just a few feet away, glare on his face. "She said to let go." He growled.
"Oh? And who are you, her boyfriend?" Takeshi questioned, snickering. "You're way out of your league."
"As a matter of fact; yes, I am." Kasamatsu whispered. Kuroi stared in shock, wondering where the hell that had come from. Kasamatsu stepped up, and Takeshi let go slowly. Kuroi pulled her wrist close to her, grabbing it gently with her other hand. She rubbed it, and was glad that it wasn't even bruised. It still hurt, but it was only a dull thud of pain. Kasamatsu continued his advance, and Kuroi thought she should tell him to stop, seeing as he was heading straight for Takeshi.
But, he suddenly changed course, and stepped right in front of Kuroi. "E- Eh?" She stared into his bluish-grey eyes, as he softly cupped her cheek with his hand, and pulled her close to him.
'EHHHHHHH-...' Warm, chapped lips collided with hers, and she could feel her face immediately turn red, as she closed her eyes from shock of being kissed by Kasamatsu.
OoOoO
The KasaHiro is strong with this one! *shot* I guess this makes them officially un-official? Kekeke. Sorry if my logic confuses you, it's hard to explain. Lol. It makes sense in my head!
Kuroi: The way your mind works is very mysterious... and perverted.
Why, thank you! Er, I think...
Kuroi: That wasn't a compliment._.;
... I see. T.T
Kasamatsu: Kuroi's right... *flushes and stares at ground*
Hey. Don't go and defend your love! :I
Kasamatsu: *sputters while blushing, then faints*
Kuroi:...
... Well then. *awkward silence*
Kuroi: You enjoy using me, don't you?
Very much so. *sees Kuroi's glare* I mean, n- not at all... Heh... Uhm, anyways, thank you to AkibaraLatina for the idea! :D
Kuroi: So it wasn't all you... I'll let it pass, for now.
Kise: Yasuhirocchi! HOW COULD YOU BETRAY ME!?
KISE! JUST RUN AND DON'T LOOK BACK!
Kise: Eh!? *gets shoe thrown at head*
... That's the end of Kise. TuT No, jk. Lol... this is getting to out of hand, so I'm just going to stop typing... :3
~Love me or Hate me~