Thank you to amber83, MissKireiUchiha, Minniemiss123, Guest, LovelyStarryNight, and justachibigirlintheanimeworld for your kind words!
-o-
After getting chewed out by Gerard about missing their flight, Tora, Hinata, Kuuga, and Takumi decided to return home.
"Do you think Makoto is staying with us?" Hinata asked, finally getting over the fact that his snacks were taken away. They shrugged.
"I don't see why not," Tora responded, taking his bottled water and chugging half of it. Apparently, Takumi's idea of 'sweet-talking' Gerard didn't work out as planned. However, he did notice it helped a bit. Thought unfortunately, that bastard was addicted to betting and making unfair negotiations or deals.
Takumi made a face. "Speaking of that new band member…" he said, "he's a bit off."
He put his water half-full water bottle back into his bag, before addressing Takumi. "What do you mean? He seems fine to me," Tora argued, "except for when he did that whole forgetting his own name thing," he added, thinking back on the moment.
Takumi straightened his black tie. "Just a vibe. Not to mention the fact that he's so feminine."
Kuuga piped in. "Pretty boys are all the rage nowadays. The band right below us on the charts is full of them!" he blew a raspberry at the thought of them. "They're still not as good as us, though, of course."
They exited ID Entertainment's building, thankful that it was too late for fans to be out right now.
"I call shotgun!" Hinata exclaimed, raising his hand.
"Nobody else wanted shotgun," Kuuga muttered, purposely extending his foot to the side, causing the brunette to stumble over it.
"Why are you so mean? I'm seriously going to get you back one of these days—"
Tora and Takumi tuned out their bickering, as this wasn't an unusual occurrence, hoping they wouldn't get violent. This time, at least. God knows what happened last time Hinata arrived to a photoshoot with a bruise above his eye and a cut on his cheek. The makeup artists had went berserk but tried their best to cover it all up. Just as they were about to reach their car, a figure popped out from behind a stone pillar.
"OH JESUS," Tora gasped sharply, taking a few steps back. He placed a hand over his chest, dramatically breathing more heavily than needed. "I think I just lost ten years of my life."
Takumi watched him with a smirk, before turning back to the mysterious person. He raised an eyebrow upon realizing it was their new bandmate, Makoto.
"What are you doing here so late?" he questioned, checking his watch. She should've left with Aoi about an hour and a half ago.
"Hmm…" she groaned, scratching her head. It was apparent that she had just woken up. He watched as Misaki quickly panicked and fixed her hair, making sure it was neat. I guess he really cares about his hair. "Where is this again?"
Noting that even Makoto's voice was very feminine, he became curious about her singing skills. But he'd save that for later. "We're in front of the company," he answered, before quizzing her. "Do you remember who I am?"
She blinked a few times before nodding. "Takumi Usui."
Tora approached the two, giving Misaki a stunned look. "Woah, you're still here? What gives?"
Misaki thought about this for a moment, before scowling. "That bastard left me for some other girl."
Takumi and Tora both looked beyond shocked. The lime-haired male shoved his hands in his pockets and whistled awkwardly, while the other brushed his fingers through his locks.
Finally, Tora cleared his throat. "Uh…Are you and Aoi dating or something? And what do you mean by other girl…?"
Misaki's eyes snapped towards him. "Huh? Did I say that?" she gritted her teeth. "No, sorry. That came out wrong. He got a business call from this woman and had to pick her up instead of me because his car is a two-seater. It just slipped out, I didn't mean we were dating," she quickly explained, waving her hands in denial. Both the guys chuckled at the misunderstanding.
"What are you guys laughing about over here?" Kuuga asked, putting his arm on Takumi's shoulder. The taller blonde swiftly swept his arm away as if it were a speck of dust.
"Nothing. Come on, we're giving Makoto a ride," he responded, twirling his keychain around his finger. "I'm driving."
Misaki smiled, tagging along behind the rest of the members and climbing into the backseat with Tora and Kuuga.
-o-
"We're here!" Hinata exclaimed. "I call giving Makoto a tour!"
"Nobody else wanted to give him a tour," Kuuga joked, referring to what he said earlier that day. "Just kidding—and how about we all show him around?"
Misaki smiled. She was glad she was being accepted easily by all of them. However, she knew living with them and keeping her identity a secret would be no easy task. Especially when they all appeared to be pretty sharp. So far, at least.
Showing her the room they were in, Hinata smiled. "This is the entrance! Right there down that hallway is the living room," he pointed to their right, "down that one is the kitchen and room we use for dining," he pointed to their left, "and that hallway leads to a staircase. Upstairs is where all our bedrooms are, and if you go downstairs we have our own practice room and mini-studio."
Misaki was in awe at the description of the house. Just imagining all the possibilities, she swore she would never get bored here. It was amazing. Geez, I'm almost hoping I get to stay here for more than a month at this rate, she thought jokingly.
"It's not too much, but I'm sure you'll find it cozy," Tora shrugged nonchalantly. Misaki looked at him in disbelief.
"Not too much?! I'm pretty sure you either have a skewed perspective or you're just filthy rich," she gaped.
He laughed at her reaction. "Probably both."
Misaki slipped off her shoes, almost ready to unbutton her shirt until she realized she couldn't.
"Makoto, should I show you to your room?" Takumi asked. "It's right beside mine."
She nodded. "Yeah, let me grab my stu—" she paused, turning around to find emptiness, before sighing. "I only have my backpack for tonight…" Misaki, fingering the straps on her shoulders. "I left the rest of my luggage in Aoi's car trunk."
Kuuga frowned. "Then that means you don't have any of your stuff? Well, luckily, you have a bed upstairs, and it should have sheets, blankets, pillows—"
"That won't be necessary," Hinata chimed in. "Remember? We were going to have a slumber party to commemorate Makoto joining us!" he exclaimed happily, clapping his hands together like a kid. Misaki froze.
"Hinata, we live together. It's not a slumber party," the shorter blonde deadpanned.
"Yes, but we don't always sleep together," he reasoned. "Plus, this could be a great bonding experience for us all! What do you say, Makoto?"
She nervously rubbed the back of her neck. "S-Sleep together? Isn't that a bit uncomfortable…"
Everyone looked confused for a brief moment. "Uncomfortable? How?" Kuuga inquired, wondering for a moment if maybe Makoto was very self-conscious. She held her breath.
"Ah, I mean," she corrected herself, "you know, gotta have some good leg room! Nothing like a cramped space to ruin a night's sleep," she laughed sheepishly. Hearing a deep chuckle, she snapped her head to the corner of the room.
"You're not even five and a half feet. What leg room?" he joked. She crinkled her nose in dissatisfaction.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Misaki challenged, standing straight in an attempt to gain more height. He shook his head.
"Nothing. I said nothing."
She backed off, sighing. She really was obviously out of place, right? Even Kuuga, who was the shortest of the group, stood at around five foot six.
"So, we're having the sleepover, right?" Hinata confirmed, munching on handfuls of cheese puffs from a nearby bowl.
Finding no way to reject without arising more suspicion, she mustered up all the energy she had and forced a smile. "Yeah...it's going to be so much fun," she pretended to cheer, remembering the issue of her hair. "but first...I've got to take care of something. Please excuse me."
-o-
It took a while for her to find a bathroom (she found one upstairs across from a couple rooms), but when she did she immediately threw her backpack off, making sure the door was locked and shut, before pulling out a sharp pair of scissors.
Misaki gingerly took the scissors, staring intently at her reflection, grabbing a chunk of her hair and slowly cutting it off. She watched the clumps fall down into the trash can, almost being able to feel her head get lighter and lighter as she continued.
This wasn't exactly a huge deal for her as long hair was always a pain to take care of in the first place, and styling it wasn't something she was fond of either. She knew eventually she would've cut it, although maybe not this short. But short was fine because it'd just grow back out right?
After getting it to a desired length, she began trimming the ends to make sure everything looked okay and not too weird. Looking into the mirror, Misaki noticed she still looked like pretty girly. It surprised her that nobody figured her out yet, honestly.
Sighing, she wrapped the garbage in the plastic bag lining it, deciding to take it out to erase evidence of ever cutting her hair.
-o-
"Let me take that out for you," the brunette boy offered, holding his hand out to take the trash bag in Misaki's hands. She clutched it tighter.
"Oh, Hinata," she greeted, "there's no need for that. I can do it just fine," she insisted with a reassuring smile.
Takumi entered the room swiftly. "Did you kill someone? Are you hiding a body in there?" he asked sarcastically. Misaki scoffed, turning around and making eye contact with him.
"Is there a problem with me wanting to do things on my own?" she asked incredulously. He kept an impassive face, and she felt as if he was staring into her soul. Misaki gulped.
"Do as you please," he replied, dismissively waving his hand. She threw open the door and dashed down to the curb before anyone could question her any further.
Although, at the "sleepover" tonight, everyone would have the opportunity to ask her anything they pleased. She sighed. It was her first night here and things were already proving to be complicated.
Misaki set the garbage bag down, staring up at the sky. It wasn't too dark yet but you could already see the stars.
Please let this next month go well…
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Next chapter: the sleepover ;) this will be interesting!