(revised) This Faltering Heart - Chapter 1/?
Title: This Faltering Heart
Chapters: 1/?
Author: Daydreamer852
Genre: Romance, angst, comedy
Warnings: Language, sensuality/sexuality, slight violence
Rating: PG-13 to NC-17
Pairings/Characters: Shou/ Hitomi - Aoi/Hitomi
Disclaimer: I own no one except Hitomi and whoever else my crazy nugget thinks up.
Synopsis: Angela Hitomi Amendola was born to her Italian/Canadian father and British/Japanese mother in England but is a student at Tokyo University. She was a regular 24 year old girl, working a regular job as an assistant to a major photography company. That's when she saw them him. Whoever they were. The more time she spent with them, the less miserable her life became.
"And sometimes...I wish we never met."
Comments: Complete quotes in italics means they're in English.
~~~~~~~~
"Hitomi!"
The girl winced harshly when her name was being screamed across the room. She honestly didn't like her bitch of a boss, Ayumi-san. Always demanding something new before what she had previously ordered could be finished. The doe eyed brunette sighed and continued to heave the heavy equipment, consisting of props and the like, to where the phootshooting was going to take place. Being a mere assistant sucked. Like really sucked. The pay wasn't even that great. In fact, the only eventful thing about this job was the fact that she got to see alot of J-Rockers. Once everything was in place, she found her way to Ayumi-san's side.
"My God, could you be any slower? Listen, the gentlemen from Alice Nine will be here soon and everything must be set up before then. Do you seriously want to make them wait?!"
"No, ma'am, Ayumi-san."
"Then work faster, please."
With that Ayumi, walked away, the devil's heels clicking against the hardwood floor in order to bark off orders to some other poor soul.
Yeesh, that woman's got a stick up her ass. But I can't believe Alice Nine is coming! Maybe I'll get to meet Shou or Saga even! She thought, a broad smile on her face.
Hitomi honestly didn't know much about Alice Nine. She was always buried too deep in her school books and her work to concern herself with the mainstream media that buzzed through Japan. But obviously these guys were popular, they made good music and their looks weren't bad either. The same went for any other band that flowed in and out of this studio. Hitomi sighed yet again and went back to work on whatever needed to be done. Help with the lights. Getting extra film. Setting up the scenes. Using her slender fingers to reach in tight places because some wanker dropped an important cable in an unbelievably small area. This is what she did, day in and day out. She dared not to talk to any band members that came through. She just presented them with coffee and went on her merry. She was as unimportant as the dust bunnies that occupied a useless corner.
~~~~~
The members finally arrived and did their usual stoic poses. Hitomi leaned back against a table and crossed her arms, watching the scene before her. She had to admit, up close and personal, they were pretty hot. Especially that one guy who was just sexy in every possible way. Damn, she was jealous of that guy. How does he not kiss the mirror in the mornings? Hell, he probably did. They could easily pass as women that was for sure....but hey, what J-Rocker couldn't? It had been about an hour and they were finally done with the first half of the photoshoot, everyone seemed happy...almost everyone.
"Part-timer! We need some coffee, please."
Hitomi sighed and hung her head.
Without fail someone had barked an order.
"Coming up!"
She turned towards the table and proceeded to prepare the regular coffee everyone loved so much. If anyone noticed anything of her, it was her coffee. It was funny though. She abhored coffee. The smell, the taste. It was too much. She wouldn't last long in a Starbucks. Her mind soon began to wander. How was it that everyone besides her could be so normal and not worry so much. Just stand and idly talk? Her doe eyes looked up momentarily and watched the other staff chatting away merrily. She was jealous of them for sure. She always was a little bit introverted. Afraid to commit to any friendship for the fear of losing it. As she chided herself for being such a meek freak, she turned and pretty much crashed into someone, getting her coffee all over them.
"Damnit!"
"I'm sooo sorry!"
Hitomi snagged a towel and began wiping the coffee off this stranger's cloths.
"I wasn't paying attention. I'm sorry."
She bowed several times and continued the cleaning.
"It's okay, really."
Came the stranger's response, clearly a male.
He grabbed Hitomi's hands to have her stop wiping at his shirt so furiously. It was not going to get any cleaner and if she rubbed any harder there wouldn't be much of a shirt left. That's when she looked up, eyes wide. She had obviously bumped into one of the band members. The vocalist, Shou.
She smiled a bit and stammered a bit, removing her hands from his like she had been touched by fire.
"Y-yeah. I am so fired."
And as if on cue, the universe tested her luck.
"HITOMI!"
Hitomi sucked wind and winced. A habit. Yep, she was fired. Ayumi came up to the pair in a flash, took one look at the coffee stained shirt, and promptly smacked Hitomi across the back of her head.
"Stupid girl! Look what you did to Shou-san's shirt! Apologize immediately!"
Shou then jumped in to save the girl any more misery Ayumi-san provided.
"It's okay. It was my fault. I wasn't paying attention."
Ayumi sighed and flailed her arms in the air very dramatic like.
"Well, now we're gonna have to get you into a new shirt. Like I don't have enough problems as it is."
She glared at Hitomi before walking off to go find another shirt that would substitute properly with the rest of the attire.
Shou raised his brows and turned back to Hitomi.
"Not a very kind woman is she?"
"What?...Oh yeah. Heh. What gave it away?"
Hitomi retorted, rubbing the back of her head. That woman hit bloody hard.
"Honestly, you shouldn't have saved my ass."
Shou chuckled a bit. He felt sorry for her.
"It's Hitomi, right? I'm Shou. And I felt compelled."
Hitomi smirked a bit and looked away. She felt nervous around him, yet relaxed at the same time. What was up with that? She was usually rather nonchalant around males. His eyes were pretty big and it was hard not to stare into them for all eternity. Then there was those plush, casanova lips. Hey, that kind of reminded her of Uhura...or was it Uruha? (Only funny if you're a Trekkie. XD) She didn't notice how incredibly adorable this guy was from far off, but now that he was practically invading her personal space a bit...the details soaked through.
"Hey, guys! Come meet, Hitomi."
He called to his other mates. Which got another wide eyed response from Hitomi. The last thing she wanted to do was 'meet the guys' as it were. But it was too late. Before she could say or do anything, the other band members were there.
"Hi, I'm Hitomi Amendola. Nice to meet you." She immediately bowed. She quickly tried looking for an out. She knew she was crazy. She was trying to get away from the famous, hot guys while every other girl in Japan was wanting to jump them.
"Wow, so formal."
A dark haired man replied. He was obviously of mixed heritage. American perhaps. And he looked serious. Too serious for Hitomi's liking.
"Well, she's probably just nervous, Tora."
Another retorted. This one was beyond cute. He had those ever-so-pinchable-cheeks. He actually looked like a giant teddy bear. This one she might like the most.
"I'm Nao."
He stuck his hand out and shook Hitomi's with a stupid grin on his face.
"There's no reason for it! She's in good company."
This guy...well Hitomi would describe him as munchkin. He was shorter than the others and cute in a puppy dog kind of way, and had a nice toothy smile.
"I'm Hiroto!"
He shook her hand as well.
"And I suppose we're in good company as well."
Said the last member of the band. The overtly sexy one.
"Sexy Saga-sama's the name."
He also shook her hand before draping a careless arm around Tora's shoulder. Tora scoffed and crossed his arms.
Hitomi simply smiled and nodded and hoped to God she wouldn't act a complete jackass. She got overly nervous around beautiful people, you know sweaty, shaky palms, stammering and the sort. Not to mention it usually took her weeks to adjust to new people.
"Very nice to meet all of you, I'm sure."
She was obviously tense. She wasn't use to attention like this and it set her nerves on fire. It actually made her want to run away and hide somewhere. But all she could do was stand there and smile.
Tora sensed she was on edge and gently patted her shoulder.
"You really need a relax. Don't worry we're cool guys. How about we go out for drinks?"
He looked around at the other band members and they nodded in agreement.
Hitomi then wiggled out of Tora's slight grip and backed away from the group.
"Uh, that's a nice gesture and all. But I'm just an assistant and I have work to do, not to mention Ayumi-san will have my ass if she finds me missing."
Saga then promptly snaked his arm around Hitomi's shoulder and brought her back over to the group.
"Don't worry. We'll vouch for you. And Tora's right...you really do seem tense."
Okay, Saga, was way too close for comfort. He was pretty much all up in her personal space. Much more than Shou was. She wouldn't have mind if she knew him better, but that wasn't the case right now.
"Okay, it's settled we're going for drinks!"
Came Nao's chipper response.
Hitomi smiled and started to follow them down the corridor, slowing her pace further and further until they were all walking away without noticing her absence. With this opportunity, she turned sharply on her heel and headed back into the photoshooting room. She quickly proceeded to clean up the coffee that had spilled onto the floor. Ayumi came back a moment later and started inquiring as to where Alice Nine had gone off to.
"Drinks." Hitomi responded, finishing up the cleaning.
"Well head on to the other studio. They're doing The GazettE over there and they need some extra help. You volunteered."
Hitomi was going to protest but decided not to. She really did need the money but she was also going to be late for her real job if she took on assisting the other studio. But on another plus side, it was The GazettE. She liked them more than Alice Nine and this would be her first time being in their vicinity. So without much hesitation she quickly left and made her way to them. It was about three blocks away and she was in no mood for traffic at this hour. So she simply ran all the way there, hardly out of breath when she reached her destination. She was very active, and very tomboyish. In fact her attire could speak volumes. She wore dark blue jeans, a black tank top with red letters that said 'Rock out till you fall out', and tennis shoes. A black camo watch was on her right wrist with skull and crossbone design. She had seven piercings (two in each ear, belly button, tounge, nose-non ring) and three tattoos (one on her left shoulder blade, one on her left torso and another on her right wrist). A simple dragon necklace adorned her neck in choker style and she wore three rings. Her hair was pinned up and her bangs were swept to one side. She looked like a rather fashionable punk. But underneath the clothes, she was rather man-ish right down to the way she talked and carried herself. Even the way she walked wasn't feminine. And no one was the wiser to her being a model. That was what she considered her real job.
~~~~~
"Ah, part-timer, can you set this light up over there please?" The photographer asked. At least he said please. Hitomi nodded and went lugging the light over to the designated area. She set up the light in no time, having way too much experience with this kind of thing. She could hear heavy footsteps coming down the stairs toward the shooting set. She sighed and shook her head wondering who could possibly make such a racket. She turned sharply on her heel and akimboed staring at whoever the footsteps belonged to. Her eyes widened and her arms immediately dropped. There were the members of GazettE smiling, or at smirking, not four feet from her as they filed in. She quickly spotted her favorite one and bashfully bit her lip. Ruki kind of looked at her expectantly and Hitomi just pointed to the photographer without saying a word. Once they were corralled around the guy in charge, Hitomi remembered to breathe again. A smile crept across her face as her heart rate shot up. She glanced around and also remembered she was in the company of others. Her giddiness suddenly fled and she went about acting like she didn't care.