Arashi Fanfic 2: "Kagami" --- Chapter 1
Title: Kagami (The Mirror)
Pairing: I’m still feeling this part out... so I’m leaving it blank for now.
Disclaimer: A fanfiction on Arashi-sama.
Rating: No idea yet for the rating, but for now, let’s leave it at PG to PG-13.
PLEASE CLICK HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE "PROLOGUE" FOR THIS FIC...
Otherwise, please continue...
Chapter 1
“2009 is going to be a difficult year. Japan has already been feeling the effects of the global financial crisis. And your company stocks have decreased in value as well.” The interviewer paused as he saw the woman seated across him nod.
“As the new head of one of Japan’s largest conglomerates, how do you plan to keep your company strong and stable despite these hard times?”
She smiled at Sakurai Sho as he posed his question just before she faced the camera. They were nearing the end of the interview and for the past few minutes, she had answered a multitude of questions, starting from her background and moving on to her analysis of current industries in Japan as well as other business related topics.
“I’m sure many are wondering what my plans are for the company, especially since we had to downsize some of our offices in Manhattan and Seattle when some of the lending firms and banks went bankrupt in the States. And we’ve also had to let go of some of our Japan projects. Expansion and diversification are very important in the survival of any business conglomerate. But we intend to concentrate our energy on what we believe Tokyo Bay Holdings can afford and can sustain despite the global economic problems. I want to reassure our stockholders that my focus will always be in continuing to make the corporation profitable. If TBH exceeds its current capabilities as dictated by our standing in the world market, more jobs will be lost and more of our smaller companies will have to close. And that is what I aim to avoid.”
She tried to be as honest as she could without scaring any of those with vested interests in the company. So that meant only admitting the negative things that others already knew.
“Also, I would like to add that I have seen firsthand the current situation of Wall Street as well as our Manhattan offices and I have confidence that TBH stock value will increase before the end of this year, gradually going up until it recovers by 2010 or 2011.”
“That sounds promising. So if we purchase your stock now, we will have more value for our money by next year? Is that what you mean?”
“Not necessarily. You purchase stock when it’s at its lowest and then sell it for a higher price, or you keep the stock and reap the dividends. But if you purchase stock for a company that eventually dies or goes bankrupt, that’s definitely money lost. Those that want to invest their money in stocks have to be very careful that they aren’t putting their money on a losing team. So when I said 'not necessarily,' what I mean is, before investing with us, you should ask yourselves if you think we will be among the losing teams in the future. And to answer that question necessitates thorough research.”
“We will certainly keep that in mind. For the last question, being the fourth generation successor of your company, how would you differentiate your leadership style from your predecessors?
“TBH was founded by my great-grandfather and in the beginning, we were mainly a fishing and export company. It was my grandfather who expanded into factory production and my father, in turn, who started our acquisitions and development projects. But throughout all these changes, we have still retained the name Tokyo Bay even though fisheries is now just one of our businesses. So actually, my family’s history shows our adaptability in the business world. And I plan to continue in this tradition. As of now, I can’t really say how different I am as a leader from all the previous TBH presidents, we each face different problems and we address them accordingly. But I would have to say that I am a more consultative type of leader. I’m the type who asks opinions even when I think I already have the right answer because it ultimately gives me a wider range of ideas to decide from. And that gives me my edge.” She ended that statement with a gentle smile.
Since this was a VTR presentation to be aired for next week’s News Zero program, Sho thanked her for her time and concluded the interview by passing along a question to his fellow news casters back at the studio. When Director-san said “cut,” she let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding.
“That was great!” She turned to see Morimoto Suzana walk towards her with a beaming smile. She was one of the marketing directors of TBH as well as their publicist. She was also her best friend.
“You seemed totally yourself in that interview, even with the serious questions you were relaxed and smiling. And it was amazing how you managed to continuously promote yourself as the young, beautiful but totally capable new CEO. A lot of other news programs were hoping that after a month since your return, you would give a press conference. But I’m glad I negotiated with News Zero to have Sakurai Sho interview you on camera instead. It gives you added exposure since he’s an idol plus, also your ex-classmate.”
The news team was busy clearing up the video equipment in one of their mini conference rooms and Sakurai Sho was deep in conversation with his manager.
Suzana continued to praise herself for her wise decision on the interview and didn’t realize that her conversation partner had already zoned out.
Was it only a month ago that she had moved from New York back to Japan? Somehow it seemed longer. She was constantly rushing just to keep up with her executives and the strain was taking its toll. She glanced at Sho and felt a part of her relax as she reminisced about their schooldays and how carefree she had been in college.
“This should help earn you a slot at Japan’s top 10 successful women of 2009. Plus that blouse looks gorgeous on you, it shows off that long graceful neck and your killer boobs.”
“Shhhh!!!” She blushed a bit before glaring at Suzana.
“Ha! I knew that would get you to at least look at me. You’ve been too busy staring at your old school crush to take notice.” Seeing the incredulous look on her friend’s face, Suzana laughed.
“No one heard me. Now, calm down. Otherwise, Sakurai-san will think you’re mad at him or something, he’s coming this way.”
She saw Sho walking towards them and was struck once again at how strong and compelling he looked wearing a suit. They had worn similar clothes back in college during formal gatherings and panel presentations. But somehow seeing him now, several years later, just made her remember exactly why she had such a thing for him back then. It was just too bad that he had always seen her as only a friend. And being a famous idol, he was just beyond her reach.
He nodded politely to Suzana and remembering her manners, she introduced them to each other. A few minutes later, Suzana went off to seek the director to check how the video interview looked and that left her with Sho.
“I’m so glad you’re back in Japan. I never really got to say goodbye when you left.”
A solemn look replaced her warm smile and Sho noticed that change.
“Ah, hai. Everything was just so sudden back then and I also needed to get away... from... things.”
Sho finally understood what had caused the change in her expression and mentally kicked himself for not remembering such a sensitive topic. But before he could say anything else, she changed the subject.
“It’s too bad we didn’t see each other at New York. I wanted to attend your premiere but then I got pretty busy that I forgot about tickets. And when I saw the lines of fans as I drove by, I knew I couldn’t get them anymore.” She laughed. “Sho-san, you’re amazing! And I felt so proud of you when I saw some of the girls carrying Arashi and Sakurai Sho posters and uchiwas. You’ve gone even beyond Japan.”
Sho felt a rush of pleasure hearing her words. So that meant she had kept track of him enough to know when he would be in New York even when they had lost contact over the years? And she had tried to attend his premiere?
“I promise to go see the movie when it screens here in Japan. It’s next month, right?”
She never made a promise that she didn’t keep. And you could always feel the sincerity when she gave her word.
Six years ago, they had both been classmates at Keio University. She had been under the Faculty of Business & Commerce while he had been under Economics. But they had both been in the same class for two subjects during the first semester of their 3rd year and that was when they had gotten to know each other. Sho’s busy schedule and indecisiveness had lost him the chance to ask her out back then. She was beautiful, intelligent, fun and totally intimidating. Not to mention that talking to women on a more romantic basis was never really Sho’s strong point.
In the end, she had become involved with one of their sempais and he had to let his feelings go.
Sho wondered if she was seeing anyone now or if she had someone special back at New York.
“Hai. March 7 to be exact. I’m definitely holding you to that promise.” Sho steeled himself from inviting her to the Japan premiere, reminding himself that she was not a fan, but the TBH President and she wouldn’t appreciate the crush of the crowd that would be sure to attend. He wanted to talk more with her but hesitated, knowing how busy she was. Still... maybe...
“Hey, are you free right now? We could have dinner while catching up.”
She had a lot of paperwork to go through but then when did she ever have no work to do? She had been working for about ten to twelve hours a day, seven days a week, for the past month just to get updated on all the current projects of the company. And now was a chance to relax and break free from all that.
“Now? Ah... Yes... sure. Where?”
“There’s this restaurant near here that I think you’ll like.”
-0-0-0-0-0-
Aiba felt like celebrating. His butai was soon to start and Jun had finally closed the deal on a new drama with TBS. The two of them had just finished a magazine interview and photo shoot and it ended with them agreeing to eat out.
Jun bumped into Aiba’s back as they were ushered into a table by one of the restaurant’s waiters.
“Ara? Jun-kun, isn’t that Sho-chan?” He whispered his explanation as to why he had stopped walking.
Jun looked at where Aiba was pointing and saw Sho dining with a woman. They could only see her profile but she seemed familiar.
“Maybe we shouldn’t eat here. Let’s go someplace else. Ne,Jun-kun?”
Jun could feel his irritation rising. He wasn’t unreasonable and he knew he shouldn’t intrude on another member’s private time, but he had been feeling pressured and challenged in preparing for his new role and the thought of eating here had somewhat relaxed him. Plus there was that special wine that was only available at this restaurant.
“Sir, you’re table is this way.” The waiter called to them.
They had been brought to the semi-private dining area of the restaurant where VIP guests ate. Since there were only a few tables in this section, they were close enough to Sho’s table for him to hear the waiter and glance their way. And as he did, so did the woman.
“Ano, Sho-san, aren’t those members of your group?”
“Yes, Aiba-kun and Matsumoto-kun.” And because it would have been impolite, Sho waved them over and introduced her to the other two, telling them she was a college classmate who had come back from New York. He had deliberately omitted her job title in favour of a more personal introduction to avoid any awkwardness.
Her smile lingered over Aiba. “You’re the one who co-hosts that animal show, right? My niece enjoys it a lot, and she’s a big fan of yours.”
Hearing this, Aiba pulled a chair and sat down beside her. He excitedly began to talk and ask her questions about her niece, totally forgetting that the suggestion to leave Sho to his privacy had come from him.
It was then that Jun remembered where he had seen her. She had been in the news for the past few weeks after it was publicly announced that she had become the new company president of TBH.
Not wanting to look like an idiot standing there, he signalled the waiter to hold their table but also pulled up a chair and sat beside Sho.
Sho looked on helplessly as his guest was monopolized by the overeager Aiba. And he could see that she was enjoying the conversation.
This guy really gets along well with everyone.
“Do you also watch Arashi shows together with your niece?”
“Oi, Aiba, I think we should be getting back to our table.”
“Go ahead and order, MatsuJun, I’ll be there in a minute.” Aiba said all that without even looking at the other man, but with eyes twinkling at her.
She laughed at Aiba’s irrepressible charm. “We’ve watched VS Arashi a few times and she’s made me listen to a few of your recent songs. And back when Sho-san and I were in college, I was quite curious and I sort of researched about the other members, too. I wanted to know if you four were also as impressive as Sho-san.”
“Eh, maji de?!” Sho wasn’t able to hide his surprised pleasure. Jun stared at him and noticed a slight blush on his neck and cheeks. Aiba was too engrossed with her to notice.
“So who’s your favorite?”
There it was, the question they always asked every fan they got to meet.
Sho leaned a bit closer.
“Uh, do I really have to choose? You’re all really good.”
“Aiba, don’t go asking those types of questions. You’re putting her on the spot. And she may not know enough about us to choose.” Jun said this politely, giving Sho’s guest a chance to escape the interrogation.
Wait... was it his imagination or did she just frown at him after he said that?
“I guess if I really had to choose, I’d have to say Ohno-san.”
Sho did an exaggerated move of collapsing on the table, rattling the dishes as he made a pitiful sound.
“Yey! Oh-chan!” Aiba patted Sho in comfort but otherwise ignored him.
“It’s because he’s really good at singing and dancing and I love his quiet and humble attitude.”
“How about me!?!” This from Sho who had semi-recovered.
“I love your sense of humor, intelligence, leadership and rap lyrics. And since coming back to Japan, I’ve never missed News Zero.” She could feel a blush creeping up and sipped from her wine glass to keep her cool. She remembered the time when she had almost confessed to Sho. And maybe this was as close as she would come to ever confessing.
“And me?!” You could tell from Aiba’s smile that he was enjoying himself, happy that he was her niece’s ichiban.
“You’re a really fun guy, so full of energy and I love the raspy quality to your voice.”
Aiba positively beamed at her. “And Nino?”
“He’s really witty and sly. And I’ve heard from my niece that he’s a really good actor. So far I’ve only seen ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’ and I could tell she was right about him because his acting really moved me.”
“And what about me?” Her smile froze on her face and she looked towards the direction of where that deep voice had come from. Jun continued to watch her, waiting for her answer.
“Hai, hai! How about Jun-kun?” Aiba also moved to look at him before facing her again.
She bit the left side of her lip as she thought the question over.
“Um, my niece said you've starred in dramas and you were really good in them. And she likes your sense of style matched with your seriousness.”
“And you? What do you think?” Jun didn’t know why, but although he sensed this woman’s dislike, he still wanted to know what she really thought of him. It was weird but somehow this woman’s opinion of him mattered.
“Ano...” She didn’t know what to say. She felt that he had only one thing to offer to Arashi but to blurt it out would have been impolite. But still, after she had partially answered his question, other people would have let the topic move on, which just proved to her how self-absorbed this guy really was.
Throwing caution to the winds, she answered him honestly. After all, it’s not like their paths would ever cross again.
“Well, you... um... have a very strong and striking face.”
The three men gazed at her. Speechless.
And just like a comedic skit, Aiba and Sho turned their heads simultaneously towards Jun. Seeing the incredulous expression on his face, Sho snickered. Aiba snorted.
Then the both of them let loose such a deep round of laughter that had the other restaurant patrons staring at them in amazement.
-0-0-0-0-0-
To be continued in next chapter...
-0-0-0-0-0-
AUTHOR’S NOTES:
I would just like to inform those who read my first Arashi fic entitled, “MatsuJun-sama?” that I’ve changed how to access any NC-17 chapters that I’ve written, or will write. They will now be made available at MediaFire. I’m sorry that some of you had to join LJ in order to get access... (Gomen to some of the Aibakaland peeps... but you guys can join the same communities I did and also get access to translations and subs...) At first, I wanted to keep all the commenting and feedback for these kinds of chapters at Livejournal since I can’t post them at Aibakaland and so that I could easily monitor who I gave access to. But this backfired on me because I ended up adding too many people and my friends page became too unmanageable. So now, you can either have an LJ account or an Aibakaland one to access it then just send me a private message thru either account to request access so that I know where to send the link. And please put under your subject: “NC-17 access request = Title of Fic.” Please do not forget to state you’re age, and your promise not to spread this chapter to anyone or post it anywhere.
Thanks to
hinamorisohma18 for her suggestion on this problem of mine.
Anyway, I hereby open the floor to all your comments for my 2nd fic...
Arigatou for reading!
-0-0-0-0-0-