Arashi Fanfic 2: "Kagami" --- Chapter 2
Author’s Notes:
Arigatou for all those who have left comments at my LJ account. And Mishi, thanks for commenting in both Aibakaland and LJ, hehehehe, I’m still remembering the conversation we were having over that… LOL…
Something random about me… been busy with work, and I’ve been lacking energy lately, so that’s a bad combination… Why have I lost energy? It’s because I haven’t eaten a single grain of rice since March 3. And I only lost 1 kilo! LOL… Still that’s better than nothing. I don’t have time to exercise and I gotta shape up to prepare for a summer outing by end of May. So no to the food staple of Filipinos worldwide! Say no to rice!!! (This is my current campaign slogan, hehehe)
Anyways, people have asked me whether this fic is Jun-centric… well, I don’t really know. I’ll just continue to write this in 3rd person POV and leave the plot to unfold itself… and when I say unfold, I mean that I still don’t have a clear cut pairing in my head. I’m not being secretive about this. I literally don’t know… hehehehe… gomen…
Title: Kagami (The Mirror)
Summary: A young woman comes back to Japan to take over the family business, and in the process, she meets the man she’s meant to be with. But is she smart enough to figure out which one he is?
Disclaimer: A fanfiction on Arashi-sama.
Rating: PG to PG-13 (just in case).
IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER/S, PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK TO TAKE YOU TO THE MAIN PAGE...
Chapter 2:
“Tell me you didn’t!”
“I did.”
“But you do know he hates being told that, right?”
“It’s pretty obvious that someone like him would. Besides, Sho-san told me about that after we left the restaurant.”
“But, what did he do? Did he turn Do-S on you?”
“Eh? Do-S?”
“I mean did he get mad? Turn scary? Storm out?” Suzana brought a tray of hot tea and placed it on the living room table. Her friend had left earlier with Sakurai Sho after the interview and she had waited eagerly to hear the details of their supposed ‘date.’
“Uh, just the first and the second. And I don’t think ‘storm out’ is the description I would choose. He went to his table with Aiba-san.”
The two of them were in the process of boxing up things accumulated in the past three weeks while she had been living with Suzana. Most of them were company files and reports she had brought back to review. She had left her parents house after just a few days of living there and had stayed temporarily at Suzana’s apartment, using the extra bedroom. But now she was moving to her own apartment.
“How scary was he exactly?”
Suzana waited until her friend looked at her. It seemed like most of the time, that’s what she did -- just waiting for when that busy head finally got around to concentrating on something else besides work.
“Hmmm? Oh, he had this look like if we were alone, he’d happily start squeezing my throat until he crushed it with his bare hands. That kind of scary.” She smirked, ignoring the shocked look of her friend over her apparent happiness at having angered Matsumoto.
She unrolled a bit of packaging tape, bit into the edge and tugged it with her fingers, tearing it faster with her teeth than any scissor would have done. Suzana saw her finish sealing the top of the box and flopped down beside her, momentarily distracted from their conversation at seeing the continued packing.
“You know you don’t really have to move tomorrow. You could stay here as long as you like, unless you don’t like staying here, that is.” Suzana’s face grew pensive and made her forget the original topic altogether.
“Of course I like living here with you. I’ve missed you a lot and we haven’t really been able to hang out like we used to. But I really can’t stay here, it’s not good press for the new president to be living like she can’t afford her own place. Either I live by myself, or I go back and stay with Father. And you know how that is.”
Suzana knew part of the story between her friend’s estrangement with her father. But she had been too polite to ask about the details. It was the one thing that her friend never really spoke about and that meant it was off limits from prying and delving, which also meant she couldn’t help. Suzana didn’t realize her melancholy mood until her friend set the box aside and returned the conversation back to the original topic.
“You should have seen his face. His jaw tightened like he was restraining from hitting me or Aiba-san or even Sho-san. And when he looked at me, I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise.” She looked up at Suzana and noticed that the other was no longer thinking about what was worrying her earlier.
“Kowai! So… did he?”
“Did he what?”
“Did he hit anything or anyone?”
“Iie.”
“You mean MatsuJun didn’t do or say anything?”
“Well, I could see that he wanted to but I think he opted to look and act cool and unfazed in a public place rather than show that he had been affected in anyway. Typical.”
“Why does it sound like you already have him all figured out?”
“What’s to figure out? He knows that everyone responds first to his looks, and if there’s any talent hidden behind those thick eyebrows, he knows how to market it together with his face.”
“You’re such a pessimist.”
“And you are such a fan. Don’t think I haven’t noticed all those Ninomiya and Arashi posters in your room. Not to mention you setting up that whole News Zero interview.”
“Okay, okay. Fine. I used you to get close to Arashi-sama. I admit it. And I did have such a huge obsession before over everything about Sho so I wanted him to interview you. Besides, it seems like it was me who did you the favor, not the other way around.”
She ignored Suzana’s knowing grin. “Sayako tells me you’re a roaming fan. She told me you started with Matsumoto, then moved on to the others with Ninomiya-san as your latest ichiban.”
“They’re just all so interesting. I can’t really say I have a favorite because I like them all. And speaking of favorite, have you seen your ichiban’s new drama?”
She shook her head to say no and watched Suzana stand up to put her recorded video of Uta no Oniisan, episode 1 into the player. As she waited for the other woman to find the remote, she leaned back and stretched, remembering with great satisfaction the effort it took Matsumoto not to say anything. She was almost laughing to herself when she heard her cell phone’s message tone.
And to her immense pleasure, it was Sakurai Sho asking her if she wanted to join him for a mini reunion of their college friends. It was pretty considerate of him to ask her when she was free, rather than giving her the date.
She felt like squealing in happiness but restrained herself from such a girlish impulse. Instead, she continued grinning like an idiot as she did a mental note of her schedule and rearranged meetings and deadlines in her head to make room to meet with him.
And Suzana, totally absorbed in re-watching Ohno’s drama, didn’t notice the bubbly mood her friend was in as she sat down once again and pressed ‘play.’
-0-0-0-0-0-
Sho’s grin widened as he put his cell phone away. She had replied with a yes to his invitation and had asked that it be on Saturday next week. He felt the sudden urge to make whooping noises. But luckily Aiba was already doing enough of that for the both of them.
“You should have been there last night, Nino-chan! MatsuJun was so mad and he couldn’t do anything about it. It was so funny!”
“How funny?”
Aiba attempted an impression of Jun with his angry restrained look, but being Aiba, he couldn’t pull it off without looking silly and cute at the same time.
Trust Aiba to say or do something tactless and remain oblivious.
Nino could tell that Jun was gathering storm clouds in his corner of their resting room. He smirked at the other man just to goad him further and enjoyed watching as it completely escaped Aiba’s notice that Jun had switched part of his anger to a more accessible target.
Aiba made the mistake of getting close to striking distance and ended up with a smack to the back of his head.
“Itai!”
“Of course I had to be nice, baka… That was the new president of Tokyo Bay Holdings. I’m not about to antagonize a future sponsor.”
“Eh? Uso! She’s the president?” Jun sighed at Aiba’s ignorance.
Hearing this, Nino perked up. “You mean you got your ass handed down to you by a corporate sponsor?”
Nino had meant it as a joke, but Jun gritted his teeth as he remembered the sparkle in her eyes just before she said what she did. Trust Nino to be a wise-ass.
Sho rose in her defense. “It was a compliment. After Jun excused himself and dragged Aiba to their table, she told me that she had always noticed MatsuJun among our photos because he had the most striking looks. She was just being honest.”
“And rude. She could have phrased it better.” Jun said this knowing how Sho despised any breach in etiquette. Besides, he knew in his gut that she had done it to be deliberately insulting.
Trust Jun to dwell on things. Sho resignedly shook his head.
“No, just honest. Besides, even though it was Aiba who asked the question, it was you who put her on the spot. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at Aiba and me, we were the ones who were laughing at you in front of someone else.” Sho looked at Jun until the younger man inclined his head and went back to the script he had originally been reading. Arashi members knew when to back down, even the more temperamental ones like Jun. It was something they had developed over years of working together. And although Jun heard the reprimand among Sho’s words, he also heard the apology over his and Aiba’s laughter.
“Gomen ne, Jun-kun. It’s been such a long standing joke among us that we forgot.” Aiba was looking all remorseful when earlier he had still been laughing.
Trust Sho to bring everyone on the same page. “Is TBH the new sponsor of your drama?”
Everyone turned to face Ohno. It happened sometimes that Ohno would remain quiet for so long that any words he said would come as a shock to the entire group.
Trust Oh-chan to calmly change the mood.
“Yeah, Jun-kun, is she really one of your sponsors?” Aiba asked this excitedly, taking his cue from Ohno.
Everyone was looking at him and somehow he was no longer as pissed off as before.
“Uh, no. At least not yet. But I think the other sponsors do business with TBH or rather TBH owns part of their company so it wouldn’t do well to antagonize that person.”
“I like Kaichou-san. She’s really pretty and she seems like the type of person who would succeed at anything she sets her mind to.”
“Eh? Kaichou-san?” Jun supposed he should get used to Aiba’s nickname-giving tendencies.
“Hontou? Then it’s surprising that Sho-chan became one of her college friends, ne?”
“Oi, Nino, why is it surprising that she and I became friends? That’s like saying that I’m her exact opposite in succeeding at things.”
Everyone looked at Sho this time. And the laughter that erupted from the room all meant the same thing. It was Sho’s turn on the hot seat, and no matter his other achievements, in Arashi, Sho equals fail.
-0-0-0-0-0-
It was around 10pm when Jun got back to his apartment.
The taping for Arashi no Shukudai-kun took longer than expected and they ended up having a briefing over their TV Show appearances to promote their new single.
Jun entered the lobby, and was about to press the elevator button to his floor when he felt someone staring at him. Turning around, he saw a girl ogling him. Her mouth was open and she dropped the plastic bag containing groceries that she carried with her. She wore a middle school uniform and her other hand gripped what looked to be an overnight bag.
He entered the elevator and just as it was about to close, she stuck her hand in to block the doors and entered as well.
Jun pressed the number to his floor and continued to feel the girl’s stare.
“Um… excuse me, but are you Matsumoto Jun?”
“Hai.” The elevator began its ascent.
“I’m a huge Arashi fan.”
“I gathered as much.” Jun said as he leaned back in the elevator, feeling more relaxed and smiling more at the girl. “You go to any of our concerts?”
“Not yet, I’m not allowed to be without adult supervision until I’m in high school.”
Jun raised his eyebrows at this.
“That doesn’t explain why you’re alone right now. Just how old are you anyway?”
By the time he asked that question, they had already reached the top floor where Jun’s apartment was. He stepped off the elevator and wasn’t surprised that the girl did the same. She probably forgot to get off on her floor.
“I’m thirteen. My Mother brought me to the lobby, she doesn’t think I can get into too much trouble from there to the penthouse floor.”
“This is the penthouse floor.”
“I know. Kaa-san says there are only 6 apartments here from the usual 12 per floor.”
“So where is your mother?”
“Oh, she had to leave for a charity thing, she’ll be back in a day or so. Meanwhile, I’m staying here.”
She walked towards the doors of apartments, looking at the numbers until she finally stood in front of the one she meant.
Jun stood with the girl in front of Apartment 15-D, which was directly beside his. And feeling somewhat curious, waited with her as she pressed the doorbell.
As the door opened, he was totally unprepared for the face that greeted the child.
“Sayako-chan!” The girl was subjected to a bear hug that she squirmed against as Jun looked on in surprise.
“Ba-chan, I want to introduce you to one of your neighbors. I met him in the elevator.”
Straightening up, Jun's new neighbor looked sideways and then felt her smile freeze on her face.
“His name is…”
“Matsumoto Jun.”
-0-0-0-0-0-
To be continued in the next chapter...
-0-0-0-0-0-
Author’s Notes:
Okay, there you have it… Chapter 2…
When I decided on the setting for some scenes of this fic, I went online and researched about what MatsuJun’s apartment would look like. Turns out it’s a “mansion” or the Japanese equivalent of a luxury apartment.
You can go here and here to read where I got this info.
I'm still laying the groundwork for the story... And this chapter is sort of like an intro to Arashi in the fic...
Thanks again for reading, Minna-san… and comments are greatly appreciated...
-0-0-0-0-0-