[FIC] Another Cinderella Story 2/2
Title: Another Cinderella Story [2/2]
Pairing: Akame.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Inspired by the fairy-tale Cinderella, Kamenashi Kazuya decides to throw a royal ball. But when everything seems to go wrong, can Kazuya still find his happily ever after?
Author's Note: Thank you, kagalisenzumen for reminding me I need to finish this fic though it took me forever to post it. (〃^∇^)♥ I'm still trying to escape from my evil writer's block, but I figured I'd write to fight it away? Based on Promises, Prom-misses from Sonny with a Chance. I love Disney Channel! ♥
The very moment Kazuya stepped foot onto the school campus the next morning, fellow students thanked him right and left for throwing such a grand party. Apparently, most of the students remained at the ballroom even after he had left ten past twelve. Many of the guys in the classroom were sleeping on their tables, trying to catch some sleep before their lecture started. Girls chattered even more animatedly from having so much coffee in the morning, and gossiped as usual. But today, their continuous topic of conversation was about the mysterious couple. In their separate little clichés, the girls sat at the table and some on the desks, guessing who the gorgeous girl was and rambling about how handsome the masked gentleman was.
“He was almost as big of a heartthrob as Akanishi-sama!”
If everyone didn’t know that Jin was uninvited to the ball, the general consensus would have been that the masked gentleman had to be Akanishi himself. Whereas the girls had no idea as to whom the mysterious girl could possibly be. The three most popular girls in their school had black hair, being from extremely conservative families, unlike the mystery girl.
Ignoring the loud giggling and occasional squeals from the caffeine-high girls in their class, Kazuya spoke in a whisper to explain the events that had taken place the night before to his best friend, who, of course, did not show. Not that Kazuya had expected him to come to the ball, knowing how anti-social Tatsuya was.
“So let me get this straight,” Tatsuya said in a hushed voice, an eyebrow raised incredulously, “You want to find the owner of some sort of poem because he’s the possibly the man of your dreams?”
“Um, yes?” he nodded hesitantly.
“And you teased me about being a Gackt fan-boy…” Tatsuya muttered, sticking his hand out in front of Kazuya’s face as if he were asking him for money.
Without a moment’s delay, Kazuya took out the folded piece of paper and handed it to his best friend for inspection. Since Tatsuya was the student-aid for the literature teacher, Kazuya figured that he might be able to figure out who the owner of the paper was.
“This is…” Tatsuya opened his mouth partly, only to press his lips back together in thought.
Kazuya looked up at him expectantly, “Do you recognize it?”
“… No,” Tatsuya answered coolly, shaking his head side to side. Faking a borderline cheesy smile, Tatsuya returned the paper which Kazuya gently returned into the sleeve of his binder. Disappointment was written clearly on his features.
There was a vague suspicion that Tatsuya was hiding something, but Kazuya didn’t probe any further. As far as he was concerned, if Tatsuya said he knew nothing, then he knew nothing. He would never question his best friend’s intentions.
-
At Saint President’s, there were two grand pianos for the students to play on. During lunch time, students were allowed to borrow the pianos for their personal use. A white piano was placed in the music room, and the black piano was in a secluded room on the east wing of the school, both used on a first-come first-serve basis. Jin was the only exception to the rule, and he usually kicked whoever was in the room out. Teachers permitted this special privilege to the Akanishi heir because his parents were the ones who donated money for the purchase of the piano in the first place and helped with the renovations throughout the school during rough times.
“Why is it gone?” Jin panicked, storming through his music notes frantically enough to accidentally rip a page in the process. There were music scores scattered across the floor and music books spread out on the keys of the piano. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, “Where the hell did it go?”
“Maybe your not-so-secret crush has it?” a familiar voice interrupted.
“What are you talking about?” Jin growled angrily. He turned around in surprise, standing there leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed coolly was one Ueda Tatsuya. Someone he did not expect to see on a daily basis.
Tatsuya walked into the room and stood in front of the piano, touching it admiringly. “Kazuya is currently searching for the owner of a torn piece of notebook paper with the lyrics to a song titled Care. Sound familiar?” Tatsuya asked sarcastically. He had occasionally helped Jin compose the songs to his lyrics, therefore knew mostly all of the songs that Jin wrote. In fact, he was one of the few people who even knew that Akanishi Jin wrote songs. Love songs at that.
“Why would…” Jin started when a sudden realization struck him. “Pi! Damn it, I’m going to kill him!” he growled menacingly. He had caught Tomohisa snooping through his music books, though he hadn’t questioned his actions then because he figured his best friend knew better than to mess with his things. Apparently, he was wrong.
“Did you-”
“Tell him who it belonged to?” Tatsuya finished for him. “No…”
“Thank goodness,” Jin sighed in relief.
Tatsuya raised his eyebrow sharply, “The only reason I kept it a secret was because I think you should be the one to tell him who he danced with last night.”
“Ueda, you know I can’t…” Jin sighed again.
“Why is that?”
“He hates me! You know how much he hates me!”
“Only because of the way you treat him. Kazuya is sensitive, and you keep hurting him with your inconsiderate words,” Tatsuya said simply. “You’re not in pre-school, picking on the girl you like doesn’t work anymore.”
“I don’t know how else to act in front of him!”
“Act the way you did with him yesterday! He seemed to like that… a lot,” Tatsuya almost laughed at the thought that Kazuya was unknowingly crushing on Jin because of how much of a gentleman Jin was acting last night. And people thought that he was the girly one.
“He… he did?”
“Why else would Kazuya be looking for you?” Tatsuya pointed out, “Luckily for you, he thinks it’s a poem so it’ll be a while before Kazuya finds you.”
Tatsuya rolled his eyes at the dorky smile on Jin’s face as he basked in the information. Now if Kazuya could see this side of Jin, he’d be head over heels in no time. Kazuya always had a thing for creatures that were odd, creepy yet endearing in a weird sort of way.
The door slammed open with a loud bang bringing an end to their private conversation.
“Hey, Jin! When are-” Ryo called out. He paused, realizing that Jin was not alone today. “What are you doing here fish-lips?” he sneered in mock disgust.
“Don’t mind me, I was just leaving… This small room doesn’t have enough space for your huge ego,” Tatsuya retorted acidly, silently walking out of the room.
-
One day after another had passed by and before he knew it, a week had passed since the night of the ball. Kazuya rested his head against his desk with a distressed sigh. Admittedly, he was feeling slightly stressed from his unsuccessful search for his Prince Charming. He had to be a student of this school, so why was it that he couldn’t find him? Perhaps Kazuya had overlooked something, or had someone had brought students from another school?
“Any luck finding your Cinderella?” Tatsuya inquired, sitting down in his seat in front of him.
“No…” Kazuya mumbled disappointedly, “Maybe I should stop looking.”
“Why?” Tatsuya questioned. In the back of his mind, he chided Jin for not making a quicker move.
“I mean, he thinks I’m a girl…” Kazuya mumbled sadly, “Even if I find him, he wouldn’t like me.”
Personally Kazuya was a strong believer that when two people fell in love, gender didn’t matter because love could come in any shape or form. Therefore he was not averse to the thought of falling in love with another man, but it had never crossed his mind that the other may not feel the same way. The man he had danced with thought he was a girl.
“You never know until you try…” Tatsuya offered with a small shrug.
“I guess I’m just afraid that… he’ll crush my feelings,” Kazuya admitted feebly.
“If he does, then he’s not worth your time anyways!” Tatsuya comforted. He paused, wrinkles forming in between his brows in disgust. “And I can’t believe I just said that… I sound like a… a love counselor of some sort. Yuck!”
Kazuya burst out laughing at the mock disgust that Tatsuya wore on his face. Tatsuya was right. If who he was looking for couldn’t love him as is, then he wasn’t precious enough to cry over, but he won’t know until he tried. And Kazuya, for one, refused to be one of those fairy-tale princesses that just sat around waiting for a prince to come save them.
-
“Pi! Do you care to explain why a lyric from my music book is missing and conveniently lying in Kamenashi’s hands?”Jin growled angrily, glaring hard at his best friend who could only laugh sheepishly in response. He hadn’t thought that Jin would realize his lyric was gone so quickly.
“Is that what you threw down the balcony!?” Ryo shouted incredulously.
“You threw it down a balcony? What balcony?” Jin questioned sharply. “Please tell me you don’t mean the one at the ball,” he groaned loudly. So that’s what Tatsuya meant when he said Kazuya was searching for him. Ryo had interrupted their conversation before he had the chance to ask.
“I had no choice!” Tomohisa wailed. “How else is Kame-chan supposed to find his Cinderella?”
Why couldn’t Tomohisa do things less dramatically? He could have just handed him the lyrics and told Kazuya he had dropped it or something, instead of throwing it off a balcony! Tomohisa didn’t have to imitate the Cinderella concept because he was not Cinderella.
Wait, Cinderella?
“Isn’t Cinderella the girl?” Jin questioned with furrowed eyebrows. He was never one for fairy-tales, but he was sure that Cinderella was the heroine of the story.
“You could put it that way…” Ryo shrugged casually, “But she’s also the girl that ran away when the clock stuck midnight, which sounds a lot like what you did at the ball.”
“Shut it, Ryo,” Jin growled peevishly.
“You’re the one who asked!” Ryo defended with his hands in the air in mock surrender.
“Kamenashi wasn’t supposed to see those lyrics!” Jin angrily seethed.
“Why?” Tomohisa crinkled his eyebrows questioningly. “I know you wrote that song for Kame-chan!”
“What are you talking about?” Jin rebutted, lips pursed into a frown.
“Don’t act like you didn’t notice when Kame-chan was sad and depressed! But instead of trying to cheer him up like every other person on campus, you wrote stupid song lyrics!” Tomohisa yelled, throwing the pillow he had in his arms down onto the floor.
Tomohisa had caught Jin staring worriedly at Kazuya whenever they passed him in the hallway or saw him during lunch, and it honestly angered him that Jin didn’t do anything about it. Kazuya was still his childhood friend, even if they didn’t talk as much as they used to because Jin didn’t get along with him, and Kazuya was seriously depressed when his grandmother had passed away.
“They are not stupid!” Jin shouted back. Though he’d never admit it, Tomohisa was right. Those lyrics were written for Kazuya, and there were a lot of different emotions that went in to making that song. It was a damned good song.
“That‘s so not the point!” Tomohisa glared accusingly, “You were a coward, Jin! And you still are now!”
-
The cafeteria of Saint President Gakuen was always hectic and bustling with hungry students. You’d figure a school with so much investment money would provide more space than three humongous wooden tables, similar to the ones you’d see in castles, but Saint President Gakuen believed that comfort came first. Therefore their limited number of seats was lined with velvet cushioning and placed with plenty of personal space on both side, resulting in there never being enough seats for even a fourth of the student body.
Mainly the more privileged students would eat in the cafeteria, while the lower class students would settle for eating in the classroom instead. Once again, the exception was Akanishi Jin, who had one end of the table designated to him and his best friends. No one dared to take their seats, even if they didn’t show up at the cafeteria, afraid of the consequences should the trio find out.
“Where’s Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum?” Tatsuya questioned, walking over to Jin’s corner of the table. It was rare for Jin to be sitting by himself. Then again, it was rare for him to be by himself but Kazuya had gone home early today for a family-sponsored party in Paris. Apparently, the Tokyo Tower was not enough of a view for his spoiled mother. It absolutely had to be the Eiffel Tower.
“Since when do you care where Ryo is?” Jin frowned.
“I don’t but I thought I’d ask,” Tatsuya shrugged. “You know, be polite.”
“I got into a fight with Pi… I guess they’re fed up with how spineless I am,” Jin huffed, twirling pasta onto his fork. Since their argument, Tomohisa and Ryo blatantly avoided Jin. Or well, Tomohisa did and dragged Ryo away with him. He didn’t know Tomohisa could hold a grudge this long. Usually, Tomohisa completely forgot that he was mad at him by the next morning.
“That’s cold,” Tatsuya consoled. “I hate how gutless you are, but I haven’t given up on you... yet.”
“Gee, thanks,” Jin muttered sarcastically.
“I’m just saying… What can we do about it if you’re unwilling to woo him on your own?” Tatsuya pointed out. “Kazuya’s not going to magically fall in love with you, you know? You need to be the one to win over his heart first.”
“Win over his heart...” Jin mumbled, a simple frown on his lips.
“Great, here I go again,” Tatsuya said sarcastically. “I really hate this giving corny advice crap.” Then again, the faster Jin and Kazuya figure out that they have feelings for each other, the faster all this romantic crap would disappear from his mind because seriously, this was downright sickening.
-
When Kazuya returned to school after his one night stay in Paris, the students in the hallway were in utter chaos. Girls chattered animatedly and squealed in delight, some even jumping up and down in anticipation. Even the guys would not stop talking, socializing with one group and then another.
“What’s going on?” Kazuya wondered in confusion. He decided to rush over to class and find Tatsuya, intent on finding out what he had missed when he thought he heard his name being called behind him. He stopped and turned around in surprise to see Akanishi, whom he realized he hadn’t seen for a while, standing nervously behind him.
“Kamenashi,” Jin said awkwardly, “I’m… uh, throwing a ball this Sunday and-”
“I thought you said balls are boring?” Kazuya pointed out sharply, “Oh, wait… You’re doing this to get back at me for uninviting you, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not,” Jin said with a slight sigh. “I really want you to come,” he said, and pushed a vanilla envelope with a pretty black ribbon on it into Kazuya’s hand. Realizing he was still grasping Kazuya’s hand, Jin hastily let go and backed away before finally turning his back to him and walking away.
Kazuya stood there dumbfounded, watching Jin’s back disappear in the crowd. Jin sounded slightly desperate - almost as if he earnestly wanted him to come to his ball. But that wasn’t possible, was it? Jin hated him since they day they met. He looked at the envelope in his hand sadly upon remembering the fact, wondering what he could have possibly done to upset Jin.
-
Warm sunlight peeked through the half opened blinds, illuminating the spacious room decorated impeccably with rich European-style furnishing. Stealing the heavy chair in front of Kazuya’s vanity table, Tomohisa sat quietly at his childhood friend’s bedside and watched said friend sleeping peacefully in his king sized bed. He smiled adoringly at the younger man, whose sleeping face hasn’t changed one bit from the time they were still kids. Tomohisa poked playfully at the other’s soft cheek with his index finger, something they used to do a lot to each other when they were younger.
Kazuya’s perfectly plucked eyebrows furrowed, forming small creases in between. He reluctantly opened his eyes with a sleepy yawn. “Pi-chan?” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes sleepily. “What are you doing here?”
“Aunty told me to come in and wait for you here,” he explained. Since Kazuya was not good at getting up in the mornings, Tomohisa had a cup of tea with Kazuya’s mother before coming upstairs to wait for Kazuya to wake up. Some fancy new tea that she bought on her European business trip and it was absolutely delicious.
“You’re coming to the ball, right?” he asked offhandedly, once Kazuya was awake enough to sit up.
“If you mean Akanishi’s ball, no,” Kazuya said, pouting his lips in displeasure. “I have no intention of attending a ball planned merely to mock me.”
“Kame-chan,” Tomohisa said in a sugary sweet voice. “Jin may act like a big mean wolf, but he’s a harmless puppy inside. He would never truly hurt you.” If anything he beats the crap out of anyone who tries, not that Kazuya knew about this.
“How can you be so sure?” Kazuya questioned. “He hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you...” Tomohisa assured. “How could he? You’re Kame-chan! You’re witty, elegant, charming... No one could hate you.” He flashed his trademark smile, and patted his childhood friend on the head.
“Why do you want me to go to the ball so badly?” the younger accused suspiciously.
“I only want you to be happy,” Tomohisa grinned sheepishly. “You never know. You might even meet your Prince Charming there.” Kazuya smiled at how Tomohisa never changes, no matter how many years pass between them. He would always be the same protective older brother figure that had his back, and comforted him when he needed a shoulder to cry on. If Tomohisa wanted him to attend Jin’s ball, Kazuya couldn’t help but feel that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.
-
Tiptoeing on the medium-sized ladder with black and crème colored streamers in his hands, Ryo glared down at Jin. “You know, you don’t really need this place decorated,” he pointed out. Seriously! Why would Jin pay so much attention on decorating a ballroom that he only was having one dance, and only if he with if he was lucky? He swore if this room went to waste he would wring both Jin and Kazuya’s necks.
“Oh, quit your complaining!” Jin reprimanded, kicking the ladder Ryo was on lightly. Ryo let out a surprised yelp, and grasped frantically against the wall. He glared down at his best friend, wondering if he could drop one of the fake plants over his head.
“If I fall from this ladder, I’m using your fat to cushion me,” Ryo growled angrily.
Oblivious to the sparks of electricity crackling between his best friends, Tomohisa grinned at the small cupid statue in front of the huge fountain. “Ryo-chan, look, I’m a cupid!” Tomohisa said, mimicking said statue standing and posing.
The one addressed merely raised his eyebrow in skeptically. “Why are you in such a good mood?” Ryo wondered.
“I got to see Kame-chan’s sleeping face!” Tomohisa replied, grinning triumphantly. His childhood friend had a cute sleeping face kind of like a baby’s one. He wished he could show it to Jin.
“Do I even want to know?” Jin asked, arching his eyebrow suspiciously.
“I sure don’t,” Ryo replied. As if to reinforce his words, Ryo grudgingly returned to pinning the streamers on the fancy walls of the ballroom. Jin nodded in agreement and took a few steps back to micromanage and complain about how crooked Ryo was pinning everything, while Tomohisa put a sparkly party hat that Jin didn’t know he bought on the cupid statue and continued putting random rainbow colored decorations in random place.
-
Staring blankly outside his balcony window, Kazuya heaved a sigh. The sun was setting on the horizon, signaling the end of the day and the start of night time. It also meant Jin’s grand ball would be starting in approximately two hours. Scrimmaging through his gigantic walk-in closet for a decent suit to wear, Kazuya fought the unexplainable feeling of anxiety weighing on his chest. Kazuya flipped from one outfit to another, noting to himself that his closet needed to be cleaned out. Being a self-proclaimed shopaholic, there were so many things cluttered in his closet and his closet was the size of a boutique. Somehow Kazuya managed to put together a casual yet formal attire using his favorite white trench coat with light gray pinstripes, a black dress shirt, and navy blue slacks. He threw on bold silver accessories to pull his clothes together and hoped that he wouldn’t feel too out of place - the invitation did say dress casual.
His heart beat fast in anticipation from the moment he seated himself in his white limousine, and continued to restlessly tap his hand on the door the whole way to the scene of the ball. Still doubtful about Jin’s intentions, Kazuya asked his chauffeur to remain in the area in case he chose to leave early as he got out of the vehicle. Handing his personalized invitation to the gentleman standing outside, Kazuya nervously stepped through the large double doors which was opened for him.
Compared to the fancy exterior of the building, the inside of the ballroom was simple yet beautifully decorated in an old-fashioned way that reminded Kazuya of the ballroom he had seen in fairy tales. Under any other circumstances, it would have made a bright smile light up his face. However, a small frown slowly made way onto his pouty lips instead. There was no one in the room but him. Chiding himself for being such an idiot, Kazuya disappointedly lowered his gaze to the floor.
Obviously, he was deceived by Jin.
Tap, tap, tap...
The sound of a shoe’s heels scuffling on the hardwood floor could be heard, gradually getting louder and louder until the noise stopped directly in front of him.
Tightening his lips, Kazuya slowly faced up to the source of the sound only to gasp. Coming down the staircase was the gentleman that he had danced with on the night of his ball. The one that had been plaguing his mind ever since. “I’ve heard that people wait their whole night for that one unforgettable dance,” the man spoke hesitantly in the velvety voice that Kazuya adored.
The masked gentleman placed his left hand on his sophisticated decorated mask, and slowly removed it from his face slightly trembling as he did so, “I…I’m sorry it had to be me.”
“Aka… nishi?” Kazuya murmured with a tight knot in his throat.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you…” Jin apologized, dejectedly hanging his head low. He knew that Kazuya would never see him the same way, but he genuinely wanted to give it his best shot because having held Kazuya in his arms and kissed his addictive lips, Jin felt that any effort would be worth it if he could have Kazuya by his side.
He nearly jumped in surprise when a soft hand brushed against his cheek.
“Who said I’m disappointed?” Kazuya giggled softly, his eyes twinkling in mischief. At first Kazuya had been so surprised, he didn’t know how to react. But Kazuya had never felt so touched his entire life that Jin, the same Jin that he thought had hated him, had gone through so much trouble for him. Confidently wrapping his arms around Jin’s neck, he leant up for a chaste kiss on the lips. Pulling away, Kazuya smiled gently before sealing the distance between their lips once more.
“May I have this dance?” Jin courted, a little more comfortable with himself now that Kazuya had kissed him. The younger man took the hand extended to him and wrapped his arm around Jin’s shoulders. Jin wrapped his open arm protectively around Kazuya’s waist and pulled him closer, enjoying how their bodies seemed to fit together.
“Only if you promise it’s not the last.”
-
Sparkles of the disco ball shimmered over the dance floor and the crowd of students letting loose for once. Pop music played behind them, all fast paced love songs hand-picked by Akanishi Jin himself. Or rather, was forced to pick. Originally, Jin had picked out a bunch of club songs but Tomohisa threw them out dubbing them inappropriate for a school function. They repeated the steps several times, Tomohisa not keen on being suspended since him and Ryo were the ones hosting in his place, until Jin had settled for the songs chosen. Honestly, Jin could care less what played since this party was just a decoy to lure Kazuya into be alone with him. He was sure Kazuya would be wary if he was the only one invited to his ball and would never come, but doubted Kazuya was paranoid enough to compare the address given to him with the other students.
“You think Jin landed his princess?” Tomohisa asked, overlooking the ball from the second story. Ironically, the actual ball was thrown together at the last minute because Jin decided to spend most of his time decorating the fake ballroom specifically for Kazuya but not one person seemed displeased with the outcome. If anything, they seemed to be enjoying being at a party that wasn’t fancy and elegant for once.
“He better have after all the trouble we went through to set this up for him,” Ryo grumbled, never having worked so much in his whole life. He was Nishikido Ryo after all, the only son of Nishikido Enterprise. He did not work. Others did that crap for him.
“You know, now that Jin finally ended up with Kame-chan. We can start addressing this problem between you and Ueda,” Tomohisa said, grinning at the shorter man.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ryo defended.
“Don’t worry Ryo-chan, I have everything planned out for you,” the other reassured, an impish smile playing on his lips.
“Hell no, I refuse to be Cinderella for that ugly fish-lips,” Ryo refused. He shook his head furiously from side to side.
“Admit it, you like those pouty lips of his,” Tomohisa leered, elbowing Ryo on his side suggestively.
“You’re out of your freaking mind!” Ryo retorted acidly. “How does fish-lips translate to kissable?”
And while Ryo and Tomohisa continued to bicker endlessly, couples formed on the dance floor below them and fervently danced the night away in fits of passion and desire. In another part of town, Jin took Kazuya to a romantic restaurant with a perfect view of the Tokyo Tower, which burned a divine flame for the newly born couple who ate with coy smiles while holding hands shyly under the table. Tatsuya gazed outside of his bedroom window and smiled, knowing that somewhere in Tokyo Kazuya was smiling happily in love. That Tokyo was filled with tons of different Cinderella stories, just like Kazuya’s. And that someday, he might find his own Cinderella story out there. He grimaced at the thought and continued strumming his guitar.
Pairing: Akame.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Inspired by the fairy-tale Cinderella, Kamenashi Kazuya decides to throw a royal ball. But when everything seems to go wrong, can Kazuya still find his happily ever after?
Author's Note: Thank you, kagalisenzumen for reminding me I need to finish this fic though it took me forever to post it. (〃^∇^)♥ I'm still trying to escape from my evil writer's block, but I figured I'd write to fight it away? Based on Promises, Prom-misses from Sonny with a Chance. I love Disney Channel! ♥
The very moment Kazuya stepped foot onto the school campus the next morning, fellow students thanked him right and left for throwing such a grand party. Apparently, most of the students remained at the ballroom even after he had left ten past twelve. Many of the guys in the classroom were sleeping on their tables, trying to catch some sleep before their lecture started. Girls chattered even more animatedly from having so much coffee in the morning, and gossiped as usual. But today, their continuous topic of conversation was about the mysterious couple. In their separate little clichés, the girls sat at the table and some on the desks, guessing who the gorgeous girl was and rambling about how handsome the masked gentleman was.
“He was almost as big of a heartthrob as Akanishi-sama!”
If everyone didn’t know that Jin was uninvited to the ball, the general consensus would have been that the masked gentleman had to be Akanishi himself. Whereas the girls had no idea as to whom the mysterious girl could possibly be. The three most popular girls in their school had black hair, being from extremely conservative families, unlike the mystery girl.
Ignoring the loud giggling and occasional squeals from the caffeine-high girls in their class, Kazuya spoke in a whisper to explain the events that had taken place the night before to his best friend, who, of course, did not show. Not that Kazuya had expected him to come to the ball, knowing how anti-social Tatsuya was.
“So let me get this straight,” Tatsuya said in a hushed voice, an eyebrow raised incredulously, “You want to find the owner of some sort of poem because he’s the possibly the man of your dreams?”
“Um, yes?” he nodded hesitantly.
“And you teased me about being a Gackt fan-boy…” Tatsuya muttered, sticking his hand out in front of Kazuya’s face as if he were asking him for money.
Without a moment’s delay, Kazuya took out the folded piece of paper and handed it to his best friend for inspection. Since Tatsuya was the student-aid for the literature teacher, Kazuya figured that he might be able to figure out who the owner of the paper was.
“This is…” Tatsuya opened his mouth partly, only to press his lips back together in thought.
Kazuya looked up at him expectantly, “Do you recognize it?”
“… No,” Tatsuya answered coolly, shaking his head side to side. Faking a borderline cheesy smile, Tatsuya returned the paper which Kazuya gently returned into the sleeve of his binder. Disappointment was written clearly on his features.
There was a vague suspicion that Tatsuya was hiding something, but Kazuya didn’t probe any further. As far as he was concerned, if Tatsuya said he knew nothing, then he knew nothing. He would never question his best friend’s intentions.
-
At Saint President’s, there were two grand pianos for the students to play on. During lunch time, students were allowed to borrow the pianos for their personal use. A white piano was placed in the music room, and the black piano was in a secluded room on the east wing of the school, both used on a first-come first-serve basis. Jin was the only exception to the rule, and he usually kicked whoever was in the room out. Teachers permitted this special privilege to the Akanishi heir because his parents were the ones who donated money for the purchase of the piano in the first place and helped with the renovations throughout the school during rough times.
“Why is it gone?” Jin panicked, storming through his music notes frantically enough to accidentally rip a page in the process. There were music scores scattered across the floor and music books spread out on the keys of the piano. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, “Where the hell did it go?”
“Maybe your not-so-secret crush has it?” a familiar voice interrupted.
“What are you talking about?” Jin growled angrily. He turned around in surprise, standing there leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed coolly was one Ueda Tatsuya. Someone he did not expect to see on a daily basis.
Tatsuya walked into the room and stood in front of the piano, touching it admiringly. “Kazuya is currently searching for the owner of a torn piece of notebook paper with the lyrics to a song titled Care. Sound familiar?” Tatsuya asked sarcastically. He had occasionally helped Jin compose the songs to his lyrics, therefore knew mostly all of the songs that Jin wrote. In fact, he was one of the few people who even knew that Akanishi Jin wrote songs. Love songs at that.
“Why would…” Jin started when a sudden realization struck him. “Pi! Damn it, I’m going to kill him!” he growled menacingly. He had caught Tomohisa snooping through his music books, though he hadn’t questioned his actions then because he figured his best friend knew better than to mess with his things. Apparently, he was wrong.
“Did you-”
“Tell him who it belonged to?” Tatsuya finished for him. “No…”
“Thank goodness,” Jin sighed in relief.
Tatsuya raised his eyebrow sharply, “The only reason I kept it a secret was because I think you should be the one to tell him who he danced with last night.”
“Ueda, you know I can’t…” Jin sighed again.
“Why is that?”
“He hates me! You know how much he hates me!”
“Only because of the way you treat him. Kazuya is sensitive, and you keep hurting him with your inconsiderate words,” Tatsuya said simply. “You’re not in pre-school, picking on the girl you like doesn’t work anymore.”
“I don’t know how else to act in front of him!”
“Act the way you did with him yesterday! He seemed to like that… a lot,” Tatsuya almost laughed at the thought that Kazuya was unknowingly crushing on Jin because of how much of a gentleman Jin was acting last night. And people thought that he was the girly one.
“He… he did?”
“Why else would Kazuya be looking for you?” Tatsuya pointed out, “Luckily for you, he thinks it’s a poem so it’ll be a while before Kazuya finds you.”
Tatsuya rolled his eyes at the dorky smile on Jin’s face as he basked in the information. Now if Kazuya could see this side of Jin, he’d be head over heels in no time. Kazuya always had a thing for creatures that were odd, creepy yet endearing in a weird sort of way.
The door slammed open with a loud bang bringing an end to their private conversation.
“Hey, Jin! When are-” Ryo called out. He paused, realizing that Jin was not alone today. “What are you doing here fish-lips?” he sneered in mock disgust.
“Don’t mind me, I was just leaving… This small room doesn’t have enough space for your huge ego,” Tatsuya retorted acidly, silently walking out of the room.
-
One day after another had passed by and before he knew it, a week had passed since the night of the ball. Kazuya rested his head against his desk with a distressed sigh. Admittedly, he was feeling slightly stressed from his unsuccessful search for his Prince Charming. He had to be a student of this school, so why was it that he couldn’t find him? Perhaps Kazuya had overlooked something, or had someone had brought students from another school?
“Any luck finding your Cinderella?” Tatsuya inquired, sitting down in his seat in front of him.
“No…” Kazuya mumbled disappointedly, “Maybe I should stop looking.”
“Why?” Tatsuya questioned. In the back of his mind, he chided Jin for not making a quicker move.
“I mean, he thinks I’m a girl…” Kazuya mumbled sadly, “Even if I find him, he wouldn’t like me.”
Personally Kazuya was a strong believer that when two people fell in love, gender didn’t matter because love could come in any shape or form. Therefore he was not averse to the thought of falling in love with another man, but it had never crossed his mind that the other may not feel the same way. The man he had danced with thought he was a girl.
“You never know until you try…” Tatsuya offered with a small shrug.
“I guess I’m just afraid that… he’ll crush my feelings,” Kazuya admitted feebly.
“If he does, then he’s not worth your time anyways!” Tatsuya comforted. He paused, wrinkles forming in between his brows in disgust. “And I can’t believe I just said that… I sound like a… a love counselor of some sort. Yuck!”
Kazuya burst out laughing at the mock disgust that Tatsuya wore on his face. Tatsuya was right. If who he was looking for couldn’t love him as is, then he wasn’t precious enough to cry over, but he won’t know until he tried. And Kazuya, for one, refused to be one of those fairy-tale princesses that just sat around waiting for a prince to come save them.
-
“Pi! Do you care to explain why a lyric from my music book is missing and conveniently lying in Kamenashi’s hands?”Jin growled angrily, glaring hard at his best friend who could only laugh sheepishly in response. He hadn’t thought that Jin would realize his lyric was gone so quickly.
“Is that what you threw down the balcony!?” Ryo shouted incredulously.
“You threw it down a balcony? What balcony?” Jin questioned sharply. “Please tell me you don’t mean the one at the ball,” he groaned loudly. So that’s what Tatsuya meant when he said Kazuya was searching for him. Ryo had interrupted their conversation before he had the chance to ask.
“I had no choice!” Tomohisa wailed. “How else is Kame-chan supposed to find his Cinderella?”
Why couldn’t Tomohisa do things less dramatically? He could have just handed him the lyrics and told Kazuya he had dropped it or something, instead of throwing it off a balcony! Tomohisa didn’t have to imitate the Cinderella concept because he was not Cinderella.
Wait, Cinderella?
“Isn’t Cinderella the girl?” Jin questioned with furrowed eyebrows. He was never one for fairy-tales, but he was sure that Cinderella was the heroine of the story.
“You could put it that way…” Ryo shrugged casually, “But she’s also the girl that ran away when the clock stuck midnight, which sounds a lot like what you did at the ball.”
“Shut it, Ryo,” Jin growled peevishly.
“You’re the one who asked!” Ryo defended with his hands in the air in mock surrender.
“Kamenashi wasn’t supposed to see those lyrics!” Jin angrily seethed.
“Why?” Tomohisa crinkled his eyebrows questioningly. “I know you wrote that song for Kame-chan!”
“What are you talking about?” Jin rebutted, lips pursed into a frown.
“Don’t act like you didn’t notice when Kame-chan was sad and depressed! But instead of trying to cheer him up like every other person on campus, you wrote stupid song lyrics!” Tomohisa yelled, throwing the pillow he had in his arms down onto the floor.
Tomohisa had caught Jin staring worriedly at Kazuya whenever they passed him in the hallway or saw him during lunch, and it honestly angered him that Jin didn’t do anything about it. Kazuya was still his childhood friend, even if they didn’t talk as much as they used to because Jin didn’t get along with him, and Kazuya was seriously depressed when his grandmother had passed away.
“They are not stupid!” Jin shouted back. Though he’d never admit it, Tomohisa was right. Those lyrics were written for Kazuya, and there were a lot of different emotions that went in to making that song. It was a damned good song.
“That‘s so not the point!” Tomohisa glared accusingly, “You were a coward, Jin! And you still are now!”
-
The cafeteria of Saint President Gakuen was always hectic and bustling with hungry students. You’d figure a school with so much investment money would provide more space than three humongous wooden tables, similar to the ones you’d see in castles, but Saint President Gakuen believed that comfort came first. Therefore their limited number of seats was lined with velvet cushioning and placed with plenty of personal space on both side, resulting in there never being enough seats for even a fourth of the student body.
Mainly the more privileged students would eat in the cafeteria, while the lower class students would settle for eating in the classroom instead. Once again, the exception was Akanishi Jin, who had one end of the table designated to him and his best friends. No one dared to take their seats, even if they didn’t show up at the cafeteria, afraid of the consequences should the trio find out.
“Where’s Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum?” Tatsuya questioned, walking over to Jin’s corner of the table. It was rare for Jin to be sitting by himself. Then again, it was rare for him to be by himself but Kazuya had gone home early today for a family-sponsored party in Paris. Apparently, the Tokyo Tower was not enough of a view for his spoiled mother. It absolutely had to be the Eiffel Tower.
“Since when do you care where Ryo is?” Jin frowned.
“I don’t but I thought I’d ask,” Tatsuya shrugged. “You know, be polite.”
“I got into a fight with Pi… I guess they’re fed up with how spineless I am,” Jin huffed, twirling pasta onto his fork. Since their argument, Tomohisa and Ryo blatantly avoided Jin. Or well, Tomohisa did and dragged Ryo away with him. He didn’t know Tomohisa could hold a grudge this long. Usually, Tomohisa completely forgot that he was mad at him by the next morning.
“That’s cold,” Tatsuya consoled. “I hate how gutless you are, but I haven’t given up on you... yet.”
“Gee, thanks,” Jin muttered sarcastically.
“I’m just saying… What can we do about it if you’re unwilling to woo him on your own?” Tatsuya pointed out. “Kazuya’s not going to magically fall in love with you, you know? You need to be the one to win over his heart first.”
“Win over his heart...” Jin mumbled, a simple frown on his lips.
“Great, here I go again,” Tatsuya said sarcastically. “I really hate this giving corny advice crap.” Then again, the faster Jin and Kazuya figure out that they have feelings for each other, the faster all this romantic crap would disappear from his mind because seriously, this was downright sickening.
-
When Kazuya returned to school after his one night stay in Paris, the students in the hallway were in utter chaos. Girls chattered animatedly and squealed in delight, some even jumping up and down in anticipation. Even the guys would not stop talking, socializing with one group and then another.
“What’s going on?” Kazuya wondered in confusion. He decided to rush over to class and find Tatsuya, intent on finding out what he had missed when he thought he heard his name being called behind him. He stopped and turned around in surprise to see Akanishi, whom he realized he hadn’t seen for a while, standing nervously behind him.
“Kamenashi,” Jin said awkwardly, “I’m… uh, throwing a ball this Sunday and-”
“I thought you said balls are boring?” Kazuya pointed out sharply, “Oh, wait… You’re doing this to get back at me for uninviting you, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not,” Jin said with a slight sigh. “I really want you to come,” he said, and pushed a vanilla envelope with a pretty black ribbon on it into Kazuya’s hand. Realizing he was still grasping Kazuya’s hand, Jin hastily let go and backed away before finally turning his back to him and walking away.
Kazuya stood there dumbfounded, watching Jin’s back disappear in the crowd. Jin sounded slightly desperate - almost as if he earnestly wanted him to come to his ball. But that wasn’t possible, was it? Jin hated him since they day they met. He looked at the envelope in his hand sadly upon remembering the fact, wondering what he could have possibly done to upset Jin.
-
Warm sunlight peeked through the half opened blinds, illuminating the spacious room decorated impeccably with rich European-style furnishing. Stealing the heavy chair in front of Kazuya’s vanity table, Tomohisa sat quietly at his childhood friend’s bedside and watched said friend sleeping peacefully in his king sized bed. He smiled adoringly at the younger man, whose sleeping face hasn’t changed one bit from the time they were still kids. Tomohisa poked playfully at the other’s soft cheek with his index finger, something they used to do a lot to each other when they were younger.
Kazuya’s perfectly plucked eyebrows furrowed, forming small creases in between. He reluctantly opened his eyes with a sleepy yawn. “Pi-chan?” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes sleepily. “What are you doing here?”
“Aunty told me to come in and wait for you here,” he explained. Since Kazuya was not good at getting up in the mornings, Tomohisa had a cup of tea with Kazuya’s mother before coming upstairs to wait for Kazuya to wake up. Some fancy new tea that she bought on her European business trip and it was absolutely delicious.
“You’re coming to the ball, right?” he asked offhandedly, once Kazuya was awake enough to sit up.
“If you mean Akanishi’s ball, no,” Kazuya said, pouting his lips in displeasure. “I have no intention of attending a ball planned merely to mock me.”
“Kame-chan,” Tomohisa said in a sugary sweet voice. “Jin may act like a big mean wolf, but he’s a harmless puppy inside. He would never truly hurt you.” If anything he beats the crap out of anyone who tries, not that Kazuya knew about this.
“How can you be so sure?” Kazuya questioned. “He hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you...” Tomohisa assured. “How could he? You’re Kame-chan! You’re witty, elegant, charming... No one could hate you.” He flashed his trademark smile, and patted his childhood friend on the head.
“Why do you want me to go to the ball so badly?” the younger accused suspiciously.
“I only want you to be happy,” Tomohisa grinned sheepishly. “You never know. You might even meet your Prince Charming there.” Kazuya smiled at how Tomohisa never changes, no matter how many years pass between them. He would always be the same protective older brother figure that had his back, and comforted him when he needed a shoulder to cry on. If Tomohisa wanted him to attend Jin’s ball, Kazuya couldn’t help but feel that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.
-
Tiptoeing on the medium-sized ladder with black and crème colored streamers in his hands, Ryo glared down at Jin. “You know, you don’t really need this place decorated,” he pointed out. Seriously! Why would Jin pay so much attention on decorating a ballroom that he only was having one dance, and only if he with if he was lucky? He swore if this room went to waste he would wring both Jin and Kazuya’s necks.
“Oh, quit your complaining!” Jin reprimanded, kicking the ladder Ryo was on lightly. Ryo let out a surprised yelp, and grasped frantically against the wall. He glared down at his best friend, wondering if he could drop one of the fake plants over his head.
“If I fall from this ladder, I’m using your fat to cushion me,” Ryo growled angrily.
Oblivious to the sparks of electricity crackling between his best friends, Tomohisa grinned at the small cupid statue in front of the huge fountain. “Ryo-chan, look, I’m a cupid!” Tomohisa said, mimicking said statue standing and posing.
The one addressed merely raised his eyebrow in skeptically. “Why are you in such a good mood?” Ryo wondered.
“I got to see Kame-chan’s sleeping face!” Tomohisa replied, grinning triumphantly. His childhood friend had a cute sleeping face kind of like a baby’s one. He wished he could show it to Jin.
“Do I even want to know?” Jin asked, arching his eyebrow suspiciously.
“I sure don’t,” Ryo replied. As if to reinforce his words, Ryo grudgingly returned to pinning the streamers on the fancy walls of the ballroom. Jin nodded in agreement and took a few steps back to micromanage and complain about how crooked Ryo was pinning everything, while Tomohisa put a sparkly party hat that Jin didn’t know he bought on the cupid statue and continued putting random rainbow colored decorations in random place.
-
Staring blankly outside his balcony window, Kazuya heaved a sigh. The sun was setting on the horizon, signaling the end of the day and the start of night time. It also meant Jin’s grand ball would be starting in approximately two hours. Scrimmaging through his gigantic walk-in closet for a decent suit to wear, Kazuya fought the unexplainable feeling of anxiety weighing on his chest. Kazuya flipped from one outfit to another, noting to himself that his closet needed to be cleaned out. Being a self-proclaimed shopaholic, there were so many things cluttered in his closet and his closet was the size of a boutique. Somehow Kazuya managed to put together a casual yet formal attire using his favorite white trench coat with light gray pinstripes, a black dress shirt, and navy blue slacks. He threw on bold silver accessories to pull his clothes together and hoped that he wouldn’t feel too out of place - the invitation did say dress casual.
His heart beat fast in anticipation from the moment he seated himself in his white limousine, and continued to restlessly tap his hand on the door the whole way to the scene of the ball. Still doubtful about Jin’s intentions, Kazuya asked his chauffeur to remain in the area in case he chose to leave early as he got out of the vehicle. Handing his personalized invitation to the gentleman standing outside, Kazuya nervously stepped through the large double doors which was opened for him.
Compared to the fancy exterior of the building, the inside of the ballroom was simple yet beautifully decorated in an old-fashioned way that reminded Kazuya of the ballroom he had seen in fairy tales. Under any other circumstances, it would have made a bright smile light up his face. However, a small frown slowly made way onto his pouty lips instead. There was no one in the room but him. Chiding himself for being such an idiot, Kazuya disappointedly lowered his gaze to the floor.
Obviously, he was deceived by Jin.
Tap, tap, tap...
The sound of a shoe’s heels scuffling on the hardwood floor could be heard, gradually getting louder and louder until the noise stopped directly in front of him.
Tightening his lips, Kazuya slowly faced up to the source of the sound only to gasp. Coming down the staircase was the gentleman that he had danced with on the night of his ball. The one that had been plaguing his mind ever since. “I’ve heard that people wait their whole night for that one unforgettable dance,” the man spoke hesitantly in the velvety voice that Kazuya adored.
The masked gentleman placed his left hand on his sophisticated decorated mask, and slowly removed it from his face slightly trembling as he did so, “I…I’m sorry it had to be me.”
“Aka… nishi?” Kazuya murmured with a tight knot in his throat.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you…” Jin apologized, dejectedly hanging his head low. He knew that Kazuya would never see him the same way, but he genuinely wanted to give it his best shot because having held Kazuya in his arms and kissed his addictive lips, Jin felt that any effort would be worth it if he could have Kazuya by his side.
He nearly jumped in surprise when a soft hand brushed against his cheek.
“Who said I’m disappointed?” Kazuya giggled softly, his eyes twinkling in mischief. At first Kazuya had been so surprised, he didn’t know how to react. But Kazuya had never felt so touched his entire life that Jin, the same Jin that he thought had hated him, had gone through so much trouble for him. Confidently wrapping his arms around Jin’s neck, he leant up for a chaste kiss on the lips. Pulling away, Kazuya smiled gently before sealing the distance between their lips once more.
“May I have this dance?” Jin courted, a little more comfortable with himself now that Kazuya had kissed him. The younger man took the hand extended to him and wrapped his arm around Jin’s shoulders. Jin wrapped his open arm protectively around Kazuya’s waist and pulled him closer, enjoying how their bodies seemed to fit together.
“Only if you promise it’s not the last.”
-
Sparkles of the disco ball shimmered over the dance floor and the crowd of students letting loose for once. Pop music played behind them, all fast paced love songs hand-picked by Akanishi Jin himself. Or rather, was forced to pick. Originally, Jin had picked out a bunch of club songs but Tomohisa threw them out dubbing them inappropriate for a school function. They repeated the steps several times, Tomohisa not keen on being suspended since him and Ryo were the ones hosting in his place, until Jin had settled for the songs chosen. Honestly, Jin could care less what played since this party was just a decoy to lure Kazuya into be alone with him. He was sure Kazuya would be wary if he was the only one invited to his ball and would never come, but doubted Kazuya was paranoid enough to compare the address given to him with the other students.
“You think Jin landed his princess?” Tomohisa asked, overlooking the ball from the second story. Ironically, the actual ball was thrown together at the last minute because Jin decided to spend most of his time decorating the fake ballroom specifically for Kazuya but not one person seemed displeased with the outcome. If anything, they seemed to be enjoying being at a party that wasn’t fancy and elegant for once.
“He better have after all the trouble we went through to set this up for him,” Ryo grumbled, never having worked so much in his whole life. He was Nishikido Ryo after all, the only son of Nishikido Enterprise. He did not work. Others did that crap for him.
“You know, now that Jin finally ended up with Kame-chan. We can start addressing this problem between you and Ueda,” Tomohisa said, grinning at the shorter man.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ryo defended.
“Don’t worry Ryo-chan, I have everything planned out for you,” the other reassured, an impish smile playing on his lips.
“Hell no, I refuse to be Cinderella for that ugly fish-lips,” Ryo refused. He shook his head furiously from side to side.
“Admit it, you like those pouty lips of his,” Tomohisa leered, elbowing Ryo on his side suggestively.
“You’re out of your freaking mind!” Ryo retorted acidly. “How does fish-lips translate to kissable?”
And while Ryo and Tomohisa continued to bicker endlessly, couples formed on the dance floor below them and fervently danced the night away in fits of passion and desire. In another part of town, Jin took Kazuya to a romantic restaurant with a perfect view of the Tokyo Tower, which burned a divine flame for the newly born couple who ate with coy smiles while holding hands shyly under the table. Tatsuya gazed outside of his bedroom window and smiled, knowing that somewhere in Tokyo Kazuya was smiling happily in love. That Tokyo was filled with tons of different Cinderella stories, just like Kazuya’s. And that someday, he might find his own Cinderella story out there. He grimaced at the thought and continued strumming his guitar.