Lips of an Angel
Title: Lips of an Angel
Author: yoshi09
Pairing: Ninomiya Kazunari / Yoshitaka Yuriko
Rating: PG
Summary: Nino gets into a fight with his girlfriend and receives an unexpected phone call from a friend. Written in response to the rumors of Nino dating Nozomi Sasaki.
A/N: Songfic to “Lips of an Angel” for novemberbaby because she’s awesome and patient and wonderful and I wanted to write her something because I owe her so much! I heard this song and thought of this pairing.
Link to the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiSfTyrvJlg
~~
“I waited for you!” she said, tears edging her eyes, catching the words at her throat, “I waited for you all night, Kazu-”
“You make Ryo wait for lunch dates.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth he knew they were the wrong ones to say.
She looked at him, her expression a mixture of hurt, disbelief and confusion- her bottom lip trembled just slightly.
“Nozomi-” he began, but she was already shaking her head, taking a step away from him.
“How can you even accuse me of that?” she yelled, eyes flashing, hair askew, mascara running, and despite all that, still frustratingly pretty, “Being in this industry too… you of all people should understand!” Before he could say anything else she turned on her heel, going to their room at the far end of their apartment. He stepped forward as if to follow her but she was already in their doorway, yelling at him again. “Don’t follow me!” The door slammed closed.
Nino reached up with a hand to rub his eyebrows with a thumb and forefinger. He knew he should probably feel worse than he did, but he didn’t miss the flicker of guilt in Nozomi’s eyes when he mentioned Ryo’s name. Being an actor came with the unfortunate talent of learning to catch truths when sometimes all you wanted was a lie.
He leaned back on their kitchen counter with a sigh and looked at their too-bright lights on their ceiling, expecting to feel anger, maybe even betrayal but feeling a surprising mood of… nothing. Boredom, if anything. He leaned down to grab his heavy bag and walked to their room, thought better of it, and then opened the door of the guest bedroom next to it.
“Whatever,” he murmured, closing the door behind him with a foot as he threw his bag with more force than necessary near the bed. He shrugged his jacket off. “Have your fun.”
He crawled onto the mattress, blissful exhaustion creeping up on him again. Himitsu no Arashi-chan filming, two back to back interviews, followed by pissing off his girlfriend. Nino was on a roll, and was glad the day was finally ending. He buried his face into the pillow.
It was barely half an hour later when his phone started ringing. He would have ignored the loud ringtone but he didn’t want to deal with an even angrier Nozomi if she fell asleep already. Nino reached out with one arm and into his bag, bleary eyed. He fished out his phone and answered without checking who it was.
The voice on the line woke him faster than being dunked in cold water.
“Yuriko?”
“Smith?”
“What? Oh.” He was smiling without even realizing it. “Nice to meet you,” he said quietly.
“Nice to meet you.” She replied promptly in her refreshing slur. That one sentence brought back a wave of uninvited memories- Yuriko’s first awkward attempt to borrow a video game from him, Nino discreetly typing his number into her contacts while she filmed a scene and then receiving a text from her that same night, Yuriko offering they go out for spicy food one day- and then following through multiple times. Nino and Yuriko talking about their philosophy on love. The crew teasing them about how well they got along. One drunk night followed by waking up with her sleeping against the curve of his neck...
He shifted his position so he was holding himself up with his elbows, stomach against the mattress. He covered his mouth a little as he spoke. “It’s, ah, been awhile.” Months, in fact.
“Mm.” she hummed in agreement.
There was a stretch of silence, too long to be entirely comfortable.
Honey why you calling me so late?
It's kinda hard to talk right now.
“So,” Yuriko began again, “What have you been up to?”
The small talk was weird, unfamiliar territory between them. She was never good at it. Nino chuckled gently, lowering his voice even further, “Come on, Chris,” he teased gently, “I don't think you called me at,” he glanced at the clock on the wall, moonlight illuminating his view, “2:40 in the morning to ask how I am.”
She laughed a little at that too, “I guess not.” She sniffed.
Nino could hear something odd in the pitch of her voice. He recognized it in too many conversations before this one.
“Yuriko,” he said seriously, “Are you crying?”
Honey why are you crying? Is everything okay?
“Huh?” she said, as if she didn't quite catch what he said. Then a short pause later. “No, I'm not. I'm just sick again.” Sniff.
He caught the lie easily. He thought about telling her how she was a bad liar and how he expected better from such an accomplished actress, he thought about teasing her for being such a dishonest person just so he could hear her smile again, or gently pushing her into telling him what was really wrong- but Yuriko wasn't like other girls. No, Yuriko wanted an escape. Nino smiled softly. He could play her game and let her win.
“You should take care of your health better,” Nino lied with her.
There was another pause on the line, as if she couldn't quite believe that Nino bought her excuse, then before the silence became too long she continued. “It's because of all that spicy food we ate.”
Nino chuckled quietly. “That was months ago, that can't be why. It's probably because you went out into the rain without an umbrella again. Then sat in your wet clothes all day.” He was rewarded with a hushed laugh, slightly choked from crying too much. The thought sobered him. “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?” he asked evasively.
He was always good at word play. In a sentence he revealed he knew she was lying, let her know that he was okay with it and invited her to take the lead in their conversation. It was a subtle talk of good friends, or old lovers.
“You could tell me about your day.” Nino could hear the smile in her words.
He flipped onto his back, cellphone loose and comfortable in his hand. “You don't want to hear about my day.”
“Mm,” she mused, “Then let's talk about now. Why are you whispering?”
I gotta whisper 'cause I can't be too loud
“Um,” his eyes idly wandered to the far wall- the wall where somewhere behind it, his girlfriend was sleeping. “I don't want to wake up Nozomi.”
“Who?”
“Uh,” he began, swallowing a little. “My girlfriend.” Nino closed his eyes, wondering why it had suddenly been so hard to say.
Well, my girl's in the next room
Sometimes I wish she was you
“Oh.”
As if the last few pauses had been a little awkward, it was nothing compared to the one that followed.
I guess we never really moved on
“Yeah,” Nino said, filling in the silence casually. “She uh, kind of put me in the dog house.”
“You aren't as smooth as you think, Smith.” Yuriko replied, her voice laced with a teasing lilt.
“I'm plenty smooth,” Nino rebuked. Yuriko giggled, her husky voice coupled with the thickness of crying made it sound odd and offtone. The imperfection of her laugh made it all the cuter to Nino.
“Well, as long as you're happy, Nino.” she ended her sentence with a sniffle, but her tone was approving.
It's really good to hear your voice saying my name
It sounds so sweet
“Happier right now than before, I admit.” Nino said lightly, hoping she didn't read too much into his words.
“Is this love forever?” she asked.
Nino smirked, understanding their inside joke. “Nothing is forever.”
It was easy to imagine her nodding in agreement, but her next words were unexpected.
“I missed talking to you.”
Coming from the lips of an angel
Hearing those words it makes me weak
“Yeah,” he said with a small smile. “Me too.”
Suddenly he heard a creak of something outside the bedroom.
“Hold on.” He shoved the phone underneath his pillow, and then pretended to sleep, his ears almost painfully alert. He waited a second, two... when nothing happened he retrieved the phone again and pressed it against his ear.
“Sorry,” he murmured, his voice even lower than before. “I swear these walls are paper thin. I thought Nozomi woke up.”
“Oh, should I hang up?” Yuriko's own voice was hushed to match his, as if her voice could be heard at the same volume as his. The unconscious gesture made Nino smile.
“…No. It’s all right.”
And I never wanna say goodbye
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel
“Was it the house settling?” she asked a moment later.
“What?” Nino asked, amused.
“You know, the house settling.” He could imagine her gesturing unnecessarily with her explanation. She had a tendency to talk more with her hands and body than with actual words. “Like sometimes the house creaks randomly because it's tired or something like that.”
“Ooooh,” Nino said quietly, “You mean like the random sounds a building makes because the foundation is old.”
“Okay.”
“Wait, what's with that response? Are you agreeing with me or acknowledging that I'm speaking?”
Yuriko laughed again. Nino suddenly noticed how much less she was sniffling. He smiled.
“I think it's an interesting coincidence you're calling me tonight.”
“Hm? Why's that?”
Well, he thought, maybe because my girlfriend and I have gotten into lots of fights lately and you conveniently reappear into my life. My real life. Out loud he said, “Because I was just thinking about you earlier today.” It wasn't the full truth, but it wasn't a lie.
“Was I in your dreams?” she asked.
He couldn't tell if she was kidding or not. He decided to respond in kind.
“Yup.”
“Mine too.” she said. “I mean,” she began clumsily, “you were in my dream, not me and...”
“I get it,” Nino reassured her gently.
It's funny that you're calling me tonight
And, yes, I've dreamt of you too
“So what about you? I heard you've got a drama project coming up again.”
She didn't respond.
“Chris?” he prompted quietly, thinking she might have dozed off or something despite having sounded so awake a moment ago. “Yuriko?”
He was starting to consider hanging up when he heard her low voice again, “My boyfriend.” she said.
And does he know you're talking to me
Will it start a fight
“Boyfriend?”
“Yeah,” she said absently, as if it was no big deal at all, “he called me just now.”
“Oh. Uh. Is everything all right?”
“I don't know, I ignored the call.” her voice had a biting edge to it.
“I see.” He paused in thought. “Should you have done that you think?”
“Probably not,” she said slowly. “but I don't feel like talking to him.”
“You could break a guy's heart with that attitude.”
“Would it break your girlfriend's heart if she knew you were talking to another girl?” she countered.
Nino was surprised at how easily his response came.
No I don't think she has a clue
“I'm just helping a friend feel better,” he deadpanned.
Yuriko laughed, the sound messy and almost out of tune and Nino smiled. “Is that all?”
“Yes.” he said. 'I love you' sat knotted in his throat. He left it there.
Well my girl's in the next room
Sometimes I wish she was you
I guess we never really moved on
This was a hard game they were playing, with no winners.
There was a reason they stopped talking so long ago. It wasn't something Nino liked to remember- when you shared similar negative thoughts about love with the person you had a unique interest in, it would be a doomed relationship from the start. But abrupt endings always gave people a hard time with closure- for Nino and Yuriko, they didn't even have a chance at that. They just dived headlong into this endless dance of shallow flirting and self-inflicted emotional and mental exhaustion, because there was an unspoken thought they shared: What's the point if it all ends anyway? Why try at all?
“Nino,” she began...
It's really good to hear your voice saying my name
It sounds so sweet
Coming from the lips of an angel
Hearing those words it makes me weak
And I never wanna say goodbye
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel
“Hm?”
“I think it worked.”
“What did?”
“Telling me about your day.”
Nino smiled. “I'm the cure for the common cold, it seems.”
His ears were greeted by an appreciative laugh.
“It's nice to know I did something right today, Chris,” he added, seriously.
“Nino, you'd have to try to do something wrong.”
Their conversation steered to safer, more light-hearted topics.
It's really good to hear your voice saying my name
It sounds so sweet
Coming from the lips of an angel
Hearing those words it makes me weak
And I never wanna say goodbye
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel
And I never wanna say goodbye
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel
Nino waited to hear the click of Yuriko hanging up on the other line. He looked at the clock, surprised to see how much time had passed. He looked back down at the phone. Without a second thought he went into his “received calls” and deleted Yuriko's number. He dropped the phone into his bag and settled back into his pillow, content.
With any luck, in the morning he would wake up wondering vaguely if he did get a call from Yuriko, check his phone for confirmation and realize it probably was just another dream.
Unlikely, but Nino knew, for practicality's sake, that he would try his damndest to pretend it was. Life would be easier this way.
Honey why you calling me so late?
Author: yoshi09
Pairing: Ninomiya Kazunari / Yoshitaka Yuriko
Rating: PG
Summary: Nino gets into a fight with his girlfriend and receives an unexpected phone call from a friend. Written in response to the rumors of Nino dating Nozomi Sasaki.
A/N: Songfic to “Lips of an Angel” for novemberbaby because she’s awesome and patient and wonderful and I wanted to write her something because I owe her so much! I heard this song and thought of this pairing.
Link to the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiSfTyrvJlg
~~
“I waited for you!” she said, tears edging her eyes, catching the words at her throat, “I waited for you all night, Kazu-”
“You make Ryo wait for lunch dates.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth he knew they were the wrong ones to say.
She looked at him, her expression a mixture of hurt, disbelief and confusion- her bottom lip trembled just slightly.
“Nozomi-” he began, but she was already shaking her head, taking a step away from him.
“How can you even accuse me of that?” she yelled, eyes flashing, hair askew, mascara running, and despite all that, still frustratingly pretty, “Being in this industry too… you of all people should understand!” Before he could say anything else she turned on her heel, going to their room at the far end of their apartment. He stepped forward as if to follow her but she was already in their doorway, yelling at him again. “Don’t follow me!” The door slammed closed.
Nino reached up with a hand to rub his eyebrows with a thumb and forefinger. He knew he should probably feel worse than he did, but he didn’t miss the flicker of guilt in Nozomi’s eyes when he mentioned Ryo’s name. Being an actor came with the unfortunate talent of learning to catch truths when sometimes all you wanted was a lie.
He leaned back on their kitchen counter with a sigh and looked at their too-bright lights on their ceiling, expecting to feel anger, maybe even betrayal but feeling a surprising mood of… nothing. Boredom, if anything. He leaned down to grab his heavy bag and walked to their room, thought better of it, and then opened the door of the guest bedroom next to it.
“Whatever,” he murmured, closing the door behind him with a foot as he threw his bag with more force than necessary near the bed. He shrugged his jacket off. “Have your fun.”
He crawled onto the mattress, blissful exhaustion creeping up on him again. Himitsu no Arashi-chan filming, two back to back interviews, followed by pissing off his girlfriend. Nino was on a roll, and was glad the day was finally ending. He buried his face into the pillow.
It was barely half an hour later when his phone started ringing. He would have ignored the loud ringtone but he didn’t want to deal with an even angrier Nozomi if she fell asleep already. Nino reached out with one arm and into his bag, bleary eyed. He fished out his phone and answered without checking who it was.
The voice on the line woke him faster than being dunked in cold water.
“Yuriko?”
“Smith?”
“What? Oh.” He was smiling without even realizing it. “Nice to meet you,” he said quietly.
“Nice to meet you.” She replied promptly in her refreshing slur. That one sentence brought back a wave of uninvited memories- Yuriko’s first awkward attempt to borrow a video game from him, Nino discreetly typing his number into her contacts while she filmed a scene and then receiving a text from her that same night, Yuriko offering they go out for spicy food one day- and then following through multiple times. Nino and Yuriko talking about their philosophy on love. The crew teasing them about how well they got along. One drunk night followed by waking up with her sleeping against the curve of his neck...
He shifted his position so he was holding himself up with his elbows, stomach against the mattress. He covered his mouth a little as he spoke. “It’s, ah, been awhile.” Months, in fact.
“Mm.” she hummed in agreement.
There was a stretch of silence, too long to be entirely comfortable.
Honey why you calling me so late?
It's kinda hard to talk right now.
“So,” Yuriko began again, “What have you been up to?”
The small talk was weird, unfamiliar territory between them. She was never good at it. Nino chuckled gently, lowering his voice even further, “Come on, Chris,” he teased gently, “I don't think you called me at,” he glanced at the clock on the wall, moonlight illuminating his view, “2:40 in the morning to ask how I am.”
She laughed a little at that too, “I guess not.” She sniffed.
Nino could hear something odd in the pitch of her voice. He recognized it in too many conversations before this one.
“Yuriko,” he said seriously, “Are you crying?”
Honey why are you crying? Is everything okay?
“Huh?” she said, as if she didn't quite catch what he said. Then a short pause later. “No, I'm not. I'm just sick again.” Sniff.
He caught the lie easily. He thought about telling her how she was a bad liar and how he expected better from such an accomplished actress, he thought about teasing her for being such a dishonest person just so he could hear her smile again, or gently pushing her into telling him what was really wrong- but Yuriko wasn't like other girls. No, Yuriko wanted an escape. Nino smiled softly. He could play her game and let her win.
“You should take care of your health better,” Nino lied with her.
There was another pause on the line, as if she couldn't quite believe that Nino bought her excuse, then before the silence became too long she continued. “It's because of all that spicy food we ate.”
Nino chuckled quietly. “That was months ago, that can't be why. It's probably because you went out into the rain without an umbrella again. Then sat in your wet clothes all day.” He was rewarded with a hushed laugh, slightly choked from crying too much. The thought sobered him. “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?” he asked evasively.
He was always good at word play. In a sentence he revealed he knew she was lying, let her know that he was okay with it and invited her to take the lead in their conversation. It was a subtle talk of good friends, or old lovers.
“You could tell me about your day.” Nino could hear the smile in her words.
He flipped onto his back, cellphone loose and comfortable in his hand. “You don't want to hear about my day.”
“Mm,” she mused, “Then let's talk about now. Why are you whispering?”
I gotta whisper 'cause I can't be too loud
“Um,” his eyes idly wandered to the far wall- the wall where somewhere behind it, his girlfriend was sleeping. “I don't want to wake up Nozomi.”
“Who?”
“Uh,” he began, swallowing a little. “My girlfriend.” Nino closed his eyes, wondering why it had suddenly been so hard to say.
Well, my girl's in the next room
Sometimes I wish she was you
“Oh.”
As if the last few pauses had been a little awkward, it was nothing compared to the one that followed.
I guess we never really moved on
“Yeah,” Nino said, filling in the silence casually. “She uh, kind of put me in the dog house.”
“You aren't as smooth as you think, Smith.” Yuriko replied, her voice laced with a teasing lilt.
“I'm plenty smooth,” Nino rebuked. Yuriko giggled, her husky voice coupled with the thickness of crying made it sound odd and offtone. The imperfection of her laugh made it all the cuter to Nino.
“Well, as long as you're happy, Nino.” she ended her sentence with a sniffle, but her tone was approving.
It's really good to hear your voice saying my name
It sounds so sweet
“Happier right now than before, I admit.” Nino said lightly, hoping she didn't read too much into his words.
“Is this love forever?” she asked.
Nino smirked, understanding their inside joke. “Nothing is forever.”
It was easy to imagine her nodding in agreement, but her next words were unexpected.
“I missed talking to you.”
Coming from the lips of an angel
Hearing those words it makes me weak
“Yeah,” he said with a small smile. “Me too.”
Suddenly he heard a creak of something outside the bedroom.
“Hold on.” He shoved the phone underneath his pillow, and then pretended to sleep, his ears almost painfully alert. He waited a second, two... when nothing happened he retrieved the phone again and pressed it against his ear.
“Sorry,” he murmured, his voice even lower than before. “I swear these walls are paper thin. I thought Nozomi woke up.”
“Oh, should I hang up?” Yuriko's own voice was hushed to match his, as if her voice could be heard at the same volume as his. The unconscious gesture made Nino smile.
“…No. It’s all right.”
And I never wanna say goodbye
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel
“Was it the house settling?” she asked a moment later.
“What?” Nino asked, amused.
“You know, the house settling.” He could imagine her gesturing unnecessarily with her explanation. She had a tendency to talk more with her hands and body than with actual words. “Like sometimes the house creaks randomly because it's tired or something like that.”
“Ooooh,” Nino said quietly, “You mean like the random sounds a building makes because the foundation is old.”
“Okay.”
“Wait, what's with that response? Are you agreeing with me or acknowledging that I'm speaking?”
Yuriko laughed again. Nino suddenly noticed how much less she was sniffling. He smiled.
“I think it's an interesting coincidence you're calling me tonight.”
“Hm? Why's that?”
Well, he thought, maybe because my girlfriend and I have gotten into lots of fights lately and you conveniently reappear into my life. My real life. Out loud he said, “Because I was just thinking about you earlier today.” It wasn't the full truth, but it wasn't a lie.
“Was I in your dreams?” she asked.
He couldn't tell if she was kidding or not. He decided to respond in kind.
“Yup.”
“Mine too.” she said. “I mean,” she began clumsily, “you were in my dream, not me and...”
“I get it,” Nino reassured her gently.
It's funny that you're calling me tonight
And, yes, I've dreamt of you too
“So what about you? I heard you've got a drama project coming up again.”
She didn't respond.
“Chris?” he prompted quietly, thinking she might have dozed off or something despite having sounded so awake a moment ago. “Yuriko?”
He was starting to consider hanging up when he heard her low voice again, “My boyfriend.” she said.
And does he know you're talking to me
Will it start a fight
“Boyfriend?”
“Yeah,” she said absently, as if it was no big deal at all, “he called me just now.”
“Oh. Uh. Is everything all right?”
“I don't know, I ignored the call.” her voice had a biting edge to it.
“I see.” He paused in thought. “Should you have done that you think?”
“Probably not,” she said slowly. “but I don't feel like talking to him.”
“You could break a guy's heart with that attitude.”
“Would it break your girlfriend's heart if she knew you were talking to another girl?” she countered.
Nino was surprised at how easily his response came.
No I don't think she has a clue
“I'm just helping a friend feel better,” he deadpanned.
Yuriko laughed, the sound messy and almost out of tune and Nino smiled. “Is that all?”
“Yes.” he said. 'I love you' sat knotted in his throat. He left it there.
Well my girl's in the next room
Sometimes I wish she was you
I guess we never really moved on
This was a hard game they were playing, with no winners.
There was a reason they stopped talking so long ago. It wasn't something Nino liked to remember- when you shared similar negative thoughts about love with the person you had a unique interest in, it would be a doomed relationship from the start. But abrupt endings always gave people a hard time with closure- for Nino and Yuriko, they didn't even have a chance at that. They just dived headlong into this endless dance of shallow flirting and self-inflicted emotional and mental exhaustion, because there was an unspoken thought they shared: What's the point if it all ends anyway? Why try at all?
“Nino,” she began...
It's really good to hear your voice saying my name
It sounds so sweet
Coming from the lips of an angel
Hearing those words it makes me weak
And I never wanna say goodbye
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel
“Hm?”
“I think it worked.”
“What did?”
“Telling me about your day.”
Nino smiled. “I'm the cure for the common cold, it seems.”
His ears were greeted by an appreciative laugh.
“It's nice to know I did something right today, Chris,” he added, seriously.
“Nino, you'd have to try to do something wrong.”
Their conversation steered to safer, more light-hearted topics.
It's really good to hear your voice saying my name
It sounds so sweet
Coming from the lips of an angel
Hearing those words it makes me weak
And I never wanna say goodbye
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel
And I never wanna say goodbye
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel
Nino waited to hear the click of Yuriko hanging up on the other line. He looked at the clock, surprised to see how much time had passed. He looked back down at the phone. Without a second thought he went into his “received calls” and deleted Yuriko's number. He dropped the phone into his bag and settled back into his pillow, content.
With any luck, in the morning he would wake up wondering vaguely if he did get a call from Yuriko, check his phone for confirmation and realize it probably was just another dream.
Unlikely, but Nino knew, for practicality's sake, that he would try his damndest to pretend it was. Life would be easier this way.
Honey why you calling me so late?