Keiko sat at the bar, leaning her chin on her hand as she stared at the rows of glasses and bottles that adorned the shelves of the mirrored wall. She moved to scratch a little itch under the bright pink wig and above the yellow feathered scarf she was wearing, letting out a sigh of frustration.
“Urgh! How much longer do I have to keep wearing this stupid revealing costume?” she muttered, peering down at the skimpy bright yellow and purple tight dress she was wearing. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. A small chuckle escaped the only bartender who was there, polishing one of the glasses.
“Ah, Keiko-chan… You still haven’t grown used to the disguise yet? But then again, what should I expect from a tomboy such as you?” teased the bartender in a quiet voice.
Keiko threw a deadly glare in the older man’s direction. “I’ll let that one slide, Shota-kun, seeing as we’re in the middle of a job now.”
The sound of the front doorbell jingled and Keiko turned, expecting to see who they were waiting for but instead, it turned out to be a noisy group of five young guys in their mid twenties. Keiko stared at them as they walked by, narrowing her eyes slightly as she found them somewhat familiar. Maybe she had seen them in one of the criminal files at the headquarters, or in trouble at the station. But they looked harmless enough with the carefree way they were joking with one another, that Keiko decided to ignore them. Little did she know that as she turned away, one of the guys in the group turned to peer at her with a wondering look in his eyes, taking in the peculiar way she was dressed.
“Hmm… We haven’t seen those guys in here before,” said Shota wonderingly as he watched a waiter lead them to a private booth in the back of the bar. “They look like the Johnny’s group, Arashi. I hope they won’t do anything that will jeopardise our investigation.”
A small scowl marred Keiko’s pretty Eurasian features as she muttered, “If they do, then I will personally make them regret ever stepping in this stupid bar.” Shota snickered at Keiko’s comment as he finally put down the glass he had been polishing and picked up another. “We’ve spent too long investigating Fujioka’s case and I hope tonight will be the last.”
“So do I, Keiko-chan,” replied Shota as the doorbell chimed again.
This time, as Keiko turned around to peer at who the new visitor was, she suddenly turned into a completely different person. Giggling like a brainless girl, she walked up to a man in his mid-fifties, dressed in a white suit quite alike those Italian mafia bosses in the movies. Keiko put on her brightest smile and made her eyes big and bright while holding her arms tight against her side so that as she bowed, the top half of her cleavage showed.
“Konbanwa, Fujioka-tan~!” she said, in a very high pitched voice. She slid over to the older man’s outstretched arm, going in to hug him tightly from the side. All the while, Keiko had to suppress the disgust she felt at having to behave this way, the bile in her throat never failing to rise even though she had been doing this for over two months.
“Ah, Cherry-chan is here to greet me again?” smiled the old man, showing his crooked teeth. He leant forward to plant a disgusting kiss on Keiko’s lips and Keiko once again had to resist the urge to knee him in the groin. Think of the case, Keiko, the case…
Shota’s grip tightened on the glass as he watched the scene before him, also resiting the urge to beat Fujioka to a pulp. He had to commend Keiko for being a brilliant actor, and it was one of the reasons that she was usually chosen to be their spy. But he had his limits too as to how far his partner and kouhai should go for the sake of their work.
Finally, Fujioka pulled away from the kiss and pinched Keiko’s cheeks. “You’ve always been my favourite girl here, Cherry-chan. How are Katie-chan and Yuri-chan?” he asked, mentioning two of the other drink girls who also worked there and had no clue that she was a disguised policewoman.
Keiko made a show of pouting, as if disappointed. “Why are you asking about the other girls?” she whined, stomping her foot lightly on the ground.
Fujioka smiled, pulling Keiko in to lean against his chest while he patted her head. “Oh, there, there, Cherry-chan. Don’t be jealous! I’ll spend the whole night with you, okay?”
Keiko pretended to brighten up, holding up her pinky finger. “Promise?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.
Fujioka laughed, and hooked his pinky with Keiko’s. “Promise!” he shouted then led the way to the booth he always used in his visits to the bar.
Fujioka Kotaro, the man whom Keiko was now feeding cup after cup of sake to, was a well known drug dealer here in Kabukicho. The police had been on his tail for over a year now, but every time they came close to snaring the man, he would somehow manage to wriggle free. Keiko and Shota were part of the latest police taskforce assigned to investigate Fujioka, and hence was the reason Keiko now had to wear the ridiculous costume and act like a hostess.
After an hour of entertaining Fujioka and his guests, Keiko excused herself, using the excuse that she had to go and relieve herself. She laughed playfully when Fujioka, already heavily drunk, pulled her back down and started tickling her. Finally pushing him off, she ran for the door, still putting up an act of giggling until she closed the door. There, she stood for a minute with a furious glare, silently swearing profanities and making a motion as if she wanted to strangle Fujioka, which she had to admit that she did. As she turned to head towards the bar where Shota would be, she suddenly came to a stop when she came face to face with one of the idols Shota had mentioned were from the group named Arashi. The man peered at her curiously, crossing his well-toned arms over his chest, which his tight-fitting white shirt revealed to be muscular. Keiko returned the man’s stare defiantly, wondering why he was staring at her so intently. She had to admit, although she was not into idol fandom, the man was good looking and she recalled having seen him on News Zero. Suddenly deciding to ignore him, Keiko stormed past the man as she realised she was unnecessarily wasting her time here.
The door to the private booth on Sho’s left suddenly opened, and Aiba stuck his head out, hiccuping slightly as he had a goofy smile on his face, his face red from all the sake they had been drinking. “Hey, Sakurai! You done talkin’ on da phone?” he slurred, giggling uncontrollably. “The guys are sayin’ they miss ya already!”
A hand suddenly appeared at the door to slap the back of Aiba’s head. “Urusei yo! We don’t need him back in here!” came Nino’s shout from somewhere behind the wall.
Sho smiled as he shook his head, returning to poke his head back into the booth. They still had a lot of work to do tomorrow, but already, he could tell they will regret getting this drunk. But they had reason to be drunk, for after all, tonight had been the last concert performance of their tour. And it wasn’t like he wasn’t drunk too, already feeling somewhat light-headed from the drinks.
“Hey guys, I need to go piss now. I’ll be back and you guys had better save some of the sake for me!” he teased as he swiped Ohno’s cup and drained the last of his sake.
“Hey! That was mine!” whined Ohno as he peered at his cup with a pitiful look on his face.
Sho just laughed as he shoved Aiba back into the booth and closed the door. Then turning, he began heading towards the toilets when he suddenly heard two voices, a girl and a guy, conversing quietly around the corner. His curiosity getting the better of him, and why he was curious he wasn’t sure, he crept towards the corner to eavesdrop on their conversation.
“Argh! Why can’t I go with you guys? I’m sick of acting so girlish already!” snapped a feisty woman’s voice.
“Keiko, you have to stay here to not get caught. If he finds out that you’re a cop, then you’ll be in danger,” replied Shota calmly, with a frustrated sigh of someone who was dealing with a difficult child.
“Don’t you start sighing like that, Shota-kun.” There was a small silence, before Keiko let out a defeated sigh. “Fine, I’ll stay. You go round up the guys and head over to that nightclub. Too bad the old fart isn’t doing the deal himself this time. I’ll see if I can get him to slip out more info.”
Sho peeked around the corner, just in time to see Shota place a comforting hand on the girl that had caught his attention since he entered the bar. “Be careful, Keiko-chan. I won’t be around for the rest of the night.” He reached into his pocket, pulling something small out. “Force him to take these when things get out of hand. They’re sleeping pills.”
Keiko let out a small snort, suddenly standing very much like a man. “As if I wouldn’t have thought of that, Shota-kun.” She suddenly reached in between her cleavage, making Shota turn away in embarrassment as she removed a small zip-lock bag with two pills sitting inside. “See? I’m not stupid.”
“Geez, Keiko… Sometimes I wonder if you ever remember that you’re a woman. You know there are limits as to how relaxed and careless you can be around men, Keiko,” muttered Shota as a blush crept across his cheeks in the dark.
Keiko grinned a toothy grin as she returned the pills to her cleavage. “Sometimes I wonder why I was born a woman in the first place,” replied Keiko. She suddenly turned serious, the grin wiped from her face. “I should return now. They might start to wonder where I’ve disappeared to.”
Shota nodded and Keiko gave the older man a soft punch to the arm before turning to leave. Sho, realising that Keiko was walking his way, quickly ran and entered the men’s toilets where he hid until Keiko had passed. He then poked his head out the toilet door, frowning slightly as he watched Keiko enter the room beside them. Great… Look’s like we suddenly stepped into the wrong bar tonight. I should get the guys out of here before something bad happens.
Forgetting about the urge he had to piss, he returned to the private booth with his fellow band mates lying drunk all over the floor. Aiba was muttering some song along the lines of ‘I love Arashi, I am Aiba Masaki’, while Ohno and Nino were lying on top of one another, apparently asleep. He walked over to Jun, who seemed to be the least drunk of the four.
“Hey, MatsuJun! Wake up! Help me take the guys home.” He attempted to lift Jun up, which he succeeded in doing.
Jun fell back against the wall of the booth, smiling happily. “You want to go home already, Sho? But we’ve only been here for an hour or two. Why not stay here the whole night?”
Sho rolled his eyes, realising that perhaps Jun was drunker than he seemed to be. He lowered his voice, mindful of the fact that the man Keiko was investigating was in the booth next to them. “Something big is going on here and I don’t like it. It’s best to get out of here now.”
Jun suddenly let out a loud laugh, slapping his knee in the process. “Something big?” he shouted. “Let me guess… are you trying to suggest that perhaps the Yakuza are going to have a showdown with the police here? Have you been watching too many gangster movies lately, Sho?”
Sho hushed his friend, peering nervously at the wall to the room in which Keiko was in. “Keep your voice down! That’s exactly what I mean! They’re in the room next door.”
Jun looked at Sho with a smile that said he didn’t believe one word he was saying. “Really?” The sound of glass crashing and a girl laughing loudly came through the wall from the room next door. “Sounds like they’re having a blast in there!” he shouted with a smile. He suddenly pushed Sho off him and went to wake the others. “Hey, guys! Guess what! Sho said that the Yakuza are gonna have a showdown here!”
Aiba was the first to stir awake, sitting up to peer at Sho through blurry eyes and with his eyebrows raised. “Yeah? Let me see! I want to see some real live Yakuza!”
Nino and Ohno were the next to stir, Ohno pushing Nino off of him. “Yakuza?” repeated Ohno, scratching the back of his head as he peered around him. “I don’t see any.”
Nino draped himself over Ohno’s shoulders, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep. “I don’t care if there is an earthquake measuring 8 on the Richter scale. Just wake me up when it’s all over. My head is already pounding badly.”
Sho let out a frustrated sigh. No one believed him! Suddenly, there was another crash from next door, accompanied with a heavy thud. This got the attention of the other four, sobering them up somewhat. They stared at the wall, flinching as there was another thud and the sound of a gun being fired.
“Holy crap, there really are Yakuza next door!” shouted Jun, no longer in his drunken stupor.
“Ah, I knew we shouldn’t have come to Kabukicho tonight,” groaned Nino as he stood up and moved away from the wall of the noisy room with the others.
They stood there frozen, unsure of what to do now that a fight had broken out in the booth next door. Then suddenly, Sho realised that the undercover cop (who was no longer undercover) was fighting all those guys by herself. Without thinking, he sprinted out of the room and entered the booth next door, ignoring the surprised shouts of his band mates.
Last edited by silverd9 on Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:14 am; edited 8 times in total
Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 30 Location: In a black hole....
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:10 pm Post subject:
Chapter 2
Inside, the booth was a total mess with broken glass and food spilled everywhere. Sho peered around the inside of the booth, somewhat surprised. On the furthest wall facing the door lay an unconscious man knocked out cold, while Keiko was busy fighting with another two men. The three carefully watched where they were stepping, not only avoiding the broken glass but also the body of an old man who lay clutching his chest, no longer breathing.
What shocked Sho the most though, was the fact that Keiko was still managing to fight the two men despite the massive amount of blood flowing from the wound in her left shoulder. She suddenly missed blocking a punch and one of the men’s fists connected with her jaw, causing her to stagger backwards slightly. Sho, in a panic, spotted a gun lying on the floor by the booth’s door and picked it up, pointing it at the two men.
“Hold it right there!” he shouted, holding the weapon awkwardly in his hands. He had never held a real gun before, much less one loaded with bullets ready to fire.
The three within the booth stopped their fighting to peer at the one who was foolish to get involved in their business. Keiko realised who it was and rolled her eyes. Great, an idol who thinks he can be a real hero.
Taking advantage of her two attackers’ diverted attention, she suddenly snapped out her leg to kick each in the groin, before punching one guy in the face with her right hand and delivering a back kick to the other. Both men fell to the ground, semi-conscious as Keiko slumped back against the wall, clutching her injured arm.
The other four guys of Arashi suddenly stuck their heads around the edge of the door, peering into the now silent room. Sho continued to stand there, staring at the unconscious guys on the floor with his gun still pointed in Keiko’s direction.
“It would be nice if you could put that gun down before you hurt someone with it,” snapped Keiko, pushing herself back up and walking over to Sho. She snatched the gun out of his hands, quickly pressing some button on the holster to release the magazine clattering to the ground. She then tossed the now useless weapon on the floor beside her, peering at her wound on her arm. “Thank goodness the stupid bullet didn’t lodge itself in my shoulder.” She turned to peer at the five stunned idols, holding out a bloodied hand as if asking for them to hand something over. “Any of you have a phone on you?”
Jun was the first to snap out of his daze, immediately removing his mobile from his pocket and handing it over to Keiko. “H-here, Miss,” said Jun nervously, gazing at the scene inside in awe.
The corner of Keiko’s mouth curved up in a quick sarcastic smile before returning to her stoic mask. “Thanks,” she said as she took the mobile and began dialling the Kabukicho Police Station. As she was explaining to the policemen down at the station about the situation at the bar, more people had began to gather around the booth to see what had happened.
Sho and the other Arashi members began to grow awkward in the large crowd, noting how several of them were beginning to recognise who they were. Aiba crept over to Sho’s side, tugging on his sleeve he leant in to whisper in Sho’s ear. “Let’s get out of here, Sho. We can’t make this much of a scene…” Even Aiba expressed some shard of commonsense in times like these.
Sho turned to peer at Aiba then the others, who all expressed the same thought in their eyes. Nodding, he turned to peer at Keiko, somewhat reluctant to leave her by herself, bleeding from her wound. The five of them began to creep away from the booth, when a loud shout suddenly made them stop in their tracks.
“Halt!” shouted Keiko, stepping out of the booth. The five guys stopped, turning to face the fiery policewoman. “You five cannot sneak away! You must come with me to file a witness report, especially that one,” she commanded, pointing at Sho.
Bewildered, Sho raised his hand to point at himself. “That one?” he repeated, confused as to why the woman before him was addressing him in such a demeaning way. He frowned, displeased at the way she was treating him. “I have a name, you know. My name is Sakurai Sho, and I would appreciate it if you were more polite to me.”
Keiko just laughed sarcastically, placing her uninjured right hand on her hip. “Yeah? Well, to be honest, I don’t care who you are. So you, and the other four, must stay put.” She then peered past him, holding up the phone she had borrowed from Jun. “Were you thinking of leaving without your mobile, Mister?”
Jun, who was also annoyed at how disrespectful Keiko was being, frowned as he walked over to grab his phone from Keiko. Sho, annoyed that she had just dismissed him so easily, grabbed her left arm, forgetting that it was the one that was injured. “Hey, we haven’t finished talking!” he snapped angrily.
The next thing he felt was a pain in his right ear, a loud ringing impairing his hearing temporarily. He immediately let go of Keiko’s arm, clutching his ear in pain. “Itai! What the hell did you box my ear for?” he snapped, growing ever angrier.
“Serves you right for grabbing my left arm like that,” she snapped. Sho glared at her angrily and swore that she was smirking at him. He then peered down at her left arm and realised what he had done. Immediately, all the anger drained from his body and he was overcome with an overwhelming sense of guilt.
“Su-sumima-” His apology was suddenly cut off when a woman in a black and white kimono suddenly wailed. “What in Kami-sama’s name happened here?” She then snapped her head in Keiko and Sho’s direction, a look on her face that indicated she was ready to murder Keiko on the spot. “Cherry! I demand an explanation! Why is there a dead man lying in my shop?”
Keiko bowed, wincing slightly at the high pitch of the woman’s voice before her. “Ah! Sumimasen, Kyoko-san! The men inside mistook me as a spy or something and thought I was trying to kill Fujioka-san! But I wasn’t! Fujioka-san had a heart attack from getting too excited! I tried to explain to them, but they wouldn’t listen and tried to shoot me! That was when these brave, handsome guys from Arashi suddenly barged in to rescue me,” replied Keiko, returning to her character of Cherry.
All five members of Arashi stared at Keiko as if she had lost her mind, their eyes practically bulging out of their sockets. “We saved you?” blurted Ohno, pointing at himself dumbfounded.
Keiko turned to peer at them, smiling a smile so sweet that it was scaring them. “Of course you did! Especially you, Sakurai-san!” she said as she turned to peer up at Sho. “If it weren’t for you, I would have been dead by now,” murmured Keiko, her eyes suddenly becoming teary as she continued to gaze at Sho. “Arigatou gozaimashita, Sakurai-san!” chirped Keiko as she suddenly leant forward to plant a kiss on Sho’s lips.
Too shocked at the sudden act Keiko was putting on, Sho did not realise that he was being kissed. It was only when she pulled away did he regain some function of his frozen mind, but only enough to realise how pretty she was smiling at him brightly.
The police from Kabukicho Police Station chose that moment to finally enter the small bar, filling up the rest of the space in the narrow hallway with five more people. “We’re here to take those involved in the fight down to the station for further questioning. If you would all please follow me,” announced the man in charge, a man in his late forties and wearing a light brown suit. Sho noticed the hint of a frown on the man’s forehead as he peered at Keiko, who was avoiding the older man’s gaze by fussing over her arm and whining about how much it hurt.
The older man walked over to Keiko, peering at the wound on her arm. “Miss, the wound seems to be quite deep and you have lost quite a bit of blood. I think I should take you to the hospital.”
A flash of anger suddenly flickered in Keiko’s eyes, but was gone as she nodded meekly, allowing the older man to take her away. Sho watched as Keiko was led away, feeling a confused mixture of emotions. He was snapped out of his thoughts as Jun came to clap a hand on his shoulder. “I think we have to follow the police now. We’ll be in even more trouble if we run.” He gave Sho a firm squeeze on the shoulder before they both walked out of the bar, Jun with his hand still on Sho’s shoulder while the others followed them out behind.
Kyoko watched in a daze as the police continued to take the unconscious trouble makers away. Then a sudden realisation dawned on her. “Who is going to pay for all the damages?”
Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 30 Location: In a black hole....
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 1:37 pm Post subject:
Chapter 3
The Kabukicho Police Station was only a short walk away from the bar, and the five members of Arashi now sat around staring at the white ceiling above them in boredom. They have been stuck in the station for the past hour, waiting for their manager to come and help them clear up the mess they were currently in. Although they had done everything the police had asked and answered all their questions about what happened, they still refused to let the five of them go without someone there to prove who they really were. Even Aiba holding up the latest issue of Potato he had found lying around the station with their faces on it had not been enough to prove who they were.
When they had stepped out of the bar to follow the policemen, the five of them had witnessed Keiko receiving a rather nasty lecture from the older man (who was in fact the superintendent) while paramedics bandaged the wound on her arm. As they were about to take her into the ambulance to head towards the hospital, Keiko immediately ran away, entering the superintendent’s car shouting that she was fine and didn’t need to go to the hospital. The five of them found it strange that she refused to go to the hospital, for it was obvious that she had lost quite a bit of blood and would do better under the care of a doctor. The superintendent, left with no other choice, sighed and drove her to the police station which was within walking distance.
Nino was lying on the couch, his legs draped over Ohno’s lap as he busied himself with his DS. Jun sat on another chair, his legs crossed as he lazily flipped through a magazine for the fifth time. Aiba, who was leaning against the desk, had begun staring at Nino playing his DS, having grown bored of searching the office they were in. Sho was seated on another chair, every now and then gazing at the door beside him while he browsed the internet through his phone.
Aiba suddenly shuffled over to Nino’s side, gazing at the screen of his DS. After a few minutes of watching the game Nino was playing, he suddenly asked, “Can I have a go, Nino? I’m getting bored for waiting for Manager-san.”
“No,” was Nino’s curt reply as he continued to move his character around on screen. “I don’t want your grubby paws over my DS.”
“Hey! I’m not a dog!” exclaimed Aiba, a hurt look on his face. “Why can’t you share with me?”
Jun closed his magazine, smiling as he took in Aiba’s sad face. “You should know that Nino has never let any of us play his DS while he’s in the middle of a game.”
Aiba let out a frustrated sigh as he sunk to the floor, leaning against the wall behind him. “Then what can we do in here? We’ve been stuck in this stupid police station for the past hour waiting. What a way to spend the final night of our tour!”
Jun leant forward, resting his chin on the palm of one hand as he pondered something. “Hey… what do you guys think about that undercover cop?”
“The girl who was called Cherry or something?” asked Aiba, glad to have a conversation going between them to distract his mind. “Man, she was a scary girl. Awesome too, though. She managed to beat those guys up! It was like something you see out of a kung fu movie!” He began punching the air, silently mouthing a little ‘Hya!’
Jun nodded thoughtfully, leaning back in his chair. “Yeah… I thought she was an interesting person, albeit a little uptight. But what I found was the most amazing was her acting skills.”
At this, Ohno suddenly said, “Yeah, I was shocked at how different she suddenly became – totally a different person. She was so cool fighting those guys and then she suddenly turned into, well, a brainless girl.”
“I was thinking at that moment that I should ask her for some tips on acting,” piped Nino all of a sudden. Aiba sat up straight as he turned to stare at Nino.
“Eh? You want to ask her for acting tips?” he laughed, not believing what he was hearing. “Wow… Mr. Hollywood-san asking for tips from that girl…”
Nino paused his game before reaching behind him to slap Aiba on the back of his head. “Baka! Of course I know when to admit that others are better than me in acting.”
Sho remained silent throughout their conversation, deep in his own thoughts about what had happened that night. Since the first moment he had stepped into that bar, he had had a sense that something was not right. Then he had seen Keiko sitting at the bar, staring at them as they walked to their private booth. Although he acted as if he did not notice her staring, he couldn’t help but sneak worried glances in her direction, wondering if she would suddenly pounce on them the moment she recognised who they were. But he was surprised when she suddenly turned away, and he had gazed at her wonderingly then, wondering if she truly did not recognise them or care.
The next moment he had seen her, he was just finishing the conversation he was having with a close female friend when he noticed someone stepping out of the booth next door. He had hung up by then and watched in fascination and amusement as she mimed strangling someone. The she had turned and their eyes met and he saw her face properly for the first time. He was amazed by how pretty she was, her Eurasian features sharp and prominent in the dim light. Her cold eyes analysed him as well, and he realised she was sizing him up, which was a strange attitude for a woman who worked in such a bar to have. Once again half expecting her to suddenly fling herself over him, he was slightly shocked to see her storm past instead.
As he had eavesdropped on the conversation between Keiko and her sempai, Shota, Sho had begun to feel that the woman was beginning to intrigue him. She wasn’t like any other woman he had come across, so tough and daring. Even the other policewomen he had come across in the past had all had some sort of girlish side to them. But Keiko seemed to have very little feminine grace, as she had shown by the way she had stood and reached into her cleavage before Shota.
Then there was the situation where he found himself watching Keiko fight bravely, no hint of fear in her calm face. She was like a fiery goddess, throwing a punch and then snapping a kick without a care that her panties were exposed as she lifted her leg. But when he saw the man punch her, he realised that despite how good she appeared to be at fighting, she still need his help. And help her he did, only to be disrespected by her in return. He had to admit that he was still annoyed by the way she had treated him. Then suddenly, her rude character had disappeared to be replaced with a girl like so many others he had met. He had to admit, that although her sudden change in personality had befuddled and freaked him out, he couldn’t help but think that she was exceptionally cute. And then, she had to…
“Thinking about that kiss, Sho-kun?” teased Aiba, who had come to crouch beside Sho with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Sho turned to peer at Aiba, and suddenly realised that he had subconsciously raised his hand to touch his lips. Feeling awkward at having been caught reminiscing, he suddenly reached out to slap Aiba on the head.
“Baka! Of course I’m not thinking of that woman!” snapped Sho, concentrating on furiously scrolling up and down the page in his mobile.
“Itai! Why did the two of you have to hit me?” whined Aiba, moving sulk over in the corner behind the door.
The other three chuckled, shaking their heads. Jun was now staring at Sho, gazing at him with a stare that seemed to bore through his soul. “Please don’t look at me like that, MatsuJun. You’re giving me goose bumps.”
The corner of Jun’s mouth curved up slightly at Sho’s discomfort. “You were thinking of that kiss, weren’t you?”
A blush threatened to spread its way across Sho’s cheeks and he turned away from the other four, still busying himself with his mobile. “No, I wasn’t.”
Ohno smiled. “You were. To be honest, I envy you for getting kissed by such a pretty girl,” sighed Ohno.
“I think she was more of a guy than a girl,” snapped Sho, growing annoyed at their insistence that he was reminiscing over the kiss, which he of course was.
Suddenly, the office door flew open and there stood their manager, a look in his eyes that said he was ready to murder someone. Aiba, who had the misfortune to be sulking in the corner behind the door, was now sandwiched between the wall and the door.
“Itai! Help! Let me out!” sounded a muffled cry from behind the door.
Their manager let go of the door slightly and Aiba sprang out from behind, rubbing his sore arms. “Next time look to see if there’s someone behind the door, Manager-san!” complained Aiba.
“Ah, sumimasen, Aiba,” he apologised quickly, the anger disappearing for a second. Then, suddenly, he shouted at them, “HOW THE HELL DID YOU FIVE END UP IN SUCH A MESS??? Do you guys realise that if Kitagawa-san finds out you were involved in such a scandal, he’ll have all your projects cancelled for the rest of the year? Seriously guys, drinking in Kabukicho?”
“Hey! MatsuJun and Ohno were the ones who wanted to try a different bar in Kabukicho for a change. How were we supposed to know a fight was going to erupt all of a sudden?” whined Aiba, feeling that their manager was blaming them unjustly.
“Keep the volume down to a minimum, mister. And it’s unnecessary for you to yell at them like that, because that tall one is right. They didn’t know I was there and I suppose you can tell this Kitagawa-san guy that the five of them are heroes or something,” said Keiko as she suddenly appeared at the door, slapping a magazine against their manager’s chest. Sho briefly noticed that it was an issue of Wink-Up with their picture on the cover; however, he once again found that he couldn’t take his eyes off of Keiko. She was no longer in that ridiculous outfit with heavy makeup, instead sporting a dark navy blue tracksuit and a lightly powdered face. Her wig was gone and instead, her long dark brown hair was tied back in a pony tail. Sho found it peculiar that someone like Keiko would have long hair, but he had to admit that he suddenly had the desire to see her let her long hair drape down over her shoulders.
All six pairs of eyes were staring at Keiko now. She peered around at them, wondering why they were staring at her so intensely. “What? You guys can leave now. Sorry that we made you wait but it is standard procedure that we have someone confirm your identities in person, despite your idol status,” she snapped, disliking the attention she was receiving.
“Heroes? Why do you keep trying to make us seem like we were the ones who saved you?” asked Nino, finally putting his DS away.
“Why?” repeated Keiko, crossing her arms as she leant against the frame of the door. “Don’t you guys want to be known as heroes? I mean, that would be the only reason you idols would want to stick your heads into such a dangerous situation, right?”
Sho crossed his arms, frowning as he stood up. “Why do you have to look at us in such a negative limelight? Can you not assume that we only just wanted to help you, seeing as you were all by yourself fighting those men?”
“And can you not assume that I would have made it out of that situation fine without your help?” snapped Keiko, annoyed that Sho had argued back at her.
Sho took another step closer to Keiko, about to say something else when Aiba suddenly stepped between them with a peacemaking smile. “Chotto matte, Sho-kun, Miss…” he paused as he turned to peer at Keiko, unsure of how to address her as he did not yet know her name.
Keiko seemed annoyed that she would have to tell these five her identity, but nevertheless she told them. “Detective Miyazaki Keiko desu,” she said curtly, bowing a short bow that barely bordered on polite.
“Ah… Keiko-chan,” smiled Aiba as he turned back to face Sho, missing the small scowl that crept across Keiko’s face at having been addressed so familiarly. “Why do we have to fight? The main thing is no one got hurt, right, MatsuJun? Nino? Riida?” he said, turning to peer at Jun, Nino and Ohno for support. Before they could say anything, Aiba then turned back to face Keiko again, an excited grin on his face. “Ne, ne~ Keiko-chan! Would you mind showing me some of those karate moves you did? Hontou-ni sugoii ne~!”
“Karate moves?” repeated Keiko, still frowning although she felt a little pleased that she had received a compliment. “I’ll only show you some if you stop calling me Keiko-chan and instead address me as Detective Miyazaki-san.”
Sightly embarrassed, Aiba smiled as he bowed his head apologetically. “Ah, sumimasen Ke- I mean, Detective Miyazaki-san.”
Keiko couldn’t help but smile a little, growing a little excited at being given the chance to show off a little. She hadn’t done a proper martial arts display for anyone for quite a while. “Anyone willing to be my sparring partner? Otherwise, it’s just going to be a few boring kicks and punches in the air.”
All of Arashi peered at each other, none of them wanting to be the unlucky one to face Keiko’s attack. Aiba then grinned, pointing at Sho. “Why don’t you be Detective Miyazaki-san’s sparring partner, Sho?”
Sho stared at Aiba in disbelief. “Me??” he shouted, his voice cracking slightly as he pointed at himself.
A sadistic smile spread across Jun’s face as he crossed his arms, staring at Sho. “Why not, Sho? You were the one who wanted to be a hero earlier. Why not prove it now?”
Annoyed that Jun was now agreeing with Aiba, Sho turned to peer at Nino and Ohno for help, but they both held up their hands as if saying they had nothing to do with it all. He then turned to gaze at Keiko, who by now was grinning widely.
“Well then, Sakurai-san… Shall we?” said Keiko, all too willingly. She bowed before going into a guard stance, already preparing herself for the mock fight.
Panicking, Sho peered back at Keiko fearfully. “Ch-chotto matte!” he shouted, just as Keiko lifted her leg up to kick. Sho squeezed his eyes shut, raising his hands to block her kick. However, no kick ever connected with his face and he instead heard the rest of Arashi laughing hard.
“Hahaha! Sho, you should see your face!” laughed Nino, curled up into a ball with his mouth open wide as he laughed uncontrollably.
Sho slowly opened his eyes, lowering his hands down. He jumped back slightly when he saw a foot poised before his face, staring at it in amazement as it continued to hover just centimetres away from his face.
“Wah… sugoii ne, Keiko-chan!” exclaimed Aiba as he clapped his hands together loudly. Keiko finally lowered her foot, grinning like a pleased cat at the small joke she had played on Sho. “Your foot was hovering just centimetres away from his face!”
Keiko shrugged, retuning to lean against the wall. “It was nothing,” she said, suddenly feeling a little dizzy. She then turned to peer at Sho, still smiling. “You didn’t think I would really kick you, did you?”
Sho, upset that he had just been made a fool of, stormed up to Keiko and gripped both her arms tightly. “What is wrong with you? Do you enjoy being so intimidating towards others?”
Keiko winced, feeling the wound in her left shoulder open up again under her jumper. Mustering enough strength, she shoved Sho’s arms off her before punching him in the face. “You baka!” she shouted, clutching her left shoulder.
Sho stared down at his hand and saw that it was lightly covered with blood. Realising that he had hurt her again for the second time that night, he rushed up to hold her gently only to be pushed away. “Gomen…” he began but was silenced by the deathly glare she gave him.
“Just… go,” she said, glaring at him so angrily that Sho could not do anything but leave. The others soon followed suit, muttering soft goodbyes as they stepped out. Keiko collapsed in the seat Sho had vacated earlier, leaning her head back against the wall as she willed her mind to stop its crazy spinning.
“What a night tonight has been…” she murmured to herself, hoping that she would never have to come face to face with Arashi again. Sure, the little jokes she had pulled on Sho had been fun but it would be best if their paths never crossed again. She didn’t enjoy dealing with people from the entertainment business, having had a particular aunt attempt to persuade her to change professions to that of a model.
Keiko massaged the bridge of her nose, her dizziness still refusing to leave. She knew she was stupid to avoid going to the hospital after being shot, and now her wound had opened up anew again all thanks to Sakurai Sho. But she couldn’t afford getting stuck in one for the next few days. Keiko, being the oldest in the family, was responsible for keeping the house in order. Usually, when Keiko was not around, her younger sister, Aimi, who was the next oldest would be the one in charge but she had been staying on campus for the past few years as she finished the last of her studies. And so it was up to Keiko to manage her clueless mother and four other younger sisters for several more months. Plus, Keiko didn’t want to have all of them worrying over her like last time again…
A knock sounded on the door and Shota entered the room, a relieved smile on his face. “I heard about what happened at the bar after I left. Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?”
Keiko smiled reassuringly, albeit a little weakly. She decided against telling him that her wound had opened up again. “I’m fine, Shota-kun. That bastard just had to have a heart attack as I was about to feed the pills into his mouth. Any response from the Yakuza over his death?”
Shota shook his head tiredly, taking a seat on the sofa as he stretched. “Nope. However, they’ve already sent their lawyers over to bail their men out.” He paused, pondering over what to say next. Keiko took advantage of this pause to ask him about the drug bust she hadn’t been allowed to follow on. “Oh, that? It went smoothly. Six million yen of cocaine was seized, and I’m pretty sure the Yakuza won’t be too happy about that.” He paused again, this time staring at Keiko as if he wanted to say something to her but was hesitating.
Keiko rolled her eyes in exasperation after a minute of Shota staring at her. “Shota-kun, if you have something to say to me then just say it. Or I’m going to leave this instant.” She stood up and was about to open the door when Shota grabbed her wrist.
“Chotto matte, Keiko-chan... You’re not gonna like what I have to say, but… Boss and I have agreed that it’s the best thing for you right now.” Shota cringed slightly at the deadly way Keiko was now staring at him. He was glad that she respected him as a friend, because if it weren’t for that bond, he knew that Keiko would be strangling him by now.
“What’s the best thing for me right now?” said Keiko, her voice low and deadly. She had an idea what their Boss and Shota’s idea was, but she wanted to confirm it first.
Swallowing nervously, Shota continued. “We’ve decided that you should take several weeks leave after the sudden turn of events, especially since you were injured. The guys the Yakuza bailed out also know your face and if you keep hanging around Kabukicho, they might come after you.”
Keiko’s fist curled up into a tight ball as she turned around to punch the wall. “Kuso!” She paused, trying to think about what to do while ignoring the fact that everything around her was starting to distort. Turning around, she faced Shota with a determined look on her face. “I’m not afraid of them. I am a police officer, and I can’t just hide from them. Otou-san would turn over in his grave in shame if he ever found out I ran just because my identity was discovered.”
Shota came to place his hands on Keiko’s shoulders, looking into her eyes with concern. “Keiko-chan… You aren’t running away. Take this as a short break, a break you haven’t had since you left school. If you won’t take this time off for yourself, then take it off for your family. Weren’t you saying how they were complaining that you aren’t spending enough time with them?”
Keiko turned away from Shota, going over his words carefully. Although every shred of her being was telling her to refuse going on leave, she knew it was the right thing to do. Rubbing her hand over her face to chase away the dizziness she was feeling, she nodded her head slightly. “Alright, I’ll agree to it this once. Yuki-chan and Yuko-chan have been begging me to take them to Okinawa for the past few months, although Ma offered to take them but I don’t trust her.”
Shota smiled, relieved that Keiko was able to agree easily for once. “Yosh! Then do you need me to send you home? You still look very pale.” He then looked down at his hand and noticed that there was blood. “Keiko-chan!”
Keiko waved him off, wanting nothing more than to sit down again. “I’m fine…” she began, before her whole world suddenly plunged into darkness.
Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 30 Location: In a black hole....
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm Post subject:
Chapter 4
It was mid-afternoon when Keiko regained consciousness, groaning as she stirred in the hard bed. Opening her eyes, she peered around at the unfamiliar surroundings, soon coming to the realisation that she was in a hospital. Thoroughly annoyed, Keiko bolted upright, only to be punished as her head throbbed horribly from the sudden change in elevation.
There was the sound of a chair scraping the linoleum floor and then several hurried steps as the person who had been sitting rushed over to Keiko’s side. “Keiko-chan! Daijoubu? Don’t sit up so quickly like that,” said Shota in a panicked voice.
Keiko turned to peer at Shota, blurry-eyed. “Shota-kun… You didn’t tell Ma or anyone else that I’m in hospital now?” she asked, a slightly worried look on her face, her voice croaky from her parched throat.
Shota reached over to grab Keiko a glass of water from the pitcher on the bedside table, helping Keiko to sit up slowly and drink. “No, I didn’t. Seriously, Keiko-chan… Why were you so stupid? You knew that after losing so much blood, it would only be a matter of time until you passed out. And what did you do to reopen your wound again?”
Thinking back over the events of the previous night, Keiko scowled slightly. “That baka grabbed me after it was bandaged.”
“What baka?” repeated Shota, confused.
Keiko shook her head slightly. “Never mind… Thank you for not telling my family that I’m in hospital, Shota-kun. Now help me get out.” Keiko threw back her covers, attempting to get out of bed.
Shota held Keiko in place, pushing her back down onto the bed. “You’re not going anywhere, Keiko-chan. Seriously, why do you fear the hospital so much? Is it because of that time-”
“I just don’t want to be stuck in a small room for too long,” cut Keiko. “Please, Shota-kun… Help me get out of the hospital,” pleaded Keiko, holding on to Shota’s arm.
Shota peered back at Keiko for some time before removing Keiko’s hand from his arm. “Gomen, Keiko-chan. The doctor said you need to stay in the hospital for another three drays before you can be discharged. You need to restore your blood supply.”
Keiko stared back at Shota, growing slightly annoyed. But she knew playing stubborn with Shota now would get her nowhere. “Alright. I’ll stay. But try and persuade the doctor to let me out by tomorrow,” she said, returning to her bed and turning to face the other way. “Please leave me alone now. I still feel a little dizzy.”
Shota stared at Keiko’s back, unsure of what to say. He understood perfectly well why Keiko didn’t want to stay in a hospital, but at the same time he was worried for her health. Sighing, he decided to leave.
As Shota closed the door behind him, Keiko turned to peer over her shoulder with a look in her eye that indicated she was planning something. Like hell she would lie here without trying to get out of the hospital!
*
Sho was staring at his hand as he sat waiting in the hospital hallway, lost in thought as he remembered the blood that had covered his hand. He was waiting while the crew of News Zero were preparing the room for him to enter and interview an ojii-chan who had once fought in the Second World War. The station had asked him to do a piece on the war for the upcoming anniversary yet Sho’s mind had wandered. Instead, he found himself wondering about Keiko, whether she was alright. He felt bad for having hurt her twice, albeit unintentionally.
“Sakurai-san! Five more minutes and then we’re ready!” shouted one of the staff, breaking Sho from his thoughts.
Looking up, he nodded in acknowledgement as he prepared himself for the interview. Now isn’t the time to be worrying over that arrogant little policewoman, thought Sho to himself as he busied himself with his notes.
*
Keiko sat frustrated on her bed, already changed out of the hospital gown. She stared at the door angrily, annoyed that Shota had left another officer there to guard her. It was as if he had known she would try to escape!
With no other brilliant ideas coming to mind, Keiko stood up and strolled over to the door. She might as well do this the straightforward way, and that was to try and ask her guard to letting her out.
The officer outside her room stood up immediately as Keiko emerged from the room, moving to block her progress. “I’m sorry, Detective Miyazaki-san, but I’ve already told you that Detective Shota-san has ordered me to not let you out of your room,” he said.
Keiko frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. “Can’t I even take a walk outside? What is Shota-kun thinking? How can I recover fully if I’m to sleep on a bed all day?”
The officer frowned, peering up and down at Keiko’s outfit. “I see you still haven’t changed back into your hospital robes, Detective? Detective Shota-san did warn me that you might try to run and not to trust whatever you say.”
That damn Shota! Keiko rolled her eyes, pushing past the officer. “Don’t pay attention to Detective Shota-san. I’m totally fine and I just feel like a bit of fresh air.” Seeing that the officer didn’t trust what she was saying, Keiko suddenly smiled, thanking her luck that the man before her didn’t know her personally or otherwise he would have known that when she smiled, it meant trouble. “Seriously, Mister, all I want is a walk. I promise I’ll be back. If you don’t trust me that much, then maybe you can accompany me?” she suggested, hoping that he would trust her enough to let her go.
The officer hesitated, wondering whether it would hurt to let Keiko go for a walk. After all, she had offered that he follow her around to keep an eye on her. Shota shouldn’t mind. “Alright, Detective Miyazaki-san; I’ll take you around for a walk. But if you do anything funny, Detective Shota-san has given me full permission to use force to get you to return to your room.”
Keiko’s smile dimmed slightly as she rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Let’s go,” she said as she led the way down the hall, wracking her brain for a solution as to how to get rid of the annoying officer.
*
The interview with the ojii-san went by quickly, Sho being thoroughly engrossed in their conversation. They discussed a lot of things, the mood in the room generally sombre yet there were some lighter moments. After half an hour, Sho finally ended the interview with an encouraging smile, giving his blessing to the ojii-san to recover soon.
As he stepped out of the room, Sho smiled at the few fans that had gathered to watch the interview. He then noticed that one of them was a girl in a wheelchair, her head completely bald and an IV drip being pulled along by the nurse behind her. Still smiling, Sho walked up to the girl, kneeling before her.
“Hello there, mind telling Nii-chan what your name is?” he asked the girl.
The girl smiled excitedly up at Sho, obviously excited that he was speaking with her. “M-Miki desu,” she replied meekly.
Sho’s smile widen even further. “Miki-chan, huh? That’s such a kawaii name.” He then reached into his inner jacket pocket, making a sneaky glance as if he was doing something naughty. “Ne, do you want a mint, Miki-chan?” he asked, removing a packet of mints from his pocket.
Miki nodded her head eagerly, holding out her hand. “Arigatou gozaimasu, Nii-chan!”
As Sho was about to pass Miki some of his mints, the nurse suddenly cleared her throat from behind. “I’m sorry, but Miki-chan is not allowed to eat sweets,” stated the woman sternly.
The two peered up at the woman and Sho turned back to see Miki look down at the ground disappointed. Taking pity on the girl, Sho turned back to the nurse. “Just one mint won’t hurt her, will it?”
The nurse shifted slightly under Sho’s pleading stare, becoming uncertain as she blushed slightly. After some time, she nodded, much to both Sho and Miki’s relief. Sho turned back to Miki with a big smile, pouring the mint into her palm. “There you go, Miki-chan.”
“Itadakimasu~!” grinned the girl as she popped the mint into her mouth. Sho popped one into his mouth, peering at the little girl with interest.
“Ne, Miki-chan… Why are you in a hospital?” asked Sho.
The smile on Miki’s face faltered a little. “The doctors say I have something called leukaemia. I’ve been stuck in this hospital for over a year now.”
Sho suddenly felt guilty that he had asked. “Sumimasen, Miki-chan…” he began, but was cut off when Miki suddenly smiled brightly.
“Daijoubu, Nii-chan! I’ve grown used to living in a hospital. Also, if I weren’t here, I wouldn’t have been able to meet my ichiban from Arashi,” grinned Miki, although she was blushing slightly.
Sho chuckled, surprised at what he just heard. “Sou desu ka?” Then an idea suddenly popped into his head. “Then how about this? Why not let your ichiban take you out for a walk?”
Miki’s eyes suddenly widened in surprise. “Hontou ni desu ka?” She turned to peer up at the nurse, a pleading look in her eyes. “Reiko-chan, can I go? Onegai shimasu!”
Reiko nodded, smiling. “Of course, but I will still have to accompany the two of you.”
“Yay!” cheered Miki, clapping excitedly. Others around them began asking if they could join them, but Sho told them it would be better if they didn’t crowd the hallways with too many people walking around. Sho then turned to call one of the staff members over, telling him that they were going on a walk for the next five minutes and that he will leave straight after that. The guy nodded before turning around to relay this one of his seniors.
Sho walked around to behind Miki’s wheelchair, where he gripped the handles. “Yosh! Then let’s get going, Miki-chan!”
*
Keiko had been walking through almost every floor of the hospital for the past twenty minutes, still trying to figure out a way to lose the officer who was guarding her. She had nearly lost him several times, having tried walking really fast and finding obstacles to block his way, to running into an elevator and having it shut before he got there. But in the end, he always managed to catch up and by now, he was starting to get impatient.
“Detective Miyazaki-san, we have been walking around the hospital for the past twenty minutes. I think it is time we return to your room,” said the officer, stepping up to grab Keiko’s arm.
Keiko shook him off, glaring at him angrily. “I don’t want to return to my room yet!” she snapped before continuing on her walk. They were now on the rooftop where a garden grew, overlooking Tokyo.
“But Detective, Shota-san sai-”
“I don’t care what Shota says!” yelled Keiko, thoroughly angry. She spun around, turning to face the officer with the intention of knocking him down once and for all. “This is just getting ridiculous! I should be the one to decide whether I should leave-”
Keiko paused mid-sentence, having spotted a familiar face. Further up from where they were standing, Keiko watched as Sho pushed a girl in a wheelchair, the girl laughing merrily as Sho was obviously telling her some funny anecdote. She watched them, slightly awed at seeing this side of Sho that she didn’t think he had after their brief meeting last night. There was gentleness in his face as he talked with the girl, a soft look that hadn’t been there last time.
“Detective Miyazaki-san? We need to return now,” persisted the officer, snapping Keiko back to her current predicament at hand.
“I’m not going back now.” A thought struck her and she smiled. “In fact… I can see a friend of mine standing over there. I’m going to have a chat with him.”
Keiko strolled off, ignoring the officer’s protests. She walked up behind Sho and the kid, grinning widely. “Konichiwa, Arashi no Sakurai-san,” greeted Keiko, receiving a surprised reaction from Sho.
Sho spun around as Keiko greeted him from behind, a shocked look on his face. “Detective Miyazaki-san? What are you doing here?” He had never expected to see Keiko here, much less expected her to come and greet him so friendly after the bitter way they had parted the night before.
Keiko peered out the corner of her eye at the officer who was watching them intensely from a distance. “Well… It turns out I lost a little too much blood after all and fainted after you left but I’m fine now,” replied Keiko as if it was no big deal. She crept closer to Sho, who took a wary step back, afraid she would pull another trick like last night. Keiko frowned at his reaction and reached out to pull him roughly towards her so she could speak quietly into his ear. “I need your help.”
Sho peered back at Keiko, confused. “You need my help?” he repeated, a little too loudly.
Keiko held up a hand to hush Sho, slapping him roughly on the arm. “Shizuka na~! You see that man over there?” As Sho was about to turn to look in the direction Keiko had indicated with her eyes, he was stopped by another hard slap on the arm. “Don’t look! He’s someone my partner left behind to keep me trapped in the hospital and that’s why I need you to help me get away from him.”
Sho gazed at Keiko full of suspicion. “Why do you have to run away from the hospital like a criminal? Can’t you just ask to be let out?”
“I wouldn’t be asking for your help if I could, baka!” snapped Keiko, rolling her eyes. “Shota seems to have known that I would want to leave as soon as I woke even though the doctor said I needed to stay for another three days. But I can’t stay away from home for that long without my family growing extremely worried and disordered!”
“Then why should I help you?” frowned Sho, crossing his arms over his chest. “After all, the way you treated me last night wasn’t exactly polite.”
Keiko frowned, annoyed at how long it was taking her to convince Sho to help her. All the while, the officer was inching closer, attempting to listen in on their conversation. Miki and Reiko were also watching the pair curiously and were trying their best to not listen in on their conversation.
“Then should I remind you as to the main reason I got stuck in the hospital in the first place?” whispered Keiko furiously, pointing to her left arm.
The guilt that had been eating away at him from the night before returned as he remembered the blood that had covered his hand. He stared at where the bandage would be under her jacket, chewing the inside of his cheek. Should he help her out…? Or should he just ignore her?
Before he could reply, Keiko suddenly flung an arm around his shoulders, pulling him in talk into his ear. “If you help me out, then I won’t blame you for making me faint by reopening my wound. If you don’t-” Keiko’s grip around Sho’s neck tightened slightly, “Then I will personally make sure you suffer later.”
Sho swallowed nervously before nodding his head. “Alright, fine. I’ll help you. But how? You have that guy following you everywhere, right?”
Keiko released Sho, smiling brightly. She then turned to Miki, crouching down before her. “What’s your name?” she asked softly.
“Miki desu,” replied Miki, smiling back uncertainly.
“Miki-chan, huh?” Keiko reached out a hand to hold onto Miki’s shoulders. “It sucks being stuck in a hospital, ne?” She then leaned in to whisper into Miki’s ear, “Nii-chan is going to help Nee-chan escape from here. Do you mind if I borrow him for a while?”
Miki raised an eyebrow, gazing from Sho to Keiko. “Help you escape from here?” she asked, puzzled.
Keiko made a face, as if it wasn’t something she necessarily wanted to do. “Yeah… Nee-chan needs to get back home quickly but no one will let her out. Nee-chan has four sisters and a clueless mother waiting at home. My oldest younger sister is away from home at the moment so I can’t stay away from them too long or the house will fall apart without me there.”
A smile then spread its way across Miki’s face as she nodded in understanding. “Alright, Nee-chan! You can take Nii-chan to help you escape!” said Miki with a wink.
Keiko grinned and held up a hand for Miki to high five. “Arigatou, Miki-chan!”
Sho cringed as he watched Miki high five Keiko’s hand. “I really have a bad feeling about this…” he muttered under his breath.
_____________
A/N:
*sigh* Still no comments? I wonder if anyone is finding this story interesting...
Yup, guilty as charged! I'm one of those annoying I'm-reading-but-too-lazy-and/or-busy-to comment people... ^^ gomen.
But about the story, it's good! Please keep writing (at your own pace)! I'm definitely going to keep reading (and try to comment more often as well). It is nice to read a text written as well as this and the plot is developing well,too , holding me captivated. I am in no way good at reviewing, but I like this story and I'm going to tell me friends to read this too ^^. Happy writing!
Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 30 Location: In a black hole....
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:43 am Post subject:
Chapter 5
Sho and Keiko waved as they watched Reiko wheel Miki away, before turning around to face the officer who was now walking over to them. Frowning, Sho leaned over to whisper to Keiko, “Are you sure he is going to believe this? Doesn’t he know you better than that?”
Keiko, with a wide plastic grin on her face, hissed back at Sho, “Of course it will work! But you have to play your part properly!” She gave him a little pinch on the arm, making him squirm a little before she took his hand in hers.
“Ne… what was your name again?” piped Keiko rather cheerily, looking slightly embarrassed.
“Officer Nakamura desu,” replied the officer, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly in annoyance. It seemed as if he’d had enough of Keiko wandering around the hospital.
“Ah… sou desu ne… Nakamura-san, do you mind if I go for a little private walk with, um…” At this point, Keiko had begun to smile shyly and lower her voice. “With, er, my boyfriend. We need to be discreet and everything, so… would you mind waiting here for us? I promise I won’t try to find a way to get out again.”
The frown on Nakamura’s face deepened at this but he stood his ground. “Sumimasen, Detective, but letting you outside of your room is already going beyond my orders. Perhaps you two can go spend some time in your room?” suggested Nakamura, hoping that this would get Keiko to head back to her room so he could finally take a rest.
Keiko frowned, rolling her eyes. “Why would I want to go back to my boring room when the atmosphere out here is so much better? Right, Sho-chan?”
Sho raised an eyebrow at Keiko calling him ‘Sho-chan’, trying to hold back his laughter. “Sho-chan?” he blurted out, earning a slight pinch on his arm again. “Ah-! Yeah, the atmosphere out here is so much nicer and I think it will do my dear Keiko-chan better to walk and breathe in the fresh air. It’s been such a long time since we had a quiet moment to ourselves, ne, Keiko-chan~~?” smiled Sho sweetly, raising Keiko’s hand up to hold in both his hands as he peered at her with laughter in his eyes. If she wanted to play this game, then he will play this game properly with her.
Keiko didn’t hesitate to give Sho a big pinch to the side as she turned away embarrassed. “Sho-chan!! You’re embarrassing me here~!”
Nakamura looked away nervously, growing uncomfortable with the lovey-dovey atmosphere these two before him were putting up. He shuffled slightly on the spot, scratching the back of his head. “Um… I’ll give you guys five minutes. I’ll be waiting at the exit over there,” he said as he pointed to the entrance to the gardens before walking away.
A triumphant grin spread across Keiko’s face as she then turned and began pulling Sho along with her. “Yosh! Now we have five minutes to find an alternate exit out of this garden.”
“He’s not much of a policeman if he believed us that easily,” said Sho thoughtfully as he peered over his shoulder at the officer. “But then again, I suppose we’re great actors.”
Keiko turned to peer at Sho in disbelief, chuckling slightly at the proud grin he was wearing on his face. “Are you praising yourself? Please, if I hadn’t pinched you several times, I’m sure he would have caught us out.”
Sho frowned as Keiko turned back to her searching, still being pulled along by her. “As if it’s easy pretending to be a callous girl’s boyfriend! But I suppose you are still into your role of being my girlfriend seeing as you haven’t let go of my hand yet.”
Keiko came to a sudden stop and shoved Sho’s hand away from hers. “As if I wanted to continue holding your hand!” she snapped back, thankful that she still had her back to Sho so that he couldn’t see that she was embarrassed that she had forgotten. But as to why she was embarrassed, she had no idea.
As Keiko was about to walk off again, she suddenly came across a door. “Ah! A fire escape,” said Sho from behind her.
“Yeah…” replied Keiko quietly, walking over to inspect the door. “The alarm will sound if we open it though.”
“Then does that mean we have to keep looking?” sighed Sho, turning to look around behind him.
“Nope,” grinned Keiko as she opened the door. The fire alarm sounded as Keiko ran through the door and Sho quickly sprinted in after her, shocked at what she had just done.
“Are you insane, Detective? How could you just set off the fire alarm like that?” shouted Sho in a panic, flying down the stairs after Keiko.
“Easy, just push and open,” shouted Keiko back. “Where is your car parked?”
“My car? On the ground floor of the car park. Why?” asked Sho.
Keiko remained silent as they continued running down the fire escape, which had begun to crowd with other people who were using the passage to escape. As they neared the third floor, Keiko reached out and grabbed Sho, pulling him over to the corner with her where they were pressed together tightly.
“This is the floor that the walkway to the car park connects, right? We’ll have to squeeze our way out in a minute,” explained Keiko, watching the door as more and more panicked people piled into the fire escape.
Sho nodded, trying to ignore the fact that he was now tightly pressed against Keiko. He peered at her out the corner of his eye, marvelling at the concentrated look on her face. It was the same look she had the previous night as she fought the yakuza, a determined focused look that he found fascinating. Someone suddenly shoved him hard in the back and he fell even harder against Keiko, his lips suddenly connecting with the corner of her mouth. He immediately drew away, but the only response from Keiko he received was a mildly surprised look before she turned to peer back at the door.
After another minute, Keiko finally shouted, “Now!” She dragged him through the thinning crowd and they erupted out onto the third floor and began sprinting towards the walkway. Keiko was slightly faster than Sho, but nevertheless, he kept pace with Keiko and they soon emerged out onto the third floor of the hospital car park and from there they took the stairs to the ground floor.
“Which one is your car?” shouted Keiko as they emerged from the stairs.
“That Pajero over there!” shouted Sho as he pointed at his car. He ran over to it, quickly pulling out his keys. “I think I’ve more than repaid my debt to you today,” muttered Sho as he opened his door and got in.
“And for that I am very thankful, Sakurai-san,” retorted Keiko sarcastically as she got into the car and put her seat belt on. “Now let’s get out of here!”
*
After they had made it out of the long queue of cars trying to escape the supposed fire in the hospital, Sho drove Keiko home. The drive to Keiko’s home was quiet in comparison with their noisy escape, mostly due to the fact that Keiko had soon fallen asleep in the car, leaving Sho to drive her home according to her earlier instruction. Occasionally, she would startle awake, only to peer around her briefly so as to know where they were. Sho soon figured that she probably wasn’t fully asleep, but only half-asleep. But he had to admit, even if she was only half-asleep, the peaceful look on her face helped to calm him down after the adrenaline rush she had put him through earlier at the hospital.
Keiko remained fully awake after Sho exited the freeway, occasionally pointing out the way as they drew closer to her home. Besides these few directions, Keiko remained silent throughout their journey. Sho peered at Keiko wonderingly at this silence, and was slightly worried to see how exhausted she looked. Perhaps she was not as fine as she boasted to be back at the hospital and the stunt she had pulled there must have drained most of her strength. He frowned slightly as he made a right turn as per Keiko’s instruction, wondering if he had done the right thing in helping Keiko escape. But then he decided there was no use in worrying – she would have found her way out of the hospital eventually, one way or another.
As Sho drove past a suburban park, Keiko suddenly shouted. “Stop the car!”
Sho immediately stepped on the brakes, spooked at the sudden urgency of Keiko's voice. “What's wrong? Detective?” As he turned to face Keiko, he found that she was no longer in the car but running towards the park. “Detective!”
Stepping out of the car, Sho ran after Keiko, puzzled as to why she had suddenly run out of the car. As he approached her however, he was surprised to see that the cause of Keiko's rush was none other than a small beagle which she was holding onto and trying her best to keep from licking her face excitedly.
“Stop that, Taishi! Bad boy! I can't believe you ran away from home again!” reprimanded Keiko, although that did nothing to stop the enthusiastic dog.
The dog finally tired of trying to lick Keiko's face and attempted to jump out of Keiko's arms but she kept her hold tight on the medium sized dog. “No, Taishi! I'm going to take you home this instant! Ma will panic if she finds you gone when she comes home!”
Sho watched in amusement as Keiko wrestled with the dog, finally wrapping her arm around the dog and holding him at her hip. “Is that your dog, Detective?” asked Sho as Keiko turned around to face him.
Keiko made a face as if she didn't want to admit that Taishi was her dog. “Yes... and no. Taishi was a birthday present for me two years ago but I never had the time to look after him. So Ma took him under her care and now she can't live without him.” She began walking off, heading off in a tangent to Sho's car.
“Aren't you getting in my car?” asked Sho when he realised Keiko was not walking towards his car. He jogged to catch up, marvelling at how fast Keiko was able to walk despite looking so tired before.
“My house isn't that far from here so I can walk back by myself. Thank you for giving me a ride,” replied Keiko, hefting Taishi up a little as he began to squirm, trying to make his way over to Sho with interest.
Sho sped up, walking over to Keiko’s side where he grabbed Taishi from her. “You shouldn’t push yourself too hard, Detective. I saw how tired you looked in the car and I’m not going to let you walk home by yourself in such a weak state. Boy, you sure are an energetic dog, Taishi!” laughed Sho as Taishi began licking his mouth.
Keiko shrugged as she then turned to continue walking. “Suit yourself then. But there’s one thing I should tell you and that is that it’s not a really good idea to let Taishi lick your mouth. He has a habit of devouring his own faeces as a snack.”
The smile on Sho’s face suddenly disappeared as he held Taishi away at arms length. “NANDE??? You could have told me that earlier!!” he shouted, wiping his mouth with a disgusted look on his face.
Keiko suddenly laughed at the scene Sho was making. “Well, now you know not to trust a dog in licking your mouth!” she teased, poking out her tongue at Sho.
Sho stopped wiping his mouth for a second, a smile spreading across his face as he realised that this was the first time he saw Keiko act playful so naturally. He then frowned as he continued to wipe his mouth. “This is truly disgusting…” he muttered in a displeased tone, although a hint of a smile remained on his face.
“Nee-chan? Is that you?” shouted a girl of around eleven years from further up the road.
Keiko turned around and a warm smile spread across her face as she raised her arm to wave at the girl. “Hai! Ai-chan, are you looking for Taishi?”
Ai ran over to them, grinning widely as she peered up at her older sister. “Hai, Nee-chan! Ma accidentally left the gate open again this morning when she left for the flower shop and when I got back this afternoon, I found that Taishi was gone. I’ve been searching for him for the past hour.” She suddenly peered past Keiko, the grin on her face faltering slightly at the sight of Sho.
Keiko noticed the look of her youngest sister and turned to peer at Sho, who still held Taishi away at arms length. “Ah, yeah… Ai-chan, you watch a lot of those dramas and listen to those pop songs, right? You know who he is right…?” Keiko trailed off as she watched her younger sister approach Sho, an excited look in her eyes.
“Ano… are you telling me that he really is Sakurai Sho from Arashi, Nee-chan?” asked Ai in disbelief, turning to peer up at her sister for confirmation, which she received in the form of a nod. Ai’s eyes widened and she turned to grin excitedly up at Sho. “Oh, Kami-sama! I can’t believe a member of Arashi is standing before me!” squealed Ai excitedly.
Sho smiled awkwardly, wanting to scratch his head but his hands were full with the dog which had now grown still. “H-hai, I am Sakurai Sho. Hajimemashite.”
Ai ran up to Sho and took Taishi from him, before taking a few more steps back to stand next to her sister. “Wait until Yuki and Yuko nee-chan hear about this!”
Keiko frowned at her little sister, crossing her arms over her chest. “They’re not going to find out about this because this is as far as Sakurai-san will go. He needs to get back to his work and we need to get back home before Ma finds out that Taishi ran away from home again.”
Sho peered at Keiko, somewhat disappointed that she seemed so eager to get rid of him after all he had done to help her. “So that’s it? No greater show of thanks or anything for the trouble you’ve put me through today?”
Keiko glared at Sho annoyed. “Fine! Domo arigatou gozaimashita, Sakurai Sho-san. I am truly thankful and honoured that you have helped to bring me home today and am truly apologetic for having caused you so much trouble. Perhaps, if fortune smiles on us, we shall never have to meet again and cause one another more misfortune. Happy?” She gave him a mocking bow before turning on the spot and walking off.
Ai watched her sister walk ahead, giggling slightly before turning around to peer at Sho with a smile. “She must be starting to like you, Sho-san, to patronise you in such an eloquent way. It’s only with people she likes that she feels the need to show off how well she can string words together.” Her face brightened as an idea suddenly came to her mind. “Ne… why don’t you join us for dinner? Don’t mind what Nee-chan says because I’m sure everyone else would love to have you over. That is… if you don’t mind eating with us and have nothing else to do?”
Sho stared after Keiko before turning to smile down at Ai. “Sou desu ka? Alright, I’ll join you guys for dinner. But are you sure it’s alright with your Nee-chan?”
Ai waved Sho’s doubt away with one hand as she turned around and began leading Sho towards the Miyazaki home. “Like I said, don’t worry! Take it as if you are now my guest, Sho-san!”
Sho couldn’t help but grin at Ai as he followed her, marvelling at how much like an adult she was behaving. He had a feeling that visiting Keiko’s house was going to be very interesting and he was growing eager to meet the other members of the Miyazaki household.
________________________________________________
A/N:
Thanks's for the comments guys! I was just wondering if anyone else was interested in this story and I'll admit to being a lazy commenter too :P
Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 30 Location: In a black hole....
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 5:20 am Post subject:
Chapter 6
The Miyazaki household was a medium sized building spanning three floors, an average modern Japanese home with a very tiny front garden behind a wire gate. In the garden, Sho saw that it was mostly cluttered with potted flowers, and what was Taishi’s kennel hidden in the midst of it all. Taishi immediately jumped out of Ai’s hands as Keiko opened the gate, immediately running to his house where he began lapping noisily from his water bowl beside it.
“Stupid dog… you shouldn’t have run away if you’re so eager to get back home like this,” muttered Keiko in annoyance as she held the gate open for her younger sister, but let it close on Sho.
“You could have held it open for just a little longer…” grumbled Sho as he reached behind to open the gate.
Keiko rolled her eyes as she walked up the steps to the front door. “You shouldn’t even be here in the first place.” As Keiko went to open the door, she was about to shout out “Tadaima!” when something – or rather, someone – suddenly jumped on her.
“Keiko-chan! Have you seen Taishi? Ma was being baka again this morning and left the gate open!” cried the woman who had jumped on Keiko.
Keiko pried her mother's arms from around her, wincing slightly from the pain in her arm. “Ma! Taishi's fine. He's over there filling up his bladder,” explained Keiko with a slight hint of annoyance in her tone.
Keiko's mother pushed passed her eldest daughter, running down the steps over to where Taishi was standing, wagging his tail enthusiastically. “Taishi! There you are! Let mommy give you a big hug~! Don't scare mommy like that again, okay, Taishi? You had mommy crying!” pouted the woman.
Sho peered at the older woman in disbelief, scratching his head slightly. He never thought that Keiko's mother would be so... energetic. She was definitely not Japanese, her blond hair tied back in a plait although several strands had come loose. The baby blue sun dress she was wearing was slightly crumpled and her mascara had run a little from the crying she had been doing earlier. But besides these little imperfections to her current image, he could tell from whom Keiko had inherited most of her beauty.
Keiko turned from staring at her mother in annoyance to facing the doorway, where she found her second youngest sister standing in there, looking gloomy in her gothic attire. “I take it you were left to look after Ma all this time, Rina? Where are Yuko and Yuki-chan? Weren't they supposed to be at the shop with Ma?”
Rina carefully adjusted her fringe as she stared at her mother with the same annoyed look Keiko had. “I don't know, but I am so going to make them pay when they get back. It was dreadful. I was in my room composing a new song when Ma suddenly burst in and began crying like that about fifteen minutes ago. She was about to run out when you and Ai-chan returned.” Rina turned her nose up as their mother began cooing to the dog. She then turned to peer at Sho, having noticed him standing there for the first time.
Ai noticed where her older sister was staring and smiled happily. “You know Sakurai Sho from Arashi, right, Rina nee-chan?”
Rina frowned, giving Sho a slightly disgusted look. “One of those Johnny’s boys? What's he doing here?”
Sho frowned at the reception he was receiving from Rina, disliking the fact that she had suddenly thrown the cliché stereotype of a Johnny’s on him. He decided to let that comment slide, in order to remain polite as he saw from the corner of his eye that Mrs Miyazaki had now turned her attention to him.
“I have been invited to dinner here, after all the trouble Detective Miyazaki-san has put me through today,” replied Sho.
Keiko scowled as she turned to glare at Sho. “I didn't invite you here for dinner! You just followed!”
“Oh? Keiko-chan invited you to dinner, you say?” piped Mrs Miyazaki as she stood up, keeping a firm hold on Taishi in her arms. “Why, that's wonderful! Keiko-chan hasn't invited any friends over for a long time!”
“I didn't invite him, Ma! And he's not my friend!” shouted Keiko back at her mother.
“Well, there's not gonna be any dinner at all unless someone starts cooking it,” said Rina all of a sudden. Everyone turned to look at her, puzzled. She stared back at everyone, shrugging. “What? It’s Yuko nee-san's turn to cook dinner tonight and she's disappeared along with Yuki nee-san, leaving Ma to come home by herself.”
Keiko turned to frown at her mother, crossing her arms over her chest. “Ma, where have Yuki and Yuko-chan gone? Didn’t they go with you today to help you arrange flowers at the shop?”
Mrs Miyazaki looked away in shame from her eldest daughter. “Well... Ma forgot that it was Yuko-chan’s turn to cook tonight when Ma let her and Yuki-chan go on group date with their friends.”
All three Miyazaki sisters rolled their eyes in exasperation. “Ma!” they sighed in unison. Keiko then turned to peer at her two younger sisters. “So who wants to cook then?”
Rina immediately raised her hands up to brush away the responsibility. “Not me,” she said before walking back into the house. “You guys know how bad my cooking sucks. Just call me when dinner is ready.”
“Rina!” shouted Keiko after her sister, but Rina disappeared upstairs. She then turned to face Ai. “I suppose you cooked dinner last night, right Ai-chan?”
Ai nodded, smiling. “Yeah, but I can still cook again tonight if you want me to, Nee-chan,” offered Ai.
Keiko shook her head. "No, no, it’s alright. I suppose I can-"
“Why not let Ma cook tonight?” suggested Mrs Miyazaki, rather cheerfully.
“NO!” shouted both Ai and Keiko in horror. Sho figured that their mother’s cooking must be really bad to afford such a reaction from her daughters.
Keiko let out a sigh. “Just let me cook dinner tonight. I’ll go see what I can pull together with what’s in the fridge.”
“Let me help too, Nee-chan,” smiled Ai as she ran into the house before her older sister.
“Make sure you wash your hands first then, Ai-chan!” shouted Keiko after her little sister with a smile. She stepped into the house, leaving her mother alone to continue playing with Taishi outside his kennel.
Sho followed Keiko into the kitchen, unsure of where to go as he was being ignored. Keiko spun around to stare at Sho in annoyance as she felt him following behind, her hands on her hips. “Go wait in that room over there,” said Keiko, pointing in the direction of a small room beside the front door.
“Oh, hai,” replied Sho, somewhat awkwardly. He didn’t move however, and continued to stand there, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. “Ano… would you, er… like me to help you in the kitchen?” he suddenly decided to ask. He felt awkward letting Keiko cook for him while he just sat around. But when he saw Keiko raise an eyebrow in question, he immediately continued, “It’s not that I don’t trust your cooking or anything! It’s just – I – er-”
Keiko suddenly shrugged before turning around. “Suit yourself, but don’t get in my way.”
Sho blinked several times in surprise before he registered what Keiko had said. “You’re really going to let me help?” he asked, walking over to stand next to Keiko as she opened the fridge to explore its contents.
“Why shouldn’t I let you help? After all, you’re going to be eating this dinner too,” said Keiko as she pulled out several vegetables which she piled on the kitchen counter. “Wash these and start chopping them up. Looks like I’ll be able to make some yakisoba with what’s left in the fridge.”
“Er, hai,” replied Sho as he took the vegetables over to wash in the sink.
Ai entered the kitchen still drying her hands on her shirt after having washed them in the bathroom. “Ne… Nee-chan? I forgot to ask you this earlier. How come you’re back? Shota-san called us this morning saying that you will be away for three more days because of work,” she asked. She paused when she saw Sho washing the vegetables at the sink. “Oh, are you helping out too, Sho-san?”
Sho turned back to nod at Ai with a smile. “Hai, Ai-chan,” he replied.
“It’s starting to annoy me that the only thing you keep saying is ‘Hai’,” muttered Keiko as she pulled out a chopping board and knife to slice the pork fillet.
“What else should I say then?” retorted Sho, earning a sideways glare from Keiko which he brushed off with a smile. He shook the cabbage he had been washing dry, carrying it over to a chopping board Ai had pulled out for him. “Ah, arigatou, Ai-chan,” thanked Sho. He then turned to peer at Keiko, a teasing smile on his face. “You haven’t answered your sister’s question yet. Why did you come back earlier?”
Keiko glared at Sho again, reminded of the little fiasco she had caused at the hospital earlier that day. She then noticed Ai staring at them puzzled and she smiled at her younger sister reassuringly. “Oh, it turns out that Boss decided to give me a few weeks holiday starting from today. And weren’t you guys asking to go to Okinawa? We can take this chance to go there as a family. We haven’t done that in a long time…” She trailed off when she saw the accusing look her younger sister gave her.
“Nee-chan, did you do something wrong again and get suspended?” asked Ai as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“I didn’t get suspended! I only just-” Keiko stopped herself before she let out that she had been shot and was supposed to be in hospital.
“Just what, Nee-chan?” probed Ai further.
“Just…” Keiko then let out a frustrated sigh. “Argh! Why do I have to explain myself to you? I’m your Nee-san, remember? If I say it’s not because I got suspended, then it’s not because I got suspended!” She suddenly stormed over to both Sho and Ai where she began shoving them out of the kitchen. “I’ve decided that I don’t need either of you to help me. You’re actually delaying me more than helping me,” she snapped, giving them a final shove out of the door. “Dinner will be ready in half an hour!” she shouted after closing the door behind her.
Sho let out a soft chuckle, scratching the back of his head. “Your Nee-chan sure is impulsive ne, Ai-chan.”
Ai smiled softly as she shook her head. “Yeah, she’s always been that way since I can remember. But sometimes, I’ve heard Aimi nee-chan and Ma talking about how she wasn’t like this before Otou-san passed away.” She then frowned as she began stroking her chin. “I wonder what she did to get put on forced leave. Do you know, Sho-san?”
Sho rubbed the back of his neck as he smiled awkwardly. “Not really… your sister just suddenly kind of… bumped into me and forced me to help her run away from something,” he said, hoping that he had twisted enough of th
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