Wah! Really interesting; for some reason it got me thinking of Nobuta wo Produce ...just the way Haruko is...

Can't wait to read more!

Haruko, what are you plotting? Great chappie! Please continue.

Thanks so everyone for your kind comments...here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy it! <3Shan



Ueno, Taito Ward, Tokyo. Tuesday June 24th, 2008. 8:42 P.M.

It had been over two weeks since Ohno had spoken to Lucy. He had recently done a small Dome tour across Japan and now he was finally home. He felt uneasy however, Lucy hadn’t once tried to contact him while he was away. The last time he had seen her was at the teahouse; they hadn’t parted on bad terms so he couldn’t understand why she didn’t call.

He pulled out his new AU slide phone (a gift from the company) as he relaxed into his leather couch. He flipped through his contacts until it came to her name. He pressed send and listened anxiously as it continued to ring. After about five rings her voicemail clicked on. He listened to her sweet low voice echo through his phone. First she spoke in Japanese, and then repeated the same apologetic message in English. Before the message was over, he hung up the phone. She couldn’t be avoiding him, he hadn’t done anything wrong. He decided it would be best to go to her apartment and see if she was there. He hoped with all his might that she would be there.

It took him nearly a half an hour to walk to Lucy’s house. She lived in a tall apartment complex, on the third floor. As he paced impatiently in the elevator, he tried to figure out what he was going to say to her. What if she had decided that being with him was a bad idea; what if she was deliberately trying to avoid him? He reached her floor and stepped out of the elevator. It was then that Ohno realized that he had never been to Lucy’s apartment before. He had only left her at the front of the building once after a late night stroll.

Ohno stood awkwardly in the hallway, contemplating his next move. He knew that if he called her she most likely wouldn’t answer.

“You look lost.” A voice came from the other end of the hallway. Ohno turned and saw an aging woman standing there watching him. It made him a bit uneasy but he smiled at her none the less.

“I’m looking for a friends apartment…I’m not sure which one she lives in.” Ohno explained, flashing her his best nice guy grin. The woman just smiled back at him; obviously giving him the once over. She walked towards him after a few moments.

“Lucy?” She asked and Ohno nodded dumbly. He assumed that Lucy was the only tenant in this building likely to be his friend. Still, he couldn’t fight the blush that rose upon his cheeks in the span of a few seconds.

“Come with me.” She said and he obediently followed her down the long hallway. They came to a stop at room 314; just beyond this door was Lucy. The woman knocked on the door as Ohno stood foolishly at her side.

“Who is it?” Came the tired voice of Lucy from the other side of the door. Just the sound of her voice comforted Ohno; to know that he was this close to her.

“It’s Tanaka, from down the hall.” She called back towards Lucy. She then looked up at Ohno; winked at him and began to walk back to her apartment. Seconds later, Lucy opened the door. She was beyond surprised to see Ohno standing there.

Ohno took in her casual appearance and he couldn’t contain the laughter for very long. She wore a pair of pink-checkered boxer shorts and an orange tank top. As if that wasn’t a sight already, she was topped off with a pair of neon green house slippers. His very own fashion disaster.

“Nice outfit.” He said with a bright, sarcastic smile on his face. Lucy smirked for a split second.

“Says the man who still lets his mother buy his clothes.” They both laughed together for a moment until a sudden heavy air filled the hallway; surrounding them. He looked up at Lucy; a slight grin still written on her face but a dull pain reflected in her green eyes.

“You haven’t called…” Ohno said quietly. He could see her usually glowing eyes filling up with tears. An ache pulsed through his chest as he watched her internal struggles like it was playing on her face.

“Lucy…daijoubu?” Ohno asked as he took a step closer and took Lucy in her arms. She gripped his t-shirt until her knuckles turned white. She sobbed into his shirt as he ran his delicate hands through her dark hair. After a few minutes, Lucy looked up into Ohno’s eyes. It hurt him to see all her pain reflected back to him.

“Who’s Haruko?” She asked and Ohno froze. How could Lucy possibly know who Haruko is?

“She’s a girl who works at the art supply shop that I go to…why?” Ohno asked, confusion making his eye brows furrow together. Lucy took a deep breath and told him.

“She…she threatened me…in the parking lot at the college.” Lucy admitted, looking ashamed that she hadn’t told him earlier. The horror that seeped into his veins froze Ohno in place. He knew this way happening because of him, because of who he was. He took her quickly into his arms and hugged her as tightly as his body would allow; her hot breathes seeping through the cotton of his t-shirt.

“You don’t have to worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Ohno whispered. It was the truth, he would try his best to keep her safe. After what felt like an hour, Ohno led her into her apartment. He politely took off his shoes and replaced them with the only available pair of house sippers; which thankfully weren’t neon colored. The apartment was small and cozy; he was surprised to see a very limited amount of western furniture inside the apartment.

There were three rooms; the living area which had a small kitchen in the far corner and a small sitting table that still had the remnants of her last meal scattered on it. The room just opposite from her table was a small tatami room with a sliding rice paper door; it was minutely decorated and looked rarely used.

Ohno followed Lucy into her kitchen where she poured herself a cup of coffee and leaned up against the counter as she took slow sips. Ohno’s eyes traveled to her refrigerator where he saw the newspaper clipping of his art show; his smiling face peering back at him from the front page. It made him smile momentarily before looking back at Lucy. She took one last sip and then placed the mug in the sink. She met his concerned eyes and tried her best to look okay with the situation.

He could see her exhaustion; there were faint circles under her eyes. Her took her gently by the hand and led her towards the last room. It was her bedroom as he had expected it to be. Ohno was surprised to see a large bed in the corner of the room; the rest was wall to wall bookshelves and a desk that was covered with school papers. Written in both Japanese and English.

Lucy immediately lay down and crawled underneath her black comforter. Ohno was unsure of what to do until Lucy patted the pillow and looked up at him expectantly. He grinned at her before removing his jeans and crawling underneath the covers. Her cold feet were a perfect contrast to his warm legs. He planted a warm kiss on her forehead as she curled up into his arms. With her face pressed as close as she could into the crook of his neck and shoulders, Lucy fell asleep. However, Ohno lay awake for hours; his mind racing a mile a minute. Contemplating the things that happened to Lucy and how he could fix it.

*****************

“Are you insane?” Ohno’s eyes snapped open as the intruding voice knocked him out of his cat nap. He was on the couch in his dressing room; exhaustion from the night before making him feel like a zombie. He looked up and saw Sho glaring angrily at him.

“Hello to you, too.” Ohno said, sarcasm dripping from his voice as he sat up and looked back up to Sho.

“You better be prepared to explain this to everyone.” Sho said as he dropped a magazine on the coffee table in front of Ohno. With one glance at the photo on the cover all the air escaped Ohno’s lungs. It was Ohno and Lucy embracing in the hallway of her apartment complex.

“Who took this picture?” Ohno asked quickly, the sarcasm replaced with anger.

“What does it matter? This is going to be a big deal no matter who took it. The five of us have a meeting with Johnny-san. Tonight.” Sho said before he left the room. Ohno just sat in silence; staring at the picture in front of him.

to be continued...
<3
Shan

i seriously hope johnny approve them.

I like this story!! *___* And I hope you'll update soon Usually I'm not into fics about Ohno. But this one has a nice plot.

I wonder if Johnny-san will get mad..
Please continue!

interesting story~
keep update please!

thanks everyone for their kind replies! Here's CHAPTER 7! yay!!


Ueno, Taito Ward, Tokyo. Wednesday June 25th, 2008. 12:41 P.M.

The taxi couldn’t have seemed like it was going any slower as Ohno sat impatiently in the back seat. It had been nearly thirty minutes since Sho had shown him the picture. He knew he needed to see Lucy as soon as possible so that he could explain everything to her. He just hoped that she hadn’t seen it already and come to her own conclusions about the situation.

Nearly ten minutes later the taxi came to a stop in front of Lucy’s apartment complex. He was surprised to find no one waiting outside the door. Paparazzi or something to that affect were absent at the moment; which eased Ohno’s heart a bit. He paid the taxi driver and quickly jumped out of the car. He ran as fast as he could, opting to take the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. Once he was in front of her door, he frantically knocked. He hoped desperately that she would be home; that she would open her door and take him in her arms.

After waiting for a few moments, the door finally opened in front of Ohno. He looked at her; taking in her casual appearance. She wore a pair of tight black jeans and an ‘Art-School’ t-shirt that looked like it had seen better days. She looked up at him and didn’t say a word. For a moment, Ohno was at a loss. He thought she was angry at him but then…she quickly smiled up at him. She moved over to let him walk into her house and Ohno smiled at the thought that he had made it in time.

After a few minutes he was sitting comfortably at the table in the center of her living area. Lucy was standing over the stove; heating up some water for their tea. The constant nervous feeling was becoming worse by the second. Every moment felt like something was threatening to explode from the pit of Ohno’s stomach. He stared at his folded hands that rested on top of the table. Suddenly something was dropped in front of his hands; he knew what it was immediately, without even having to look up to see what it was. It was the tabloid cover that featured the both of them, holding each other in a private embrace. A fit of violent butterflies fluttered in his stomach as he slowly looked up at Lucy. For a moment she was silent until she moved to take a seat across from Ohno at the table. When she looked up at him, her eyes were cold and unappealing.

“Today while I was in my office, my boss came in and showed this to me.” When she spoke, she was quiet and it was obvious she was trying to keep her emotions tucked inside. Ohno could only watch her helplessly, feeling like he was going to break at any moment.

“My boss saw this before me…” She whispered, she didn’t look up at Ohno. There was a pregnant silence that hung over them. Ohno simply didn’t know what he should say to try and make the situation less stressful. He just sat and watched Lucy.

“Is this why you came here?” Lucy asked, folding her arms and finally looking up into Ohno’s scared eyes. Ohno was almost too scared to answer; though he knew that he should, he cared about her too much to lie to her. He simply nodded his head. Though he was glad that he answered her honestly, she seemed to become more upset with his answer.

He wasn’t expecting her to stand up and make a bee-line for the front door. He caught up to her by the time she was pulling on her left shoe.

“Stop! Where are you going?” Ohno shouted, surprised by the volume of his own voice. Lucy was shocked as well, but it didn’t stop her from continuing to put her shoes on.

“I just need to be alone.” She said simply, trying to hide the quiver in her voice.

“Please, don’t do this. I can fix this!” Ohno said as he tried to block her from grabbing her jacket. She stopped; the crease in between her eyebrows dug an incredible hole in Ohno’s chest. It hurt him almost physically to see her so distressed.

“You can’t fix it. I can’t be with you here, for all we know there is someone taking pictures of us right now! I can’t handle something like this right now…so I’m going to go and be alone.” She finished as she grabbed her jacket and her messenger bag and walked out the door of her own apartment. Leaving Ohno standing there; nearly in tears. Thinking about what he was going to do next.

Lucy didn’t know where she was going; she was just walking aimlessly around the outside of Ueno Park; trying to get the entire situation processed in her mind. In her haste to leave she left her cell phone in her apartment, making her feel even more alone. The sun was hot in the sky but she still wore her sweater. She felt cold on the inside as she pulled at the sleeves in an attempt to pull the fabric closer.

As she came to a crosswalk, Lucy let her eyes wander aimlessly at the people around her. People getting food during their lunch breaks; people walking and smiling with their significant others. The light turned green and she began to walk across the busy street, continuing on her aimless quest. When she looked up she saw a face that seemed familiar to her; walking from the opposite direction. He was getting closer, almost to the point where they would cross each other in the street. However, once he got close enough to pass; he stopped. In the middle of the road he stopped beside Lucy; resting his hand on her shoulder.

“I need to talk to you.” He said. His voice low and near the point of threatening.

They walked only a few minutes before they stepped into the quiet coffee shop. They sat in the back so that they wouldn’t have a chance of being seen. He was calm as he spoke to her, but she heard the obvious worry in his voice.

“I understand that it’s not your fault…or Ohno’s fault. But you have to understand the seriousness of the situation. It could seriously affect his career. All that’s he’s worked for all these years can get destroyed by a couple of pictures.” He said before taking a sip of his coffee. He looked at her with piercing eyes as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a worn pack of cigarettes and lit one up quickly. Lucy would have said something against it usually, but it just didn’t seem like the right time; so she let him inhale and exhale across from her. Lucy knew that his words weren’t meant to be rude, but she couldn’t help but feel a bit defensive. She also knew that her feelings for Ohno were not going to just go away.

“I get what you’re saying…but I can’t help the way I feel.” Lucy said quietly and shyly. She wasn’t comfortable saying these kinds of things in front of his close friends; especially since they were practically strangers.

“I’m just saying that you should be prepared for a backlash if you keep seeing each other. This could get a lot worse than just a couple of pictures in a magazine.” He said without a hint of humor in his voice. He took another long drag of his cigarette and finished off the last of his coffee. He sighed loudly as he set the white coffee mug on the table between them.

“I don’t want anything to be taken away from him because of this…but at the same time I want him to be happy…” He said, letting his thoughts wander a bit. “Is that strange?” He asked with a hint of a smile. He didn’t wait for her to answer as he took some money out of his wallet and left it on the table in front of Lucy. He stamped out his cigarette after taking one last drag.

“You love him, don’t you?” Lucy asked as he stood. He paused for a moment as he contemplated her question. He may have been taken aback at her inquiry but Lucy could tell he was going to answer her. He looked back at her with a sad smile on his face.

“I guess we’ll never know, huh?” He said before walking away from the table and promptly leaving the shop. Lucy was at a loss for the rest of the day. By the time she wandered back into her apartment, it was nearly seven P.M. Something inside her felt disappointed when she saw that Ohno wasn’t there. Without any thought, she lay down on her bed and thought about the night before. When he held her, when he promised to keep her safe. Now she was alone and cold in her apartment; trying to think of how to make the situation better for herself and for Ohno.

Ohno had been dreading the evening all day; the last thing he wanted to do was explain himself to Johnny. He already had to explain the situation to the members; they all listened to him with patience and an open mind. The only person who hadn’t given him a chance to explain was Nino; who had been oddly absent all day.

Now the five of them were all sitting in five stiff chairs inside Johnny’s stuffy office. When the man himself came into the room; they all stood and bowed to him. He was their boss after all.

“If the five of you would excuse us, I’d like to speak to Satoshi-kun alone first.” He said. They five of them all exchanged a look and a weak nod before they left the room to let them be.

to be continued...
<3
Shan

oOo i wonder who the guy is LOL not one of the guys is it O.o LOL nino?! haha jk

can't wait to read what happens next, hopefully johnny-san won't get too mad T_T

Ah, Nino loves Satoshi.

I'm loving this story so far! Ohno is just wonderful in this.

Oh, poor Ohno.. hope everything's gonna be fine..
looking forward to the next chapter..

It's been a while huh? Well, I'm back with the next chapter! It's not too long, but I hope you enjoy it anyway! <3Shan



Ohno sat alone in front of the one person who could be his worst enemy in a situation like this. Johnny Kitagawa was sitting behind his desk; looking at the front page of the infamous tabloid. Ohno didn’t know what to expect; his four band mates were waiting impatiently outside. He was on his own. The silence in the room was solid; it was too much for him to handle. He cleared his throat and Johnny glanced up at him from the magazine. After a long, tiring moment Johnny set the magazine down on his desk and looked Ohno square in the eyes. Ohno readied himself for what he knew was coming next.

“Well…she is beautiful…” Johnny said quietly. Ohno was taken aback for a moment; gaping at Johnny-san with wide eyes.

“Eh?” Ohno responded as he replayed the moment over and over again in his head. Johnny stood from behind his desk and leaned against the front, crossing his legs directly in front of Ohno.

“Look…I can’t really stop any of you from being with…whoever you want to be with. Nobody can…” Ohno looked as if he had just seen an alien; he never expected for Johnny to be this lienant with him. It almost made Johnny want to laugh, but he continued on.

“The only thing I can really do if hope that you find the person who deserves you. There are plenty of people out there who want to be with you just because of the name attached to the face. Is she one of those people?” Johnny asked, finally giving Ohno a chance to clear his mind and speak.

“No, sir.” He answered simply. A fraction of smile appeared on Johnny-san’s lips.

“Then what are you still doing here?” The question caught him off guard for a moment. As if it were a normal, knee-jerk reaction, Ohno stood up suddenly and quickly bowed to Johnny. Seconds later, he bolted out the door, running as fast as he could down the long hallway. The guys, who were still waiting outside of the office, called out to him. He didn’t stop for them however; he had somewhere far more important to be.

***

He looked around the desolate room in a daze. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest. His brain couldn’t keep up; not with what he faced with at this very moment. He was only drawing a blank.

“She left not too long ago.” A voice came from behind him. He turned quickly and saw Tanaka-san; the helpful tenant from down the hall. He walked up to her; she could see the pain that was written plainly on his face.

“Tanaka-san, what happened?" Ohno asked, turning his gaze back to the nearly empty apartment. All the normal pieces of furniture were still there; only here personal belongings were gone. It was enough missing to be noticeable.

“She didn’t say, she only said that ‘it was for the best’.” Tears began to sting his eyes as he ached for Lucy. Dying for some kind of reasonable explanation; but there was none. Her sudden absence caused a hole to wedge its way into his heart. He walked further into the kitchen; as he did so Tanaka-san took her leave. He obviously wanted to be alone in a moment like this.

Ohno gazed at the refrigerator and noticed that all her pictures were still hanging in their places; but one was missing. The one-page article about his art exhibit was absent from its usual place on her fridge. This made Ohno’s walls break and his tear ducts; letting warm tears slip down his cheeks. His arms were slumped at his sides as he let himself break down.

He dragged his feet to the opposite side of the apartment, until he stood in front of the door that let to her bedroom. When he slid the door open, he could see that most of all her possessions were gone from this room. Everything in her desk had been emptied out; only the least important things were left behind. He gazed at her bed, the blankets and pillows still lain across the surface. On top of the comforter, he saw a small scrap of paper. The words written were scrawled quickly; they looked like a kid had written them. He picked up the paper and read the message over and over.

“I was never a fan of long goodbyes.” He stared at it silently for a moment, letting his sniffles and heavy breathing fill the room. He pushed the wrinkled note in the front pocket of his jeans and crawled pathetically onto her cold bed. He wrapped his slightly trembling body inside her comforter; it faintly smelled like her. Every image that flashed in his mind was of her smiling face. However, before he fell asleep in the abandoned bed; all images of her smiling face had been replaced with only memories of her tears.

to be continued...