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 Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:18 pm
Felling Michi stir, Akihiko put the glass of water down on the bedside. But the man's movements were a bit surprising.
Instead of fully waking up, he just clung to the musician's waist weakly.
"Hate you?" Narcissus asked, his expression completely blank... a deadpan look that nearly made Yuuji laugh.
Nearly.
"Why would I hate you? I hate that ahou." he jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Yuuji, "Not you. Oi..." carefully, Akihiko managed to untangle himself from Michi and lay the man flat on his back. Leaning over him, he just starred at Tanaka for a long moment. "Baka... you can't go shopping if you're passed out." he teased, seemingly... oddly... back to his old self.
Of course Yuuji knew better.
His cousin was a brilliant actor when he needed to be.
Under the surface... Narcissus was still seething with rage.
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:19 pm
Nezumi woke up at what was nearly midday, his head pounding, though it felt as if that were actually more from his crying and stress than from all the alcohol he'd had to drink the night before.
Headache notwithstanding, he felt like absolute s**t today. Depressed didn't even begin to cover it. It was a beer for breakfast kind of day.
He hadn't had a day like that since college, since the day his first love had...
Oh kami-sama, he couldn't stand to think of it right now. The way things were beginning to look, he may as well start a ticker of all his romantic and social failures in life. He certainly had no wins to speak of. None at all.
Zero. Zilch.
Peeling himself out of the bed, the mouse lurched to the bathroom, used it, took a warm shower, and hauled himself back to the bed, his damp skin sealing him temporarily to the somewhat silky sheets.
For a while, he felt like he could just stare at the ceiling forever.
Sure, maybe he should get up and get on with things...but dammit, he just had no motivation now!
After about fifteen more minutes, the manager finally brought himself to put on some clothes...a grey button up shirt and a pair of black slacks...and call for some room service. French toast, one egg, over easy, and a Mimosa. If he were going to have a drink, may as well try to have one that wouldn't make him smell like a booze hound.
Food eaten and drink consumed, Nezumi found himself right outside on the very same balcony he'd spent his evening on. Hiroki was surely already gone for Japan by now. Why the thought even crossed his mind was beyond him, though. He didn't care anymore. Or, rather, he was doing his best not to care anymore, even though he absolutely did.
Painfully so.
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:33 pm
 ~( Lonely ) Mayotta nara~
~( Try again ) Nando datte~
~Yarinaosu koto dekiru kara~
The way Naoko mewled his name and that little "I love you" was enough for Ryu. More than enough to melt him down to the core. Little things... It was always the little things that kept him going, kept pushing him forward when he was beginning to think about turning away. Sinking down into the bed, the vocalist snuggled tight against his tenshi, whispering a soft "Aishiteru" back as he drifted back to his own dreams. ~( I’m here )~ Soba ni iru wa~
~( Believe me ) Osorenai de~
~Shinjiau koto....~
~FOR YOU~
kawaita tsumori ame ga tsuzunaku katari kakeru namida wa seijaku ni...samayou yoru ga akeru"I don't know about that. I mean, if you look at a dragon as being dinosaur-like, they're often attracted by movement, so unless there's some poor soul driving the Lincoln around or something, then the dragon would probably ignore it and go straight for the Prince. Hell, even in the car, you wouldn't really be safe. You've seen Jurassic Park!" Chiyou crossed his arms, leaned back, and nodded like a boss. Really, this was all just a bunch of ludicrous bullshit by this point, hinging on speculation and make-believe facts. That was exactly what made it so much fun, though. Not to mention that not many people ever got to have conversations like this while completely sober. Suddenly, Hideki scoffed. "Really, Kai? If you had a servant, they'd have no need to carry an umbrella because they'd always be inside with you boning them!" Somewhat of a cheap shot...maybe. But anyone who knew Nakai would say it were true. karada o tsutau ame ni furueru awai omoi guren no yuuwaku ni...samayou yoru ga akeru
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:50 pm
Let the Memories of the Evening be...
the first think that you think of------------------------------------------------}:-  Tanaka Michi
Physical Therapist
Fingertips...walking up your spine...a tongue sliding right behind..
" Yes...hate me. I can't think of you...as a bad guy. I just don't want to wake up and....everything we've had is gone." Even if it were only friendship, he just couldn't fathom the idea and he didn't want to see Akihiko beating up on family even if he didn't seem to care for Yuuji.
Michi's fingers were harder to untangle but soon he laid back and his eyes eased unto that familiar face, "I don't understand...I just don't think...you need to beat up people to win." Michi really had a hard time hiding stuff from Akihiko when the man was acting normal. Although Michi didn't know that Akihiko was only acting.
"Shopping?" For a moment, he was confused and reached up to touch Akihiko's face for a moment things were just pleasant. "Can we go shopping?" Yeah he was still a little confused but then his eyes widened. "Rodeo Drive!" Suddenly a spark connected in his head.
However, he still didn't want to let Akihiko off the hook. But right now, he really didn't know what to do. "Are...you going shopping with us?"
It was easy to see that Michi needed a few more normal days to recover. He tried avoiding the conversation previous because his heart wasn't ready to take it all in. Maybe when he recovered he could talk to Akihiko rationally.
-:{------------------------------------------------when you open up your smile and see me.
...Dark Star.
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:12 pm
Nakai burst into laughter, nearly spitting his drink out. "Only if that servant were a guy." he teased with a wink. "Or a really busty babe... I could probably go for that... maybe..."
The musician literally sat there and contemplated that for a moment.
"But now you're distracting me from the topic at hand!" he returned quickly. "Okay so then the prince's servant is driving that car around and waving a huge chunk of meat out the window. I mean, it just has to drive around until the prince can slay the damn dragon."
Nearly ten hours later... amber eyes slowly opened to sunlight streaming in the windows.
Naoko groaned softly, moving to roll over but finding himself pleasantly pinned.
He looked at the sleeping violinist beside him and couldn't help but smile, completely content to stay in that warm embrace for as long as possible.
Of course, the notion that Ryu was in bed made the pianist wonder if he'd woken up in the middle of the night and been uncomfortable in the chair... he wanted to ask how they'd ended up intertwined in one anothers arms like this... but he didn't really want to break the peaceful spell that seemed to hover over the bedroom.
So he waited... eyes closed... just breathing in the scent of his dear akuma.
Smiling softly, Akihiko nodded. "Sure. I'll go shopping with you, Michi-kun. But only for a while. I'm waiting for a call from Izzy and..." but then he stopped, thinking for a long moment.
Should he?
Should he really?
"How about we shop until he calls?" the musician asked, not even bothering to clear it with Yuuji who stood off to the side. "Then, you can come and watch while I help Izzy with his recording? Shou-san will be there too. In fact, they're working on the first track right now. I'm only needed for the second. Plus, it'd give you a little more exposure to a studio."
Yuuji, for his own part, didn't see a problem there. But he did see the kindness that Akihiko was portraying and, well... he really had to wonder...
Was his cousin acting in front of Izzy Lucky, just as he was acting before Tanaka right now?
Even for a man who's grown up with Narcissus... it was nearly impossible to tell.
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:36 pm
Let the Memories of the Evening be...
the first think that you think of------------------------------------------------}:- Tanaka Michi
Physical Therapist
Fingertips...walking up your spine...a tongue sliding right behind..
Michi smiled once everything seemed to become more...normal. Sure it might have been an illusion all together but right now he needed that until he could handle the other things that lurked beyond that veil.
"Yay." he said in a softer voice. The ideas actually sounded like fun ones, "Really? Ishi-san is recording? Wait? I didn't know he had his own songs." Much like he hadn't known Akihiko's grandfather was dying or any of the other horrid information that had tangled himself further in Koyasu's web.
"I guess I do need to learn a bit more about studio work." he admitted although he realized that his intentions before were ones of getting out of this mess rather than stepping further into it. Was this the right thing to do? "I'd like to see Shou-san and talk to Ishi-san. I want really know they are ok." He hadn't been able to talk to them when he had arrived. Everything happened so fast.
Slowly, he sat up and rubbed his head, "How are they doing? Of course Akihiko would know, he had seen them even though...Michi knew that some things weren't anywhere close to being good. But he tried to make more pleasant conversation instead of bring up the worst.
"I think..my coat is in the hallway." he frowned a little and then wondered what he was going to do with the turmoil he had just locked up in his head for now. Was the man he called his friend...going to hurt anyone else like he did Yuuji? Would Akihiko ever raise a hand like that to him? That scared him as well but what could he do? If it happened, he'd defend himself and probably fight back. He'd have to, even if he cared for Akihiko. But still, letting this violence go like that...his head hurt. Michi rubbed his head again because it was painful to think to hard.
"Give me a few minutes." he got up and wandered in to Michi's bathroom, closed the door and sat down on the toilet holding his head in his hands. He had to get a hold of himself and thinking about Akihiko's darker self was really causing the Michi to struggle with internal discomfort.
-:{------------------------------------------------when you open up your smile and see me.
...Dark Star.
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:51 pm
Once Michi left to the bathroom, Yuuji sighed. "You really ******** him up, you know that?" he asked, wondering just what his cousin might have said to the young man when he was unconscious.
"Who's fault is that?" Akihiko asked, looking over to the other man. "Ojisan obviously left him here for a reason, probably as an anger buffer to me since he's been that in the past. You keeping him close at hand has nothing to do with guarding him, does it?"
Smirking, Takagi shrugged. "Never know. I might just enjoy his company."
Narcissus pointed at the bathroom, "Leave him alone, Yuuji. Everything you touch turns to ash."
"And your touch doesn't poison too?" his cousin said with a confident smirk.
Making a 'tsk sound with his teeth, the young Koyasu stood up from the bed. He walked over to Yuuji, reaching one hand out delicately and tracing his cousin's chin, a smoldering sensual look in his eyes.
"My touch charms first... you should know that." Narcissus whispered darkly, "Yours just kills without mercy... doesn't it?" removing his fingers.
Yuuji's hand shot out and grabbed those fingers tight, squeezing hard. "You're forgetting your place, diva." he hissed. "You got the drop on me today, and I was half expecting it to boot. You won't be so lucky the next time. Don't forget who's fault it is that I do this..."
"It's hardly mine." Akihiko returned darkly, his expression not betraying a hint of pain, even though it felt like his cousin might break his fingers in that moment. "It wasn't your place to seek revenge."
"And he never intended his victim to be Yuriko either. Remember that, Akihiko. You're as much to blame as I."
Ripping his hand out of the other man's grasp, Narcissus moved past Yuuji and headed into the main room, retrieving Michi's coat from the hall.
'As if I had the luxury of forgetting, baka...'
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 10:14 pm
Let the Memories of the Evening be...
the first think that you think of------------------------------------------------}:- Tanaka Michi
Physical Therapist
Fingertips...walking up your spine...a tongue sliding right behind..
Michi turned on the faucet and put his face into the water that flowed there. Each passing moment let him helped him center himself but he was by no means stable. He knew he'd have to avoid touchy subjects and then he hoped he'd be able to be alone later in the evening.
In his own weakness, he had clung to what he knew of his friend and now both Yuuji and Akihiko were going to Rodeo Drive with him. Good god...did he just put fire and oil into the same pan?
He had no idea of the conversation outside the bathroom door and in the other room. And while he stared into the mirror, he realized that Akihiko may have just gotten Ishi-san back and...did Ishi-san realize this side of Akihiko? But was Yuuji innocent...no...not at all. Even so...Oh screw it. He would be stuck in the bathroom all night if he let this continue to eat at his soul.
Taking a deep breath, he stared at the mirror again and tried to smile. Forcing one across his face was easy but...it took awhile for it to stick. So the best thing to do when one couldn't smile was not allow that frown to be seen. The only way to achieve that was through...chatter...lots of it.
So turning off the water, he poked his head out the door, then strode out and closer to the exit. "Are you both ready to go? Do we have a car? Should we take a limo?" Words filled the air around him to swallow up that space which was a void within.
"We better get going quickly if we're going to have time to shop!" Michi knew one game in his own simple world. Lots of talking and since he could combine it with shopping...lots of busy busy shopping. He'd keep those two so active that they couldn't even consider their own arguments let alone how he felt about them at the moment.
Both Akihiko and Yuuji would learn very quickly what it was like to be in Michi's version of avoidance. It wasn't like their own complex schemes but it would keep them running.
-:{------------------------------------------------when you open up your smile and see me.
...Dark Star.
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 10:22 pm
Hearing Michi exit the bathroom, Akihiko came back inside, "Sure, I'm ready. We can take the car that I'm borrowing from Ishi-san. She lent it to me for the day." he replied, handing Michi his coat.
The glance from Narcissus was enough to get Yuuji talking. "And when I get back I'll dispose of the cane. Don't worry about it." he replied, pushing both Akihiko and Tanaka toward the door.
As they exited the hotel, the young Koyasu couldn't help but put a hand on Michi's shoulder. "Daijoubu ka?" he asked softly, glad that Yuuji's bangs hid the cut on his head almost perfectly.
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 10:33 pm
Let the Memories of the Evening be...
the first think that you think of------------------------------------------------}:- Tanaka Michi
Physical Therapist
Fingertips...walking up your spine...a tongue sliding right behind..
Michi was glad that words were filling the spaces around him. Things that could cover up his feelings, his doubts, his fears. But when he felt Akihiko's hand on his shoulder and that simple question in his ear, he didn't lie. "Iie...." He wasn't ok at all, and Akihiko probably knew that even without asking.
However, he quickly sucked in and flipped the topic to another subject, "Maybe we should look for idea for Christmas gifts. It would be too expensive to buy them on Rodeo drive but...maybe I can find something for my mother that I can purchase elsewhere."
Right now, he was really looking forward to spending Christmas with his family and getting away from the people around him. It was an honest reaction to a bad situation. He wasn't knowledgeable enough to put things in the right perspective.
Slipping into the car as soon as the driver raced around and opened the door, he tried to figure out what to say, what to do...he wanted to close his eyes and just nap but he was in LA. Hawaii had been a disaster....now LA was becoming one too.
-:{------------------------------------------------when you open up your smile and see me.
...Dark Star.
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 10:40 pm
Getting in the car, Yuuji had to sit up front... and luckily, even though it was a car, it had a privacy screen to let Akihiko and Michi speak without someone overhearing them.
"Stop changing the subject and tell me what's on your mind." Narcissus spoke when it was just the two of them in the backseat.
His blue eyes focused out the window, just to help keep Tanaka from being so nervous.
"It's still me you know... even if I did scare you. I didn't want you involved, Michi."
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 11:00 pm
Let the Memories of the Evening be...
the first think that you think of------------------------------------------------}:- Tanaka Michi
Physical Therapist
Fingertips...walking up your spine...a tongue sliding right behind..
Being in the backseat with just Akihiko caused his his shoulders to slump a little knowing that the man was seeing right through everything else he tried to accomplish. He didn't want to talk about it. He didn't want to think, but Akihiko wasn't going to let him get away with that...was he.
"It's still you? Look I saw you hurt Hiroki-san. I knew you sometimes were...and anger man but...but...what you did back there..." He turned his head and looked out the window.
"How am I suppose to...just accept that...be cool with that? I'm just a normal guy, that...I guess can sing some. Who thinks he has a good friend who's an incredible singer with a few big problems. But...but..I didn't think that friend was also ...like those he despised. I didn't want to see something like what you've said of Matsumoto Izo in you. Even if you think Yuuji deserves everything he got...and maybe he agrees with you. That...that sort of violence...erodes the soul." Then he paused because unfortunately his chatter avoidance had turned into release his hearts turmoil. Chatter of a different sort that spilled from within. Way too honest sometimes...he just couldn't mask things with his friend even if he probably should have in this situation.
But then the last words Akihiko said struck him and he had to retort, "You knew I was only going to be gone for a moment. You heard us talking before he closed the door. If you didn't want to involve me...you would have chose another moment."
"Is it still you? Are you really the one I held at night? Am I going to one day say something...do something and see that side of you that struck Yuuji with a cane? Akihiko, I...I'm...not skilled like you are. I can't just hide my feelings, act out a great play around others. I'm just me. Nothing fancy....I...I don't know what to do. I feel like I've been dumped into something I don't know how to...handle. Even after nursing you to health and feeling like I've been so close to you. Do I really know you? Have you really let me know you?" he hung his head because all he wanted to feel like he was close to his friend that they actually had good communication of some sort.
He looked up at Akihiko and turned his head to look him in the eyes, searching them before leaning in and stealing a kiss. He needed something to tell him the true....something to make him feel that there was a reality that he still fit into.
-:{------------------------------------------------when you open up your smile and see me.
...Dark Star.
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 11:12 pm
Akihiko allowed the kiss... but he didn't return it.
That had more to do with Izzy than anything else at the moment, and trying to adjust to being a one-man guy was... frustrating to say the least.
"It's still me... and you know me better than anyone, maybe even better than Ruki does at times." the musician spoke softly, carefully, choosing words not to upset Michi... but to calm him down. "You saw the tears I wouldn't show anyone else... you saw me at my weakest, Michi-kun."
Pulling back, the young Koyasu shook his head, "I won't lie to you. I don't regret what I just did. If you hadn't been there before, I probably would have killed him... or forced the answer from him one way or another... that's who I am, Michi. What I want I take, and if it's not given..." he shrugged his shoulders, sighing for a moment. "I'm too much like my grandfather... he's afraid I'll turn into Matsumoto one day... he's always been afraid of it I think..."
Looking to Michi, Akihiko's blue eyes narrowed. "I told you about my twin, right? Well, it was supposed to be me who died... not her. And it wasn't really our piano sensei who torched the house killing my parents... it was Yuuji."
One hand took Tanaka's chin and held it. "He was so angry that Yuriko was dead, that he meant to burn the place down and kill that teacher when he'd come to confess to my parents. They got caught in the blaze. After that... Yuuji wasn't by my side any more. He's only here because he's hired to be here, don't ever think otherwise. If you think I'm dangerous, Michi... you have no idea."
Pulling the physical therapist to him, Akihiko held the man gently. "I lashed out in anger. But I've never lashed out at you or Ruki, least not when I was sane... I don't hurt the people I love, Michi-kun. I may play as if everything is fine, I may don my mask to keep you or someone else from worrying... but it's not to hurt you. It's to protect you."
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Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:48 am
Let the Memories of the Evening be...
the first think that you think of------------------------------------------------}:- Tanaka Michi
Physical Therapist
Fingertips...walking up your spine...a tongue sliding right behind..
In that kiss, Michi did notice that there was nothing returned and pulled away realizing that he might have erred. "Things must have worked out with Ishi-san then. Don't worry I won't do that again. I'm glad for you Akihiko." Michi wasn't one to sweat the might have beens he knew that Akihiko longed for his manager and finally getting him must have changed a few things.
"I don't want to think that you'd turn into a monster like Matsumoto-san. I don't think Ishi-san could take that...do you?" he answered and realized more and more how much he was being used as a pawn. Unwittingly, he had been drawn into a web so complex and so easily tangled within that he might never get free.
But the next words were shocking to Michi as Akihiko took his chin and told him an additional story on top of another he had been told not too long ago. How many more layers deep did this puzzle go? His eyes flicked to the back of Yuugi's head and admittedly, Michi had no idea what to say. He had protected a murderer? And that murderer had been so...kind to him. They had so much fun yesterday. Why couldn't Akihiko have left him blind to all of this? Now what could he do?
"You're serious? He...He....did that to your....house? Your...parents?" What more could have been hidden in the house of Koyasu, Michi didn't know but he now knew that whatever it was came from an abyss one might be lost upon falling in. He was afraid again.
Those fingers that pulled him in, held him close; arms cocooning him, insulating him from the outside world as it entangled him within Akihiko's realm. The horse looked upward at the young tiger and soon closed his eyes; as his head pressed against the white suit while he took in those gentle words. Succumbing to them because he couldn't stop these terrible events. "I care about you, Akihiko. I don't want to lose your friendship...I just never realized what sort of world you lived in until now."
-:{------------------------------------------------when you open up your smile and see me.
...Dark Star.
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Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 11:35 am
"Things worked out somewhat." Akihiko replied softly. "We didn't really have the reunion I'd planned in my head... but we've been able to be at each others side. That's really what matters."
He had to make sure Michi stayed calm. Not for his sake really, but for the future. If Tanaka started trying to pull away from Ohayou after he'd signed a contract, well, he doubted very much that he'd just be let loose.
At least, not until Hiroki took the reigns completely.
"Yuuji isn't all bad, Michi-kun... but he's dangerous. I tend to just let him do his thing in the background because it's what he's paid to do. He really is the best bodyguard you could have..." Narcissus continued, just holding the man in his arms, speaking softly... calmly... as if trying to lull Tanaka to sleep somehow. "The world I live in, ne?" he asked with a bit of a laugh. "Why do you think Narcissus exists, Michi-kun? He's to protect Akihiko from those closest to him." the musician spoke the words as if he himself wasn't the man in the sentence. "Akihiko is hidden so deep... that it took Izzy Lucky, and you, to bring him back out, if even for an instant." the young Koyasu smiled at the thought, placing a gentle calming kiss to Tanaka's forehead. "Until the two of you, everyone who surrounded me did so because they were part of the game... or because they wanted the prestige, fame, and money I could offer. Until the two of you, there was only Narcissus... and sometimes, though rare, Akihiko, myself, would be allowed to simply be true to who I really am in the solitude of my home." blue eyes closed as he thought about how much he really had changed.
"You don't know how happy it makes me to be able to be myself with someone else." Akihiko whispered. "I don't have to protect myself from you or Ruki, Michi-kun... and that really does mean the world to me."
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