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Slave

Chapter eight – 'baby, baby, I want to be your boyfriend'

By Memphizz

A smirk slide onto his features. Standing opposite from the three-way mirror, he watched her tipped her head to the side as she made modifications to his suit. The frustration on her face was clear as day. For someone who drank an excessive amount of alcohol last night, she looked refreshed, her concentration unharmed by the throbbing in head. He hadn't noticed before butshe wore a white long-sleeved, collar button shirt that was tucked neatly into a black pinstripe skirt with a pair of ruby red high-heels. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, displaying her professionalism. She actually looked very attractive, and he hated himself for noticing it, especially since she seems to detest everything about him. Now that he thought about it, he was surprised she had not yet stuck a needle into his flesh. She was not acting herself today.

From the time they woke up that morning, to the thirty minute journey to the Fujita Goro Building, she remained surprisingly reserved. Not a single crude comment escaped her lips, which was an odd behaviour for her. He preferred not speak to avoid awkward small talk. It was obvious her memory of last night had malfunctioned. She hadn't even referred to the kiss. He found her actions or lack of, somewhat alarming…maybe the kiss did recollect in her mind and perhaps he had gone too far last night. His intension to distant her from him was not his objection, but instead his endeavour was to be the opposite effect. What was this feeling that engulfed him suddenly...regret? Since when did regret become a part of his anatomy of feeling? Never.

"Are we're almost done here?" he asked tersely. "I have places to go, people to meet. This great boredom is sucking my sense of humor."

His comment was addressed with no counterattack by the redhead. "Yolei, could you please press the seam there, I need to replace the stitching and re-sew it again."

"There?" Yolei, her assistant, asked.

"Yes, thank you."

His distracted naturalfailed him tocause himto notice the second party in the room. The purple haired woman's face was foreign to him. She was a tall and petite, also a model like stature. He noted a pair of black wire-framed glasses that framed her round pale face. His interest was not her.

"I'm not sure if this is what you women call 'the silent treatment', but it's overrated."

"When I woke up this morning, I knew exactly what I want…do you know what I wanted today?" Sora simply asked calmly, amusing his ignorance. "No, what? "I wanted to hear the sound you make when you shut up," she shared as she continued to remove the top stitching from his left cuff. "And she's back again folks," Yamato bellowed in excitement. "It took you long enough."

She looked up, making eye contact with the guitarist for the first time and pondered to herself on what would be the sanest move to make in her position. Manslaughter was obvious not the right choice she could make right now. She hated to admit it, but her hopes of not conversing with the blond were turning into a moment of defeat. Her memory of last night activities had expired the minute she opened her eyes that morning…did something happen between her and Yamato? The recollection of her waking up in her own bed brought her solace, but the person he was characterizing and the energy he was releasing was so different.

Nothing else scared her more than the unknown and he was not making it any clearer for her. More questions subjugated her thoughts, nonetheless the air needed to be cleared. Or though, she felt like she had to drop her IQ just to get through an entire conversation with him.

"It's too bad stupidity isn't painful," she sighed exasperatedly, placing her hands on her hips. She could feel the mounting tension absorbing her sensibility and she loathed fact that she had to feel like this at work. This was her place to embrace inspiration, not to be demotivated by an insignificant individual. "Yolei, could please excuse us…there is something me and Mr. Ishida need to discuss in private."

"Ummm…sure," Yolei said with a slight pause, perplexity struck her face. She obediently sauntered to the room's door. "I'll grab a cup of coffee."

"Thanks, this won't be too long."

The second the click of a door's latch sounded, the gloves had come off. There was no holding back now.

"Out of all the people I hate, you're beyond doubt my favorite," Sora growled with a threatening look, the first to contribute to the new dialogue she tried to sidestep. "From the moment I first met you, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life avoiding you, but as you can see I'm finding it utterly difficult."

He arched a brow and he replied, "I'm sorry your life sucks so much you have to get involved in mine," he paused. "But I am glad I made it on your favorite list," he drawled sarcastically.

"You always think it's about you is it…can't you see I'm having a horribly busy day converting oxygen in carbon dioxide!"

When he didn't answer she stared at him bluntly as if she was waiting for some snide comment from his end.

He stared at her questionably, trying to absorb her remark. He cracked a simper. "Actually, I don't know how I should respond to that...it kind of caught me off guard."

"I know it's true that you're a dumbass, but don't feel bad, because most of the time you're a smartass," she spat, her arms folding together. "It's like common sense is so rare in this world, it should be classified as super powers."

He simply shrugged and stepped off the platform. "So true…but I do know that I'm hot and smart enough to be a pain in your ass."

"I used to care but I take a pill for that now."

"Okay, okay! Hold up!" He said, and took a breath. "What you're about to witness is my so-called giving a shit mode, so please bear with me, okay…because this is really hard for me and it might end up being traumatic for me. What is up with you this morning? It so painfully obvious that something is bothering you, it's making you say things that aren't making any sense to me. Is there something you want tell me?"

She darted her eyes from the floor to the male. A ray of embarrassment overshadowed her, eating away from inside her. She needed to just say it out loud. "Did we do anything last night?"

"What?" he replied a bit too quickly for his liking. "What I mean…I'm not sure what you're talking about?"

"Come on…there is no denying it. I wasn't in the correct state of mind. Gin has these magical powers that have the ability to control the motion of my mouth and my body."

"Well, nothing happened," he confirmed, masking the truth. He need not freak her out even more than she already is right now. There will be time and a place.

"Are you sure?" she asked for assurance for her persistent doubt.

"I value our friendship too much to have sex with you."

"Ha, and I was hoping my shocking humor would get you to drop your pants," she joked, feeling the weight of the world come off her shoulders. She could also feel the more natural side of herself emerge in the room; it was something she hadn't done in front of him before and she didn't know if that was a good thing of a bad thing. On the positive side she didn't have to deal with regret and shame that morning.

"Nah, it takes little less than your comedic wit to get me naked," he winked. Sensing her more relaxed state, he wrapped his arm around Sora's shoulders. "But it will happen one day and when it does, magical things will happen."

She scoffed playfully as she toyed with the ends of her ponytail."Yeah I bet."

"Hey cheer up, the worst is yet to come."

"Oh God, you're right," she coughed a snicker, reality had a cruel sense of humor. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Again…I'm really sorry about my dysfunctional attachment to you," he said nonchalantly, his azure eyes showed a glimmer of amusement. "It was completely out my control."

"I feel sorry for the people who are around us. I can only imagine how obnoxious we are when we're together."

"Yeah, but I do find our behavior to be unsuitable for the more sensitive audience."

"I can't wait until we break-up."

"Well, look at this way, at least you get half my money in the divorce."

At the moment the duo shared something they had never shared before…an outburst of genuine laughter. As soon as it came, the merriment vanished from their face even quicker.

"Wow…did that really just happen?" she looked at him with a questionably gaze, trying to connect the dots.

"Ummm…I'm not sure…I think so, but we could be hallucinating," he offered his uncertain explanation, his face resembling shock at the marvel that just took place.

"No, I think it really happened. I'm not too sure why, but it did happen, "she mused to herself.

The words cemented into her mind. At first she could not believe the words that were verbalized, it was like unsolvable anonymity, she could not figure out why it occurred. But she now understood clearly they were more alike than she original thought. There is no doubt they both come from and live in two separate worlds. One of them was worshiped by a large gathering of people while the other worshipped, the designers she dreamt of one day being. But they connected in a way they both never thought this could occur, but something was developing right in front of her. And for some unknown reason, she couldn't help but noticed that she liked it.

Fortunately, Yamato seized the opportunity to change the subject. "Come to my concert tomorrow night, it's at the Sogakuda Hall. It's going to be so awesome…you just might turn into a groupie."

"I don't know, I think I'm washing my hair that night," Sora razzed. She might as well maintain their lesser hazardous conversation. After all, they were on a role.

"Ha...ha, you're so funny kido," he playfully shoved her. "My bullshit detector is solar powered…besides you should realize by now you don't have a choice, right?"

"Yeah, I figured," she staged a sigh, offering a quick shrug. "I guess I'll just have to wear my big girl panties and deal with your crazy admirers, doing their crazy thing around me."

"You don't have to worry your pretty little head about that. You'll get a backstage pass, courtesy of mister rockstar himself."

"Really?"

"Yeah, of course," he smiled genuinely, digging into his pockets trying portray a casual stance. "So pick you up at seven?"

"Seven it is."

"Now that wasn't too hard?"

"Actually, it was pretty painless," she perked up and exchanged a beam with the lead-singer.

"Is everything alright?" a voice slide into the conversation.

Caught off guard by the sudden interjection, the twosome turned to find Yolei standing by the door, a shade of pink on her cheeks.

Sora blinked, her lips scrunching up in thought. She dropped her hands behind her back and a mock smile took over her mouth, "Um…yes, umm… everything is fine, nothing to worry about…ummm, I think we should carry on here, don't you?" Her eyes glided to the male in the room.

Slightly miffed by the sudden interruption by Sora's assistant, the blond covered his irritation for her sake only. There was no need to make a scene, not now. It frustrated him, keeping a professional conduct for the sake of the band, his manager was always on his ass about his transgression. Life was never meant to be taken so seriously in his perception, and maybe that was the reason he liked her more than most people he has met in his past. Even though she illustrated herself to be this professional person, her character was parallel to his. Naturally, she wouldn't welcome the very thought, but he knew one day she will acknowledge it. He gazed down at her and nodded his head, smiling politely. "Yeah, let's do it."

The afternoon sunshine rained on his pale skin as he walked the footpath, his destination - the studio. He was already late as it. The fitting had gone on a little longer than he anticipated, but it wasn't like he was complaining about it.

His thoughts drifted and inevitably back to her. He smiled. A flicker of ecstasy was showed in his eyes with a mixture of trepidation weaving in the pit of his stomach. He never intended to invite Sora to his concert, it was like another person engaged his thoughts and derailed his common sense. He could not believe those words spilled out his mouth. Performing in front of a gathering of fans was a walk in the park, but with her scrutinizing his every move, was an unsettling thought that penetrated his impenetrable confidence. He gave a huff. It had become suddenly apparent to him that he was overreacting and he disapproved of it. However for some strange reason his anxiety was not retreating. This woman was getting to him, but he had to wash this concern away, for the first time this year the bands record sales were dipping.

They had run out of excuses to surrender their manager, so he so took matters into his own hands and signed the band to the endorsement deal. His stomach turned. It was so sudden, his career pathway was shifting constantly. For the past two weeks they had been exceptionally busy with recording for their new uprising album, due later that year, and it had to beincredible. He had invested so many emotions into this band and the qualm stirring in his head pushing him to think if this is what he used to love to do. His heart wasn't in it anymore. The members were all consumed by all the glamour and status and yes, Yamato was the first to admit the truth, it had all gotten to their heads. The reason they wanted to form a band had radically dissipate.

When he had spotted the Sound Inn Studios, he darted inside the building and scurried up the fleet of stairs to the second floor. As soon as he had walked into the studio, he felt the atmosphere in the room had suddenly turned heavy.

"Look who decided to grace us with their presence," Takashi grumbled, the bassist shot this irritation at the blond.

"Hey give him a break, Takashi,"Akira's husky voice interceded. "Matt has been very stressed out lately. Upholding a philandering image…fulfilling fantasy's…courting redheads…all takes a toll on one person.

Flipping through a magazine casually, Yutaka gave a chortle. "The fitting must have gone really well."

"Very well," Akira smirked.

Setting down his guitar case on the floor, Yamato rolled his eyes at his band member, ignoring their remarks. "Whatever, I'm here now okay, let's just do this." He looked around for a familiar face. "Where's Harou?"

Harou is the band's manager and has been stuck with them since their first album release. Some could call him a radical, the choices he has made for the band were less that orthodox and could say controversial. There was no denying he was good at his job, but sometimes things just don't go as premeditated in the music industry. Harou had insisted on a meeting at the studio that afternoon and they predicted an intervention was on the agenda.

"He phoned earlier on…he's on his way, he said he was caught up in traffic or something," Yutaka enlightened.

"Oh," Yamato said simply, his reaction hesitant. He was somewhat relieved by his managers lack of attendance. His time management contributed a bad aftertaste in his mangers mouth, and unluckily it was an unbreakable habit or incurable, as he would like to say. Spotting a chair by the corner, he took a seat and he didn't waste an opportunity retrieving his thoughts once again. He was no mood to converse with anyone.

"So…how did it go?" Akira dared to ask.

"Fine," Yamato sighed. He already knew where his fellow band member was going with this and attempted to obstruct it. "I don't really want to talk about."

"Come on, man! Where are the juicy details you promised to deliver?"

"There are none."

"Why so reserved today", Yutaka questioned, raising a suspicious brow. Something was off. It was uncommon for Yamato to suppress the particulars of his day with Sora and generally took pride in boasting it to the group. "Something happened, didn't it? Something happened at the fitting and now for some peculiar reason you don't want to share it with us."

"You're high again," Yamato accused. "Like I said it was fine…nothing to report today, end of story."

Yutaka and Akira traded a glaze and both blurted out, "Something happened."

"Guys, please drop it," Yamato said sternly, emphasizing his annoyance and yet he felt foolish. Exposing his endeavors with Sora was a despicable thing to do…it wasn't fair to her. "How many times must I spell it out to you…nothing happened!"

"Hey guys, what's happening? How are my favorite musicians?" a voice cut the tension in the room.

"Hey, Harou," the band members greeted.

"Shit, traffic was crazy...it's like the end of the fucken world out there. I'm sorry for being so late," Harou apologized, adjusting his blue tie. He appeared neatly groomed, wearing a formal black suit and a freshly pressed white shirt. His winning smile and his upbeat attitude accompanied him. A professional smooth operator. "I know it's normally Matt's style."

"Funny," Yamato snarled.

"Okay, so there's no time like the present, right? So then let me get right to the point," he started, not wasting any time because he knew better than anyone else that time was money, and he could not afford to lose it. "The endorsement deal with Skin has been positive start to far for us and I think it will open countless doors for us the in future…so it's looking good."

"There's a fat 'but' in there somewhere," Akira commented with a pessimist undertone.

"When do his sentences never include a 'but' in them?" Yamato added his two cents.

"But I think that's not enough to boost our publicity," Harou acknowledged and then played his sympathy card. "And I know part of it is my fault, I'll take responsibility for that, and there are no excuses for it…"

"Okay we get it, but get on with it," Yamato expressing his impatience.

"I was thinking about it last night when I was with this chick I met at the bar, right? And we went to…"

"Hold up," Yutaka interrupted, suspending an awkward moment. "Let's make it clearHarou, we don't want to hear about."

"Alright, alright, but I had this epiphany!" he exclaimed, his enthusiasm almost bursting from the seams.

"This better not be one of your sex tape ideas," Takashi warned.

"Or a reality T.V show," Akira said.

"No, no, of course not…it's much simpler than that," Harou explained, rubbishing off their impressions. 'This should have been done long time ago, I know that none of you like the fact we use other songwriters and composers, it pisses you all off…so I want us to start over again, scrap what's been done up to now. I want all of you to write or compose something fucken distinctive, something we've never fucken done before…go out there and be inspired, I want you to be inspired by something, a girl, a hooker or just a fucken summer breeze, whatever…I just don't want any of this 'baby, baby, I want to be your boyfriend' bullshit, okay?

There was a long pause that seemed to go on ceaselessly.

"So…let me get this straight, you want us to do anything we want to do?" Akira asked as if this phenomenon was just a dream.

"You see, this is why you're the brains of this outfit Akira," Harou answered sarcastically.

"Why thank you."

Harou rubbed his hands together, searching for a positive reaction from the group. "So what do you guys say? You think you can do this?"

The band member each gave a glance at one another, waiting for someone to voice their opinions.

"I like it…let's do it," Takashi spoke up, the first to accept the challenge. The bassist was keen to stand out and show what talent he suppressed all these years of censoring.

"Yeah, let's do it," Akira and Yutaka followed suite and looked at Yamato for his personal view.

This moment that transpired right in front him was what he was waiting for such a long time. It's seemed improbable at first, but it was really, very really. People, fans now would accept their music for what is actually is, baring their raw talent to the world. This opportunity was staring him the face, enticing him to engage it and accomplish it. This was not a challenge to him, this was a driving force launching him to the elite of the music business and he will not allow anything or anyone to get in his way.

"I'm in."

Song Playing – 'Houdini' by Foster the People

A/N: Yay! An update! It's a miracle! Okay seriously I have three super crappy excuses though. Excuse one – Writers Block (Yuck!), excuse two – Job and excuse three – Life. I hope you enjoyed it, but I wasn't 100% happy with this chapter, kind of weird because I wrote this in two weeks. I promise a much better chapter next time, but please review. I adore your support!

Important Notice: Unfortunately, due to unforeseen events, I am going on hiatus until I can sort out my situation. There's probably a big move for me soon and whole different kind of life as well, so I just need to concentrate on that at the moment. I should be back near the end of the year. Wish me luck.

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