Chapter 2: Home
Sora pursed her lips into a thin line as she examined closely her Paris-inspired sketches. She was currently in her bedroom, sitting crossed-legged on the floor in front of her spacious, wall-window that gave her a generous view of the city below.
While most people would say it was implausible, she dreamed of becoming a top-fashion designer. She discovered this realization when she found a couple of her mother's fashion magazines, and caught herself making mental notes on how she would have created the designs. It wasn't long after that when she began to sketch her own ideas, and the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to do this as an actual career, and not just a hobby.
She first confessed the idea to her best friend, Mimi Tachikawa, who she, herself was a professional model. She was ecstatic to hear about her plans, and when Sora had mustered the courage to show Mimi her designs, Mimi had encouraged her even more. She claimed that she had 'naturally, good taste', and 'promising Fashion Week potential'. Mimi made sure they attended fashion shows together, and the more Sora continued to go, the more inspired she felt on becoming a designer.
And if things weren't intimidating enough, her own mother was a renowned hat designer. Toshiko Takenouchi was known for her wild designs and color schemes, especially the ones that included flowers in them. Sora had to admit she felt a bit anxious, knowing that her mother was a successful designer, but it didn't stop her from wanting to achieve her own goal.
Her lips curved into a wistful smile as she continued to flipped through the pages of her sketchbook. She still couldn't comprehend on how lucky she was to have interned with the Madam Florence. Thousands of inspiring designers had sent in resumes, and went to several interviews, and only those with actual potential were chosen.
Her face etched into a small frown when she noticed a random page was folded over. She turned over to the folded page and felt her stomach drop. It was a sloppy sketch that she had drawn of Yamato from when he spent the night with her in Paris.
"I can't believe you're actually making me do this. Sor, I'm tired and I didn't want to spend my only night with you like this."
"Aww, but Yamaaaa! You promised," she whined, giving him a pout. "Besides, I'm almost done."
He threw her an impatient scoff, though she knew he wasn't really upset with her.
"Fine, I guess," he rolls his eyes, and she could see his lips curve into a small smile. "You could have at least gotten me drunk first. It would have definitely made this more bearable."
"I have champagne."
"Really?" he asked, almost sounding offended.
She shrugged, lazily playing with her pencil that was in her hand. "It was all I had in my fridge. Besides it could be worse, it could be Prosecco."
"At this point I don't think it matters."
"Then shut up and stop complaining," she scowled, walking over and handing him her bottle of champagne that she had been sipping on this whole time.
He raised an eyebrow. "You know, for someone who's asking for a favor, you're not being very appreciative," he grumbled, taking a gulp out of the bottle. "At least I didn't ask you to come to my concert naked."
"You know, if I didn't have to stop to argue with you, I would have been done by now."
"With you drinking this almost-empty bottle of champagne? Doubt it," he threw her a playful grin. "Are you even doing a good job at sketching me? You seem pretty tipsy."
"Mmhhh, for the most part," she told him with a sly smile, even though it was a complete lie. Her eyes floated towards him, then back to her notebook and she hear him sigh.
"Oh Sor, the things I do for you."
The comment made her mouth curve into a smile. She looked at him and held back a sigh, letting her crimson eyes roam all over his perfectly naked body. She was finally feeling the effects of the champagne, and by the suggestive looks Yamato kept throwing at her, he knew it too.
"Oh, screw it," she muttered to herself as she gets up from her stool and haphazardly throws her notebook on the floor.
Yamato quickly sits up from her bed, noticing the coy glint in her eyes.
"So Yama, did I ever mentioned your reward?" she murmured sultry in his ear as she grabbed him by his shoulders, settling herself in between his legs.
She hears him groan approving as his callous hands travel up her thighs and under her short summer dress. "I thought you were eager on finishing that sketch of yours," he gives her an impish grin.
"It can wait," she says, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"So about this reward…"
"Well…" Sora gives him a hungry gaze before biting down on his lower lip, as she feels him knead her ass with a deep grunt. "It's lacy…in your favorite color…and I may, or may not be wearing it."
Yamato pulls her back, and she could see his bright eyes becoming dark and stormy with lust.
"You should have never have told me that," he gave her a wolfish grin before throwing her on the bed as she closes her eyes, immediately giving in as his soft lips tackle her own…
She shuddered at the memory and gave the unfinished drawing one more glance before closing the notebook shut, along with the recollection.
After she had witnessed Yamato fall back asleep last night, she quickly got dressed and dashed right out the door before he could notice her disappearance. She couldn't cope with nor comprehend what he was asking her at the moment and she surely didn't want to wake up to him with a definite answer.
She could easily break things off with Hideo if she really wanted too, but if she was to do that, that would mean she would be giving herself to Yamato, and she couldn't do that. She refused to let him have his way, and let herself surrender to him. He didn't have that right, and she would most definitely would not let him win.
Sora's eyes looked out the window as she pulled her legs closer to her. It was still fairly dark out, but the sunburnt orange hues began to make an appearance in the sky across the horizon.
She sighed as she placed her forehead on her knee. She had to painfully remind herself that not matter how she felt for him, they meant nothing at the end.
"Sora?!"
Sora looked up and saw her childhood friend Taichi, who was only donning sweatpants, tackled her to the ground with a bone-crushing hug. While Sora off in Paris, Toshiko had asked Taichi to house-sit their apartment while she was sent to Milan.
Taichi was taller than average height, but was still slightly shorter than Yamato. His chest was well-defined, though he wasn't stocky by any means. Sora considered him handsome, especially when his chocolate eyes lit up, or when he revealed his pearly, white teeth.
Sora recoiled inwardly, hoping he wouldn't see her slight dismay. Sora was not only Taichi's best friend, but he also happened to be good friends with Yamato, and the idea of Taichi finding out what kind of relationship she had with Yamato, did not settle well with her stomach.
"Urghhh! As much as I've miss you Taichi I'm going to need you to get off," she tells him with a faint smile, forgetting about the frustration from just moments ago.
He gave her a grin as he released her, and sat down right next to her.
"Why didn't you wake me to come pick you up?"
"My flight was delayed and I didn't get back till just a couple hours ago," she lied to him. He didn't need to know that her flight actually came in last night. "I knew you'd still be sleeping, and Lord knows how much you love your sleep."
"It keeps me looking youthful," Taichi patted his face, earning a laugh from Sora. "But you, on the other hand…"
"Look like shit?" she offered with a dry smile.
"You said it, not me," he defended, throwing his hands in the air. "I was going to go for jetlagged."
"Sure you were," she rolls her eyes, giving him a friendly shove. "I haven't been sleeping well. Time-zone changes have really messed me up."
"I haven't been sleeping either, but I can't blame it on time-zones," he grinned wildly at her with a wink.
She wrinkled her nose disapprovingly.
"Taichi, have we not discussed about keeping certain information to ourselves?"
"And why in the hell would I want to keep my sexual actives a secret?"
"Oh I don't know, maybe because it makes you sound like an egotistical pig?"
He threw her a cheeky smile. "Jealous you can't get his?" he waved a hand over his physique.
"You got me," she deadpanned. "Urgh, I swear. You and Yamato are definitely cut from the same cloth!"
"One: Not all of us like being in committed relationships, Sora," he gave her a pointed look. "Two: You'd seriously compare me to that lanky, blond idiot?"
"Right, how rude of me. Yamato is way better looking."
Taichi shot her an annoyed look along with a fierce poke on her arm.
"You said, Yamato is ugly wrong," he corrected her, causing Sora to giggle out loud. "It's okay, traveling can make you slightly delusional."
"Then you must travel all the time."
This time, Taichi shoved her hard enough to make her to fall sideways.
"Don't make me package you straight back to Paris," he threatened her.
"You wouldn't, you'd miss me too much," she stuck her tongue out as she sat back up, with one leg out and one bent in.
Taichi snorted in disagreement. "How was Paris?"
"Simply amazing, working with Madam Florence was a dream," she sighed blissfully. "How was your summer?"
He shrugged lazily. "Just studied and went to my internship. Nowhere near as exciting as yours, or Matts" he tells her, using Yamato's given nickname.
"How did your internship go?"
"Besides receiving a shit ton of paper cuts? Okay," he said, shoving his fingers in her face. "I get bored out of my mind, but dad says it'll look good on my resume."
Taichi had surprised everyone when he announced he was becoming an International Relations major. Not only did he graduate with his chosen major along with Sora, but he did it with a double minor in German, and European Studies.
"Matt mentioned about making a stop to Paris, did you guys see each other?"
The question caught Sora off guard, and suddenly she becomes mindful of her sketchbook.
"Umm briefly," she looked at him, trying to sound nonchalant as she subtly grabbed her sketchbook next to her. "It wasn't a scheduled stop, so he had to leave early if he wanted to make it to Marseille on time."
"That's cool, too bad I couldn't make it."
"Mimi and Takeru came around that time too" she reminded him, carefully watching his reaction. "It would have been nice if you would have joined too."
"Well, it would have been nice, but I was trying to get my shit together too," he answered, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Yeah, I guess I can't blame you for that."
"Oh, Taichiiii!"
"But I can definitely blame you for that."
Both Sora and Taichi flinched at the sound of the high-pitched voice. A curly-haired brunette with mint-colored eyes appeared in the doorway, donning what Sora could assume Taichi's Barcelona t-shirt.
"Is that the shirt I got you for your birthday?" she quirked an eyebrow, and when he threw her a guilty smile, she made a face.
"Oh my gosh, you're Sora Takenouchi!" the girl exclaimed with her eyes wide.
Sora grimaced as she heard Taichi released a small snigger. Being the daughter of Toshiko Takenouchi and best-friends with Tokyo's It Girl Mimi Tachikawa, had apparently hurled some attention on her.
The girl's minty eyes fell on Taichi. "Taichi, what is she doing here? Don't tell me you two are together!" she retorted, placing her hands on her hips.
Taichi released an obnoxious laugh, while Sora's expression soured.
"I live here," she stated dryly.
The girl surveyed the room and a look of horror etched her face as she came to the conclusion that Sora was telling the truth.
"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry," she apologized, hastily leaving the room.
Sora smacked Taichi in the back of the head, receiving a loud "ouch" from his end.
"Hey! What gives?"
"You brought your little playmate, to my mother's house?"
"Well technically Takenouchi, this would be considered a lavished apartment," he corrected her with a grin, dodging another blow from Sora. "Look, I was bored and lonely, can you blame me? Besides, your mom said I could do whatever I wanted as long as she found the place in one peace."
"I'm not sure if this is what my mother had in mind," Sora crossed her arms under her breasts, giving him a dirty look. "By the way, I found her unnatural valley-girl accent, extremely unsettling," she told him, unable to hold back an insult.
Taichi threw her an incredulous look.
"Are you seriouslygoing to give me shit for that? Have you met Mimi? She practically invented the term, valley-girl."
"Yeah… but it just suits Mimi. Plus, it's cute when she does it."
"Has the stench Mimi's hairspray melted your brain cells?"
Sora smacked him on the shoulder. "Speaking of melted brain cells, go talk to her before she gets the wrong idea," she chided him, pointing towards the doorway.
"I don't know Sora…I kinda like the idea of her thinking we're together," he winked at her as she takes her sketchbook and smacks him with it.
"Go!"
"Alright, alright. You know, you haven't seen me in 3 months! You could at least be nice to me," he whined, pouting as he headed out the door.
"Nice? I don't think that word is in my vocabulary," Sora gave him a wicked grin. "Now go make yourself useful, and make me some breakfast."
"Whatever you say, mistress."
Sora's mouth twitched into a smile as she looked out her window, noticing that it was no longer dark.
Despite having an amazing time in Paris, her bushy-haired friend had reminded her how much she had missed home.
A/N: Mimi was originally in this chapter but I'll throw her in the next one with hopefully Yamato in it as well!
Sorry for the late update! I hope you guys enjoy!