Someone told me that an author had copied my story (same plot, she just changed Hayate's job), and I tried to read it but the girl deleted it I think. Whee. Plagiarism is bad people. So if it's true, whoever you are, don't do it again.
Sasame's a cool cat but he may seem flustered (ooc) in this fic. However, if you think about it, even the silver bishie would be perturbed by the situations I put him in. Think possibility. Breathe in, breathe out. Thanks for the comments and suggestions, although I don't think the Japanese words would stop appearing in the text. I love Nihongo too much.
A Song for My Beloved
Chapter 05: A Series of Unfortunate Events
Satomi Moriyama had to be the luckiest person in the world. Thanks to the absence of the editor-in-chief and the piece of paper that held the details of Himeno's switch with Satomi during the press conference (although some may argue that this wasn't a coincidence), the assistant-editor assigned Satomi to do the exclusive with Yoshida Sasame.
The assistant-editor got a call from Masako, Sasame's manager, telling her that Tokyo Talk was able to get the exclusive with the Silver Prince. Masako had forwarded the special request of Sasame to get interviewed by 'the girl who covered the press conference'.
"Kono onna wa dare…" the assistant-editor mused to herself, "Who was it again?" She checked her logbook and found Satomi's name. "Moriyama Satomi… Ah! Sou da!" she called out, "Moriyama-san?" "Hai?" Satomi popped out her head from her cubicle and went to the assistant-editor's desk. "Doushitano Kato-san? Is anything wrong?" Oh what did she notice now? Satomi ticked off a mental list, trying to figure out which mishap her boss had caught her causing.
Greenish water removed from office dispenser, check.
Pens that squirt invisible ink: disposed of, check.
Plans for redecorating office with tacky and nauseating floral wallpaper: trashed, check.
Automatic back scratcher (the one that blew the floor's fuse last week): left at home, check.
28 pages of Satomi's smooshed face (she had always wanted to try photocopying various parts of her body): shredded… not a check.
Uh oh… Satomi wasn't even a follower of Shintoism or Buddhism, but at that moment, she found herself muttering prayers to various deities for protection and luck. Satomi had a knack for getting kicked out of magazines; her departure from a certain publication was even all over tabloids as it involved a popular singer.
Sasame glanced nervously at his watch, which was counting the minutes left before his meeting with the unusual reporter he had encountered during his press conference. He had been indecisive about the flowers; Sasame couldn't figure out whether to give her chrysanthemums or orchids. He didn't want to woo her but he did want to let her know that he was pleased with her, her question, and her overall strangeness… Based from what Masako had told him, the girl seemed spacey and distracted during the press conference. Sasame got purple orchids but he went back to exchange them for the yellow chrysanthemums. Mums or orchids? After a few more moments of deliberation, he started to reach for the lilies. Iee, that's not right either. The kind storeowner decided to step in and handed him a bouquet of pink roses.
"Yoshida-san, you can give these to your girlfriend."
"These isn't for my girlfriend! She's a girl, and I want her to be my friend, but I don't think we'd go down that road…" Sasame was starting to fret and he flailed his arms in protest. The old woman smiled knowingly and said, "Just take them. I'm sure the dear girl would love this," giving the slightly panicked singer a reassuring pat on the back.
He stepped gratefully out of the tiny flower shop and immediately, Yuichiro and Jin-Jin (forget the cute name, this guy looked like he could kill you with his bare thumbs) were at his side, ready to protect him from harm, which usually came in the form of over-enthusiastic women vying for Sasame's attention. The singer checked his watch and found that there was still a bit of time left before the interview. He decided to head to the upper floors of the Pan-Pacific Hotel in Yokohama to meet his interviewer.
Sasame arrived in the room fifteen minutes early, the usual number of minutes he had to kill due to his advanced arrival. Plopping onto the plush couch, he loosened his grip on the bouquet of pink roses that he had unconsciously held like a lifeline due to his nervousness. His bodyguards peered at him with obvious concern from their comfortable perches on the unusually large loveseat. They made a curious pair, Yuichiro with his slight frame and Jin-Jin, a towering hulk of muscles and frowns. Hijima, Masako's assistant sometimes teased them about being too close to each other. Masako on the other hand didn't care if they both swung that way, as long as Sasame got home in one piece, they'd get their full pay.
Normally, Masako would accompany him to interviews, unfortunately, this time she had to arrange the details of his upcoming concert. Her absence was affecting him greatly; it showed in the way his knuckles turned white because he had decided that the armrests needed to be held firmly.
Sasame wondered what kind of questions the reporter would ask him. Is it going to be another fairytale question or a 'what brand of hairgel do you use' kind of question? Based on what happened at the press conference, it looked like he didn't have to worry about the latter.
"Sasame-san, would you like us to stay inside the room or at the hall?" Yuichiro wanted to make sure that he wasn't going to intrude on his master's privacy, "There are seats where we could make ourselves comfortable." Jin-Jin shook his head and pursed his lips, showing his dislike for the notion of leaving Sasame in a room with a member of the opposite sex. They had encountered aggressive females in the past, and they didn't want to have those incidents repeated. Sasame gave a slight nod and told them, "It's okay, you guys could stay outside. I'll be fine here." He wondered if he could make the interviewer forget about her article and have a nice conversation with her instead.
Just as the two exited the room, Sasame heard two firm raps upon the thick door. Yuichiro opened the door to announce the Tokyo Talk reporter's arrival, and the Silver Prince hurriedly got to greet her. He took a deep breath and waited for the crimson-sweater girl (it wasn't that he expected her to wear that forever; he just tagged her as such because it was his only clue to her identity) to step inside. He first saw her blue ballet flats, next her blue circle skirt and belt… His gaze then traveled up to her blue tank top with a blue jacket thrown over it, and finally to her… brown hair.
Satomi's smile was unusually bright, as if hiding some manic intention. Sasame got over his initial surprise and bowed while saying, "Hajimemashite. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. Watashi wa Yoshida Sasame desu. Anata no namae wa?" She bowed even lower and said, "Moriyama Satomi desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu." He gave her a nervous grin before gesturing to the chair. As if on cue, Yuichiro shut the door and went back to Jin-Jin who was surfing the police archives for pictures of criminals who resembled the girl who just walked into the room. He had held her identification card hostage, and was comparing it to the faces that had come up in his database search.
The bouquet was suddenly snatched from his grasp and was held lovingly in the blue-clad reporter's arms. Satomi caressed the flowers and murmured sweet nothings to it while Sasame tried to sink into the couch. Is it just me or is she actually molesting the bouquet! Maybe she just really, REALLY likes flowers. He decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. As he was about to start the exclusive, she suddenly spoke in a sugary voice, "Sasame-chan, I'd like to show you a picture of you and me. We've met before, I hope you can still remember me."
She pulled out a huge album from her canvas tote, flipped a few pages and gave it to Sasame for him to be able to see the said picture. He had his arms around her, and the caption at the bottom read 'To Okinawa, with all our love'. There were magnificent bursts of fireworks behind them, and the sea had almost reached their ankles. The picture had Sasame stumped. "When was this taken Moriyama-san?" He didn't recall any visits to Okinawa during New Year… in fact he was positive that he had never stepped onto that island.
Strangely, the wave seemed like it was threatening to engulf them, and the clothes they were wearing were sweaters and shawls, definitely not something a normal Japanese would wear in Okinawa. My ear! It's gone! His eyes roved over the picture, trying to see if he had lost any other body parts. He examined her face closely to see if he had indeed met her before, and if he had wrapped his arms around her like a koala bear. Nope, nuh-uh, never, nada!,his inner voice screamed.
Satomi gave a little laugh and said, "Oh, silly me. I Photoshop-ed that one. We didn't meet in Okinawa after all. Isn't it strange how two separate pictures fit so perfectly? It almost seems like we're M-F-E-O!" Her laugh was starting to sound more sinister by the second, and Sasame politely ventured, "What's M-F-E-O?" It was the question that sealed his fate.
Her laughter stopped, and was replaced with a deadpan expression as she replied, "Why, Sasame-darling, haven't you ever watched Sleepless in Seattle? M-F-E-O means that we're made-for-each-other!" Satomi resumed her manic laughter and managed to bat her eyelashes coyly at him at the same time.
That sure wiped off the polite grin he had kept on his face. Oh dear lord…
He knew that it wasn't going to be the nice conversation he had hoped for as he flipped through the album and found pictures labeled 'Our children'. He wasn't even sure if he was going to remember this loooong hour. Humans have been said to block out painful experiences in order to get over the trauma.
Outside, the two bodyguards were waiting for the exclusive to finish. Jin-Jin was still in the middle of his little investigation, while Yuichiro amused himself with the patterns on the ornate carpets. The floors were soon forgotten as Yuichiro found the magazine at his side more interesting.
To be continued…
Lalalalalala (waiting for the flames for this chapter). I've been living on fanfics and Kyou Kara Maou (interesting show) for the past few months; I need to watch more anime.
Hope you guys don't stop reading this fic. Btw, I might find time next week to write another chapter for Picture Perfect. Oh, and I won't be posting the translations this time, they're kinda easy to understand methinks.