Title: Between the Lines (Chapter Three)
Main Characters: Mia, Ms. Iitaka, Sayuri, Bus Driver, Taro, {Sho}
Rating: PG (subject to change in continuing chapters)
.:Note:.
Third one! I hope it came out as good as I’d hoped. I’m sorry it took so freaking long to get it up. I actually just wrote it about two days ago and just finished typing tonight (when I should actually be doing HW or showering… shame on you, Juliane :X) Sorry if the references are not perfect! It is basically a figure of my imagination, this story is, just felt so much like writing it! Douzo~
Chapter Four! CLICK!

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Mia leaned her head against the window of the bus, letting the coldness of it seep into her body. She had been outside all morning. After having lunch with Sho, whom she had officially nicknamed “Yabu-san”, she had sat outside on the bench for a while, soaking up the beauty. Sho had excused himself as soon as he had finished the meal, claiming he had somewhere to be.

            Mia was embarrassed and felt her cheeks flush against the cold window. She had been totally outward with Sho, telling him about America and even laughing when he tried to speak English. She also remembered her run in with Kousuke. She was mortified that she had cried like she had. And in front of a guy she hardly knew, no less!

            Mia closed her eyes, watching memories of the day flitter by under her closed lids. All-in-all, it had been a good day. I want to see Yabu-san again, she thought on her last strip of consciousness. And then she fell asleep.

 

            Someone was tapping her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open and she lifted her head to look around, disoriented. Her eyes landed on the bus driver’s worried face and she stood up abruptly as the memories came back, falling upon one another. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “I’m so sorry! I fell asleep on the bus!” She looked around, flustered, looked at her watch and nearly fainted. Look at the time, Mia you dope! Her watch said 6:39 pm.

            The bus driver chuckled. “It’s ok, it’s ok. We’re at your stop.” Mia looked out the window into the orange-ish world. He was right. “You looked so tired, so I let you sleep. But it was starting to get late, so I’ve decided to drop you off. I remembered that this was where you were let on, the Keio miss,” he explained.

            Mia looked at him gratefully. This man was awfully nice. “I’m so sorry for all the trouble,” she apologized, bowing her head.

            “No need to bow your head, miss. It was no trouble at all. You just need to be careful on busses like these.  Not all bus drivers are as nice as me and a pretty young one like yourself could get taken advantage of.” He spoke lightly, but his eyes showed that he was really worried and hoped that she would learn from this. Mia was extremely grateful for this man’s kindness. She felt horrible for imposing on him. She said thank you once again and collected her stuff.

            “Bye-bye,” she waved as he drove off. The house was close to the bus stop, only roughly a three minute walk. Mia’s mind strayed. She didn’t even know what she was thinking about. Her dad? No, that wasn’t it. The feeling that came when he was in her head was much different than this one. But what exactly was she feeling?

            She hadn’t figured out even as she reached the door. Although, she thought, three minutes isn’t that long to figure something out. She fumbled in her bag for the house key but the door opened just as her fingers closed around it. “Mia-san! Okaeri! You’ve been gone an awfully long time! How was your day?” Mia grinned at Ms. Iitaka. She was such a sweet woman and Mia didn’t like to worry her.

            “Tadaima, Iitaka-san. I am sorry for returning this late… I fell asleep on the bus…” Ms. Iitaka cut Mia’s explanation off and pulled her inside.

            “No need to apologize, Mia-san. It’s not like you have been given a curfew. We are just about to start dinner. Give me your bento box then go and put your bag in your room. But don’t stay up too long, you got home just in time for dinner and I would very much like to hear about your day on campus.” Ms. Iitaka was so anxious ad happy that Mia couldn’t help but be excited as well. Wait till she heard about the day Mia had had!

            “I’ll be right down then, Iitaka-san. Thanks!” She said handing the bento box to Ms. Iitaka before running upstairs to dump her stuff on the bed. She looked at herself in the mirror, stunned by what she saw. Her face was flushed and her hair scattered every which way. Her eyes were bright and her smile huge. How had she gotten so happy?  Even though she was a mess, Mia had never seen herself look so beautiful and happy since her dad left…. And at that moment when she thought of him, the smile slipped from her face. Mia wondered if the beautiful her she had seemed to see had just been an illusion.

 

            At the table, Mia was finally able to formally meet the children of the Iitaka family. Sayuri was a beautiful young 13 year old and Taro was a sturdy 16 year old. When Mia offered them a greeting, only Sayuri seemed to have any interest in her. She wanted to know everything, complimenting Mia often and over-enthusiastically on her looks and Japanese accent. Mia was embarrassed and flattered by how blunt the young girl was. But Taro seemed to be the exact opposite. Unlike his sister’s long, beautiful, black-as-midnight hair, his was bleached in random places and cropped medium length. Some of it was pulled into spikes and he had long bleached bangs that swept over his eyes. So that’s the style for teens in Japan nowadays, huh? Mia thought as she chewed her food. Taro didn’t even shoot her a glance.

            After the teens had talked about their day at school (Taro mumbling and keeping his eyes down the whole 30 seconds of his talk,) Ms Iitaka inquired Mia again about her own day.

            Mia started about how she had met Kousuke. Sayuri listened intently with wide eyes, seemingly over excited the minute she had mentioned “Keio.” She described the campus, or what she had seen of it. Sayuri was so alert, catching everything Mia said. It made Mia turn wary. What was the young girl looking for in her words? She edged towards the part of her day when she met the man who had jumped into the bush. “He said his name was Sho, or the girl that had chased him into the bush did, really.”

            Sayuri let out a strangled noise making Mia jump in her seat. She stared at Mia, her eyes wide and breath coming out hard. “You met SHO?! Sho SAKURAI?!” Mia feared that the girls eyes would pop out of her pretty little head, they were so wide.

            “W-well, I don’t know if he was called Sakurai… I only heard Sho…” She trailed off, her voice coming to a quiet and timid stop as Sayuri burst from her chair and scrambled up the steps. Mia looked at Ms. Iitaka, perplexed. The woman was just smiling a little tiredly. She heard a long sigh come from the person next to her and looked at Taro. What was going on here? She tried to ask him with her eyes, but he refused to look at her, still.

            She was even more lost when Sayuri dashed back down the steps with a bunch of CD’s in hand  and shoved them in her face. “Was… was the Sho you met… this man…here?” She said. Her breath came fast. Whether it was because she had just run up and down the stairs or because she was so excited, Mia couldn’t tell. This little girl is overreacting… Mia thought.

            Cautiously, Mia angled her head to the closest CD and let her eyes rest on the man Sayuri was pointing at. She frowned and looked up at Sayuri. Was someone playing a trick on her? “Why would Yabu-san be on the cover of a CD?” She asked, honestly and utterly baffled.

            Sayuri gasped. “Yabu-san… YABU-SAN? Why are you calling him that? And why wouldn’t he be on the cover of his own CD? Well, Arashi’s CD. He’s in their band! He acts and sings and newscasts and so much more. How’d you get to meet him and not even know who he is!?” Her eyes were laced with jealousy and after the questions stopped flowing towards Mia, Sayuri turned to her mother. “Ne, nande, mama? I’ve been a fan forEVER and I never got to meet him! I want to meet him, mama! Mia-nee is so lucky! So lucky! It’s not fair! And he’s been right there that whole time!” Sayuri finally ran out of her long-lasting breath and Mia gaped at her. Was this serious? Yabu-san… the one who had jumped into a freaking bush, was famous?

            She couldn’t really comprehend all of it. Any of it, really. She had met a famous person. And that famous person had jumped into a bush. That famous person went to her school. Oh, she thought, that’s why he looked so professional. That’s why he had such a face… no, that’s wrong…Mia was so confused and shocked by the information that she couldn’t think straight.

            “Mia-nee, listen to this. This is his newest solo,” Sayuri stood up and went over to the CD player, Ms. Iitaka just watching silently with a knowing smile on her face. Dinner seemed to have been put on hold for the moment. The young girl rambled on as she put the CD in and pressed “play”. “It’s called ‘Hip Pop Boogie’ and it’s on Arashi’s new album ‘Dream ‘A’live. It just came out this April and I got it right away! They’re also doing a dome tour this summer, that’s how famous they are. Listen, Mia-nee!” The music started and Mia listened as best as she could. Once the voice started, Mia couldn’t hear anything else. That was Sho all right. That deep, slightly rough voice played the rap-like lyrics beautifully. Mia could imagine them flowing out from his sultry red lips… famous lips… What a voice Yabu-san has. I never ever imagined that he might be able to sing. Not that I really had the time to imagine anything…

            “Here, Mia-nee,” Sayuri said, eyeing her. “You can listen to these in your room after dinner. I know you’ll love them. I have every album and I’m collecting their singles…” Mia took the offered stack of CD’s and fell back into her seat. Oh! Her eyes popped in surprise. She had been standing. She must’ve stood when she had heard Sho’s voice because it had been so distinctly him.

            Ms. Iitaka smiled wide at Mia’s stunned face and switched the topic of conversation over to her day. Sayuri kept looking over towards Mia, as if she wanted to say something to her, but even if she had, Mia wouldn’t have been able to answer.

 

            Mia plopped herself on her bed setting the stack of CD’s beside her, which toppled over. She needed to think. She had gotten over the fact that Yabu-san’s name was Sho Sakurai. That much was easy to get into her head. But the fact that a famous person had spoken to her… and one as obviously famous as him… That she hadn’t know who he was! Well, that was explainable, since she had lived in America. Why didn’t he tell me?

Oh

            As the realization settled in, her mouth formed a perfect ‘O’ shape. “Oh,” she said, eyes wide. That girl that had been chasing him must’ve been a fan and that was the emotion Mia had seen in her eyes. Fandom and lust for an idol. And Sho. Sho evidently hadn’t wanted to talk to a fan. He had stayed with Mia, though, because he had noticed that she didn’t “know” him.

            So, Yabu-san wants to befriend me because I am not like the other girls that only fawn over him? That only want him for his renowned idolism? Mia questioned herself. “Well, if that’s his decision, then I will wait for him to tell me who he is,” she said it aloud, to confirm the thought. She realized she would wait and that she could. She had met him before she had known. Why should anything be any different?

            A soft knock sounded from the closed door. “Mia-nee, is it ok if I come in?” It was Sayuri, of course.

            “Hai, it’s open.” She patted the spot next to her on her bed and Sayuri sat herself down next to Mia.

            “Mia-nee, you are so lucky!” She gushed, eyes bright. “Do you think you will see him again? Why do you call him ‘Yabu-san’? Have you listened to anything yet?”

            Mia waited for the younger and more excited girl to finish before she replied, answering all of the questions. “Yes, I am lucky. Hopefully, I will get to see him again. He is a very nice man. I call him ‘Yabu-san’ because he jumped into a bush to hide from a fangril. And, no, I haven’t listened. I only just got here.”

            “Ohh… Sou ka ne.” Sayuri paused, swinging her feet. “Mia-nee, do you have a MP3?”

            “Ah, hai, nande?”

            “Go get it. I want to add Arashi onto it.” Sayuri stood up, waiting for Mia to do so as well.

            “Hai, hai,” Mia said, surprised at the girl’s order. From what she had heard of Sho earlier, she liked Arashi. She slowly got up off her bed as not to fall back onto it, and ambled over to her suitcases. She pulled her video iPod out from one of the pockets, along with the computer cable. Sayuri popped over and snatched it up. She scurried out of the room and Mia yelled to her back, “Just don’t delete anything, Sayuri-chan!”

            “Hai,” the younger said, sticking her head back into the doorway, “And you can call me ‘Sayu-chan’, Mia-nee.” Then she was off again, leaving Mia to the rest of her muddled thoughts of celebrities, identities, and secrets.