Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Celebrity Is... ❯ Truth Be Told ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Weiss Kreuz nor am I profiting from this, it is for pure reading enjoyment. The wonderful Koyasu Takehito is the creator.

“You did well,” Ran nodded while meeting Yohji for lunch.

“I looked very nonchalant, right? Like I didn’t plan to talk about any of the club stuff?” The redhead kept nodding. “You couldn’t tell that I was expecting them to ask about it?”

“No, you’ve gone so long without saying a word. It looked very natural.”

“Why do you sound so sad?”

“Nothing. I just...I’m probably just tired is all.” The red haired man picked at his food. “The noises in your apartment still haven’t come back, right?”

“No,” Yohji said quietly. He’d only heard them that one night after the birthday party and now he feared that Ran and everyone else thought he’d just been a drunken mess.

“Well, I’m sure it was nothing in the first place.”

“I don’t believe you!”

“Quiet...” the bodyguard urged. He looked around to see if anyone was watching.

“I see it in you. I think you guys found something and for some reason you won’t tell me.”

“It’s just that...you looked scared, really scared that night. I can’t ignore that. But, what I also can’t ignore is the lack of evidence we have of anyone actually trying to break in.”

“But, you heard it too!”

“I heard something faint and I first thought it was a perpetrator trying to flee but, now I’m beginning to believe it may have just been the neighbors or something.”

Yohji dropped his fork and sat back in his chair, arms folded with absolute attitude. “Take me home, I’ve had enough.” The roughness and disappointment that he’d first expressed upon meeting Ran had returned by this point.

Dropping, the older boy off at his apartment, Ran waved him goodbye. The gesture was not returned and it was obvious that Yohji was still pretty steamed. [Whatever, I’m tired of trying to be chummy.]

A bit upset himself, the bodyguard drove another four miles toward the hillside. Ran gained clearance to enter the Pinewood Estates neighborhood. He parked his car in the driveway of a white, French style home. The redhead knocked on it’s door and the maid answered. “Mr. Fujimiya, it’s a pleasure to see you. Miss Lydia is in the swimming pool.”

“Thank you.” Ran made his way through the familiar home until reaching the glass doors which, opened up to the indoor swimming pool.

“Look what the cat dragged in. I knew you had to turn up sooner or later,” smiled a dark haired girl with sparkling blue eyes as she climbed out of the water. Dripping wet with her tropical-blue bikini clinging to her skin, Ran helped her fold into a nearby towel while her back faced him. “Thanks,” she said with a lift in her voice and spun around.

“I’m surprised you’re in such a good mood.”

“Why is that?”

“Lydia, I told you ahead of time that Yohji Kudou would be going on a talk show today. You didn’t watch television this morning? No one’s told you about the interview he did?”

“No!” The young girl suddenly became very serious. She padded over to the showering area and began to rinse herself of the pool’s chlorine. “What did he say?!”

“He finally decided to defend himself about what happened at your family’s club. He knows it was you who gave that nasty statement to one of those magazine reporters.”

“No, I told them not to use my name. They just put ‘witness’.”

“Yes, and the internet not only has several other witnesses who have vouched for Yohji’s version of the story but, they also have pictures to go along with their livejournals and myspace accounts. Your story, sans photos of that night and completely anonymous looks like the article’s author just sneezed it out in comparison to other people’s descriptions of what happened.”

“Well, what am I supposed to do? My dad’s club doesn’t need any bad publicity like that. Dad’ll blame me and it pisses me off that any of it has to happen, all because of some washed up child star who does one frickin’ good movie in almost a decade,” snickered the girl. “I tried to do damage control and it blew up in my face! What do you think’s gonna happen?”

“Yohji was content keeping quiet about the whole incident until you pissed him off with that article. And yes, he knew it was you because the article made front page and was rather lengthy. No reporter would do that for just some random witness. I think that if you don’t add anymore fuel to the fire. This could blow over soon.” Lydia nodded at what Ran had to say while she pushed a few strands of hair away from her eyes. Her bob cut was slowly retaking it’s shape as it dried. “Besides, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. If anything, people from all around will want to try to get into the club that Yohji Kudou could not.”

“Ha! Imagine that!” Lydia smiled to herself in an evil sort of way. “My parents left for Europe about an hour ago so, no one’s here to bother us. You should spend the night.” The dark haired girl took Ran by the hands and kissed him deeply while standing on her toes.

“As big as your end of the house is, I don’t think that anyone would notice us anyway. Do your parents even know that you still live here?” Ran teased.

“Shut up,” the girl scoffed while heading toward her bedroom. “Oh and we have to stop by a restaurant I went to last night. I left a diamond earring behind and they’re holding it for me.”

Lydia just took a few moments to get dressed and put some eyeliner on before stepping into Ran’s car. Traffic was pretty backed up due to a crash and it took a while to get to their destination. Finally, the redhead was able to park in front of the restaurant. His passenger quickly but, elegantly in a new pair of Italian pumps, walked inside to retrieve her jewelry. When she came back, she entered the car with a sigh.

“What is it?”

“This traffic. I don’t want to be trapped in this car another half hour. I wish it would all just clear up.”

“Well, I can try to take a different route. The long way home might end up being less of a hassle this time.”

“Amazing, let’s do that.” The red haired man began to drive through the downtown area but came to a halt at Lydia’s request. “What happened?” she first questioned rhetorically upon gazing out of the window. “Park the car, Ran!” Crossing the street, the girl stared onwardly in bewilderment. “Where are they?” she asked the doorman of Club Orange.

“You mean the customers?” the doorman asked in a dry voice. The usual mile long line in front of Club orange had wilted and died. “Apparently that prick, Yohji told everyone on national television today that when we wouldn’t let him come in here, he went to Deep Purple around the corner. Now everyone’s gone to check it out. Most of the people in our club right now just couldn’t get into the other one because it was too crowded.

Lydia stomped off to Ran’s car. She climbed in and immediately started mouthing off. “Your client is ruining my life! Look what he’s done. He’s taken all my family’s business away.”

“I think you might have to apologize to him,” the red haired man suggested as he drove the girl back home.

“No, never!” the girl said fiercely. “You’re his bodyguard. You can help me sabotage him.”

“Now just a second. I won’t do that.”

“Excuse me?!” All the attitude in the world had been squeezed into just those words. “You can’t do this simple fucking thing for me? Do I mean nothing to you?!”
“You can’t have it both ways, Lydia. You’re the one who isn’t ready to be ‘serious’ about me, remember? So, I’m sorry my dark haired darling but, I’m tired of being important and yet not important enough in your life at the same time. Especially, when it comes to my job which, I take great pride in. No way am I screwing that up over our frankly pitiful relationship. I’m not obligated to do anything for you except buy more condoms.”

“Ran!” the girl rolled her eyes while making fists with her hands. “Ran, you are important! It’s just...”

“I tried to help you out by making you aware that Yohji was going to do a surprise appearance on that show today so, you could get your people on it. But, that’s as far as it goes with me.” The car returned to the front of Lydia’s home.

“How can you be so cold, to me of all people?” asked the girl with a disheartened gaze. “You’re just numb all the time now,” she growled climbing out of the car and walking around to the driver’s window.

“Well, it’s pretty easy to do when you’re in love with someone whose too embarrassed to tell her friends about you and too arrogant to admit that Mr. Right might be right in front of her.”

“But, it’s complicated. And I’m not embarrassed. It’s difficult when you’re a rich girl and people expect things from you.”

“I used to expect things from you. But, I guess I’m the only one you don’t mind letting down.” Ran had a look of disappointment on his face. “Good day, Lydia.” The redhead rolled up his window and drove away.

Meanwhile...

After a short break to let his food digest a bit, Yohji spent the next two hours at the gym in his building. Running on the treadmill for a couple miles really allowed him to clear his head. He slowed down to a walking pace for another ten minutes before stopping to purchase some towels from a nearby vending machine. He wiped his face and the back off his neck free from sweat before heading back up to the apartment.

It felt so good to step into a warm shower and just wash himself clean. By this time the endorphins in his body were actively calming his nerves as well.

Resting on the couch and watching Blood Ties, the peacefulness of Yohji’s rather quiet environment made him sleepy. He dozed off for several hours, only to be awaken by his doorbell.

DING DONG

The actor groaned and stretched his legs before shifting them over the edge of the sofa.

DING DONG

“Hold your horses,” he pleaded. It was hard to see through the peephole so, he kept the chain on the door but opened it up a bit. “Oh, it’s you,” Yohji mumbled once meeting his green eyes with violet ones. “Come on in.”

“We got off to a bad start today. I came here to mend things.” Yohji slumped on the couch and just stared at the television. His bodyguard took a seat. “Look, I can’t tell you much but...we’re still keeping a very close eye on you and anyone suspicious who enters the building.”

“So, then you did find something. That’s the only reason to take things so seriously.”

“I didn’t say that.” Yohji shook his head and glared while turning his gaze away from Ran. “We’ve told management here to keep all entrances locked and to only let one vehicle pass through the security gate at a time. If a second vehicle tries to rush through before the gate closes, an alarm will be set off.”

“That’s part of the rules anyway,” Yohji said with an attitude.

“Yes but, no one enforced it before we got here. Our team will actually watch the surveillance tapes.”

“Whatever,” the actor responded under his breath. “I can’t believe I actually started to consider you a friend when all you do is insult my intell–,”

“Listen, Yohji!” Ran exclaimed while coming to his feet. “You say you just started to consider me a friend?” The actor swallowed hard seeing that Ran was absolutely offended. “We may not have known each other long but, I’m with you day in and day out! I know your favorite color, your favorite brand of cologne! I know that sometimes you still drink milk even though you’re mildly allergic to it and it makes you all mucousy and itchy. I listen to your every word as if it might be your last. I come here every night while off duty and check this place top to bottom for boogie men. You say you don’t want fame to get to you and you want to keep your identity but, you sure do act entitled to everything just like everybody else who gets famous!” Ignorance on behalf of both Lydia and Yohji had finally gotten to the redhead.

“I’m sorry, okay? I probably have been acting like I’m entitled to be a pain in the ass. But, it’s not like you think. I’ve just been burned so much that I tend I jump to conclusions. I make people like you pay for the mistreatment that I’ve suffered from other people, who have tried to exploit me. Everybody seems to want a piece of me and it’s made me tough.”

Ran’s spirit listened to Yohji speak more than his ears did. The words mirrored things from his own life. “Know this,” he sighed. “If I ever keep anything from you...it’s in your own best interest.”

Krkrrr...

“What-was-that?” Yohji asked quickly. Ran got his game face on and began to take light steps forward. He looked behind him and motioned for Yohji to get out.

The red haired man made it to the master bedroom where he saw an open window and the blinds were being tossed about by a breeze. Krkrrr, clack, clack...went the blinds once more. Ran exhaled with relief but, still looked all throughout Yohji’s closet and the rest of the apartment to make sure that an intruder wasn’t hiding anywhere. Shortly afterward, he called Yohji back into his home. “Everything’s alright. You left your bedroom window open and the wind was–,”

“My bedroom window?” Yohji asked with eyes wide open.

“Yeah, it was open a little.”

“No,” Yohji shook his head. “That window was closed.”

“Well, maybe you just thought you closed it and–.”

“No, I mean it was closed since I moved in here. I’ve never been able to get it open. I even had to file a work order with management to get them up here and figure out what was wrong.”

“Okay then, maybe they came up here, fixed it and accidentally forgot to fully close the window.”

“When maintenance came up here they couldn’t get it open either. They said that maybe it was installed incorrectly and they would need their supervisor to work on it but, he’s out sick. He won’t be back for a couple days.”

“Well, no one could scale that outer wall. There’s no grip on that part of the outside,” the redhead reasoned while he and Yohji just looked at each other. “I...I checked this place.” Ran’s voice began fading as a whirlwind of thoughts swept through his mind.

“Wait, let me make a call real quick.” Yohji went into the kitchen and pulled out a pamphlet from one of the drawers. It was a brochure about the building he lived in. He began to dial a number written on the front cover. “Hi, this is Yohji Kudou. Uh huh, I’m fine thank you but, my bodyguard found my bedroom window open just now and I still haven’t been able to open it so, I was wondering if maintenance came to my unit earlier today or is the supervisor still out sick?” Yohji paused while listening to the person on the other line. “Right...right. Okay, thanks.”

“So?” asked the redhead.

“She said that maintenance was sent to do two other projects on my floor so, if they had time, they may have stopped by my apartment to fix the window. But, she saw no write-up for it and no indication that it was okay to give my spare key back yet.”

“Yohji,” Ran began quite seriously. “I know that you’re usually way too busy to be here when stuff around the house needs to be fixed and this is a really upscale place but, I don’t feel comfortable with people having access to your keys like that.”

“As soon as the job’s done I’m going to have my locks changed and re-set the password on the alarm. There’s really nothing in here worth taking right now so, the worst they could do is swipe sodas and old Chinese food from my fridge. Oh, which reminds me...”

“What?”

“I’m hungry,” the actor groaned with a hand to his belly. “I think it might be pizza time.” Yohji was quick to make an order. “Extra cheese, extra pepperoni and sausage. Your computer should show my usual order. Right, I get the same thing every week. Oh, and a two liter of Coke or wait, I mean Sprite. Okay, thanks. See ya soon.” The actor closed his phone.

“No vegetables at all?” Ran asked with a look of wonder.

“What for?” Yohji frowned.

“With the industry that you work in, do you even need to ask? Staying in shape is a top priority.”

“Uh, did I not just change my order from Coke to Sprite?” the green eyed man said sarcastically.

“And then?!”

“I heard somewhere that clear soda is better for you than dark soda.”

Ran blinked his lavender eyes. He tried to think of a comeback but, wondered if Yohji’s last comment was even worth responding to. “Soda has no nutritional value. Dark or light.”

“Did you know that one glass of orange juice has more sugar in it than a can of Coke? And that the average adult should only drink one glass a day, children should drink even less?”

“Or really?” Ran said in an unamused tone. “What else do you know?”

“I know that Pepsi was preferred in a national taste test over Coke because people reported that it tasted sweeter and that’s because Pepsi contains way more sugar. So then, New Coke came out and it was basically just original Coke with more sugar. Everyone liked it better than both Pepsi and Original Coke but, many people didn’t like the idea that New Coke might replace the old formula so, it was taken off the market do to complaints. And that’s why I just drink regular Coke.”

“That was a bunch of bullshit you just told me.”

“No, I read about it!”

“I meant it’s bullshit that you’re trying to convince me that you’re soda drinking habits are somehow healthy. I don’t care what brand or color the stuff is. Why not drink water?”

“Ewe. Water tastes awful with Pizza.”

“I give up.”

Soon enough the door bell rang and two knocks followed. Yohji got a few dollars ready for tip money and opened the door. “Thaaank you,” Ran could hear the older boy say and the divine aroma of Italian cuisine permeated the air. “Pizza...” the long haired man began dramatically. “...food of the gods.” He sat the box down on the coffee and left to enter the kitchen. “You can have some if you want,” he offered loudly.


“Thanks.” The redhead lifted a brow. Apparently, Yohji had originally planned to eat the entire thing himself.

“I wasn’t sure if you actually drank soda or not but, here’s a glass in case you’d like to pour yourself some anyway,” the actor said smugly while returning to the living room. “Dig in,” Yohji declared. His eyes looked thoughtful for a moment while staring at a slice of pizza in his hand. “Will you spend the night?” he asked.

“Yes.”

No one said anything for a moment. It felt a little awkward asking Ran to stay over, made the older boy feel like a chicken but, this was one of those times when it was better to just swallow his pride along with his food. He didn’t want to take the window incident lightly.

+++

Around midnight, Yohji and Ran were both still wide awake. They talked about the usual and traded stories about their experiences in the entertainment industry. “You should turn in,” Ran insisted.

“Oh really?” the older boy scoffed. “I don’t have any early appointments tomorrow.”

“But, you’ll feel refreshed if you get to sleep now.”

“I guess,” Yohji agreed. He got up from the couch and began walking toward his room but, halfway there he spun around and sort of pointed at the bodyguard. “Well, what about you?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll set my alarm to go off every hour in case I fall asleep.”

“No, I meant...you need sleep too.”

“I should keep a look out.”
“All night?”

“Just until the sun comes up. I’ve only got about five or six hours to go,” the younger man reasoned as he sat up straight on the couch and took the remote control in his hand. Yohji just stood there for a moment, watching him turn the channels.

“You aren’t on duty anymore,” Yohji said lightly.

“But, I thought you wanted me to stay so I could watch over you.” Ran’s innocent expression was a little saddening. It was the first time Yohji sincerely felt sorry for sometimes being overbearing and ungrateful for the service that the younger man provided. Ran really did go above and beyond the call of duty. “Go to sleep,” insisted the red haired man.

“Goodnight, Ran,” Yohji said softly.

“Good night.”

+++

It was morning, Yohji could tell by the smell of breakfast being made. It was a regular occurrence whenever Ran was around.

The bodyguard opened his client’s bedroom door and caught the man sitting up on his elbows. “You’re eggs and toast are ready. Would you like to eat them in here?”

“Yes, please,” the long haired man agreed with a rough voice. He yawned and stretched his arms out while Ran fetched the food. The younger man brought Yohji’s breakfast in on a tray and placed it over the actor’s lap. The first thing the green eyed boy did was drizzle hot sauce on his eggs. Suddenly, Yohji got a phone call. The cell phone buzzed on his night stand and nearly vibrated it’s way over the edge. “Hello?”

“It’s me, Shinuki. I just wanted to remind you about your appointment with the Gravity clothing line reps. today. They were concerned that you might forget on account of being asked to participate at such late notice.”

“Right. Well, Ran always has that stuff in order. He kind of does the thinking for me when it comes to keeping dates and such. ”

“I know, I just thought I’d call to confirm anyhow. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye.” Yohji closed the phone and got back to eating his food.

+++

Yohji stepped out of the black car and onto the curb, hidden behind dark sunglasses. Ran kept close behind but, this neighborhood wasn’t known for aggressive paparazzi. It was a quiet suburb, not ten minutes outside of Yohji’s city. “Welcome, my name is Kayle,” chimed a man in a charcoal sweater with a fuschia dress shirt underneath. Yohji looked at his modern but, definitely overly distressed jeans and hoped that wasn’t the style he’d be asked to sport around town. As if the heavily frosted area over the thighs wasn’t offensive enough, the flap pockets on the back made the man’s ass look huge...something that was promptly noticed as he instructed the actor and bodyguard to follow him. “Okay. Well, we’ve put some clothes aside for you to glance at and try on.”

Yohji folded up his shades and put them in his pocket then, looked over at Ran who just shrugged his shoulders. “Do you have anything less...ugly.”

“Yohji.” The red haired man said in a surprised tone.

“No, no! It’s perfectly alright.”

I can’t endorse anything that I don’t like. It’s just wrong. These clothes aren’t me.”

“Hang on, don’t leave yet,” Kayle spoke up. “This isn’t even the half of it. These outfits are just trendy things that your Agent and another stylist thought you might go for.”

“Cringe.”

“Okay, okay. I get that now. You want something edgier, it’s here. If I can put together something you might actually like...will you continue the deal?”

The actor hesitated for a moment. “Sure, why not?” A total of two minutes and forty seconds later, Kayle came back with a whole new outfit, including shoes. “Better,” Yohji titled his head. He grabbed the clothes and headed to a dressing room.

“Phew,” the fashion consultant swept his hand across his forehead in a playful way. “Tough cookie.” Yohji returned with the new set of clothing on. “So?”

“It looks...okay. I’d like to change the belt though. This is too...sissyish.”

“Okay, just stay put.” At the edge of an hour, Yohji had three new outfits that he was willing to mix, match and wear in public from time to time.

All of the clothes were free of course but, Yohji was curious about the actual price of a certain pair of jeans that he really liked. “So, how much do these regularly run for?”

“About $204, with tax.”

“Hm, that’s actually a little lower than I expected.”

“The manager says that this particular style isn’t moving fast enough so we’re trying to cut our losses.”
“Well, being that I found these in the furthest corner of the store, and I don’t see any mannequins or pictures of models wearing them the way that I see all the other stuff...I don’t think anyone even knows you guys sell them.”

“Well,” Kayle smiled with a shrug. “I guess you’re our new billboard.”

+++

At home, Yohji walked through the front door with a slurpy in hand. Ran followed behind and shut the door with his foot being that his arms were full of shopping bags. “Just throw that crap anywhere,” the actor said.

Ran set the bags down next to the sofa. “Would you like me to do anything more before I take off?”

“Nah, go home.”

Later on, Yohji began to feel adventurous. He took a shirt out of one of the clothing bags and held it up to himself in the bathroom mirror. [Not bad,] he said inwardly. It was hard to resist putting on a full outfit so, he didn’t try to. He just suited up and then...walked around the house. But, doing so was lame by definition.

The long haired man grabbed his keys and headed back to Deep Purple. [Damn, what’s goin’ on?] Yohji thought after approaching the club and seeing lots more people than there had ever been there on his first visit. Some of them didn’t appear to be average club goers.

“Over there!” Yohji heard a voice say. A blonde woman with pink streaks came racing toward him. “Hello, I’m Sabrina with CrudeMusic.com news and I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment.” She had a cameraman with her.

“What?” Yohji looked confused.

“I’m Sabrina with CrudeMusic.com news and–,”

“Yeah, yeah. I heard that part. What’s this all about?” the actor questioned, gesturing to the crowed up ahead.

“Well, it’s all about you. I mean, you’re Yohji Kudou, right?”

“So?”

“So, everyone heard you talk about this place on television today and now they all wanna check it out. Plus, it’s really cool in there,” the girl smiled. “At least it was until the tourists started sticking around.”

“Tourists?”
“You know, people who aren’t really into that scene, they just come to gawk at everybody else and then report back to all of their friends the next day how freaky everything was.”

“I see,” the man replied, looking onward with his hands at his sides.

A growing stampede of photographers soon caught onto the fact that Yohji was being interviewed by an amateur reporter and they all came at him. “Back off.” Yohji kept his voice firm but, low. He didn’t want the beast to come out in him. Didn’t want to do or say something he’d regret in front of all those cameras. Finally, a bouncer turned them all away and ushered him into the club where only a select few reporters were allowed to enter so that they wouldn’t annoy true club goers. People who weren’t dressed in attire that was typical of Deep Purple were also being turned away as not to take away from the ambiance with conventional clothes.

Yohji caught a glimpse of Ken at his work station. He looked frustrated. Who wouldn’t be on a night like this. It was so busy but, not in a fun way, not this time. [Time to unwind,] Yohji thought. He pushed his way through the crowd and just before reaching the bar he saw a familiar face. “Ran?”