Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Celebrity Is... ❯ Best to Start From Scratch ( Chapter 4 )

[ 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.

“Ran?”

“Hi, Yohji,” the red haired man greeted in a nervous way.

“You’re the last person I expected to run into. Come dance with me.” The actor tugged at his bodyguard’s arm.

“I can’t right now.”

“Oh, come on.”

“Yohji!” called a familiar voice. The long haired man turned to his right and saw Ken fighting his way through the crowd to get to him.

“Hey! I want you to meet someone. This is–,” Yohji turned back around but, the redhead was gone.

“Who?”

“Nevermind, I guess,” the older boy sighed.

Meanwhile...

Ran was finally able to catch up with Lydia again. “Are you done here, yet?” the man asked.

“Yeah, this place makes me sick. I just wanted to see what all the talk was about and take care of something in the process. Alright, we can go now,” said the girl as she looked back toward the crowd and saw Yohji. Her eyes narrowed and she gritted her teeth. “Hate you,” she whispered.

+++

Ken convinced Yohji to come home with him. The DJ had a tiny one bedroom apartment within walking distance of his job. The older boy made himself comfortable on an oversized bean bag in the corner. “This is actually pretty sweet,” he said.

“Yeah, I used to love those when I was kid. That one had a mate but, my old apartment flooded and it got ruined.

“Well, that’s okay. There’s room for the both of us on this one.” Ken waltzed his way over to Yohji and sank into the bean bag with him. The actor was all hands but, that was just fine. His fingers were experts at undressing one’s body.

“I’ve never had sex on this thing before,” Ken hummed while kissing the actor. He was completely naked and sitting on Yohji’s lap. “Let’s finish taking off your underpants Mr. Kudou,” the boy teased.

Yohji thought he heard his cell phone ringing from the inside pocket of his jacket. The garment was sprawled someplace across the floor and he had no intention of retrieving it. Why would he? He was balls deep in the security of Ken’s bottom.

The actor slowly closed his green eyes, anchoring Ken’s body at the hips and fucking upward. He slowed down a minute, making a mental note to really, really quit smoking as his lungs gasped for air. “Fuck...” the younger man whispered, his hair disheveled and skin glistening with just a hint of sex-sweat.

The phone rang once more and this time it was pissing Yohji off. The distraction of wondering who the hell was calling so much made him go a little limp. “I’m sorry,” he apologized.

“You know what,” the brunette began. “Let’s just answer it.” Ken carefully separated himself from the long haired man and went toward where he thought he heard the ringing. However, it wasn’t coming from Yohji’s jacket. It was his own phone. “Oh, it’s mine.” He checked his voicemail and realized that the club he worked for had called. “Shit, they want me to go back in.”

“But, I thought someone agreed to cover your shift for another hour?”

“She had to go to the hospital. Her son hurt himself. I think he choked on something. You know how kids are,” Ken raised his eyebrow in a curious sort of way. “Great. Well, I guess I ought to take a shower now.”

Yohji and Ken both bathed in silence. It was kind of eerie, nothing like any of the experiences they’d had before which, included the act of being intimate itself. The taller man didn’t know what to make of it.

Disappointed, Yohji went home and went to bed.

+++

The sound of people talking and laughing woke Yohji the next morning. Why was it so loud? He’d never been disturbed by his neighbors like this before. After laying in bed for just a while longer he dragged himself out and headed straight for the bathroom. After peeing he walked toward the kitchen when he noticed that his front door was half open. That had been the reason for being able to hear people in the hallway so well.

“Ran...are you here?” Completely freaked out, the actor started looking around frantically. [Phone, where’s my phone?!] he asked himself. “Shit, don’t panic. Don’t panic...” Pajamas or not, he ran out of his apartment and knocked on his neighbor’s front door. No one answered. Looking back into his home, he saw his cell phone sitting on the coffee table. He ran in quickly and got it. Sitting on the floor of the hallway, Yohji called his bodyguard.

Ran was over in two shakes of a lamb’s tale. Lydia was with him. “You wait here.”

“No, I wanna see the inside of the building.”

“Fine, you can wait in the lobby.”

The redhead left Lydia behind and hopped on an elevator.

“Ran!”

“Yohji, are you okay?” the man said as his client got up from the floor.

“Where the hell were you?! What took you so long?!”

“I got here as soon as possible.” Ran searched the house and came back into the hallway. “I didn’t find anything,” the man said strangely.

“Then what’s the matter? I can tell that something’s wrong.”

“Whenever I come over here, I find nothing. And frankly...if you’re just fabricating all of these stories to get attention, please stop,” the man said in a low tone.

Yohji’s eyes opened up like they never had before. “Fuck you!” the actor screamed while holding up his middle finger. “You think I’d do something like this for attention?! I’m a fucking celebrity. How much more attention could I possibly need?”

“Well, rich people have been known to shoplift. So, a famous person seeking more attention doesn’t phase me and I’m not here to pass judgement on you either. I just want it to stop, if that is in fact what you’re doing. You don’t have to tell me anything.”

“This is bullshit.”

Ran couldn’t look Yohji in the eye. He hated having to instigate conflict but, everything pointed to his client. No witnesses were ever around to hear or see any of the things that the taller man explained as unusual. “Why don’t you go back inside and get dressed. I have to come back later and take you to see your agent anyhow.”

None of it was Yohji’s own doing. So, who the hell was tormenting him like this? Part of him even wondered if Ran had anything to do with the strange occurrences at his home. Did the redhead have a motive? It was a question the green eyed man began to ask himself. “What do I have to do to prove to you that I’m telling the truth? At least give me that option before you attribute everything to me.”
There was a pause. “I have a proposal.”
“Shoot.”

“The security team and I thought about putting high intensity sound recorders in your home but thought you might object. Given the current situation, this is the perfect grounds to go through with it. That is, if you’ll allow us to install them?”

“Whatever it takes. In fact, why don’t you get your little team together and wire my whole apartment ASAP.”

+++

After riding the elevator back down, Ran found the dark haired girl wandering around the lobby. “Let’s go,” he commanded.

“So, I guess you’re taking me home now.”

“That was the plan,” the redhead answered smugly. He and the girl had gotten into a heated argument over breakfast that signaled Ran’s growing disinterest in Lydia’s lack of respect for him. His attitude toward her remained quite defensive ever since.

+++

Later, Ran chauffeured Yohji to his agent’s office.

“We’re here to see Mr. Shinuki,” the bodyguard stated.

“Do you have an appointment?” the receptionist asked.

“Do we ever?” Ran’s attitude was a bit rough but, it was nothing personal. Rough was just his style and it felt justified after all the crap he was put through on a daily basis.

“He will see you now,” the woman answered back after asking permission to grant entrance, through the desk intercom.

The two men walked in and closed the door.

“Why?” the agent asked. “Why do you do this to me, Yohji?”

“What would that be?” the actor shrugged. His mood was just as awful as the redhead’s.

“Why do you insist on taking this bad boy image to new extremes? Announcing on television that you like going to alternative night clubs where everybody dresses like sex freaks, really isn’t helping any to sway potential fans out there. That long hair alone gives off the wrong impression. Where are the clothes you’re supposed to be endorsing for Gravity?”

“You’re looking at ‘em!” Yohji’s attitude had teeth. “I just swapped a few things...okay, maybe everything.”

“Ran,” Mr. Shinuki turned his gaze to the shorter man. “You let him do this? He looks shady and that’s the sort of thing that starts rumors. He’s still on probation when it comes to popularity and I want to make sure the fans don’t get turned off.”

“You’re not gonna make me sell out,” the actor firmly announced.

“It’s not about selling out. This is your career we’re talking about. Right now, your fans love the little boy from “Knock on Woods”. That sort of sentimentality got your foot in the door but, it won’t last. You need a more neutral image especially, in the wake of that Club Orange incident.”

“Perhaps,” Ran finally spoke up. “Yohji is popular for the image he already has. Maybe that’s what got his foot in the door and the same thing that will keep him in the house. Predictable actors are a dime a dozen and he’s anything but, that.” The red haired man seemed to sum everything up pretty well to his client’s immediate surprise.

“When I want the bodyguard’s opinion, I’ll ask for it. You’re only job is to protect him and make sure that he starts conducting himself like an ordinary person instead of some–,”

“I may only be the bodyguard but, I’m smart enough to know that ordinary means replaceable. Whatever it is that you find distasteful about him other people seem to love.” Ran stood his ground. He wasn’t a push over and he couldn’t be moved by mediocre insults.

Yohji’s agent wasn’t a happy camper. He didn’t like being corrected above all, by someone who he considered to be in no way qualified to give suggestions about show business. Yohji himself on the other hand was trying to process the fact that Ran seemed to act as if their argument earlier had never happened.

+++

After the battle, Ran walked his client back to the car and unlocked the doors with his remote key. “You must be bipolar getting all upset and blaming me for things then, running to my defense at the drop of a hat.”

“I was never upset with you. I told you that. For all I know you have some weird complex that stems from being a child star. You told me you were neglected a lot as a kid. People talked about you but, never to you,” the redhead corrected. “And I never blamed you for anything. I just wanted to make it clear that if you did have anything to do with the drama at your house, that it needed to end. No questions asked, I would just overlook it.”

“I didn’t fake anything, you’ll see.” Yohji hated feeling like he couldn’t be trusted.

“I hope you’re right. But, if you are...I fear for you life.”
A feeling of cold came over Yohji. He’d been feeling so anguished lately that he forgot to feel afraid.

+++

It didn’t take long to bug Yohji’s apartment with several sound activated recorders. The only place they were neglected to be put was in the bathroom...for obvious reasons.

Ran blew a few strands of hair away from his face. “Alright well, I’ve gotten everything set up in here.”

“Do I have to do anything. Do I have turn anything on?”

“No, it’ll work on it’s own. By the way, don’t go blabbing to anyone that you’ve got this running in here now. Okay?”

“But, if I spread the word, won’t that deter anyone from wanting to fuck with me?”

“It could but, we want them to come back. We want to catch them.”

“I’m bait?!”

“Rather that than have them think of other ways to get at you in public, where they’ll be harder for security to detain.” The redhead shoveled a hand through his hair and tucked a wave of it behind his left ear. “It guess that’s it.”

Ran started for the front door. “Wait,” Yohji called. Hang on a minute.”

“Yes?” asked the younger man with his hand still on the door knob.

“Thanks...for earlier.”

“What to do you mean?”

“The way you, sort of stuck up for me.”

“It wasn’t a big deal,” the red haired man shrugged.

“It was to me.”

Tenderness, sensitivity and warm feelings in general usually made Ran uncomfortable because they were so foreign to him. Words of appreciation were always over analyzed until he’d picked them to death and they were nothing more than just words again. “I’ll see you later,” the man said rather passively and went on his way. Riding the elevator down, he began thinking of the look of sincerity that had been on Yohji’s face. It was the sort of look he’d always wanted from Lydia. He thought about it during his entire drive to security headquarters. A blue car was parked in his usual stall. He exited his own vehicle and found Lydia sitting on a bench next to the entrance, talking on the phone. Ran noted that she had changed her clothing. She wore a dark yellow and brown, kimono-style dress with a deep red belt that tied around the front. It was obvious that she had worn it just for this occasion. “I’ll have to call you back, Raquel,” the girl said once Ran was standing directly before her. “I was wondering when you’d finally show up.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to my boyfriend,” the girl smiled pleadingly, hoping that the man’s violet eyes wouldn’t automatically turn away from her but, they did. ‘Boyfriend’, it was the first time she’d ever used the term. Ran swiped his company access card in front of the door scanner. Lydia came to her feet and followed him inside. She’d been here a million times but, never had she felt so uninvited. “Are you even going to talk to me?”

“I will the moment you start making sense. What’s all this boyfriend stuff?”

“I’m finally willing to admit to my mistakes. All of them. I’ve just been stringing you along all this time like one of those wooden pull-toy dogs with the wheels on the bottom. But, now I’m here to tell you that I’m sorry. I have been so busy trying to pretend that our relationship doesn’t matter that I forgot how much it really does.”

“So, when did you come to that conclusion?” The redhead looked Lydia straight into her blue eyes.

“This morning, after we had breakfast together. It wasn’t like it used to be at all. You just keep getting more and more distant, we keep arguing and I’m ready to accept that it’s mostly because of my attitude.” With a solid gaze on the man in front of her, the girl reached into her purse and pulled her cell phone out. She selected a name in the number directory. “Hello, Raquel. It’s me again.” Ran could hear the other girl talking through the phone. “No, no wait. I have to tell you something first. You know that red haired guy who used to be the bouncer at Club Orange?” A short pause came. “Yeah well...you’ll never guess what I have to tell you about him.”

The bodyguard sat there, listening to Lydia reveal his true role in her life to people she said were closest to her. She told them all to keep it quiet from her parents which, was understandable. Several months back, Ran and one other bouncer had been fired for negligence from Club Orange. In reality, the girl’s father had acquired a gambling problem and could no longer afford certain luxuries at his business. Simply laying employee’s off meant that they’d be eligible for unemployment which, their ex-boss was not about to pay. Firing them for poor performance was the least costly way out. Ran knew all of this and became very boisterous about it. Eventually, he and the other man who was terminated won ten grand each in a settlement. Needless to say it was best that Lydia tell her parents about Ran in a more personal way than through the phone.

“I wanna start over. Start fresh,” the young lady proposed. Ran almost began to smile but, it somehow felt premature to do so. “Why don’t we have dinner together,” she suggested.

“I can’t”
“Please.”

“I’m very busy today. We can plan something another time.” There was an obvious wall being put up.

“You aren’t still mad, are you?”

“No...” the violet eyed man paused.

“Could you get me a bottled water?”

“Sure, just have a seat in my office. I’ll be right back ”

Sitting there, Lydia made good use of the time she had alone. Quietly, the girl went through Ran’s desk. She saw a few envelopes and receipts; stuff that was usually found stuffed into the glove compartment of the bodyguard’s car. On the back of a business card, she saw the numbers 9 and14 written boldly. She turned it over and discovered an address on the front...a familiar one. “Bingo.”

Meanwhile, Ran had a seat on the edge of a chair in the lounge. He just needed time to think a minute and collect his feelings. With victory came so much anguish and poor memories. Could he take another burn from Lydia? Not wanting to draw attention to his doubtful nature, the redhead bought water from the vending machine and returned to his office.

+++

The next day, Lydia spent all morning primping and beautifying herself. She pulled a pink mini dress and a pair of matching pair of sling-backs from her closet. Painting on a layer of lipstick, she made sure to rehearse what she wanted to say to Yohji over and over again in her head.

After a short drive, Lydia could see the actor’s apartment building and parked nearby. There was a lobby entrance that she tried to enter but the door was locked. A security guard came to her aid after she began tapping on the glass. “What do you want?” the man asked.

“I’m here to see a friend.”

“Fine, go to the key pad along the wall over there and call them through the intercom. The side entrance will unlock and you can head right into the common area.” The man shut the door. It was obvious that Lydia wasn’t going to be able to charm her way through security the way she’d planned.

That’s when she saw the garage gates fold open as a car went through. Quickly, she ran through before the gates closed. Fortunately, she hadn’t decided to pull that stunt while in her car or the alarm would have been tripped. “Shit, now my feet hurt...” the girl complained. She saw the elevator dock and walked in that direction. The dark haired girl rode all the way to the ninth floor before stopping. “Okay,” she breathed. “Hopefully I’m right about all of this.” Almost immediately, she found unit 14 and knocked on the door. “Hello,” she smiled smugly when the door opened.

Yohji looked surprised. “What the hell are you doing here? I’m here to make a deal with you. Can I come in?” the girl raised her brow as if she should have already been invited inside.

“Make it quick.”

“Listen,” the girl said. Yohji made himself comfortable in an arm chair and she sat across from him on the loveseat. “How about, I make you my special guest at an upcoming Club Orange event and bury the hatchet about what happened the night you first went there.”

“That’s appealing to me, why?”

“It’s appealing because you and I can be absolute media icons if we just work together.”

“Still not interested.”

“Well, maybe this will get your attention.” The girl handed over several photos of Yohji from different angles.

“What’s your point?”

“I own the eyes and ears of this city. Money is power and paying the right people to watch you has given me more force than you realize.” The actor was handed a second set of pictures. They were of he and Ken having sex the night before. The photos weren’t very good but, Yohji could easily be identified. “Of course, I can give you the negatives and everything if you agree to accompany me at my dad’s club. And the next time you have an interview, explain that the scandal at Club Orange was all just a big misunderstanding and now you love going there.” Lydia couldn’t help but glow and smile ear to ear.

“First of all, nude-photo blackmail is so old already. I mean, do people still do that?” Yohji began in a sarcastic tone.

The dark haired girl seemed visibly upset that none of her attempts at damage control seemed to work against Yohji. The next time she spoke, her tone wasn’t as cool as it had been earlier and her lips were quivering. “Well, just think about this. If I can get your little friend, Ken to betray you, I can get anyone close to you,” the girl said while hurriedly standing and moving toward the front door.

“Lucky for me, I don’t have anyone close.” Yohji shrugged his shoulders and made a pouty face which, only made his antagonist run off even faster in embarrassment for even showing up at his place. Yohji smiled when she slammed the front door. “Now to take care of some business,” the long haired man sighed to himself while locking back up.

+++
Ken’s phone began to ring while he was icing a cake. He licked his fingers before picking up. “Whoever you are, this better be good.”

“Since when have you been on Lydia’s payroll?”

“Yohji?” the DJ’s eyes went big. He almost dropped the phone after such a surprise. “I can explain everything. Please just listen to me.”

“I don’t even know if I should grace you with that chance.”

“Listen, things aren’t all that simple, okay?”

“You’ve got thirty seconds.”

“Look, she hired someone to spy on you–,”

“I already know that.”

“I’m not done yet,” said the younger man defensively. “She hired someone to spy on you after all that internet fuss began and started creating bad publicity. I guess she was trying to find dirt. Lydia caught onto the fact that we’re friends and she offered me some cash to get it on film the next time we slept together. I refused at first but then, she doubled the money that night and...”

“And you sold me up the river?.”

“I’m sorry, okay.”

“Ken, don’t worry about it. I’m used to getting stabbed in the back!”

Ken jumped when he heard the actor hang up on him.

“Fuck ‘em all,” Yohji said to himself. “Fuck ‘em all.” But, the morning hadn’t been a total loss. He was now aware that Ken was just as fake as everybody else and the uneasy feeling of being watched was another closed case. It was time to call the one person he almost felt like he could count on...Ran.