Chapter 8

Ryo quickly hushed Uchi before any other member, especially Kusano, came out to see what was happening. They were just around the bend in that room, and no matter how noisy it would be with their number, Uchi's laughter could very possibly be heard when they stopped to choose another song. Uchi nodded, trying to suppress his laughter, but started again when he went into the washroom.

Moriko stared afer Uchi, grinning at the way he reacted. He was cute, too, though when she had first seen Cherish's music video on television, she had thought Uchi was a very quiet and gloomy person. It turned out to be totally the OPPOSITE. "Kawaii na~" Moriko softly commented. Ryo squeezed Moriko's hand on purpose to remind her playfully that she should not look at other guys. Moriko looked back at Ryo, giving him a smirk, which Ryo glared at her for, and Moriko ended up laughing.

As they made their way back to the room, Moriko froze. "Wait, it's best if we walk in at different times... You know, they know us to be at 'war', so we should avoid suspicion. You don't want to have Hiro nii-chan on our backs." Moriko said, pushing Ryo forward a little so that he would walk in first.

"Alright, alright..." Ryo walked in, though he could not entirely hide his smile from the others.

Outside, Moriko could hear Kusano asking, "Are? Weren't you so quiet and unhappy just now? What happened? You look happy all of a sudden." Kusano then grinned. "Met your girlfriend outside?" Kusano teased.

"Kusano, urusai yo! Really, how much do you sleep a day? Your mouth doesn't feel tired at all!" Ryo shot back, although he was still smiling. Kusano laughed. He knew he must've hit the spot. But the only thing he didn't know was that Moriko was that 'girlfriend' he himself had mentioned.

A little while later, Moriko walked in, trying to avoid Ryo's gaze in case she blushed and told everything away. Tegoshi, Koyama, Kusano and Shige were now singing 'I.ZA.NA.I.ZU.KI.' and as Moriko walked in, Kusano did his silly joke again and sang 'be silent' extraordinarily loudly. Moriko shook her head and walked in.

Kusano, being the talkative and energetic one again, asked, "Ri-chan? Why are you hiding a smile?"

"Huh? I'm not. You squinted your eyes when you sang 'be silent' just now, how would you know I smiled?" Moriko asked, laughing nervously.

"If you met your boyfriend just like Ryo met his girlfriend outside, that boy is going to feel sorry!" Kusano joked, although he did not know how true that was.

Moriko did not answer. She was now seated beside Koyama, who gave her a thumbs up and mouthed, "Yokatta ne!"

While Koyama, Yamapi and Shige were singing 'Sore Ja Mata' by SMAP, Tegoshi was arguing that he wanted the microphone, but Koyama just refused to pass it to him, claiming that he had sung too much. Moriko was too busy "occasionally" catching glimpses at Ryo that she didn't sing anymore, until Tegoshi pulled her out to sing 'Zutto' with him since Massu wasn't there.

There was no way Yuki could take a seat beside Ryo without obviously showing that she had feelings for him. She did notice, however, that Ryo was singing 'Zutto' on his own while he folded his arms and slouched back in his seat. When Moriko finally retreated back to her seat, Yuki was pulled out by Tegoshi this time, and Kusano complained, "Tegoshi-kun! You've hung on to the mike for too long! Let someone else sing! Ah, like Ryo, who has been so silent the whole time ne! Even your best buddy Uchi has sung quite a few songs!"

Tegoshi finally relented, and Ryo went up to sing. At this, while the pair were singing, a sudden thought hit Moriko. Yuki...

"Whatever happens, don't fight with me over Ryo-chan, ne?"

But even though Moriko loved her imouto, this time... she didn't want to give up Ryo. This time she wanted to be selfish. "Gomen, Yuki." Moriko thought.

--

When it was time to leave, Koyama and Moriko dropped a little behind the others so that they were out of listening range. "Your expression seemed to have changed when you saw Yuki and Ryo together." Koyama commented, hinting for her to tell him if she wanted to.

"Yuki likes Ryo." Moriko said simply.

"And you want to give him up because of that?" Koyama asked.

"No... it's the opposite. I want to be selfish this time. But I'll feel bad because I had promised Yuki that I'll not fight with her over Ryo. I'm scared of her finding out because... We're quite close, and I don't want the relationship to spoil just because of Ryo." Moriko explained, keeping an eye that Yuki, Ryo and Kusano were out of hearing distance.

"From what I've heard, you've always been a very nice one-san, always giving in to your imouto." Koyama commented.

"Huh? How'd you know?"

"Kusano talks a lot ne? Occasionally some little stories spill out, and it's easy to tell you've been giving in a lot." Koyama laughed a little, giving Moriko a pat on the head.

"I wish I could tell this to Hiro nii-chan." Moriko sighed.

"...I am your second nii-chan, right?" Koyama asked, stopping in his tracks.

"Hai! Keii nii-chan!" Moriko nodded, and Koyama grinned, opening his arms.

"Ja, then we shall make this hug our mark ne!" he said in a sing-song voice, jumping a little as though acting childish.

"Hey, you're not supposed to imitate me!" Moriko complained, but she hugged back too.

"Oi! Don't forget your real nii-chan is here!" Kusano complained, when he turned back to look at the pair. Moriko laughed as she remembered when Kusano did the same as Koyama when he had upset Moriko when she was only five years old. He had said, "Gomene, Ri-chan, from now on, I shall be a good brother ne!" And he had opened his arms in excitement. Moriko had hugged him back, although compared to Koyama's gentle hug, Kusano's had been tight as though he did not want to let go of Moriko. This reminded Moriko of his protectiveness towards her.

"Hai!" Moriko said. The two caught up with the rest. At the entrance of the Karaoke lounge, Moriko suddenly recalled that she hadn't stocked up on those strawberries yet. She had too much a craving for strawberries recently. Kusano would shout down her ear if he found out how much of 'his' strawberries she had consumed when he hadn't noticed.

"Chotto, nii-chan, I need to get something from the supermart, so... I'll go home later."

Kusano turned round, and then said, "It's strawberries AGAIN right? You've been stocking up the strawberries these few days. Ne, Ri-chan, you shouldn't eat that many strawberries you know!" Moriko blushed and nodded her head. Kusano actually knew, ne? "As long as you better keep some for me okay!!"

"Hai!!"

Moriko walked away, but as the others left, she felt someone rush to her side. "Nishikido-kun?!"

"You're still calling me that?! Hey, don't be so formal!" Ryo complained.

"...Ryo-chan then." Moriko said.

"Huh?" Ryo asked, pretending he couldn't hear it.

"Hey!" Moriko gave an annoyed face, slapping lightly on Ryo's arm.

"If I'm going to be with you, I think I'm going to suffer so many bruises!" Ryo complained, laughing.

"Ja, then we shouldn't be together!" Moriko shouted in embarrassment, walking faster.

"Hai, hai, it was a joke..." Ryo said after he stopped laughing, gently grabbing Moriko's arm.

"Ah sou desu, why are you following me anyway? I'm going out to buy strawberries." Moriko asked, suddenly realising she didn't know why Ryo was with her.

"...I'm not welcomed?" Ryo asked. "If I'm not welcomed I'll just leave..." he threatened in a playful way.

"Of course I want you here!" Moriko quickly said, then her hand automatically linked with Ryo's. Ryo secretly smiled at her little action, and her sudden nervousness.

While Moriko was at the fruits department, she put her hand on the boxes of strawberries for a long time, staring at them. Ryo noticed that, and asked if she was alright. Moriko suddenly shook herself from the daze and chose a box of strawberries.

Outside, Ryo suddenly asked, "...why don't you come over for a while?"

"Hm?" Moriko looked at Ryo is surprise. Over...where?

--

"Just leave that in the fridge first." Ryo sad, opening the mini-fridge for Moriko, and she bent down, slowly placing the box of strawberries in carefully, her mind still away. Ryo lay on his stomach on the bed, his elbows supporting him. Moriko sat in front of him, resting her chin on the edge of the bed. "Why the sudden silence? You are usually noisy."

"Am I?" Moriko asked, but she didn't even hear what Ryo had just said, not even arguing with him that he was wrong.

"Kusano!" Ryo suddenly exclaimed, his head turning towards the door. Moriko abruptly stood up in shock, but realised Ryo had tricked her. She pouted, walking towards Ryo, and Ryo dodged before the pillow hit him. Moriko fell on the bed instead, and watched calmly as Ryo's figure towered over her. He brushed a single finger across her tender cheek.

"The last time you did that you were so drunk, you scared me to death! I thought you were going to...to..." Moriko said, but stopped before she continued.

"What were you thinking of? You were in a daze, ever since you laid your hand on those boxes of strawberries." Ryo asked.

"Nothing."

"Ri-chan." Ryo demanded seriously. He did not want Moriko to hide anything from him.

"Ryo-chan, please." Moriko pleaded for Ryo to let her go this once when she was still feeling too troubled to tell him. She lifted herself off the bed, but Ryo pushed her back down with his firm arms instead. She felt his lips brushed past hers, and for a moment, she was alarmed and thought he was going to do more to her, but he showed no sign of it, and Moriko relaxed. He simply continued the action, until Moriko finally confessed, "It's Yuki. But you don't need to know beyond that."

"What about her?"

"She has her own rights to her own secrets. I won't say it out."

Ryo nodded, not asking further, not suspecting that this was connected to their relationship. But he respected Moriko's decision for not telling. They had been silent after that again, each one resting their arms on each side of the bed.

"Ne, Ryo-chan, you've lived inside this room for very long?" Moriko asked.

"Yea, since I needed somewhere to stay for work."

"Don't you feel lonely? Like you're coming home to a room that doesn't feel personal?"

"I only come home to sleep, after all." Ryo answered, then asked, "Why do you ask that?"

"Ie, that day, I offered to help you home, and you said you didn't want to come home to this empty room." Moriko explained.

"You know, you are welcomed in here anytime."

"But you only come back to sleep at night anyway. You're so busy, running not only for NEWS, but Kanjani 8 too! I don't understand how you and Uchi survive. That has got to be a lot of pressure. It's a wonder your hair is still so black." Moriko answered, reaching a hand out to touch Ryo's hair.

Ryo caught her hand just as it landed on his hair, saying, "I do come back only to sleep, but if you want, we can also do something more than that." he teased playfully, grinning.

Moriko got his meaning, then scolded, "Sukebe!" before releasing hr hand from Ryo's grip.

"Hai, hai, that was a joke. I wouldn't rush these things, if I'm serious. But dont' assume me to be working the whole time I'm awake! I just stay outside with Uchi sometimes, that's all. If not I go over to his hotel room. Uchi is just next door, actually."

At that, Uchi's voice suddenly sounded beyond the door. "Ryo-chan?? Ryo-chan? You have a visitor."

Ryo looked at the door, puzzled. Visitor? If it were one of K8 or NEWS, Uchi would never list them as visitors. Who else was possible to visit if they didn't know their room numbers? And if it were a fan, they would never be informed or allowed to approach. Ryo rose from his position, walking towards the door, while Moriko pushed herself up at the same time, seating herself on the edge of the bed.

As the door opened...

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.
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"...Uso."