Gemini - 5. Mille Feuille

Riku crawled up to unclip the handcuffs from the headboard bars, releasing Mihael’s arms. Mihael captured Riku's lips in a hungry kiss as the other lent down to free his other hand. "Such a fucking tease."

He kissed back, smirking into the kiss "But you liked it~"

Mihael smirked. "I did," he admitted. "You're really good at putting on a good show."

The blonde giggled at that. "I'm glad you liked it~" he said snuggling up to him. “Though why do you try and satisfy me so much?” he asked as he laid his head on his lover’s chest. “You don’t need to try so hard, you could get off faster if you didn’t.”

Mihael shrugged as he laid back against the pillow."Is it so wrong to want you to feel pleasure as well?"

Riku thought about it "I guess not..." Sex wasn't really something he did for pleasure till now- it was more a means to get what he wanted.

Mihael sighed, a little exasperated. "You're going to have to get used to this being something fun that we do together, not something that's done to you.."

"You make me sound like the victim..." Riku said a little amused "Apart from my first time otherwise I recall it all being consensual..."

“Apart from...??” Mihael stared at him. He had a feeling something was wrong but was he suggesting...

“...It dosn’t matter. What matters is it’s always been my choice.” Riku replied quickly as if he wanted to move on from what he had just said without thinking.

"Are you telling me you enjoyed every sexual encounter?" Mihael didn’t press on it, he guessed Riku would tell him eventually. He hoped.

"Nope. But sex gets me what I want." Riku replied truthfully. "I never understood why people are so addicted to it."

“And what are you trying to get from me?” Mihael asked, though his tone was light.

Riku stared at him for a while as if to say his words were not wholly true and he just got called out on it before looking away. “...Not worked out... yet.” he mumbled making Mihael smile to himself. He understood what Riku was saying really.

"And then you met me, and I'll teach you," he said arrogantly, though with a light joking tone to his voice as he pulled Riku closer to him.

"I'm the only one allowed to be like this with Miael okay?" he said possessively "So no being like this with him."

Mihael took a moment to wrap his sex fogged brain around it. "Mmm..." He was only half there really.

Riku closed his eyes "It's unfair.....I want to be with you all the time..." he said a little sleepily. He sounded softer than usual and somewhat lonely.

Mihael smiled, slowly stroking through the other’s hair. "You are, Riku," he said gently. "I'm always thinking about you."

Riku leaned his head closer to Mihael’s hand, making a content sound. "...you’re....too good with words."

"And you're too good at everything else." Mihael replied with a small laugh.

“I try~”

Mihael closed his eyes, feeling like he might pass out any moment. "It won't be you when I wake up... will it?"

"No.....his existence...stronger than me. Because... I was ripped from him not the other way... round" Riku wanted to keep on the surface as long as possible but it was starting to get impossible to fight.

Mihael didn’t totally understand what Riku was talking about but he didn’t know if it because he was almost asleep or due to Riku himself sounding very drowsy maybe his words were mixed up? “Good night Riku...”

“Nai...”

Morning approached and Riku opened his eyes with a sleepy yawn- feeling pleasantly warm in someone's arms...he looked up sleepily, seeing it was Mihael. With recent happenings he was starting to get scared everytime he woke up in case he found himself somewhere unfamiliar or had done something bad. He left the fabric of the sheets rub against his skin, an unusual sensation he was not accustomed to and looked between his naked body and Mihael's (Who was still fast asleep)...the discarded handcuffs...and pulled off clothes that were scattered around the room on the floor... He went bright red, making an embarrassed sound at the back of his throat. They...must have had sex again...

Mihael stirred and his eyes opened. It took a moment for him to realize he was the other Riku "Ah. Morning."

"...A..a....ah...Kyo-san...g...good morning...." Riku blurted out as his hands went to pull the sheet higher in a rather pathetic attempt at covering himself.

"I've seen it all before, Riku," Mihael said kindly, leaning forward to kiss Riku softly on the lips. "Good morning." he said now feeling a little more awake.

"I...we...a...." Riku flustered, quietened by the kiss. He was starting to feel like he was only having half a relationship. But it wasn’t Mihael’s fault, it was more his own... Wasn’t there some way round this?

"Yeah. We did. It's okay though. Don't worry about it too much..." Mihael reassured him, seeing his lover’s expression. "Today I've got to do a few band things but I am free after. Do you want to meet later?"

"Y..yes...please..."

"Well, what do you have to do today? I'll meet you after that?"

"I.." Riku thought about it. What day was today? "Ah- I...I have..to get to class..." he panicked, getting up. It seemed his nakedness didn’t matter anymore as there were more pressing matters at hand.

Mihael nodded and realized that there were no clothes for Riku to wear. "You'll have to borrow mine. Unless you want to wear what you were wearing last night."

"I..if I...c..could borrow a top..." Riku replied, he really was late... He could wear the trousers that he had just picked up off the floor that he assumed he wore last night.... it was a little crazy but....it...was okay?

Mihael went through his suitcase, not having bothered unpacking it much yet. He picked out the least flashy thing that looked like it might somewhat fit Riku, a shirt he had worn to a magazine shoot the other week that he was given as a gift, probably was so he could promote it via wearing it in his private time. It had some custom screen print on the front. Well aslong as he got it back it would be ok right? “Here.”

"T..thank you..." Riku took the shirt, putting it on as quickly as possible and rolling the sleeves a few times. It smelt like Mihael... the scent enveloped him, making him smile a little to himself before he remembered he was late and he looked around for his phone and wallet before realizing they were in his pocket of the trousers he was wearing already.

"Don't mention it. Give it back to me whenever, no hurry."

Riku glanced in the mirror near the door and noticed his hair a little messy from sleep and sex the night before. He ran a hand through his hair in attempt to flatten it with not much success but to most people who didn’t know him it looked like an intentional styling."Ah..I...I'll see you later." he said waving to Mihael hurriedly as he struggled to get his shoes on, it was that pair he had never bought... well atleast it wasn’t platforms this time.

"See you later, I’ll call you!"

Riku left the hotel, now wishing he had asked Mihael were they were as he didn’t have a clue. After a few moments of wandering around trying to find a station he thought to pull out his phone and his GPS told him he was already in Shibuya and actually very close to his school. He followed his GPS and made it just about on time to his class.

Riku made his way to his class, they were making Mille Feuille today, according to the wipeboard at the front of the class. He could hear girls giggling and talking as he passed and he tried to make himself even less noticeable than usual which would be a feat in itself. Girls terrified him. Why did they always move in packs like that?

One of the girls broke rank after a while when class had started and the instructor had explained the recipe and they started making the first step. “It’s er...Yamashita-san, isn’t it?” she asked, trying to recall Riku’s name.

Riku almost had a heart attack at the voice, and glanced up at her as if she was going to murder him. He nodded nervously, pausing his hand that was mixing the butter. Why was she talking to him? What had he done? No one ever spoke to him in school...

"I was wondering...where did you get that shirt?" she asked, glancing behind her at the other girls who were all urging her to go on. "Because I thought it was a one of a kind designer one...And I don’t mean to be rude but it doesn’t look like the sort of thing you usually wear."

"I..." Riku edged away. These sort of people made him nervous, and when she was asking that sort of question he didn’t know what to say. The girl seemed to be waiting on a reply, doing her best ‘Cute-and-innocent’ look.

Riku decided to simply hide his nervousness by going back to his work- his butter was melting... He wasn’t actually able to concentrate at all but hopefully if he looked busy she would go away?

"Umm, Yamashita-san... is is that you can't tell us?" The girl pressed after a few moments of awkward silence, tilting her head as if in thought.

Riku shook his head "I..." his fingers were going all oily from the mixture of flour and butter that was now way too warm for the recipe to work.

The girl was growing impatient. "What I actually wanted to ask you is, did you get that from Mihael-sama?"

Riku looked up at her, his expression probably gave it away. "...no!" He remembered Mihael saying he wasn't meant to let people find out about them.

“I guess I could be wrong but isn’t that the shirt he wore for a shoot two weeks ago? I saw it on his twitter post... It’s a custom design, right?”

Riku honestly didn’t know if that was true or not but shook his head again, hoping just denying everything would make her go away.

The girl looked suspicious but she nodded. “Okay, sorry for bothering you.” she walked away and could be seen reporting back (rather than actually doing her assignment).

Riku had to start the pie sheet step again, getting new butter and flour. Almsot at the end of class, when he was finally making the layers of the Mille Feuille, the girls were still starting at him. He could feel their eyes on him and he could hear them talking, probably about him. It made him spoil the sheet he had in his hand because of nerves. He wanted to disappear. He didn’t want to be here. Why won’t they leave him alone? He just wanted to get up and run away but he couldn’t. His breathing started to become more erratic and he felt light headed. He tried to pick up another sheet of pie but all he could hear was their voices... A few minutes later something inside him snapped. "STOP STARING AT ME!!" he screamed- for a split second the other him emerging, glaring over at the girls on the other table.

The girls all stopped what they were doing, the chatter silencing, the girl who had been asking him questions earlier blinking at the usually mild mannered boy’s sudden outburst. "Um, Yamashita-san, is something the matter?" she asked as if she had no idea what brought it on.

"You fucking BITCHES staring at me like I owe you something. Go and tend to your over made loli-wannabe faces if you have time to gawp at mine- or better still, actually make the fucking cake we're meant to be instead of staring at the teacher's ass!" Riku fumed, crushing the delicately sugared palmier he had in his hand that he was going to decorate the top with. The girls looked horrified, though it was truth the girls had been switching between gossip about their instructor and Riku today.

The instructor rushed forward. "Please calm down!" he said, stepping toward Riku. "You're being unkind to your fellow classmates and that sort of language is unacceptable in class."

Riku glared at the teacher before sighing. Well atleast he stopped the thinly veiled gossiping, right? His eyes rolled back for a moment, before he blinked and looked around. Why...was everyone staring at him...even more now???

The instructor looked concerned. "Please go outside and calm down," he told him, his tone more gentle now as Riku was usually very well behaved and this seemed like a one off thing.

Riku nodded, mumbling a barely audible apology before fleeing outside the class. What had just happened? He blacked out for a few moments.... probably.

Riku sneaked in before the end of class to finish off his cake after hiding in the toilets for a good 20 minutes. He lined up the cream and berries perfectly, (and mad luckily made another Palmier to put on the top) being good with his hands when he wasn’t nervous. He waited till everyone left to show the instructor, and quickly pack the thing and bolt. He needed to get home and change and then go and see Mihael...

You are destroying me.
Devouring,
Eroding me with your touch.
What more could you want,
When you have everything of mine.
If there was words to describe this,

Slender pale arms wrapped around Mihael’s neck, the girl straddling his lap moving closer. Her long black hair fanned around them, touching the bed they were on as she pushed him down. Mihael’s fingers traced her delicate jawline, tracing all the way up to her lips before she slowly lent down so their lips touched.

It’s Love/Sadism.

“CUT!”

VENUS’s major debut single “LOVE/SADISM” was playing on full blast in the background.

“Can we do that again? Mihael-san can you look at her with even more passion please?” The director yelled from his seat. “Like you are obsessed with her. Do you get what I’m saying?”

“Yes, sorry!”

The lights shining on Mihael felt way, way too hot. Even though he hardly had any clothes on it was boiling. Maybe skin expose made it hotter than if he had some fabric covering him? He sympathized with chickens in rotisseries now. This is definitely how they must feel. Studio shoots in general were always uncomfortable but he had been caked with even more make up than usual which made him feel even worse.

“Also can we have more petals falling when she pushes him down?” The director was now shouting at the props team. “Like... WOOSH! I need the woosh! Yes? Yes?”

“Sorry for this.” Mihael smiled politely and apologised to the model who climbed off him and they had to get back to the last position they were in before assistants re-jigged their pose.

“No, no it’s fine! I hope I’m not hurting you when I push you down!” she smiled kindly.

“Don’t worry about it.” Mihael said shaking his head, making the hair stylist have to retouch it again. “Sorry...” he mumbled to her aswell.

They were filming their music video for the new single today, something Mihael had half forgotten til he was driven there. He had spent all day being prodded and poked and yeah sure he guessed the rest of his band members who were straight were dead jealous of him spending hours tangled with a pretty girl but he just wanted to get out. He didn’t even have chance to call Riku...

“AND CUT! OK! WE ARE DONE!”

The words sounded like heaven to Mihael and he sunk into the bed, where he was laying alone covered in those goddamn rose petals, being able to relax his posture for the first time in ages. He never wanted to see a rose ever again. Or hear his single anymore times, actually. Ever. He was totally sick of hearing his own voice.

“Good work everyone!”

Mihael got himself up off the bed and grabbed his shirt from where it was on the floor, glad that he could get away from being touched by strangers for the day. "I'm going out for a bit," he said as he grabbed his phone from his coat hanging in the dressing area, texting Riku where they should meet as he peeled off the clothes he had on and put on his own. He had been in various states on undress infront of all the people present for most of the day so he was past caring about modesty. He grabbed a handful make up wipes from the dressing table set up near the set and scrubbed his face with them as he walked.

“Hey Kyo, we’re going for a drink with the cute girls from styling and make up, you gonna come right?” AD called out as Mihael passed.

“Nope. Gotta go. Cya!” Mihael replied not stopping and waving goodbye with one hand while tossing the used wipes into the bin. His eyes met Lapse’s for a moment and the other man gave him a look. That disapproving look as his friend clearly knew why he was in such a hurry. Mihael ignored it.

“Don’t forget you need to be back at your hotel by 8pm, you have a TV show to appear in.” His manager stepped infront of him just as he was about to leave.

“I know, I know, don’t worry! I’ll be back.” Mihael replied as he sidestepped around him. He had 3 hours. Enough time.

“Alright...” His manager sighed. He had a bad feeling about Mihael actually, did he have a lover? He seemed to want to know his scheduling in awful detail recently...

Mihael hopped into one of the cars prepared by the record company and glanced at his watch. He was already a bit late for the time he had told Riku... He told the driver where he wanted to go and practically bolted out of the car and to the meeting place when he got there and felt a twinge of guilt when he say Riku was ofcourse, already there, slightly shivering in the cold even though he had a jumper and coat on.

“Hey.” Mihael said as he walked up to him. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

“K-kyo-san...n-no...I...haven’t been waiting long...” Riku lied, his heart racing again the moment he saw Mihael. He had a plain cake box in his hand though now that it came to it, he wasn’t sure he should even give it to his lover.

Mihael saw the cake box and remembered the other Riku’s warning. "What's that?"

"Um um..." Riku looked down, fidgeting. It was like he was Mihael's no.1 fan who finally got to talk to him or something rather than his lover. "I....." he ended up hiding it behind his back. "N..nothing..." Maybe his graduation piece would be good enough? But that would be in a year’s time but on the other hand it gave him time to get better?

Mihael blinked and peered around Riku's back. "Is that a cake? You bought a cake for me?" he asked, beaming, giving him a way out if he didn't want to admit he'd made it.

"...I.. made it..." Riku mumbled, his heart was racing as he ended up holding it out. "I..it's not much...."

Mihael smiled. "Let's sit down and pig out on it then," he said, taking it off Riku with both hands with a small bow of gratitude.

"A....ah....it...might not taste so good though..." Riku said a little panicked as he followed him.

"You bought it for me so I'm sure it'll taste good." Mihael shrugged, opening the box and sitting on a bench nearby. "Wow, this looks really fancy! I hope you didn't spend too much on it!"

Riku shook his head, toying with the hem of his jumper. "I..it's nothing...honestly..." he lied, as he actually tried very hard...but he couldn't say that to Mihael incase it was not very good as he feared.

"Do you have a fork?"

Riku nodded, pointing to the side of the inner cake box. There was a small plastic cake fork sellotaped to it.

Mihael took it from the side and took a little bit from the edge. He opened his mouth and took the cake onto his tongue. "Mm..." It tasted a lot better than he'd been expecting. Infact it tasted really good, he didn’t remember the last time he had a cake but he was sure it was almost shop standard. Well... atleast convenience store standard. "Wow! It's really good!"

"R...really?" Riku could feel colour rising to his face even in the cold. It was the first time he had actually had someone other than his instructors try his baking.

"Yeah!" Mihael said, his eyes taking on a sly look. "Where'd you buy it? I wanna get one for my manager."

"...I...ah..." Riku fidgeted more now. "I....made it...It’s a French cake called Mille Feuille."

Mihael pretended to be surprised. "Really? It tastes really, really good, Riku! I'll get fat if you make cakes like this for me all the time!" he laughed, taking another bite “But I guess they say sweet stuff is good for tiredness right? With the new single out next week I think I’m gonna be totally worn out by the end of the month...”

Riku blushed harder, not knowing how to take the praise. "I....I'm just happy Kyo-san tasted it...and thought it was okay..."

Mihael nodded. "You've got to make me one everytime I have a shit day at work...Like today... I hate studio filming..."

"O...okay..." Riku nodded "If Kyo-san likes it...I'll...try my best...."

"Let's go to the movies or something..." Mihael suggested, taking a few more bites before closing the box. “My schedule seems really full next week so I’m not really sure when I can see you, but I will make sure I find some time. Atleast that much I can do” He had just stood up when his phone rang in his pocket and he fished it out. It was from his manager. Which probably wasn’t good. He flashed Riku an apologetic smile before answering it.

“Hello?”

“Where are you right now Mihael? You are not at your hotel?”

“Uh... no... I’m...er... out?”

A sigh was heard on the other line. “I thought as much. I’m coming to pick you up.”

“Why? I’m kinna busy right now... I promise to get back by 8 as promised...I’m not Cassius...” His band member was infamous for going missing because he forgot he was meant to be somewhere.

“No it’s not that I don’t trust you, but the director of the TV program we are on tonight agreed to let you guys perform it live tonight in the studio so you need to go for rehearsals. You need to be there in 40 minutes. Tell me where you are.”

It was Mihael’s turn to sigh. He guessed he had to go, he had no choice... “Fine...” He told his manager where he was and he was told he would be picked up in 10 minutes. He hung up and looked up to see Riku. “I’m sorry. It seems I need to go back early.”

Riku was dissapointed but at the same time he knew his lover was busy. He shook his head. “No, it’s okay.”

“I’ll definitely go somewhere with you next week.” Mihael said, feeling guilty. It was a promise he wasn’t actually sure he could keep but it lessened his guilt somewhat.

“Okay.” Riku nodded. “Please take care of yourself...” he added a little worried as Mihael already looked pretty worn out.

“I’ll try...” Mihael replied as he saw what he assumed was a car that had come to pick him up stop on the road nearby. “Good night, Riku.” He quickly leant down to give Riku a kiss before straightening up. He could smell what he assumed was whatever Riku had washed his hair with. “See you later.”

“G-Good night Kyo-san!” Riku replied a little shocked Mihael had kissed him in public though he didn’t mind. He watched Mihael get into the car and realized he probably should go home too. Thinking about it, he didn’t know much about Mihael, like what was the band he was in called? He had said it was a rock band but... He made it a priority to actually look it up when he got home and find out more about Mihael’s work.

However by Monday he didn’t have to do much to find out information about Mihael’s band’s name or their new single (though he had on Friday when he got home).

“VENUS, New single, LOVE/SADISM, out now.”

Mihael’s voice made Riku spin round when he was walking back from school.

That was... Kyo-san’s voice right?

He looked around trying to find the source of the voice (and hoped it wasn’t his imagination) and realized it when the single started blaring out onto the street it was a promotion van that was passing the streets of Shinjuku. There was a large poster of his lover across the side of the van, half undressed and covered in petals. It was rather surreal to see him in this form... He looked so different to when they were together, it was almost like another person. He felt a bump as someone pushed past him and he mumbled an apology though they were long gone. He hadn’t even noticed he had been standing still till now. He missed Mihael already.

I wonder what he’s doing now...

His chest hurt. Did it feel this painful to like someone?

Mihael was in a dressing room, having his hair backcombed (which was a pain in the ass to brush out after) while the make up artist was doing his make up for a magazine interview.

“Kaji-san, do you know if I have any free time this week?” Mihael asked when he saw his manager pass.

His manager looked at him like he was crazy “You are totally booked this week Kyo. Infact you are till end of this month.”

“Not even a few hours somewhere?”

Kaji gave him one of his suspicious looks as he flipped through his planner “....You are working till 2am tomorrow, with a 7am start. The longest I can see is... 20 minutes for lunch at 2:45pm. Wednesday is a 6:30am start for a morning TV show appearance and last is a photoshoot ending at approximately 12am. Thursday... You have 2 hours free from 4pm. Friday is when the Oricon charts are out so depending on our rank in god knows when we will finish. And weekend we have a trip for a variety show to Okinawa, back on Monday morning.”

Mihael wondered whether he was going to die or not from this schedule and felt a little faint just hearing it. “So uh.... I am sort of free on Thursday?” he said weakly.

“If you call it that I suppose so.”

“...thanks!” Mihael replied, picking up his phone to text Riku. He wanted to call but it was impossible with his hair being tugged and pulled.

Hey Riku, you free on Thursday? Can I meet you at 4?

Hello Kyo-san, I am free.

The reply came pretty much straight away. Mihael blinked. Was he plastered to his phone or...? Well maybe he just happened to be on his phone...

Great, I’ll see you on Thursday then, is Shinjuku okay?

Ah okay, well I hope everything goes well.

“VENUS-san, can you come to meeting room B please!”

Ah shit I g2g, see you Thursday!

Good night, Kyo-san.

Mihael locked his phone and tossed it into his jacket pocket before leaving the room. Well atleast he had Thursday to look forward to now...

However when Thursday came, Mihael’s manager had bad news for him. “We have just been booked for an interview for a website from 4pm. They said it’s ok if you guys eat during it as it’s so short notice.”

Mihael sighed, wanting to punch something. He hadn’t had free time for almost a week now. He pulled out his phone to text Riku. He wasn’t meant to be using his phone as they were backstage for a radio show but he had to let the other know as it was 3:30pm already...

I’m sorry I can’t make it today. We got booked to do something.

Riku had already been hanging around Shibuya for an hour when he got the message. He felt his heart sink but he told himself it couldn’t be helped.

It’s alright, please take care.

He replied and guessed he should go home.

I’m so sorry.

Came the reply a few moments later.

No, I know it is not your fault.

I’ll let you know as soon as I can see you.

Friday came and Riku was sitting at home studying up on his theory for next week’s classes while keeping the TV on in the background as they were going to announce the charts and he wanted to see if Mihael got number 1.

“We will be filming @13-san first, Baku-san second, then VENUS-san please! Please all be on standby. We will be starting live in 3,2,1... We are now on air!”

Mihael was sitting on a bench with the rest of his band in the TV studio, waiting their turn to be interviewed. There were 2 other bands there, one being Baku, they had the number 1 spot last week and were looking to defend while @13, who were due to release their next single next week and were the live performing guests.

@13 were a typical Visual-kei group, with a good looking main vocal, weird almost non human looking drummer, (this guy’s skin was green and he had lizard like contact lenses in.) and a bassist who cross-dressed and looked prettier than most women ever hoped to look. They were apparently missing their bassist again.

"Is it true that Azure-san has been hospitalized again?" The announcer woman asked with a rather fake sympathetic voice, way too enthusiastic sounding to be sincere.

Kei, the lead vocal and front man laughed a little, waving his hand dismissively. "Ah, it's nothing much, I'm sure he'll be back..."

"I'm sure all your fans wish him the quickest of recoveries!"

Mihael snorted at the exchange. Their main rivals were constantly bickering amongst themselves it seemed and the one of them was suicidal it was said. What a great role model...

The camera focus shifted on to the next group, Baku.

"Sion -san!" The presenter said, addressing the leader of the group. He looked older than all the other group’s members by quite a bit, though he was hiding it with make up and styling.

"Yes m'am?"

"Your confession! It was so electric! How are you two doing?" Mihael was really starting to hate the announcer’s voice. It was grating at his sleep deprived brain.

Baku had been waning in popularity a bit, but after this ‘stunt’, (rumours had it) that the lead vocals pulled a month ago, involving him publicly announcing he was dating a man who was also a ‘commoner’. Their new single were flying off the shelves.

"Fine." Sion smiled "Just fine, thank you for asking!"

Mihael yawned. When were they going to get their turn? That Sion guy clearly was just faking the whole thing. He could tell. Bored of listening to the pretentious talk, he leaned back to talk to AD, putting his head virtually in the other's lap and looking directly up at him as he spoke.

“And finally, VENUS!”

Mihael heard his band’s name being called out by the grating voice woman and sat up with a public friendly smile.

"It's a first time we meet isn't it?"

"Aa. We're kind of new on the block. It's been interesting to listen to our senpai's interviews." Mihael said, mildly veiling his sarcasm. It seemed the woman either ignored the tone or didn’t understand.

Riku heard Mihael’s voice and looked up from his notes. It was Kyo... It was still weird to see him on TV, it felt so surreal. It also made him realize he missed him a lot... he knew he had no right to complain as Mihael clearly was working but... he wanted to see him. But then was he the sort of person who was meant to be beside someone like Mihael anyway? He felt like someone from another world, more and more as each day went.

"Indeed!! You all are the very much anticipated newcomers afterall! So please introduce yourselves!"

"I’m Mihael," he said, with a small bow of the head, not bothering with anything else as the rest of the band reeled off their names and what they did.

“Mihael-san, you are the frontman of VENUS aren’t you?” the woman chirped, as enthusiastic as ever, "Tell me more about yourself! What do you do on your days off?"

"I usually do normal things, like go eat somewhere nice or go to the cinema. I always fall asleep at the cinema though. I worry a pervert might catch me while I'm sleeping so I don't do it often." he said with a laugh.

“Mihael, no one’s gonna do anything to you. Don’t flatter yourself!” AD added with a smirk.

"I see, I see! I wonder, do you have a special lady you go with?" the announcer giggled, not actually giving Mihael a chance to reply before firing another question. "So Mihael-san, what sort of things do you look for in a girl? Your new song is about being obsessed with a lady, isn't it?" It wasn’t totally the correct interpretation of the lyrics but Mihael assumed the woman was just saying as scripted.

"I like strange types of girls," he said and someone in the band chuckled at that beside him. Very strange girls seeing as they're guys... "The guys are always saying that I pick weird people to have relationships with. I guess I prefer girls that have a sense of danger to them, like married women or girls with tattoos or something," he lied, hoping it would go with the image he was meant to be keeping to make management happy.

“Yeah we worry about this guy’s tastes sometimes...” Cassius added, hoping to atleast get a bit of airtime.

"I see! So Mihael-san likes shall we say, the wild type!" The woman chirped on annoyingly as ever "And what sort of present do you want from the person of your desires?"

"Mille Feuille," he replied before he realised it was out of his mouth. He put his hand over his mouth. "Ah I said it... There goes my masculine image."

"Oh I see!!" The woman nodded as sounds of realisation filled the room from the audience of girls that had been lucky enough to win tickets to sit there. "So Mihael-san likes sweet things? I think that's very nice! Isn't it ladies?" Sounds of agreement came from the audience as Mihael saw Sion rolling his eyes.

Mihael wasn’t too sure this is the direction he was meant to go but well it was a bit late now, he guessed he would deal with Kaji-san stressing out about it later.

It was the first time Riku saw Mihael talking on TV like this and it was strange, it was like it was a side of him he didn’t know... but at the same time it felt like he was the same as he always was.

“Well after the commercials, we will be announcing the top 5 ranked singles of this week and going straight into the promotion video for number 1!”

I’m not good enough for him. And once he realizes that... he’s going to leave me. What... what should I do?

It was something Riku had been trying not to think about but it couldn’t be helped now, the sound of the commercials drowned out by his thoughts. They ended and the countdown started to the number 1 spot.

“And this week’s number one single is... VENUS with LOVE/SADISM!”

Like an angel you approached me,
Like the devil you stole my heart,
Won’t you give it back to me?
LOVE/ADDICTION

Mihael’s voice made Riku’s attention come back to the screen. His amber eyes met Mihael’s through the screen before a pale hand covered his lovers, before the scene cut to Mihael singing to a girl with long black hair in a dimly lit room. She lent forward, her lips slowly pressing onto his neck. Riku realized he didn’t like seeing this. But at the same time he couldn’t look away.

You have me where you want me,
Caught between the lies and truth,
Can’t walk away now,
Even if I wanted to,
Hey, Isn’t that right?

Riku was starting to feel more and more drowsy. He guessed he had stayed up a bit too long. He probably should sleep... He could feel his eyelids dropping, his body slumping against the table he had been sitting at.

Release me?
No? Is that your answer,
Then, as you desire,
Let’s take this deeper.
Let’s wake up in a new world.

Riku’s eyes opened again in time to catch the part where the girl was running her hand up Mihael’s chest as he lent back slight, before pushing him down onto the bed, both bathed by the too blue artificial moonlight. His eyes narrowed and a loud snap was heard as he snapped the pen he had in his hand in half, red ink splattering across his notebook like blood. Riku's watched, unblinking, not ever leaving the screen, flickering images all taken into his amber eyes. There was a strange smile on his lips, though on Riku's face it always looked innocent, but somehow, oddly not.

Mihael had been spending the filming break annoying Sion who had been glaring at him the whole time they were off air. For some reason he seemed to be disliked. Well he didn’t really care, he was amusing himself by winding the other man up even more.

“I never want to do anything with that band. The fontman looks like a idiot.” Sion muttered to his bandmate when their eyes met and Mihael smiled at him.

The dislike deepened as the chart was announced, Mihael celebrating with his band members while everyone else clapped politely. Apart from Sion who simply looked to the side, as if bored.

Riku got up now, slowly, calmly as the PV ended, the image of Mihael laying on the bed fading to black. He made his way to the closet, changing his clothing to his more favoured black and he moved tot he sink in the kitchen to wash his hands.

Mihael had overheard Sion earlier but didn't say anything, settling into his seat once the celebrations died down and they got the queue that they were going live again soon and mouthing along with the lyrics that were playing over the studio now. He tried to put a professional face on when the cameras turned back to the band but he knew he'd been caught singing along.

"Wow. CONGRATULATIONS to VENUS! So what are your plans after this, Mihael-san? Will you be partying to celebrate? And will you be playing some gigs soon so your fans can come and support you?"

Mihael nodded. "We're hoping to have a few live concerts coming up but I've forgotten where they are-"

"Our frontman is sometimes a bit of a moron-"

"Manager-san is always shouting at him-"

"Hey! You don't need to tell everyone!" Mihael laughed, hitting his band mates and then turning back to the announcer. "I'm sure that anyone who is interested will easily find things out on our website. Thanks everyone for getting us here, we really, really love you all!"

"And final question of the night! The question I'm sure all the ladies want to hear!! Is Mihael-san single right now?"

Mihael knew the answer he had to give to that one, even though he didn't want to. "I'm not seeing any girls at the moment, no." Kind of... true?

"Oh~ So you are highly available then?"

Mihael just smiled, saying nothing. A few of the band chipped in that they were very available.

The TV show ended, and Riku turned off the TV. No. Mihael was his. And he'd make sure of that. He fetched the laptop from where it lived on the shelf and turned it on.

Mihael finally got a moment to himself when he got to the changing room, he was told by his manager they had to go to a celebratory drink with staff in 10 minutes. He made it a mission whatever happened to go and see Riku today after that though. He was well aware he had been abandoning him recently and well... he missed him. He pulled out his phone.

Did you see us on TV? I didn't look nervous did I? We did it!! We got number 1!!

I saw you on TV. Every bitch had their eyes on you. And nice PV btw. I guess now you are all famous you have everyone all over you huh. Highly available was it?

Came the loving reply from his sweetheart. Mihael sighed. He was tired from the last week and half of rammed schedule and he really didn’t need this...

Hey I never said that. I’ll come over to yours as soon as I’m finished though it might take a while...

No need. I’m going out.

Mihael scowled at his phone screen. Hey, fine, I know where I'm not wanted. I'll go find some bar to prop up instead. Maybe then the 'bitches' can kidnap me or something. He didn’t actually mean it but he had lost his temper. The one person he wanted to see was being... difficult to put it lightly. What did he mean he was out? What was he doing so late at night? Was he tired of him already and gone to find someone else??

I knew you were like that. All men are like that. I hate you for lying to me.

Mihael didn’t bother to reply, angry now even though everyone else around him were celebrating. He tried to force a smile to atleast look presentable when his manger came to pick him up. Why didn’t Riku understand he liked him, not someone else?

Mihael ended up having to stay and fake a smile for the next 4 hours before he told his manager he really wanted to go and got excused at 3am. Mihael didn't go to a bar or anything even though the rest of the guys invited him, instead he went back to the hotel and had a bath instead before sitting, moping in front of the TV, eventually falling asleep in front of a strange period drama, make up and clothes still on.

Riku woke up the next morning, on the floor of his flat, cold. He shivered, picking himself up, glancing at the time on his phone that was on the table. 7am? He realised he was naked and frowned. He fell asleep last night while studying...right? He guessed he would have a shower, ignoring the swirling in his gut, getting up off the fluffy carpet and padding toward the shower room, when he kicked some discarded clothing. He picked it up, not remembering taking it off. It was a top of his, a black one. Ah it was one of the plain ones he never wore that he usually kept in the bottom drawer... A sense of uncertainty and nervousness washed over him. Did he... black out again? He tilted his head in question when something sticky touched his hands and looked down, immediately dropping the top in shock.

It was totally soaked in dark red blood that now was on his hand, that he didn’t see initially as it had been cloaked by the colour of the top.