Roses are Red

Elegant X Honor

Recappy From the Last Chappy: Next to Sasuke, in the audience, Krystal plopped down, sinking low to sit the same way she had the day before as she rubbed her temples, sighing. "What's with you?" asked the Uchiha.

"Fangirls," was all the explanation she needed to give. Somehow, the gaggle had found them again. "Man, I'm tired. Wake me up when we go for lunch?"

"Okay," he replied and then gasped (in an embarrassingly loud way.) She had fallen asleep instantly, leaning against him and making his face turn red. Not again . . . . He did not move her, though. Calmly, he instead faced forward and watched as Annora fell again.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Elegant X Honor

He could remember, so well, when she was sixteen and as she grew years older. Watching as she learned the secrets of make-up; witnessing as she went through her first boyfriends; she had matured, gradually, right before his eyes . . . .

During adolescence, her hair had been jet-black, and she had the slightest hint of baby fat lingering with a full mouth, making her seem vulnerable. She had been so much more confident then, some would mistake it for arrogance. She had also been very much unafraid of flirting with an Old Timer like himself.

He recalled one particular incident, sometime before his debuting concert. She had only been around a few months less than him in the business, but at times, it was clear that he knew more. He was seated at a table in the middle of the AGA Agency, in the Earth Country, in the meeting room, working on song lyrics when she hopped up onto the table and slid over to him. "Hey, Old Timer!"

"It's 'Good morning,' in this business, Jail Bait. Respect your senpai," he replied, setting down his pencil.

"Oh, Jail Bait," she teased sarcastically. "Am I supposed to take that as in you find me attractive? I mean, you'd only go to jail if you tried anything with me." Her deep rosette lips formed a small grin, just barely flashing her pearly whites.

He smiled in return. "And that, is the beauty of 'if.' Rest assured, Jail Bait, I don't plan on doing anything like that with you, ever."

"Ever, huh? Sounds like a long time. Are you sure you can resist me that long?" she asked playfully.

He thought it over for a moment, humoring her. "Come back when you're wearing less make-up. You look like a prostitute."

Annora pouted, but brushed off the comment with a joke. "So you've discovered my night job. What are you writing, anyway?"

He handed her the paper, resting his cheek into the palm of his hand. "Just some lyrics I kept hearing in a dream, last night. Mostly. Some of them have changed, since then."

"Oh," she said, reading them over.

.:Xx♥xX:.



Into his hotel room, the present Yuuta and Annora entered, carrying with them a few snacks and cartons of Chinese take-out they had obtained from a nearby vendor in the name of their pre-concert tradition. The items were placed on the edge of the bed, along with the VHS of a romance starring Fujikaze Yukie. He looked at the tape, a little dismayed. Yukie was a good actress, and he did not mind romances, but they made for an awkward atmosphere. However, Annora had insisted she wanted to see it, and he lost the debate.

Annora kicked off her heels, sitting on the side opposite of him and also removed the chopsticks from her hair, earrings, too. Because the room was a tad stuffy, she unzipped her outfit a little past the collar bone. She paused-hand still on the zipper-blushed, and zipped it back up a smidgen. She realized the chances of anything happening were slim, but she could not help her nerves. It had to have been more than butterflies in her stomach. The entire population could not have been strong enough to give her the feeling she had . . . . Moths. Those could easily be mistaken for the same fluttery-winged insects.