“Thank you so much for coming,” Iori said to one more of her enthusiastic fans as they left her booth,
Iori sighed and leaned back against the chair when she realized that this was the last fan on this new wave of new people.
It was always taxing on Iori’s nerves to deal with her fan since the incident five years ago. The group of people who had attacked her had been a group of fanatics who were starting to hold a twisted version of their opinion on her.
They hunted her identity down until they found her real name and started stalking her. Iori used to date here and there and just happened to be between relationships when they attacked her.
But the fact that seeing her with her last boyfriend unleashed all this made a shiver run down her spine.
It took her three years to agree to do any book signing or any personal meetings with her fans. She rarely ever responded to their letters either.
Now, she reached what she could cal
“Iori-san, when I heard about your book signing, I couldn’t help myself,” Tohru said with a fake smile and Iori inwardly rolled her eyes.“Thank you for taking the time to come here, and buying a new book from my latest collection.” Iori said and smiled and his face grew neutral.“I didn’t come here for the autographs, I came here to warn you,” Tohru said leaning against the counter and Iori took the book from him opening it without breaking eye contact with him.“Oh, What about?” Iori asked looking up at him expectantly.“Don’t play dumb. By now, you should know what kind of person Jun is. He’s mentally unstable and quite used to manipulating people into believing that he’s an upstanding citizen.”“What are you trying to say Tohru-San?” Iori asked not even trying to make an effort to understand the truth,“You think you’re the o
Jun sighed as he waved to the last fan. Leaning back on his seat he turned toward Iori to find her booth empty. Kimiko was nowhere to be seen either. He rubbed the back of his head in frustration remembering the expression on Iori’s face earlier.He screwed up and he knew it. He needed to tell her everything tonight before Tohru did it. He needed to tell her the truth…Picking up his phone, he dialed Shou,“You free tonight?” He said when Shou picked up.“Depends on what you have on,” Shou responded.“I’m meeting Tohru and I’m going to need backup,”“You have it,” Shou answered instantly making Jun smile, This was his friend…“Can you be here around eight? I will send you the address,” Jun said sending his friend the address.“Woah, the drinks are on you man! What are you doing inviting me where they serve drinks on gold goblets?!&
Iori smiled at Kuronuma as he talked to her heatedly her mind struggling to keep track of their conversation. She was still thinking about what happened earlier and all the damage control she had been doing.She left before Jun finished with his booth on purpose because she’d needed to gather her thoughts before she had to talk to him. But she wasn’t doing any thought gathering since she’d been roped into this conversation with Kuronuma who was usually quieter than this…“Your last book had been having this much attention from the entertainment industry because your characters are what they usually look for. It makes me wonder if you write while keeping that in mind…”“No, I’ve never had that thought before. I was just writing the way I usually did,” Iori responded absently when she spotted Jun by the buffet table talking to Takada-sensei. He looked tense.“I was wondering…”
“Want to go somewhere quieter?” Jun asked and Iori nodded.Taking her hand in his, they intertwined their fingers and walked toward the entrance to the terrace where there were few people.“Are you okay?” Jun asked as they both leaned on the railing overlooking the small back garden.“Yeah…” Iori answered,“I should have broken his wrist,” Jun murmured under his breath and Iori sighed,“He didn’t know…” Iori said weakly,“It doesn’t matter. He shouldn’t touch people like that randomly, someday someone is going to teach him a lesson.”“He’s usually more reserved than this. I don’t know why he was acting like that today…”“I do….” Jun said, “He has a thing for you,”“No, That’s impossible…” Iori responded with a chuckle, Jun’s je
Jun took a deep breath as the car moved out of the parking spot and made his way back inside the hotel ignoring the stares and the few camera flashes.His mind concentrated on one goal and one goal alone. He made his way to the check-in area.“Hello, I would like to check into a room,” Jun said to the neatly dressed desk clerk who looked like he came of catalog for the perfect footman.“I’m sorry, sir. Even though you seem to be a member of the literature conference rooming here is not one of the services offered for this event and booking a room here requires prior reservation.Jun eyed the man for a moment before pulling something out of his pocket,“I’m sorry sir, but no amount of bribery will get you…”Jun slipped the card he pulled out toward the clerk and he frowned looking down at it,“If you don’t get it, get your manager. He will understand,” Jun said in a col
As the car drove away from the hotel Iori sat back her head spinning. Jun’s kiss had effectively shut her mind off and rendered her thoughtless. She sighed realizing that she was too far gone for her to have rational thoughts anyway. She loved him…Her heart sped at the confession she made between her and herself. She’d known it for a while now, but, she hadn’t been ready to voice it in her head until now.She loved him…And she Just let him go in there to meet with his worst nightmare alone. She remembered the vulnerable smile he gave her, the soft kisses and the hugs that squeezed her so much but gave her so much warmth. Jun wasn’t as confident as he may have sounded, he was afraid, as anyone would be of meeting with the people who caused such a tragedy by their foolishness.But she doubted that he was afraid of the two. He was probably more afraid of himself. Of the reaction he had done back then, and of what those
“You must be excited to be back studying in Japan again, Iori-sama,” Genta said looking at Iori through the back mirror with a smile.Iori smiled back at him.“I’m looking forward to studying with Shun again. Father can be too paranoid sometimes,” Iori responded,“You know how it is with the Satou-clan. He just wants you to have a normal school life. As normal as they could be.”“Hopefully, this time I won’t have to deploy out of the country under the cover of the night again…” Iori said with a sigh“Iori-Sama… With how your mother passed away… Your father is…”“I know…” Iori said calmly, “I know that he doesn’t want anything bad to happen again…”Genta parked the car in front of the school gate and turned toward Iori smiling at her,“The most important thing here is that you&rsqu
The light breeze swiping through the window brought in a stray pink petal and Iori followed it with her eyes until it landed on her desk in a small twirl. like a well-experienced ballet dancer exhibiting her skills in one masterful last move before bowing to her audience.“You may be excused,” Announced the teacher bringing her attention back to the class.As the teacher left the room the buzz started as everyone started forming groups and joking around with each other. Shun turned around in his seat to face her and she gave him a small smile.Before he could say anything, two girls came up to her.“Hello. I’m Nakamura Eri and this is Hanasaki Naomi. The teacher said that you had been studying abroad for a while, where were you?” she asked her eyes sparkling like little jewels and Iori couldn’t help but smile at the girl with her infectious smile.“I was if England for a while,”“Do