Ultraviolet

Chapter 5

Taka was woken up by the sound of his phone going off loudly. He looked at the caller id and saw it was Tomoya. He groaned, wondering if Tomo was about to yell at him.
“Hey” Taka answered the phone, waiting to be chewed out for being a jackass.
“Hey, how did your date go?” Tomo asked, as Taka groaned.
“Not well” Taka responded.
“Oh. I hadn't heard from Mai. I didn't know if she was still at your place…” Tomoya responded.
“No. We didn't have sex if that's what you wanted to know. And there won't be a second date” Taka responded bitterly before hanging up.
Taka got himself up and ready for the day. He was going to have to go to the studio and probably get teased relentlessly about Mai.

When Taka arrived at the studio, he silently prayed Tomo had already told the other members not to tease him. Except instead he was greeted by their manager asking to talk in his office.  
Taka groaned, knowing precisely what he wanted to talk about.

Taka sighed heavily as he sat down in the office and waited for the scolding to begin. Taka thought this was beyond stupid, they weren't a boy band, he never signed a “no dating” clause, why did he have to comment on tabloid articles.
“You look like you've had a rough night” John said as he looked over at Taka.
“Just tell me what they saw” Taka responded.
“Ah, yes. The tabloids want a statement on you and Mai Asada. Apparently they claim to have pictures of you entering a bathhouse with her, leaving in a cab, as well as her leaving your apartment in the early hours of the morning” John said as Taka held his head in his hands.
“I don't care what the statement is. Neither confirm nor deny. It was a date, but it was horrible ok. There won't be a second date, you could just ignore the story for all I care, there won't be follow up pictures” Taka responded, forgetting he was talking to his boss.
“I don't actually care, Taka. I just need a media statement and figured I should consult with you beforehand. You would make my life so much easier if you didn't end up in the tabloids with such regularity though” John responded as he began composing an email.
“Sorry” was all Taka could say. He was exhausted, both emotionally and physically. He barely slept the night before, and he was tired of thinking of Toru.
The manager dismissed Taka as he went back to the lounge area where the rest of his bandmates were.

“Congrats on the sex” Ryota announced as Taka entered the room.
Taka sighed, realising Tomo never relayed the message. He saw Tomo elbow Ryota though, which was appreciated.
“Tell us all about it” Ryota said as Taka sat down on the couch and browsed his phone.
“Shut up” was all Taka could manage to respond with.
Tomoya went to go record his drum part when the manager called over Taka again.
Toru and Ryota both made synchronised “oooh"s as if Taka had been called to the principal's office.
“Apparently Mai is going to confirm the date by the way” John said. Taka just sighed and then went back into the room. He laid on the couch and screamed into the pillow, tired of this whole situation.
“Did Mai also scream into a pillow last night?” Toru joked as him and Ryota laughed.
Taka tried to playfully throw the pillow at Toru, but accidentally used more force than anticipated.
“Ouch, what the hell Taka?” Toru said as he rubbed his eye where the zipper on the pillow just hit him.
“The date was horrible. I didn't have sex. I won't see her again. The paparazzi was there. She's confirming the date. Can everyone just shut the fuck up” Taka yelled in a sudden outburst. He was beyond pissed, at both his dating scandal and Toru. But especially Toru for mocking him when he knew what Taka was going through. He felt even worse for thinking of Toru in the cab, hoping he would get caught out and Toru could see how happy he was. Or at least how happy he pretended he was.
Ryota and Toru just looked at each other, knowing Taka was like a volcano ready to go off at any second.

They finished the recording for the day. The three of them mostly tried to avoid saying anything that could cause another outburst from Taka.
Ryota and Tomoya both went home to their families. Taka also went to leave but was stopped by Toru.
“Wanna stay the night at my place?” Toru asked as he placed his hand on Taka's shoulder.
“I wanna go home and bury my head in the sand for a week” Taka responded honestly.
“The paparazzi will be at your apartment. Just stay at my place until they move on” Toru said as he got his phone to order takeout for them.
Taka nodded as they went to Toru's apartment.