estirose

And here we go again! Only 1250 words remaining for Chapter 7.

The car finally pulled up at the offices where the photoshoot would take place. "Remember. Edgy, but not controversial. Be friendly to the interviewer and smile for the camera. Remember what Megumi-san told you." He would have to thank her when they got back, assuming they survived.

Wataru nodded solemnly. Taiga could only hope that he would cooperate and not do something stupid.

They were met at the door by a woman who was patting her hair as if looking for the glasses that were perched on top. "Hi!" she exclaimed. "I'm Muraka Tomiko. Nobori Taiga-sama and Kurenai Wataru-sama?" She squinted at them. Wataru patted the top of his head, as if to tell the woman where her glasses were, and Taiga tensed for a moment, but the woman just smiled and pulled her glasses off the top of her head.

"Anyway, welcome to the studio for ThenPOP! I'm glad you are allowing us to interview your little brother, King. It's a great honor."

"You have an excellent reputation," Taiga said, "And I think that you'll do well with my little brother."

Wataru was making a face, but rapidly regained his composure when the woman turned to him. "So, have you ever done a photoshoot before?"

"I've... attended a photoshoot before, but I wasn't the one being photographed," Wataru said, using polite words. "Mio-san was the one having pictures being taken. She made a really good model. Megumi-san, who's human, was there too, teaching Mio-san how to model."

Her face wrinkled in sympathy. Taiga himself made a note to ask Wataru about said photo shoot.

"This was before Mio became my Queen," Taiga said.

"Oh, of course! Well, there's nothing to worry about. We've got clothes for you to wear, and of course the photographer is very good with new interviewees. And we'll want to hear all about you, of course! I'm sure you're an eligible young man. Oh so cute as well!"

Taiga let the woman squeal at Wataru. If it made Wataru relax and be cute, he was all for it.

"Can I watch?" He hoped he would. It would remind Wataru of what not to do.

"Well, we normally don't... but you are King, so of course!" she squeaked. "I can understand how things are. You are each others' only family, right?"

He wondered how she knew that, but maybe Bishop had intended for him to go to magazine interviews like this one. "Our mother is still around, but we don't talk about her after the betrayal."

Muraka-san seemed to shrink for about two seconds, and then bounced back, smiling her face off. "Of course! We won't bring that up at all, Wataru-san. What could be better than two brothers together, and how wonderful it is to be brother to the King?"

"Um, okay," Wataru said. He didn't fidget, because that wasn't Wataru's way. Instead, he seemed to shrink a little, retreat, as Satoshi-san had.

"Awww, so shy! Don't worry, we're not that scary. And of course, your brother will be right here if you need him! King, would it be okay if we took photos of you together? It would be so wonderful!"

"Certainly." He smiled his most charming smile at her. "I want this interview to be successful too."

"Then, let's begin." She was practically bouncing as she motioned for the two of them to follow her.

Fifteen minutes later, Wataru was in a new set of clothes, though he'd relooped his scarf. Taiga explained to Muraka and her assistant, Munakata, that he'd only ever seen Wataru without one once.

He didn't tell them that it was when Wataru was trying to take over his throne. Some things he didn't want to be reminded of. Besides, he very much wanted to project an image, aided by the magazine, of Wataru being nonthreating, maybe with some strange ideas, but nonthreatening.

They were briefly introduced to the staff members helping with the shoot. Tachibana, Osaka, Kiryu, and Kurosawa all bowed at him and Wataru before busying themselves with their duties. Kurosawa was the photographer, Tachibana his assistant, and Kurosawa directed Wataru to lean here and there and against furniture and against walls, to turn his body certain ways and to smile, smile, smile as much as possible.

He wondered if Mio had been instructed the same way. He still wanted to know more about the woman who had been destined as his Queen. When the photographer asked, he posed in a few pictures with Wataru, hoping that the young Fangire would take to a King that was both professional and casual enough to appear in one of their magazines.

Some time later, Wataru was handed back to him - or rather, Muraka-san. "So," she said, genki as ever, "Wataru-sama, are you ready for the interview?"

"I think so," Wataru said, and Taiga was reminded of the Wataru that hadn't beeen toughened by everything, the shy young man that Wataru was when Taiga met him again.

How he'd give anything to get that person back, but somehow it seemed impossible. Maybe Imari-san would bring it out of him. Maybe he just had to put them together. Group dates be damned, Wataru was just going to have to date one at a time.

Tachibana, the photographer's assistant, came up and spoke briefly and quietly to Muraka-san. "Thank you, Chitose," the woman said cheerfully, and the assistant scampered off, the bells on her outfit chiming to her movement. "Let's sit down, shall we?"

She led them to a sofa, which Taiga hoped was as comfortable as it looked. Wataru sat down, Taiga beside him, and Taiga was glad to find out that it was pretty comfortable. "Normally, we'd do true form as well in the photo shoot, but I wasn't sure if you had one, Wataru-sama?"

"I don't," Wataru confirmed. "At least none that I know of."

"Our mother was some kind of Bat or something like that before she became Queen," Taiga said. He knew about that because he'd asked Bishop, and Bishop had told him. Mio had been a Cat Fangire, a bobtail. "I have a lot of Bats and Snakes in my ancestry from my father, at least. I'm not sure about mother's side."

He had to wonder if that winged form that Wataru took was his True Form, and if he'd always need help assuming it. But he could talk to Wataru about that later.

"Oh, poor thing!" the woman exclaimed. "I'm sure you'll find it in time. In the meantime, we'll just go without it. You're so cute, Wataru-san, that you won't need a True Form to attract the girls. You're only twenty, aren't you?"

"Twenty-one," Wataru corrected. Taiga nodded. Both of them were getting older. They hadn't been the same people when he and Wataru had found each other again.

"Awww." Muraka-san had the look on her face of someone who was facing unbearable cuteness. "You've got so much ahead of you. I remember when families kept rooms of fish in the larger mansions, just to have a fish farm so that they could have fresh fish when they wanted...."

For a moment, she was looking dreamily at the wall, and then shook her head. "But that's something you'll experience over time. Time, that is. You're so young! So, let's put that to good use. What's your blood type?"

"A," Wataru told her. Taiga knew what that meant. Calm, sensitive, and stubborn as hell. It was part of what Wataru was, and he could be nothing else.

Maybe he should have asked Wataru for his blood type when they'd met again. It would have given him a clue.