Nobody Likes Loud Pop Music [Tsuyoi]

[Aiko]

The whole floor felt like it was shaking as Renée danced around her bed. Her laptop was flipped open on her green bedspread, blasting pop music from its miniscule speakers. The American hopped from foot, swinging her hips from side to side. She wasn’t even entirely sure what it was her hands were doing. Perhaps the best word would be “flailing.” She sang loudly, out of key, but with a note of certainty. The pink-and-green bangles on her arm jangled together, and the ponytail in her hair got flung from side to side as she beat a fist into the air. She was spinning, jumping, dancing! She was being an idiot, but it was damn fun!

At least it was until she heard the banging on the door to the apartment.

[green]”Oh snap,”[/green] she muttered in English before hastily turning down the volume to her music and running out of her room and to the door. An angry-looking woman instantly began yelling at her in Japanese.

Renée waited patiently until the woman was done chewing her out, glad that she couldn’t understand the exact words that were being said. When the lady paused to take a breath, the American interrupted, saying, [green]“I am sorry. I will turn off the music and stop dancing.”[/green] The older woman looked puzzled for a minute, muttered some more in Japanese, then turned away shaking her head. Renée closed and locked the door behind her, and then turned around to sit down on the ground. [green]Crap,[/green] she thought. [green]I didn’t think anybody would be here on a Saturday night. Oops.[/green] Of course, it was only 5:30; the night was still young.

[green]So what am I going to do now?[/green] she asked herself, bored. Without any better plans, she scrambled up and raced back to her room. She flung the door shut behind her and pounced on her bed, making the still-open and still-music-playing laptop bounce. She grabbed for her cell phone, which was charging on the bed stand. She bit her lip, the device in her hands, then flipped it open. Hey, she had thought of him, so she might as well call him. She found the number, stolen from Kouhei, and called Tsuyoi Seishuku as she flung herself back on her bed.

[Lord Sesshomaru]

5:30 on Saturday. Tsuyoi had yet to leave his room since the morning. He had felt lazy for a long time, the confusion and uncertainty on what had happened the night he had gotten drunk made him feel restless. There was something he must have been missing even if Kouhei had told him what happened. He layed on his bed, staring at the ceiling with one arm over his head.

Tsuyoi jerked himself up when his phone rang, a quick Kamelot beat was the ring and he stared at the phone on his side table. Should he answer? Was it Kouhei? Or his father? Who else had his phone number? Narrowing his eyes he forced himself to lean forward and grab the phone. Scanning the unknown caller's number he answered with a sigh, sprawling back onto the bed. "Who is this?" he asked with agitation. He didn't like unknown callers.

[Aiko]

[green]“Oh, oops. I forgot you wouldn’t answer the phone in English.”[/green] And if that sentence, spoken in English, wasn’t a dead giveaway as to who was calling, what could be? [green]“I totally missed what you just said… Oh, I guess maybe I should talk in Japanese, huh? Bet you weren’t expecting someone to start yammering in your ear in English.”[/green] Renée, who had been lying back on her pillow while she’d been waiting for Tsuyoi to pick up his phone, sat up and crossed her legs to sit more comfortably on her bed. Using her shoulder to hold the phone to her ear, Ren leaned forward to shut off the music on her laptop while she resumed speaking in Japanese.

[green]“Hello, Tsuyoi. It is Ren. How is life? What are you doing right now? I am bored. You want to do something?”[/green] The American decided to cut right to the chase with this. She really was bored, bored out of her mind. There was the slightest chance Tsuyoi might do something with her. What else was she going to do with her Saturday evening? Do homework?

[Lord Sesshomaru]

Tsuyoi found himself in complete dread when the person that called start blabbering English. He closed his eyes, trying not to be too irritated. How do these people keep getting his number?! He placed his hand over his eyes. 'How is life', she asks? 'What was he doing?' Was she some kind of stalker? Sighing, he stood up and glanced at the clock. He combed his fingers through his hair.

"How did you get my number and why should I go with you?" Where would they go anyway? He would ask that after his questions were answered. He walked around his room, kicking dirty clothes out of his way that were on the floor as he went to the bathroom. He found himself disgusted in how sloppy he looked in being locked up in his room for only a day. Maybe he should go out...

[Aiko]

A giggle escaped from Ren, and she made to cover the phone with her hand. Tsuyoi was so pissy! It was kind of funny. [green]“I stole your number from Kouhei,”[/green] she told the Japanese boy with a note of amused triumph in her voice, laying back on her pillow as she spoke. Last time she had seen Kouhei, she had taken his phone briefly [ooc: Just roll with it, I know it didn’t really happen. Birdie just never showed up again, so maybe it could’ve happened.] and taken the number to plug it into her own phone. Ren smiled at the memory, closing her eyes for a moment. She remembered Kouhei. She should hang out with him, too, sometime.

For Tsuyoi’s other question, the American rolled over on her belly, finding it impossible to stay still while she talked on the phone. [green]“And you should go with me because I am bored, and because I want you to do something. What is your meaning, why? The reason is the same for if you went with anyone else. You are not busy now, are you?”[/green] Now Renée was swinging her legs over the side of the bed, balancing her phone on her shoulder again as she picked up her laptop. She paused in front of her bedroom door with computer in her arms and phone by her ear, stymied for a moment. Her desk was in the other room, and she wanted to put her computer there. Why did she shut the door, anyway?

[Lord Sesshomaru]

Tsuyoi sighed. Kouhei, of course. First Kouhei steals his number, and now Renee steals his number from Kouhei. In the end, it's his number!! The urge to hand up on her was strong. And yet he was already picking out some clothes to wear and fixing his hair. He frowned, listening to her reasonings to him joining her in whatever she planned. He was quiet for a while with her question asked and he stood there contemplating it.

"No." he replied with another sigh. "What's the plan?"

[Aiko]

Shifting her laptop carefully to one arm so she could open the door, Renée found herself smiling at Tsuyoi’s response. No matter how reluctant, it sounded like he was giving a submission to her plans of hanging out. But exactly what her plans were, well, still needed some planning. As the American walked out into the cluttered main room of her apartment, she was saying, [green]“No plan. I do not know. I know only that we should do something. Is there something you want to do?”[/green]

As the tall girl set her laptop down on her desk, she jerked up, taking her phone into her hand again. [green]“Do you want to know what I want to do?”[/green] she asked Tsuyoi suddenly. [green]“I want to dance.”[/green] It was an odd request, especially from one who distinctly lacked dancing skills. But she hadn’t been to a dance, or really any big social event, since coming to Japan. It wasn’t like she’d attended big parties when she was in America, but as she thought about it, she realized that she’d missed all of her friends’ big sweet sixteens that they would have had in America this year. Why the hell did she miss out on all of that? There really wasn’t anything she could do about it here, of course, because it wasn’t like she was going to find some magical dance party with Tsuyoi that they could go to. Dancing wasn’t really an option, and she flushed even as she thought about it. [green]“Ignore me,”[/green] she mumbled. [green]“What did you say you want to do?”[/green]

[Lord Sesshomaru]

Tsuyoi was barely listening to Renee's gibberish. No plan, he caught that. Something he wanted to do. What did he want to do? He would be the least person to know that. He placed her on speaker and put the phone on the bathroom counter as he worked to make himself more presentable. Brush hair, put on clothes, try and listen to what that english girl was saying at the same time. He was better at it then he expected, this multi-tasking.

Dance, she said. Tsuyoi caught that in the middle of putting his pants on and almost fell over with one pant leg in and the other seemingly wrapped around itself. He paused, wondering if he should say anything, but he didn't and instead worked on his pants until she asked her question again.

"You'll go dancing. And I'll accompany you. But do not expect me to join in any stupidity that you plan." Including dancing. The last thing to do was put his hair back with a rubber band before he grabbed the phone. "Where should I meet you?"

[Aiko]

[green]“Dancing?”[/green] Ren squawked, yanking the phone away from her ear for a moment to stare at it quizzically. [green] “I can go dancing? We can go dancing? That is possible?”[/green] She hadn’t honestly expected dancing to be an option. It was just something that sort of popped into her head, and like most things that popped into her head, it fell out her mouth. The American wandered over to her one chair, just so she could plop down into it with an expression of surprise on her face. Her idea of dancing was typically at her American friends’ parties. For some reason, it just wasn’t clicking in her mind that dancing happened elsewhere.

[green]“Wait! Do not leave!”[/green] the girl cried into the phone, shooting up from her seat again. She was afraid that Tsuyoi’s last statement meant that he was going to be leaving soon. [green]“I do not know where we are going! I do not know what to wear! You must help me if you please!” [/green] Already Ren was motoring back to her bedroom, frantically wondering what she was going to wear. Suddenly, her current jeans-and-a-t-shirt ensemble didn’t quite seem good enough for an outing. She flung open her closet door and stood there. [green]“Okay, I am in front of my closet,”[/green] she told Tsuyoi. [green]“What do I wear now?”[/green]

[Lord Sesshomaru]

Tsuyoi was silent on the phone with her question. One second went by...then another. He wasn't sure what he was waiting for. Finding that he must have heard her wrong, he spoke. "Did you really just ask me what you should wear?" What did she expect from him anyway? Why ask a guy, including one such as himself such a rediculous thing. He sighed, rubbing the base of his nose with his finger.

"We are going to the Ootori dance club. With that said, I am going to hang up now, you will choose something to wear, and call me when you are done." With that said, he did as he stated and hung up. He expected her to take a while choosing what to wear and so he took his time packing up his laptop into a book bag. Tsuyoi felt ready for the day, which he had not felt since that drunk incident.

Tsuyoi had yet to go to the Ootori but his father enjoyed time there during business meetings. Odd to imagine a place for a business meeting. But if it is so, then it should be fun to dance at, and yet elegant enough to have food, drinks, and people with at least a bit of modesty. Still hard to believe it was a place for a meeting but his father had told him of it once while he pretended to tune him out with music from his earphones. A casual meeting with exersice involved, he had said.

[Aiko]

Hang… up? [green]“No, do not leave, please do not leave!”[/green] But Tsuyoi was already gone; Ren heard the click as he hung up his phone. She pulled her cell away from her ear and looked at it dismally. [green]“Now what do I do?”[/green] she asked it. It didn’t answer. Her thumb drifted over the numbers, as she was tempted to call Tsuyoi straight back again. Then her feeling that it would be rude got the better of her, and she snapped her phone shut. She turned to toss it on the bed, then looked at the closet, staring quizzically at the colorful array of clothes with her hands on her hips.

[green]“I don’t even know what kind of place this is!”[/green] she complained to herself. [green] “Is it, what, formal? Semi-formal? Casual? Dressy-casual? Argh, I’ve never even heard of the Ooby whatsit club.”[/green] With a moan of frustration, Ren backed away from her closet and collapsed back onto the bed. [green]“WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR?”[/green] she whined loudly, staring at the ceiling. She stuck her hand behind her back to pull the cell phone out, because it wasn’t very comfortable to lie on. Again, she considered calling Tsuyoi back. Again, she figured it would be rude. She groaned and sat up.

Slowly, she approached her closet, treating it like a vicious animal that might attack at any moment. Oh yeah? Ha! She would attack it first!

[green]I’ll pick something out for all occasions,[/green] she decided, pawing through the contents of her closet. She shoved all her school uniforms to one side, because she obviously wasn’t going to wear those. For something formal, she picked out a long black dress with blue sparkles in floral patterns, to be accompanied by a pair of black sandals. For something a little less formal but still dressy, Renée unearthed a short, fun, bright blue dress, and a pair of cream-colored heals to go with it. Finally, since finding the dresses and shoes to go with them had taken at least ten minutes, she decided to go with one final outfit. She selected a gauzy black skirt, paired with hot pink tights, a white tank top with pink sequined designs, and cloggy black shoes. She laid the outfits on her unmade bed, peering at them through half-lidded eyes with her arms crossed. She sucked on the inside of her cheek for a moment, then went for her cell phone again.

She hesitated for only a moment before pulling up Tsuyoi’s number. Hey, she couldn’t get ready if she didn’t know which of the outfits she was supposed to wear! She pressed his number and put the phone to her ear, standing with her other hand on her hip.

[Lord Sesshomaru]

Tsuyoi was in the kitchen of his home when she called. He checked the time, counting the minutes it took for her to get ready. Well, if she was ready. He ignored the call for a few seconds, just because, before answering. "Are you done?" he asked, being ready for whatever gibberish escaped her mouth. In the mean time he scrounged through the fridge with his free hand, taking out a diet soda and moving the phone away a bit so she couldn't hear him chug it down. A sight that seemed very uncharacteristic.

((eh, short))

[Aiko]

Ren rolled her eyes as she heard Tsuyoi pick up. [green]“No, I am not done. Wait, do not leave!”[/green] she added quickly, realizing that he would probably hang up on her right away. She bent towards her clothes, fingers drifting over the different fabrics. [green]“I only want to know what kind of--”[/green] Renée stopped speaking, and her fingers hesitated over the black folds of her one dress. Her brow furrowed as she struggled to think of the Japanese words to convey what she was trying to ask. She was quiet for a moment, then gave up, reverting to English. [green]“I will ask you in my own language. What sort of place is this dance club, anyway? Formal? Semi-formal? What? What style of clothing should I be wearing?”[/green] Her fingers resumed trailing over her dresses, as if they were eager to start pulling them over Ren’s body, as the girl waited for Tsuyoi’s response.

And when she stopped talking, she thought she heard a noise. [green]"Tsuyoi? What are you doing?"[/green] she asked.

[ooc: As is mine. There’s really not much else we can add, sorry.]

[Lord Sesshomaru]

Tsuyoi had turned the volume up on his phone and although his ear was away from the phone while he drank, he still hear her rambling. He almost choked when he could hear the keys rattling in the front door and someone coming inside. He jerked the coke away, spilling a bit as he placed the can on the counter as his father came in.

"Nothing." he replied to her question hastily, making his way to the backdoor so he wouldn't have to see his father. He tried to think of how to answer her other questions. He didn't really know how to describe the dance club, so he ignored that question. She would just have to wait and see. "Wear whatever you want. Casual, semi-formal, doesn't matter as long as you don't end up whining later how uncomfortable you are."

[Aiko]

It took a while for Tsuyoi to reply to anything. Ren ended up sitting on top of her clothes on her bed, flinging her head back with so much force she almost hit the wall, and laying on her back, waiting for the guy to decide to answer her questions. She was trying to discern patterns in the popcorn ceiling when she heard the guy’s voice come through the phone speaker, and she sat up again.

Renée made a face, scrunching up her eyes and sticking out her tongue. [green]“You’re no help,”[/green] she complained. For one thing, she didn’t really understand the words Tsuyoi used. For another, she didn’t think that, even if she could fully understand his language, she would have gotten a straight answer out of him. [green]“I’m going to feel like a fool, and yes, I AM going to whine”[/green] –“whining” was one of the few words Renée had understood –[green]“when I show up wearing something completely ridiculous. It’s like… it’s like I wore a ball gown to a bar!”[/green] Though her analogy didn’t entirely make sense, even to herself, Ren snapped the phone shut, leapt to her feet, and threw the phone on her bed. [green]“Stupidass,”[/green] she grumbled to herself. Now what was she going to wear?!

After several seconds of standing and staring at her clothes, Ren decided on the blue dress. It was the closest thing she had to a happy medium between formal and informal. Quickly she undressed and pulled on the pretty blue garment. She looked down at her legs critically; the dress was short enough that Ren was hoping she wouldn’t have to bend down to get anything. She felt cold in the short party dress. After a moment of indecision, she returned to her closet and unearthed a pair of nude-colored nylons. She pulled those on her legs before he stuck her feet into the cream-colored heels. As if she needed the extra height; if memory served, she was as tall as Tsuyoi was when she wore regular shoes.

She put pearls around her neck and around her wrist, though finding them took a bit of sifting through her jewelry box and the accessories strewn all over the top of every surface in her room. While she was looking, she reflected that she should probably start cleaning her room again. Then she went to the one bathroom in her apartment and pulled open the rarely-touched makeup drawer. With hands that trembled a little, she put on some cover-up, foundation, and some pale, sparkling blush that was much more attractive than when she really did blush. She smeared on a little lip gloss (since the last time she put on lip stick, it went all over her face, and her lips were bright red enough anyway). Then, with a little rooting around, she found the bit of makeup that she used even less than the foundation: eye shadow. At least she had some blue and gray. Racking her brain, she tried to remember what her more makeup-savvy friends had told her about application. Giving up, she fetched her laptop and brought it into the bathroom with her. Feeling a little pathetic, she found some videos online about good eye shadow application, some of which were even made by her American friends. After several long, tense, mistake-filled minutes, Ren had decent, dark blue eye shadow darkening the skin around her green eyes.

[green]“Now for the hair,”[/green] she muttered to herself. She pulled it down out of her ponytail. After ten or so minutes of brushing and otherwise fiddling with it, she finally got it so it was half-up, half-down. Down, her hair was wavy, and just a little frizzy. But it would have to do. With a glance at the clock on her computer (which was now playing soothing music to calm her nerves), she saw that it was 6:45. Alarmed surprise shot through her. More than an hour had passed since she decided she wanted to do something. The day was growing older with each breath she took! She scrambled out of her bathroom, found her phone, and flicked it open. She was calling Tsuyoi even as she clumsily ran back to the bathroom to clean up.