Anyone want some Captain? You seem worried about Captain.
Let's have some Captain!
Chapter 9Saki raced down the hall to put as much distance between herself and the girls’ teasings she could. She was used to them by now of course. Far be it for their great and honorable Captain to have a boyfriend - they all know how well that worked out with Morning Musume - but that didn’t mean she necessarily still liked it. Most of them hadn’t met Jun-kun since she still had to keep things reasonably under wraps, but sometimes she wished they’d understand how great a guy he was. And he sure was great…
She began to slow as she neared her dressing room, and while she changed into her casual clothes consisting of long tight cut-offs, a cute yellow-striped shirt, ball cap and shades, she had a constant silly grin on her face while thinking of him and the dinner that would be so great this afternoon. She hadn’t seen him since arriving in Saitama because he lived in Tokyo and only made the trip out to catch the afternoon concert, so she was excitedly looking forward to the dinner and what he had to say about the concert.
Pulling her cap tightly over her ears, she pulled out her cell phone and checked for any more messages. There was one.
I’m outside. Come save me, these people are crazy!She giggled to herself as she read it. He sure had quite an opinion of the wotas. He wasn’t one himself – she met him while staying at a hotel in Tokyo once – but she told him he should start following their ways if he was going to keep coming to their concerts like this. He of course wasn’t a fan of that idea, but could not deny its sense and sound reason! Saki was a reasonable girl, after all. All of her Berryz loved her and thanked her time after time for her sound and reasonable advice. She tried her best in leading them and setting an example for them as their senpai. Well, she supposed she was unreasonable about some things of course…
A blush came to her face as she walked through the halls to the exit. Thankfully nobody came up to her while she was dressed like this and asked her why a (puny!!) girl like her would be walking around back here. She guessed the ones that did earlier must have spread the message around well. Of course, they had good motivation to… Her blush faded into an evil grin.
That grin didn’t last for long though before she sighed. Yes, quite a strong and reasonable girl. Except when it came to love. When she liked someone, whenever things started to involve that person, she seemed to lose all control and her aura of maturity. For a long time, in fact since she became Captain of Berryz, she hadn’t had someone she liked, so it wasn’t an issue… until lately. She met Jun and…
“Hey there Shooting Star.”
She paused as she passed the fence closing in their private loading area, staring at the boy in a hoodie and dark blue jeans who was leaning against the wall. “What…?” Shooting star? Was he talking to her?
“Yeah.” He straightened up and walked toward her. “When I look at that beautiful girl up on stage, that’s what I see. Of course, it also makes me feel like punching all the other drooling guys around me in the face…”
Saki giggled at that, not noticing a slight blush. “You didn’t do that I hope… Did you?”
“Well,” he said, holding his wrist and cracking his knuckles, “Just the one that cut in line for the washroom during intermission…”
She reached up and grabbed his wrist. Unfortunately, he was at least a dozen centimeters taller than her, so she had to look up into his face as close as he was. Of course, she had to do that to nearly everyone. “Didn’t I tell you not to lie to me like that?” she said with a smirk.
Jun stared back down at her with eyes slightly widened. “Did anyone ever tell you you’re too smart?”
“All the time!” she responded, smiling, and began to dash off toward the street, pulling him along.
“Hey! What are you doing? I can’t have some little girl pulling me along the street like a pet… If anyone saw me, I wouldn’t be able to show my face out-of-doors ever again.”
“Live with it!” she called back, but slowed down to allow him to catch up and walk at her side. She looked around, and satisfying herself that no one was paying any attention to them, slipped her hand down from his wrist to twine her small fingers into his, looking back up to his face and smiling. “So, where are we going for dinner?”
He hesitated for a second before responding, making her smile turn into a slight frown. “I was supposed to pick a place? I thought you’d have somewhere special all set to commemorate your big day. Plus, weren’t you treating? You’re the one making millions of yen a year…”
She squeezed his hand. Hard. “You didn’t find a place?! What are we supposed to do then? Oh, and you are most definitely treating sir… This
is my big day after all!”
He didn’t respond, but looked up as if thinking about it, holding a finger to his cheek. “Hmm, well then if that’s the case, I guess since we have no other choice how about…” He stopped walking suddenly, pulling her to a stop next to him. “…here.”
Saki, who was about to take the hand she was holding and make him strangle himself with it, looked up at the building they stood next to, and her mouth fell open. In big bold stylized characters, a sign running up the wall pronounced
“Shooting Star Sushi”, with smaller characters below it continuing
“at the Arena”.
She finally regained her senses after a minute and looked back to Jun, her mouth still slightly open. The boy was looking cautiously back at her as if unsure what she would do. “Do you think this will do?” he asked quietly.
Saki broke into a smile. “I think it should do wonderfully.” Jun relaxed into a smile as well finally, and the two walked into the restaurant, still hand-in-hand and walking even a bit closer than before.
Dinner was as wonderful as she hoped. Roll after roll of sushi came to her and she ate it all up. It was so delicious! Jun seemed to have his share as well, though Saki noticed he kept careful track of what he had. That momentarily made her feel guilty about all she was eating. After all, what he said earlier was true. She
was the one that made millions of yen a year. Jun was just a concierge at the Tokyo hotel she met him at. He was probably lucky to make half what she did, and he was two years older. Of course, she hadn’t made that much until recently either, when high school became a lesser priority and her role as Berryz Captain became more complex. Well, it was just momentary; she did treat most of the times they went out, and today was her day. It was
their day really… She thought back to what her girls might be doing for dinner.
“And… Oh, when I was walking out of the arena, two girls came up to me and just started making out with me… You aren’t listening to me, are you?”
Saki broke out of her reverie and stared at him. “What?” She looked down at her food, but her chopsticks were just clanging against an empty plate. Where did it all go?
Jun chuckled. “I thought I lost you for a minute there.”
“I’m sorry,” Saki said, laying her chopsticks down and smiling over at him. “I was just thinking of the other Berryz.”
Jun leaned back in his chair and studied her face closely. “They’re really important to you, aren’t they?”
“Yeah they are,” she responded. “They look up to me for some reason…” She traced a line on her plate, though she still smiled. “They’re my girls. They deserved a day like today.” She noticed what she was doing and how silly it was and stopped, pulling her cell phone out to check the time before looking around. “Hey, I’d better get going…”
Jun rose quickly and crossed to her, proffering a hand. She took it gratefully with a smile and he pulled her up. “You really do have the most beautiful smile,” he said softly. Saki looked into his eyes trying to read them, but couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Then she lowered them with a blush, staying silent as they walked toward the door.
Once outside they walked quietly hand-in-hand back toward the arena. When they reached a sheltered spot not far from the fence behind it, they stopped and looked at each other. “When can I see you again?” Saki asked, holding his hand up in both of hers between them.
He didn’t respond for a moment while looking into her eyes. “How about tonight? Although I’m going back to Tokyo now…”
Saki broke into a wider smile. “That sounds perfect! I haven’t told the girls yet, but Miki Fujimoto is having a party for us. She lives in Tokyo, so I wouldn’t have to go far.” She paused for a second, her smile fading slightly. “…Where would we meet?”
“How about my apartment?” he asked without hesitation.
She hesitated, however. His apartment? She’d never been to a boy’s apartment before… But as she looked into his eyes, she knew she trusted him. “Okay then,” she responded with a nod.
He smiled. And then he leaned down and she felt his lips on hers. Her world dissolved like it always did when they kissed, and for a while she just melted as his arms pulled her close and she tip-toed up toward him.
Then, too soon, he pulled away, still with his arms around her as if for support. She wasn’t sure she didn’t need it. “Well. Later then,” he said. “Mail me when you’re able to leave the party.”
“I will,” she breathed. She felt his arms unwind from her, and then he was gone, with her staring after.
“Captain!” came a high-pitched voice from behind her. She turned around to see Momo walking toward her. “I see you’re back too, huh? Have a good dinner?” she asked with a sly grin.
“Yes,” Saki smiled back. “The dessert was to die for.”