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Author Topic: The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [COMPLETED || 5 Parts + Epilogue]  (Read 9073 times)

Offline finiarel

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The Beat of Her Heart
~ Part 1 ~

“You see over there? The one that is wearing blue,” she pointed to the escalator down the hill, exactly where a person with a thick blue jacket is slowly going up. “That is my goal.”

“I should have known that there’s no way you’d be interested in this without any ulterior motive,” the person beside her shook her head in annoyance, lifting the snow google to see the person that her friend is pointing at. “Looks like a total catch, where did you meet her again?”

“Networking gala, she is the heir of Wakatsuki & Co. Chatty enough and so well mannered that it would put royalty heir to shame. You are right about her being a total catch.”

“Hold on, are you talking about the Wakatsuki & Co: the publishing company?”

“Is there any other company with that name?”

“That’s crazy, she’s basically your business rival!” The girl shook her head for the second time, causing some strands of her shoulder length hair to stray. Thinking that whatever it is that her friend has in mind will soon get really out of hand.

“Nanamin, surely you are familiar with the sentence, ‘Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer’,” she smirked, turning her head another way so the person that they are talking about wouldn’t recognize her face as she is getting closer to where they are.

Hashimoto Nanami scratched her head, which looks weirdly funny since she’s in a ski gear, “that doesn’t mean that you should lure your enemy’s daughter into your bed! That’s like the first step of demise!”

“Well, you know how I love a good challenge. Besides, even you agreed that she is totally a good catch for snowy mountain holiday fling.”

“Mai! Seriously? That kind of girl is totally not someone that would go for a holiday fling. And after what happened with that Nishino girl you surely have learnt something. Please just think rationally for once and let this girl go. I’m pretty sure there are a lot of other spoiled girls around that would hook up with you, the one that wouldn’t be a threat to your business.”

She chuckled upon hearing that. If anything, her friend’s warning just strengthens her decision even more. “Well, she is a different case. I also need to enlighten you about this concerning past, I totally had no idea that Nishino is already promised to marry a mafia’s daughter. Besides, I already done my homework on Yumi-chan there, she’s totally not related to anything dangerous.”

Shiraishi Mai slide her snow google back to cover her eyes, intently observing the girl who by now has reached the level where she is standing, getting the snowboard ready in just a matter of seconds before swiftly sliding down the slope.

That’s her cue. It’s now or never.

“Can you please book us a table of four for dinner? We are so going on a double date tonight.” Shiraishi announced with a wink and started to move her ski poles, “see you later!”

Just like that, the girl left her at an increasing pace, trying to catch up with her crush at a high speed.

“YOU ARE RIDICULOUS!” Hashimoto shouted at the top of her lungs so that it will totally reach the girl’s ear. She sighed, reminding herself that doing such thing is totally normal for Shiraishi. Hoping that the worst outcome for her best friend plan is just a slap in that beautiful face to serves her right.

“Where is Maiyan?” a question suddenly came from her left side.

Averting her view from Shiraishi who is smoothly sliding down the slope, she found Fukagawa Mai- who has been her girlfriend for two years by now. The young woman with her snowboard on her left hand is standing in confusion, eyes looking at her for an answer.

“Off on another girl conquest. This time is a ski-resort themed adventure,” she answered in annoyance, earning a little smile from the short-haired next to her.

“I know that you are worried about her but Maiyan is not a kid anymore. I believe she understands the consequences of her action. Besides, there is a chance the girl that she’s chasing now turns out to be the one for her.”

“I’m just concerned, she has never been careful when it comes to this kind of matter. I understand if she’s still hurting even though it’s been years, but still- being reckless should have a limit,” she muttered. “You’re right, I should just let her be. Do you want to find another slope? I think I will just ruin everything for both you and her if we stay here now.”

“Worrying about your best friend is not going to ruin anything for me. I can understand where your concern came. Well, that’s one of many things that I love about you, you’re really caring.”

Suddenly the weather feels a lot warmer for Hashimoto, she even had to avert her eyes from her girlfriend for a second to collect her thoughts. Then, she smiled, “how about we skip any kind of outdoor activity for the day and spend it in the warmth of our room? Let me show you my kindness, over and over and over.”

She closes her distance to the other girl to give her a kiss on the lips repeatedly, mumbling the words "and over" in between their kisses.

“That offer sounds really tempting,” the short-haired said as she pulled back, giggled a little when their nose bumped awkwardly. Yet that doesn’t stop the other girl from showering her lips with gentle kisses.

“I love you so much. Let’s go,” she said, sliding her hand down to take her girlfriend’s hand with hers. She had turned her back away from the slope when her girlfriend stopped her.

“Nanamin, wait! Maiyan just slipped.”

Hashimoto raised her eyebrows, turning her body to look at her best friend in the distance. Shiraishi had totally slipped, which is a bit strange considering how good the girl is when it comes to board-related sports.

She observed as another person in blue jacket offers her hand to help the girl standing up. Which Shiraishi took without any hesitation.

Another off-character thing from a girl that is supposed to be independent with the ‘I don’t need your help’ attitude.

“Tch- there’s no need to worry, that’s just her resorting to lowly pitiful tricks. Let’s go, Maimai, I don’t think I will be able to stand to look at her purposely falling and slipping just so she could have the heir of Wakatsuki & Co warm her bed for the night.”

But Fukagawa doesn’t budge, eyes still focused on Shiraishi and the other girl. “Wakatsuki & Co? Is that girl Wakatsuki Yumi?”

Hashimoto raised her eyebrows, “I think so. What’s the matter?”

Fukagawa gives her a look, the one that she always did whenever Hashimoto failed to realise something, but then as if realising her own mistake her expression soften.

“Wakatsuki Yumi is the one who received Reika’s heart.”

~ To Be Continued~


Author notes:
Hello there~
With this the end of the year holiday project is officially started  :cow:

A little bit of this story:

The main pairing will be WakaMai (Wakatsuki Yumi X Shiraishi Mai), as it heavily suggested at this chapter. Hashimoto Nanami X Fukagawa Mai (HashiGawa) is going to be the side pairing. Reika also has an important role, but I can't disclose much for now, it's going to be explained in the next part though  :cathappy:

This story will consist of 5 parts + 1 epilogue and the chapters are going to be much shorter than my usual story, each of it will have about 1k-1.5k words.

Since I'm going to finish writing the last part of the story soon, I have decided on the update time. Which is going to be twice a week, on Wednesday and Sunday. Please do look forward to it  :hip smile:

I want to hear what you guys think about it, so please don't hesitate to leave your thoughts  :)
« Last Edit: December 30, 2017, 11:25:35 PM by finiarel »

Offline clin-nolan

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Re: The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [Part 1 || 13122017]
« Reply #1 on: December 13, 2017, 02:51:58 AM »
I cant wait to know how the story unfolds  :panic: :D
I'm not used to that couple, but it's still an interesting story  :cow:
This story will help my anxiety to wait for the other fic   :nervous
I hope you can update soon  :bow: 
See you  :heart:  :heart:

Offline Shinoki

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Re: The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [Part 1 || 13122017]
« Reply #2 on: December 13, 2017, 03:33:18 AM »
Suddenly, I'm extremely interested in Reika's role in all this.

Quote
“Wakatsuki Yumi is the one who received Reika’s heart.”

Going into analysis mode! There are two interpretations to this... One is that Reika fell in love with Wakatsuki. (WakaRei) or... that Reika is dead and Wakatsuki received a heart transplant... Ah.... Somehow, I'm really betting that it's the second option.

Yea, I'm curious on Reika's role in this...

Offline four4four

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Re: The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [Part 1 || 13122017]
« Reply #3 on: December 13, 2017, 01:03:43 PM »
I agree with @Shinoki. The last line is very mysterious. I am very interested to see what Reika's role will be in the story.

Looking forward to the updates!

Offline finiarel

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The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [Part 2 || 17122017]
« Reply #4 on: December 17, 2017, 10:44:32 AM »
~ Part 2 ~

Wakatsuki Yumi.

She hadn’t even met her until last year, yet she was already familiar with the name for four years. From the time Fukagawa Mai helped her to disclose a classified hospital record, that name has claimed a permanent place in her brain. It wasn’t that hard for the latter to get her hands on the records considering the Fukagawa ownership of the hospital. Back then, just like how Shiraishi was, Fukagawa also believed that maybe knowing the names will help her to move on as losing her best friend was also giving her a difficult time.

Well, those names might really give Fukagawa a sense of closure, however, knowing the names didn’t work out that well for Shiraishi.

Most of the times, Shiraishi Mai ponders upon how ironic a fate is. How she was betrothed to another girl from she was young, not knowing what the future holds for the girl. How she would be the reason for the girl’s death a decade after that.

Some of her peers which also has been promised to another person since they were young are not even in love but somehow- they are still in a lasting relationship up until this point. Yet she- who had fallen head over heels with her fiancé lost her completely. Isn’t that unfair?

Scratch that. There are some parts of Sakurai Reika left in this world. Among the many pieces the girl so generously donated, the most important one is left in Wakatsuki Yumi.

Shiraishi looks up only to meet Wakatsuki’s face, her eyes are unreadable behind the snow google, her hand held out to Shiraishi as an offer to help. Shiraishi grasp the hand with both of hers, letting the smaller girl pull her up. As she stands up, she leaned as close as possible to the helper. That is her purpose, her goal for the day, to hear the heartbeat of her past lover.

To her dismay, Wakatsuki took a step back even though her fingers holding Shiraishi’s arm gently to make sure she doesn’t fall down again.

“Thanks,” Shiraishi said, purposely lifting her google so the other girl could recognise her.

“S- Shiraishi-san? It’s me- Wakatsuki Yumi,” the girl lifts her snow google as well. “I never thought I will see you here.”

Shiraishi raised her gloved hand to her mouth as if she’s not expecting to see the other girl as well, “What a surprise! It’s really nice to see you. Well, my friend is the owner of the Hashimoto ski-resort and she invites me to come over for a couple of nights. How about you?”

“My family has a lodge just right below the resort so I am staying there. I’m basically alone though, my sister will come to join me the day after tomorrow, but the rest of my family is basically busy. You are welcome to visit.”

“I would love to,” Shiraishi excitedly took the offer, grasping the girl’s hand with hers. “For you to come alone for a ski trip, you must really like the snow, don’t you?”

“Ah- that might be because I used to be too ill to play this kind of sports. But ever since I have gotten much better I tried a lot of things that I couldn’t do before, including the snowboard.”

Shiraishi smiled a little, seeing Wakatsuki happily talked about something have that effect on her. She’s glad that the donation lands on someone who deserves it. “How about ski? Do you know anything about this?”

“Well, I did take a ski lesson so I could give you a view pointer. The way you’re standing now it’s already perfect, just make sure to keep your legs from spreading apart when you’re sliding down and watch your speed. I think the main reason you fell is that you were too fast.”

“I admit I was really enjoying the speed rush before,” Shiraishi laughed, somehow that earned a dazed look from Wakatsuki. Shiraishi tilted her head a bit, “Wakatsuki-san?”

“Yes, uh- sorry, I was just out of it. By the way, no need to be so polite, calling me with the family name makes me feel like you are talking to my father instead of me.”

“Yumi-san then? Or would Yumi-chan works better?”

“E-either way is good,” she replied, looking bashful out of the sudden.

“Well, I will call you Yumi-chan, then. You also don’t need to use my family name to call me, just so we are even.”

Wakatsuki smiled, “Okay, Mai-chan, shall we finish the remaining of this track now? I will help you up if you ever fall again.”

Shiraishi was stunned, she didn’t realise that it’s been a long time since someone called her like that. Her friends call her ‘Maiyan’ and her parents always ditch any kind of honorific to call her. She hadn’t noticed it before but Sakurai Reika was the only one who calls her like that. Hearing those words coming out from another mouth that is not hers with a voice that is completely different is bittersweet.

She thought of asking the girl to call her something else instead, but somehow, she likes the sounds of Wakatsuki saying that.

“Let’s go,” Shiraishi said, snapping out of her train of thought and averted her focus to the ski track ahead of them.

About a few meters from where they had started to slide down the slope side by side, Shiraishi felt a bit of pain, she might have splintered her foot a little when she slipped. However, that should be fine, since Wakatsuki is moving in a decent and harmless speed.

“Is your foot okay?” She somehow guessed correctly.

“It’s fine. We are not going at full speed anyway,” Shiraishi assured her.

Wakatsuki nodded, “I sort of fell in a similar way last year. My foot was splintered badly, but that might be because of the ski lesson’s cheap ski boots.”

Shiraishi laughed, imagining the non-flexible boots that most of the ski rental offers, “I can imagine.”

The two girls move in silence for a moment. Calculating her next move, Shiraishi stole a quick glance at the girl beside her, contemplating whether she should try to achieve her main objective or not. Noticing a bit of a curve ahead of them, she realised that her second chance is coming.

She closes her eyes and let her footing shambles, making sure that she lands in the most comfortable way as she does so, letting out a little yelp when she finally hit the ground.

Wakatsuki stopped, holding out a hand to help her stand up just like how she did it before. However, this time instead of letting the girl pull her up, Shiraishi pulled down the girl that’s holding her. Furthermore, when the girl loses a little bit of her balance, Shiraishi’s foot plays their part to purposely tripped the girl down.

Just like that, Wakatsuki Yumi fell right on top of her.

Shiraishi lay still, trying to make out the beat of the girl’s heart, however, their thick jackets prevent that. Sighing, she realised that this petty trick won’t do. Shiraishi turns her head, her eyes meeting Wakatsuki that is looking at her with her eyes widened, totally wasn’t expecting the sudden turn of event.

Shiraishi smiled sheepishly, “I’m sorry.”

It took Wakatsuki a couple of seconds to pull herself together and rolled off Shiraishi’s body, expression unreadable, “don’t mind it.”

This time, Shiraishi helped herself up instead of waiting for the girl, thinking that she had done enough to trouble her by falling. In response, Wakatsuki watches in silence as she readied herself back, only giving her a small nod before continuing the rest of their track. Shiraishi could feel the girl’s eyes checking up on her every now and then as if to make sure that she didn’t hurt herself even more by that second fall.

They already did more than half of the track and Shiraishi realised if she still wants to have a chat with the girl furthermore she might need to say something soon.  She remembered requesting a dinner to Hashimoto and took her chance, “Yumi-chan, would you like to join me for dinner tonight? My treat. Consider it my way to pay you back for your help.”

Wakatsuki’s movement slowed down, “no need to trouble yourself.”

“It’s totally fine, I insist.”

Wakatsuki looks at her for a moment, before averting her gaze back to the track. There’s something that bugs her mind for a while and she thinks that this is the right time to find out the truth, “Mai-chan, when you slipped right in front of me. Was it truly an accident?”

“What are you talking about? Y-you saw it happened,” Shiraishi tried to defend herself.

“From the time where we talked in our first meeting, a lot of people have warned me about you. I decided to brush it off, thinking that there is no way that nice girl who is willing to listen to my boring story instead meeting the other more important people in the gala would do that to me,” Wakatsuki sighed. “Still, I feel the need to make myself clear. Maybe you don’t care about your reputation for sleeping around with different person each night, but I do care. So, if the actual reason for that dinner is so that you can add me to your long list of ‘girl I’ve slept with’. I’m sorry but I can’t and I won’t.”

That wasn’t the first time she had been turned down by someone, she had gotten that response a lot especially since her name isn’t exactly untarnished when it comes to love affairs. Somehow, she had built a wall to protect her from hurting from rejection, reminding herself that there are plenty other fishes in the sea.

However, this time, for the first time in years, Shiraishi Mai felt like her heart was crushed.

“I was a fool to think that you would treat me differently because of the heart that’s beating in you. Well, it was still nice to hang out with you. Have a good day, Yumi-chan.”

~ To Be Continued ~


AN:
Hi again! This time, we talked a bit about what happened to Reika. Well, to tell the truth at the time where I plot this out I was thinking of either Reika or Nanase. Then I realise that since it's going to be Yumi who got the donation maybe Reika is a better choice  :nervous
Well I hope you're liking this update as well and I'll see you next wednesday  :deco:

replies:

clin-nolan: 
:welcome , I'm really glad that you can take this pairing well, to be honest, I was a bit concerned upon the fact that this will be a multichaptered story on a pair that is not that popular but I'm taking my chance. About the other fic, I can really say when I will update, but probably at the end of the year if not next year. So in the meantime I hope you can enjoy this one as it will be updated every wednesday and sunday . Thanks for the reply :tama-lotsaluv:

shinoki: 
:welcome Hi there, kudos for you for the correct guess on Reika  :thumbup :thumbup :thumbup :thumbup Now that it is pretty much confirmed in this chapter I hope you will continue reading the story  :deco:

four4four:
 :welcome , Hi there  :cow: Reika's role is confirmed now andd the rest of the story will be more about her death affects Shiraishi and what she wants from Waka. I hope you are reading and liking this chapter as well :hip smile:
« Last Edit: December 17, 2017, 12:19:30 PM by finiarel »

Offline four4four

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Re: The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [Part 12 || 17122017]
« Reply #5 on: December 17, 2017, 11:07:54 AM »
Wahhhhhh Reika is dead? And Maiyan was the cause? What did Maiyan do?  :cry:

Maiyan, don't give up on Wakatsuki!  :lol:

Offline wakaten

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Re: The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [Part 2 || 17122017]
« Reply #6 on: December 19, 2017, 06:04:36 PM »
new ff! kanshashimasu!  :cow: :cow:

i love this pair already! thanks a lot for making WAKAMAI ship sail further,
and like how waka is being 'chased' here..
from the title, i could guess this is somehow about that, haha but its actually unexpected that Reika is Maiyan girlfriend.. nanase too, why would she married to dangerous person??  :banghead: :banghead:
okay too many rambles..
i will wait for update tomorrow, not promised to frequently stop by but i will read it for hundreds time..
 :wub: :wub:

Offline finiarel

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The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [Part 3 || 20122017]
« Reply #7 on: December 20, 2017, 12:31:05 AM »
~ Part 3 ~

She could hear Wakatsuki’s voice calling, asking her to wait. However, she’s not stopping. If anything, Shiraishi Mai increases her speed even more, the girl’s rejection still rings painfully in her ear. Smoothly she navigates through the track, passing through a few other people before she notices something strange from the person in front of her.

From the first place, the person is also moving at a high speed, but the movement is not stable. Whoever it is, it looks like they’re having a problem to control the snowboard. As if to make it worse, there is a pretty sharp turn ahead. If this person couldn’t muster the courage to either fall-down or miraculously control the board properly on the next few seconds, it’s going to end terribly.

Shiraishi considers her option. Smiling sadly at herself as she comes to a decision because what she’s about to do reminds her a bit of what had happened to her years ago.

Mustering her strength, Shiraishi increases her speed. She was moving so fast, faster than she has ever been before, but she knows that it is the only way if she wants to be able to reach the person in time.

When she is finally in a close proximity to the person- who is most likely a really young girl, she held out her right hand and push as hard as she can. She can hear the soft sound of a body falling into the snow, announcing that she had done the job.

However, she misjudged the condition of her foot that was splintered. She failed to move it within the correct timeframe considering the speed she’s going now. Before she could come up with a counter plan it was already too late to make a turn or even to make an abrupt halt.

She can feel herself straying off the track, or to be exact flying off the track. Her body was totally tossed aside, there’s a weird sensation in her stomach that she usually feels whenever she’s on a roller coaster that’s going down.

As it was on a hill, her body rolled down and fell to the ground multiple times. When she finally stopped moving, she was facing the snow, one of her legs stuck awkwardly mid-air because of the of the ski board.

She tried to move her body, yet was welcomed with a massive pain coming from her shoulder and her chest.

“Shit!” she cursed as she forced herself to roll her body so it’s not laying on one side instead of chest first. Slowly she moved her hand to reach the phone in one of the pockets of her trousers.

“Mai-chan?!”

Shiraishi exhaled in gratefulness, mustering all her strength to shout back the reply, “I’m here!!!”

As she waited for the person to reach her, she managed to fish the phone out of her pocket. However, the stinging pain in her shoulder hits her once more when she tried to raise her phone near her face, causing her grip on it loosen.

Shiraishi cursed once more. However, she could hear a sound of someone walking through the snow coming closer. She musters the strength to shout once more, trying to ignore the pain in her chest, “here!”

“Oh my God…” The voice indicates a mixed of horrified and worry, reminding Shiraishi how bad her condition could be. But soon enough the newcomer comes into her field of view. Lifting up the ski googles to check Shiraishi’s condition properly.

Shiraishi smiled gratefully as the girl wiped the pile of snow that covered Shiraishi’s vision. “The person- the one that I pushed. Is she all right?”

Wakatsuki Yumi gives her a look of disbelieves, “I think that is a question you should ask yourself instead. Um- should I help to roll you over? A help should be on their way.”

Shiraishi nodded, and gently Wakatsuki scoop her with her arms, rolling Shiraishi’s body so she could finally see the sky above her once more. After that, the black-haired scoot to where Shiraishi’s foot is and dismount the board from her boots.

“Thank you,” Shiraishi said in relieved as her ankle that is most likely sprained badly touch the ground once more. “Um- you haven’t really answered my question about that person.”

“That girl should be fine, the worst outcome for her is getting her foot badly splintered. Super Shiraishi-san saves her ass from falling down the hill by sacrificing herself.” From her intonation and words choice, Shiraishi could tell that the girl is probably pissed, as for who’s the cause of it Shiraishi doesn’t know for sure.

“To be honest, it totally wasn’t my intention to fall down the hill,” Shiraishi said, feeling relieved that her plan wasn’t for nothing. “Yumi-chan, can you please help me to call my friend? The phone should be somewhere on the ground on my left.”

She observed as Wakatsuki moved to another side, quickly finding the phone and started to navigate through the menu. “What’s the name of this friend?”

“Hashimoto Nanami. Just dial 7, I have her on speed dial.”

Wakatsuki nodded, doing exactly as she instructed and hold out the phone next to Shiraishi’s ear.

It took Hashimoto a couple of seconds before picking up the call.

‘Maiyan what on earth a-‘ she started to rambled before Shiraishi could say a thing.

“Nanamin. Please listen to me for a moment.”

‘Oh yeah I am listening,’ the voice coming from the phone sound bitter. ‘But spare me the detail since you know how I hate talking about important matters via a phone call and my girlfriend has told me the truth about that girl. I really can’t believe the two of you has been keeping this from me for so long!’

Shiraishi winced at her best friend words. Deep down she realises that she shouldn’t have kept that a secret from the other girl. “I’m sorry. But, for now, that’s not important. Something happened.”

‘You sound weird, are you still on the slope?’

“Promise me that you will not freak out.”

Somehow that triggers the exact opposite outcome than what Shiraishi was asking, ‘What on earth? Now I’m freaking out’

“There’s no need to freak out. Okay, this might sound horrible but trust me it’s not really,” Shiraishi stopped, collecting herself before finally admitting, “So, I sort of accidentally rolled down the cliff and probably cracked a rib or two.”

Hashimoto Nanami went silent, probably processing the sentence for a couple of times to make sense of it. Shiraishi could hear a rustling coming from the direction of the track. The help has probably arrived.

‘Fuck! Where are you? Have you call for help?! Oh shit! I should’ve known that you’d be this stupid.’

“Yes, it’s coming. I’ll see you at the resort’s hospital. Don’t forget to bring Maimai, I am pretty sure that I will need a doctor.”

‘w-wait, Maiyan!’

Shiraishi ignores the request, “thanks, Yumi-chan. Please hang it up now.”

Wakatsuki pressed the red button, eyes are still observing her in worry. She sighed, meeting her eyes in helplessness, “even though that person was not someone that you know, you still had to play hero, don’t you?”

To tell the truth, Shiraishi wasn’t thinking about that when she formed up a plan in her brain. “My chances of surviving that was higher than that person. That person was totally inexperienced, she could have died if she took the fall. What I did was the best course of action to achieve the best outcomes. It’s just a simple logic.”

“That kind of logic is a bit twisted, Mai-chan. You could have died too,” Wakatsuki frowns in disagreement.

If her ribs are not hurting her, Shiraishi would have laughed at the girl opinion. She remembered having the same opinion when she read the last letter that her fiancé has prepared long before her death. “Hearing that coming from someone who doesn’t even know the donor of the heart that is beating inside her is a bit ironic, isn’t it?”

Wakatsuki’s face gone paler, “just who are you?”

Before Shiraishi could form up an answer, they were interrupted by the rescue team, freeing Shiraishi for having to explain herself properly.

~ To Be Continued ~



Author Notes:
Hi again!
Welp, it's not really my fanfic if someone isn't getting hurt (cliche, I know) but well Maiyan did play hero in this chapter  :cow:
Thanks for reading, I will see you next sunday   :deco:


Replies:

@four4four:
Yes, Reika has passed away. And according to Maiyan, she is the reason for that. About what exactly she did will be explained in next chapter. ;)
Hahahahhaa, Maiyan so hopeless about Waka, but eventually they will get together though  XD

@wakaten:
 :welcome Hi there~ Thanks for always checking out my stuff  :cathappy:
I'm glad people can accept this pair. And you are totally welcome about WakaMai  :deco:
In this chapter it's the other way though ahahhaha, like Waka was the one chasing Maiyan.  :lol:
About the title, yes I wasn't actually trying to hide that at all  :lol:, it's just I felt like it's better to uncover it a bit late instead from the start. So that the story will starts in a lighter tone  :cathappy:
Reika was technically Maiyan fiance, cause the whole arranged marriage stuff. As for Nanase, it was more or less the same with Maiyan case, I just come up with Yakuza to shown how reckless Maiyan has been when it comes to romance affairs.
I hope you are liking this chapter as well  :gmon bang:
« Last Edit: December 21, 2017, 11:36:26 AM by finiarel »

Offline Shinoki

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Re: The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [Part 3 || 20122017]
« Reply #8 on: December 20, 2017, 01:20:14 AM »
Ohohoho, Maiyan is really caught up with Reika's heart beating inside Wakatsuki. I'm really enjoying this fic.

Offline four4four

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Re: The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [Part 3 || 20122017]
« Reply #9 on: December 20, 2017, 02:56:59 AM »
Maiyan, why do you have to do something so dangerous?  :(
At least Wakatsuki came to her aid.  :)

Can't wait to read what Maiyan has to say next chapter.

Offline finiarel

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The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [Part 4 || 24122017]
« Reply #10 on: December 23, 2017, 11:23:40 PM »
~ Part 4 ~

“Are you sure that you don’t want to go home?” Hashimoto Nanami asked her for like the 5th time in the last 2 hours.
 
“I told you before, didn’t I? I want to stay here. I mean what difference my home could make? I will still pretty much be bedridden, even worse, both Momoko and Erika will be worrying about me 24/7 instead of studying for their upcoming exam.”

“Well that’s kind of given when their sister dislocated her shoulders and cracked two ribs from a ski-accident,” Hashimoto snapped.

“Nanamin, you become such a meanie when worried.”

Hashimoto squints her eyes in judgment, “and you- Shii-chan, is irritably annoying when someone is worried about you.”

“Isn’t that two words have the same meaning? Like, irritable and annoying?”

“Please don’t avert the conversation from the main topic. You need to tell your family.”

Shiraishi sighed softly, wincing a bit from the pain that it caused to her chest, “Fine, I will call my mother tonight, just after her working hours is over. But no words to either of my sisters, I want them to be able to face exams without any worries.”

Hashimoto looks at her for a moment, before deciding that would be enough for her with a nod. Gently she climbs up the bed and lay down next to the girl. Inspecting some cut and bruise that decorates the girl arm, shoulder, and face. Silently grateful that with the girl’s body hidden beneath a blanket, she couldn’t see the damage much further. Because seeing the girl like this is like a grim reminder of Hashimoto carelessness as her best friend.

“I should have been there. With you.”

“There was nothing you could have done even if you are there. It was totally my fault as I was being reckless. You are right about me being ridiculous.” Shiraishi expression soften, turning her head to the side so she could see the girl beside her and continue her statement, “also, I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about Wakatsuki earlier.”

“How was it? I mean, whatever it is that you want from her, did you get it?”

Shiraishi chuckled, her hand raised to her chest as if to shoo the pain away, “I don’t think so. To be honest, I don’t even understand what is it that I truly want from her. But whatever it is, I already ruined it.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Shiraishi raised her eyebrows, “and I thought you find my love life boring.”

“That’s because you usually just explain how good someone on the bed in detail. I guess this one is pretty different, isn’t it?” Hashimoto looked away for a second. “Well you can always talk to shrink about it, but if you feel like a free and amateur talk, I’m here.”

“How generous,” Shiraishi smiled, collecting her thoughts for a moment before continuing, “I was wrong about her. I wrongly convinced myself that she is someone else. Like, she supposed to act like Reika just because of the heart beating in her body. But turns out they are really different. I know this, yet I still can’t help myself.”

“I can see that,” Hashimoto commented. “I mean if it were Reika-san, you’d probably gotten a yelled at and most likely earnt a slap on the face after rolling down the hill.”

Shiraishi smiled, appreciating the girl’s attempt at lifting up her mood. “And you’d probably praise her for that.”

“What can I say, the two of us aware how ridiculous you are.”

“Of course,” Shiraishi rolled her eyes, her expression turns back to serious shortly after that. “It’s not like I will ever do something like that if Reika is still here with me.”

“That’s where you are wrong. I remember Reika-san telling me the story of how you fell down the tree from trying to bring a fallen pigeon back to the nest. When you were just a mere supervisor, you also covered for your intern blunder, saving them from getting fired right away. Heck, you even took the blame for me when we got caught in an underage driving. You are selfless and to make it even worse you don’t even acknowledge that. That’s why Reika-san yelled at you a lot, this side of you is terrifying.”

“I bet she would be more terrified if she knows what would happen in the future.”

“Yes, of course, she would be terrified. You were a second away from death back then.”

Shiraishi furrowed her eyebrows, “she is dead because of me! Because I dragged her into that fucking night surfing. Because I was too proud of myself and stupid. I was not even that good of a swimmer to help myself from drowning and get swept by the current once my board is broken.”

“What else is she supposed to do, then? Just watch as the wave took you? Say Maiyan, if you were in her shoes, if it was her who is drowning instead of you, would you have done the same?” Hashimoto sat up, her eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

“That’s-“

“What?! Not the point? How come you blame her for wanting to save someone? Someone that she loves. Don’t be a hypocrite, look at yourself! Covered in bandages just because of that urge to save someone that you don’t even fucking know.”

Shiraishi gritted her teeth, realising that her best friend is right.

Hashimoto exhaled, her shoulder slumped a bit to relax her tense muscles, “Look, I’m not trying to accuse you of anything. But I hope you can stop blaming yourself for what happened to Reika-san. That was her choice, I’m sure she would want you to understand.”

After everything that she has been through, Shiraishi knows that out of all the people, she should be the one that understands that feelings the most. Hence, finally, she let the matter go by taking a deep breath and nodded, “Okay.”

“Good,” Hashimoto smiled. “Now that we got that one out of our way, do you want to hug me till you feel better?”

Shiraishi laughed, “I think you need that hug more than I do. But come here.”

Hashimoto observed the girl as she tried to sit up without putting unnecessary pressure on one of the shoulder and ribs. When Shiraishi finally sits comfortably, Hashimoto spread her arms apart, leaning forward so the girl could lift her healthy arm and placed it on her back. The position was really awkward, with Hashimoto trying her best to do it without doing her any harm so she could only rest her fingers on the girl’s waist. “Okay, this is probably the best I could do if I don’t want to get those ribs cracked for the second time of the day. I apologize for suggesting this without considering the situation you’re in.”

Shiraishi laughed again. “Stop making me laugh, my ribs are hurting whenever I do it.”

“I don’t care, I prefer to see you laughing than frowning.”

“If I don’t know you any better I would have thought that you are hitting on me.”

Hashimoto scoffed, “oh please, you are cute but too suicidal for my liking.”

“That kind of break my heart, Hashimoto-san~” she dramatically said, punching the girl weakly on the shoulder. Hashimoto gave her a wink before finally straighten her sitting position, breaking their prolonged semi-hug at last.

“Wait, is that how you seduce girls? Because if it is, I will take my leave because the idea is grossing me out.”

Shiraishi squinted her eyes, “I have grown better from using that kind of lowly trick to flirt.”

“If what you mean by ‘grown better’ is pretending to be suck at ski-ing so you could get the girl to help you when you fall multiple times then I am utterly disappointed.”

“Now you’re being a meanie again. I can’t believe your girlfriend could stand you. Heck, I am even surprised that we could stay friends after all this time,” Shiraishi joked.

“Isn’t the reason we are staying friends because you need a discount on my hotels and resorts?”

“Oh my God that’s totally true,” she chuckled, playing along with the nonsense. “But you know, your amateur plus free shrink service might have played a part in it too. Not to mention the hug till better bonus.”

“For a moment there, I was really tempted to hug you so hard that more of your ribs will crack.”

~To Be Continued~



AN:
Hi! In this chapter it tells a bit of the story behind Reika's death. And since this story is going to be short, that's basically more or less that will be told  :bow: I actually considered making an actual part just for backstory, but I think that would make it difficult to accept Wakatsuki, since after all she's the main love interest in this instead of Reika, hence this way of telling it.

Just in case you don't notice, there's a reason I chose Reika's death to be surfing accident, and Maiyan got injured from a ski accident. More or less, the situation was really similar, don't you think?  :nervous

Thanks for reading, I'll come back on Wednesday!  :cathappy:


Replies:
@Shinoki:
I'm happy that you're liking this fic  :heart: and yes Maiyan is really caught up in Reika's heart  :deco: Thanks for the reply, I hope you're liking this one too :)

@four4four:
Maiyan has some sort of recklessly heroic tendency  :banghead: just like how it was explained in this chapter, that's basially not the first time she did something like that just to save people. Yep, Waka came to her aid, we will see them interacting again next chapter. Thanks for the reply, I hope you like this one too :D
« Last Edit: December 24, 2017, 02:48:19 AM by finiarel »

Offline four4four

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Re: The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [Part 4 || 24122017]
« Reply #11 on: December 24, 2017, 12:27:03 AM »
Wahhhh Reika  :cry:
At least Maiyan is finally accepting what happened.

Can't wait to see what Maiyan does about Wakatsuki.

Offline clin-nolan

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Re: The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [Part 4 || 24122017]
« Reply #12 on: December 26, 2017, 05:50:40 AM »
Thanks for the updates  :twothumbs
I hope you're having a Merry Christmas  :heart: :heart: :heart:
It's a bit sad what happened with Reika but I'm still really enjoying this story  :D
It's nice that Maiyan is looking to listen once more to Reika's heart but then she's going to love Waka for being her  :inlove:
I will continue to wait for the other stories when you can update :yep:  :cow:

Offline finiarel

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The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [Part 5 || 27122017]
« Reply #13 on: December 27, 2017, 12:47:23 AM »
~ Part 5 ~

Shiraishi was surprised when Fukagawa said that Wakatsuki wants to see her. She was even more surprised when the friend slash young doctor mentioned that Wakatsuki has been waiting outside ever since they brought Shiraishi back from the hospital, which was about 5 hours ago.
 
When the girl entered the room, she was already out of her thick snow jacket, leaving the maroon turtleneck that she wore underneath. Her outfit compliments her body shape nicely, making Shiraishi stared with jaw-dropping look for a several seconds before finally able to collect herself. Wakatsuki herself haven't said anything, just looking giving Shiraishi a look from head to toe as if reassessing the doctor work on her.

“Well, for a starter this is not how I usually bring girls into my room,” Shiraishi smiled sheepishly as she tried to lighten the tense mood.

“How are you?” she asked, completely ignoring the joke.

“I’ve been better,” Shiraishi smiled a little, hoping that it would ease the girl a little since she somehow looks even tenser than she is.

Wakatsuki nodded, throwing her gaze around the room for a moment as she pursed her lips. Sighing, she finally looks at the one on the bed once more, “Fukagawa Mai-san told me about her. About Sakurai Reika-san.”

“I see. Now you really don’t need to be here. I mean I’m pretty sure Maimai could fill you up with everything you want to know. She was Reika’s best friend after all,” Shiraishi stopped after that, a bit surprised at how cold she sounds.

“Look, Mai-chan, I am sorry,” Wakatsuki apologized, eyes locked on the girl on the bed. “I am sorry for judging you. I shouldn’t have done that. It was insensitive of me.”

Shiraishi shook her head, “No, you were right. I was the one at fault. I used petty tricks on you and I sort of force the image of my dead lover on you. Just because you have her heart doesn’t mean that you have to act like her, I was too much of a fool to admit that truth. I am sorry.”

 Wakatsuki looks sad as if she doesn’t want that apology, as if she was expecting something else. “Say, Mai-chan, do you hate me?”

“For having that heart? No.” Shiraishi sighed, gazing into Wakatsuki’s eyes, “look, Yumi-chan. I have never, ever, even for just one second- hate you because the heart that’s beating in yours.”

“But I’m the reason she-“

Shiraishi chuckled, disrupting the girl for finishing her sentence, “the reason that she died? Maybe yes when you think about it technically. But if you know the whole story, you are totally not. In fact, it was my fault. My fault that she got herself in danger. You see, I can’t live with the guilt to the point of tracking you down.”

Wakatsuki bit her lower lips, hands clenched on the side. Shiraishi knows well that expression, the one that used to be painted all over her face when someone mentions Sakurai Reika’s name.

Regret.

Just like how she used to regret dragging Sakurai to the last surfing trip in the girl’s life, there’s a part of Wakatsuki that regrets something that has been done.

“Hey, sit here. You look totally awkward standing still like that,” Shiraishi scoot her position a bit, gritting her teeth because the pain the movement caused. She pats the little bit of space beside her, “here, come on. I’m not going to do anything funny I swear.”

Wakatsuki slowly sits down, foot dangling on the side of the bed, turning her body to the right to be able to face Shiraishi properly.

“Yumi-chan, I used to wallow in regrets, because you know, I would probably still have Reika by my side if I hadn’t done one simple thing. But you see, when I finally saw you smiling wholeheartedly in a really boring event, I realise that maybe that happened for a reason.

Throughout their life human is confronted by choices, the one that Reika made saved you just like how it saved me. I believe, wherever she is right now, she would be happy to see you living your life normally, seeing you taking down that slope with your snowboard because of the heart that she has given to you.”

Wakatsuki nodded, wiping a single tear that somehow had makes it way out of her eyes, “she sounds amazing.”

“Reika? Oh, she totally was.” Shiraishi smiled, feeling relieved that she had managed to let the words out of her mind, “Yumi-chan, you and Reika are different. But in your own way, I think that you are also an amazing person as much as she was- if not more. The way you are striving continue your father’s company, the way you didn’t give up after what had happened, and the way you challenge yourself to try something you haven’t done before. That’s amazing of you and I want you to know that.”

“Thank you.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for, I was saying what should have been said long before today.”

Wakatsuki chuckled, “yeah you really should have said that before I started to think that you are only trying to lure me to your bed.”

“Have you talked to Hashimoto Nanami out there? You two are sometimes oddly similar when it comes to choice of words,” Shiraishi points out. “But about what you said, I guess, it couldn’t be helped. I mean, that totally was what I had in mind the first time I met you. Before you told me your name.”

“You really don’t need to say that just to make me feel better.”

“It was the truth. You are charming, talkative, and beautiful. Enough reasons for that to cross my simple mind,” Shiraishi smiled. “Then you introduced herself and all I can think about is how that heart inside yours is the main influence on those points. You totally drive me crazy enough to play the helpless girl, all so that we can talk more, so that I can find Reika in you, so that I can hear that heartbeat one more time.”

Wakatsuki is stunned, her mind connecting the girl’s sentence to what had happened.

“Is that why you pull me down back then? Was it because you want to hear the beat of her heart?”

Shiraishi smiled a little, “yeah, I’m sorry if it came out as a sexual harassment attempt.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I mean-” Wakatsuki took a deep breath and release it soon after, “I mean if you want you can. Listen to it.”

Shiraishi’s eyes widened, couldn’t believe what the girl just said, “you really don’t have to.”

“Now that I know your reason, I wouldn’t mind if you do.”

Shiraishi smiled softly, moving her position towards the other girl, “okay.”

Wakatsuki scoot closer, letting Shiraishi relax her head on top of her chest, trying to control her racing heart that comes from their close proximity.

Shiraishi listens silently. Trying to record the rhythm that it has for her memories. She remembers the last holiday she had with the former owner of the heart when she suddenly had the urge to hug Sakurai for several minutes. Back then, she hadn’t even pay attention to the beat of her heart. She wonders if it was forming the same melody.

“I’m glad that it’s you, Yumi-chan,” Shiraishi muttered, still keeping her head rested on the smaller girl. Wakatsuki smiled, hesitantly raised her right hand to the girl’s head, cradling it softly. She’s liking how smooth Shiraishi’s hair feels on her skin.

“You see, the reason for me to tell my plan about spending my holiday here because I was hoping you would come,” she suddenly revealed.

Shiraishi raised her eyebrows, pulling back from the girl, a bit confused upon what she had just said. “Yumi-chan?”

“The truth is, I really like you. I like you so much that I’m conflicted,” Wakatsuki bit her lower lip a little, averting her eyes to the sling on the girl's shoulder for a moment. Giving the confused girl a little smile, before locking their eyes once more. “I noticed that you had ignored others because you want to greet me first, also the smile you sometimes have whenever I tell you something, and that nervous laugh you did when someone notes how close we are despite being from an opposing company. Those are just a few of a lot of things that pulled me in. However, I’m trying not to break this heart for something foolish and that’s exactly what would happen if I become one of your one or two nights stand. That’s why I was so mad when I realised that you were faking it.”

Shiraishi was caught off guard, knowing that she can’t blame the girl, for that she also wouldn’t trust herself. Sighing, she said “you are really bad at this, Yumi-chan. I have no idea if you are asking me to stay away or continue to pursue you.”

“I’m saying that I want something real with you. We don’t need to rush, but I still need a certain degree of commitment. If you can’t give me that then I will step back, we can either go back to being rivals or just friends. What do you say?”

Shiraishi contemplates on the person in front of her. It’s not hard to realise how much she fancies the smaller girl, especially after what had happened, she realised that the reason for her to pursue Wakatsuki is actually more than the girl's relation to Sakurai. However, she knows that she must be responsible enough, she can’t just give her an empty promise because she knows the girl deserves much more than that.

The thing is, ever since Sakurai passed away, Shiraishi has been trying to avoid that, resolving to casual one night stand instead of something serious. She knows that deep down, she doesn't want that, but still she was too afraid of losing someone again to break free of the circle.

This change that Wakatsuki is offering is something that she wants to take. She knows that if she does it right, she will not lose someone that she love again, and even if somehow along the way it doesn't work out she is certain that she will never regret it.

“I want to. So please let me-“ Shiraishi hesitates, taking a deep breath before clarifying her decision, “let me take that chance. Let me turn a blind eye to the fact that we are supposed to be rival so that I could be the one that stands next to you. Let me be the one that protects you from ever getting hurt.”

Wakatsuki smiled, the one that somehow makes everything that had happened to Shiraishi today is actually not so bad considering the turn of events. "That kind of answer is really heroic.”

“You are such a mood breaker,” Shiraishi squinted, frowning childishly, “I was expecting a kiss for giving that kind of answer you know.”

To her surprise Wakatsuki reached for her cheek and leaned forward to land a kiss on it, pulling back quickly after a letting her lips linger on Shiraishi’s skin for a few seconds.

“I’ll hold on to those words.”


= o = o = o =


AN:
That concludes the end of the story  :twothumbs There will be an epilogue which is pretty long, it will be posted this sunday. I hope you guys will look forward to it  :cathappy: I'm sorry if it feels rushed towards the end  :bow: but I tell you what, there will be more WakaMai on epilogue, if this one goes more further than this, it will be hard to see how their relationship has gone further in the epilogue, because that's basically what I want to write over there  :cathappy:

Thank you so much for reading the story, and I'll see you on Sunday with the epilogue. Happy holiday everyone  :deco:

Replies:
@four4four:
Hi there, I hope you are liking this chapter as well, thanks a lot for your support, it means a lot to me  :cow:

@clin-nolan:
I had a pretty enjoyable Christmas thanks to Ikuchan MTV performance  :heart: :heart: :heart: I hope you had a great one too  :deco:
Yes, it's really sad about Reika. But well you see, the theme that I'm going for this story is "moving on" hence I sacrificed Reika to show that point  :bleed eyes:
And yep, I'm trying to convey it in this chapter, how Maiyan loves Waka because she is Waka. How she actually notes her action and how it differs from Reika, but still it is the reason why she loves her  :inlove:   

Offline four4four

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Re: The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [Part 5 || 27122017]
« Reply #14 on: December 27, 2017, 03:19:32 AM »
The listening to Reika's heart scene is really cute.

I'm glad that Maiyan was able to move on from Reika, and is able to see Waka as Waka. :wub:

Looking forward to the epilogue.

Offline finiarel

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The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [Epilogue || 31122017]
« Reply #15 on: December 30, 2017, 11:20:59 PM »
~ Epilogue ~

Shiraishi Mai smiled as she put down a small sized box on to the floor, tugging the silver ribbon that it has to make sure that it was wrapped perfectly before taking a step back, eyes happily looking at the collection of gifts in front of her where each has a distinct size and colour to add to the festive atmosphere of the room.

Carefully, she makes it way closer to the tree in the middle of the gifts, making sure that she didn’t accidentally step on it. She observed several little frames in hands, each having different pictures of her and people that she loves. After inspecting the thin glowing wire of the tree, she started to hook the frames on the branch one by one.

The first one is a silly picture of her with her two siblings, they were sleeping on the car seat, not knowing that she had taken a selfie with them as a background.

The second one is a much older picture, it was a picture of the whole family when the youngest of them was born. She was only 8 years old, cheerfully cradling her new baby sister as her other sister looking at them in jealousy. How other people’s focus were directed to the baby instead of her was a bother to her. Even to this date, those two siblings of hers bickers a lot. But Shiraishi knows that both of them love each other so much.

Shiraishi eyes wander around the ornaments that were already decorating the tree as her hands moved a little bit up, stopping when she noticed a picture that was hooked by someone else.

On the frame was a picture of a group of girls in a high school uniform, the huge gate of universal studios expands in the background. There was 4 of them, standing side by side shoulder to shoulder, Fukagawa and Hashimoto in the opposite sides, herself and Sakurai in the middle. Shiraishi was grinning as she looks up to the sky, while Sakurai is smiling, eyes looking at her. Even Hashimoto, who most of the times looks composed and collected in that picture was laughing merrily, so does Fukagawa who do the peace sign to the camera.

“Ah- you can take that picture off. Geez, Momoko can’t even select pictures properly,” a sound of complaint pull Shiraishi back from her wandering mind.

She shook her head, sighing a little as she finally let her hand to leave the frame, “no need to, it’s a nice picture, I like it. It was an important moment, the first time Maimai met Nanamin and me. As for Reika, while it’s kind of sad I cherish every moment we had together, so I don’t want to forget every single bit of it. Also, don’t be so hard on Momoko.”

“Do as you wish,” the girl shrugged as if she doesn’t even care from the first place.

The older girl expression softens, she remembers something that the other girl has mentioned earlier. “Erika, is your girlfriend coming tonight?”

“Not a girlfriend, she’s just someone that I date on Tuesday and Friday,” The second child in the family corrected. “She will probably come closer to dinner time though. She mentioned having to work today.”

“The Tuesday and Friday girl, noted,” Shiraishi nodded. “What’s her name again? Sorry, it’s kind of hard to keep track of your girl’s names.”

“Nakamoto Himeka.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Is this girl the one who studies Biochemistry as well?”

“Nope, that’s Ranze-chan. Hime-tan, isn’t even going to university, she works part-time in café and seven eleven, an aspiring singer but hasn’t even score any contracts yet”

Shiraishi raised her eyebrows, noticing something from the description, “she sounds different than your usual type. I wonder why you hasn’t mention her before, you are usually chatty about your collection of girls.”

“Tch- that’s because she’s not worth mentioning. But well whatever she will join us tonight.”

“All I’m saying is that it’s okay if she turns out to be the one. I believe mama and papa will agree with me too.”

Shiraishi Erika squinted her eyes, “geez, thanks for the unnecessary support, onee-chan.”

The older one laughed, turning her head back to the tree in front of her, taking a few seconds to find the space that she needed to hook the last picture in her hand.

Her younger sister took a step forward to inspect the picture in the closer distance, “that’s a cute one.”

Shiraishi Mai took a few steps back until she’s standing just next to the younger girl. Taking another glance to the one last frame that she just hung. It was a picture of her from the last Christmas, she was standing in modern looking living room while holding up a few stems of plant on top of her, her girlfriend giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“Yes, it was-”

Ding!!!!

The sound of bell interrupt her from finishing her sentence, shortly it is followed by a rush of footsteps from the upper floor, which most likely comes from the youngest Shiraishi rushing to open the door. Erika walked over to the sofa in the room, picking up the television remote from the table as she let herself fallen to the comfort of the cushion.

“NEE-CHAAAAAN, NANAMIN AND MAIMAI ARE HERE!” her youngest sister shouted. Shiraishi shouted their whereabouts in return. Patiently waiting in the room as it took them a few seconds to navigate their way from the front door to the living room.

Mai has a really big smile when they entered the room, giving Fukagawa a warm hug and Hashimoto a series of combined hands movement, high five, and fist bump.

“A secret handshake? Seriously? What are you 8?” Another person comes into the room, wearing simple jeans and black shirt, unlike the other two guest who had dressed up more nicely for the occasion.

“I hope you don’t mind Asuka tagging along,” Hashimoto said with a bit of apologetic tone.

“Of course, I don’t. The whole Hashimoto is already like a family to us,” Mai shook her head. “It’s been a while, Asuka-chan, what have you been up to?”

“Nothing much, boarding school is more or less the same boring shit every day. Oh, but lately it comes with zero roomie and friends. Cool, right?” she sarcastically answered, surprising most of the people in the room.

“Asuka!” Hashimoto reprimands her but her younger sister just shrugged in ignorance, taking a seat next to Erika and started to converse with the other girl in a low volume.

“Wow, that is something,” the oldest Shiraishi remarked, trying hard not to steal another look to the younger Hashimoto. “What was it all about?”

“They caught her selling sake and cigarettes to other students.”

Before Shiraishi Mai could form a proper answer, her youngest sister who’s been staying quiet speak up, “that’s so cool, she must have earnt a lot from that.”

“Momoko, that’s totally not cool. I hope you don’t get any ideas just because mama has been restricting your pocket money.”

Shiraishi Momoko looks a bit disappointed, but thankfully, decided not to say no more and fill the last space left on the sofa instead. The oldest of the siblings sighed, suddenly feeling tired from the whole ordeal.

“Okay, I need to start preparing the food. Would totally love to get some other hands to help me too,” she announced.

“Oh, Nanamin and I are totally up for it,” Fukagawa responded, hands dragging the other girl and started walking to the kitchen before Hashimoto could even give her consent.

In the end, it’s more towards Fukagawa helping her to prepare the food with an addition of Momoko helping to serve them on the long dining table. Hashimoto who looks like she’s still in a bit of a sour mood calmly sits on the kitchen counter, playing with her phone and tried to converse with them every now and then.

“So, how’s Waka? I suppose she is also coming tonight? Considering that you spent Christmas eve at with her family last year,” Hashimoto asked when she noticed the lack of her best friend’s girlfriend presence in the house.

“Yes, she will,” Shiraishi pour the soup from a pot into a bowl. “She’s uncharacteristically late though.”

“Zukki lined me earlier, she said that they got held up by the traffic. But they are on their way here from the cemetery,” her youngest sister surprisingly answered, taking the filled bowl carefully to the dining table.

Mai’s eyebrows furrowed, “did Mizuki-chan mentioned who was it that they visited?”

Momoko just shrugged once she reached the kitchen again, “nope. Do you want me to ask?”

Before Mai could give any answer, came the sound of the house gate sliding close, “don’t need, that must be them. Could you open the door, Momoko?”

The young girl has already run from the kitchen before Shiraishi could even finish voicing her request, earning a chuckle out of Fukagawa, “Momoko-chan is so cute.”

“Definitely! I would swap her with Asuka anytime,” Hashimoto butted in, still sounding a bit bitter when she mentioned her own sister name.

“Nanamin, you really need to stop being angry at Asuka-chan. I’m sure that she has learnt her lesson,” Fukagawa tried to calm her down.

“Maimai is right, you know? It’s not like we didn’t do anything bad when we were at her age,” Shiraishi weighted in, putting on a mitt so both of her hands will be safe from getting burned by taking out the tray in the oven.

Hashimoto didn’t say anything else after that, neither the other two girls in the room as they are busy with the task in their hand.

Shiraishi could feel someone shadowing her as she puts down a tray baked turkey on the counter. An arm circling her waist from behind, pulling her closer. She smiled widely as she felt a kiss landed on the side of her cheek, all the annoyance she had for her being late has vanish instantly.

“Sorry for being late.”

Shiraishi Mai spun on her heels, pressing their lips together as if that’s a proper answer for the apology.

“Woa, hold on you two, just give me a warning. I don’t feel like seeing someone but my girlfriend undressing,” Hashimoto remarked to Shiraishi annoyance.

“My house. My rules,” Shiraishi stuck out her tongue before pulling Wakatsuki into a heated kiss just to prove her points.

The guest rolled her eyes just as childishly as the owner of the house, earning a slight chuckle from the one who has just arrived. Wakatsuki loosen her embrace on her girlfriend, walking to where Hashimoto is sitting to give her a quick hug.

“It’s been a while, Nanamin.”

Hashimoto smiled as she broke the hug, “yeah, you are not even leading the company yet you are already so busy, Waka.”

Wakatsuki chuckled as she moved to the other girl in the room, pulling her into the same friendly hug.   

“Can I see the ring? I have only seen it in pictures, you know?” She requested after they broke the hug, which Fukagawa does cheerfully, showing the girl the well-adorned gem on her right ring finger.

Wakatsuki inspect it with an adoration, “this looks even more amazing in person. You have a good taste, Nanamin. And congrats for the two of you, I’m looking forward to the wedding invitation.”

Hashimoto smiled upon the compliment, feeling proud of herself. “Thank you, Waka. And yes, you are totally on the guest list, I can’t say the same for Maiyan though. She’s been ignoring me a lot lately so maybe she would be too busy for that. I suggest you better start to find a replacement partner for that day.”

Shiraishi inhaled exasperatedly, “you called me when I was having an important meeting.”

“Hey! I was trying to help you to get out from those outside work hours meetings, you should be thanking me.”

“It’s true though. Mai-chan has been so busy lately. Even I can’t get a hold of her sometimes,” Wakatsuki confirms.

“Fine, fine. I apologize, it's been hectic in the office lately. With my father passing down the torch and all” the girl finally surrendered with a reason, waiting for Momoko to come back and help her to bring the dishes to the dining table again, but yet the young girl doesn’t seem like coming. “Where is Momoko? She volunteered to help me but she’s not even here.”

Wakatsuki took the dishes in her hands, “she is probably caught up in whatever it is that she was discussing with Mizuki. Let me help you.”

“Ah- right, thanks. Just serve them on the table.”

They finished serving everything not long after that. Leaving the oldest Shiraishi a sense of accomplishment as it is the first Christmas Dinner that she prepared without any help from her mother- who is currently in a romantic vacation with her father. Well, Shiraishi thinks that she did managed very well by herself, in front of them are a mix of their own country cuisines as well as western delicacies to feast on. And seeing by how each of them seems to enjoy it as the light conversation rolls proven her success even more.

Since the girl that Erika invited came just before they started eating, the conversation on the dining table mainly rotates around the newcomer. The older Shiraishi realises that having everyone attention was a bit hard on that girl at first, but she quickly relaxed and started to talk more. Well, her sister wasn’t lying when she said that Nakamoto isn’t pursuing any formal education after finishing high school, which can be concerning. However, when they finally finished the dinner, she sung a little bit as Erika plays the piano then Shiraishi realises that the girl has potential so at least the dream isn’t so far-fetched.

Hashimoto and Fukagawa along with Asuka left the house about an hour after the dinner finished. They were actually planning to spend more time with them, but sadly Fukagawa got an emergency call from the hospital causing them to apologetically have to depart early.

As the house’s help will come to do the dishes a bit later in the night, Mai was able to relax, quietly humming along to the notes that come from the piano that her sister is playing, head rested on Wakatsuki’s shoulder. She could hear the hushed giggled coming from the younger Wakatsuki who is chatting excitedly near the Christmas tree with her sister, probably sharing the school gossips as Mizuki was a recent graduate of the school where Momoko go to.

“So Momoko said that you were visiting the cemetery earlier today. Can I know who was it?” Shiraishi started the conversation.

“Sakurai Reika-san,” Wakatsuki truthfully answered with a sad smile. “I had something to tell her.”

Shiraishi nodded, feeling grateful for the honesty and gives the girl a kiss on the cheek, “you can ask me to come with you the next time.”

A few weeks ago Wakatsuki had asked her about the whereabouts of her past fiance grave, but she didn't say anything after that. So it's not that much of a surprise that she decided to visit the girl.

Wakatsuki nodded, nuzzling her face into the crook of Shiraishi’s neck, “will do.”

“Good,” Shiraishi smiled, “now I think you should open those gifts.”

Wakatsuki chuckled, her hand reaching for the smallest gift she got for the day. It was an envelope with only her name written on it. Carefully, Wakatsuki tore it off.

“You got me a new set of drum?” Her girlfriend eyes widened as she read the card that was inside the envelope.

Shiraishi Mai raised her eyebrows, “I’m pretty sure nothing in there that says that the sender is me.”

Wakatsuki rolled her eyes, “I know your hand writing, there’s no mistaking it.”

“No freaking way, I wrote that with my left hand, you know?”

The girl chuckled before leaning in to give her a kiss, “I still can tell that it’s yours. Remember when your right shoulder was dislocated so you had to write with left hand?”

“That was a long time ago. Damn, you are so attentive its kind of hot,” Mai breathed out before pulling the girl into a kiss once more.

“Thank you for the gift. I love it,” Wakatsuki whispered, earning another kiss from the other girl. “Okay, I suggest we should move this into your room before we disturb the youngsters here.”

To Shiraishi’s gratefulness, her girlfriend helped her to carry some of the gifts to her room, if Shiraishi had to do it alone she would have to do it in two rounds instead of one. She eyed them curiously as Wakatsuki carefully placed them in the corner of the room. Shiraishi took one envelop that lays on the top of the boxes, her smallest gift for the day that comes from her parents.

She had sort of expected to find a plane ticket or something similar inside, but turns out it was something different. She stared on the cards that came from the envelope, couldn’t understand the meaning of the gifts.

Wakatsuki gently embrace her from behind, taking a peek of the cards in curiosity, “is it a Shiraishi family thing to give envelope containing business cards for gift? Like how you gave me the card of a drum store.”

“Well it’s definitely easier than buying the real thing. Just give them the number of the seller and arrange everything so the bill will go to the sender,” Shiraishi laughed. “But still, my parents might have accidentally given me someone else’s gift. I mean, I totally don’t need any kind of kitchen furnishing and interior decoration.”

Wakatsuki eyes widened, pulling back suddenly to grab the tiniest box among the gift, “let’s just keep them aside for now. I would like you to open the one from me.”

Shiraishi raised her eyebrows, but decided to go along with it, placing down the cards on the desk before starting to unwrap the gift’s red coloured wrapping, revealing the small velvety box inside. Gently she pried open the box, finding a set of keys inside.

“Do you remember that once we passed a housing area just next to our park and you said that living there must be wonderful? I purchased a town house just across the park,” Wakatsuki gives her a smile.  “Shiraishi Mai, would you like to live with me?”

“You remembered…” Shiraishi gleamed, a big smile decorates her beautiful face. “And yes of course I would love to move in with you.”

In happiness Wakatsuki pulled her into a heated kiss. She started to talk excitedly once her lips left hers, “you will love it. The master bedroom has a garden view. There are also 3 other rooms, I’m thinking to use two of them for a separate working area for us, and the last one for a guest room.”

“Sounds perfect.” Shiraishi cupped the girl cheek, leaning in once more to steal another kiss, “now, can I have my girlfriend under my sheet as a second gift for the day?”

“Demanding a second gift just shortly after opening the most expensive gift I have given to anyone. What a greedy person~” Wakatsuki laughs at her own joke, letting her girlfriend pull her into the bed.

~ Fin ~



AN:
And that concludes everything in this story. Happy Happy new year. This year was a big change for me, but despite everything writing stories about Nogizaka is still one of my favorite thing to do and I think how you guys support me is a really big part of that, so THANK YOU. Thank you so much for everything  :deco: :deco: :deco:

I hope you guys can like this story as well, and it's up to your liking :D

Hoping to see you guys around in my other story  :twothumbs

Replies
@four4four:
Yes that scene was really cuteee  :cathappy:
Thank you so much for everything, I hope you are liking their development here as well  :)

Offline four4four

  • Member+
  • Posts: 136
Re: The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [COMPLETED || 5 Parts + Epilogue]
« Reply #16 on: January 01, 2018, 12:04:11 AM »
It gives a sense of closure to see that they are still together in the future.
But I have to say that Waka gave the best present of all to Maiyan.
Now they have their own house so they don't "bother" the youngsters. :wub:

Offline clin-nolan

  • Member
  • Posts: 30
Re: The Beat of Her Heart [Nogizaka46] [COMPLETED || 5 Parts + Epilogue]
« Reply #17 on: January 01, 2018, 02:27:55 AM »
Thanks Author-san  :twothumbs
I liked this story a lot  :heart: :heart:
I see that Ikuta was also a player like her sister  :lol: :lol:
Happy new year I hope you have a great time and have another excellent year  :cow:
See you later and I'll wait for future stories you write   :D :heart:

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