CHAPTER 3
Mayu quickly hides behind the wall and puts one knee on the floor, her hand gripping tightly her pistol. She can hear footsteps approaching and she gazes at the door, expecting her enemy to barge into the room at any moment. She knows she's sweating profusely - especially after playing cat and mouse for so long - but she knows she can't retreat. Her rival has discovered her hideout, and there's nowhere to escape anymore.
Despite being an assassin for many years, she still can't help feeling slightly apprehensive. She has found herself a worthy opponent, and she can imagine how tense the final confrontation will be. She only has two bullets left in her gun, and she knows the other girl is also running out of ammo. If she doesn't manage to put a bullet in her head, she'll have to engage in a hand-to-hand combat.
"I'm ready, Jurina," Mayu murmurs, gritting her teeth in annoyance, "come and get me."
"Cut!"
Mayu releases a sigh of relief when the director announces the end of the take and she lowers her gun, getting up from her crouching position. She can hear quick footsteps approaching and she tilts her head to her left, a cheerful Jurina soon popping out her head through the door.
"Found you!" Jurina exclaims, a mischievous smile on her lips as she points her gun at her.
"I can't believe you're turning eighteen in two weeks," Mayu mumbles as she absently takes the towel a staff member is giving her to wipe the sweat off her forehead, "you still look like a ten year old to me."
"This is so cool," Jurina quips, ignoring her friend's declaration and examining the fake weapon in her hand carefully.
Mayu rolls her eyes at her friend's childish behavior, watching the crew that's preparing the set for the next scene. It's the final confrontation between the two rivals and also the last scene of the day. As much fun the whole rivalry between two assassins' idea was at first, it ended up being a very tiring shooting.
Judging by the costumes, props, special effects and numerous sets, you can tell it's a pretty high budget shooting. Obviously, the director wanted things to look good on camera for the first duet between the SKE and AKB stars. Jurina - after complaining so much about the song's lyrics - hadn't stopped acting like a little kid all day, having so much fun playing with guns and chasing after Mayu for the purpose of the videoclip. The AKB star had almost forgotten how energetic her young friend could be.
"Let's rehearse the last fight," Mayu announces once she's finished sipping on her water, appreciating the cool sensation against her throat. She really needed the refreshment after such a long chase. And Jurina didn't even break a sweat. Curse the girl and her athletic body. Why did the director decide to make a ten minutes music video again?
"Okay," Jurina answers, letting a staff member take her useless weapon away, before raising her fists in determination.
Mayu's features contort in surprise, amazed that her friend can so easily change moods. One second ago Jurina was playing with her weapon like a kid with its favorite plushy, and now she's glaring at her as if she wanted to murder her. One thing is for sure: she embodies her role perfectly.
"You should play bad guys more often," Mayu declares, getting into her fighting position and taking a step towards her opponent, "it suits you well."
"Wait for it," Jurina replies, her mouth curving up in amusement, "I'll definitely act more once I'm eighteen."
Mayu smiles when Jurina winks at her playfully, before focusing on their next fighting scene. As stressful and tiring this shooting day had been, at least she had the opportunity to spend it with someone she cared about deeply. It was a very rare occurrence, and she had treasured every single minute of it.
Jurina's mouth tugs into a broad smile as she listens to the audience shouting her name again and again. She's still trying to catch her breath after dancing the last song of the concert and despite the tiring Oki Doki performance, she still manages to find the energy to scream back at the audience of the SKE theater.
"Thank you!"
The screaming intensifies when she bows to the audience, before waving at them a last time and making her way backstage. As she steps in the dressing room she halts as she notices the pile of presents waiting for her. Her fingers wander on a few of them - smiling now and then as she recognizes some handwriting - before slumping in her chair. Her heart is still beating very fast, and she knows it's not only because of the concert. Today is the best day ever. Jurina Matsui, SKE's ace, just turned eighteen.
When her manager had asked her a few weeks ago what she wanted to do for her birthday, her answer had been swift and clear: she wanted to be on stage. Just by the loud cheers and clapping she had heard just now, she could guess a lot of her fans were present in the room to celebrate her birthday with her. She was the happiest when she was performing, and she wanted to spend that special day with the people that made it possible for her to do what she loved the most. Despite all the joy she was feeling, there was a shadow on the horizon. Rena wasn't here.
In fact, they didn't see each other all day. Even if it was Sunday, Rena had been very busy with work. When Jurina had sent her a text asking her if she could make it in time for the theater performance she had replied she would try but couldn't make any promises. Jurina had hoped to see her make an appearance at some point during the concert. Unfortunately Rena didn't, and despite being surrounded on stage by members she really cared about - Churi included - she still had unconsciously looked for her a few times. Of course, she felt a bit disappointed Rena wasn't able to make it, but she didn't blame her for it. She was well aware how busy the older Matsui was with her extra activities, and she would never want to get in the way of her work.
Half an hour later, after taking a good shower to get rid of the sweat, Jurina makes her way back to the dressing room and starts to get prepared to go home. The process takes a bit longer than usual as she replies to congratulations messages every five minutes on her phone, and she can't help but widen her eyes when she notices the time. All the other members have already left, and she's the last one in the dressing room. That's definitely a first. Just as she's about to leave the door opens and she looks up, staring at the girl at the doorstep in confusion.
"Rena!" Jurina exclaims, not believing the sight in front of her.
"You really believed I would miss your birthday?" Rena asks, carefully closing the door behind her, before gazing at her anew.
"But you didn't...," Jurina's voice trails off, taking a quick peek at her phone to check if she missed a message, before looking up again.
Rena smiles in amusement at Jurina's surprise, momentarily diverting her attention to scan the room, before inching closer when she discovers that they are indeed alone.
"Happy birthday," Rena whispers, locking eyes with the younger girl before capturing her lips.
Jurina lets out a frustrated sigh when the blindfold is placed on her eyes, the dressing room soon plunging into darkness. Jurina hears a soft giggle next to her and she pouts, knowing her discomfort is amusing the other girl a lot.
"Why can't you tell me what it is?" Jurina complains, lifting her hand to touch the soft black fabric blocking her eyesight.
"Leave it alone," Rena chides, slapping her hand away gently, before catching it and intertwining their fingers together, "now, be nice and follow me."
Apparently, a few SKE members have prepared a surprise for her eighteenth birthday, but Rena had stubbornly kept quiet when Jurina had peppered her with questions a few minutes ago. Now the older Matsui has blindfolded her and is bringing her to an unknown location, and Jurina has reached her limits. She never was a patient person, and the curiosity is getting the best of her. Not to mention she hates being kept in the dark, both literally and figuratively speaking.
Jurina finally nods, defeated, understanding her protests are having no effect whatsoever on Rena, before silently following her as she leads her out of the room. A few seconds later Jurina subtly tries to lift the blindfold to take a peek, but knows her plan has failed when she hears a soft groan by her side.
"Jurina," Rena warns, and the young Matsui - even if she cannot see a thing - can almost imagine Rena shaking her head in disagreement.
"Rena," Jurina protests, lowering down her hand at the girl's disapproving tone, "you really can't tell me where we're going?"
"No," Rena answers, suppressing a laugh at the girl's impatience, "it's called a surprise for a reason."
At one point Jurina catches a voice in the corridor and she tilts her head to the sound, immediately recognizing it.
"Ryoha!" Jurina exclaims, a tinge of hope filling her chest, "tell me what's going on!"
"I'm sorry, Jurina," the young girl stammers in a small, shy voice, "I can't."
Jurina grumbles at the young member's reply, understanding she's not going to get any help from her either.
"What did you do? Did you go all Gekikara on them?" Jurina mutters.
"What do you mean?" Rena asks, halting her steps to gaze at her curiously.
"Ryoha cannot refuse me anything," Jurina explains, waving her free hand in the air, "so you had to scare her off for her to keep quiet like that."
Jurina frowns when her declaration is met with silence. She kind of expected Rena to laugh or come back at her with a clever retort, but she didn't consider that option one second. She can feel Rena pulling her hand and they resume their walk - the silent treatment she's receiving really starting to unsettle her - before the older Matsui speaks up again.
"Am I that frightening?" Rena murmurs.
Jurina doesn't miss the slight apprehension in the girl's voice and she mentally curses herself. She only meant the whole 'Gekikara' thing as a joke, but the older Matsui has taken her words a bit too seriously. For a minute, she forgot how sensitive the girl can be on this particular subject. Rena's recent shy attempts to get closer to some young members haven't gone unnoticed but unfortunately, it seemed most of them were still unable to utter a single word in her presence.
"Of course not," Jurina answers, carefully choosing her words as she knows Rena is going to ponder each one of them, "but you know how easily impressed the young members can be."
"Right," Rena murmurs.
"Can I take the blindfold off?" Jurina pleads, willing to take a look at the girl as she can feel the doubt still present in her voice.
"Absolutely not," Rena scolds her.
Jurina releases a small sigh at the girl's stubbornness and she pulls her hand, the gesture instantly making Rena stop.
"Don't think about it anymore," Jurina murmurs, lifting her free hand to search the girl in front of her, before moving forward and resting her forehead against Rena's, "I was just messing with you."
Rena can feel a few looks on them but she ignores the attention, relishing the affectionate moment instead.
"I'm sorry for being so impatient," Jurina declares, taking a step back, before slightly squeezing Rena's hand, "please lead the way."
Jurina raises her head in curiosity at Rena's silence - wondering if she has successfully managed to ease her mind - before feeling a soft kiss on her forehead.
"It's okay," Rena answers, a small smile forming on her lips, before tugging on her hand and moving forward anew.
The theater's front door suddenly opens and Rena halts as she recognizes the two members. For a moment she wonders if the whole plan is going to fail and she freezes - apprehensively tilting her head to Jurina - before mentally rolling her eyes at her own stupidity. Jurina is currently blindfolded and probably wondering why she stopped in the middle of the corridor again. She definitely can't see the two members in front of her. A small sigh of relief leaves Rena's lips and she responds to Yuki's waving hand with a smile, before resuming her walk.
The stage finally comes into view and she releases Jurina's hand when she's standing in the middle - removing her blindfold - the young girl jumping when the silence gets suddenly broken by a group of people shouting cheerfully 'Happy birthday'. Jurina blinks a few times as she gets accustomed to the light, before widening her eyes when she sees all the girls standing in front of her, her features contorting in surprise as she notices a cake on a table, and a few unexpected faces.
"You said you were stuck in Tokyo!" Jurina stammers, pointing an accusing finger at Mariko, before turning to Mayu, "And you," Jurina's voice trails off, glaring at her AKB friend, "I have no words for your outrageous lies."
"Happy birthday," Mariko exclaims, taking a step forward and ruffling Jurina's hair affectionately, "I can't believe my baby is now an adult."
"Well, technically, she's not," Mayu retorts, shaking her head in disagreement, "not before twenty."
"Mayu," Jurina grumbles, rolling her eyes at her friend's 'technicality'.
"A young adult then," Rena offers, brushing gently Jurina's shoulder and sending her a smile when Jurina tilts her head to look at her.
"Come on, blow the candles out," Churi suggests, motioning the cake in front of her.
Jurina doesn't wait any longer and moves forward eagerly, taking a deep breath and leaning over to blow out the two blue candles - representing the letters one and eight - standing right in the middle of the chocolate cake.
"Did the stage performance exhaust you that much?" Mayu teases, shaking her head in amusement when the flames are still fiercely standing at the end of the sticks after Jurina's failed attempt.
"Of course not," Jurina retorts, frowning at the strange occurrence, before taking another deep breath to try and blow the candles out again. The flames wave a few times at the action and Jurina's features contort in victory as she believes she has succeeded, but she quickly decomposes when the flames stubbornly refuse to bend to her will.
"What's going on?" Jurina groans, not believing the sight in front of her and glaring at the offending lights intensively.
Jurina hears a soft chuckle next to her and turns in curiosity, witnessing a very amused Yuki who's covering her mouth with her palm, her laughing intensifying when her reaction owes her a soft elbow from Mayu.
"I'm sorry," Yuki exclaims, ignoring her girlfriend's protest on her right, "I just couldn't hold it anymore."
Jurina frowns at her reaction - failing to understand what's so funny - before noticing the way Mayu is grinning widely.
"What did you do," Jurina mutters, taking a peek at the candles to try and assess what's the problem with them, before looking back at Mayu when she fails to understand.
The room falls in a deep silence as Jurina's question stays unanswered - her eyes falling on each member in desperate need of an explanation - only to find amused smiles in return. Rena tries hard to stifle her laugh the best she can, before deciding Jurina's torment has lasted long enough.
"They are trick candles, you can't blow them out," Rena explains finally.
You can almost see the gears turning in Jurina's head as she stares at the candles dumbfounded, before shaking her head in amusement when she understands she has been fooled by her clever best friend.
"Well done Mayu," Jurina chuckles, admitting her defeat, "I surely didn't see that coming."
The theater gets filled with laughter as the other members soon join her, before Jurina takes a bite of the chocolate cake when Mariko gives her a fork. A satisfied sound leaves her lips at the pleasant sensation on her tongue and she takes another bite, enjoying the slight hazelnut taste. When she's had enough she takes a step back and goes to sit in a chair at the front row of the theater to unwrap a few presents, while taking a peek now and then at the members that are enjoying themselves - and her cake - on the stage.
"Do you like your surprise?" Rena asks, taking a seat by her side and glancing in interest at the unwrapped book in Jurina's hand.
"I don't like it," Jurina replies, laying Ryoha's present on her lap before tilting her head to Rena and sliding her hand inside hers, "I love it."
Rena's mouth tugs into a smile and she gently rubs Jurina's knuckles, before leaning over to give her cheek a soft kiss, "I'm glad."
Rena checks the time on her watch for the fourth time, a groan inadvertently leaving her lips as the painful reality hits her. She had left the television studio in a hurry - cursing her interview unexpected delay - and was now late for the former AKB member's birthday party. She almost wanted to urge the taxi driver to go faster but the request never left her mouth. It would be very useless with so much traffic and, most of all, awfully improper. Much as she wished for some sort of divinity to save her from this nightmare, she knew her prayers were not going to be answered. She was going to be late, and there was nothing she could do about that.
Thirty minutes later the car finally stops in front of the restaurant and she steps out, swiftly thanking the driver with a polite smile, before turning apprehensively towards the building. Holding on tightly onto the plastic bag that contains the birthday present she moves forward, her fingers immediately grasping the door handle.
For a second, Rena really wonders if she's not at the wrong place. The restaurant is awfully quiet and as she carefully looks around, she fails to spot any familiar faces. That's why she's a bit relieved when a waiter approaches, as she knows she'll definitely need the help.
"I'm looking for Miss Shinoda's party," Rena declares.
The young short, dark-haired man frowns at her request and Rena almost believes she's truly at the wrong address, before the waiter's features lighten up in recognition.
"It's over here," he replies with a slight bow, showing a door on the far left corner of the restaurant.
After thanking him Rena walks towards it - pausing momentarily in front of the 'private' sign - before pushing the door in determination.
The atmosphere of the room contrasts immediately with the first room she just went through. Indeed, Rena is immediately surrounded with laughter and loud chatting and she lets her gaze wander around the room, her eyes falling on each guest. Yuko Oshima, Haruna Kojima, Minami Minegishi, Atsuko Maeda, Minami Takahashi, Itano Tomomi, Mariko Shinoda... That's definitely a rare sight, something you don't have the chance to witness anymore now that half of them have graduated.
Rena suddenly feels a bit out of place in the presence of so many first generation members. Even if she's well acquainted with all of them, she can't help but feel a bit shy surrounded by all these famous AKB members. She has felt this way from the moment she joined the group and somehow, it still hasn't completely left her. She's still very impressed each time she has to speak with one of those stars.
She's not naive: she knows she only owes her invitation to Jurina. If her relationship with the younger girl had not progressed so much these latest months, she would never have been invited to Mariko's birthday. In fact, she almost wanted to decline when Jurina had offered her to come - predicting the uneasiness she was currently feeling - before relenting when she had seen how much her presence would please the young Matsui.
Speaking of which, the SKE ace is clinging to the birthday girl and chatting with her eagerly. Rena is too far away to hear anything but she can imagine she probably said something funny as Mariko's mouth suddenly tugs into an amused smile, ruffling the girl's hair affectionately. Rena knows she should make her presence known, but she can't help but take advantage of the fact the young girl still hasn't noticed her to watch her. She really wouldn't mind spending the next few minutes simply looking at her silently. Recently, she's been doing it much more than she would like to admit, whether it is when the young girl is sleeping by her side, or when she's chatting with other members. In fact, it was now really hard to look away each time her eyes fell on her.
Mariko unwraps the present, her features contorting in surprise when she discovers the book.
"Jurina told me you were into cooking," Rena explains, watching as the older girl flips through the first pages curiously, "this is a very good book. I use it a lot."
"Thank you Rena," Mariko says, closing it and smiling at her, "I'll make good use of it."
"You're welcome," Rena replies, before absently taking a peek at the younger Matsui who's engrossed in a conversation with Yuko and Haruna at the table.
"I like seeing her so happy," Mariko declares, following the older Matsui's gaze, before locking eyes with Rena, "you know she's like a little sister to me."
"I do," Rena replies.
After this affirmation Mariko starts to speak about the younger girl and Rena listens carefully, not missing the fondness in her voice as words leave her lips. She can feel her own heart progressively warming up and she nods each time the older girl turns to gaze at her, knowing how lucky Jurina is to have such a person in her life who loves her unconditionally.
"Anyway," Mariko finishes, laughing a bit when she realizes she has been hogging the conversation for so long, "Jurina may act tough on the outside, she has a very sensitive heart. Please take good care of her."
Rena is momentarily taken aback and she ponders over her words. It's not the fact Jurina has confided in Mariko that surprises her. In fact, she didn't expect any less from her as she knows how close they are. No, what startles her is the way the former AKB member is looking at her with a seriousness you don't often witness, as the older girl is known to love goofing around. A few seconds later Mariko hasn't looked away and Rena guesses she's expecting some sort of reply.
"I promise I'll do my best."
"Thank you," Mariko smiles, holding her gaze a little longer, before noticing a figure approaching out of the corner of her eye and tilting her head in curiosity.
"Mariko, what are you doing? It's time for dessert," Jurina interrupts.
"Oh right," the former AKB member exclaims, making swiftly her way back to the other guests.
"What were you two talking about?" Jurina asks, watching curiously the older Matsui who's following Mariko's retreating form.
"What do you think?" Rena smiles in amusement, "our precious Jurina."
Jurina can't help but slightly blush, a groan leaving her lips when she hears the older Matsui giggling at her reaction, "stop it."
"They are bringing the cake," Yuko announces suddenly, moving swiftly towards the wall and switching the light off.
Jurina freezes at the unexpected occurrence and a small gasp escapes her lips, her heart soon starting to pounder in her chest.
"Look at me," Rena demands, catching Jurina's hand. She's well aware that the girl is afraid of the dark, and the slight tremble she feels as their palms meet doesn't surprise her.
"I can't see anything," Jurina stutters, her voice now shaking as she looks around the dark room in desperate need of light.
"Of course you can," Rena affirms, squeezing her hand reassuringly.
Jurina focuses on the older girl in front of her anew and squints her eyes, before indeed catching a faint glimpse of Rena's silhouette. It's impossible to discern more than that, but the sight still manages to soothe her.
"See," Rena murmurs, slowly moving forward as she herself manages to discern a bit more Jurina's features, "everything's fine."
Jurina releases a small sigh of relief and she can feel her body progressively relaxing, her racing heart mimicking its action and also slowing down. Out of the corner of her eye she notices a sudden small light in the darkness and she turns around, watching as Atsuko steps inside the room and brings a birthday cake to the table. All the members are now gathering around it, the waving flames slightly dancing on the ceiling as Atsuko sets the cake on the table carefully.
"We should go and join them," Rena suggests.
Jurina nods and follows the older Matsui as she moves forward, before catching her hand. "Rena," Jurina murmurs, inching closer when she has the girl's attention, "I'm not afraid anymore."
"What do you...?" Rena begins to ask, but she fails to complete her question when Jurina suddenly claims her lips. Even though her features contort in surprise at the unexpected occurrence she immediately responds to the kiss, not missing Jurina's touch on her skin as she cups her cheek.
"I'm not afraid anymore," Jurina repeats.
TO BE CONTINUED
Topic: Heartbeat (20/20) + Partners (23/23) + Destiny (41/41 END) [WMatsui] - REPLIES (Read 384800 times)