Part 7Another show over with, Miki reluctantly thought. She was really getting tired of playing these childish games with people who were many years younger than her. She knew her face will definitely show the expressions of how she felt about the taping when it finally would air on TV. She found herself wandering around the studio, walking behind the cameras and stepping over the many wires and cables and avoiding the staff members. She then stopped and noticed Eri taping her "Maido Arii" segment. She decided to stay and watch with the crew. She couldn't help but laugh along as Eri playing Eric Kamezou cracked "old" jokes at the annoyed Yuko. Miki then saw Eri pull out her metal briefcase and brought out the latest HP releases. One of them in particular caught Miki's eye. It was Aya's newest photobook, "A". Miki remembered Aya telling her about the photobook a few months back when she was in China shooting it. Aya’s countless hours had finally paid off, "A" was finally out. It was much larger than the standard photobook, Miki noticed, but of course who would deserve it more none other than Aya. Miki had a sudden urge to look at the photobook now being held in Eri’s hands. She anxiously waited until the segment was over before she would walk over to Eri to ask if she could see it. As Eri cheerfully walked off the stage Miki silently stalked behind.
"Eri, Eri!" Miki called out.
Startled by the anonymous call, Eri dropped the heavy silver briefcase she was holding and it hit the floor with a bang. Eri quickly spun around to see that Miki was right behind her.
"Ah, Fujimoto-san you scared me." Eri sighed as she tried to undo the tie of her costume. Miki stared at the metal briefcase which now lay on it's side on the floor.
"I saw you holding Aya's photobook, can I see it?"
Eri was taken by surprise by this odd and strange request. Nevertheless Eri bent down to pick up the briefcase, opened it, and handed the brand spanking new book to Miki. Miki took the book and held it out in front of her. Aya's face was beaming all over the cover.
"It's huge!" Miki gasped in a forced act of surprise.
"It's a closeup shot that's why." Eri blurted out.
Miki shot a glare at her.
Airhead, I meant the book! She grumbled in her mind.
"If you want it, you have to pay for it." Eri replied.
Miki sneered at Eri, "No, I don't want it. I just want to look at it."
"Just saying, I tried to do that once and they told me I have to pay for my own photobook!" Eri said as she focused her attention on fumbling with her tie and trying to get it undone. Miki rolled her eyes at the struggling girl before placing the book down and standing upright facing Eri.
"Here, let me." Miki took the tie carefully into her hands and unknotted it. Eri remained still, slightly uncomfortable as Miki took her time. She was standing too close to her. "There", Miki said satisfyingly as it loosened.
"Ah, thank you very much. It was choking me." Eri sighed in relief as she pulled the tie off her collar and rubbed her neck. She looked up at Miki and noticed she was staring at her.
"You know, you don't look so bad as a guy." Miki snickered, her smile looking quite devilish.
"Don't say that!" Eri pouted and whined. People had said that so many times to her. Miki could only laugh at her.
"Well thanks." Miki gave Eri a rather tight hug, her hands wandering down her back.
"Yeah, ok." Eri squeaked, trying to squirm out of Miki's strangely exploring arms.
Miki then picked up the glossy book off the floor, "I'll return it." She smiled and ruffled Eri's hair leaving it in a jumbled mess, "See ya!"
Miki walked down the long and strangely quiet hall as she flipped through the pages of Aya's photobook.
Not bad. She thought to herself. The pictures were very well taken, thanks to UFA’s best photographers. She thought out of the half dozen photobooks (at least that many) of Aya's this one really represented her. It seemed to capture the true essence of Aya: sweet, sophisticated, beautiful, natural, charming, and of course, sexy. It was done so well that it was almost as if she could feel Aya's presence. Aya seemed to be radiating off the pages of the book with her beauty. It felt so real to Miki that she felt her heart start to stir once again.
No, no. She shook her head abruptly trying to shrug the weird feelings in her off but it only kept getting stronger. In a haste decision she retreated herself into an empty room which happened to be the same room Aya had just been in only minutes earlier. She leaned against the door and sighed with great discourse.
"No, don't let this happen." She placed her hand over her heart. It continued to beat hard and steadily even after she thought she had calmed down. She looked at the photobook in her hands and as if it were on fire she threw it on the table in front of her. It landed, opening to a picture where it looked as if Aya was staring straight at her. Miki went to the book and stood over it as she grazed her eyes upon the lighthearted picture.
Ah, you really are so beautiful. She thought once again. She felt like she was trapped in Aya's gaze and unable to be freed by it. She felt her body weaken just by looking at the picture. In a last gesture she finally fell to her knees and broke down.
"I can't do this." She cried. "I can't let go of you. My heart won't let me." Tears fell on to the pages of book, landing on Aya's cheek in the lifeless picture. Miki briskly pushed the book away from her as she bawled on the table. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't fight the feelings inside her. For the last few days she had tried to hide behind this facade. She was never over Aya, not one bit. She thought she could ignore her but each day was eating her up inside and it was as though little devils were constantly tugging at her heart. All the bad feelings were coming back to her now. As she wiped her eyes she caught a familar scent in the air, "I can even smell you." She whined. "You're haunting me everywhere I go." She remembered the ringtone she heard earlier on and she was pretty sure that had been Aya's as well.
"I have to call her." She said as she pulled out her cellphone. "Maybe she's still here." She fumbled with the buttons but stopped just as she was about to push the call button, her cell screen flashing the private cell number of Aya’s. Her thumb hovered hesitantly over it but she somehow couldn't get herself to do it. Seeing as she couldn’t simply press one button, he threw her phone down in frustration and as it hit the floor, it suddenly rang. She quickly picked it up and looked at the screen. "1 New Message" it read. She checked the message, it was from Mari. Mari was asking if Miki still wanted to eat out with the other girls later. Though Miki wasn’t really in the mood to she replied back with an "Ok" trying not to be a bad sport. She briefly checked the time and realized that she had better get going if she really was going to meet up with her fellow comrades.
Miki slowly got up and made sure her face was dry. If anyone were to ask about it she would just say she was rather tired. She exited the room without noticing she was forgetting something as she left the book to it’s own on the table.
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At the rather fancy restaurant, the girls were spread across one side of the wall in two booths. Miki sat at the end of the booth and was quiet as she just plainly watched the pieces of yakiniku sizzling on the grill, remembering to turn them around with her chopsticks. She glanced around at the rest of the girls who were with her. They seemed to be in their own little groups, Eri and Sayumi jabbering on like two machines programmed to never stop working, Konno was staring at the yakiniku wide eyed as she piled pieces of cooked meat onto her plate while Makoto made fun of her eating habits. One onserning little group was
Ishiyoshi who were getting a little bit too cozy in the corner. Miki had always felt like an outcast among the group. First in her own generation and now with the group as a whole. They didn't seem to realize that her placement in the group had probably saved them from even more loss of popularity. Still, it wasn't like anyone was giving her credit for it.
"Fujimoto-san." She heard a voice call her. She looked up and noticed it was Eri who had addressed her rather properly. "Did you return that photobook?" She asked.
Miki wanted to scoff, she thought it was something important. "Yeah, I did." She forcefully lied.
"Oh? Someone at the studio called me saying they couldn't find it." Eri replied.
Miki could only shrug her shoulders as she took a quick sip from her glass. She turned around and noticed one last piece of yakiniku on the grill. She quickly reached for it but her chopsticks clashed with someone else’s. Looking up, she saw Reina almost immediately retracting her hand back.
"Go ahead." Reina said, trying not to offend Miki.
"No, you can have it." Miki insisted.
Reina was surprised by Miki’s unexpected answer. "Really?" she asked and Miki nodded. Reina’s face beamed as she took it and placed the savory piece into her mouth.
Miki smirked. Reina needed it more than her anyways, she thought, but she noticed that her face was getting a bit chubby. She heard a ring and and instinctly pulled out her phone. Her cell phone showed no caller ID and she looked up to see Mari answer her phone. After a couple of "uh huh's" Mari finally ended with a sweet "I love you too." Mari quickly hung up and by this time everyone was hooting at her which made Mari turn a deep shade of red.
"That was Shun, right?" Someone asked the obvious question.
Mari nodded, her face still red, and stood up, "Sorry, but I have to go. Everyone enjoy your weekend, ok?"
Everyone nodded slyly at Mari. Trying to get out of the crammed booth, Mari found herself stuck in the middle with very little to no space to move about. She had no choice but to crawl underneath the table to leave the place. "Kawaii!" Someone shouted and everyone burst into laughter. Getting up from under the table Mari turned around and stuck her tongue at them. She then noticed that Miki hadn’t laughed or even paid attention to what was going on, she seemed off in her own thoughts.
"You ok, Miki? You haven't talked all night." Mari asked the dazed Miki.
"I'm sorry, I'm just a bit tired." Miki answered as she snapped out of her thoughts, "I think I might go as well." Miki got up from the table, apologized to everyone and said goodnight.
"Don't forget, futsal practice coming up." Yossi yelled to her just before Miki reached the door. Miki simply waved her hand, not bothering to look back.
Mari soon caught up with Miki outside in the parking lot.
"Is there something wrong, Miki? You can tell me." Asked the worried looking little leader.
Miki shook her head slowly as she stared in thought on the ground as she walked, it was way too complicated to explain.
Mari didn't want to bug Miki any further. "Well you know you can always call me if you want to talk about anything."
"Thanks." Miki quickly replied but she knew Mari wouldn't understand her situation anyway, "So...how's everything going for you?" Miki quickly changed the subject of the conversation.
Mari sighed, "I didn't think being a leader was so hard. I've been constantly working."
"Really? It doesn't seem so bad."
"Eh, that's because you don't get to see everything. There's a lot to it."
"I guess I'll just wait till it's my turn then." Miki said lightly as she flashed a quick and sarcastic smile.
"I think you'll do a lot better than me, Miki." said Mari as she was in the process of hailing a taxi.
Miki was surprised by her comment. She watched Mari get into the taxi.
"Tell Shun I said 'hi'." Miki told her and Mari nodded before the cab drove off down the street.
At least she's doing well with her relationship. Miki thought as she stood watching the cab turn a corner and out of sight. She walked along the illuminated sidewalk, thinking to herself as she went. It was getting dark out but she didn't want to go home just yet. She wondered what she was going to do now seeing that she still had time before she would go home to bed. She looked at the phone she held tightly in her hand but she still didn't have the courage to call Aya again. She sighed, not knowing what to do or where to go. Suddenly she spotted an old familar place, the bar.
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rndmnwierd - Alt + 0176
or you can always copy and paste hehe
KrazyForKamei - really? I feel the opposite
It's the fic forum here (and Eri thread) that got me posting here again.
shunjunsweden - *adds another to the list* ooh that's quite a compliment there, thank you very much
Topic: Milestone: A Reluctant Idol (complete) (Read 27407 times)