Fics found in this thread:
PAGE ONE
- Heard First-Hand (Kids fic)
- Going Back
PAGE TWO
- When We First Met (Going Back Universe, Story 2)
- Somethings Can't Happen / Somethings Can
PAGE THREE
- Taken (Kids fic)
- A Circle is Forever (Going Back Universe, Story 3)
- Set in Stone / P a r a d o x (Going Back Universe, Story 4)
PAGE FOUR
- What You Don't See in the DVD Extras
- Let Sleeping Cats Lie
PAGE FIVE
- Sayu's Prince
- Can't Go Back
Fics @AO3 account
- Have Your Cake and Eat It (http://archiveofourown.org/works/857635)
Heard First-hand
by Kuji 「９時」
Miyabi glanced over irritably at where Maimi and Saki were huddled together laughing in their leader-ly fashion with the taller girl’s arm slung over her captain’s shoulders. It always seemed to happen that whenever the former H!P Kids got together that the two would somehow naturally gravitate towards one another. The observing girl rationalized this as the result of their common bond as former ZYX members and the heads of their respective groups – not because Yajima Maimi was anything really special. High-King too… what is up with them always being put together! She frowned further when another burst of giggles came from the two. Just what was so damn funny? Finding herself unconsciously drifting closer towards the two, Miyabi’s ears strained to pick up the conversation. Since Saki had her back to her Berryz group mate the only part of her voice that really carried were the emphatic ‘un’s that went along with her bobbing head. Maimi’s words however, could just barely be made out…
”…So it’s a date then?”
What? Forgetting all tact and the fact that she was supposedly secretly eavesdropping, Miyabi sucked in a harsh breath and marched right over to the two with a glare focused on the taller of the pair.
”Excuse me,” she addressed the C-ute leader with exaggerated formality. “I just need to talk to the captain for a minute – Berryz business.”
With that she dragged the tiny leader away, ignoring the hurried ‘later Maimi!’ and cute waving Saki engaged in while being pulled backwards. Miyabi was half tempted to walk the older girl into a pole for that. Stop staring at Maimi and watch where you’re going! After finally putting enough distance between them and the C-ute leader, Miyabi realized she had no idea where she was going and she’d just been seen basically abducting Saki in a room full of people including the other Berryz who were probably wondering about why they were not being included in this very urgent Berryz talk.
“So what was it you wanted to talk about, Miya-chan?” Her leader asked in a somewhat puzzled voice, finally Captain was paying attention to her though the focus of her attention wasn’t where she wanted it to be.
Miyabi waved it off.
“Besides that, what was that about a date with Maimi?” She demanded. At this point, they’d stopped at an out of the way corridor some metres away from the dance room they had previously been taking a break from practice in and Miyabi faced the shorter girl with her hands on her hips.
“Heh? A date with Maimi?” Saki repeated as if she didn’t understand the question which only further aggravated Miyabi, even if she thought the perplexed scrunched-up brow made the other girl look adorable.
”Yes! The date she just asked you on!”
”Wait. My date with Maimi?” Why did Saki sound so surprised? Or was she just surprised that Miyabi overheard?
“That’s what I said!” Miyabi was about ready to explode. “My girlfriend is not going on a date with that Yossi wannabe. Just because nobody knows about us doesn’t mean—“
Saki interrupted her rant then, “But she does know.”
“What?” Why that little… well, not-so-little home wrecker… Miyabi was at a loss for words and left sputtering rather incoherently. “That’s just… isn’t that…? Well that… Wait, that’s worse isn’t it? It is! Right? Right!?”
To her surprise Saki started laughing. What was this? It was decided, she was going to kill Maimi for hitting on her girlfriend when she knew that her girlfriend was actually hers.
“Are you jealous?” The smaller girl’s voice was filled with mirth and her eyes which were filled to the brim with fond amusement, gave no hint that she was about to be given a serious break-up talk. The teasing quality of her voice instantly put Miyabi on alert. Something wasn’t right here…
“…No?” It was perfectly natural to react when someone was asking your girlfriend on a date.
“You are!” Saki grinned and poked the taller girl’s cheeks that had started going slightly pink. She hugged her before adding more softly, “You are adorable.”
“I am not! ….Jealous I mean. I guess I am adorable though… And you still haven’t answered me about that date!” Miyabi felt herself start to melt into the hug despite trying to remain focused on the very important issue of what was going with her girlfriend and the other leader.
“Baaaka. Maimi wasn’t asking me on a date. I told you, she knows about us. That’s because she just found out and she was asking if our date today was a date date.”
"Oh," Miyabi had the good grace to look ashamed. Apparently information learnt from eavesdropping on your girlfriend wasn’t too dependable. Still, you couldn’t blame her for trying to protect what was hers. Taking Saki’s hand in hers, she did her best trying to express her repentance. “...I’m sorry I doubted you… and I guess I owe Maimi an apology too.”
“It’s okay, I’m sure she’d forgive you. Besides, why would I want to go out with Maimi when I’ve already got you?” With a quick peck to Miyabi’s cheek, Saki gave her at tug through their still intertwined hands in the direction of the practice room. “But you know, now that you mention it… Maimi is pretty hot, isn’t she?”
“Hey!”
=====
Well, I hope someone out there enjoyed that! This is my first ever H!P story (though it's only a one-shot) and actually part of the reason for me writing this is because I wanted to give something back to the authors here who have written great stories for me to read. You guys rock! Um... I was too lazy to check this after I finished so please forgive some errors that may have slipped in? I'll probably go through this again later. :sweatdrop:
@kawaii beam: Well, she more like paid for it to be made but same thing, right? :D Also thanks! I just like to mess in Photoshop from time to time and as it happens... I just got the next story done. :3
WHEN WE FIRST MET
A “Going Back” universe story
By Kuji 「９時」
Something went wrong. Where on earth was she? Looking around, all she could see were trees, shrubs and dirt. In her tailored suit jacket, striped business skirt and heels, she was undoubtedly out of place in this apparent wilderness. The splashing of what sounded like waves could be heard nearby. The ocean? Figuring that the best way to get back to civilization would be to head for the sea and then follow the coastline until she reached some sort of seaside settlement, she divested herself of two of what appeared to be gaudy thick silver bracelets that were decorated with the occasional flashing lights and packed them carefully into a carrying case with foam moulds to ensure their safety. Checking the readout on the small display built into the case, Ai frowned before closing it and clicking the locks in place. Precious cargo secured, she started following the rushing sounds of water, making slow progress so as not to trip in her inappropriate footwear.
As it turned out, she had only been a little ways away from a well trodden footpath and following that made her journey much easier. It also reassured her that there had to be people nearby. Ai gasped when she reached the beach. Unable to resist, Ai took off her shoes and left the shade of the trees behind to walk on the warm sand and enjoy the feeling of cool water lapping at her feet. It had been so long since she’d seen a view as beautiful and easily gave the days she spent in Hawaii a run for its money. The sun had risen to almost its peak in the sky and the glittering reflections on the water were almost blinding. The water was so clear you could even make out the small fish darting about the shallow shore. If Ai were to guess, the time had to be either late morning or early afternoon. A child’s laugh coming from the distance indicated that she was no longer alone and the small figure running along the beach slowly grew in her vision as the stretch of sand between them was shortened.
“’Baa-chan! You’re slow! Slow! Faster, let’s go!” The little girl yelled with one hand on her straw sunhat while the other waved a small, red plastic shovel at an older lady in the distance who was moving at her own steady pace despite the urgings of her younger companion.
Ai’s couldn’t believe her eyes which had widened soon after the child had voiced her impatience. Even without the trademark pig-tails of her youth, there was no mistaking the high energy that accompanied the high forehead and the much younger but still recognizable features of… R-Risa? It was her, down to the mole on her nose but it couldn’t be. This girl in front of her couldn’t have been more than eight years old.
Having turned around to further encourage her grandmother to catch up, the small girl didn’t notice Ai until she had run backwards into her, colliding with a surprised ‘ACK!’. Catching her out of instinct, Ai got a much better look at the child’s look of panic before she hopped back and bowed so frantically that her hat fell from her head.
“I’m really sorry! Did I hurt you? I didn’t see you there. Are you alright, oba-san? Really, I’m really sorry! Really, really, really!”
Ai couldn’t help it and laughed at the fact that the reaction queen apparently started young. This is definitely Risa. …Wait, ‘OBA-SAN’?”
That immediately brought reality crashing back down around the former leader. Something had definitely gone wrong, this was too far back. Not to mention she had never meant to come in contact with Risa, much less an eight year old version of her… even though she had to admit, being able to see her at this age was priceless. Omame was too cute! Then again it was also really strange seeing the woman she was in love with as a child. She still loved her but instead of wanting to do various… censorship necessary things with her, she just wanted to hug the stuffing out of the adorable kid.
“I’m fine.” She did her best to smile, so close and yet so far, while picking up the hat that had fallen during the young girl’s apology and holding it out to her. “You dropped your hat.”
The child flashed directed a huge smile at her and happily plopped that hat back on her head, “Arigatou!” Ai didn’t know why but she sort of wanted to cry. You’re happy, right? I thought I wanted to change things for you but I was just doing it for myself, wasn’t I? The only thing that saddened you was me pulling away. I didn’t need come back to fix that.
“You’re welcome.” That was all Ai could say as the girl who would grow up to be the woman she loved was called back by her grandmother and ran off to enjoy the rest of her Okinawan summer.
＝＝＝＝＝
This was either going to be really, really long or really, really short. Since my stamina when it comes to writing is pretty awful I opted for the latter. A bit sad though that I had this conversation in my head about Risa saying Ai was dressed really weird for the beach and them hanging out for a little while but I didn't get to write it. Anyway, it's probably better that Ai didn't spend too much time with chibi-Risa and risk destroying the timeline or whatever. XD
@strawb3rrykream: Glad it somehow makes sense even though parts confuse me too. heh. :sweatdrop:
@Haruka: I have no clue how things go. Blame this on Quantum Leap never giving me a proper ending, now I can't think of one either. >_>;
This next story is a 2-in-1 sort of deal. Enjoy!
SOMETHINGS CAN’T HAPPEN
By Kuji
As the infinitely cuter, older and wiser mentor, there was no way that Michishige Sayumi could fall for her mentee Kusumi Koharu. Besides being only fourteen years old, the other girl was the definition of hyperactive and the epitome of block-headedness. Never mind the fact that she followed her around like a puppy until something shiny attracted her attention but then latched onto her like a limpet again if something even remotely frightening happened – as if Sayumi would be able to protect her – more like Koharu was only preventing her from being able to latch onto her Eric. Speaking of whom, that was another reason why she could not possibly be falling for her mentee. She had Eri after all. Well, maybe not exactly…
The self-proclaimed ‘Ichiban kawaii’ glanced over to where Eri was busy chatting with Gaki-san. The two of them were often attached to the hip these days and when ideas for new segments came up, their names were often put together, much to the bunny girl’s consternation. The graduation of Konno and upcoming graduation of Makoto didn’t help. As Sayumi pulled her eyes away from the chummy two-some, her eyes met another observer of the two. Ai gave her a nod as though to acknowledge her own displeasure at the closeness of the KameMame pair. Sayumi guessed that it couldn’t be a good feeling to have had one member of your generation graduate, another with plans to and then to see the remaining one spend all her time with someone else. She was glad that she still had Eri and Reina with her… and Mikitty too, she supposed.
“Michishige-san!”
It was the aforementioned limpet. She did have her good points though and she really did try hard. It was hard not to be carried along by Koharu’s excitement and become excited yourself. So despite never having had any intention of liking the girl, Sayumi found herself doing just that. Sayumi never had a younger sibling before but she decided that the affection she felt for the younger girl had to be the same affection an older sister felt towards a younger. However there were things that you weren’t ever supposed to imagine or dream doing with a younger sister. When one night, Sayu woke up crushing her pillow against her chest and with vivid images of Koharu’s approaching face and lips flashing through her head, she knew something was amiss.
“What is it Koharu-chan?”
Since the day’s practice was over, they were free to go home or off to whatever individual obligations they may have had for the rest of the day. Radio shows and the like. Normally, right after practice Koharu would be trailing her personal idol, Miki, until the older girl chased her away. Sayumi glanced at her watch – it was a bit too early. Even with Miki’s short fuse, she was usually able to stand Koharu for longer than that.
“Did Matsuura-san drop by?” Was what Sayumi inquired. That was immediately the first thing that came to mind when it came to things that would distract Miki because despite her outer demeanour, Miki was a pretty good sempai and usually willing to spend some time with the younger members. Younger members that could only sing her praises, especially. Koharu looked surprised by the question which seemed to have come out of nowhere but nodded.
Sayumi let out a sigh. Of course Koharu would only come to her because her first choice was busy.
“So what do you want?”
SOMETHINGS CAN
Koharu took a deep breath. It wasn’t a secret that she admired Miki but what most people didn’t realize was that the last thing she could ever feel for the older girl was a crush. Rather than wanting to be with Miki, she’d wanted to like Miki. To be brimming with confidence and able to say exactly what was on her mind. Lately, she’d been pestering Fujimoto-san – or Mikitty as she called her in her head… and only in her head, for advice but although she hadn’t been able to get one last pep-talk today since Matsuura-san had shown up unexpectedly to steal her best friend away, the young girl decided that that day was the day. The day she’d tell Michishige-san how she felt and hopefully, it was the day she could start calling her Sayu – not just in her head but for real.
Deciding that doing this out there in the open for everyone to see wasn’t a good idea, she suggested that they take it to the dressing room. Though she’d been trying to keep calm and act cool, like she’d been advised to be by Miki, Koharu couldn’t help her nerves and ended up dragging Sayumi to the dressing room at a jittery pace. Since Sayumi wasn’t exactly the most athletic person and speed certainly wasn’t her forte, Koharu could hear cursing as the older girl very nearly tripped several times. She told herself to slow down but her legs wouldn’t listen. Stupid legs.
By the time they’d reached their destination, her mentor had a face that Koharu recognized from having received it many times before – the look said, I’m extremely annoyed but I’m trying very hard not to show it. It sort of made Koharu want to burst out laughing and she couldn’t help the wide smile that broke out on her face anyway while she looked back at the older girl. Anyone else would have probably exploded in her face already, Sayumi was the only one who ever showed her this much patience… even if she was bad at hiding that she was annoyed while doing so. She tried to remember some of the advice she’d received from Miki before.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from Aya it is that appealing to a girl’s vanity is one of the best ways to go. Sayumi seems like that type too.”
“I think you’re really cute, Michishige-san!” She blurted out but when she saw Sayumi’s confused (but still somewhat pleased) face she knew she had to clarify.
“I like cute girls! So… so…” So I really like you but not only because you’re cute but because you’re kind and smart and patient and really look after others… The older girl didn’t look any more enlightened than she had a moment ago and Koharu started to panic. What other advice had she been given?
“Some girls are really dense though, so you really have to get into their face about it. Subtlety is so overrated.” A Fujimoto eye-roll had accompanied the last statement.
“I love you, please go out with me!” She practically yelled into her senior’s face.
“My shock.”
=======================================
Sorry the ending got a little crackified - I can't write Koharu well. Actually I got to about the half-way point of this story and just wanted to quit because I didn't know how to get it out so I just typed for the hell of it and that's the mess that ended up splashed onto the page. =x Maybe I'll change it later. Ah, for those who were expecting more TakaGaki and are disappointed... OPV (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQxcHd-joBY#lq-lq2-hq-vhq)?
@Panick: I keep making you preview the fics I write so I hope that doesn't spoil them for you. ^^;
@kawaii beam!: Maybe we need to mix and match our skill set. XD
@writerjunkie: As you know, I prefer reading to writing... I'm glad you liked it though. I like when you write narrative though. :3
@rokun: I have more kids fic ideas bouncing in my head but writing them out is... surprisinly hard. I don't know how all you other writers do it so well. I want to talk more about the kids too. XD
This fic is a continuation of Ai's time-travelling so reading the first two helps~
A Circle is Forever
by Kuji
This was… not the lab and Ai was beginning to think that perhaps a little more testing hadn’t been such a bad idea after all. She seemed to have been taken to a shopping district, though precisely where the location of this shopping district was escaped her. It certainly was not one that she frequented since she did not recognize it. She glanced at the bracelets, the metal dulled as the lights showed none of their flickering activity. Well, she could take a taxi back to the lab. At least she was still in Japan, thank goodness for small favours.
“Ai-chan? Ai-chan, it’s you right?” A rather startled voice asked before grabbing hold of her arm. It was followed by a sharp breath and an apology. “Oh no wait, I’m sorry… you just look a lot like someone I know but you couldn’t be…”
“Mama, I’m hungry!” The little boy by the person’s side whined. Ai’s voice got caught in her throat as she quickly recognized the woman before her.
“We’ll get something soon, okay Junta?” The little boy looked like he was about to protest, a pout already forming but Risa quickly put a stop to it in a way that bespoke of motherly experience.
“I’ll take you to Mr. Donut and we can get you a chocolate ring.” With the promise of chocolate secured through a quick pinkie swear, the boy nodded cheerfully and hugged his mother’s leg compliantly while waiting. Ai couldn’t help noticing that for a mother of two, Risa was still extremely attractive. The former Momusu leader couldn’t stop herself from staring at the curves that she had always thought suited Risa well.
“Anyway, I apologize. You just really look like—“
“It’s okay.” Ai quickly pulled out of her almost trance and reassured her, knowing where Risa was going with this but she couldn’t possibly tell her that she was in fact not making a mistake and Ai really was the person Risa thought she was… only almost about a decade older – if the age of the boy still attached to the other woman’s leg was any indication. Evidently she hadn’t returned to her own time. The stupid machine was years off! Now she was faced with an image she hated. Risa and one of the reasons for their distance.
Junta. Even at such a young age, Ai could see his father in his face. There was very little of Risa in it, only his soft brown eyes made her think of his mother. However, that little resemblance was enough to make it hard for Ai to be indifferent to the child. What she’d wanted to do would mean that he and his sister would never exist or cease to exist, could she really take away Risa’s children from her… even if she would never know? It was obvious that Risa was a devoted mother. She loved her children even if her first hadn’t been planned.
Ai considered the day when Risa had told her that she might be pregnant to be the beginning of the end of her world. Not convinced by the plastic sticks the pharmacies sold as pregnancy tests, the then leader accompanied her friend to the doctor and waited anxiously with her for the results – which were positive. Her worst nightmare. She had promised Risa that she would still support her as her friend but she knew things were over. There was no way Risa would remain in Morning Musume and that man had won, he’d sunk a hook into Risa that Ai had no way to remove.
She’d been against it from the beginning – the relationship between Risa and Amenashi Yamato. The two had met when Risa’s then Korean tutor had to quit and she had recommended Amenashi, a half-Korean university student, as her replacement. On meeting the guy the first time, Ai already had a bad feeling about him. The way he looked at Risa was too warm and too attentive. He sat too close and spoke too softly so Risa had to lean in to hear him. Ai despised him and trusted him about as far as she could throw him, so when Risa finally admitted to her leader that the tutor had indeed asked her out, Ai had been livid. She cited UFA rules, former scandals and the reputation of Morning Musume as reasons why Risa shouldn’t go through with it.
Risa had gone along with her demands and she and Amenashi remained only friends but Ai could sense the threat and she was then aware that it was inevitable that in the future, someone would take Risa from her and someone else would be the person closest and most important to her best friend. She found herself not satisfied with Risa’s promise and her assertions that magazines would make something up even if nothing was happening so Risa should just get a female tutor again caused them some friction. It was from then that she started distancing herself, probably an unconscious effort to curb the dependency she realized she had on her fellow gokkie. Of course this only gave Risa more time to spend with her Korean buddy and apparently one night the two had too much to drink and it happened…
Ai didn’t believe it. She couldn’t, she was convinced that it was all an evil plan by the man to take Risa away – away from Morning Musume and her. Even after they had received the news from the doctor, Ai had briefly imagined a future of her, Risa and the baby but it wasn’t to be. He proposed, Risa accepted and Niigaki-papa and mama welcomed their new son-in-law. It was too much for Ai to stand and so she threw herself into her work and then went solo when Risa used her status as a former musume to contact her through her work and the other members. Yes, she threw away their friendship because she couldn’t stand that that was all it could be.
“Of course she wouldn’t be in Yokohoma. I guess I’ve just been missing her.”
Risa’s voice broke Ai out of her remembrance and she hoped that her spacing out hadn’t been noticed. A long time ago, though more recent, relative to the time she was in now, Risa often jokingly complained about Ai’s spacing out and not paying attention to someone speaking to her. Would such a thing give her away? She worried about what would happen if Risa realized who she was… but at the same time a small part of her wished it would happen. It would give her an excuse to come clean. Give her a chance to just grab the woman in front of her and just confess to her everything. That she loved her, wanted her, missed her, craved her...
“You should get going,” Instead she forced a smile, “or all the donuts will be gone.” A forced joke.
“Mama!” A horrified voice exclaimed, not getting the joke. Little hands wrinkled Risa’s pants in a panic, wanting to drag the woman away even though the child probably had no clue which direction the right one was to pull his mother in for his beloved ring of dough.
The woman that little girl on the beach had become laughed, “Okay, okay…” Leading the little boy by the hand, she waved her farewell to Ai, the stranger she’d bumped into. Ai waved back.
“I miss you too.” She murmured to the retreating backs of parent and child.
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@JFC: Yup, pretty much. In Quantum Leap, I don't believe he ever made it back to his own time. :( But yes, a happy ending is possible - maybe. ^^
@strawb3rrykream: Yeah, I think the family definitely deserves some sympathy. They're just victim of an author who loves TakaGaki too much. Haha... yeah, Ai-chan's a bit of a creeper. >_> ...but Gakisan still loves her despite that. XD
@Sukoshi: Thanks so much for saying you liked the endings. I really wanted a happy ending but the situation made it really hard to do one. Paradox is as much for me as it is for the readers, since I wanted a good end too! I bet Ai really had to fight with herself before deciding to change things after all.
@lil_hamz: Yup, that's pretty much how I wrote it. Even Ai knows she's dense. XD Maybe I should have left our Paradox so I could have met Hammy. :P
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This next one is just a random scene I thought up after watching the P9D DVD. Forgive any inaccuracies that might pop up since I'm still a newb as far as being a fan goes. ^^;
What You Don’t See in the DVD Extras
~&~
“It was only once and only because she was trying too hard in front of everyone!”
There was silence.
“You’re thinking that I didn’t have to kiss her, aren’t you? Did you even see my face after? I didn’t enjoy it!”
The person with her back to her, sitting at the dressing table continued ignoring her even though it was obvious that she had to have heard her. It was a small room and the bustling noise outside was muffled by a closed door.
“She kissed Aika too, only a hundred times!”
“Don’t bring others into this!”
Finally she elicited a much wanted response from her counterpart in the conversation. At least things weren’t completely one-sided now. All that was left for her to do was smooth the ruffled feathers of her rather annoyed sub-leader and things would be right in Ai’s world again.
“Risa,” she voiced softly while feeling it was finally safe to approach the other girl.
She laid a hand upon a soft exposed shoulder and felt the muscle under the skin tighten a moment before relaxing. Ai was a bit puzzled about their current situation because this was hardly the first time this sort of thing had happened in one of their concerts. This sort of behaviour was something that Sayu had become notorious for and unfortunately, her influence seemed to have spread to some of the juniors such as Junjun.
“What’s happened that this bothers you now? It’s happened before.”
The younger girl was silent again but this time, Ai could see that it was a contemplative silence and that she wasn’t being ignored so she let the other girl think. Their eyes met through the dressing table’s mirror and it was only when she began speaking that Risa broke the connection they had made through the reflective surface.
“You just called me ‘Risa’, right?”
Ai nodded but then realizing that Risa was now looking into her lap and so couldn’t see her response, she cleared her throat and answered verbally with one of her patented on word responses.
“Yes…”
“It’s not ‘Gakisan’ anymore for a reason, right?”
Risa’s questions were leading her to the answer, she was sure but so far Ai still had no clue what this answer was. It was true that recently, although it was only during their personal time out of the public eye, she no longer called Risa by her long-time nickname. This was because… oh. Ai reached the beginnings of a realization.
Turning around in her chair, Risa hugged Ai around the waist and pulled her close. Looking up at her long time friend with her chin resting just above Ai’s stomach, her face having just been cleaned of all traces of stage make-up, Risa made things clear.
“Ai-chan, it’s different now because I’m the only one who gets to kiss my girlfriend.”
Risa rose up from the chair so that she could meet Ai face to face and Ai’s breath caught as their faces were only inches apart. Risa’s voice that had slowly lowered as she spoke and her now close proximity filled the older girl with a tense sense of anticipation and Ai found her eyes closing as Risa leaned in…
“And I should be the only one my girlfriend kisses, I’m not done being mad at you.”
Having bypassed Ai’s lips to speak right beside her ear, Risa pulled back again. Despite her words though, the edges of Risa’s lips showed the beginnings of a smile. She could never stay mad at Ai for long though she struggled to maintain the façade of anger.
“Let me make it up to you.” Ai offered.
And Risa looked at her expectantly, waiting – so she touched their lips together and then wholly driven by the need for more, pressed forward with enough force that Risa was knocked back until her knees hit the chair she had just vacated and she fell back in it. Ai followed however, unwilling to let their contact come to an end there and soon enough found herself astride her girlfriend’s lap. That troublesome hair piece that had given them that bout of trouble earlier was tossed onto the nearby table and Ai found her hands in Risa’s hair, trying to prolong their kiss for as long as it was possible for them to not breathe. When air finally became an issue, their mouths parted with a final peck before moving apart.
Licking her lips reflexively, Risa looked at the girl in her lap with a look that was part dazed, part bewildered but entirely turned on. Looking down at her face, Ai couldn’t help a small smirk of satisfaction.
“What I gave Sayu wasn’t a kiss – that was a kiss.”
“Nn… but I still think we need to talk to Sayu about her habit.”
Ai agreed but little did they know that in another dressing room along the same hallway, a certain miracle was already having a serious talk with her sempai and former mentor about her ‘unacceptable’ behaviour.
@rdm: I know right? It's the sort of thing that would give anyone a headache. Y'know, like what happens when an unstoppable object meets an immovable object.
@writerjunkie: I guess we all have our own fan version of the girls based on how we perceive them. :3 I just see Sayumi being extremely persuasive to whoever ends up being her 'boyfriend'... Koharu is teh best boyfrennnnn
@Sukoshi: Haha, being as short as it is, it's quick to summarize, huh? XD Glad you liked it.
@badsaints: They're a really cute couple that I can see getting into a lot of funny scenarios. Maybe I shall write more in this 'verse sometime. I love dorky!boy Prince Koha. :3
@lil_hamz: High five! We see a lot of things in H!P the same way. XD Maybe you've been influencing me too much with your writing. As for what got me into KohaSayu recently...
@Lilith: ...I got back into them mostly because the members, including Sayumi talked about Koharu a lot more because of her graduation. ;o; And I'm happy you enjoyed the story. ^^
@pretend_2b: Haha... something like Sayumi's sister threatening to feed Koharu her cat's furballs if she ever even stands her up on a date.
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CAN'T GO BACK
I will never forget you ever…
Sayumi was packing up the last few things that remained in her room in her Tokyo apartment. Most of her clothes and valuables had been boxed and sent ahead already and all that remained were items tucked in corners and the backs of closets that she wasn’t sure about whether she should keep or throw away. She smiled as she came across an old, small-sized towel blanket that she couldn’t sleep without when she was younger that was at the bottom of one of her larger dresser drawers. Even when she had outgrown it she hadn’t been able to bear throwing it away. Deciding that she still couldn’t bear to get rid of it, she took it out to put in the ‘to keep’ pile. That was when she saw that beneath it lay a medium sized wooden box – a keepsake box.
Inside the box were an assortment of envelopes and postcards as well as purikura and small trinkets such as phone straps and cute gashapon toys. Lying at the bottom beneath all these items was a CD. It was ‘Shabondama’, the first single for her, Eri and Reina. She remembered going to a record store with Reina and Eri when it first went on sale, wanting to see people buy it – Mikitty didn’t want to come, it hadn’t been her first single after all.
Of course they had disguised themselves and did their best to look inconspicuous. It made her smile as she remembered it now, actually their disguises bordered from ridiculous to just really bad. They had been very lucky that no one figured it out, especially when they tittered excitedly to each other with speculation every time someone neared their section or promotional corner. Good thing it hadn’t taken too long for someone to make their purchase and give the girls the satisfaction they had come for. Then Sayumi, in a moment of audacity went to pick up a CD and paid for it at the counter as well. Half to her consternation and half to her relief, the bored store clerk rang up her purchase without even much looking at her face and there had been no surprise or recognition. Well, at least that was one more for Oricon.
Following that single and all the ones after, the three of them became better friends. She and Reina got along well and had a lot of fun but Eri was special and soon came to be her best friend. The two of them just hit it off and there was no one else that Sayumi would rather spend her time with. Slowly but surely her feelings for the other girl grew. Sayumi loved Eri when she was the quiet and shy girl that surprised everyone with her dancing that was attention grabbing and confident. She adored the silly side of her that played all those strange roles on their television show and she couldn’t resist the cutely lazy and air-headed side that the other girl had become comfortable enough to reveal. But Sayumi could never tell the turtle any of this because Eri had already chosen the other person in their trio to be with.
It was okay… At least, Sayumi thought it would be. The three of them could still be friends and still have fun together regardless. It was enough for her to see Eri all the time even if it hurt when she hugged Reina or held onto the shorter girl’s arm and not hers. She didn’t hate Reina for being the one Eri wanted either, even though there were times when resentment would well up in her heart. She always pushed those feelings back. After all, she loved Reina too, even if it was only as a friend. Her heart worked hard balancing between loving Eri too much and hate born of jealousy for Reina as she felt both had no place there.
It was because of her own complicated and sometimes conflicting feelings that she never noticed when things between the three of them started to shift and change. Of course because Eri and Reina were dating, there were many times when the two would go out without her. As time went by though, these occasions lessened but Sayumi failed to notice the reason why. Eri was no less eager to spend alone time with Reina but Reina would suggest they invite Sayumi along for various reasons. Such as feeling guilty for leaving the bunny behind or because where they were going was of particular interest to the other girl. Things went on like this for awhile but then the day came when everything unravelled.
My feelings don’t reach you…
The three of them were walking to the train station from the restaurant where they had eaten dinner after watching a stage play together. It was pretty windy and the temperature had dropped a good amount now that it was so late in the evening so despite their coats, jackets and scarves, the girls had their arms looped through each others and huddled together as they walked to keep warm.
“Thanks for inviting me along today, Eririn, I’ve been wanting to see that play since Ai-chan mentioned it. It was really interesting!”
“Ah, it was Reina who remembered that you wanted to see it when I told her about it.”
Sayu gave Reina a friendly bump with her shoulder, “In that case, thanks Reina.”
“No problem… Oi, Sayu, hold still for a moment.” The so-called yankii unhooked her arm from Eri’s. Detached from her girlfriend who had been on her other side, Reina took off her glove to delicately wipe her thumb just under Sayumi’s eye, her warm hand lingering just a moment longer on the taller girl’s wind cooled cheek before pulling away slowly. “You had an eyelash there,” she said while still looking intently at Sayumi.
Eri only looked at the two of them strangely while feeling the loss of warmth from where Reina’s arm had been. Finally she cleared her throat and bumped shoulders with Reina as her best friend had just done earlier.
“Come on, I’m cold! Did you two freeze into human popsicles already? Let’s go!”
The other two laughingly shook their heads and they went to catch the train.
On the train, self-proclaimed ‘ichiban kawaii’ girl, because of having had to wake up for an early job that morning, couldn’t help but be lulled by the low rumbling motion of the train into a light slumber while her head rested on the shoulder of her best friend whom she assumed would be joining her in sleep very soon since the older girl could and would sleep anywhere. However, it was an undeterminable time later that she awoke because that pillowing shoulder moved itself away from her. Not moving and only opening her eyes the tiniest bit, she noticed that Reina and Eri had slid to the other end of the long train seat. The two were talking softly and she couldn’t make out what they were saying over the rattling and rumbling of the train but Eri was getting increasingly agitated and gestured angrily with her hands, at one point grabbing onto Reina’s shoulders.
Don’t play with my heart…
“At least give me a reason why you’re breaking up with me!” Eri whispered harshly. Of all places Reina had to do it, it would be while they were in a very public train car. It was a small blessing that there were very few people in the car with them so late in the evening and what was more, most of them were otherwise preoccupied, some dozing away like their friend and others listening to music players or playing with portable gaming consoles with headphones on or buds stuck in their ears that blocked out the quiet but heated conversation between the two girls.
“Eri… I love you but it’s only as a friend.” Reina tried to loosen Eri’s grip on her shoulder but the other girl was surprisingly strong and struggling too much would only draw attention to them.
“That’s not a reason. If that’s the reason then why didn’t you reject me right in the beginning? Do you like someone else now, in that way so that’s why you’re telling me this?”
Immediately Reina looked ashamed and Eri knew she’d hit the nail on the head and it hurt so much that she had to choke down a sob. She released her girlfriend’s… or was that ex-girlfriend’s? She released Reina’s shoulders only to clench her hands into fists at her side.
“Who?” She needed to know. Reina shook her head in refusal to tell but less than a second before the announcement of their stop came over the speakers, her eyes darted quickly to Sayumi before she caught herself and looked away and things clicked in place in Eri’s mind.
“I’ll leave you to wake her.” Eri picked up her bag and when Reina tried to stop her from leaving she pushed Reina who fell back down against the seat. There was nothing Reina could possibly say that would make things okay. She dashed out the just opening doors, leaving Reina and Sayumi behind.
Sayumi hadn’t meant to watch and it hadn’t been her intention to spy on them and so to avoid awkwardness, when Reina had come to rouse her and inform her that they had reached their stop, she pretended that she had been asleep the whole time. To her shock, Reina informed her that she and Eri had had a fight and they’d broken up.
I still want to see you even now…
The next day at work, Eri avoided her two fellow sixth gen members at all costs. Reina let her be but Sayumi tried the whole day to get her best friend to talk to her. She could never get Eri alone though, as the other girl had attached herself to their sub-leader like a limpet and from there shooting her and Reina venomous looks all day.
Finally when Ai had extricated Risa from Morning Musume’s “middle manager” for something, Sayumi saw her chance. She cornered the older girl just as she was the dance studio after a private consultation with the dance choreographer. The narrow hallway with its worn green carpeting and frequent passerbys wasn’t the best place for a confrontation but Sayumi didn’t care anymore, she just wanted to find out why her best friend was ignoring her.
“Eri, talk to me! I know you’re hurt over what happened with Reina but I’m your best friend.”
“Are you?” Eri asked sharply, “Because if you were you wouldn’t have stolen Reina from me.”
“What did you say?” The often pig-tailed girl was shocked by Eri’s accusation. Her together with Reina? No, if anything she would have stolen Eri away from Reina. It didn’t make sense at all. It must be some sort of misunderstanding.
“You heard me. You are not my best friend so just leave me alone.” Eri pushed past the taller girl and continued on her way, leaving Sayumi to put together the pieces of information she had received.
Leaning her back against the wall, Sayumi slid until she was seated and hugged her legs to her chest with a shuddering breath. She could feel tears prickling the undersides of her eyelids even as she blinked them back. It wasn’t enough that she couldn’t have Eri because she loved Reina, now Eri had to hate her too? She heard footsteps heading in her direction and even though she knew she should move and that an idol shouldn’t be found slumped over, red-eyed in a hallway, she couldn’t muster the will to get up. Maybe it was Eri coming back. Maybe Eri would tell her she realized it wasn’t Sayu’s fault and Sayu was still her best friend.
I want you to love me…
“Sayu!” That voice, it wasn’t Eri’s.
Reina ran over to the visibly distraught girl, crouching down beside her.
“Sayu, what are you doing on the floor like that? Come on, get up! Let’s at least get you out of the hallway.”
Sayumi was in no shape to refuse as the smaller girl showed surprising strength pulling her up and headed with her straight out the closest exit. They ended up in a small café’s corner booth where they could have some small ounce of privacy once drinks had been ordered and served. At Reina’s urging, Sayumi began to talk.
“Eri told me that I’m the reason you two broke up. She hates me even though it’s not my fault. I’ve never liked you that way and even if I did I wouldn’t do anything to get between you two, I wouldn’t do that to my best friend.” Sayumi explained all this in a despondent monotone, staring into her steaming lemon tea and so missing the quick grimace Reina showed at the end of the explanation.
“Sayu, please look at me.”
Reina waited until their eyes met before she continued, “It’s not your fault but you are the reason. I like you. I think I might have fallen in love with you.”
Sayumi was too shocked to move and misinterpreting her non-reaction as acceptance, Reina leaned forward across the table to kiss the girl she had been admiring all this while. Seeing Reina’s face so quickly closing the distance between them, Sayumi reacted based on instinct and turned her face away so that the other girl’s lips only met her cheek.
“Reina… don’t.” With a gentle hand on the other girl’s shoulder she pushed her away. So she really was the reason why her friends had broken up, Sayumi realized. “This is… too much.”
Struggling with her purse, she hastily dumped what she was sure would cover her drink and even the other’s mocha latte onto the table before fleeing, leaving Reina once more calling after a girl would not turn back.
You’re still in my heart…
Eri was really glad that she was twenty. It meant she was allowed to drink to her hearts content. Even though she wasn’t a big fan of what would be called the hard stuff, tonight was an exception because it was the easiest way to forget. Downing another shot of what looked like water but burned like fire going down her throat, she slammed the glass rather indelicately against the bar table to demand another.
The bartender cast a disapproving glance in her direction but slid another over. However, before she could grab the glass, another hand shot out and pulled it from her reach.
“Hey, that’s mine. Get yer own!” The idol growled.
“Eri, you’ve had enough. Stop this.”
Surprisingly for the new arrival, Eri just started laughing. Laughing so hard that she was slamming her hands on the table, laughing so hard she was crying.
“This is just great, priceless. So you’re not just stealing my girlfriend anymore, huh? You’re stealing my drinks too? What next Sayu? What more do you want to take from me!”
She yelled had so loudly that many patrons looked their way and Sayumi was starting to get nervous about ending up in the next day’s gossip magazines.
“Calm down!” Sayumi hissed this while settling on the stool beside Eri and ducking her head. “What do I have to do so you’ll just listen to me?”
Eri waved to the bartender before mouthing something and holding up one finger. A nod of acknowledgement later and the man soon slid to their side of the bar with a circular tray filled with shot glasses that were just like the one Sayumi had intercepted earlier. There were one dozen in all.
“Drink all of these and then we’ll talk.” Eri stated with startling sobriety all of a sudden.
Sayumi had a low tolerance and little love for alcohol, Eri knew this. Drinking even half of them would probably have the younger girl throwing up her guts all of the next morning.
“Well?” Eri prompted, sure that she would soon be left alone again.
Instead of leaving though, Sayumi picked up the shot glass and quickly downed the alcohol, her face scrunching up even more than when it ever had for their penalty game drinks. From the second drink, Sayumi could already feel that her cheeks were getting hot and she knew her face was going red from the alcohol but she still reached for another. She just hoped that she could still speak coherently when time came to explain things to Eri. Things started getting blurry around after the fifth shot.
The next thing she knew Sayumi was waking up in a strange bed and a ceiling she didn’t recognize. Not that she had time to think about that as she felt her stomach rebel and she leaned over the side of the bed to find a conveniently placed trash can to heave her insides into.
“Whoa easy there!” Footsteps muffled by a carpeted floor padded over and Sayumi felt her hair being held back and she could feel a hand rubbing against her back in soothing circles. Her aching head was still throbbing and the blinding sunlight shining through the windows only made it worse and forced her to squint so that she could slowly get used to it.
“Eri?” She’d passed out from the alcohol and might be having the worst hangover of her life but at least it would have been worth it if Eri was speaking to her again.
“Sayu, it’s not Eri, it’s Risa. Ai and I got a call from Kame last night telling us that we’d better come get you if we didn’t want ‘Morning Musume: a drunk mess’ to be in the headlines today. What the hell were you thinking?”
So that was how it was. Eri didn’t even care beyond what it meant to them as a group when Sayumi had passed out last night and of course that would be the responsibility of the leader and sub-leader. Things between her and Reina were still messy at best as there was no way she could reciprocate the girl’s feelings. She didn’t know how she was supposed to face either of them.
After that, though Sayumi made several more attempts and mending things with Eri, none of them ever worked out. Reina never gave up either which only made things worse. At last the tension affected their group so much that something had to be done. That was why Michishige Sayumi graduated from Morning Musume.
If you love me let me fly away…
Sayumi sealed the final box and wiped her hands down the front of her jeans, getting rid of the dust that had settled on them. She opened her cellphone where a picture of herself, Eri and Reina smiled at her from its place as the wallpaper. Following a couple of beeps it was deleted and replaced by the simple default background. She didn’t need the picture because she doubted she would ever forget the memories she’d made.
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I got inspired to write this after watching the PV for Yuna Ito's Ima demo aitai yo 「今でも会いたいよ…」 PV. The story's a bit choppy so I used some of the lines from the song to act as breaks to soften the transitions. Hopefully it turned out okay. It was only supposed to be about 800 words so I don't know how this happened. v_v