Emofag's like my endearing nickname for Ai-chan, roffle xDDD You'll hear me call her that quite often...
And in regards to the members giving chocolates to Reina, it's in order of seniority xDDDDD Thought I made it quite obvious o-o;
ANYWHO
This story was written around January-ish, but I never got to finish it T_T; So today, I sat down and finished it, though a bit horribly T_____T....
Oh well, enjoy~!
Love in the Ice
Are you afraid of something?
She rubbed her hands together, generating as much heat as she could. The maroon and tan scarf wasn’t doing much to warm her neck. Each breath of air painted a white stroke upon her canvas of sight. The scenery around her resembled something out of a wintery painting. Everything was glistening brightly, bringing an unfamiliar, yet calm, atmosphere to the usual diseased streets.
Her shivering hands wrapped around her elbows, shaking up and down to warm that section of her body next. She was never one for cold weather—she was a turtle after all. She took a moment to bring her white purse strap back up to her shoulder, it having dropped to her elbow when she switched position. Afterwards, she adjusted her beige hat, fitting it snuggly onto her dark bronze hair.
She walked faster as she found the sight of her destination, the recording studio. The scenery seemed to zoom by her as she practically ran to the door and yanked on it.
The door didn’t budge.
“Eh?” the brunette-haired woman blinked her dark eyes. She pulled again, only to be met with silence and her own body thrown back from pulling too hard.
“Eeeeeh?” she widened her eyes, placing both hands on the door and pulling like her life depended on it. The door shook, yes, but opened? No. She crossed her arms and pouted at the menacing door, glaring contemptuously at the loathsome hunk of junk. She whipped out her phone and texted.
Gaki-saaaaan~! The door to the recording studio is locked! ;_;
She waited for a reply.
Silly Pokepokepu, no one’s recording today. It’s tomorrow. xDDD…
Ah!! Eri’s mouth dropped. Feeling a crimson shade coming on (and it’s not ‘cause of the cold), she shuffled away from the studio with her hands in the pockets of her dark brown four-buttoned coat.
What a waste of time! Eri you atomic warhead of foolishness The turtle punished herself in her head, smacking at her head with clenched fists. I could be at home sleeping… a frown etched its way onto the woman’s mouth. She focused on the ground ahead of her as she started to walk home, still embarrassed by her earlier episode. Little by little, she began to notice tiny white tufts of fluff falling on the ground. She paused in her walk and looked up.
Her face grew cold, looking at the pure white sky. The fluffs she saw earlier were surely falling, although slowly as if it was gliding down instead of falling down. As she remained still, she felt the snowflakes touch her cheek, leaving a cold sensation where it landed. The white sky hovered overhead, and within it dropped the tiniest little balls of white…
“Ah…” the turtle smiled, “It’s snowing again…” her frown turned upwards into a goofy little grin as she looked down to continue walking again. Watching everything with the added flakes of snow surely brought her mood up. She found herself unable to get rid of that smile, making her giggle more, brightening her smile even more than usual.
“You seem to be happy.”
Eri nearly rammed into a random pole as that voice spoke.
“What kind of reaction is that?” a solemn question came through the mouth of the woman with confused doe-like eyes.
“A-Ai! Don’t scare me like that! You ninja’d me!” Eri clasped at her heart, attempting to calm it down.
“Don’t be silly,” a small smile appeared at the Morning Musume leader’s lips.
What’s Ai doing here? Her eyes wandered all over the other’s, taking note of the white jacket she wore along with the forest green scarf and a simple pair of jeans and boots which made Ai just as tall as her, “Cute boots, did you buy them recently?”
“I did,” was the simply reply of the leader.
“Cool…”
“Yeah…”
Silence.
“Where are you off to?” Ai suddenly asked.
“Me?” Eri pointed to herself, “I’m just going home now…”
“I see…”
Silence.
This is unbelievable… I’m alone with Ai?! I mean, sure we go out a lot but that’s because Sayu or Gaki-san are usually with us, and THEY’D be the one doing the inviting in the first place! Ai and I are just… really awkward if it’s just us…
“Hnn…”
“Do you have something on your mind?”
“Walk,” the older simply said.
“Huh?” Eri raised a brow.
“I mean… I’ll walk you home…”
Eri blinked. The small leader looked at her almost earnestly, a faint flush suddenly appearing on her face. Is it because of the cold or because of what she said? A smile returned to the features of Eri’s equally flustered face as she nodded humbly.
The ground echoed as the two walk down the street. Despite wearing a hat, the turtle could feel the droplets of frost one-by-one on her head. She brushed off the top of her hat and was surprised that a single swipe had sent a thin layer off her head. Wow, was I out in the snow for that long with her? Eri eyed Ai’s hand for a while, wondering if it would be rude of her to grab it…
Deciding on a lark, Eri’s hand shot out to grab her leader’s, slipping her fingers between the other’s. Ai did not react in the slightest, much to the relief of the reddening turtle. Instead, the leader gave a tiny, subtle squeeze and continued walking as if it was the most normal thing to do.
Ah… She didn’t get angry… So glad! the taller thought to herself, unaware that she was smiling like a dork again.
“It’s hot…”
Eri raised a brow before finally connecting the dots together. She looked at Ai—really looked. “But your skin is ice cold…”
Just like you… Eri nearly blurted aloud, but kept silent.
Not to say that Ai’s mean or anything but…She bit her lip back. This woman whose hand I’m holding right now… she’s so cold…
Like she’s encased in ice… Completely frozen…
“With only your image showing…” Eri uttered under her breath, but realized the mistake of her utterance and her eyes widened.
Ai looked at her in confusion. “Did you say something?”
“Eh…. Nothing…” Eri waved her other hand dismissively.
Ai continued staring, her mocha eyes attempting to read the younger but to no avail. Instead, she simply looked forward once more, keeping her solemn expression. Seeing her leader’s stern face, she couldn’t help but frown.
Why does she have this wall of ice surrounding her? Her eyes stayed on the floor, merely watching their feet walking together. Eri was like that too, but she opened up eventually… She was merely fourteen when she joined, and everyone was nice to her, which allowed her to blossom up eventually. Ai was the same age, wasn’t she? The turtle stole a glance at Morning Musume’s doe (or would that be stag? Leader and all…) once more. She didn’t really watch Morning Musume that much, at least, not like a devoted fan would, so she wasn’t aware of how Ai was when she joined.
“What was it like?”
Ai continued looking ahead, but answered offhandedly, “What?”
“Before the rokkies came… What was Morning Musume like?”
A thoughtful pause, then a voice said, “No change. It was chaotic and it still is chaotic even now. I’m merely a bystander to it all.”
Were you alone even then? “That’s a lie. Gaki-san said you can be pretty insane too!”
“She said that?” Ai’s face lit up with amusement, “now that was a lie.”
How much does Gaki-san understand you? “I dunno, you were one crazy witch for Halloween last year…”
“It’s just an out of character moment,” she sighed.
An out of character moment you said… I really thought it was you coming through your ice wall… But that was the only time you went out. You went inside your ice cage afterwards.
“How long has it been since we’ve joined Momusu? Six years for me…And almost eight for you?”
“Yeah.”
It’s been that long and you STILL hold back around us? Gaki-san is like a sister to us all, but you…
Ai glanced back at Eri, bemused at the sudden change of atmosphere.
You’re still a stranger to us all…
“Ai…” Eri’s cheeks turned into a darker hue of red, “why do you do that?” She knew she would be reprimanded for this, but she kept to it. It just had to come out.
It was now or never.
“Why are you so distant with everyone?” dark brown eyes stared at the floor, unwilling to meet the eyes of the other.
“I’ve spoken to everyone yesterday, if that’s what you’re saying.”
Wrong answer.
“No… Not that…Just…” Why can’t I say it? Eri felt herself tremble under Ai’s scrutiny.
“Just what?”
“Why are you so cold? When I talk to you, I feel like I’m speaking with sculpture of you… Not you…” She felt her heart racing alone in her throbbing chest.
“What are you talking about?”
Eri looked up to find doe-like eyes staring at her, attempting to comprehend her… She still doesn’t know, even though she spelt it out for her?! Oh she’ll comprehend her alright…!
“Ai… Why are you still locked up in your heart…? There’s this ice that your heart’s encased in… Making it hard for any of us to reach you… Your heart… Why aren’t you acting like yourself? Your true self? It took me two years to open up, but you’ve had almost eight years to do it, but you’re still hiding inside of the ice cage… Why aren’t you coming out at all?”
The older continued staring at the younger, though remaining quiet. Eri looked away, just about bracing herself for a scolding from the other. She felt Ai’s hand squeeze her tightly, yanking lightly upon it. With that, Eri turned to look at the leader again, expecting to meet an angry face, but was surprised when she saw Ai… about to cry? At least… it LOOKED like she was about to…
Eri felt bad for saying all that immediately, seeing her leader like this. A pang of regret tugged at her chest, but it’s going to have to be something she had to endure since she already let everything out…
“I’m sorry!” she blurted, “I didn’t mean to…”
She left out the rest of the sentence as Ai proceeded to walk, tugging her as well.
Oh no… I got her angry… Eri’s brow knit closely together. A whitened sigh painted the canvas of the air afterwards. But…
She did it again…
She shut me out of her heart…
A frown tugged at the edges of her lips.
Is there really nothing I could do to melt that ice…?
Not even Gaki-san?
If it was me, I’d hug you until your fears melt away…
“Nee.”
Eri looked up, blinking confusedly, “Huh?”
“You’re crying.”
Her hand shot up to her face, feeling the wetness of her sudden tears. “Oh…It’s nothing…” she waved her hand dismissively, “just thinking about things a bit too deep is all! There’s nothing wrong with me!” at this point, she was waving that hand a bit too frantically…
Seeing how Ai continued to coldly stare at her, Eri dropped her hand at her side and let out another sigh. “I’m… sorry…” she rubbed her face with the sleeve of her jacket, “I got you angry earlier, didn’t I?”
“It’s fine,” Ai simply said, “You pointed out a vulnerability from me. I was taken aback is all.”
The turtle blinked incredulously at the doe. Now it was her turn to be confused. “vulnerability?”
“I’m…” Ai paused, looking up at the air methodically, “…still afraid, you might say.”
“All these years?”
“It’s silly, I know,” Ai let out a chuckle, though kept her face out of Eri’s line of vision. “I’m a fool.”
“Hnn… It’s not silly, I think…” Eri cut in, “It’s not your fault those hands are cold… Everyone is weak one way or another…”
“I suppose so…”
“I mean, even though you have things that bring you down, you’re still that amazing Ai who outshines us all onstage~!” Eri lifted a finger in the air.
“Me? No no no…” the older shook her head vigorously, “I’m no outshiner…”
“Tell that to all the fans you have, you’re the most popular,” Eri grinned goofily, “But Ai, don’t you think it’s about time that the wall surrounding you should melt?”
The silence following that question bothered Eri. She released Ai’s hand and moved closer to the other, clinging to her arm tightly.
“You said I was hot right? Well let me…let all of us help you melt that ice, is that fine with you?”
“You’re just full of metaphors today, huh?” Ai smiled to herself.
“What’s wrong with that?” the turtle pouted.
“You’re finally acting 20.”
“You mean I wasn’t before?!” Eri’s eyes went as large as dinner plates.
Ai could only laugh and rest her head on the taller’s shoulder.
"Wait a minute..." Eri paused mid-step, causing the other to stop as well, "if we met near the studio... does that mean you also forgot that today wasn't a recording day?"
Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot.
Ai pulled herself away from the other and trudged on, much to the panic of the turtle. Before the younger could apologize, the shorter looked back and smiled widely.
"Just kidding!"
Because it is Love as beautiful as she is miserable…
If it was up to me, I would make your heart warm with eternal tenderness…
-prances off- o_O
Topic: Yuuyami's Reflections [You can't just...!] (Read 88906 times)