OMG thank you guys! For loving this. :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: I'm surprised that I haven't got any tomato in my face :cathappy: :cathappy:
Just a bit of clarification, that I'm still not sure how is this fic gonna develop, kinda depend on my feeling and mood of course. :nervous :nervous It's definitely about Atsumina, but for now, it's all about their bond and strong friendship more than love kind of thing, so.. :nervous :nervous I hope you guys don't mind. I am their shipper, but there are too many fics out there about their love and all, so I think this could be a change, for something new. XD XD Most of the events in this fic will be real life events. Things that actually happened in their lives that I use for more of a real life feeling. And if there is anytime that you're unsure about any detail in this fic, don't hesitate to ask me is it real or not, or when was it happen if you're interest.
And I should stop :nervous :nervous I hope you guys enjoy this update :deco: :deco:
Again, thank you all very much!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! :deco: :deco:
P/S: a special thank to BouJ-525 for proof reading. I love chuuuuuuu~ XD XD
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Chap 1: Present day - Graduated, now what?
(Note: Italic lines are Atsuko's thought and bold italic lines are Minami's )
Sitting in her comfortable couch, Atsuko stared absentmindedly at her playing-twice-in-a-row Twilight's DVD. It was like she didn't even know what she was watching.
"This is so boring...when will my new drama begin shooting again? Urg..not even in a week!! I should call Mi... NO!" Atsuko silently cursed herself at the thought of calling HER. "Old habit dies hard. That's all." She told herself.
She, Maeda Atsuko, top idol, well, used to be at least, of Japan's number one Idol group AKB48, just graduated half year ago and already felt her life was boring to death. Filming was finished just a couple months after she graduated, the promotions ended the following month. All she did after that was a few photoshoots for magazines, couple of awards, her normal radio show. She had SO MUCH free time! At first she was so ecstatic about it, planned lots and lots of things to do now that she wasn't in AKB anymore, she had all those time for herself: like take care of her dogs, shopping, watch all of the DVDs that she hadbought but hadn't had time, visit her parents, etc. However, when all the exciting died down, here she was, sitting in her new apartment, watching movies. Somehow, it made her felt so pathetic. She didn't even like this apartment. Just because of that stupid scandal.. She couldn't believe herself getting THAT drunk. It was supposed to be just a normal hang out with Yuko and Harugon. And those idiots brought in Takeru and his friends. She sneered at the thought of those photos leaked in ShukanBunshun. Even Miichan could carry her better than that, not to mention Mi..ahem.. And she couldn't move back to her old place. She didn't want to..to.. she couldn't.. Letting out a sigh, she decided to skip the thought, turned off her TV and walked toward the bedroom.
"Maybe I should go for a run tomorrow, I'm getting fat."
Smiling at the thought ofhaving something to do, she flipped open her phone to update her newest idea on twitter..only to be flooded by direct messages from Mariko and Tomochin. And..a text message. From HER. Her brows furrowed. Unless there was something serious happening, SHE would never contact her. Okay, text first.
Miichan is in trouble. Got caught staying overnight at a guy's house. Shukan Bunshun
Miichan? Her Miichan?Her forever-a-pimp-husband? She felt her head spinning at the thought.
Shukan Bunshun again. Could she burn that tabloid down somehow?
Miichan.. Atsuko quickly skimmed through twitter, knowing Mariko and Tomochin had probably told her the same thing. They were coming to Miichan's place now. She must be there, too! It's her Miichan, her precious hubby, she would support her no matter what. Rushing to her bedroom, pulling out a T-shirt and a jean, she typed her reply to Mariko, tolet them know she's coming. Grabbing the key to her car, she practically ran to the lift and pressed impatiently. Her phone chimed.
Catch a taxi. Don't drive.
It's HER. Atsuko felt her heart clenching at the text. She knew. Of course she knew Atsuko would tend to drive over. Of course she knew how panicked Atsuko was, and how clumsy she got when she panicked. So she told Atsuko what to do. She sighed defiantly, taxi it was then.
"Why the hell does this lift takes so long?"
Her phone chimed again. This time, she took a deep breath before reading it.
Your jacket. It's cold outside.
If possible, her heart would jump out of its place or fell down to her stomach. Wait, seemed like it was already there. She looked back to her closed door, and saw that the lift was about to come to her floor. Atsuko sighed.
"God, why do you hate me this much?"
-----
Atsuko was panicked. Granted, she panicked as soon as she found out about Miichan, but this was totally different. This was the first time ever, after 5 months since she graduated, she would meet HER. She was standing in front of Miichan's door and it hit her. Hard. She didn't know how to face the other girl.
" It will be okay. You will be okay, Atsuko. Cool up and behave like when you walked out of her house last year. Or her life. Or..oh God, whatever! You can do this. Just keep your cool, Atsuko. Keep your.."
Click.
The door opened.
"...cool.. wha.. BREATHE ATSUKO!"
There stood Takahashi Minami.
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"How the hell did that midget know that Acchan's arrived?" An annoyed Tomochin growled. Apparently, the girls inside made a bet about her. Funny, huh? They bet on how long it would take her to be there. Mariko won them all. Well, she wasn't really surprised since this was how dorky her friends were. What surprised her, however, was what Mariko bet for: Takamina would know exactly when she arrived to open the door for her. Atsuko swore that sometimes that old woman (she didn't dare to think out loud or she would face the wrath of Mariko, and God knew no one wants to.) was a psychic or something because she knew everything. That was including their little secret. How did Mariko figure that out? Devil helped her of course!
"Please, Tomo, I thought you should have known by now that Takamina can read Acchan like an open book? Wait, you didn't drive here, did you, Acchan?" Mariko turned to her.
"No, I caught a cab. It was.."
"Hah! I'm on a roll tonight. Tomochin, pay up! You too, Yukarin!" - Mariko grinned widely
"I will never do this again. This is so stupid."
Atsuko could only shake her head with a smile on her lips. These wereher friends. Dorky, crazy friends. And she loved them. A lot. Whoever dared to doubt her love for any 1st generation members was definitely out of their mind or blind. Looking around Miichan's house, she realised it had been quite long time since the last time she came here. Everything was pretty much..
"..The same, huh?"
Here it came. The moment that she had been dreadful for.Debating internally, Atsuko closed her eyes tight andcounted to ten. She knew the other girl KNEW what she was doing, and she would wait for Atsuko to open her eyes and say something.
"One.. Two.. Three..F.."
"I know you're counting, but I have to go to help Miichan. Here is your orange juice. Just come in the kitchen whenever you’re ready. I will try my best so that you won't have to see me that much tonight."
Eyes shot opened. And fell into a pool of brown orbs, drowned in its intensive, the same feeling Atsuko had every time she stared deeply in those eyes. A bang of guilt and hurt washed through her heart at the words. She knew it was her fault. She knew she had hurt the girl badly. Hell, she wouldn't even forgive herself. Atsuko tried to bit back her threatenly-fall-out tear while trying to think of something to say..
"I.."
" It's okay, Maeda-san."
With that, Minami turned and walked away from Atsuko, leaving the girl standing, shocked at the formality of the name that came from her. She couldn't handle it any longer. She was pushing her limit by texting the girl about Miichan, and the taxi, AND the jacket. Now that Atsuko was here, looking nothing but like the same old girl that she knew, yet different in a way that she hadn't quite figure out. And she hated it. She hated the feeling of NOT knowing something about the girl. So she walked away. This needed to end. They agreed on it. Just..one night. They were together with the others, that wouldn't be too hard, right? And then she could go back to living her life, her non-Atsuko life, which she was now starting to get used to. There was no reason one night could do any harm to ruin it. As Minami kept walking, ignoring the painful thud in her chest, she heard it. The most vulnerable voice of the girl, that she had only heard once in that 6 years long..
"Gomen, Minami..."
She stopped death on her track. Her fist clenched so hard that she imagined they would flood with blood if she opened them.
One..two.. three..
"God, why did she have to make this harder for me? and why can't I just walk away?"
Releasing the breath she had been holding, Minami spoke without turning back.
"It's okay... Maeda-san."
She had to walk away. There was no other way. Walk away or experience that terrible heart-broken feeling again. The fucked up thing was she wasn't even sure which one was less painful.
Little did she know...if she turned around to see those tears now falling freely in the girl's face, those tears that she had been dying to see couple years ago, things might be different. A big might, but still.
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Atsuko's feet were glued at the spot. To say she was shocked was the understatement of the century. She knew that it would be hard for them, seeing each other again. But this, this was something she could never expect. After all the concern text, the opened door, God, the glass of juice SHE brought over was still there..Maeda-san?MAEDA-SAN? Of all things, it had to be her name? Did she fuck everything that bad? That Minami couldn't even bear to call her "Atsuko" anymore? Not even "Acchan". Weird, wasn't it? But to them, calling each other's name instead of nickname was something..just between themselves, and it was more personal, since their nicknames were up for everyone to call. Now that Minami even refused to address her by her first name. She must had been serious about the whole thing. Right, who wouldn't? She indeed fucked everything up bad. But even if sheadmitted her fault over and over again, the pain thathad been assaulted her before would never go away, not after hearing her calling her "Maeda-san". Her heart screamed at her to run, run as far as she could, but her mind was too busy repeating Minami's words to comply.
"What had I done to that girl? Is this how she felt when I..it hurts. What had I done?"
"Miichan said if you're not ready, it's okay, you don't have to be here." - A cold voice interrupted her thought. Tomochin. And all her effort to keep herself in place broke down. She launched herself at her best friend, crying her heart out.
"I'm so sorry, Tomochin. God I'm so sorry. I'm such an asshole. I'm.." - she couldn't continue her rant as the tears streamed down her pretty face. Tomochin wrapped her arms around her friend and sighed. God knew she loved them all, but all these dramas made her head ache and her heart weaken, seeing her two best friends suffering.
"There, there.. I knew you two were going tobe a mess. I hate being the right one now.." - Tomochin gently patted Atsuko's head that hided in her neck. They were seriously a mess. "Will you be okay with her in there for Miichan just for a couple hours? You can go home with me tonight and talk things out abit?"
Sniffing and nodding, Atsuko tightened her hold around Tomochin. She came to a conclusion that she was an utterly, undoubtedly idiot to walk away from this in the beginning. No, she was the biggest fool in the world.
"You're okay there? Jesus I hope Mariko does a better job with Takamina or else this night will turn to support you two instead of Miichan because she even worry about you two, not the other way around." - Tomochin joked, trying to lighten the mood, and smiled satisfied at herself as she earned a light giggle from the crying bag in her arms.
"Un~. I feel better. Thank you Tomo." - Atsuko said, her voice still quivering but not as sad. "How did she.." she hesitated, not sure either she wanted to know or not.
"Oh well, surprisingly, she wasn't the one that got to hug me. Ouch, geeez I was just kidding. Contain your jealousy, woman." Tomochin laughed at Atsuko attempting to hit her again. "Look, she is not alright, but she can manage. Mari-chan is talking, no, comforting her now, so..just, Acchan, promise me, woman I'm begging you now, leave her alone tonight. Can you do that?" Tomochin pleaded.
"I.. I don't know to be honest. I think my presence itself is a pain to her. And it only makes me want to either run away or don't give a fuck about eveything and just hug her.."
"That is why I'm asking you to leave her alone. You don't know it yourself, so please, please... stick with me and DO NOT talk to her until you sort out your shit, okay?" Tomochin looked straight in Atsuko's eyes, determined to keep her friend at bay. She messed up enough for the last year already.
"Are you taking her side? I thought you were my best friend?" Atsuko asked in a fake-mocked expression. She understood why. They had coped with her graduation and the mess she left behind. With the one she left behind. She didn't need to fuck that up again.
"Woman, I'm not taking anyone's side. I'm doing whatever I have to do to get rid of your dramas. My head is still hurt whenever I think of that time whenTakamina.." -Tomochin stopped, realised she almost slipped the supposedly secret information. "Never mind, let's go. I hope they finished their cooking because I'm hungry. You owe me girl."
"Takamina what, Tomo?" - Atsuko grabbed her friend's left arm, stopping her from moving. "Is there anything I should know? What happened?"
"Nothing. Let's go, seriously Acchan, if you can't hear my stomach.."
"Tomo."
Tomochin sighed, cursing her duck mouth for letting that slipped.
"Listen, Acchan. You walked away. You were the one that chose to leave. And you didn't even turn back to see how we were doing. We ARE friends, and you just... vanished. So many things happened, if you ask me. We were NOT fine. I understand your dream, I understand. Mariko, Haruna and Miichan understand too. But it's hard. Everything wasn't the same anymore and we were trying. If it's hard for us, can you imagine how hard it was for her? I didn't know what really happen, to be honest. Only Mariko knows. The only thing I can tell you is, it took three of us, me, Haruna and Miichan to stop Mariko from hunting Yuko down and kill her...first. Then you." - Tomochin closed her eyes, trying desperately not to be reminded by the memory. "It seemed so serious that neither of us dared to ask anything."
Atsuko was speechless. Mariko knew? And she's still alive? She must take a note to thank Miichan, Tomochin and Haruna for their effort. Really.
"By that look on your face, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. So..can we go in now and you stick with me? NOT a word to Takamina. Deal?" - Tomochingave out her hand, offering it to Atsuko to take.
"Deal."
----------------------
In another corner of the house..
A super tall figure was hugging a super small one while said small one was crying silently, wetting the taller's shirt, which of course none of them even cared about. Mariko was..she didn't even know her feeling. She was half angry and half pissed. Not directly at Atsuko, somehow, but to her, Atsuko was..the BIGGEST idiot of all time. She loved the girl. For God's sake she loved them both, too much that sometimes she felt like she was their mom or something. A year ago when she found out what happened, she was FUMING. At both Atsuko and Yuko. At Atsuko for being an idiot and Yuko for..for.. being Yuko, an aggressive, over-ambitious Yuko. She was at the edge of killing them both, not because of what they had done, but because how bad they hurt Minami by doing so. She still couldn't understand how could anyone, ANYONE, do that to her little kind-hearted, innocent, caring girl. Gritting her teeth, she tightened her hold on the tiny figure in her arms.
"It will be okay, Minami. Everything will be okay. We're here for Miichan, remember?" - Mariko gently spoke to the girl
"I know, Mari-chan. I know. It's just.. just give me a minute, then we can go." - Minami's answer came softly as she burrowed her head further in Mariko's neck. She was so thankful, having Mariko here. She was her life saver, a big sister that she never had, a pillow that she could lean on for support when she had no one. She owed Mariko her life.
"Mkay."
"Promise me to stay by my side tonight? I can't.. I can't handle her alone.." - a pleaded. And Takahashi Minami hardly pleaded to anyone. Except two people in this world.
"You know that I will, midget. You're too tiny to be left alone."
"Hey.."
"Shall we go?"
"Un."
...
"Mari-chan?"
"Hmmm?"
"Thank you."
"I'm hungry. Just quickly cook me curry." Mariko stated, causing Minami to stare at her in disbelief. Then a smile broke into her lips. Yep. She owed Mariko her life.
"KATSU-CURRY!"
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"Seriously, Yukarin, are they even here for me?" - a shaved head Miichan said grumpily. She was the one that got caught in a scandal, shaved her head, apologised in Youtube video, got demoted to kenkyuusei, and four out of five of her friends were nowhere to be seen, much less being here to support her.
"There, you were the one that told them to settle thing down. Don't be grumpy, baby girl." Yukarin replied. She didn't even bother to look up from the magazine that she was reading. "I know you worry, but leave it to them, okay? Beside, shouldn't you be worried about your position?"
"Pffff, please Yukarin, you know me better than that. I'm Miichan. I can always get my way back. But those two.. "
"See, why were you complaining aboutthe fact that they're not here for you? I knew you just wanted to jump out and check if the girls are still here. And trust me they are."
"HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM IT HAD BEEN 10 MINUTES AND NONE OF THEM IS BACK IM GONNA CHECK ON... Oh hello there Mari-chan. And Takamina." Miichan was stopped in the middle of her ranting to the sigh of a puffy eyes midget and a smiling Mariko. Assuming that everything went well, she jumped straight to Minami's arms and hugged her tightly, which Minami returned with the same affection.
"Sorry Miichan. We are here for you, but I made you worry.." Minami whispered, tears were about to fall out again. She loved Miichan. And even when she knew this demotion wouldn't affect Miichan that much since she was still in AKB, it still hurt her to seeMiichan shaved her head. That was why she decided to cut her hair with Miichan, so that the youngest girl wouldn't feel so lonely.
"Nonsense Bakamina."Miichan mumbled.
"Well at least she wasn't the one that got caught in scandal." Mariko pulled them out of their embrace, lazily pointing to the kitchen " I want my curry. Now chop chop! we don't have all night! Oh Tomochin and Atsuko, finally, come and give Miichan a hand in making dinner."
"Old hag!"
"Oba-san"
"If only Haruna is here..."
"HEY I HEARD THAT! AND I WANT MY CURRY!"
=================================
(To be continued)
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*hide in a corner*
:panic: :panic: :panic: :panic: :panic: :panic: :panic:
Oh. My. God. Guys this is so overwhelming for real :panic: :panic: :panic: :panic: Thank you so. so. much!!
Okay, reply time.
stv_wong: I KNOW RIGHT? I love their bonds! just so beautiful and so strong. I like the way they would always be there for each other whatever happens. And thank you, Bou-J525 helped me alot with my grammar and all.. seriously. About what Acchan and Yuko did... :lol: :lol: you'll find out soon.
takamae, hikari_043083, FlameHazeKatsu, Minami-chan, Haruko, KojiYuu44, FNK23, kenjoy12, TakaminaBG : Like I said, everything will open up soon XD I'm glad I got you guys curious there though :deco: :deco: a hint would be it definitely has nothing to do with Acchan's scandal with Takeru. And I know how you feel about Minami being so sad :cry: you will understand soon.
kurosawa87: LOL I found myself smiling while writting that scene to be honest. Miichan is always the supportive type so I thought that would be more like her XD XD
arrow27: thank you! I hope I can maintain the idea :panic: :panic: Actuall I'm kinda suck at writing something that completely different to AKB48 that I know, so.. using real life events helps me alot :nervous :nervous
cisda83: thank you! I can't say that the fic places entirely in the present, after Acchan graduated. :nervous You will understand after this update. XD
Tanchan: OMG I LOVE YOU FINALLY SOMEONE APPRECIATES ATSUMINATOMO!! I love them. They are definitely best friends and my favourite 91ers in AKB!! And everyone loves Mari-troll! about your logic comment.. :shocked did you read my mind or something? Yes to all the things you said. But I hope the flow will surprise you in a way. If you still follow this fic after this update, please continue on commenting and let me know what you think! :bow: :bow:
TO ALL SILENT READERS: THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!
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Chapter 2: The day it all began
(Note: Italic lines are Atsuko's thought and bold italic lines are Minami's )
"Excuse me, Akimoto-sensei, do you mind repeat that? A what?" - A young, tiny teenage girl with her hair tied up as a ponytail raised her voice at the old man sitting in his desk. Beside her was another girl, at a similar age, a bit taller and short hair, nodding in agreement.
They had been ordered to meet with their producer, Akimoto Yasushi, in early morning that day, and were told that it was an emergency matter, which sensei wanted to discuss with them alone. Even if either of them found that odd, they kept their curiosity intact. It was not foreign to them anymore about the fact that their producer sometimes had...crazy ideas in his mind.
Like, look at them, they were a bunch of teenage girls, rarely knowing anything about singing and dancing and entertainment world, yet here they were, followed this old man forming an idol group named AKB48. They hadn't had their debut yet, but it would come quite soon, in a month to be exact. So in their little mind, all they could think of was some matter related to their work.
They just didn't know how crazy this was.
"A contract." - the man smiled at his two favourite girls so far. "A friendship contract, to be exact." He was now sitting up straight to be able to look into the girls' eyes. He liked them. Completely opposite in actions but the way they thought was basically the same. He still wasn't really sure about this idea of his, but somehow, his gut told him it was the right thing to do, even when he knew there might be more than a couple problems that would definitely come along the way.
"Didn't we already sign our contract with you to work for AKB, sensei? And what is a friendship contract?" -the tiny girl continued to ask. She glanced over ather supposed-to-be-new-friend, like if she was silently asking if the girl wanted to say anything, but all she received was a slight nod, meant she could be in charge of asking questions.
"Why don't we sit down? I can explain to you girls slowly and into detail this contract. We have the whole morning to ourselves anyway. Come here, any drink for you two?" - Akimoto asked. He was not in a rush, that was for sure. This needed to be done perfectly.
"Eh..I’m not really thirsty..but I don't really mind orange juice. Maeda-san?what would yo.." - the tiny girl spoke first, like usual.
"Orange juice sounds fine, too. thank you." - came the short reply.
Akimoto walked to the fridge, poured out three glasses of the juice and handed them over. He gently sat down, put in front of the girls two pieces of paper which they knew quite well what it was: the contract.
"Go on, read it first, so that you might have an idea about what we are going to discuss." He smiled again, took a sip from his glass and silently observed the girls' reactions.
Both had their brow furrowed, confusion all over their faces. And then, in that instance, Akimoto saw what he needed to see, a confirmation that his gut, again, was right: their eyes immediately found each others, even with confusion, That look between them had something that even Akimoto couldn't explain himself. The connection lasted for no more than 3 seconds, but it was there. The chemistry that he had been looking for. Their thinking was indeed the same. This would be so interesting.
"This is..." - they both started. A nod from Maeda, and it seemed like Takahashi understood that she would be the one to do the asking again. Akimoto tried to hide his amused smile at the way they communicated.
"Go on, ask me whatever you girls want to ask about the contract. I know it confuses you, but I need to know where you don’t understand and what you want to know, that way you won't misunderstand it." - he took another gulp of the juice, the most important moment was here.
"Why do we need this...friendship contract? and.. why.. why do I need to.." - Takahashi nervously asked. She didn't understand this. Not one bit. It stated in the contract that she would had to take care of the girl next to her, Maeda Atsuko, as long as they were in this group together. And by take care, it meant she would need to be on her side all the time, support her and help her through tough time. Take care of people had never been a task to her, it was in her nature, she always cared about others. That's why she couldn't understand why this contract was needed because she would definitely do the same anyway..
"...to take care of me. And it even states here that no matter what is the circumstance, means even when I don't want her to?" - Maeda finished the question. She already felt irritated with the contract. She certainly didn't need a babysitter. She could see that the girl next to her was the caring type, she cared about the girls in the group when they had their training session, even to her. So yes, she didn't understand this, too. This Takahashi girl would definitely do these things, probably when she would get to know more about everyone, and she could already see that happening.
"Good questions, you two. I'll answer them one by one then?" - Akimoto let out a breath that he had been holding, pleased to see even when theywere unsure and maybe irritated (Maeda's case), they reacted the way he had expected them to. Smiling confidently to the girls, he started to explain his plan.
An hour later...
"Do you have any more question? Can I have your signatures so you can go on for the day, maybe get to know each other perhaps?" - Akimoto put down two pens and point to the place for the girls to sign. "I hope you finally understand how important this is for our group to create a special image toward the fans. Dont worry too much about this contract, I can already see after a few months you won’t even remember about this because you'll be friends and take care of each other. But..." - He paused to look straight in the girls' eyes - "..if I see any hint of you two being in a fight, or an unhealthy argument that might affect that image, I have responsibility to remind you about this contract. Are we clear?"
"Yes, sensei." - came the union answer. Two girls took the pen, looked at each other one last time before signing in the contract. They didn't have any idea that it was going to be the cause of their dramatic and complicated life afterward. In their mind, as simple as it looked and as Akimoto sensei explained to them, they just needed to be there for each other when they were still in the group, in front of the camera and fans. Plus the contract would end whenever one of them graduate, which Maeda was sure of, she wouldn't last long in this group to worry about someone taking care of her. It was her mother's idea for her to audition anyway.
So...this should be an easy task, right?
For Takahashi, it wasn't even a contract because she knew she already cared about the girl. A bit of extra concern toward Maeda couldn't be that hard, right?
Unfortunately for them, God loved to prove how wrong they were.
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Inside a cafe near the AKB48 theatre, two girls sat quietly, both staring at their drinks like it was the most interesting thing in the world. It was Maeda's idea, to both girls' surprise, that they should hang out a little after the meeting to talk things through and get to know each other better. Now that they were sitting here, she didn't know what to talk about.
"Favourite stuff? Like food or colour? uhhhmmmmmm.. I can't really jump straight in and scare her off with the contract thing.."
"Maeda-san, um, I think... if you… err... don't mind, we can leave it for another day. It's new and all, and you don’t have to force yourself or anything... It's not like anyone will know about us, about AKB soon anyway. Sorry, I tend to ramblewhen I'm nervous…" Takahashi suggested.
"It's okay. I'm sorry I tend to quiet down when I'm nervous too. Not that I talk that much anyway…" Maeda mumbled. She felt sorry for the girl. She was just a normal shy girl and if it wasn't for her mom who wanted her to try out something new, she wouldn’t have fallen into this… complicated situation. She…
"Maybe we can... uhm... talk about our background or basic stuffs and all first? If you want to, that is. And since I'm the one that talk a lot, I can go first. Or do you want to talk about the con..."
"It's okay, Takahashi-san. I don't bite, so calm down, okay?" Maeda giggled because of the girl's antics. She sure talked a lot when she was nervous. Somehow, it didn't annoy Maeda as much as others’ ramble, when she just wanted to shut them off or walk away. This girl was...different. She had this comforting aura that made Maeda felt quite relaxed.
"Oh… basic information that is then." Takahashi smiled. She liked the sound of her new friend giggling, and it made her calm down immediately. Her mom always complained about how much she talked whenever she was worried or nervous, like before the audition, or when she had exams at school, etc. She tried to fix it but no progress so far. She was actually quite surprised at herself, at how calm she was at that moment, listening to the girl sitting at the opposite.
"Must be nicer when she laughs or smiles...If her giggle sounds like music to my ear like this. Oh my God, I sound like a guy! I blame you, Ryo-kun... "
"Takahashi-san, you're alright?" Maeda asked, her voice laced with concern. Okay, not concern, since when did she care about other's feelings?
"I... urr... I'm good, and please, no more Takahashi-san, okay? We're the same age, right? Call me Minami or Takamina, like my friends call me at school, I don't mind."
"I... uhm… okay… And you can call me Atsuko then. I... I don't have any nickname, so..." Atsuko said the last bit in a very low voice, but Minami still caught it and realised there was a hint of sadness inside.
"Atsuko... Atsuko... I like it! It’s a nice name, and it suits you! A kind-heart child." Minami's smile grew bigger at the sound rolling out of her tongue. "If you don't mind, can I call you Acchan? There, you have a nickname now. But I like Atsuko better."
"I... I'm not kind.." Atsuko was blushing slightly. This girl... she didn't even know that she could blush but all the heat she could feel in her face now told her differently.
"Nonsense. I said you were kind, and I’m always right. Anyone that can stand me rambling is more than just kind!" Minami joyfully said, pumping her fists up the air, which earned them some weird look from other customers in the cafe.
This time, Atsuko lost it. She laughed out loud at Minami’s assumption, a childish one to say at least. How could anyone be that cute? And seriously, her ramble was not even half annoying!
"This girl is so interesting! Maybe we can be good friend after all..."
Minami was stunned. It was not just because it was the first time someone laughed at her joke, but because the girl in front of her transformed to a completely different person when that smile broke its way to her lips. And she was right, it was much more beautiful when Atsuko actually laughed.
"I swear that smile can light up a whole room even in the dark...she should have laughed like that more often! What I wouldn't give to see that smile everyday...wait, what am I thinking again??"
"You look much prettier when you laugh, I like it." Minami said gently. It was true. "You should smile more often. I'm sure everyone would love to see it."
If possible, Atsuko would have dug a hole in the ground and hidden her blushing face down there. How could she get embarrassed so easily in front of this girl? No one had ever said those kind words to her before. No one had bothered to give her a nickname before, not to mention saying she was pretty.
"I..." she shuttered.
"Ah, I did it again, haha, weren’t we supposed to talk about basic things? Okay, let me go first. Name, Takahashi Minami, nickname,Takamina. 14 years old. Love History and hate English, Math at school..."
With that, their conversation flowed smoothly. They talked a lot, about everything they could think of. Atsuko even talked about her pets at home, which surprised Minami to no end because it sounded like a little zoo with that many animals the girl had. Minami also learned that Atsuko was a shy type of girl. Somehow, she trusted Minami in a way that she was be able to open up a little bit, but toward everyone else, she hid in her shell, rarely communicating or saying anything. The interesting thing that she figured out, and probably Atsuko did too, was that they had completely contrasted personalities. Atsuko loved tomato, and she basically could have 3 courses with just...tomato's variations. Minami grimaced at the thought. She HATED tomato. Atsuko loved raw food like sushi, sashimi, especially seafood, and vegetable, not too fond of meat. Minami LOVED meat! And she couldn't eat that much seafood or vegetable, and the list just kept going on and on. It wasn't until Atsuko's phone rang that she realised it was late and that she had to go home. The two walked out of the café and hesitated to say goodbye. The day had turned out much better than they had expected at first, they were enjoying each other's company, and by this point, they had totally forgot about the contract, only focusing on the fact that they had just made a new friend. A potential good friend.
After exchanging contact, they parted away with a promise of more hanging out in the future. Plus they still needed to go on training with other girls for the group's debut next month. Each girl left with a smile on their lips and a warm feeling in their chest.
Maybe they didn't need to care about that contract after all. Maybe this would work out nicely and they would have a nice friendship, a true one. Maybe...
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(To be continue)