PART 2
“How I got home and into my warm bed? You’d have to ask Gaki” Miki scratched her head. “My memory starts kicking in around 10 A.M; I woke up to the smell of cooking and sound of someone on the phone.” Miki had made her way back to the couch now and had comfortably put her legs up on Yossy. Her elbow balanced her arm on the backrest of the couch, while she rested her head on her fist.
“Gaki was on the phone?” Yossy made sure
“Yeah it was her. I wasn’t sure it was her at first though. I sat up on my bed but quickly fell back on it. I had the biggest headache of life.” Miki winced at the memory
“Hang over?”
“I think so” Yossy gave her a perplexed look “to be honest I’ve thought about that headache a lot. It was just too strong for it to be a hang over. I’m almost positive Nakazawa puts something on the first four sake bottles of her batch.”
At the sound of her friends theory Yossy doubled over in laughter “I wouldn’t put it beyond her, you know”
“Exactly” Miki agreed.
“So continue…” Yossy made a circular motion with her hand.
“Well, once the room stopped spinning. I finally concentrated on whose voice it was. It was hard to make out the words because she was talking so fast. I realized it was Gaki, no one can talk that fast besides her. Once I decided that a wobbly room was easier to walk in than a spinning room I stood up once more. I had to keep holding on to the wall….” Miki abruptly became quiet.
“W-what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I just keep thinking that Yuko spikes the front drinks to teach people a lesson”
Yossy snapped her fingers in front Miki’s face “Fujimoto! Focus!”
“Right, well as I stumbled on to the kitchen I ran out of things to hold on to. Thankfully she had just hung up the phone. I started to fall forward when she turned around and caught me. It was…. Needless to say… an unusual position for me and her” Miki uncomfortably shifted.
“What position were you guys in?”
“Probably one I should’ve taken advantage. I would have to, if it hadn’t been for that hang over” Miki grinded her teeth.
Yossy sighed “What position was it Miki?” she repeated.
“My arms were draped over her shoulders. She was holding me up from my waist. Her chin was just above my shoulder” Miki’s eyes turned dreamy, I smile crept on to her face. Yossy only shook her head, all the years she had known her sub-leader
that was one thing about her that would never change. She couldn’t help it, Miki was a groper.
_______________________
“Moments after hanging up with me Fujimoto surprised her” Eri wiped her nose on her sleeve. Mako slightly disgusted by that gave Eri a tissue from her purse.
“Surprise her?” Sayu repeated.
“What type of surprise” Reina was in a need-to-know mode.
“From what I understand Fujimoto had such a serious hang over she found it hard to walk. Gaki turned around just on time to catch her.”
“How do you know it wasn’t done on purpose?” Mako asked.
“Because the position they ended up in was to perfect for groping demon Miki not to take advantage… and well she didn’t take advantage” a mental gasp could be heard from the listeners. “So… Fujimoto’s weight was too much and slowly Fujimoto slid down Gaki… ending up on the floor. She quickly asked Gaki to give her a towel for her eyes. Apparently the room was too bright for her.”
“Damn, that was one bad hang over” Reina tisked.
“Big time” Eri nodded. “ In the end Gaki helped her off the floor and walked her to her couch. Laying her down so that Fujimoto wouldn’t strain herself but Mik-san being stubborn kept trying to get up. Gaki of course wouldn’t let her. She told Miki-san that if there was anything she needed to just ask her.”
“Gaki turned out to be very serviceable, now didn’t she?” Sayu muttered under her breath. Mako over heard her and smiled inwardly.
“I still can’t believe Gaki would do this to me” Eri’s tears slid down her face. “Guys?” She looked at all of them. “Do you think Gaki’s in love with Fujimoto?”
They all fell silent. They themselves were unsure of how they felt about it, let alone what Gaki felt.
“Is that all that happen that day?” Reina asked.
“Basically, but that’s the day it all started”
“What do you mean that’s how it all started?” Mako questioned.
“After she finally convinced Fujimoto to stay laying down Gaki then chatted with her, helped her up to the bathroom like five times and massaged her temples”
“What?!? Why?” Reina looked frustrated.
“Because that’s the way Gaki is. She’s very helpful” Mako came to Gaki’s defense.
“Yup” Eri nodded.
“That’s no excuse… being helpful is not an excuse” Reina counter attacked.
“Reina…” Sayu placed a calming hand on the Yankee’s tense shoulder. “Either way it doesn’t matter. Gaki-san and Eri hadn’t even confessed they liked each other” immediately she felt the muscles relax under her touch. Reina sat back down, she new Sayu was right.
“Look, she probably figured that Fujimoto must have had a really bad day and thus drank till she was completely out of it. She cooked food and probably fixed up around Miki-chan’s place figuring that Miki would have a bad head-ache. Take most of what Gaki does to face value… that’s just the way Gaki is” Mako concluded her defense.
“That’s why I still can’t accept what happen” Eri shook her head.
“Do you want to stop?” Sayu asked.
“No… I want to continue. After a few hours…”
_______________
“After a few hours Miki was feeling a lot better. So much better she started with her groping antics again” Risa took a moment to inhale.
“Did you expect any different?” Ai-chan asked.
“honestly?… no” Gaki frowned.
“Risa…” Konkon called “This is all very interesting but what does this have to do with you hooking up with Fujimoto?”
Gaki slightly blushed. She was going way to deep into detail. “Well truth be told it was the first time me and her had actually spent some quality time alone. True she was sick beyond all reason… but between the groping and the teasing conversation was held. She asked me why I was there and I explained it. She then thanked me for taking care of her. She asked me who I was talking to and I told her it was Kamei.”
“What did she say to that?” Ai asked.
“Funny” Gaki laughed sarcastically. “Now that you ask I think I can see where it all started.” She bit her upper lip. “I told her it was Kamei and she snorted in an all knowing way. She then stated we were both dumb. I of course was offended, I asked her why. She flicked my nose and said that we both should just admit that we like each other. I was taken back by her comment. I denied that I had any romantic feelings for Eri at all. Then she looked at me right square in the eye and said in a low voice. ‘I can see turtles in your pupils’.” Konkon had to laugh.
“I bet you believed her” Ai smirked while Gaki turned beat red.
“What do you expect… she said it so serious” the youngest of the Gokkies blushed.
“Bravo Bruce Nii, so what happen afterwards?”
Gaki sighed “She laughed at me too. She said she couldn’t believe I fell for it. She called me gullible and some other stuff. After releasing all her giggles she became dead quiet and had a distant look in her eyes. A distant sad look, naturally I became worried and asked if there was anything wrong.”
“I wonder what Goto did” Ai muttered under her breath.
“Goto?” Konkon looked puzzled. “Why would you think Goto?”
“I..er… um…” Ai-chan’s eyes darted back and forth trying to desperately find how to get out of
this one now. “Wasn’t she singing about Goto?” Ai had found her escape.
“Sono toori” Gaki nodded “You know there were moments when we were together that she would have that same sad distant look in her eyes. I always asked my self what caused it. Sometimes my goal was to try and erase that sadness from her eyes. Now though… I think I’ve only increased it” tears were renewing themselves in Gaki’s eyes. “After I asked her what was wrong” Gaki’s voice was starting to crack “she silently sat back into the couch and said in once clean sentence ‘The hardest thing in life is to find requited love and the most painful is to loose it’, back then I thought I understood what she meant by those words. It’s not until now that I can truly appreciate her warning… sadly it’s to late” Gaki sniffed. Ai-chan and Konkon seemed to be on the verge of tears as well. “After a few moments of silence she asked me what I saw in Kamei again. This time around, I don’t know why, but I decided to tell her in full detail what I like about Kamei. After I was down with my speech she seemed a bit sadden by it all. Again I got worried and asked her what was wrong. At first she just shook her head and said nothing. In fact I believe I bothered her about it three times and still got the same answer. Suddenly I saw her lift her head and sniff the air. I looked at her perplexed but I did the same. Stuck my nose out and inhaled. Who would’ve of guessed it. Something was burning… that’s when I realized my food was either ruined or on the verge of being ruined. I ran as quickly as possible and was able to salvage some of the food. In between my wails of disappointment I could hear Miki cackling in the background. I was feeling a bit bad for making her all serious and depressed with all my talk about Eri, I was glad to see her laughing.”
_______________
“What can I say, Gaki has a naturally aptitude to make me laugh. She’s like Mako but less extreme… like Eri but less random.” Miki shook her head at the memory. “Around 3 in the afternoon she went home. After that morning in my apartment, my opinion of Gaki slightly started to change. There were many things about her I started to notice. In fact I think we both became more aware of each others existence.”
“I don’t know Miki” Yossy interrupted. “Everyone is pretty aware of your existence.” the comment actually caused the great Miki to slightly rouge at her cheeks.
“Right. So, at first I thought I was just feeling thankful towards her. She never told anyone about the state that she found me in. Actually, I don’t think she told anyone about that day… she pretended nothing happen. I really appreciated her discretion. On top of that, it was very sweet of her to stay with me that night and that morning. I should also mention that not only did she cook but she also cleaned my house up a bit.” One could see that Miki was genuinely shocked. Her eyes were almost as big as Yoshizawa’s in a shock state.
“Yup, that sounds like Gaki” Yossy nodded.
“How would you know?” Miki challenged.
“Come on Miki” Yossy dramatically tilted her head to the side “I just do” the older girl rolled her eyes.
“You and your ability to read people, it’s a bit scary you know” Miki picked.
“What, The Fujimoto is scared of me. Well, then again, you’re scared of plastic spiders” Yossy picked back.
“Ha?” Miki’s mouth hung open.
“I just realized, wasn’t it Gaki who chose the plastic bug to scare you during the game?” The younger one asked.
“Oooohhhhh” Mikitty finally understood “Yeah it was. Didn’t it mean something along the lines of ‘great admiration’?”
“Yup” Yossy bit her lip “You should’ve recognized it back then”
“You’re not serious” the sub-leader cocked her eyebrow.
“Of course not” Yossy shook her head.
“Should I continue with the story?” Miki asked.
“By all means”
“Where was I” the glarer blushed a bit “I forgot” Yossy slapped her own forehead.
“You were telling me that after Gaki stayed that night at your house you were feeling very thankful towards her and feeling thankful towards her made you start noticing her more”
“Exactly! I started paying attention to her more. Noticing things I really liked her smile, her gentleness, her sense of humor, things that got her ticked off” Miki went on and on with the list “All those amazing things about her I started to notice. After a week of just studying her I had to ask her out.” The long haired girl was interrupted.
“You asked her out on a date?” Yossy slightly choked.
“Nooo… well she didn’t know it was one” Miki explained her unique logic.
_______________
“So Fujimoto asked Gaki out to go eat and…
again the two had a great time together.” Eri sighed.
“To clarify things… Gaki staying at Fujimoto’s broke the ice between the two and basically lead to Fujimoto asking Gaki out so they chill and talk.” Makoto simplified.
“And Fujimoto going out with her broke the ice for the them to spend time together privately” Eri concluded “ After that first outing I noticed they started hanging out more and more together. I would invite Gaki to go out with me and she would apologies saying she had plans. After like three weeks of them basically mailing, texting and hanging out with eachother privately Fujimoto made her move.” Eri felt her throat tighten again. This time she wouldn’t allow her self to cry though.
_______________
“So Miki-san did the first move?” Konkon asked.
“Pretty much” Gaki rubbed her face with her hands.
“Chotto matte” Ai raised her hand “Pass that by me again” Gaki looked at her in disbelief. “I’m serious, I blanked out. I’m sorry” Ai was embarrassed.
“Mou~ Ai-chan” Gaki shook her head “what are we going to do with you” the reaction queen playfully nudged her oldest. “We got out of the arcade and got on the last the train to my house. She was taking me home and being a good sempai. As we reached my housed I noticed she started to get closer and quieter. Suddenly she stopped me two houses away from my house. She scanned the area and found a very tight alley, only one body could fit in it at width length. I was freaking out and asking what’s wrong what’s wrong. She placed her hand over my mouth and said we were being followed by paparazzi. I’m pretty sure she was lying but back then I believed her. After a few second she removed her hand from my mouth and turned to face me.” Gaki ran her hand through her hair“She stared at me with intense eyes and began to lean in. I…I didn’t know what to do so I pushed her. Her body went backwards and fell on the floor. I felt HORRIBLE for doing that. I quickly jumped out and offered her my hand. Till this day I wonder if that was the best or worse decision of my life because next thing I remember I had been pulled by my hand and landed right on top of her. She encircled her arms around me and had my face centimeters away from hers. At that point my mind shut down. With a quick and swift movement from her head I had her lips on mine. My brain blew up.”
_______________
“Your instincts still amaze me” Yossy clapped her hands “And they say I’m a player”
“No Yocchan… you’re The Pimp… I’m The Player” Mikitty winked at her Leader.
“Aa..sou desu” Yossy agreed.
“I tell you her eyes seemed to have fireworks in them. She was in disbelief and in utter bliss at the same time. If she didn’t like me before, then that was the defining moment” Miki’s glee could be sensed miles away
_______________
“She quickly broke the kiss apart and got up. Walking backwards she rammed into the wall behind her. Believe it or not, Gaki went catatonic.”
“that is amazing” Reina commented.
“The only thing her mind could fit in were her motor functions. Because her legs started to run towards her house, leaving Miki fallen on the floor” Eri’s eyes narrowed “Where she deserves to be”
Reina attempted her hand at comforting Eri. “Hey… it’s okay” Reina winked.
“Thanks but no… it’s NOT okay” Eri’s voice was starting to increase in volume “I know it’s not your fault but you DON’T understand. What Gaki and Me have… HAD… was special, innocent, clean and pure. Fujimoto tainted it all… Fujimoto-san ruined me and Gaki” grip on Eri’s throat became tighter and tighter. It caused turtles voice to become higher pitched and finally the tears that were refusing to fall began to slid their way down her cheeks, quietly jumping off her chin. “Because of that damn kiss everything went upside down.” Eri kicked the chair in front of her.
“How do you know this?” Sayu asked.
“The same way I know all of this. Gaki confessed it all to me”
“I should rephrase that… what about the kiss confused Gaki?”
“Gaki hadn’t really been looking at Fujimoto in a romantic light. To her, Fujimoto was always her sempai. A sempai who was thankful for her act of kindness but after that kiss… Gaki started looking at her differently.”
“So when she realized that Fujimoto was genuinely attracted to her she started playing around with the idea of hooking up with Fujimoto?” Reina laid it down frankly and with out Vaseline.
“REINA!” Sayu glared at her fellow Rokkie.
_______________
“For the next two days she avoided me at all costs.” Miki grinned.
“Why do you grin?” Yossy leaned forward and poked Miki’s cheeks.
“Because I -“
“You like the chase” Yossy concluded
Miki’s grinned grew wider “Yocchan you know me to well. Why aren’t we together again?” she entered flirt mode.
“Because we both fought over Maki and developed the inability to romantically like each other” Yossy swiftly explained.
“Hmmm… true… but don’t forget Rika-chan either”
“Allow me to fix that then” Yossy cleared her throat “Because you, Rika and I fought over Maki and developed the inability to romantically like one another, happy?”
“You got that last part wrong” Fujimoto glared.
“Ha?”
“It’s HAAA~PPPY” Miki spread her arms. Yossy quickly pushed the long haired girl’s feet off of her and jumped to a stand.
“WHOA… Miki… are you okay?” The Captain of Gatas placed a hand on her sub-captains forehead to check for a fever.
“I’m fine” Miki gently slapped the hand off her forehead. “Tell anyone I EVER did that and you’re dead, k?” She gave the most pleasant smile she could muster. That made it extra frightening for Yossy. “Now sit down, I need to put my feet up again and finish this story” the Captain did as told.
“So she avoided you at all costs” Yossy helped Miki remember where she was.
“Yeah… she did, but every so often I would catch her staring at me. We would actually stare at each other… the only difference is that with me” Miki placed a hand on her chest for dramatic effect “I would wink at her when she caught me. With her though, she would just blush and look away. Finally I got tired of the waiting around”
“That’s more like it” Yossy nodded “how did you put an end to it?”
“While you all were leaving for lunch I waited for her to pass by. I quickly grabbed her by the arm and walked away with her. Poor Ai-chan… she tried to say something but was too stunned to.”
_______________
“Come to think of it Ai-chan… why didn’t you do anything?” Gaki pouted to her friend.
“I would of… but 1. It was Fujimoto who just came and grabbed you; 2. Remember I said I had to meet up with someone; 3. It was FUJIMOTO who grabbed you.” Ai slouched down on the plastic covering of the vans chairs. “Gomen ne”
“Daijoubu” Gaki patted her friends head “Anyways, she grabbed me by the hand and led me to the south wing stairs”
“THE SOLITARY STAIRS” Konkon jumped in her seat.
“Yup…” the cheater nodded. “She dragged me in there and pushed me against the wall” Ai gasped at the sound of that.
“So hot” Konkon breathed
“Really ho… WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?” Gaki and Ai turned to Konkon… who was now a deep color purple from the embarrassment.
“It’s always the quiet one… nee Gaki?” Ai-chan stated.
“Nee, Ai-chan” Gaki nodded. “Moving on…”
“Yes please” Konno agreed.
“I looked away from her; she grabbed my chin and turned my face towards her. She asked me why I was avoiding her. At that point I found it difficult to answer… she was too close for comfort. I lightly pushed her away and she didn’t resist. Finally at a safe distance I answered her. “I don’t know” I told her honestly “It just feels weird” she crossed her arms and looked at my feet. In typical Fujimoto mode her eyes wandered their way up to my face. I could see the pupils zoning in on vital points of my body, even though I was fully clothes I suddenly felt nude… not the most pleasant feeling the world guys.” The two listeners nodded “After undressing me with her eyes she finally looked me in the eye and spoke “Niigaki, I like you… I like you a lot” she said completely nonchalant. “I don’t think I’ve liked someone this much in a while. Now, I told you how I feel… I’m not going to ask you to tell me now” she then flicked my nose “But I expect an answer soon” and with that she just walked away”
“Fujimoto…is really something, huh?” Konkon voiced.
“Apparently so” Ai agreed.
_______________
“I didn’t know what had just happen when I saw her coming out of the stairs all spooked out. I ran up to her… I was so worried” Eri propped her chin on her hand “I had finally decided to tell her how I felt that day and had something bad happen it would ruin it all. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she had opened them again she smiled and renewed confidence emanated from her. She linked her arm around mine and asked me if I had eaten yet. I had but I lied and said no. I didn’t want to miss out on a chance to be with Gaki.”
“Did you tell her then?” Reina asked.
“You don’t know the story?” Sayu and Mako said at the same time.
“N-no…” Reina pouted “no one told me” She glared at Eri.
“Reina…. You were there with Sayu when I told you” Eri blinked.
“Oh! That day I was staring at…. I mean my mind was somewhere else” Reina smiled sheepishly.
“MMmmhmmm” Sayu thinned her eyes.
“I can repeat it if you want” Eri offered.
“Yes Please”
“It was while we ate. She was drinking orange juice and I found it really cute how a drop of juice dripped from her chin. She realized I was staring and got shy, quickly grabbing a napkin to wipe off the drop. Originally I had planned to make my confession grandiose but I stupidly blurted out my opinion about her out loud. As she dried her chin I though in my head ‘why are you so cute’. Suddenly she stopped and again I thought in my head “no don’t stop, fine stop… let me dry it for you’… then she looked at me and said “you want to dry me off?”…”
“OH MY GOD” Reina burst out laughing “You were saying your thoughts OUT LOUD” she clapped her hands.
“Eri” Mako looked at her kohai “Sometimes I don’t know who is weirder… you or Koharu”
“Both of you shush, finish the story Eri” Sayu smiled.
“Basically at that point I mentally freaked. I stuttered and my mouth twitched in all directions… I just wanted the earth beneath to open up and swallow me whole. So I did the next best thing, I crawled under the table and hugged my legs, hoping she would just go away and pretend this had never happen. But she didn’t… she waited a few moments before popping her underneath the table. She told me I didn’t need to hide down there and I explained that it made me feel better. She then lifted her head back up again…I thought for sure she was going to leave but next thing I know there someone else is under the table with me. It was her and she was smiling at me… not looking at me weird.”
“KAWAIII” Sayu breathed out.
“What did she do next” Reina was engrossed into the story now
“She asked me if I meant what I said, I asked her how much did she hear and as expected she heard everything. Looking at her smiling back at me gave me enough courage to tell her the truth. After I was done explaining how I felt about her she got quiet and puffed up her cheeks, she glanced at me and told me “I would really like you drying me off too”… I promise you those are the best words I’ve heard since they told us we were the new members of Morning Musume” for the first time since the conversation started Eri genuinely smiled.
“Didn’t anything else happen?” Reina asked.
“No… it pretty much plateaus there… not until another two months and two weeks do we decide to take it to the next level and become an item”
_______________
“Later that day she came to my apartment, determined to tell me that she held no feelings for me. I didn’t know it back then, so I took this visit from the opposite perspective. Nonetheless I was shocked to see her at my front door” Miki continued “As I opened the door she burst right in…. as if she lived there. With out even looking at me she said “Fujimoto-san we need to set things staright” she twirled around and saw me rubbing my head. “Did I hit you with the door when I came in” her face had changed from determined to concern is less that 0.1 seconds”
“
Did she hit your forehead?” Yossy stared at her warily.
“No” the storyteller smiled once more “but one must never miss an opportunity my dear Yocchan”
“Noted… please continue” The taller girl couldn’t help but smile too.
“She rushed up to me and looked at the spot “it doesn’t look to bad” I pretended to go slightly dizzy and she panicked on me. The girl basically carried me to the couch, then ran to my kitchen and grabbed a bag of ice. She placed it on my head and sat down on the couch beside me. “what are you here for?” I asked as innocently as I could. She looked at me and shyed away again “Did you come here to hit me with my front door?” she giggled and shook her saying no. Finally she turned her face to me and said my name. Now I think she was starting a sentence but I really wasn’t in the mood of talking. I pounced on her and gave her a kiss. She quickly backed away from me and said “dame” I stared at her and quickly pretended I was going to lean in and kiss her. Had she said no to me again I would of back off but to my fortunate surprise when she noticed I didn’t continue forward…. SHE kissed ME… and very well if I may say so.”
_______________
“You are definitely NOT innocent in this story” Ai-chan stared at her friend in disbelief. “Why in the world did you kiss her back?!?”
“Have you EVER been kissed by Miki?” Gaki asked half exasperatedly. Ai shook her head . “Then don’t judge” Gaki was getting angry “I know I’m not innocent… if I were do you think I’d be here wishing I could just disappear or go back in time and change everything. NO I wouldn’t” Ai-backed away a little. She had hit a nerve and a big one.
-----------------
A/N: Hope you enjoyed it and caught all the tiny details