Anata No Naisho - Chapter Six!

[Liben]

I really couldn't continue writing "My Immunity". It was really complicated for my small mind. So I decided to do this fic. I hope you like it! It includes all the members of Hello! Project =)

Prologue:

It has been a while since it happened, and she still asks me about his father. My answer is always the same one: Dad is gone on a business trip. It’s such a lie, but my whole life has been a big lie anyway. I’ve always believed that my father was a good man, always watching after his daughters and taking care of everything, but suddenly the image I had of him was destroyed.

My father was put in prison two months ago because of something related with pederasty. The judge said that she hasn’t seen a clearer case in her whole life. His computer was full of little girl’s naked pictures and videos. The man I always admired wasn’t the same anymore, and after this, I think I won’t be the same anymore.

I wonder how she will be after she realizes that his father isn’t gone on a business trip.

“Hikaru!”

I slightly shook my head to take those thoughts out of my mind and I looked around to find myself being in front of my little sister.

“Oh, Kanon, you’re home. Okaeri!” I said, waving my hand and going near to her to give her a hug. “How was the photo shoot?”

“It was great” she said in an unenthusiastic way. “I just… didn’t expect you to be here at this time. You should be at work, shouldn’t you?”

Oh, shit, I forgot to tell her about it. I made my way to the kitchen and she followed behind. I took a beer from the fridge and sat on a chair. I really didn’t know how to explain her why I had to resign from my post as a waitress in a ramen restaurant. It’s not easy to tell an under aged girl about how my boss has tried to “make things” with me.

“Well, work wasn’t great today. I had to leave that job. The working conditions weren’t good at all, and the boss was really mean” I explained as I opened the beer and took a sip of it. She slowly nodded her head and sat on the counter.

“So, you are unemployed again?” she asked. I sighed and nodded my head. “Don’t worry, dad will send us money from Germany, won’t he?”

“Yeah, sure, he will.” I tried to laugh at that, but I couldn’t. “I’ll try to find a work anyway”

“I think…” Kanon muttered under her breath. I looked back at her and she had her chin resting on top of her palm. “I heard some staff members speaking about someone being fired. I think he worked as a security agent or something like that.”

“Sounds good” I said, kind of excited about the idea of working in the same company as my sister. “Do you know what is that work about?”

“I’m not sure. I wasn’t really listening to them, but I think the work was about watching what the security cameras record. Anyway, I’m not sure if what they said was true or not” She looked back at me and smiled “What? Are you thinking about taking the job?”

“Maybe I am. Don’t you want me to work with you?” I smirked.

“No, it isn’t like that, but still, it would be weird! I would feel like being under constant vigilance” she laughed, and with her laugh, she made me chuckle a bit.

“Anyway, tomorrow I’ll go with you to the company and I’ll ask if there’s any job for me” I said. Kanon stood up and took my free hand in hers.

“Hikaru, I think you can have a better job. I mean, you’re pretty and intelligent, you can have any work you want!” she said as she gave my hand a little squeeze. I smiled at her.

“Being pretty and intelligent isn’t enough to get a job in this country”

“That’s not true! I’m cute and intelligent and I have a job!” she pouted. I laughed at that.

“But that’s because you’re talented, Kanon” I shook my head and smiled. “Anyway, it’s getting dark already. We should start thinking about having dinner. Just go to have a bath!”

“Okay, but we’ll talk later!” she said as she walked towards the bathroom and she took her shirt off.

Working for Hello! Project, huh?

--------------------------------

“Congratulations, Fukuda Hikaru; the work is all yours” Hamasaki-san said as he stood up and shook hands with me. “I hope you like working with us!”

“When can I start working?” I asked with a smile in my face.

“Well, what about now?” he laughed at the shocked expression I had all over my face. “Hey, don’t look at me like that. We really need someone to take care of the vigilance, and we need it as soon as possible.”

“Okay, then I’ll start working right now. Would you mind showing me where that room is?” I asked while I pointed at the door of his office.

“Of course I wouldn’t mind! Please come with me” he said as he put his arm around my shoulders. “Has anyone told you that you’re really similar to Aya Matsuura?”

“Yeah, I think my sister has told me the same” I sighed and smiled.

Hamasaki-san showed me where the room was and how the things worked over there. My work consisted in watching what appeared in the monitors, and if I found something suspicious, I had to press the red button to alert the security members. 

“Well, I leave you here. Good luck in your first day” he turned around and opened the door “But remember, Hikaru, everything you see in the screens is top secret. Nobody has to know about it” he said as he left the room.

I sat on a chair and looked around me. I found a little fridge filled with energetic sodas under the desk. There were a lot of cardboard boxes around the room, probably filled with old security videos. I turned back to watch the monitors and I found someone waving her hand at a security camera. I smiled. It was Kanon.

She was staying at the dance studio with the rest of the Hello! Project Eggs members. She put a piece of paper in front of the camera and gave me a thumbs-up. At first I couldn’t read what she had written, but then, when I read it, I laughed out loud. She had written: “Do your best, Hikaru!”

Seconds later, someone called her and she had to turn around. She waved her hand to the camera again and left. I smiled and looked carefully at the other screens. There was nothing interesting to see; Tsunku-san’s secretary was taking a booger out of her nose and the rest of the rooms seemed to be empty, even Tsunku’s office. There was a room that called my attention: the changing room.

“Why do they have a camera over there?” I asked myself while I watched what was going on over there. It was empty. I shrugged my shoulders and looked back at the screen of the dance studio. My sister and some of the Hello! Pro-eggs were dancing with the members of Morning Musume.

Kanon has told me about it. There’s a concert next week, so she has to rehearsal some of the dances with them. She told me that it was pretty stressful to dance with Morning Musume members, because they were all mature and they could dance better than she did, and that made her feel unsure.

After finishing the dance, the Hello! Pro eggs went to rest in a corner of the room as they watched how Koharu sang a song which I supposed it was “Happy Sunday”. The rest of the members stayed there to watch them as well.

Suddenly I noticed that the leader of Morning Musume, Takahashi Ai, held hands with Niigaki Risa as they walked away from the dance studio. I looked for them in the other screens to see where they were going. I found them running in the hallway and getting into another room. Ai closed the door behind her and I looked back at the dance studio’s screen.

Koharu had already finished her actuation, and now Reina and Aika were the ones singing. Reina seemed to have trouble with the dance steps, and Eri tried to help her. The dance instructor went up to her while she moved her arms like crazy. I supposed she was shouting at Reina, and Reina didn’t seem to like what she was saying.

I noticed something moving in another screen. Tsunku had entered his office with the leader of Berryz Koubou, Shimizu Saki. She sat on the chair in front of Tsunku’s desk and they started talking. Since I couldn’t hear anything, I turned my attention to another screen.

I found myself with my mouth wide opened. Ai Takahashi and Risa Niigaki. In the changing room. Kissing.

[Liben]

... Fine ... Not replies. I can kind of understand why... Anyway.
Next chapter.


Chapter One:

That night when I walked back home with Kanon, I was totally spaced out. I couldn’t believe what I had seen. I always believed that idols were good friends, but not that good. I wanted to ask Kanon about it, but then I thought about what Hamasaki-san said: whatever you see, is Top Secret.

“Hey, onee-chan” Kanon said as she hugged my arm “How was your first day working for Hello! Project?”

“It was fine, just a little bit boring” I explained as I kissed her forehead.

“Did you see me dance?” she asked.

“Yes, I did. You’ve improved yourself, haven’t you? I wonder why Tsunku doesn’t ask you to make a carrier as a soloist” I answered.

“You say it so because you’re my sister” she said as she pouted.

“No, I say it because it’s true. Anyway, what was that rehearsal for?” I asked. She looked at me with a shocked look.

“Don’t you remember? The elders are graduating next week!” I mentally slapped myself for forgetting that. I knew that their graduation really affected her, because she has always wanted to sing a song with Yuko Nakazawa in a concert. I’ve told her to don’t give up in that dream, but still she thinks that it’s too late to make that dream become true.

“Oh, sorry, I just got confused because I saw Koharu, Aika, Linlin and Junjun singing a song together” I said.

“Ah, they were preparing themselves for their next concert. They’re full of stress right now, specially Takahashi-sama and Niigaki-sama” she said. I coughed at that and looked in another direction.

I wouldn’t say that they were stressed…


Next morning I arrived to the building holding hands with Kanon. She was pretty excited because she was going to rehearsal the concert with all Hello! Project members. Once she saw her group mates, she let go my hand to run up to them. I waved my hand and walked up to the security room.

I started to think about what I saw yesterday and wondered if something like that was going to happen today. I suppose I was too into my thoughts, since I accidentally bumped into someone and we both fell to the ground.

“I’m sorry!” I exclaimed as I stood up and helped her to stand up.

“Ugh, that hurts, baka” the woman said as she put her hand on top of her head. She looked at me and placed her chin between her index finger and her thumb. “Who are you anyway? Are you the clone of Ayaya or something like that?”

“My name is Hikaru Fukuda. It’s nice to meet you” I said as I shook hands with her. That’s when I realized who it was. “Aren’t you…?”

“Yeah, I’m Yuko Nakazawa, and if you don’t mind, I have some work to do” she walked up to another room, but before she entered it, she turned around and looked back at me. “What are you doing after work?”

“Me? Well, I haven’t planed anything” I answered.

“I’m celebrating a private party in my house. Would you like to come?” she asked as she walked up to me, taking a piece of paper out from her pocket.

“That would be nice.” She gave me the paper she was holding and winked at me.

“I’ll see you there at half past ten. Don’t be late!” she said as she went to another room. I shook my head and looked back at the paper she had just given me. It was her address.

“Is this a dream?” I muttered as I walked towards my work place. I greeted Hamasaki-san before I entered the security room.

I sat on the chair and took a soda from the little fridge. I started to watch what appeared in the screens. I found Nakazawa Yuko and Kei Yasuda in the changing room, talking about something while they changed their clothes. The rest of the members were already at the dance studio, getting ready for the first real rehearsal.

Once they started the rehearsal, I noticed something moving over the entrance of the building. I looked back at it and there was a girl standing at the door with a bunch in her hand. She looked at the security guard of the building and bowed her head at him. He smiled and told her something. She nodded her head and walked up to another room. I couldn’t see her face clearly. She stopped in front of a room and knocked the door before she entered.

The girls of the dance studio froze as they saw who was staying at the door. Natsumi Abe went directly to hug her, even thought the girl was holding that bunch. She went up to the leader, Nakazawa Yuko and gave her the flowers with a wide smile on her face. That’s when I recognized her: it was Maki Goto.

They talked for a while before the dance instructor told them that it was time to start the rehearsal. Nakazawa gave her a piece of paper. Goto-san looked at it and smiled at her as she nodded her head. I supposed that she had also been invited to Nakazawa’s party. Maki waved her hand at everyone and went out of the dance studio to let them continue with their rehearsal.

I sighed and took a sip of my soda. That was going to be a long day.


At lunch time, Kanon came to visit me carrying some food for me from the Kentucky Fried Chicken. I thanked her as I took the plastic bag from her hand. She sat on top of cardboard box and looked at me.

“Hikaru, I’ve been invited to sleepover at Maeda Yuuka’s place with the rest of the Shugo Chara Egg members. Do you mind if I go?” she asked with a puppy look on her face. Every time she put that face I couldn’t tell her “no”. I thought back about Nakazawa’s party and slowly shook my head.

“Of course I don’t mind. Just go and have fun” I said as I took out some of the food boxes from the bag.

“Thanks!” she exclaimed. She took her mobile phone out from her pocket and messaged Yuuka to tell her about it. I smiled at that. At first, those two hated each other, but now everyone can tell that they are good friends.

I took the piece of paper Nakazawa gave me and smirked. I didn’t know why she had invited me, but I really didn’t care about the reason. I couldn’t believe I was going to an Idol party. I was really looking forward it.

--

It was half past ten when I arrived to Nakazawa’s place. I went up to the door and started to doubt about knocking the door or not. I sighed and pressed the doorbell.

“I’m coming~!” I heard someone say from inside. Seconds later, someone opened the door and greeted me with the biggest smile I have ever seen. “Oooh, Hikaru! Okaeri~! Come, come!”
 
    Yuko took my hand in hers and led me roughly to the huge living room. I found the situation of the room amusing. The Chinese members of Morning Musume were singing ‘Watara sebashi’ while Linlin played the guitar. The rest of Morning Musume members were watching them with a drink in their hands. Aya Matsuura entered the room, and when she heard the Chinese members singing one of her songs, she started to sing with them. Maasa Sudou came out from the kitchen with a bottle of Coke in her hand and smiled at Aya before she went with the rest of the Berryz Koubou and ºC-ute members, who were staying near the window.

   Yuko led me to the sofa where some Elder Club members were sitting. They automatically stood up as they saw me.

   “Ladies, this is Fukuda Hikaru” Yuko said. “She’s the staff member I’ve been telling you about.”

   “The one who bumped into you this morning, isn’t it?” Abe Natsumi asked with a huge smile on her face. She shook hands with me and analyzed me with her gaze. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Abe Natsumi, but you can call me Nacchi”

   “Hey, you were right, Yuko! She looks like a clone of Ayaya! Except from the nose; this girl’s nose is more beautiful!” Maki Goto said as she shook hands with me. “Maki Goto. It’s nice to meet you”.

   “Believe me, I do know who you guys are” I said as I shook hands with Hitomi Yoshizawa and they laughed. I greeted Miki Fujimoto, Mari Yaguchi, Iida Kaori, Rika Ishikawa and Kei Yasuda, and we sat down on the sofa. I sat between Yuko and Nacchi. Nakazawa offered me a beer and I accepted it. It was an imported German beer called Franziskanner.

   “So, what is your work about?” Nacchi asked as she took a sip of her Martiny.

   “I work in the security room, watching what the security cameras record” I answered, and Yuko punched my shoulder playfully.

   “Aaah, so you perv have seen me naked in the changing room!” she exclaimed as she covered her chest.

   “I haven’t seen you naked… yet, Nakazawa-san” I said as I winked an eye at her. The others laughed and I saw her gulp and lick her upper lip as she looked in another direction.

   “It’s an interesting job, isn’t it?” Mari Yaguchi said, trying to change the topic, as she reached out fill up her cup.

   “Well, yeah, it’s interesting, but I have been working there for two days, so I don’t really know too much about it” I answered as I shrugged my shoulders.

   “Oh, it’s true, Sugaya-san got fired last week” Yuko said, placing her index finger on her lips.

   “Sugaya-san got fired? Why? He has been working there since I joined the company!” Miki exclaimed as she made herself comfortable on the sofa.

   “There are some rumours… but still I don’t know anything about it” Yuko muttered.

   “What are those rumours about?” I asked.

   “Well, I heard some stuff members speaking about a rape in the changing rooms” Yuko explained. Everyone’s eyes were wide opened, even mines. “I don’t know about the details, but someone entered the changing room and took off all his clothes. When the girl got into the room, he attacked her from behind. And… that’s what I know”

   “I don’t believe it” Iida said as she crossed her arms and sighed. “If something like that happened, everyone would know it” Everyone nodded in agreement. I looked back at Yuko and she sent me a little smile.

   “Now that I realize… Hikaru, could you make us a favour?” Rika Ishikawa said as she placed her hand on my lap.

   “Sure, what is it?” I asked as I took a sip of beer.

   “Could you check the latest recordings of the changing room’s security camera? That way, we’ll know if that rumour is true or not”

   “Yeah! That’s a good idea. Could you do it, Hikki?” Nacchi said, placing her hand on my lap.

   “Sure, I wouldn’t mind checking it, but you two are getting a little bit touchy!” I said as I took their hands off my lap. They laughed and we changed the topic.

   We continued talking about random things until Aya Matsuura interrupted our conversation.

   “Sorry, but I was wondering if you were my clone or something like that” she said with a huge smile. “Maan, we’re really alike! Come here!” she held my hand and helped me to stand up. She led me to where the Morning Musume members were staying and took her mobile phone out from her pocket to hand it to Mitsui-san. “Can we get a photo together?” she asked me.

   “Yes, sure!” I answered as I posed for the photo. Aika took the photo and handed the phone back to Ayaya.

   “Girl, we look like twins!” she laughed as she looked at the photo. “What’s your name by the way?”

   “I’m Fukuda Hikaru. It’s a pleasure to meet you!” I said as we shook hands.

   “Wait, aren’t you the sister of Fukuda Kanon?” Koharu Kusumi asked.

   “Yes, that’s me.” I turned back at Aya. “Could you send me the photo?”

   “Yeah, of course. Just give me your e-mail address” she said as she took her mobile out from her pocket again.

   “Oh! I want Hikki’s e-mail address too!”

   Before I knew, I had exchanged my e-mail and my phone number with almost all the members of Hello! Project. I took some photos with some Morning Musume members and also with Berryz Koubou and ºC-ute. Yuko called me and I went back to sit on the sofa between her and Nacchi.

   “You make friends really easily, don’t you?” she laughed as she wrapped her arms around me. I laughed and shrugged my shoulders in answer.

   “Thank you for inviting me” I said as I placed my hand on her lap.

   “You’re welcome honey” she put her chin on top of my hand.

   “Hey, now who is the one being too touchy?” Rika asked with an ironic tone. We laughed and I cuddled closer to Yuko. She looked down at me and kissed my forehead.

   I’ve never felt that way with a woman before.

   People started leaving the room as the time passed by. The first ones to leave were the members of Berryz Koubou and ºC-ute; they said that they were too tired to continue with the party. Then some Morning Musume had to leave too; Junjun and Niigaki Risa were too drunk and couldn’t even walk properly. Mari and Kei left some minutes after because they were too sleepy. An hour later, Miki, Hitomi and Rika said it was the time to leave. They gave me their telephone numbers and told me to call them one day.

   “Well, we should be going too” Iida said as she stood up from the sofa. Aya did the same.

   “It’s true, it’s getting late and tomorrow we have to rehearsal again” Aya said before she yawned. She came up to me and gave me a playful punch on the shoulder “See you tomorrow, onee-chan!”

   “See you!” I answered.

   “Take care, Ayaya!” Yuko exclaimed as she gave her a pat on the butt. Aya turned around and glared at her. Then she looked back at me.

   “Hikki, take care of this perv and don’t let her drink anything else”

   “Shut up and go play with yo-yos, Matsuura” Yuko said in a rude tone. Aya rolled her eyes and went towards the door. She waved her hand and left.

   “Oh my…” Maki said as she placed her hand on her forehead. “I think I’ve drunk too much…”

   “Want me to help you home?” Nacchi said as she put her hand on Maki’s shoulder.

   “That would be fine, but I don’t want to disturb you…” Maki said, flashing a sweet smile at her.

   “Ah, Maki, you’ll never change, won’t you? You aren’t disturbing me! So come on, let me take you home” she said as she took her handbag and glanced at Yuko. “Well, thank you for inviting me! I had too much fun tonight” She looked back at me and smiled “And it’s such a pleasure to meet you, Hikaru”

   “The same goes here” Maki said as she stood up from the sofa. “I should seriously think about not drinking anymore…” she smirked and scratched the back of her head. She took Nacchi’s hand in hers and they went up to the door.

   “See you tomorrow, you two!” Nacchi said as she waved her hand at us.

   “See you, Nacchi, take care!” The leader of Hello! Project exclaimed as she sent her a kiss and winked an eye at her. Seconds later we heard how the door closed. Yuko looked back at me and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “So, we’re finally alone! Want something to drink?”

   “No, thank you, I think I’ve drunk too much already” I said as I shook my head. I looked away from her face and blushed.

   “Don’t be that cute or I’ll have to kick you out here!” Yuko shouted as pushed me away playfully. “What’s with that blush anyway? We’ve been together all night already!”

   “Yeah, I know, but I just realized that… I still don’t know why you have invited me”

   “Do you really want to know why?” Yuko asked as she rose an eyebrow and I slightly nodded. “Actually, I also don’t know why I did it neither. This morning was terrible, you know?” she laughed “The first thing I found when I got to work was a mad shouting Tsunku telling me that I was late, but I wasn’t really late since nearly nobody was there at that time! Then a staff member told me that my hair was a mess and sent me to the hairdresser’s room. That morning everyone seemed to be mad at me with no reason and suddenly, I found you” she caressed my cheek and smiled at me “Well, when you bumped into me I got mad at first, but when you helped me to stand up I was shocked.”

   “Shocked?”

   “Yeah, I think nobody from the staff have been that nice to me as you were, Hikaru. And besides, you are like the clone of Aya Matsuura, and I thought it would be fun to bring you here” I froze for a second. Was that the reason to invite me? Just because I looked like Ayaya? She seemed to notice my shock and chuckled. “Hey, don’t give me that look, I was joking you. Of course I haven’t brought you here because you are similar to her, it’s also because…” she went quiet and looked another way.

   “Because of what?”

   “Oh, shit, look at the living room, it’s absolutely a mess” I should be tidying this up. Could you help me with it?” she asked as she stood up. I held her hand and pulled her back to the sofa.

   “Because of what?” I repeated, looking directly at her eyes.

   “Because of… your lips” she muttered as she looked away from my eyes. I smiled.

   “My lips?”

   “Yeah… when I first saw you, I found your lips really… attractive” she said as she placed her hand on my cheek.

   “Attractive, huh?”  I whispered as I slowly wrapped my arms around her waist.

   “Yeah… they charm me…” she pulled me closer and put her mouth near my ear. “They make me want to…”

   “What?” I murmured. She leaned her forehead against mine and smiled. She pulled away a placed her thumb on my lips.

   “Do I really need to say it, Fukuda Hikaru?” she asked as she put her hand on my cheek and started to lean in “They make me want to kiss you” she whispered before she closed the gap between us.

   She pulled away after a while and led me to her bedroom, which, for my surprise, was even bigger than the living room. I don’t really know what happened after that. I just remember the way she started unbuttoning my shirt as she whispered the most beautiful things a woman has ever told me.

   The last thing I remember about night was how Yuko collapsed on top of me and rested her head on my shoulder.

   “Yuko… Can I tell you something?” I asked as I traced my index finger along   her features.

   “Do you still need my permission to talk to me after what we have done?” she smirked. “Anyway, sure, tell me”

   “You’re really a Love Machine” I looked away from her and blushed. I heard laugh out loud.

   “That was so cute, baka” she chuckled as she gave me a kiss in the cheek. “Want me to bring you to the ‘Koi No Dance Site’? Or maybe we can have a Happy Summer Wedding!”

   “I’m too tired for that” I pouted and crossed my arms.

   “Oooh, don’t be mad at me, you know I’m joking. You’re too funny, you know? Just let me tell you something…” she said in a serious tone, and I looked back at her. “Would you like a Morning Coffee tomorrow?”

   “Come on, stop it!” I slapped her hand away from my waist and pulled myself away, faking to be offended. She continued laughing and when she calmed herself, she got closer to me.

   “I’m sorry, but you’re just too cute when you’re mad” she said as she wrapped her arms around my body again.

   “Is that what you usually do after having sex? Making your partner get mad?” I asked as I rose an eyebrow.

   “No, of course not” she said and covered her face on my neck. “You’re special, Hikaru.”

   “Special, huh?” I muttered. I stared at Yuko’s naked body for a second and closed my eyes.

   What was I doing?

[abok]

hehehehe.... you dont have to be upset Liben-san.... sorry for the late reply....i've just read this fic....

Prologue

poor hikaru and kanon...

hikaru is such a good sister  for trying to keep that a secret from kanon...

but i wonder how long she will be able to keep it...

so hikaru became the security guards who watch the videos of the HP members....  interesting job indeed...

ai-chan and gaki-san got caught kissing!!! that's hilarious....

Chapter 1

the previous security got fired because he raped someone???!!!

and his name is sugaya???

i hope he got nothing to do with rii-chan...

[SarangAi]

I just saw this thread cuz i was bored, so i started reading...

i'm glad i did

This is SO funny~
  at TakaGaki in the changing room
  at yuko's song jokes

more~~~

[oddball]

A return of the elder club in your fic 

Yuko's song kokes were chessy but 

I feel really bad for Hikaru and Kanno, I wonder if not telling Kanno is the right thing to do in the long run

The old security man got fired for rape!!!

intrested to see where this story goes

[Liben]

@abok-sama! Nice to see you here! ^^ Thanks for commenting it means too much for me!
@SarangAi: And I'm glad you enjoyed it! 
@oddball: I can officially be happy, I have a comment from oddball! ^^ I'm also interested in where the story goes, since I really didn't plan anything... (<- confession of a bad writer)

Hope you guys enjoy this one!

   Chapter Two:

   Next morning I woke up earlier than Yuko. I needed to get back home as soon as possible to get a shower and change my clothes. I got dressed and went towards the door of the bedroom. I looked back at Yuko and sighed. A lot of images of last night flashed in my mind and I felt… dirty. I went closer to her and gave her a peck on the cheek.

   “I’m sorry…” I whispered under my breath.

   I decided to leave her a note. I took a small notebook and a pen from my handbag and wrote ‘I’m sorry that I can’t take that Morning Coffee with you’. I placed the note on top of her bedside table and left the house.

   Hours later, when I arrived to the building, the first thing I found was a pouting Kanon waiting for me. I went up to her and smiled.

   “Hey! What’s with-?”

   “Where were you last night, Hikaru?” she cut as she crossed her arms.

   “What?”

   “I called home and you didn’t answer” she explained. “Where were you?”

   “I was home, I just didn’t hear the phone ringing” I said as I looked in another direction. An image of a naked Nakazawa Yuko flashed in my mind and I shook my head to take those thoughts away from my mind. That’s something I’ll never tell her.

   “That’s not true and you know” she placed her hand on my chin and made me face her. “I called our neighbour and he told me that you left home about half past eight”

   Oh, shit, that freaking neighbour should seriously stop spying me and controlling everything I do.

   “I have told you about speaking with that guy, Kanon. He’s weird. You shouldn’t talk to him” I said pointing at her. “But anyway, how the hell did you get his phone number?”

   “He gave me his phone number one day. Whatever, but that’s not the point. Where were you last night?”

   I sighed. “I was invited to a party. That’s it.”

   “Oh, that’s cool! See? It wasn’t that difficult” she smiled. “Who organized it?”

   “Nakazawa-san did” I muttered.

   “What? I can’t believe you got invited to that party while we, the members of Hello! Pro Eggs, didn’t! I mean, you aren’t a Hello! Project member! And why the hell did she invite you and not me?”

   “Hey, hey, calm down, it’s not my fault to be invited to a party!”

   “I just can’t understand it! I’ve always wanted to be invited to Nakazawa-san’s house, I’ve been working hard for it, and now you arrive and, without reason, she invites YOU to the party” she exclaimed as she walked in circles, rising her hands in disappointment.

   “You’re too young to go to those parties, Kanon” I said.

   “What the hell? Berryz Koubou and ºC-ute were there as well, and we both know that psychologically we’re the same age!”

   “At least they don’t start shouting like crazy because they didn’t get invited to a freaking party!!” I shouted. Then, the room fell in silence. Everyone around us was staring at us, wondering what the argument was about.

   “You know what?” she asked. “You should to Germany with dad. You’re just causing trouble to everyone you love” she sighed. “I’ve to go know. I’ll see you later”

   She turned around and walked in another direction. I watched how she left as some tears fell down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe what she had just said.

   “Ara, ara, what was that about?” someone said as she placed her hand on my shoulder. I looked back to see who it was and I froze on the spot.

   “I-Ishikawa-san” I muttered. “I’m sorry you had to see that. She…”

   “Don’t worry. It’s okay” she smiled. “Just don’t cry, everything will be fine”
   “I doubt it” I muttered as I wiped my tears away.

   “Hikki, I know it’s not the best moment to tell you about this, but do you remember what we talked about yesterday?” 

   “Want me to be honest? No, not at all” I answered as I shrugged my shoulders.

   “You know… about that rape in the changing rooms” she whispered. “I just wanted to remember you to check the videos”

   “Oh, yeah, it’s true. I absolutely forgot it, I’m sorry” I said as I scratched the back of my head.

   “Again, don’t worry” she smiled “Oh, I have to go now. I’ll see you after work” she went up to me and placed a kiss on my cheek. “And don’t worry about your sister”

   She left in the same direction as Kanon and I sighed. It was time to work.

----------------

   I was about to start watching the last video of the changing room’s camera when someone knocked on the door.

   “Come in!”

   “Good afternoon Hikaru!” she exclaimed as she opened the door.

   “Hi, Yuko… wait, did you say afternoon?!” I asked in shock.

   “Yeah, it’s half past three already. I thought you would be hungry, so I brought you this” she explained as she gave me a paper bag. It was some food from the Burger King.

   “Oh, thank you so much! This morning I forgot to make a bentou and since I can’t go outside to get some food, I thought I was going to die of hunger” I said. She smiled and sat on top of the cardboard boxes.

   “What are you doing now?” she asked.

   “I’m doing what you guys told me to do yesterday, and I haven’t found anything suspicious yet” I said as I took the food out of the paper bag. “I still have to watch another one, but I don’t think there will be anything strange in this one”

   “Okay, let’s watch it then” she said as she took the remote control from my desk and pressed the play button. The changing room was empty, so she fast forwarded till she noticed something moving. “Who are those three?”

   I looked towards the screen and gulped the food I had in my mouth. “I think that one is Momoko” I said as I pointed the little girl of the screen. “The tall one must be Yurina and I don’t know who the other one is, but anyway, it doesn’t matter, just fast forward it.”

   “No, this is interesting! I have always thought there was something suspicious in those two” she said as she held tightly the remote. “Hey, hey! I know who the other one is! Can’t you see it? It’s Maasa!”

   “Wow, what an unexpected story! Maasa, Momoko and Yurina in the changing rooms probably talking about silly stuff! Go and get the copyright of that story before someone steals it!” I said sarcastically as I focused myself on eating.

   “Shut up, Love Machine!” she exclaimed. “Can I take a chip?”

   “Sure” I handed her the chips and looked back at the other screens. There was nothing interesting to see. Some members of Hello! Project were resting in the dance studio, Tsunku was walking in circles in his office while moving his arms and his secretary wasn’t in her desk. I thought back about Kanon and thought what s

   “Aah!! Hikaru, Hikaru, Hikaru, look at that!” she shouted as she shook my arm. I looked back at the screen and saw Momoko and Maasa kissing.

   “What? I don’t find it weird.” I said as I shrugged my shoulders and took a sip of my soda.

   “Really? Then look at this!” she pressed the rewind button and then pressed play again. I watched how Momoko got closer to Yurina and kissed her. Then Maasa pulled her away and kissed Yurina as well. And then Momoko kissed Maasa.

   “Okay, I must admit that it’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen” I said and I continued eating.

   “Rika has told me that you had an argument with your sister” she suddenly said and caught me off guard.

   “Yes, she got angry because you never invite her to your parties” I sighed and left the hamburger on top of the desk.

   “I didn’t invite her because she’s too young to be in my parties. I wouldn’t like her or anyone of her age to see how adults get drunk” she said as she crossed her arms. “I’m pretty bored of that kind of situations. The other day, Maeda Yuuka’s mother asked me why I didn’t invite her to yesterday’s party. I mean, her MOTHER! She should know that those parties aren’t for kids!”

   “Well, actually I can understand her. People always see you like women who act in a cute way, so they can’t imagine you drinking alcohol or doing those things” I explained and she nodded her head in agreement.

She pressed the fast forward button again and fast forwarded it till the end. We didn’t find anything suspicious at all apart from the love triangle between Momoko, Maasa and Yurina. I sighed and patted my stomach as I ate the last bit of my hamburger.

“So this was the last video, right?” Yuko asked. I nodded my head in agreement and she stood up from the cardboard box she was sitting on. She took the video out from the video player and handed it to me. I was about to put it in its cardboard box when I realized something.

“Yuko…” I muttered. “There’s a video missing” she came closer to me and checked the cardboard box as well.

“True. One is missing” she said. “Where could it be?”

“Do you think the last security guard has it? I mean, if he was the one who did it, maybe he-“

“Wait, wait, we still don’t know if Sugaya-san was the one who did it, but maybe the video was taken as a proof for a trial or something like that and that’s why it isn’t here” she explained, and I nodded my head.

“I was wondering… Has that Sugaya-san something to do with Sugaya Risako?”  I asked.

“I think he has; I remember that Fujimoto said that he’s Sugaya’s uncle” she answered and sat on top of the cardboard boxes again. “And by the way, I think we should talk”

“About what?”

“About what happened yesterday” she said as she reached out to hold my hand. “Hikaru… I’ve never felt this way with anyone before. I mean, I’ve always told myself that I would marry a nice man someday, even my manager told me to do so, but I couldn’t find any. And now I know what I want, and that’s you” she smiled and landed a small kiss on my hand. “I know you’re like way younger than me, but I like you, Hikaru”

I sighed and I stood up as I brought my hands to cover my face. Yuko stood up as well.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as she got closer to me.

“I’m not ready to do this” I mumbled as some tears started to fall down my cheeks. “I mean, I know you since yesterday, and you have changed my life in a freaking day. I need… time to think about it.” I uncovered my face and looked at her. She was looking at her hands. “I’m really sorry, Yuko, I would love to tell you ‘heck yeah, let’s be together and have a Happy Summer Wedding’, but I just can’t”

“It’s okay…” she whispered as she handed me a tissue. I wiped my tears and hugged her. I covered my face on her chest.

“I’m really sorry” I muttered. She froze a little a first, but then she hugged me back and she gently stroked my hair.

“It’s okay, don’t cry” she kissed the top of my head and pulled away to wipe my tears with the tip of her fingers.

“If there’s anything I can do for you…” I said. She shrugged her shoulders and placed her index finger on top of her lips.

“Well… I would like…” she blushed a little. That was really weird on Yuko, but I found it really cute “… to have a last kiss”

I smiled and I held her hands. “That would be such a pleasure for me”

She placed her hands on my cheeks and started to lean in. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pressed my lips onto hers. It took us a while to pull away to catch our breath. We looked at each other’s eyes and I gave her a short kiss. When I pulled away, she smiled and held my hand.

“Let’s do something…” she said “As you know, I’ll be graduating next week. Once I comeback from the concert, we’ll go to a café and talk about our feelings as we take a coffee. Is that okay for you?”

“Yes, that would be nice” I muttered.

Suddenly, Yuko’s phone started to ring. She took it out of her pocket and answered the phone. I looked back at the screens and I found that everyone was already in the dance studio, preparing themselves to rehearsal for the last time. The dance instructor was talking on the phone and moving his arms around like crazy. I looked back at Yuko and smiled.

“Yeah, I’m really sorry. I’m going there right now. Again, I’m sorry. Calm down, I’m going” she hung up the phone and looked back at me. “I’m sorry, I have to go. I’ll se you later!”

“Wait! Before you go, could you make me a favour?”

-------------------------------

   When I went back to the security room after going to the toilet, I found that the camera of Tsunku’s office wasn’t working. I pressed the red button to tell the security guards to go and check it, but nobody replied. I decided to tell Hamasaki-san about it.

   I went to Hamasaki’s office but it was empty. I shrugged my shoulders and sighed; I had to check the camera by myself. As I walked up to his office, I heard someone screaming. I ran up to where the sound came from and found myself being in front of the door of Tsunku’s office.

   “DON’T COME NEAR ME!” a girl shouted inside the room.

   “Come on, you know we’ll have fun!” a man said. I heard some weird noises after that. I opened the door and what I found made me froze for a second.

   It was Hamasaki-san. He had his pants down and he was trying to kiss Arihara Kanna. She gave me a sad look and I clenched my fists. I took a book and hit Hamasaki’s head from his back. The strike made him fall to the ground. I took his pulse. He was unconscious. I looked back at Kanna. She was crying and trembling hard. She went up to me and hugged me. She covered her face on my chest and continued crying. I had a little feeling of Déjà vu.

   “It’s over now, Arihara-san” I muttered as I stroke her back.

   Something on top of Tsunku’s desk called my attention. It was the missing video of the changing room’s recordings. I took it and looked back at Kanna.

   “We should be going now” I said as I took her hand in mine and led her to the security room. When we arrived there Kanna was still crying. “Please, sit down” I said as I pointed at the chair. She slowly nodded and sat on the chair. “Do you want anything to drink?” I asked as I opened the little fridge.

   “I would like some water” she weakly answered. She coughed a little and looked down at her toes. I handed her a bottle of water and sat on the cardboard boxes. She took a sip of her drink and wiped her tears away.

   “I don’t know if I’m the right person to ask you about this, but what happened?” I asked as I placed my hand on her lap. She looked at my hand and then looked at me. She sighed and stood up. She walked around the small room and finally decided to speak.

   “Some months ago, a magazine published some photos of me with a friend from another company… Hashimoto” she said. “I… wasn’t dating him. He was just a friend, but Tsunku-san didn’t believe me…” she took another sip of water and continued “I told him that I didn’t like him. I’ve always liked girls and he knows it. Well, now… there are too many girls I like.”

   “What do you mean with that?” I asked. The way she said it sounded really suspicious.

   “I’m… dating seven girls at the same time” my eyes widened at that. “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not as easy as it seems” she sighed. “At first I was dating Erika… but then Airi confessed me her feelings and I didn’t know what to do because I also liked her. I started dating her as well. And then a lot of girls asked me out; Maimi, Saki, Chisa, Shimizu-san, Risako… I didn’t know what to do, so I started to date all of them at the same time.”

   “You’re weird” I declared as I took a soda out from the fridge “Couldn’t you just say ‘no, I’m already dating someone’?”

   “It isn’t that easy! That girls had feelings for me and… I didn’t know what to do! If I told them that I was already dating Erika, they would hate me…”

   “No, Kanna, they would hate you at first, but then they would understand you!”

   “ENOUGH, STOP IT! That’s not the point right now!!” she suddenly shouted.

   “Sorry, continue” I said as I looked down at my hands.

   “Well… This morning Tsunku found out that I was dating seven girls at the same time, because the leader of Berryz told him that she was dating me, and I think Maimi and someone else told him the same. He got really angry with no reason. I mean, why does he care about my life? He can’t fire me because I’m dating seven girls!”

   “Has he tried to fire you?!” I exclaimed.

   “No, it’s not like that. He told me that he would fire me if I didn’t make him a ‘favour’, you know what I mean” she said as she made some gesture with her fingers.

   “No, I don’t get it” I said as I scratched the back of my head. She slapped her forehead with her hand.

   “He told me to have SEX with HAMASAKI-SAN!” she exclaimed.

   “Oh, that does make sense” I answered as I placed my hand on my chin. “What are you going to do now?”

   “First I’m going to break up with all of them… and then I’ll think about what I will do with my future.”

   “That’s a good idea, indeed”

   “Well… I should be going right now. I have to continue rehearsing” she said. “Please, don’t tell anyone about what you have seen”

   “I wouldn’t do so. If someone found out that I hit the head of my boss with a book to make him go unconscious, I would be fired.” Kanna nodded her head and walked up to the door.

   “It has been nice to talk with you. I just… I’m sorry, but I forgot your name” she said.

   “My name is Fukuda Hikaru” I answered.

   “Then thank you, Fukuda Hikaru” she smirked and she gave me her calling card “Call me”

   “I’ll do so” I smiled as I put the calling card inside my pocket. She gave me a thumbs-up and left the room.

   I wondered if she was flirting with me.

[Haruka]

Waaaaaaaaa...

That was unexpected O_o... but then again... it makes me think about Tsunku's orientation

Please go on... I'm looking forward it =)

[SarangAi]

WOAH WOAH WOAH so is kanna gonna leave c-ute now??? woah the behind story...

  I wondered if she was flirting with me.

LOL Kanna's like a natural

[abok]

oh my god.....

poor Hikaru.... Kanon should not say that to her sister.....

Yurina, Momo and Maa are together??? 

what kind of relationship is this??? same with Kanna, she's dating seven girls.... Kanna even try to flirt with Hikaru.... She is such a player....

so, Tsunku and Hamasaki are the bad guys i guess.... maybe Hikaru should do something to both of them you know, like this.....

good chapter Liben-san.... i love it.... update soon ok....

[oddball]

@ Liben: I'm glad me commenting made you happy, if a little confused as to why

Oh dear, poor Kannon saying that she dosn't care about the family, I suppose this is what Hikaru wants however....

Kanna dating 7 girls, good effort  Tsunku wanted a favor from her, plus he had the missing tape in his room, whats on that tape I wonder, could it prove Sugaya's innocence and that he was set up or indeed his guilt?

[Liben]

Sorry for the late updating. I was ki-ki-kinda busy at school. But here I am again, with another chapter. I really didn't know how to continue the story, but this is the best way I found to continue it. I hope you guys enjoy it =D


Chapter Three:

   At half past eight in the afternoon someone knocked the door. It was Hamasaki-san.

   “Yo, it’s time to go” he said as he held his head with his hand.

   “Oh, it’s true. Sorry, I’m leaving now” I answered as I put my bottle of soda inside the fridge.

   “Man, what a headache” he muttered as he massaged his forehead with the tip of his fingers.

   “Are you okay?” I asked while I put my jacket on.

   “Yeah… I just hit my head against my own desk as I picked something up from the floor” he explained. I coughed and looked in another direction.

   “Oh, that sounds painful, yeah. I should be going now” I said as I left the room. “I’ll see you tomorrow, I suppose”

   “Tomorrow will be a boring day for you, don’t you think?” I turned around and looked at him. He had a wide smile on his face. “Tomorrow everyone will be rehearsing at Yokohama Arena. Maybe I can ask Tsunku to give us a free week.”

   “That would be cool” I muttered. “Well, I really must be going now. See you” I waved my hand at him and quickly walked away from him. After what I’ve seen, I think I won’t look at him in the same way I did before.

   “Weird perverted man” I whispered under my breath.

   When I arrived to the entrance of the building, nobody was there. I thought back about what Kanon told me that morning and sighed. It’s painful to hear that from someone you’re trying to protect from getting hurt by the reality. 

   “Hikki-chan!” someone exclaimed as she jumped around me. “I didn’t expect you to see you here!”

   “Nacchi! Hi, you scared me” I said as I placed my hand on top of my chest, trying to calm down the pace of my heartbeat.

   “Sorry, sorry” she sent me a huge smile. “Today your sister did an awesome work!”

   “That’s great!” I exclaimed as I smiled back.

   “Yeah, she sang a song with Yuko! I mean, when Yuko was rehearsing ‘Kuyashi Namida Porori’ she went up to your sister and she asked her to sing that song together. Isn’t it shocking?” When I heard that, I pretended to seem surprised, and it seems it worked.

   “How sweet! Yuko is such a sweetheart” I chuckled.

   “You two make such a good couple” she smirked

   I smiled in silence and looked in another direction. Did we really look good together? I shrugged my shoulders and sighed. I looked back at the building and noticed that some elder members were coming.

   “It’s done now!” Ogawa Makoto exclaimed as she did the peace sign at Yoshizawa Hitomi. She glanced towards where Nacchi and I were staying.

   “Hey, Hikki! How are you?” Hitomi asked as she got closer to me to give me a hug.

   “I’m fine” I muttered. “What’s with that hug?”

   “This could be the last time we see each other!” Hitomi pouted. I didn’t realize that. That was the last day I could see them in the screens. It made me feel pretty sad, and she noticed it. “Oh, come on, don’t give me that look! Call me someday and we’ll hang out together, okay?”

   “Okay!” I answered as I hugged her again. While I cuddled her, I could feel how someone was looking at me. Once I pulled away, I turned around and there she was. “Yuko…”

   “Can I have a hug too?” she asked with a wide smile on her face. I nodded and ran up to her to hug her. I felt even sadder as I held her. I was seriously going to miss having her around. “I’m going to miss you so much, Hikaru”

   “The same goes here” I whispered as I felt some tears on my eyes.

   “Sorry, Nakazawa-senpai?” someone asked. We pulled away and I realized that the girl that had cut our precious moment was actually my sister, Kanon.

   “Hey, Kan-chan!” I exclaimed. She ignored me and looked at Yuko.

   “I just wanted to thank you what you’ve done today” she continued. “It meant a lot to me”

   “You’re thanking the wrong person, Kanon” Yuko looked at me and placed her hand on my shoulder. “I made it because your old sister, Hikaru-chan, told me to do so.”

   “Is that true?” she said, glancing at me for the first time since we started the conversation. I nodded my head and she slapped her face. “Man, I feel really stupid”

   “You must feel so. You have the best sister in the world and you didn’t even know it” Yuko said as she crossed her arms.

   “I’m really sorry” she muttered while she looked down at her hands.

   “It’s okay” I went closer to her and patted her head.

   “YOU’RE HERE!” someone shouted. I looked back to see who it was and smiled. It was Ishikawa-san. “I’ve been looking for you!” she was trying hard to catch her breath. “Have you got news?”

   I thought back about Arihara-san and shook my head. “No, nothing at all. I’ve to watch one video tonight”

   “What? But we already watched all the videos today” Yuko said.

   “I found the missing tape” I smirked as I took the video tape out of my hand bag. She gave a shocked look.

   “Where did you find it?” she asked. I thought about Kanna again and tried to find the best excuse I could find in that short period of time.

   “I found it… inside another cardboard box. Yeah, that’s it” Rika shrugged her shoulders at my answer, but Yuko gave me a weird look as she got closer to me.

   “You’re lying, aren’t you?” she whispered to my ear. I slightly nodded and she chuckled. Rika approached me and gave me a puppy look.

   “Hikaru-chan, can I watch that video with you?” she said. I shivered a little. The idea of having Rika in my house made me feel… worried. What if my weird neighbour did something to her? He’s a huge fan of Hello! Project. I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head.

   “Sure, why not?” I smiled and looked back at Kanon. “Are you coming with us?”

   “Sorry… I was so mad at you, so I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep in the same house as you. That’s why I’m sleeping in Yuuka’s house tonight” she explained while looking at her shoes. She got closer to me and cuddled me. “I’m sorry”

   “Don’t worry. Go with her and have fun” I said as I patted her head. She smiled at me and went towards her friends.

   “Here’s the taxi” Yuko said. “I’ll call you, okay?”

   “Okay” I muttered. “Good luck in your concert”

   “Thank you” she smiled. A weird silence filled the atmosphere. We both smiled at each other as she got into the taxi. The door of the taxi closed automatically and she waved her hand as the car started to move. I felt so… empty.

   “You do really love her, don’t you?” Rika asked. I probably spent a lot of time spacing out, since now Rika and I were the only ones staying in front of the door of the building. I shook my head and chuckled.

   “We’re just friends”

   “Yeah, sure, just friends that stare at each other’s lips, hoping for a kiss and the…”

   “OKAY, let’s go home!”  I roughly turned around and started walking.

   “Hey! Wait for me!”

---

   “Can we order some Chinese food?” Rika asked as we entered the room.

   “No. I hate Chinese food” I replied.

   “Does it mean that you hate Junjun and Linlin too?” she rose her eyebrows at me and smirked.

   “That doesn’t make sense. I just hate Chinese FOOD, I don’t hate Chinese PEOPLE” I chuckled.

   “Does it mean that we can call Junjun and Linlin and ask them to cook something for us?”

   “NO!” I exclaimed, starting to get a little bit annoyed.

“I hate you, old mean woman!” she pouted. I glared at her and crossed my arms.

   “Who are you calling ‘old’?!” I shouted.

   “Scary~. You’re exactly like Yuko. You’re too cute together!” she chuckled.

   “Stop it” I said as I got into the kitchen. Rika followed me, still laughing a little. “We’ll just eat some ramen and we’ll watch the video tape?”

   “Okay” she smiled and nodded her head. I started cooking the meal and she sat on a chair, staring at me. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

   “No, thank you. Just stay there” I answered while I continued cooking the ramen.

About three minutes later, the dinner was ready. We headed towards the living room and ate the dinner over there.

“Hey, I like it. What flavour is it?” Rika asked with the word ‘happiness’ written all over her face.

“Chicken, I think” I replied as I continued eating. The chopsticks fell from Rika’s hand. I picked them up from the floor and handed them to her. I froze when I saw her face. She had an evil look on her face. “Are you okay…?”

“HAHAHAHAHA! Who is the winner now, chicken?!” she exclaimed, laughing hard and pointing at the ramen. I started to feel crept out by her sudden acts.

“…”

“…” she looked back at me and blushed. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it”

“It’s okay, I guess…” I tried to give her a smile, but I was way too scared to do so. We kept eating in silence after that.

Once we both were done, we decided to watch the video. I went towards the video player and put the tape inside it. I took the remote control and sat beside Rika. I pressed play.

“The room is empty” she said. I pressed the FF button and we kept watching until we saw something moving in the screen. I pressed play again. A man was getting into the room.

“Who is he?” I asked, looking back at Rika.

“I can’t see his face clearly… but he looks familiar to me” she said. I nodded my head and we kept watching. The man started to get his clothes off.

“Could it be Sugaya-san?” I muttered.

“No way. Sugaya-san is fat as hell. He wouldn’t be able to enter the room” she smirked. “Don’t give me that look! It’s the truth. He always had trouble with doors”

“Then Sugaya-san wasn’t the one who raped the girl… This man over there did” I said.

“But why did Sugaya-san get fired if he didn’t rape anyone?” she asked.

“Well, maybe he forgot to call the secu-“

“Hey, look!” she exclaimed while pointing at the screen. There was a girl entering the changing rooms. It was a short, dark haired and thin girl. She had her hair in a ponytail. The guy jumped into her and grabbed her from behind. I pressed the pause button. I could recognize them.

“Tsunku-san?!” I shouted.

“Tsunku-san is raping Airi?!” Rika exclaimed.

I wasn’t sure about anything anymore.

[oddball]

The whole Yuko leaving Hikaru part was so sweet and sad at the same time, I hope Hikaru can come to her senses and see that Yuko is right for her

At least Hikaru and Kannon are O.K. with each other again, thanks to Yuko Kannon realized what a good sister she has....

Good old Rika, pointing out that Hikaru must love Yuko becasue of how much she was spacing out, but seroiusly, WTF was Rika goining on about with Chinese food and Jun and Lin ??? and then shouting at her Ramen ??? no wonder hikaru got a bit freaked out...

Tsunku! Tsunku raped Airi  I'm not sure about anything now either 

[abok]

you've update!!!! i'm so happy!!!!

correct me if i'm wrong liben-san, but are the elders graduating???

poor Hikaru..... looks like she's going to be separated from Yuko....

looks like Kanon finally realize how lucky she is to have a sister like Hikaru..... and i wonder about what's going on between her and Yuuka....

“Tsunku-san?!” I shouted.

“Tsunku-san is raping Airi?!” Rika exclaimed.

Tsunku is the rapist!!!!! and he's the one that rape Airi!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Liben]

@oddball: Your comment made me chuckle. Thank you for keep reading after such a long time! 
@abok: Yup, the elders are graduating. And I'm sorry that Tsunku raped Airi. Maybe Maimi will protect her...  Thank you for your support! ^^

This chapter is not as long as the last ones, but I hope you like it as well =D

Chapter Four

   I was going to find it hard to sleep that night, so I decided to help Rika home. We walked all the way to her house in silence. I supposed she was as shocked as me. Well, maybe more than me; I would be really shocked if I found out the man I always admired was like that. I thought back about Hamasaki-san. He was nice, but I wouldn’t say that I admired him. Now that I know he’s a perverted man, I don’t care about him anymore.

   “The sky looks so pretty tonight” she suddenly said, taking me out from my thoughts. I looked up and smiled. I could see a little star in the sky. It was weird to see a star in Tokyo because there were a lot of lights.

   “That’s true” I smiled and looked at Rika. “What will we do now?”

   “Do you want to make out?” she asked as she rose her eyebrows.

   “I didn’t mean that” I chuckled and shook my head.

   “I don’t know, Hikaru. Let me think about it tonight. I’ll call you in the morning before I get the bus to go to Yokohama” she sighed and patted my shoulder. “My house is over there. It was nice to be with you. Thanks for the dinner”

   “You’re welcome, Rika. It was nice to have dinner with you” I smiled and reached out to hold her hand. “Don’t forget to call me tomorrow”

   “I won’t” she gave my hand a quick squeeze and hugged me. “I’ll miss you so much, Hikki”

   “Me too, Rika” I whispered to her ear and I pulled away. “Rest well”

   “Thank you” she opened the door and waved her hand at me as she entered her house. I waved back and she closed the door.

   I placed my hands inside my pockets and started walking back home. The atmosphere was so calm and it felt strange: for a city as Tokyo, the silence was really unusual. I was passing by a Burger King restaurant when I found someone familiar standing in front of the door. She was looking down at the floor and shivering a little. I stared at her for a second and finally recognized her.

   “Junjun?”

   She looked at me and quickly covered her face. She tried to run away from me but she fell to the ground. I went up to her as fast as I could and helped her to get up.

   “Hey, hey, calm down” I whispered and noticed that the people around us looked at us. “There’s nothing to see here! Keep walking!” I exclaimed. I took a look at Junjun’s face and noticed that her cheeks were wet. “Are you okay?”

   “Um” she muttered as she nodded slowly her head. I sighed and placed my hands on her shoulders. I took a second to think about what to say.

   “Feel free to talk to me, Junjun” I said in Chinese with the best accent I could speak. Finally, I made her smile for the first time.

   “I didn’t know you could speak Chinese” she replied in Chinese as well.

   “I studied Chinese in the university. I was thinking about getting a job over there, but it didn’t work” I explained as I shrugged my shoulders. She smiled again and wiped her tears. “Do you want to go to eat somewhere?”

   “I already had dinner” she answered.

   “Does it matter?” I asked as I rose an eyebrow. She chuckled and shook her head.

   “Let’s go to Dennis” she said as she took my hand in hers. It felt warm.

   We had to walk for five minutes but we finally reached the restaurant. As usual, a lot of people were staying there. We entered it and spotted a table near the window. Just three seconds after we sat down, a waitress came near us.

   “Welcome to Dennis. What would you like?” she asked. I looked up at the menu and couldn’t find anything I liked.

   “A coffee” I answered.

   “Chicken sandwich and a Coca Cola” Junjun said. I remembered Rika and shivered a little.

   “Okay, I’ll be right back” she headed towards the kitchen, shouting what we just ordered to the other ones.

   “Do you usually drink coffee at night?” Junjun asked.

   “Well, you’ve ordered Coca Cola at night too” I said as I crossed my arms.

   “It’s not the same” she said as she shook her head. Just as she moved her head, I noticed a gash on her right cheek. My eyes widened a bit.

   “What happened on your cheek?” I asked while pointing slightly at her cheek.

   “W-w-what? T-this?” she muttered and started to shiver a little. She looked toward the kitchen’s door nervously and sighed. “I just… just… fell… and…”

   “Junjun, are you okay?”

   “I’m fine! I’m fine! I just... don’t’ worry about me, okay?” she said in a suspicious way while she looked how our waitress came with our order.

   “Here you have: Chicken sandwich and a cola and your coffee” she said as she placed the food on the table.

   “Fine, fine. Here you have the money. I have to leave now” Junjun said as she gave the waitress some cash and took the food with her. “It was nice to see you, Hikaru. See you someday”

   “Junjun” I muttered as she ran towards the door. The waitress gave me a weird look and patted my shoulder.

   “I’m sorry for you” she said as I sighed.

   “Don’t worry. Here you have” I replied as I gave her the money as well.

   “No… I’ll pay it” the waitress said as she gave me the money back and winked an eye at me. I smiled at her.

   “Thank you” I whispered.

         As the waitress walked away, I noticed someone staring at me. Just in the table in front of me, I found a girl drinking a coffee. I smiled at her and she blushed slightly. I stood up, took the coffee and went up to her.

        “Can I sit here, Suzuki-san?” I asked. She nodded her head slowly and I sat down in front of her. She looked sad. I thought back about what I watched in the video and I felt guilty, even thought I knew it wasn’t my fault.

         “Junjun left you alone, didn’t she?” she asked and took a sip of her coffee.

         “It seems so” I replied as I shrugged my shoulders. She smiled a little. I could understand why Kanna was dating her. She was really cute. If I wasn’t way older than her, I would date her as well. Or at least, I wouldn’t care if Kanon dated her. “I’m glad I’m not the only one who drinks coffee at night.”

         “Me too” she chuckled. “I shouldn’t be drinking this anyway. Tomorrow I have to take the bus to Yokohama.”

         “Well, you can sleep in the bus” I said.

         “Sleep in the bus? No way. Chisato would take photos of me, and I don’t want that” she said as she made circles on the table with the tip of her index finger. She still looked a little bit melancholic.

         “Are you okay?” I asked. She looked up at me and blushed. We stared at each other’s eyes for a minute and she finally decided to talk.

         “I’m… broken” she muttered as she placed her hands on her lap. I gulped. I didn’t know what to say at that. “I’ve just broken up with Kanna. She was cheating on me with six girls!”

        “Six girls? Oh my god!” I exclaimed, trying to sound shocked. It didn’t work, and she seemed to notice it.

        “You knew it, didn’t you?” she asked as she rose an eyebrow.

        “Yeah, I knew it. She told me about it today” I said as I took a sip of my coffee.

        “So you were the one who rescued her from Hamasaki” she said. “Kanna explained me what happened. You’re really brave.”

        “Not really. You’re the brave one here after what happened with Tsunku-san.” I covered my mouth after I said that. She froze for a second and looked down at her hands. I mentally slapped my forehead for what I said.

        “So you know it…” she whispered. I nodded my head in agreement. A tear fell down her cheek and she wiped it as fast as she could. “He… did…” she mumbled. It seemed that she couldn’t hold her tears anymore. I went near to her and hugged her.

       “Please, don’t cry” I muttered.

        This made her cry even harder. The people around us gave us a weird look. I took her hand in mine and made her stand up from her chair. I wrapped an arm around her waist and we walked out of the restaurant. I led her to a park near my house. I didn’t want anyone to see her like that. She cried all the way, but once we arrived, she seemed to be a little calm. I handed her an issue and we both sat on a bench.

        “I watched the recordings of the security camera” I explained as she wiped her tears. “I feel really sorry for you, but I think you should report him”

        “I can’t! If he was in prison, Hello! Project wouldn’t exist anymore” she exclaimed.

        “That doesn’t make sense…” I muttered under my breath. “Anyone else could take care of Hello! Project”

        “Who? Anyone can write songs as he does” she mumbled. I mentally slapped my forehead. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. That girl didn’t make sense at all.

        We kept talking for a while. She told me about Kanna. She was going to be expelled for three months because of what happened with Hamasaki. The concert with the elders and the wonderful hearts was going to be her last concert before being out of the group. I felt worried about her, but I must admit I was more worried about myself. I did really need the job, and if Hamasaki-san or anyone found out that I was the one who knocked him out I would be fired, and that wasn’t definitely what I wanted.

       Airi was starting to feel a little bit tired, so I decided to walk her home. We made the way to her house in silence. She still looked sad, but she seemed to feel a little bit better.

      “It’s the house over there” she said, pointing to the right. “Thank you for being with me tonight. I didn’t want to be alone”

      “Don’t worry. It’s not like I wanted to be alone as well”

      “I should be going now… Mum must be worried” she said. She came near to me and gave me a hug. It took me about a second to hug her back. I knew she really needed a cuddle, and I think I needed one as well.

      I watched how she walked away while waving her hand at me. I waved back before she entered her house. I sighed and started walking back home.

      I felt so empty and confused.

[oddball]

"That’s true” I smiled and looked at Rika. “What will we do now?”

"Do you want to make out?” she asked as she rose her eyebrows.

Oh dear Rika's still acting all weird 

So Jun comes itno the story, I wonder whats happening with her, is she tsunku's latest victim, why has she got a gash on her cheek and how come she couldn't make it home, Am wanting to find out more about Jun!

I think it's fair to say that Airi is in a bad place at he moment, she has broken up with Kanna over MGS (multiple girlfriend syndrome ) and what's worse is she knows that she was raped but dosn't want to do anything about it, I get the feeling there is more to it then her worries with H!P ending, I think that there must be some other reasons!

[abok]

Poor Airi...... first she's been rape and now Kanna wants to leave her.... i hope Maimi will be the one that took care of her......

i'm getting very curious about Junjun.....  i wonder what happen to her and i can't wait to know....

[Liben]

I'm sorry again for taking a lot of time to update. I had a lot of exams, and then I fell ill, but now I'm feeling better so I thought it was about time to update this fic


Chapter Five

The first thing I heard when I woke up was the telephone. I lazily got up and ran to the living room. I picked it up as fast as I could.

“Hi?” I said before I yawned.

“Hikaru-chan? It’s me, Hamasaki” The way he called me made me want to throw up. “I wanted you to know that you don’t have to work today. I’ve been talking with Tsunku, and he has given us a free week.”

“That’s nice” I muttered as I rubbed my forehead. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome! Have a nice week, Hikaru-chan” he exclaimed happily.

I sighed and hung up the phone. I looked at my watch. Six o’clock. I shrugged my shoulders and went back to sleep.

------------------------------------------

The first thing I heard when I woke up for the second time that morning was the telephone again. This time I felt more annoyed than before.

“Hamasaki, if it’s you, I’m going to punch your perv-looking face so hard!” I muttered as I walked to the living room. I picked up the telephone and answered in the best way I could. “Hi?!”

“I OVERSLEPT!” the girl in the other line shouted. “HIKARU, FOR GODS SHAKE, YOU MUST HELP ME!!”

“Who are you?” I asked, starting to feel a little bit afraid.

“I’m Rika!” she exclaimed. “Please, help me! I’ve lost the bus and Tsunku is going to be mad at me if I don’t arrive at time to Yokohama for the rehearsal! Please, you have to drive me there!”

“Okay, okay, calm down. Pack your things. I’ll be there in five minutes”

“Really?! Thank you so much Hikaru!! If you weren’t the future girlfriend of the boss, I would kiss you!” she exclaimed before she hung up the phone. I sighed and I headed to my room again. I prepared a little suitcase and changed my clothes. I took all the stuff I needed and ran up to the car. I got into it and sighed.

Wasn’t I supposed to relax during my holidays?

Once I arrived to Rika’s house, she was already waiting for me. She placed her suitcase inside the trunk and closed it before she got into the car.

“Hi! Thank you for driving me to Yokohama” she said as she smiled sweetly at me.

“Don’t worry. We’ll be in Yokohama in an hour.”

Hours later, I found out that what I said was the biggest lie ever. Even thought Yokohama wasn’t really far away from Tokyo, there was an enormous traffic jam. It made me go sick. Rika got several calls from Tsunku. I could clearly hear him shouting at her from my seat. It felt uncomfortable.

We started to feel hungry, so we decided to make a fast stop to have lunch. We found a small restaurant near the highway. The name of the restaurant called my attention: The Mercury. We went inside and a Chinese girl came up to us.

“Sorry, but the restaurant is full. If you want, you can order some food to take out” she said.

“That would be fine” Rika answered and I nodded my head in agreement. We ordered something simple and, once we had our food, we went back to the car.

Once we have finished eating, I noticed someone staring at us. It was a man who was wearing a suit and smoking a cigarette. He was smirking slightly. I didn’t feel secure with him around, so I decided to start the car and go away from there.

This time, there wasn’t any traffic jam, so we arrived to Yokohama in half an hour. We had some trouble finding the hotel, but we finally got there. We got out of the car and a bellboy helped us with the baggage while another one took the car to the parking. We went to the hall and the receptionist gave Rika the key of her room.

“Sorry, is there any free room?” I asked. She sighed and shook her head.

“I’m sorry, but the hotel is full today” she said. I sighed and smiled at her.

“Thank you anyway” I said. She winked her eye at me and smiled back.

“ISHIKAWA!” someone shouted. I looked back and I found Tsunku staying in front of us. “You’re really irresponsible! What the hell were you thinking about?!”

“I’m sorry, I just overslept and…”

“I don’t care! Just leave your suitcase in your room. Everyone is getting ready to go to the Yokohama Arena!” he shouted while pointing at the elevator. Rika nodded her head slowly and she headed to the elevator. The bellboy followed her, carrying our baggage. Tsunku looked back at me and smiled. “Thank you, Fukuda-san. You did a great job” he said as he placed his hand on top of my shoulder.

I nodded my head slowly and smiled slightly. I couldn’t look at him. Not after what he did to Airi. His hand was still on my shoulder and he was looking at me, expecting an answer from me.

“Eh, thank you, Tsunku-san” I muttered. His smiled turned into a smirk.

“Here you have” he said as he gave me a ticket. “With this ticket, you can get into the backstage of the Yokohama Arena”.

“Thank you so much, Tsunku-san” I said as I placed the ticket inside my pocket.

“You’re welcome” he winked at me and walked away from me. If I wanted to throw up when Hamasaki called me, now I wanted to shout out loud.

“Hikaru!” someone exclaimed while hugging me from behind. I smiled. It was Kanon. I reached out to hold her hands. “What are you doing here? Did you come to see the concert? How did you get the holidays?”

“Hey, hey, wait, too many questions over here” I chuckled. “Rika overslept, so I had to bring her here. We found a terrible traffic jam, that’s why we’ve arrived that late. But I’ll go to see the concerts anyway. Tsunku has given me some tickets to go to the backstage”

“That’s so cool!” she exclaimed as she came closer to me to give me another hug. “I have to go now, the girls are waiting for me in the cafe, but we’ll talk later, okay?”

“Okay!” I exclaimed. She waved her hand at me as she walked away and I waved back.
 
I thought about going to Rika’s room, but just as I was heading to the lift, someone placed her hand on my shoulder. I turned around and found myself being in front of Aya Matsuura and Nacchi, who were followed by Miki and Hitomi.

“I didn’t know you were going to come, Hikki! You should have told us” Nacchi said as she got closer to me and hugged me. I smiled and patter her head gently.

“I didn’t know I was going to come to Yokohama either until Rika called me this morning, so I couldn’t tell you anything about it!” I chuckled as she pulled away and stroked my cheek.

“I’m really happy to see you here” she said. Her gaze seemed really honest and it made me feel comfortable. I smiled and hugged her again.

“Hey! I want a hug too!” Aya pouted as she crossed her arms. We both laughed and I pulled away to embrace Aya as well. After that, I remember that Yossi and Miki also hugged me.

“Do you want to come to the café with us? We’re supposed to meet the members of Morning Musume there before we go to the Yokohama Arena” Hitomi asked as she pointed towards the café.

“Of course!” after saying that sentence, we automatically headed towards the café of the hotel. From where we were staying, I could see a girl sitting alone next to the window. As we got closer, I started to recognize her. While we were entering the café, I realized that I’ve never been this close to her before. It made me feel a little bit nervous, and I felt even more like that when I noticed that she was walking towards me. Our gazes met for a second and she came closer to me.

“Fukuda-san, can I talk with you for a second?” she asked, with a smile on her face.

“Yeah, of course you can” I answered, and she led me out of the building. Once we were outside, she looked straight to my eyes and sighed.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to talk with you since I saw you in Nakazawa-senpai’s party” she said as she placed her hands inside her pockets. “There are a lot of things we have to speak about…”

“What do you mean?” I asked, feeling a little bit confused with all the words that were pouring out of her mouth. She sighed once again and crossed her arms.

“As the leader of Morning Musume as I am, and the future leader of Hello! Project, I must look after the members” she explained as she looked down at the floor. “And I know they will never be safe if Tsunku keeps being the producer of Hello! Project”

“Do you know about…?”

“Yes, of course I know. I would be blind if I didn’t know” she said. “I saw how you rescued Kanna from Hamasaki, and that wasn’t the first time that I saw something related with… you know, rapes”

I stayed in silence for a minute. That really caught me off guard. I thought nobody knew about what Tsunku did apart from Rika, Yuko, the “victims” and me.

“Why didn’t you do anything when you saw those rapes?” I asked.

“Do you think I don’t ask the same to myself every night?!” she suddenly shouted. I was shocked and she seemed to notice. That was when her tears started to fall.

“Takahashi-san…”

“I’m a bad leader… I’m the worst leader ever… I saw a lot of terrible things and I didn’t do anything against it... I’m really stupid…” she mumbled. I went towards her and placed my hands on her hips.

“Stop saying things like that, please” I whispered. She seemed to calm a little, but then she started crying again.

“I have to do something… I have to stop this… But I can’t, I’m not strong enough” she said, crying harder than before.

“Shut up” I firmly said, placing my index finger on top of her lips. “I know you have to do something against it, and we will do it together. I’m not strong enough either, but if we stay all together, I’m sure that we will be able to stop it” I said as I held her hands. She looked at our hands and then she stared at me for a minute.

“Fukuda-san…” she muttered as she came closer to me to give me a hug. As I embraced her, I could feel that she was still shivering a little. I placed a little peck on her cheek before I pulled away.

“You’re the best leader of Morning Musume ever” I whispered “And you’ll be a good leader of Hello! Project as well, so don’t worry anymore.”

She smiled and nodded her head slightly. She embraced me again.

“Thank you” she mumbled. I smiled and for a second, I wondered how a simple girl like me was hugging such an amazing girl like her.

Probably, I was the luckiest girl of the world.

---

I decided to take some stuff from my suitcase before going to the Yokohama Arena. I entered the lift and pressed the button. I sighed and once I arrived to my floor, I found myself being in front of Rika.

“I must hurry! I’m going to be late!” she exclaimed as she entered the lift, probably not noticing that I was there. I left the lift and stared at her for a second. The image of Rika looking at her watch and acting in a nervous way reminded me of Alice Adventures In Wonderland’s Rabbit, and that idea made me chuckle, but then I noticed that there was no time to chuckle, since I was going to be late as well.

I ran towards Ishikawa’s room and opened the door with the card the receptionist gave me. Once I was inside, I opened my suitcase and took the bag of the camera out from it. I ran out of the room and I bumped into someone. I had a small feeling of déjà vu.

“I’m really sorry!” I automatically exclaimed as I looked down at my shoes.

The other person stayed in silence. I looked up and froze. She looked shocked as well, maybe more than I was. We stared at each other for a minute. I knew this moment was going to arrive anyway, but I didn’t expect it to be that soon. Being in front of her felt a little bit cold, but I liked the way it felt. The gaze she was giving me made me blush a little, and she seemed to notice, since she started to smile.

I’ve never noticed how beautiful her smile was until that moment. Her smile made me smile as well. Probably we looked really creepy from outside, just quietly staring and smiling at each other, but it felt really good.

“You’ll never change, right?” she finally said as she shook her head. “You’re always bumping into people.”

“I’m sorry” I blushed and scratched the back of my head. She chuckled a little and reached out to hold my hand.

“Come on, or we’ll be really late” she said as she led me towards the elevator. She pressed the button and we waited patiently for it, still holding hands. Her hand felt really soft against mine, and only thinking about it made me blush a little. She looked at me and smiled gently. Once the lift arrived, we got inside and I pressed the button of the hall.

She got closer to me and placed a kiss on my cheek.

“I don’t want to know why you are here, but I’m really happy to see you” she whispered. I blushed even more than before and stared at our hands.

Once the lift stopped and the doors opened, she pulled away and ran towards the exit of the hotel. She looked back at me and waved her hand. There was a taxi waiting for her in front of the hotel. She quickly got into it and I watched how the taxi went away.

My hand and my cheek still felt warm.

---

Hours later, the rehearsal was almost done. It felt really touching to hear them singing all the old and new songs of Morning Musume. The concert ended with the most famous song of the group, “Love Machine”, being sung by all the members of the company. I couldn’t help it but feel really sad as I watched it from the backstage. That would probably be the last time they rehearsed together. I imagined how my life would be without the elder members, and it made me even worse than before. I really couldn’t life without them.

When the song finished, I was already crying. I clapped my hands like crazy, even thought they couldn’t really hear me. They waved to an imaginary audience and started to enter the backstage one by one. Rika ran towards me and hugged me.

“Fukuda-chan~” she exclaimed in a cute tone. “Don’t cry, please~”

That made me cry a little bit harder, and I covered my eyes with my hand. I felt someone hug me from the side and someone patted my head.

“Come on, Hikki, be strong” I could recognize that voice: it was Nacchi.

“Don’t cry, please” that was definitely Ayaya. Once I pulled away, I noticed that a lot of people were staying around me. I tried to wipe my tears, but they were still falling down and I couldn’t stop them. Ai was giving me a worried look and she came closer to me to pat my shoulder.

“Don’t cry, Fukuda-san” she muttered. “I don’t want to see you cry too”

I covered my eyes again and I heard how some of them started to leave. My tears kept falling and falling until I felt someone taking my hand away from my eyes and placing one of her arms around my waist.

“I won’t tell you to stop crying. If that’s what you want, cry” she whispered to my ear. She pulled me into an embrace and touched my back gently. She placed one of her hands on my cheek and kissed my forehead.

Yuko really knew how to make me feel like home, but that made me cry even harder.

I was really going to miss her.

---

After the rehearsal, Ayaya decided to have dinner all the members together, and she invited me as well. I couldn’t understand why, because I wasn’t a member of Hello! Project, but I wasn’t complaining anyway.

I was sitting in front of her, and that made me feel a little nervous, but being between Nacchi and Rika calmed me down somehow. It seemed that we all agreed to order the same meal, because nearly all the members ordered Yakisoba. Ayaya had already explained us that this restaurant’s yakisoba was famous in all Yokohama, so maybe that’s why nearly all of us ordered it.

Once our meal arrived, Aya, who was sitting near Yuko, stood up and started talking to all the members.

“I joined Hello! Project in 2002, and I can’t believe that now I’m graduating from this company. I feel weird, because I feel sad and happy at the same time. I feel sad because it’s always hard to leave something and start doing something else, but also happy, because I’m really happy to see how the little members of Hello! Pro Kids aren’t that little anymore… I’m really happy to see how the members of Morning Musume have grown up as well. And I’m really happy because I’m not graduating alone, I have my friends with me to share this sad moment” she looked at me for a second and smiled. “Oh, and I almost forgot: I’m really happy to have staff members like Hikki, who has showed me in those short days that she can be really fun and nice. Thank you, Hikaru-chan” she looked back at the members and smiled. “Thanks to all of you, as well. I love you.” She turned around and smirked at Yuko “I think you must talk as well, leader”

“No, no, I don’t thi-“ she started, but she was cut by the other members’ shouts.

“Come on, leader!” Hitomi exclaimed.

Yuko looked at me and I nodded my head at her. “Come on, leader” I repeated. She sighed and smiled as she stood up.

“Anyway, I don’t know what to say… I’m one of the former members of Hello! Project and Morning Musume, and it makes me feel really proud of myself. Even though when I joined our friendship wasn’t really good, after graduating from Morning Musume, I learned how to love you guys, and I’m glad we’re friends after all the things that happened to us. I just hope that after this graduation, we get even closer than before. And for the members of Morning Musume and Hello! Pro kids and eggs… I just hope that your future will be successful. I can see you becoming famous. Show the world the power that Hello! Project has” she said, with a huge smile on her face. “And for the staff member who is sitting in front of me… I just hope she’ll keep being as special as she is now. Thanks to all of you, I hope we have dinner more often”

She sat down and I could feel everyone gazes on me. I smiled at her and she smiled back at me.

“You two should really be together” Rika said. I blushed and looked down at my shoes, and when I looked up, I noticed that she was blushing as well. She looked really cute.

“Anyway, girls… Itadakimasu!” Aya exclaimed.

“Itadakimaaaasu!” all the members exclaimed together as they made a cute pose. That made my day.

Definitely, I was the luckiest girl in the world.

---

Hours later, we arrived to the hotel. The younger members went straight to their rooms; they seemed really tired. I waved my hand at Kanon as she entered the elevator and she waved her hand back. The rest of us entered the hotel’s café and ordered something to drink. When I got my drink, I noticed someone sitting alone and I went near her.

“Yesterday you left me alone” I whispered, smiling slightly.

“I’m really sorry for that” she muttered. I shook my head.

“Don’t worry. No problem” I said. “You have done a good job at covering your injuries with the make up”

She looked shocked with what I said. She touched her cheeks and shook her head.

“That wasn’t fun” she muttered.

“I know it’s not fun. Being injured can’t be fun” I said. “Who did that to you?”

“I will never tell you” she mumbled, roughly turning around. I held her shoulders and made her face me.

“I know you’ll tell me someday, so you better tell me now before it’s too late and I can’t help you anymore”

She sighed and tears started falling down her cheeks. I could feel some members’ gazes on us. I looked around and Yuko was staring at us. She was giving me a worried look. I sighed and looked back at Junjun.

“Tanaka Reina” she whispered.

“What?”

“Tanaka Reina was the one who injured me” she muttered and she made pulled me closer to her, so she could talk to my ear. “She’s my girlfriend. She has the keys of my house. The other night, after the rehearsals, she entered my house when I was sleeping… and she made the way to my room.” Her voice sounded weak at this point. “She started shouting at me, saying that I wasn’t good enough for her and… she gave me a beating…”

“Was it the first time?” I asked.

“… No, it wasn’t” she answered. I was starting to cry as well. I couldn’t believe how someone could do something like that to someone like her. I kissed her forehead and pulled her into an embrace. She hugged me tightly.

“Is there anyone in the group who knows about this?” I asked.

“I haven’t told anyone, but I think they know it. They see me like this everyday, so I guess they have figured it out” she explained.

“And do you know why she does this to you?” I asked, pointing at the injury of her cheek.

“She says that it’s a way for punishing me for not being good enough for her… but I think it’s because I’m not Ai.”

“What?”

“Ai has always been the girl of her eyes. She has always wanted to be with her, but just as she was going to ask her out, Ai started dating Risa… and Reina wanted her to feel jealous, that’s why she started dating me. I didn’t care about it, because I’ve always loved Reina, and I hoped she would love back, but it seems she’ll never love me…” she explained as she looked down at her hands.

“You know what? You’re not going to sleep in that house anymore. You’ll sleep in my house, okay? And I won’t accept a ‘no’ as an answer. I won’t that girl touch you anymore”

“But we nearly don’t know each other and…”

“It doesn’t matter. We will start knowing each other from now, okay?”

“Okay” she said, showing me a smile for the first time sine we started to talk. I hugged her and she hugged me back. “Thank you so much, Hikki. You are awesome”

“You’re welcome” I smiled and stroke her hair before I pulled away. I looked back and Yuko was still looking at me. She smiled at me and made a peace sign.

Probably Yuko didn’t know how cute she looked at that moment.
---

We entered the lift together again and she pressed the button. We looked at each other for a second but then she looked away. Once the lift stopped and the doors opened, she walked away.

“Nakazawa-san!” I exclaimed as I got out from the lift. She turned around and looked at me. I started blushing and I looked down at my shoes. “Can I sleep with you tonight?”

I looked up and she was smiling at me as she got closer. She wrapped her arms around my waist and smirked a little.

“Do you really want to sleep with me?” she asked. I nodded my head and she chuckled.

She pulled away and held my hand to lead me to her bedroom. She opened the door and led me inside. She opened the cupboard and handed me one of her pyjamas. I smiled and went towards the bathroom to change my clothes. When I got out, she was buttoning her pyjama shirt. She smiled at me and reached out to hold my hands.

“Ready?” she asked as she rose one of her eyebrows. I smiled back and nodded my head. She kissed my hand and led me to the bed. She helped me to lie down on the bed and wrapped her arms around my waist.

Now I was sure: I was the luckiest girl in the world.

[oddball]

Welcome back Liben!!! 

Man loads went on in this chapter didn't it? Seems as though Ai has a goodn Idea abbout whats going on behind the scenes, I just wonder id she and Hikki might join forces whebn the seniors have gone.

So perhaps we havent seen the last of Yuko and Hikki together then? Hikki claiming she was the luckist girl in the world lying next to Yuko, perhaps in the end they will find a way to make it work.....

So Kannon got attacked by Reina? Hmm is Reina in on the bigger plot or is she just angry at Kannon trying togrt it on with her, that is of course, ifit was actually Reina that hurt her....

[abok]

you're back!!!!

i've been waiting for this chapter... and i'm sorry for the late comment....

looks like a lot of thing starting to show in this chapter...

Ai-chan already knew what Tsunku done and she couldn't do anything about it.... but i'm glad that Hikaru is with her now... together, they can do anything.... i hope...

what the hell is wrong with Reina anyway??? how could she do that to Jun.... Poor Jun... she must be suffering... and thank god Hikaru will be watching her after this ...

Hikaru and Yuko really love each other..... and i think she is right... she is the luckiest girl in the world!!!

update soon okay Liben-san....

[Liben]

Akemashite omedettou gozaimasu~!
I'm glad I've finally ended writing this chapter before 2011 came =) As you can see, I usually take a lot of time for writing each chapter, and I'm sorry for that, but it's the only way I can make the story the way I want it to be.

@Aboku-san! Thank you for waiting and supporting! =D It's really nice to have readers like you.
@Oddball: Thank you for reading and supporting! ^^ I think you got it wrong: Junjun was the one who got beaten up by Reina, not Kanon. But anyway, thank you for waiting so long for the chapter! I'm really glad you two keep reading my fic ^^

So, here we go! Another long as hell chapter! 

   Chapter Six

Morning came and I didn’t want to open my eyes. I was afraid of finding myself alone in an empty bed.  I was wondering if what happened yesterday was real or not, but I didn’t want to wake up from this dream anyway. I wanted to spend all my life like this, lying next to my Yuko, without worries and anything to distract me from her. I would probably live better this way.

I noticed something moving closer to me and wrapping her arms around my body. Her nose slightly caressed mine, and even though it was a very simple touch, it felt really good. She cupped my cheek with one of her hands and traced small circles with her thumb. When I opened my eyes, the first thing I found was a smiling Nakazawa-san staring at me.

“Ohayou gozaimasu” she whispered in a really sweet way. I smiled and covered my face on her chest, pretending to want to sleep longer.

“Ohayou” I muttered. She stroked my hair and rested her chin on top of my head.

“Did you sleep well?” she asked as she placed a kiss on my head. I nodded and pulled myself away from her to have a look at her face. The morning lights made her look even more beautiful than she used to. I stared at her for a minute and noticed how hot she looked in her blue short pyjama. I realized that a lot of people may have dreamed about being in the same bed as Yuko and being touched by her. I felt lucky because I was the chosen one; Yuko could perfectly find a nice guy for her, but she chase me instead. The idea of being Nakazawa’s girl made me smile, and it seemed that my smile made her laugh.

“You’re really cute” she chuckled as she pocked my cheek. “What are you smiling for?”

I shook my head and covered myself under the blanket. She quickly moved it away from my face and placed her arms around my waist. I shyly played with a lock of her hair and caressed her cheeks.

“I was thinking about how lucky I am” I muttered as I blushed slightly. She laughed out loud. Her laugh reminded me to a horse, and even though it was weird, I found it really cute.

“Why?” she asked as she raised her eyebrows. I wanted to cover my face again, but I couldn’t find anything to cover myself from her gaze. I shut my eyes and bit my upper lip. She took my chin on her hand and made me face her. I started blushing like crazy.

“… Because I’m with you” I whispered under my breath, and even though I said it in a really low tone of voice, she was able to hear it. She smiled sweetly at me and kissed my nose.

“I love you, baka” she muttered as she caressed my back. I chuckled and shook my head.

“I love you too” I answered as I started to lean in. She placed her hand on top of my cheek and leaned in as well. Just as our lips were going to touch, someone knocked on the door. Yuko sighed and gave me a peck on the forehead.

“I hope it’s important” she murmured as she stood up and walked up to the door. I smiled and followed her. I embraced her from behind and kissed her shoulder.

“Don’t open the door. Let’s pretend that we’re not here” I whispered. She laughed and pocked my side.

“We can’t. What if it’s important?” she asked.

“They can send us a text message” I muttered as I placed a small kiss on her neck. She laughed and went closer to the door. Once she opened the door I automatically took my hands off of her body.

“Good morning, Tsunku-san” Yuko said as she scratched the back of her head.

“Good morning, Nakazawa, and Fukuda” he said. I greeted him by waving my hand and looked in another direction. “I just wanted to wake you up. You’re going to be late for breakfast and still, there are a lot of things to do before the concert, so you better hurry”

“Okay, thank you for the information, Tsunku-san. We’ll be ready in a moment” Yuko answered as we both lowered our heads. He smiled at us and patted Yuko’s shoulder. ‘Don’t touch my woman with those dirty hands’ I thought as I clenched my fists.

“Good girls. See you later” he said as he left the room. We waved our hands at him before he closed the door.

“I hate this guy” I whispered. Yuko chuckled and shook her head.

“You can’t hate him because he has cut our moment” she said as she got closer to me. I realized that Yuko didn’t know about what Rika and I saw in the missing tape. I gulped and reached out to hold her hand.

“Yuko, there’s something I’ve to tell you” I said as she gave me a worried look and we both sat down on the bed. I sighed and started telling her about what happened in the last days. I told her about what Tsunku did to a Airi, and about the way Airi was acting. I also told her about Hamasaki and Kanna, and I ended up telling her about Ai’s feelings as well. Yuko looked really shocked with all the new information she had.

“I can understand why you hate him, and I think I hate him as well” she muttered as she rubbed her forehead. “I need a shower. Too much information to process”

“Okay. I’ll go to my room to change my clothes.” I said as I stood up from the bed.

“Okay, I’ll see you at breakfast time” she stood up and placed a kiss on my cheek. I wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her into a hug. She covered her face on my neck and smiled against my skin. She pulled away after a minute and winked at me as she headed to the bathroom. I waved my hand at her and she waved back before she closed the door. I sighed and placed my hand on my chest. My heart was going back to its usual pace. It was time to leave.

When I entered my room, the first thing I found was a dancing Ishikawa-san. She was practising the dance steps of Ongaku Gatas’ Come Together. She was singing and dancing at the same time, which I would find impossible, because I would probably end up singing in a bad way or falling to the ground. However, this didn’t seem to cause trouble to Ishikawa Rika; after a whole carrier in Hello! Project, she was now nearly the perfect Idol, and I felt proud of being her friend.

I closed the door behind me and walked inside. She realized that I was staying there and stopped dancing. She smiled at me in a very cute way and took a towel to wipe her sweat away.

“Oh, Hikaru! Okaeri!” she exclaimed and sat on the bed. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, thank you. And you?” I asked as I sat next to her.

“I’m great. And how is Yuko?” she raised her eyebrows and smirked. Her question made me blush like crazy. I covered my face with my hands and tried to calm myself. She chuckled and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “You’re dating her again, aren’t you?” I slightly nodded my head as I took my hands away from my face. She raised her fists in the air and laughed. “Yeah! I knew you would be her girlfriend! I hope it works this time”

“I hope so, too” I said as I smiled at her. She placed her hand on my lap and sighed.

“There’s something we must talk about” she said. Her tone of voice sounded pretty serious, so my smile turned into a worried look. “I’ve talked with Sugaya-san. He wants to see us; he says that he has a lot of information to give us. So we’ll be meeting here, in our room after the concert. We should tell the people who knows about this to come as well.”

“Okay. I’ll tell Yuko and Ai to meet us after the concert. But don’t you think you will be really tired after the graduation?” I asked. She shook her head and slightly smiled.

“It doesn’t matter how tired we are. This is important. Even though we’re graduating tonight, we still have to protect the girls who are staying in the company” she explained. I froze at her answer. I couldn’t believe that this girl was the same one who had shouted at her ramen because it was made of chicken. There were a lot of thing that I didn’t know about Ishikawa Rika, but then I remembered that I’ve known her for barely five days.

I realized how much my life changed in such a short period of time. I would never have imagined myself being Nakazawa’s girlfriend or sharing a room with Ishikawa Rika. And now I was the one who knew about Hello! Project’s hidden secret. I closed my eyes and sighed. There were a lot of things to do, but I was glad I was not alone: I had Yuko, Rika and Ai supporting me. There was nothing to worry about, but still there was a long way to go.

“I’m afraid” I whispered. She looked at me and placed her hand on my shoulder.

“I’m afraid too… but I know we can do this. I’m sure” she said. The look she was giving me made me feel comfortable. She looked really sure of what she was saying. And I was sure as well.

There was no time for giving up.

---

My mouth was wide opened when we arrived in the Yokohama Arena by taxi. Yuko had her arms around my neck and her chin was resting on my shoulder; she didn’t seem surprised at all, but I guess it was because she was used to be in that kind of places. She smiled and caressed my cheek with her nose.

“It looks like it’s the first time you come to the Yokohama Arena” she chuckled. “You look really surprised”

“I’m sorry for that” I muttered as I covered my face with my hands. “It’s just that every time I come to the Yokohama Arena, I always get amazed by the building.”

“No need to apologize” she said as she shook her head and held my hands. “You look really cute when you’re surprised”

I smiled and noticed that the taxi driver was laughing a little. Yuko placed a small kiss on my neck and pulled away. The taxi stopped seconds later. After a small argument with Yuko about who was going to pay it, I gave the money to the taxi driver and we got out.

When we entered the building, we were greeted by some staff members who congratulated Yuko for her graduation. She thanked them with a big smile and held my hand to lead me to another place. Once we were pretty far away from them, she sighed and looked at me.

“I find it really annoying” she whispered. “Why do they say ‘congratulations for my graduation’? Is there anything to celebrate?”

I brought her hand to my lips and placed a kiss on it. She smiled at me and her cheeks got a slight tone of pink.

“There’s nothing to celebrate, but they congratulate you for starting a new life far away from the company” I answered as I stroked her cheek.

“My life won’t change that much… I’ll just leave the company and start working for UFA” she said as she shook her head. I looked down at my shoes and blushed.

“Will you come to visit me after you graduate from Hello! Project?” I asked. She chuckled and made me face her.

“Of course I’ll do. I’ll go to visit you everyday. We’ll have lunch together” she wrapped her arms around my waist and smiled. “Is that okay for you?”

“That’s perfect for me” I muttered. She kissed my forehead and rested her chin on my head.

“I know this is such a beautiful moment, but I must go to change my clothes” she said. I laughed and pulled away. She smiled and waved her hand at me. “I’ll see you later”

She winked an eye at me and left. I watched how she walked away from me and smirked. I couldn’t believe that girl was mine.

“You two are way too old to start acting like teenagers” someone said. I looked around and I was shocked to find Kanna staying next to me.

“We’re not that old, you little!” I answered as I blushed. She chuckled and shook her head. I realized that Yuko was eleven years older than me, and even though it was pretty weird, the idea of dating someone older than me amazed me.

I stared at Kanna for a minute. She was wearing a blue short dress, like all the members of ºC-ute worn. It really suited her, but I didn’t like the way her hair was done. Her make-up was okay, though, but there was no way to make up the sad gaze her eyes were giving. After that concert, Kanna was going to be expelled for three months because of what happened with Hamasaki. We could say that this concert wasn’t going to be only the graduation of the Elder Club, it was going to be Kanna’s graduation as well. There are no words to express how depressed Kanna looked. She pretended to look like she was okay, but it wasn’t working at all. It made me feel guilty, even though what I had done was the right thing to do. I had to do something to make it up.

I went closer to her and pulled her into a embrace. She froze a little at first, but then she hugged me back and started crying on my shoulder. I patted her head and she cried even harder. If I had felt guilty before, now I felt worse; my shoulder was feeling wet and there was a storm going on inside my chest.

We stayed like that until she started to feel better. She pulled away and brought her hands to her cheeks to wipe her tears away. I took my wallet out of my pocket and handed her one of my calling cards.

“Call me whenever you need someone to talk to. I’ll always be ready to help you, no matter how late it is or how far you are” I said as I placed my hand on her shoulder. She nodded her head and embraced me again. I kissed her forehead and patter her back. “Everything is going to be fine”

Or at least, I hoped so.

---

An hour later, everyone was dressed and ready for the concert. The atmosphere in the backstage was filled with stress and journalists. The staff members were preparing the audio of the concert, and believe me, it must be really difficult prepare the microphones for a lot of people. All the elder members were being congratulated for their graduation, and this time, Yuko didn’t seem annoyed at all. I felt really proud of her.

“Matsuura-san! Matsuura-san!” a journalist shouted while running up to me. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m sorry, I’m not…”

“Matsuura-san! You’ll be graduating from Hello! Project in two hours. Do you think you’ll miss being in this company?” someone interrupted me.

“I’m not the person you’re looking for, I’m…”

“Do you think there’s someone missing here? Like Goto Maki, Kago Ai...”

“Do you think Ai Takahashi will be a good leader?”

“How is Yuko Nakazawa feeling?”

“How is…?”

“I’M NOT AYA MATSUURA, DAMN IT!” I shouted. Everyone turned around and looked around. All the members of Hello! Project started laughing and I blushed. The journalists seemed quite disappointed.

“But she did really looked like her” one of the journalists said as he left the backstage. Aya Matsuura looked back at me and gave me a thumbs up. I shrugged my shoulders and winked an eye at her.

The fact of being nearly the clone of Aya Matsuura was starting to get a little bit annoying.

- - -

Morning Musume, ºC-ute, Berryz Koubou, the members of Hello! Pro Eggs, Ice Cream Musume, Mano Erina and, of course, the Elder club were staying in a circle and holding each other’s hands. Everyone was looking at their leader, who had her eyes closed. Once she opened them, she looked at all the members and smiled.

“This is the last time!” she exclaimed. “Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!”

“Onegaishimasu!” the other members repeated.

“Let’s go!” she exclaimed. “Dancing, singing, exciting!”

“Dancing, singing, exciting, woooo!” all of them shouted as they put their hands in the air. Then we started clapping our hands. Some members looked like they were going to start crying. My sister came closer to me and gave me a hug.

“I don’t want them to graduate, onee-chan” she muttered. I hugged her back and looked at Yuko. She was speaking with Kei Yasuda, smiling and nodding her head at her. She looked back at me and winked.

“Me either, Kanon… me either”

- - -

It was about time. The fans’ shouts could be heard from the backstage. The members of Hello! Pro Eggs, including my sister, were already on stage, getting ready for their short actuation. The classical version of ‘Ame No Furanai Hoshi Dewa Aishi Aenai Darou’ started to sound. They moved their hands in the air while holding some ____. Kanon and Yuuka were staying next to each other, smiling sweetly. Those two seemed really close lately. I wondered if there was something going on between them. It would be nice, indeed; I liked the idea of Yuko, Kanon, Yuuka and I having lunch together, just like a family would do.

Yuko gave my hand a quick squeeze. I looked back at her and smiled. She looked beautiful in her white dress, just like a queen. She placed a kiss on my forehead and came near to my ear.

“I’ve to go” she whispered. I bowed my head and kissed her hand.

“Do your best” I said. She raised her fists and sighed while closing her eyes. She kissed my forehead again and left. I watched the way she walked; she seemed nervous.

“Sorry, lady, you can’t stay here. There’s a screen to watch was happening on the stage near the changing rooms” a man said while pointing at the changing rooms. I nodded my head and went to where the screen was.

When I arrived there, the members of Wonderful Hearts were already on stage and Ai Takahashi was the one singing. Her voice sounded really warm in this song. She was too into her singing, and I knew she was trying hard to not tumble down; I could sense it. After she finished singing her lines, it was Reina’s turn. I couldn’t really analyze what she was feeling at that moment, because Reina always had the same face when she was performing, but I could feel that she was pretty sad as well. Tears started falling down when Risa and Junjun began singing; I couldn’t help it but cry. I knew that only in a few minutes the elder members would be on stage, and I would see my Yuko singing this touching song with her graduation-mates. I sobbed a little when the song reached the chorus. All the members of Wonderful Hearts were putting a lot of feelings on this song, which made it even more touching. For the first time since I started working for Hello! Project, I noticed someone I hadn’t noticed before: Mano Erina. She was the only one who was wearing a purple dress. The colours of the member’s dresses made the stage look like a rainbow: the yellow ones for Berryz Koubou, the purple one for Mano Erina, the blue ones for ºC-ute, the pink ones for Morning Musume and, wearing white cute dresses, the members of H!P eggs.

Just when they were about to finish the chorus, I started crying harder. I knew what was going to happen next, and I covered my face with my hands to try to wipe my tears away. It was hard to stop crying, even though I still couldn’t understand why I was sobbing like an idiot in front of a screen. I supposed that it was because it was Yuko’s graduation, and this event would mean a little separation between us, but I knew it was not the reason, because Yuko had already told me that she was going to visit me everyday. Once I heard Natsumi’s voice, I understood the reason of my tears: the graduation of the elder members meant less protection for the Wonderful Heart members, because the elder members were always looking after her kouhais, and without them around, Tsunku would do whatever he wanted with them.

I shook my head and tried to focus myself on the screen. I could think about troubles later, with Rika and Sugaya-san; now, it was time to enjoy. I held on my tears and tried my best to not cry again during the concert.

I saw Yuko, moving to the rhythm of the music while closing her eyes as Ayaya sang her lines. I smiled and made myself comfortable on the chair. I was surely going to enjoy this concert.

---

Just as Yuko was coming out from the stage after singin Kuyashi Namida Porori, a camera-man came up to where I was sitting.

“I’m sorry, but I really do need your help!” he implored. “My wife has just called me; our daughter is in the hospital, and I must go to take care of her. Could you take this camera and record what’s going on in the backstage?”

I was fully enjoying the concert, and I really did want to keep watching it, but this guy looked desperate, so I couldn’t help it but nod my head.

“Of course I can. Go and see your daughter; don’t worry” I answered. He smiled at me and handed me the camera. It was heavier than expected. He shortly explained me how the camera worked. It was a little bit complicated, but I handled it easily after a few tries. He thanked me with a huge smile and left.

“Let’s see if there’s something we can record, camera” I said as I took the camera and place it on my shoulder. I went up to the exit of the stage and placed myself in front of the door. I pressed the “rec” button, as the guy told me to do, but I couldn’t see anything from the viewfinder.

“What a sexy camera-san who forgot to take the lid of the camera off” someone said as she got closer to me. It was Yuko. “What are you doing with this?”

“A camera-san told me desperately to make his work because his daughter is in the hospital” I answered as I took the camera off my shoulder. That thing was nearly going to break my arm.

“Oh, my, you’re so innocent. That was Hiroshi” Yuko said and started laughing out loud.

“Hiroshi?”

“Yup. He usually says to unknown people that he has something important to do during the concert, and there’s always someone silly like you, honey, who believes him and does his work for him while he’s sleeping in his car until the concert finishes. Once the concert is over, he comes back and takes the camera, pretending in front of Tsunku that he has been working all this time” Yuko explained. My mouth was wide opened and I clenched my fists. I felt stupid for relying on that guy.

“Ugh” that was the only thing I could say. Yuko laughed and placed a peck on my cheek.

“You’re a sweetheart” she chuckled. “I’ve to go know. I have to change my clothes. See you later”

“See you” I muttered, still dumbfounded with what Yuko had just told me. Once Yuko had left, I slapped my forehead and sighed. I was really stupid. A staff member looked at me and smiled at me as she took the camera.

“I know what you’re feeling know. Hiroshi did that to me long time ago” she said as she placed the camera on top of her shoulder. “I’ll be taking care of this. Go and keep enjoying the concert”

“Thank you” I said as I went back to where the screen was. When I arrived there, Melon Kinenbi was singing ‘This Is Unmei’. That had always been my favourite song, so I sang it along with the fans.

Aishitemasuka?

---

 The concert was over and my tears were still falling down. The girls were waving their hands at the audience as they walked to the backstage. The fans could be heard from where I was staying; they were shouting the names of their favourites elder members.

“They’re here!” exclaimed a staff member while clapping her hands together. I turned around and found myself in front of most of the graduated club members. I wiped my tears away and smiled at them. Rika ran up to me and gave me a hug.

“It’s over now…” she whispered to my ear before she covered her face on my nech. I nodded my head and patted her back.

“But something it’s going to start” I replied. I felt her smile against my skin before she pulled away. My neck was completely wet after she hugged me, so I had to wipe the sweat away with my hands. She noticed it and blushed slightly.

“Sorry, I’m such a sweaty mess” Rika said as she handed me a towel.

“It’s okay” I muttered as I gave her the towel back. I didn’t really need it after all.

“See you later, Hikki!” she exclaimed as she walked away while waving her hands at me. I waved back, and just when she was going to turn around, she bumped into someone I hadn’t noticed before. Rika said sorry politely and left.  I smiled at her and she walked up to me.

“I’m sorry for being a sweaty mess too” she said. I laughed a little and shook my head. I took the towel from her hand and began wiping the sweat away from her forehead. I couldn’t understand how she had sweated so much, since she didn’t really dance during the concert.

“You’re a cute sweaty mess, Yuko” I muttered. She grinned and wrapped her arms around my waist, pulling me closer to her. I chuckled and kept wiping the sweat away from her face. She caressed my hair and kissed my forehead. I placed my hand on her cheek and stroked it gently. She stared at me for a moment and then she started to lean in. Before I could realize, I had my eyes closed and I was being kissed by a soft pair of lips. I threw the towel away and put my arms around her neck to make the kiss deeper. I felt her smile against my lips, and once she pulled away, we realized that we were being the focus of everyone’s attention.

“What a wonderful couple, don’t you think?” Aya Matsuura said while pointing at us. Abe, who was staying next to her, nodded in agreement. We laughed and stared at each other for a second. She placed a kiss on my nose and pulled away.

“I have to go now. I’ll see you later” she muttered. I bowed my head and she smiled at me. “You’ve been crying, haven’t you?”

“No. Me? Why? I haven’t cried. No.” I tried to lie to her, but it was impossible. “Okay, yeah, I’ve been crying… But I couldn’t help it. Even you were crying a little!”

She chuckled and she placed a kiss on my cheek. “You’re so cute. I have to go now” she said as she pulled away. “Kuyashi namida porori” she sang as she headed to the changing rooms “Namida porori, porori, nakanaito!”

I laughed and sat on a chair. I still could hear her from where I was staying. Yuuka passed by and waved her hand at me. I waved back and she headed to the changing rooms. I noticed someone was running up to her. It was Kanon. Once she reached her, she hugged her from behind and they both laughed. Yuuka looked back at me and blushed. Kanon did the same after a few seconds. I smiled at them and bowed my head.

We would talk about it later.

---

Kanon, Yuko, Rika and I were the only ones who decided to not take a taxi that night. We already knew that it wasn’t a good idea, because the fans could be really disturbing, but we didn’t really care about it. The hotel wasn’t really far away from there, so there was no reason for wasting our money in a taxi.

Yuko and Rika were talking about something related with Hello! Project that sounded really amusing, but I wasn’t really paying attention to them. All my attention was put on my little sister, Kanon, who seemed to be spacing out. I poked her cheek and she jumped a little in surprise. I laughed and she looked at me with shock written all over her face.

“What was that for?” she asked.

“You were spacing out too much” I answered. She touched her cheek and pouted. “What were you thinking about?”

“Stuff. Nothing special” she replied.

“Stuff related with Maeda Yuuka?” I asked. She froze for a second and stared at me.

“Of course not! I wasn’t thinking about her. Yuuka is my friend, nothing else” she said.

“Do you really think so?” I asked, wondering if what she had told me was true or not. She nodded a little at first, but then she shook her head.

“No, I don’t think so. I’m freaking in love with her” she answered. I smiled and hugged her.

“Aw, my little girl is in love for the first time” I said. She blushed and covered her face with her hands.

“Come on, stop it!” she exclaimed. I laughed and pulled away.

“So, what are you going to do about it?” I asked.

“I don’t know. It’s complicated. I don’t want to cause trouble to anyone” she sighed and placed her hands on her pockets.

“You should confess your feelings for her”

“But what if she doesn’t love me back?” she asked.

“Well, I think she does love you back. She’s always looking at you in a really sweet way and she seems to want to call your attention every time you’re close to her. But if she doesn’t love you back, it doesn’t matter. It would be a little uncomfortable at first, but then you would end up being friends again” I explained. She nodded her head in agreement, trying to process all the information she was getting. “Besides, do you remember how your relationship was with Yuuka at first? You guys were like rivals, but look at yourself now! You’re in love with her! Life can change a lot, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Thank you, Hikaru-chan” she came closer to me and gave me a hug. I smiled and patted her head. “You’ve helped me a lot”

“You’re welcome” I said as I kissed her forehead. Once we pulled away, we realized that Yuko and Rika were already waiting for us in front of the hotel.

“This is really beautiful, yeah, but please, hurry up!” Rika exclaimed. I reached out to hold Kanon’s hand and we both ran up to them.

We still had a lot of things to do before leaving Yokohama.