the beginning of the end... sort of...
Sep. 25th, 2010 12:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
angelshill First off... i want to say that the reason this is still not the last chapter was because there were still some things i haven't presented from the past chapters and i didn't feel like letting it end that way (although i could...) and i there's something that i wanted to happen that still hadn't... and because Jin has not yet returned and it didn't feel right that he wouldn't have at least a taste of the trouble Yamapi got himself into... and i wanted some things to be realized....
and also, of all the chapters i've done, this could possibly be the most difficult (maybe except the last part of this chap) because i had no idea how to make the transition... and also possibly because this is the usual part of the story i really hate doing...
alas, this part had to be done to get to the part that i wanted to present... and here it is... one of the last few chapters of Baby Steps...
TITLE: Baby Steps
CHARACTERS: Arashi members, NewS members, Horikita Maki, Inoue Mao, Oguri Shun, Ikuta Toma, and a whole horde of other Johnny's and female Japanese actresses
PAIRING: Yamashita Tomohisa/Horikita Maki; Matsumoto Jun/Inoue Mao; others
RATINGS: PG
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
Prologue / Chapter1/ Chapter2/ Chapter3/ Chapter4/ Chapter5/ Chapter6/ Chapter7/ Chapter8/ Chapter8.5/ Chapter9/ Chapter10/ Chapter 11/ Chapter12/ Chapter13
Chapter 14:
“Oh… Looks like someone is happy…” Toma crooned the moment Yamapi entered Matsujun’s apartment with a huge, huge smile.
“He’s really happy…” Kame smirked while Ryo said “Looks like something good happened…”
Yamapi was just about to just smirk at his friends when a voice from the balcony came up and said “Care to share Yamapi?”
“Matsuoka-kun?! You’re here too?!” he exclaimed when the cool figure of Matsuoka Masahiro appeared from the shadows.
“Of course I am!” Matsuoka smirked. “Rumors had it that another Johnny is getting out of the bachelor’s market… Gussan told me I will be seeing him here tonight… I personally thought it would be Jun but it seems you’re getting hitched first…”
“And it seems you’ve gone one step closer today…” Jun said. “Something you’d want to share to us?”
Yamapi looked from one of the only two sempais there to the other and remembered how Maki responded to his kiss in the car, she even obliged with a goodbye kiss when he walked her to her apartment. He smiled.
“Suffice it to say that things are moving along just fine…”
----------
“So where did the two of you go?” Meisa asked nonchalantly as the girls started preparing the table for dinner.
She and Mao were setting the table while Maki helped Meisa prepare the food they bought. It turned out that Meisa had the same idea the other two had when they found out that Maki and Yamapi spent the whole day together, Meisa just decided not to give Maki (and Yamapi) a warning that she’ll be there. Unfortunately for Meisa (but fortunately for Yamapi), she was a tad bit late going to Maki’s place since Yamapi was already leaving when she got there.
“Chiba…” Maki shrugged, still smiling as she and Meisa removed the food out of the containers.
“Chiba?” echoed Mao. “As in Chiba the place where Yamapi-kun was born?”
“Yeah…”
“Really?” Keiko said in a sing-song tone. “Interesting…”
“So he brought her to his hometown… What’s interesting about it?” asked Meisa, seemingly unimpressed. “It’s not like there’s anywhere else he could bring her, not when there are rumors floating around that the numerous Johnny sightings with Maki-chan is just a diversion to what’s really happening…”
“You really are such a ray of sunshine…” Keiko said.
“Well,” Mao chuckled, shaking her head. “I personally think it’s sweet, him opening up his world to you…”
Meisa scoffed “Where’d you two go anyway?”
“We went to their old place… It was near the beach…” Maki smiled, remembering how great she felt when he brought her there. “It was really, really nice…”
“You spent the whole day in there?” Keiko asked incredulously.
“Nope… We went down to the beach after…” she said. “They have a hut there… It’s really refreshing… It’s been a while since I got to relax like that… And I haven’t been to the beach in a while…”
The weird silence that met that statement made Maki look up from what she was doing and look at the other three girls. Mao and Keiko were looking at her with wide (and somewhat mischievous) smiles on their lips while Meisa had this annoyed but resigned look etched on her face.
“What?” Maki asked in confusion.
“Something else happened down in that beach, didn’t it Maki-chan?” Keiko asked.
“Like what?”
“Like something that is to be held responsible for that very wide and contented smile you have on now…” Mao smiled. “Maybe something about a development in the relationship between you and Yamapi-kun?”
“What did he say?” Meisa asked in a serious tone.
“Nothing…” Maki said, blushing as she recalled what happened and what was said down in that hut.
“Nothing?” Keiko echoed in disbelief.
“Yeah, nothing... We just sort of had this unspoken mutual understanding of where we are right now…” she shrugged. And before any one of the girls could ask or say anything else, she immediately added “I guess I better go change my clothes before we eat…” and went out of the kitchen, straight to her room.
Seeing the door close behind Maki, Keiko smiled saying “I guess that means Yamapi-kun has improved in leaps and bounds in just one day…”
“I guess I’d have to agree…” Meisa sighed.
“Why don’t you sound happy?” Mao asked. “Judging by what I just saw, Maki-chan is happy…”
“That’s actually it!” Meisa said, dropping on one of the seats around the table. “I know Maki-chan, and when she says that Yamashita-kun has not said anything, she means it. I’d be a whole lot happier if she’s happy because of what he said, not only by what he did…”
“They say actions speak louder than words you know…” Keiko said.
“Not when his actions can easily mean something else…” Meisa said. “Didn’t you see how happy Maki-chan is? What if she interpreted his actions wrong? I don’t want her to be hurt more than how she would if she didn’t hope for his feelings too…”
Mao and Keiko caught each other’s eye and reached the same conclusion, Meisa had a point.
“She’s in-love with him already…” Meisa continued. “Making her fall for him more would not be good…”
----------
“They’ve opened the gates!” Koyama announced as he rushed into the NewS greenroom, it was barely an hour before their concert tour starts. Five pairs of eyes looked up at that information with reactions varying from excited to nervous to determined to panicked.
Yamapi stood up and faced his group mates, a wide grin on his face as he addressed his group.
“This is it guys! We’ve been working on this for weeks already, we can do this! It’s time for NewS to really shine!” he cried, each sentence greeted by a loud cheer from the other five, excitement brewing as the noise from the incoming crowd permeated their ears.
“Let’s do our best out there guys!” he cheered last and was met with a raucous cry before Koyama led the group to file out of the room and meet their juniors.
Yamapi couldn’t help but smile seeing his members get pumped up with adrenalin and excitement. Before he followed them out though, he went back to the sofa he was occupying earlier and extracted his cellphone from his bag. He felt like he wanted to send Maki a message before he goes out there.
Earlier in the day, he had finally managed to invite Maki to attend one of their concerts. And she agreed. However, due to previous obligations, she wouldn’t be able to attend tonight’s particular concert, especially since she’s working on her last few working engagements before she goes on leave. It turns out she has just a couple more days left to finish up everything she’s working on before she heeds her doctor’s advice that she take some rest.
His smile grew wider when he flipped open his phone and saw that she had sent him a message already.
“Tomo-kun!!! Good luck! I’d be cheering for you from work tonight!!!” it read, complete with a smiley and fireworks.
“Hmmm… Explosive…” came Ryo’s voice suddenly from behind him, making Yamapi jump.
“What the heck are you doing there?!” he exclaimed, snapping his phone shut.
“I was supposed to ask you that!” Ryo smirked. “Everyone’s out there already!”
“I know that!” Yamapi admonished, throwing his phone in his bag and zipping it up before standing up and pretending to fix his costume. “I was just checking on something…”
“Sure…” Ryo sneered. “Like your love messages…”
Yamapi froze for a bit before recovering enough to say “I don’t what you’re talking about…” before leaving the room.
He could still hear Ryo chuckling as he followed him out to the main hall. The rest of NewS and the juniors were already gathered there, preparing for their one last huddle before the big show. There was an odd smile on his lips when he glanced at him, like he was smiling but he was actually disappointed or something, and that disturbed him a bit.
To shrug it off, he went to their stage director and choreographer for one last talk before the huddle; he didn’t see Ryo stepping next to Koyama and Masuda behind him.
“Should we be worried about something?” Koyama while looking at Yamapi’s back.
“This is something he has to face on his own…” Ryo sighed with a little disappointed shake of his head. Ryo knew that Matsujun and the others would agree, including the sempais.
----------
“Yamapi… Wake up! Wake up Yamapi…” he heard someone call. Yamapi wanted to complain since he felt like he had just gotten in bed barely two hours ago and his head feels like it’s going to explode.
The concert was a wonderful success, with not much problems encountered. He had a lot of fun with all the guys as they sang and danced on stage and it felt great seeing how the fans were enjoying themselves too. The concert ended on time as well, which prompted everyone to gather for celebratory drinks after the concert, it was actually one of the few times the whole of NewS gathered for something like this, more surprisingly that it has him who first came up with the idea. Before they went out though, he made sure to call Maki first, to make sure that she’d be home safely by that time. It was already way past midnight when he got home himself and got some rest.
But it was pretty hard for him to ignore someone calling when that person keeps on poking him on the upper torso. Prying his eyes open, it took him a while to realize that he was looking at Tackey, it took him a couple more to actually question why someone, Tackey in this case, is in his room and is looming over him.
Tackey simply grinned as he watched Yamapi sit up. “Looks like my little Yamapi is now Mr.-I’m-finally-in-love… Had a very late night yesterday?”
Yamapi’s eyebrows creased in confusion as he started to stretch “What are you talking about? Last night was the start of the concert tour, remember? And I’m not in-love…”
“Says you…” Tackey snorted as he poked around his side table. “Ah, little Yamapi is growing up…”
Yamapi’s eyebrow shot up. Ryo had alluded to him being “in love” the night before too and it didn’t feel right. True, he and Maki are now getting along better together and he liked being with her, but he wouldn’t exactly categorize what he’s feeling for her as love. He thinks it’s more of just “like”, affection, coupled with the feeling of responsibility, and so far, for him it’s enough.
He was about to tell Tackey that when he turned around and saw that he wasn’t there. Confused, he looked around and found his bedroom door slightly ajar. There’s light coming in from the living room and the sounds of conversation floating in. He was just about to stand up to check it out when a voice suddenly surfaced from the foot of his bed.
“I heard you’re getting married Yamashita…” said Higashiyama with a small sigh. “Another one passes me by huh…”
“Huh? What?” Yamapi stuttered, seeing their daisemapi there. “Higashiyama-san, what are you doing here?”
“I just thought I’d drop by and offer my congratulations…” Higashiyama smiled. “After all, marrying is a good thing… I just never expected your generation to marry this early…”
Yamapi was still searching for words when Higashiyama chuckled and added “But I guess that’s what’s amazing about love… It can make you do weird things…”
Before he could say anything though, his bedroom door was suddenly blasted open as the rest of NewS filed into his room.
“Told you he’d be awake by now!” Tegoshi announced proudly as the five crowded his bed. Yamapi glanced at where Higashiyama was standing by earlier and saw that, just like Tackey, he was no longer there.
“What are you guys doing here?!” he cried. “Don’t you think it’s strange barging in to my room like this?!”
“Nope!” chuckled Masuda. “Not when you’re acting stranger than the rest of us combined…”
“I’m not strange!” Yamapi objected, shrinking back to his bed as he suddenly felt like the rest were closing in on him a little too much.
“Of course you are…” Koyama said to which the other four readily agreed.
“I wonder why it could be…” Shige muttered.
Ryo chuckled. “Isn’t it obvious? Yamapi is in-love…”
“Wait! What?!” he tried to object but the others weren’t listening to him. He saw them meet each other’s eyes before they started chanting in a singsong voice not unlike the kind 7 or 8 year old kids would use when tormenting a friend or classmate “Yamapi is in love… Yamapi is in love~”
Not only were they not listening to him, they were even crowding around him closer and closer. As he shrank back, his eyes caught sight of Ryo, wearing that slightly psychotic smirk of his, chanting along with the others, and it must have been the scariest thing he’d ever seen in his life. He closed his eyes shut as shivers ran down his spine.
The next thing he knew, he was catching his breath and he found himself still lying on his bed, still covered with his blanket with no signs of any other living thing in the room.
Rubbing his face, he sat up, trying to digest the ruckus that was his dream.
It was scary beyond reason, particularly because of the last part with Ryo and the rest of NewS. With deep breaths, he hoped he’d never be placed in such a position ever. But putting aside how disturbing (and weird) it was to see Ryo like that and how disturbing it is that those guys would suddenly pop up in his dreams, it also disturbed him a bit that the three sets of people (NewS being counted as just one set) were all insisting on him one thing, that he is in love.
Falling back to his pillows, he asked himself “Could I really be in-love right now?” but couldn’t find an answer.
He’s not really one to identify what “love” is; “like” he could identify, “affection” too, and “lust”, he had felt all those in the past. But “love”, “love” is something he can’t say he knew.
----------
“I said the meeting is on 5:00! What are you doing here? It’s barely 2:00!” Nanba exclaimed seeing Yamapi enter the jimusho’s building.
It’s three days after their first concert and as preparations come and go with every concert they hold, Yamapi and the rest of NewS are in a frenzy, doing their promotional shows along with their individual ones. He had just gone home after finishing one, the photo shoot for next month’s Popolo, when he received Nanba’s phone call telling him about the meeting that was scheduled as per Johnny’s instructions himself. Thankfully, his next shoot schedule would only start at 9:00 in the night.
“I got restless…” Yamapi shrugged. “Did you hear why I suddenly have a meeting with big boss now?”
The mere fact that Johnny had instructed the meeting was making him more nervous than going to the meeting itself, especially since he had no idea what he had done recently that would warrant a one-on-one meeting with him.
“No, his assistant just called to tell me to tell you about the meeting…” Nanba shook his head. “Don’t you have somewhere else to go while waiting?”
“No…” Yamapi answered, rubbing his hands together. “You didn’t hear anyone else in hear talking about it?”
Nanba sighed, seeing how tensed he is.
“Look, whatever it is, I don’t think it’s going to do you any good worrying about it…” Nanba said. “Why don’t you go to Maki’s for a while? Shouldn’t you accompany her to her doctor or something?”
Yamapi shook his head. “She already went there two days ago… I’m going with her tomorrow though…”
Her doctor told Maki that she could already identify their baby’s gender during her last visit but she opted to come back with him for them to find out at the same time. He felt good hearing that and it somehow made his chest really swell.
He had been to Maki’s place everyday for the last three days, particularly after the concert. He’d hang out there and wait ‘til she gets to sleep before he goes home. They’d be talking about lots of random stuff which almost always ends up with the two of them laughing, although he sees to it that Maki wouldn’t laugh too much for her own good.
Things are going really well between the two of them.
“Besides, she’s at her very last shoot in a while so I wouldn’t want to bother her…” he said. Nanba nodded, knowing that Riko wouldn’t appreciate seeing Yamapi show up when they would have wanted to wrap everything up before the news finally explodes. She’s already not that happy about the fact that there are rumors about the possible Yamapi-Maki relationship.
“Fine!” Nanba said. “It’s your call… I have to check up on some other things for a while… Please, be careful… We wouldn’t want you to get in trouble…”
Yamapi nodded and grinned, looking around him the moment Nanba took the elevator to the upper floors. Suddenly, he didn’t feel like hanging out at the jimusho, especially when his heart would suddenly race every time he remembers his upcoming meeting with Johnny. In that moment, he decided to go out and stroll around, after all, he’s suited enough to do so.
A couple of blocks away from the jimusho’s building, he saw a café he used to frequent with Jin and Toma when they were younger and decided to grab a cup of coffee to pass the time by. Proceeding to the counter, he thought that the woman he was standing behind off was awfully familiar but since she was wearing a scarf that practically is hiding half her face, he couldn’t really say if it’s true. The moment she placed her order though, it was confirmed.
“Aragaki Yui-san?!” he exclaimed in a voice low enough for her to hear.
When she turned around, he knew that he was right; it’s his Code Blue co-star. She must have not been expecting to be recognized though because when she turned around, there was a slight shock in her face as she tried to identify who he was. It didn’t take that long though since his only means of disguise this time is a baseball cap, an unflattering pair of sunglasses, and the collar of his jacket up.
“Yamashita-san?”
Yamapi chuckled, nodding towards one of the vacant private booths at the far right of the café. She seemed to have understood since she nodded and turned around to give her order like usual and proceeded to that booth. Yamapi followed after getting his own order.
“It’s been a while Yamashita-kun…” she greeted the moment he stepped onto the booth, her scarf already lowered to reveal her face, as she extended her hand for a shake.
Yamapi smiled as he shook her hand, his other hand moving to remove his cap and sunglasses. The café is used to having celebrities and entertainers as costumers so privacy is not a problem.
“Yeah…” he said. “When was the last time we saw each other? 2’s wrap up party, right?”
Yui nodded and smiled. “How has it been?”
Yamapi shrugged a bit as a he took a sip from his drink. “I’ve been good… My life’s been pretty eventful these past few months…”
“So it seems…” Yui said from behind her cup.
Yamapi knew that she must be referring to NewS concert tour and promotions but he suddenly felt uneasy that what she said may also be applicable to the recent events concerning him and Maki.
“So, what’re you doing here? Just finished a shoot?” he asked to steer the conversation away from those thoughts. It was a highly plausible situation seeing as most shooting locations and studios are situated in nearby areas.
“Nope… Auditioning for a part…” Yui smiled. “I’m actually just waiting for my manager, she’s in a meeting with the producer to find out if I got the part…”
“Come on… Aragaki Yui-san auditioning for a part?” Yamapi chided. “The producers should be offering you the female lead’s part already! You’re that good!”
Yui blushed at his compliment but shook her head. “I don’t think I’m quite up there yet with the likes of Horikita Maki-san… I’m still working my way up…”
Yamapi unintentionally held his breathe the moment Maki’s name was mention but realized it just in time before Yui would notice.
“I heard she’s going for a break though…” she added. “I hope she isn’t sick or anything…”
“What makes you think her break concerns her health?” Yamapi asked curiously.
“A young actress like her, in one of her career’s highest points and is obviously enjoying her job, suddenly going for a break?” Yui said. “A break would always have an effect on one’s career… It’s not really something one does on a whim… I figured it must have been really something big for her to sacrifice everything she’d worked for… And quite frankly, health issues are the only reasons I could think off… I heard quite a few weeks ago, she looked a bit sick or something…”
Yamapi nodded lightly not only because he knew that that time was prior to Maki finding out about her condition but because he realized that Yui had a point.
“Tell me…” he said. “What would it take, other than health issues, for an actress such as yourself to do what Horikita-san is going to do?”
“There are lots of reasons…” Yui said. “But it has to be really big and really important… A matter of life and death kind of thing… Family… Peace of mind… And love, of course…”
“Love?” Yamapi echoed almost incredulously having heard the term again after attempts to avoid it for the past days.
“Of course…” Yui grinned. “Do not underestimate the power of love Yamashita Tomohisa-kun… There are times when you haven’t even realized that you’re doing things because of love…”
Yamapi was rendered speechless for a while. Just when he was putting together words in his mind, Yui’s phone rang.
When he saw her frown for a bit before giving out a small chuckle, Yamapi asked “Is there anything wrong?”
Yui looked up to him and shook her head. “Oh no… That’s just my manger saying how much of a klutz I am… I left my coat at the make up room, she asked one of the make up assistants to bring it here…”
----------
“We just have to work on your hair for a bit and we’re all done!” smiled the make up artist as her hands reached out for the hair brush.
Maki couldn’t help but smile as she watched the make up artist work on her face and hair for one last time. This photo shoot would be her last job before she goes on a break and she wanted everything to work out perfectly. She would really miss having to do all these stuff while on break but she’s not displeased that she had to go on one.
Her break is something she’s going to have to do not just because her doctor said it is needed, but because she wanted it, both for her and their baby. She was already happy to do it the moment she decided to continue with the baby no matter what, it’s just an incentive that she and the baby’s father are doing great.
Just like what she told Meisa and the others, Yamapi still had not said anything to her, anything that is linked to the emotions department, that is. But what he lacked in words, he showed in action as he continued to show her how special she is. She certainly felt special to him and though it wasn’t really what she wanted from him, for the moment, it would suffice.
She’s happy seeing him happy with her.
Her musings were cut a bit short when the door opened and in came the make up artist’s assistant, panting a little, prompting the make up artist to look up and scowl “What took you so long? Her manager is just two floors up at the conference room!”
“Yeah…” said the assistant. “But when I got there, the producer-san asked if I could give the coat to Aragaki Yui-san herself since the meeting might take longer than expected and Aragaki Yui-san might get cold…”
“So?”
“So I brought it to the café down the street… Turns out she’s waiting for her manager there with Yamashita-san…”
Maki froze for a bit, hearing Yamapi’s name. She was just about to reason to herself that there are lots of Yamashita-san’s in the industry when the make up artist asked “Yamashita-san who?”
“Yamashita Tomohisa-san… Yamapi…” the assistant clarified. “I saw him when I gave her the coat… He’s really good looking…”
The assistant had a lot of things still to say but Maki’s brain tuned it out. Suddenly, she felt like a bucket of extremely cold ice had just been emptied on her.
She almost couldn’t breathe…
~~~~~
that'sthe very difficult to write and sort of weird chapter 14! you guys might be bored and/or annoyed with this story already... i'm sorry...
anyway, be assured that after this chapter, there'd only be at least 2 more chapters only for the story (at most would be 3) so yeah...
as always, comments and critics are always appreciated... :)
and also, of all the chapters i've done, this could possibly be the most difficult (maybe except the last part of this chap) because i had no idea how to make the transition... and also possibly because this is the usual part of the story i really hate doing...
alas, this part had to be done to get to the part that i wanted to present... and here it is... one of the last few chapters of Baby Steps...
TITLE: Baby Steps
CHARACTERS: Arashi members, NewS members, Horikita Maki, Inoue Mao, Oguri Shun, Ikuta Toma, and a whole horde of other Johnny's and female Japanese actresses
PAIRING: Yamashita Tomohisa/Horikita Maki; Matsumoto Jun/Inoue Mao; others
RATINGS: PG
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
Prologue / Chapter1/ Chapter2/ Chapter3/ Chapter4/ Chapter5/ Chapter6/ Chapter7/ Chapter8/ Chapter8.5/ Chapter9/ Chapter10/ Chapter 11/ Chapter12/ Chapter13
Chapter 14:
“Oh… Looks like someone is happy…” Toma crooned the moment Yamapi entered Matsujun’s apartment with a huge, huge smile.
“He’s really happy…” Kame smirked while Ryo said “Looks like something good happened…”
Yamapi was just about to just smirk at his friends when a voice from the balcony came up and said “Care to share Yamapi?”
“Matsuoka-kun?! You’re here too?!” he exclaimed when the cool figure of Matsuoka Masahiro appeared from the shadows.
“Of course I am!” Matsuoka smirked. “Rumors had it that another Johnny is getting out of the bachelor’s market… Gussan told me I will be seeing him here tonight… I personally thought it would be Jun but it seems you’re getting hitched first…”
“And it seems you’ve gone one step closer today…” Jun said. “Something you’d want to share to us?”
Yamapi looked from one of the only two sempais there to the other and remembered how Maki responded to his kiss in the car, she even obliged with a goodbye kiss when he walked her to her apartment. He smiled.
“Suffice it to say that things are moving along just fine…”
----------
“So where did the two of you go?” Meisa asked nonchalantly as the girls started preparing the table for dinner.
She and Mao were setting the table while Maki helped Meisa prepare the food they bought. It turned out that Meisa had the same idea the other two had when they found out that Maki and Yamapi spent the whole day together, Meisa just decided not to give Maki (and Yamapi) a warning that she’ll be there. Unfortunately for Meisa (but fortunately for Yamapi), she was a tad bit late going to Maki’s place since Yamapi was already leaving when she got there.
“Chiba…” Maki shrugged, still smiling as she and Meisa removed the food out of the containers.
“Chiba?” echoed Mao. “As in Chiba the place where Yamapi-kun was born?”
“Yeah…”
“Really?” Keiko said in a sing-song tone. “Interesting…”
“So he brought her to his hometown… What’s interesting about it?” asked Meisa, seemingly unimpressed. “It’s not like there’s anywhere else he could bring her, not when there are rumors floating around that the numerous Johnny sightings with Maki-chan is just a diversion to what’s really happening…”
“You really are such a ray of sunshine…” Keiko said.
“Well,” Mao chuckled, shaking her head. “I personally think it’s sweet, him opening up his world to you…”
Meisa scoffed “Where’d you two go anyway?”
“We went to their old place… It was near the beach…” Maki smiled, remembering how great she felt when he brought her there. “It was really, really nice…”
“You spent the whole day in there?” Keiko asked incredulously.
“Nope… We went down to the beach after…” she said. “They have a hut there… It’s really refreshing… It’s been a while since I got to relax like that… And I haven’t been to the beach in a while…”
The weird silence that met that statement made Maki look up from what she was doing and look at the other three girls. Mao and Keiko were looking at her with wide (and somewhat mischievous) smiles on their lips while Meisa had this annoyed but resigned look etched on her face.
“What?” Maki asked in confusion.
“Something else happened down in that beach, didn’t it Maki-chan?” Keiko asked.
“Like what?”
“Like something that is to be held responsible for that very wide and contented smile you have on now…” Mao smiled. “Maybe something about a development in the relationship between you and Yamapi-kun?”
“What did he say?” Meisa asked in a serious tone.
“Nothing…” Maki said, blushing as she recalled what happened and what was said down in that hut.
“Nothing?” Keiko echoed in disbelief.
“Yeah, nothing... We just sort of had this unspoken mutual understanding of where we are right now…” she shrugged. And before any one of the girls could ask or say anything else, she immediately added “I guess I better go change my clothes before we eat…” and went out of the kitchen, straight to her room.
Seeing the door close behind Maki, Keiko smiled saying “I guess that means Yamapi-kun has improved in leaps and bounds in just one day…”
“I guess I’d have to agree…” Meisa sighed.
“Why don’t you sound happy?” Mao asked. “Judging by what I just saw, Maki-chan is happy…”
“That’s actually it!” Meisa said, dropping on one of the seats around the table. “I know Maki-chan, and when she says that Yamashita-kun has not said anything, she means it. I’d be a whole lot happier if she’s happy because of what he said, not only by what he did…”
“They say actions speak louder than words you know…” Keiko said.
“Not when his actions can easily mean something else…” Meisa said. “Didn’t you see how happy Maki-chan is? What if she interpreted his actions wrong? I don’t want her to be hurt more than how she would if she didn’t hope for his feelings too…”
Mao and Keiko caught each other’s eye and reached the same conclusion, Meisa had a point.
“She’s in-love with him already…” Meisa continued. “Making her fall for him more would not be good…”
----------
“They’ve opened the gates!” Koyama announced as he rushed into the NewS greenroom, it was barely an hour before their concert tour starts. Five pairs of eyes looked up at that information with reactions varying from excited to nervous to determined to panicked.
Yamapi stood up and faced his group mates, a wide grin on his face as he addressed his group.
“This is it guys! We’ve been working on this for weeks already, we can do this! It’s time for NewS to really shine!” he cried, each sentence greeted by a loud cheer from the other five, excitement brewing as the noise from the incoming crowd permeated their ears.
“Let’s do our best out there guys!” he cheered last and was met with a raucous cry before Koyama led the group to file out of the room and meet their juniors.
Yamapi couldn’t help but smile seeing his members get pumped up with adrenalin and excitement. Before he followed them out though, he went back to the sofa he was occupying earlier and extracted his cellphone from his bag. He felt like he wanted to send Maki a message before he goes out there.
Earlier in the day, he had finally managed to invite Maki to attend one of their concerts. And she agreed. However, due to previous obligations, she wouldn’t be able to attend tonight’s particular concert, especially since she’s working on her last few working engagements before she goes on leave. It turns out she has just a couple more days left to finish up everything she’s working on before she heeds her doctor’s advice that she take some rest.
His smile grew wider when he flipped open his phone and saw that she had sent him a message already.
“Tomo-kun!!! Good luck! I’d be cheering for you from work tonight!!!” it read, complete with a smiley and fireworks.
“Hmmm… Explosive…” came Ryo’s voice suddenly from behind him, making Yamapi jump.
“What the heck are you doing there?!” he exclaimed, snapping his phone shut.
“I was supposed to ask you that!” Ryo smirked. “Everyone’s out there already!”
“I know that!” Yamapi admonished, throwing his phone in his bag and zipping it up before standing up and pretending to fix his costume. “I was just checking on something…”
“Sure…” Ryo sneered. “Like your love messages…”
Yamapi froze for a bit before recovering enough to say “I don’t what you’re talking about…” before leaving the room.
He could still hear Ryo chuckling as he followed him out to the main hall. The rest of NewS and the juniors were already gathered there, preparing for their one last huddle before the big show. There was an odd smile on his lips when he glanced at him, like he was smiling but he was actually disappointed or something, and that disturbed him a bit.
To shrug it off, he went to their stage director and choreographer for one last talk before the huddle; he didn’t see Ryo stepping next to Koyama and Masuda behind him.
“Should we be worried about something?” Koyama while looking at Yamapi’s back.
“This is something he has to face on his own…” Ryo sighed with a little disappointed shake of his head. Ryo knew that Matsujun and the others would agree, including the sempais.
----------
“Yamapi… Wake up! Wake up Yamapi…” he heard someone call. Yamapi wanted to complain since he felt like he had just gotten in bed barely two hours ago and his head feels like it’s going to explode.
The concert was a wonderful success, with not much problems encountered. He had a lot of fun with all the guys as they sang and danced on stage and it felt great seeing how the fans were enjoying themselves too. The concert ended on time as well, which prompted everyone to gather for celebratory drinks after the concert, it was actually one of the few times the whole of NewS gathered for something like this, more surprisingly that it has him who first came up with the idea. Before they went out though, he made sure to call Maki first, to make sure that she’d be home safely by that time. It was already way past midnight when he got home himself and got some rest.
But it was pretty hard for him to ignore someone calling when that person keeps on poking him on the upper torso. Prying his eyes open, it took him a while to realize that he was looking at Tackey, it took him a couple more to actually question why someone, Tackey in this case, is in his room and is looming over him.
Tackey simply grinned as he watched Yamapi sit up. “Looks like my little Yamapi is now Mr.-I’m-finally-in-love… Had a very late night yesterday?”
Yamapi’s eyebrows creased in confusion as he started to stretch “What are you talking about? Last night was the start of the concert tour, remember? And I’m not in-love…”
“Says you…” Tackey snorted as he poked around his side table. “Ah, little Yamapi is growing up…”
Yamapi’s eyebrow shot up. Ryo had alluded to him being “in love” the night before too and it didn’t feel right. True, he and Maki are now getting along better together and he liked being with her, but he wouldn’t exactly categorize what he’s feeling for her as love. He thinks it’s more of just “like”, affection, coupled with the feeling of responsibility, and so far, for him it’s enough.
He was about to tell Tackey that when he turned around and saw that he wasn’t there. Confused, he looked around and found his bedroom door slightly ajar. There’s light coming in from the living room and the sounds of conversation floating in. He was just about to stand up to check it out when a voice suddenly surfaced from the foot of his bed.
“I heard you’re getting married Yamashita…” said Higashiyama with a small sigh. “Another one passes me by huh…”
“Huh? What?” Yamapi stuttered, seeing their daisemapi there. “Higashiyama-san, what are you doing here?”
“I just thought I’d drop by and offer my congratulations…” Higashiyama smiled. “After all, marrying is a good thing… I just never expected your generation to marry this early…”
Yamapi was still searching for words when Higashiyama chuckled and added “But I guess that’s what’s amazing about love… It can make you do weird things…”
Before he could say anything though, his bedroom door was suddenly blasted open as the rest of NewS filed into his room.
“Told you he’d be awake by now!” Tegoshi announced proudly as the five crowded his bed. Yamapi glanced at where Higashiyama was standing by earlier and saw that, just like Tackey, he was no longer there.
“What are you guys doing here?!” he cried. “Don’t you think it’s strange barging in to my room like this?!”
“Nope!” chuckled Masuda. “Not when you’re acting stranger than the rest of us combined…”
“I’m not strange!” Yamapi objected, shrinking back to his bed as he suddenly felt like the rest were closing in on him a little too much.
“Of course you are…” Koyama said to which the other four readily agreed.
“I wonder why it could be…” Shige muttered.
Ryo chuckled. “Isn’t it obvious? Yamapi is in-love…”
“Wait! What?!” he tried to object but the others weren’t listening to him. He saw them meet each other’s eyes before they started chanting in a singsong voice not unlike the kind 7 or 8 year old kids would use when tormenting a friend or classmate “Yamapi is in love… Yamapi is in love~”
Not only were they not listening to him, they were even crowding around him closer and closer. As he shrank back, his eyes caught sight of Ryo, wearing that slightly psychotic smirk of his, chanting along with the others, and it must have been the scariest thing he’d ever seen in his life. He closed his eyes shut as shivers ran down his spine.
The next thing he knew, he was catching his breath and he found himself still lying on his bed, still covered with his blanket with no signs of any other living thing in the room.
Rubbing his face, he sat up, trying to digest the ruckus that was his dream.
It was scary beyond reason, particularly because of the last part with Ryo and the rest of NewS. With deep breaths, he hoped he’d never be placed in such a position ever. But putting aside how disturbing (and weird) it was to see Ryo like that and how disturbing it is that those guys would suddenly pop up in his dreams, it also disturbed him a bit that the three sets of people (NewS being counted as just one set) were all insisting on him one thing, that he is in love.
Falling back to his pillows, he asked himself “Could I really be in-love right now?” but couldn’t find an answer.
He’s not really one to identify what “love” is; “like” he could identify, “affection” too, and “lust”, he had felt all those in the past. But “love”, “love” is something he can’t say he knew.
----------
“I said the meeting is on 5:00! What are you doing here? It’s barely 2:00!” Nanba exclaimed seeing Yamapi enter the jimusho’s building.
It’s three days after their first concert and as preparations come and go with every concert they hold, Yamapi and the rest of NewS are in a frenzy, doing their promotional shows along with their individual ones. He had just gone home after finishing one, the photo shoot for next month’s Popolo, when he received Nanba’s phone call telling him about the meeting that was scheduled as per Johnny’s instructions himself. Thankfully, his next shoot schedule would only start at 9:00 in the night.
“I got restless…” Yamapi shrugged. “Did you hear why I suddenly have a meeting with big boss now?”
The mere fact that Johnny had instructed the meeting was making him more nervous than going to the meeting itself, especially since he had no idea what he had done recently that would warrant a one-on-one meeting with him.
“No, his assistant just called to tell me to tell you about the meeting…” Nanba shook his head. “Don’t you have somewhere else to go while waiting?”
“No…” Yamapi answered, rubbing his hands together. “You didn’t hear anyone else in hear talking about it?”
Nanba sighed, seeing how tensed he is.
“Look, whatever it is, I don’t think it’s going to do you any good worrying about it…” Nanba said. “Why don’t you go to Maki’s for a while? Shouldn’t you accompany her to her doctor or something?”
Yamapi shook his head. “She already went there two days ago… I’m going with her tomorrow though…”
Her doctor told Maki that she could already identify their baby’s gender during her last visit but she opted to come back with him for them to find out at the same time. He felt good hearing that and it somehow made his chest really swell.
He had been to Maki’s place everyday for the last three days, particularly after the concert. He’d hang out there and wait ‘til she gets to sleep before he goes home. They’d be talking about lots of random stuff which almost always ends up with the two of them laughing, although he sees to it that Maki wouldn’t laugh too much for her own good.
Things are going really well between the two of them.
“Besides, she’s at her very last shoot in a while so I wouldn’t want to bother her…” he said. Nanba nodded, knowing that Riko wouldn’t appreciate seeing Yamapi show up when they would have wanted to wrap everything up before the news finally explodes. She’s already not that happy about the fact that there are rumors about the possible Yamapi-Maki relationship.
“Fine!” Nanba said. “It’s your call… I have to check up on some other things for a while… Please, be careful… We wouldn’t want you to get in trouble…”
Yamapi nodded and grinned, looking around him the moment Nanba took the elevator to the upper floors. Suddenly, he didn’t feel like hanging out at the jimusho, especially when his heart would suddenly race every time he remembers his upcoming meeting with Johnny. In that moment, he decided to go out and stroll around, after all, he’s suited enough to do so.
A couple of blocks away from the jimusho’s building, he saw a café he used to frequent with Jin and Toma when they were younger and decided to grab a cup of coffee to pass the time by. Proceeding to the counter, he thought that the woman he was standing behind off was awfully familiar but since she was wearing a scarf that practically is hiding half her face, he couldn’t really say if it’s true. The moment she placed her order though, it was confirmed.
“Aragaki Yui-san?!” he exclaimed in a voice low enough for her to hear.
When she turned around, he knew that he was right; it’s his Code Blue co-star. She must have not been expecting to be recognized though because when she turned around, there was a slight shock in her face as she tried to identify who he was. It didn’t take that long though since his only means of disguise this time is a baseball cap, an unflattering pair of sunglasses, and the collar of his jacket up.
“Yamashita-san?”
Yamapi chuckled, nodding towards one of the vacant private booths at the far right of the café. She seemed to have understood since she nodded and turned around to give her order like usual and proceeded to that booth. Yamapi followed after getting his own order.
“It’s been a while Yamashita-kun…” she greeted the moment he stepped onto the booth, her scarf already lowered to reveal her face, as she extended her hand for a shake.
Yamapi smiled as he shook her hand, his other hand moving to remove his cap and sunglasses. The café is used to having celebrities and entertainers as costumers so privacy is not a problem.
“Yeah…” he said. “When was the last time we saw each other? 2’s wrap up party, right?”
Yui nodded and smiled. “How has it been?”
Yamapi shrugged a bit as a he took a sip from his drink. “I’ve been good… My life’s been pretty eventful these past few months…”
“So it seems…” Yui said from behind her cup.
Yamapi knew that she must be referring to NewS concert tour and promotions but he suddenly felt uneasy that what she said may also be applicable to the recent events concerning him and Maki.
“So, what’re you doing here? Just finished a shoot?” he asked to steer the conversation away from those thoughts. It was a highly plausible situation seeing as most shooting locations and studios are situated in nearby areas.
“Nope… Auditioning for a part…” Yui smiled. “I’m actually just waiting for my manager, she’s in a meeting with the producer to find out if I got the part…”
“Come on… Aragaki Yui-san auditioning for a part?” Yamapi chided. “The producers should be offering you the female lead’s part already! You’re that good!”
Yui blushed at his compliment but shook her head. “I don’t think I’m quite up there yet with the likes of Horikita Maki-san… I’m still working my way up…”
Yamapi unintentionally held his breathe the moment Maki’s name was mention but realized it just in time before Yui would notice.
“I heard she’s going for a break though…” she added. “I hope she isn’t sick or anything…”
“What makes you think her break concerns her health?” Yamapi asked curiously.
“A young actress like her, in one of her career’s highest points and is obviously enjoying her job, suddenly going for a break?” Yui said. “A break would always have an effect on one’s career… It’s not really something one does on a whim… I figured it must have been really something big for her to sacrifice everything she’d worked for… And quite frankly, health issues are the only reasons I could think off… I heard quite a few weeks ago, she looked a bit sick or something…”
Yamapi nodded lightly not only because he knew that that time was prior to Maki finding out about her condition but because he realized that Yui had a point.
“Tell me…” he said. “What would it take, other than health issues, for an actress such as yourself to do what Horikita-san is going to do?”
“There are lots of reasons…” Yui said. “But it has to be really big and really important… A matter of life and death kind of thing… Family… Peace of mind… And love, of course…”
“Love?” Yamapi echoed almost incredulously having heard the term again after attempts to avoid it for the past days.
“Of course…” Yui grinned. “Do not underestimate the power of love Yamashita Tomohisa-kun… There are times when you haven’t even realized that you’re doing things because of love…”
Yamapi was rendered speechless for a while. Just when he was putting together words in his mind, Yui’s phone rang.
When he saw her frown for a bit before giving out a small chuckle, Yamapi asked “Is there anything wrong?”
Yui looked up to him and shook her head. “Oh no… That’s just my manger saying how much of a klutz I am… I left my coat at the make up room, she asked one of the make up assistants to bring it here…”
----------
“We just have to work on your hair for a bit and we’re all done!” smiled the make up artist as her hands reached out for the hair brush.
Maki couldn’t help but smile as she watched the make up artist work on her face and hair for one last time. This photo shoot would be her last job before she goes on a break and she wanted everything to work out perfectly. She would really miss having to do all these stuff while on break but she’s not displeased that she had to go on one.
Her break is something she’s going to have to do not just because her doctor said it is needed, but because she wanted it, both for her and their baby. She was already happy to do it the moment she decided to continue with the baby no matter what, it’s just an incentive that she and the baby’s father are doing great.
Just like what she told Meisa and the others, Yamapi still had not said anything to her, anything that is linked to the emotions department, that is. But what he lacked in words, he showed in action as he continued to show her how special she is. She certainly felt special to him and though it wasn’t really what she wanted from him, for the moment, it would suffice.
She’s happy seeing him happy with her.
Her musings were cut a bit short when the door opened and in came the make up artist’s assistant, panting a little, prompting the make up artist to look up and scowl “What took you so long? Her manager is just two floors up at the conference room!”
“Yeah…” said the assistant. “But when I got there, the producer-san asked if I could give the coat to Aragaki Yui-san herself since the meeting might take longer than expected and Aragaki Yui-san might get cold…”
“So?”
“So I brought it to the café down the street… Turns out she’s waiting for her manager there with Yamashita-san…”
Maki froze for a bit, hearing Yamapi’s name. She was just about to reason to herself that there are lots of Yamashita-san’s in the industry when the make up artist asked “Yamashita-san who?”
“Yamashita Tomohisa-san… Yamapi…” the assistant clarified. “I saw him when I gave her the coat… He’s really good looking…”
The assistant had a lot of things still to say but Maki’s brain tuned it out. Suddenly, she felt like a bucket of extremely cold ice had just been emptied on her.
She almost couldn’t breathe…
~~~~~
that's
anyway, be assured that after this chapter, there'd only be at least 2 more chapters only for the story (at most would be 3) so yeah...
as always, comments and critics are always appreciated... :)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-24 06:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-25 12:37 am (UTC)i hate ending it (the chapter) that way too but it had to be done... hopefully i could post the next chap up really soon to make up for it... :)
thanks for reading though... :)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-25 06:13 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-25 01:45 pm (UTC)thanks! :)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-25 11:48 am (UTC)and Meisa being the protective older sister like thing makes me smile!
hehehe she's perfect for that...
oooohhh now I really wanna know what happens next!
only 3 more chapter! *sniff*
a great fic this is! yup!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-25 01:46 pm (UTC)yeah... 3 more to go... :)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-25 01:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-25 01:49 pm (UTC)i didn't want the story to have so many twists so it ended up that way... hope it's all right though... :)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-26 02:56 am (UTC)I love Meisa's protectiveness too, it's sweet that she cares so much for Maki. The other girls are very supportive as well.
Oh no, don't tell me Maki is feeling jealous? Hmm...never would have thought Yui would be the girl she's jealous of when you said she would make an appearance. Maki, you have to put your faith in Yamapi! Thanks for the update. I can't believe it's ending soon though =/
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-26 03:03 pm (UTC)the last part with Maki's feelings would be elaborated on the next chapter... so please look forward to it...
2 or 3 more to go! :)