Chapter 2

A Boring Day (or not)

I’m usually a very attentive student. I would listen to my teacher all the time and even take notes; I would ask questions if I don’t understand the lesson; I would participate in class discussions when I can; but not today. I think I woke up on the wrong side of the bed or something. And I definitely woke up on the wrong side of my desk.

“Inoo!” my teacher shouted. “Please do your best to stay awake in my class.” I sat up straight and pretended to listen. It’s not that I lack sleep; I was just bored I guess. I wanted something exciting to happen; an alien invasion or an asteroid hitting our school perhaps… Well, maybe not that exciting because… umm… that would scare the other students (not that I would be scared!) but I want something out of the usual school routine to happen, at the very least.

During lunch break, I decided to go to my secret place (cool students seem to always have the rooftop as their secret place, you know? Who thought of that anyway?). Not that I expected the rooftop to make my day more exciting. I just thought that maybe I could just sleep there and be alone for a while. Maybe I could even sleep there until classes end. Well, that didn’t happen.

When I arrived there, I was surprised to see that another person already stole my rooftop. Apparently, she didn’t know the secretness of this place. She was leaning on the railings, looking at kids playing outside I guess. I could only see her back but I felt that she was smiling. With nothing else to do, I decided to approach her although unsure of her identity. She was not wearing school uniform so I guessed that she’s not from our school. That, or she’s just a troublesome student not following the dress code. I assumed the first theory though.

“Nice day isn’t it?” she asked without even moving. Was she even talking to me? I looked around just to make sure that she wasn’t talking to a different guy. Nobody else around, maybe she’s talking to her imaginary friend. She turned around and looked at me. Yeah, I was right about her smiling but I guess I was wrong about the imaginary friend, ne? I didn’t notice it earlier but I must admit, it really was a nice day. The sky, the trees, the birds, everything was perfect. At that time, I may be the only one who has his face in a frown if you look around in a 500-meter radius.

She laughed. I didn’t know if it was me she was laughing at, but that’s what I assumed. I got a little annoyed by that too. I mean, first this girl stole my supposed-to-be-secret place, and now she’s got the nerves to start laughing at me!

“You’re not talking to me so I presume that you don’t want me to be here, correct?” she asked. She was still looking at me, waiting for an answer but figuring out that she wouldn’t be getting one (since I was too shy), she proceeded anyway. “I’ll be going then,” she said before walking towards the stairs. She said that last sentence in English so it took me a while to understand it. I didn’t expect her to talk to me in English after all.

“Wait,” I whispered, only to myself, but it seemed that she heard it anyway because she stopped. I faced her and gathered my courage before asking her, also in English, “What’s… you… name?”

She was trying not to laugh but it was obvious to me that she wanted to laugh badly at that. I’m not really that good in English, ok?!

“Miyu. My name is Miyu,” she answered, still in English. If she’s gonna keep this up, I think I’ll have to grab an English dictionary soon. I would have said something in reply but before I could even think of a good English introduction for myself, she’s already just a few more steps from the stairs. “I have to go now. I still have some preparations to make for the next class,” she said. She’s going to class so I guess I’m wrong about her not being a student then. I wanted to talk to her a little more but I understood. Again, before I could think of a good English goodbye phrase, she’s already on her way down. And she yelled “Goodbye Inoo-chan!” before completely leaving.

I laughed at myself after she left. I guess I’ll really have to practice my English from now on. Just in case a situation like this comes again, that is. “Goodbye Miyu-chan,” I whispered to myself as if she was still there. I checked my watch and saw that lunch break was almost over. Has it been that long? I approached the railings, at the part where she stood earlier. I looked at what she looked at; it was the playground as I thought. It’s empty when I looked but there are signs that happy children played there just a while ago. A smile appeared on my face then, the first one for the whole day. After looking at the sight for a few more moments, I decided to go to my next class.

During my next class, I still didn’t listen much to my teacher. It wasn’t like the earlier classes though. In this class, nobody really does listen much. Let’s just say that this teacher is not… very exciting. Truth is, his lectures work better than sleeping pills; his class is paradise for insomniacs.

“Today class, we’ll have a guest lecturer...” he said after having a quick review of last meeting’s lesson. “Well this is something new” I thought. And it was something new indeed. I saw the guest lecturer he was talking about before he could even introduce her. It was her. It was Miyu chan.

While she was standing there, introducing herself, that’s the first time I really had a good look at her. She is a little shorter than me, maybe just a couple of inches shorter. She doesn’t look older than any of us. In fact, if she wasn’t wearing eyeglasses, maybe she would have looked younger. Her hair was neat, too neat; like what a librarian would do with hers. I think she was trying to make herself look older than she really is. She was still smiling, maybe it’s permanently painted on her face like a clown’s. Even while she’s talking, I can see that smile and I admire it because it gives her a very pleasant aura. I stared at her more, looking at her every detail and before I knew it, her lecture was over. “Wha-!” I almost said aloud. I didn’t even hear a word she said. Again, time flew by so fast that I didn’t even realize that I was not listening to her lecture. I was too busy staring at her, perhaps. All I heard was the goodbye she said before leaving the classroom and the bell ringing immediately after that. I looked around the classroom, still shocked. I guess my classmates also liked her. I even heard one saying how thankful she is that somebody saved us from “Prof. Boredom” (like she’s some superheroine saving us from the super villain).

After class, I tried looking around the school for Miyu-chan. I wanted to be friends with her, I guess. I think she’s a nice person. I didn’t have to look around too much too. I had a feeling that I know just where I could find her.

I was wrong. She wasn’t there. I went to the rooftop and she wasn’t there. I went to the place where she stood before again. At last, the kids were there, running around and having all the fun they could have. And that’s when she finally showed up.

“Nice day isn’t it?” she asked, like earlier. She came out of nowhere. I was surprised but I didn’t show it this time.

“It’s great,” I replied. “Are you gonna be doing more lectures tomorrow?”

“Nope. I don’t think I would do any better anyway. Just now, some student didn’t even listen to my whole lecture. I thought it was my fault for not being a good lecturer.”

Was she talking about me? She has got to be talking about me, right? I was about to say something on my defense but she cut me off right away. “Yeah, I was talking about you,” she said after laughing. “Don’t worry, that’s not really the reason. But this is really my last day of doing lectures in this school. I’ll go home to my country tomorrow.” She paused for a while. “I am Japanese but I live in America.”

“Oh, I see,” was all I said. I wanted to ask her a lot more questions but I guess it didn’t matter since she would be leaving for America anyway.

She said that she had to go already or else her uncle would get mad at her. “It’s been really nice meeting you,” was the last thing she said before waving goodbye. I wanted to talk to her more but it was ok. I have the feeling that we will meet again someday. I hope that we will meet again someday.

Chapter 5

All This Time

She’s back again. Unfortunately, this time, I didn’t get ice cream anymore.

It was the girl from yesterday. She was in Johnny’s again. This time, she was playing with some children; new juniors perhaps. I approached them. The children were shocked when I suddenly entered the room, but she wasn’t.

“Hi Yama-chan!” she said joyfully, her energy still high for playing with the kids.

“I forgot to thank you about the ice cream yesterday,” I said. “It was delicious.” I hesitated before continuing. “And I also forgot to ask for your name.”

“Miyu, my name is Miyu,” she said. “No need to thank me for the ice cream, it’s the least I can do…” While I was staring at her and seeing her attractive smile, I suddenly remembered where I met this girl the first time. “It’s the least I can do after you signed the signature board for my sister,” she continued.

So it was her; the sushi girl with Inoo-kun’s signature board. I didn’t expect I’d see her again, especially not here. She looks different now too, prettier.

“Yama-chan! Don’t tell me you’re trying to escape practice today! I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” Yuto suddenly came out of nowhere and interrupted the conversation I was having with sushi girl, I mean Miyu-chan.

“Of course not, I’m coming!” I shouted at Yuto.

I faced Miyu-chan again. “I have to go. It was really nice meeting you… again.” I paused for a while. “Next time I’ll bring you ice cream too.” And I ran not realizing that I didn’t wait for her to reply.

Yuto walked with me going to practice. He was unusually quiet. I looked at him and saw his very suspicious smile. I slapped myself on the forehead. I should’ve known this was coming.

“Yama-chan got a girlfriend~”

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At last we meet again. I met Miyu-chan after dance practice today

She was playing with some children; the new juniors perhaps. She was left alone after a while because the children already had to go home. I watched her say goodbye to them. I guess she really likes children. She was sitting on the bench and waving goodbye to the last of the kids when I approached her.

“Nice day isn’t it?” I said, almost not in an asking manner. She laughed so I guess she also remembered.

“I presume that you don’t want me, am I correct?” she asked while still laughing.

“Wrong,” I said in English. She laughed harder.

“You don’t have to talk to me in English,” she said. It was funny; she still said that sentence in English. Fortunately, those were the last words she said in English for the day.

We just had a chat for about an hour until we both realized it’s already getting late and we should go home already. We were talking about the time we first met, at my school, and the things that happened between that day and now. We were laughing at the way I didn’t listen to her lecture at first and the way she was trying to look a lot older than she really is back then (the truth is, she’s a year younger than I). It was really fun talking with her. I still love looking at her smile. She also looks more beautiful now.

After saying our goodbyes, the last thing that I saw was a sudden smile from her. I felt my heart beating faster. I held my chest and sighed. What is this feeling? Was I in love with her all this time?

Chapter 9

Mother

It wasn’t hard asking permission from my uncle. A pair of puppy dog eyes and off I went. He even gave me money; in case of ice cream shortage I guess.

His driver took me to Inoo-chan’s house. I stood there for a while, examining the surroundings. It was a very peaceful environment. I rang the bell twice. Inoo-chan answered the door himself.

“I’m glad that you came” he said with a big smile. Two dogs suddenly ran to me and walked around my feet. So these are the dogs I hear lots about. I sat down and hugged them, they licked me on the face. Well, aren’t they adorable?

“I think they like you,” Inoo-chan said. He crouched down and the dogs licked him on the face too. “Should we go inside?”

Inside the house, all of Hey Say Jump was already there. Hikaru, Yabu, and Takaki were watching television. Yuto, Chinen, and Daiki were running around like the kids they are. Yamada and Ryutaro were playing a board game and Keito was goofing around by himself. When I came in, all of them stopped what they were doing. They looked at me and there was a brief moment of silence.

“Good evening Yama-chan’s girlfriend!” they all shouted, except for Yama chan of course. I was a little embarrassed but I just rolled my eyes.

“Is this how you’re gonna treat your director?” I scolded. I looked at Yama chan, he was embarrassed too. He looked like a strawberry, actually. I tried to stop myself from laughing but I burst into laughter anyway. Everyone was looking at me again. Silence lingered across the room for a second before all of us burst into laughter once more.

Our laughter was interrupted. I smelled something. I, more than anyone, should recognize this smell. My sister would always call me when she smells this. “Is something burning?”

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 “Uh oh!” I immediately ran to the kitchen. Everything that I was cooking was already burnt! I regretted not asking for help with this cooking stuff. “Who likes their food really well done?” I joked. No one bought it. “Oh…”

“I guess we’ll die from starvation tonight,” Chinen said from behind.

“Goodbye cruel world!” Ryutaro whined.

“I knew it,” Miyu-chan said proudly. “You need a woman in this house.” She looked at me. I know that look. My mom would look at my dad like that whenever he does something wrong. “Clean this up please Inoo-chan. We’ll have to start over. The others can go back to what they were doing.”

So she can be a nagger too. The others left immeadiately, not wanting to disobey the order of our brand new “mother”. I was left alone in the kitchen with Miyu-chan, just the two of us cooking together. I couldn’t help but blush again. Until she started giving me more orders, that is.

“We could make some curry” she said while looking at our refrigerator. “Would you want that?” she asked. I nodded. Who am I to disagree? I’m the one who almost brought starvation in my own house after all.

She looked happy while cooking. I also had fun cooking with her even though all I did was get the stuff that she needs and just stare at her whenever I’m done with that. She’s really beautiful, isn’t she?

*********************************************************************

I was playing with Ryutaro but I couldn’t take my eyes off that kitchen. Why am I not comfortable with the thought of Miyu-chan and Inoo-kun cooking together by themselves?

“It’s no fun playing with someone in love,” Ryutaro whispered to himself.

“I heard that!” I said as I whack him on the head with a pillow.

Eventually, Miyu-chan and Inoo-kun finally finished cooking. They brought the food on the dining table. I was looking at them, more like glaring. I don’t know why too. Was I jealous?

“It’s about time! I’m really starving,” Hikaru shouted. The others had no more time to even talk. In a second, they all had their places around the table already. There were only eight chairs. The three people who won’t be able to get one will have to eat on a smaller table we moved earlier beside the bigger dining table. In this case, it will be Miyu-chan, Inoo-kun, and I.

The others were already smiling. I didn’t want to hear what they’re going to say next.

“Love triangle~”

Chapter 12

It Begins

It’s the day of the PV shoot at last. I woke up in the middle of the dressing room, due to noises made by the crew. It was already 3:00 am. We spent all of yesterday to finish the set; it was simple but not that easy to build. We were done with it a few minutes after midnight. Most of the equipments are already in place too. I looked at our full set, yawning but smiling. We’re ready.

I remember the day they announced that I will be the director of this PV. I was supposed to be in charge for the costumes, my design was already approved. Everything was going perfectly until the original director suffered from a heart attack. He was brought to the hospital and he’s still confined there up to now. He’s already out of danger but still has to rest for a few weeks. I don’t know why but they chose me to take over his position. It’s true that I was already trained by that very director but I didn’t think I’d be ready for this yet. Nonetheless, despite of being young, they trusted me for this.

Yesterday, before going to the set, my uncle wished me luck for the project. He took me to the set himself and before going, he kissed me on the forehead. He hugged me for a long time. He, more than anyone, trusted me for this.

I was raised to be a smart, dependable woman. I never failed their expectations, not once. I like the way I was raised, I have no complaints with that. But sometimes… I just feel that something is missing.

*********************************************************************

I had a hard time sleeping last night. I was just so excited for this PV, more excited than I ever was with the other PV’s that we’ve already made. This one is different; this one is special; this one, we will make with Miyu-chan.

I only had a few hours of sleep but that didn’t affect the level of energy I had today. I literally jumped out of the bed. Even my mother found it unusual; the way I was acting. But she was happy for me; she was happy that I am happy. She served me my favorite breakfast, I loved it of course. Before letting me leave, she hugged me and kissed me. I kissed her back.

My mother is one of the two women I love the most. Today, I am ready to tell the other woman how much I really do love her.

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I only slept for three hours. It isn’t really easy to fall asleep when there are a lot of things in your mind. Today, we’ll be making another PV. Of course, what makes it more exciting is that we’re doing it with someone special.

My mom greeted me the moment I went out of my room. She said that she’d watch the PV as soon as it’s done. I love the way that my mom always becomes so excited whenever a time like this comes. I feel how proud she is of me.

As I was about to leave, I saw her sitting in the living room, holding a picture. I sat beside her and looked at the picture, curious whose it was. I saw a tear roll down her face.

“My little baby is growing up.”

I hugged my mom and kissed her before I left. She’s being emotional again. I can’t always be her baby, can I? Thinking about it, I really am growing up already. I think I want to be somebody else’s baby now.

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We were filming the members of Hey Say Jump the moment they arrived, for the PV making video. Ten mischievous boys coming out of the van greeted everyone on the set. Finally, it will start.

I personally filmed their introductions. They were on the verge of laughing out loud as they introduced themselves. I was doing weird facial expressions behind the camera. Ryutaro and Yuto even helped me after they’re done with their introductions. We had to do four takes of Yama-chan’s introduction, he just laughed the whole time for the first three. Those takes would still be useful though. In Inoo-chan’s introduction, he was imitating our weird facial expressions while introducing himself. It was so cute!

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My jaw was still hurting after that. I just couldn’t stop laughing after seeing those faces. Miyu-chan’s expressions were hilarious. Come to think of it, she was still beautiful despite of that.

I saw our costume in the dressing room. It really looked nice, my favorite of all the costumes we’ve worn. There was a note attached to it. And that quite explains why it suddenly became my favorite.

I designed this one! We made it with love and we hope you like it~   -Miyu

They made it with love; she made it with love. I smiled, is this her way of saying that she loves me? I looked at the other members’ costumes, the same note attached to them. I sighed. That was a bit disappointing.

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I saw Yama-chan alone in the dressing room. This is my chance to talk to him.

“Hi Inoo-kun!” he said while looking at himself in the mirror. He already had the costume on. “It looks nice, doesn’t it?”

As much as I do think that the costumes look great, I couldn’t respond properly. “Yama-chan, can we talk? I just have to get something out of my chest”

“Sure Inoo-kun!” he said. “What is it about?”

I took a deep breath. I looked at him seriously. “I am in love with Miyu-chan.”

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So what we feared is already happening; Inoo-kun and I as rivals. I didn’t know what to say. He didn’t really know that I love Miyu-chan too… or did he?

“I know that you love her too,” he said. “But I’m not gonna give her up.” How did he know? It doesn’t matter now. I have to protect my love for Miyu-chan.

“I’m not gonna give her up too,” I said confidently.

“So it’s a competition between us.” He was standing right in front of me, only a few inches away.

“I won’t lose.” I took my stand.

“Neither will I.”