i kinda feel proud... :)
this may sound weird but i really do kind of feel proud having finished this series... i mean, the last chaptered story i worked on, provided that it wasn't a fanfic but an original story and i was working on paper instead of a computer, only got completed after almost half a year... this got finished in a little over two months! yay! :)
i actually wrote this primarily for myself, to calm me down since writing keeps me calm and relaxed... but i'm truly happy that some of you guys liked it too...
so here it is, Baby Steps Epilogue, the part i wasn't able to fit in the last chapter since it reached over 4000 words already and i couldn't decrease it anymore... which therefore means this is one of my shorter chapters but not as short as the prologue, i think... :)
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/ Chapter14/ Chapter15/ Chapter16/ Chapter17
Epilogue:
The wedding ceremony, which was a mix of both traditional Japanese and Westernized style celebration, was held two months after Yamapi’s confession, which was two weeks after they revealed their relationship to the world. It would have sounded too soon in any other circumstance but they both wanted to have the ceremony before Maki hits her 7th month of pregnancy.
Having only two months to prepare for a wedding, no matter how simple it would have been, would have been hard, except that in Maki’s situation, she had tons of volunteers who helped her do what was needed to be done. In fact, for those things that Maki had to do, she’d always have Meisa, Mao, Erika, Keiko or Riko who’d be willing to help her out despite their schedules. For Yamapi, his friends had pitched in and helped too, except that Yamapi would have preferred if he was not being ribbed and teased mercilessly while they’re at it especially since Nanba had joined in on their fun too. He couldn’t complain excessively though, not after finding out that they were personally and directly responsible for some of the things that helped his relationship with Maki improve.
The after-ceremony celebration was done at the beach behind Yamapi’s old family house in Chiba where they erected a few large tents to shelter the guests. Technically speaking, the ceremony and celebration was attended by only their family and friends but in no way can it be said to be a small celebration. Along with most of the top officials of each of their respective companies, Maki’s friends and almost every one of the debuted Johnny’s artists were in attendance. Some of those they’ve worked with had also arrived, including Aragaki Yui and Director Ishii.
Maki, who had by then changed into a loose flowing baby blue dress, continued to smile radiantly as she greeted and chatted with those who were in attendance, one hand resting atop her baby bump (which no longer was just a bump). A week after the two of them got together; the two of them had visited her doctor to find out the baby’s gender. Turns out, the baby’s a “she”. They decided to call her Yamashita Emi (絵美) since she is their beautiful blessing.
Yamapi, on the other hand, who’s already sporting a loose polo shirt with a sea motif, doesn’t seem to want to part from his wife and when he did he continued to follow Maki wherever she goes with his eyes. This had caused some of the guys to start ribbing him again.
“Oi! She’s not going anywhere you know!” Toma laughed, noticing Yamapi searching around for Maki, who’s chatting with Erika and Keiko at the moment, again. He and Toma are standing a bit closer to the beach where they watched most of the younger Johnny’s play beach volleyball.
“Yeah… Koki agreed chuckling. “It’s a good thing looks can’t kill…”
Yamapi felt himself blush but he still wouldn’t keep his eyes off Maki. He just felt like he couldn’t get enough of her. He could easily see how Maki looks so happy and content and he almost wanted to feel bad that he didn’t realize his feelings for her a lot sooner. He didn’t dwell on that thought much though since he knew there was no point in crying on lost time. Instead, he really is happy that he has her now.
His brooding cut short when Kame stepped next to him, chuckling.
“Well, I know someone who’s hoping that looks can really kill and someone who’s happy that it couldn’t…” he said.
“Huh?” Toma asked.
Kame continued chuckling, nodding towards Jin, who was having a conversation with Aiba, Shige and Ohno. A few feet away from them was where Meisa was having a light conversation with Sho and Riko, her back fully (and deliberately) turned to Jin.
Meisa and Jin had agreed to, at the very least, be civil for the day for the sake of the occasion, something which Meisa had translated into completely ignoring Jin’s existence and, in the circumstance when Jin would enter her field of vision, throw death glares at him. It wouldn’t really be that funny if Jin would just stop trying to appeal to Meisa, at least in the way they see and interpret what he’s doing.
As the group chuckled at Jin’s expense, Yamapi turned to Kame and asked “How did you know about this anyway and I didn’t?”
“Well, I found out about it the same day you seduced Maki-chan…” Kame shrugged and Yamapi knew immediately what day he meant. “He wouldn’t stop talking about what happened between them at that bar… I actually think he likes her more than he thinks…”
“That’s not impossible…” Koki said smilingly, shaking his head. “Since Jin rarely ever thinks of anything in the first place…”
“You think he has a chance?” Toma asked, chuckling.
Yamapi, remembering how difficult it was for him to get to Maki because of what Jin did to Meisa, smirked and said “As the British would say, not bloody likely…” before leaving the others behind.
----------
Matsujun noticed immediately the moment Johnny Kitagawa stepped away from the crowd and seated himself a few feet from where most of the people are mixing in. While most of the younger batch of idols were enjoying playing volleyball near the waters, and most of the older ones having fun at karaoke with the guests, Johnny had silently slipped away to the side.
It wasn’t because the old man hated mingling with the crowd; he knew that Johnny just preferred to observe things rather than get caught in it. Excusing himself from Yuu, Nino, and Yui, Matsujun headed straight to their company president.
“Johnny-san…” he bowed a bit before occupying the empty seat beside the old man.
Johnny nodded back.
“Enjoying yourself?” Johnny asked smiling, as he continued letting his eyes wander through the crowd.
“It’s a nice day…” Matsujun said meaningfully, observing the crowd on his own. His own eyes had just caught sight of Yamapi rejoining Maki and he couldn’t help but smile, especially when he saw Yamapi hug Maki from the back as the newlyweds continued conversing with their guests.
Johnny and Matsujun had stayed silent for a while, each of them enjoying the sight of people enjoying themselves and simply being happy for the day’s celebrants. All of a sudden, Johnny chuckled, making Matsujun turn to him in confusion.
“Is something wrong?”
“Oh no…” Johnny shook his head, still smiling. “I just thought I imagined this happening a couple of years ago…”
“What exactly is this?” Matsujun asked.
“This conversation…” Johnny said. “You are going to ask me something, aren’t you?”
Matsujun looked mildly surprised before he himself chuckled. “Yeah… I thought I’d want to ask you something…”
“And what exactly would that be?”
“Just out of curiosity, does this have to be the pattern a Johnny should follow before he gets married while still in his 20’s?” he asked.
Johnny chortled, much like a grandfather’s laughter after seeing one of his grandchildren do or say something cute in front of him.
“Is it the only pattern? No… It just so happened that a 100% of those who married before 30 followed this type of scheme… But there is another pattern out there…”
“What would that pattern be?”
Johnny smiled. “That would be something you’d need to find out for yourself…”
Matsujun was taken aback for a while, before he ended up shaking his head and chuckling. Standing up, he bowed to Johnny once again before leaving him with the words “Maybe I just might be able to find out…”
Johnny couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched Matsujun walk towards the where Yamapi, Maki, Shun, Mao, and Director Ishii were having a talk, his former on-screen pair smiling seeing him arrive.
His attention on the group was cut short when his assistant arrived, handing him a folder, before bowing away. Opening the folder, it contained a single piece of paper that had the names Matsumoto Jun, Yamashita Tomohisa, Kamensahi Kazuya, Ninomiya Kazunari, and Sakurai Sho typed on it, the last two names having an asterisk before them.
He couldn’t help but shake his head a bit and breathe a resigned sigh as he closed the folder and looked back at the direction of the group he was just looking at. Yamapi and Maki were no longer there but the other four were still having a light chat. Just at that moment, Ishii, who had been watching his surrounding as well, saw him and nodded respectively.
He nodded too, and gave him a small smile as he sighed “You’ve just won round one…”
----------
Yamapi and Maki could see from the hut how the party continued on full swing despite the fact that they’ve already left. Some of their guests had already noticed their absence but didn’t seem concerned about it. If anything, they only smiled mischievously before continuing what they were doing before they noticed it.
But their attention wasn’t really on what was going on outside, especially when they knew that there’d be a lot of responsible ones to take charge of what they’d left there. inside the hut, they’re in their own world.
Maki is reclining on Yamapi, whose back is on the wall, with their hands playing with each other atop her baby bump, both of them not talking.
“What are you thinking about?” Yamapi whispered to Maki’s ear after a while.
“Hmmm? Nothing, I just never thought we’d end up here…”
“Don’t tell me you’re regretting this now…” Yamapi pouted, hugging her a bit closer to him.
“Now?” Maki asked, turning her head to look at his face. “Never…” she added with a chuckle before pecking him on the lips.
Yamapi’s smile grew wide before his lips touched Maki’s, this time kissing her a bit more passionately than just a peck. When the kissed ended and while both of them are catching their breaths, he couldn’t help but breathe in deeply with his eyes closed, inhaling her scent.
“Thank you…” he heard her say making him open his eyes again.
“Thank you…” she repeated. “For being with me… For making me this happy…”
He shook his head vigorously. “No, I should be the one saying that…” he said, his right hand reaching up to caress Maki’s cheeks. “I never thought I could ever be this happy… I never thought I could ever be this content until you happened… Thank you… Thank you for having the courage of loving me…”
“It wasn’t an easy thing to do…” Maki chuckled. “But it’s something I’d gladly do again… I love you, Yamashita Tomohisa…”
Yamapi could feel his insides get all giddy once again; he just couldn’t get enough of Maki telling him she loves him. He leaned in again to kiss her on the lips, before their lips would touch though, he whispered to her lips “I love you Horikita Maki… I’ve been so stupid in the past… But I would gladly spend the rest of my life making it up to you…” before closing the distance and kissing her.
This time, their kiss was slower, sweeter, and deeper, as they allowed their lips to communicate the unspoken promise that they’d always and still love each other.
----------FIN----------
the name i chose for their child really does mean beautiful blessing, according to Japanese name meaning site i saw on google... :)
so yeah, that's the end of Baby Steps! :)
to all those who liked this fic and commented, thank you...
to all those who liked this fic and didn't comment, thank you too...
to all those who read this fic and didn't really like it that much, still, thank you... :)
and yeah, drop by a comment and tell me what you think... :) (but please don't be too harsh... :))
and yeah, i'm really supposed to be asleep by now...
i actually wrote this primarily for myself, to calm me down since writing keeps me calm and relaxed... but i'm truly happy that some of you guys liked it too...
so here it is, Baby Steps Epilogue, the part i wasn't able to fit in the last chapter since it reached over 4000 words already and i couldn't decrease it anymore... which therefore means this is one of my shorter chapters but not as short as the prologue, i think... :)
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/ Chapter14/ Chapter15/ Chapter16/ Chapter17
Epilogue:
The wedding ceremony, which was a mix of both traditional Japanese and Westernized style celebration, was held two months after Yamapi’s confession, which was two weeks after they revealed their relationship to the world. It would have sounded too soon in any other circumstance but they both wanted to have the ceremony before Maki hits her 7th month of pregnancy.
Having only two months to prepare for a wedding, no matter how simple it would have been, would have been hard, except that in Maki’s situation, she had tons of volunteers who helped her do what was needed to be done. In fact, for those things that Maki had to do, she’d always have Meisa, Mao, Erika, Keiko or Riko who’d be willing to help her out despite their schedules. For Yamapi, his friends had pitched in and helped too, except that Yamapi would have preferred if he was not being ribbed and teased mercilessly while they’re at it especially since Nanba had joined in on their fun too. He couldn’t complain excessively though, not after finding out that they were personally and directly responsible for some of the things that helped his relationship with Maki improve.
The after-ceremony celebration was done at the beach behind Yamapi’s old family house in Chiba where they erected a few large tents to shelter the guests. Technically speaking, the ceremony and celebration was attended by only their family and friends but in no way can it be said to be a small celebration. Along with most of the top officials of each of their respective companies, Maki’s friends and almost every one of the debuted Johnny’s artists were in attendance. Some of those they’ve worked with had also arrived, including Aragaki Yui and Director Ishii.
Maki, who had by then changed into a loose flowing baby blue dress, continued to smile radiantly as she greeted and chatted with those who were in attendance, one hand resting atop her baby bump (which no longer was just a bump). A week after the two of them got together; the two of them had visited her doctor to find out the baby’s gender. Turns out, the baby’s a “she”. They decided to call her Yamashita Emi (絵美) since she is their beautiful blessing.
Yamapi, on the other hand, who’s already sporting a loose polo shirt with a sea motif, doesn’t seem to want to part from his wife and when he did he continued to follow Maki wherever she goes with his eyes. This had caused some of the guys to start ribbing him again.
“Oi! She’s not going anywhere you know!” Toma laughed, noticing Yamapi searching around for Maki, who’s chatting with Erika and Keiko at the moment, again. He and Toma are standing a bit closer to the beach where they watched most of the younger Johnny’s play beach volleyball.
“Yeah… Koki agreed chuckling. “It’s a good thing looks can’t kill…”
Yamapi felt himself blush but he still wouldn’t keep his eyes off Maki. He just felt like he couldn’t get enough of her. He could easily see how Maki looks so happy and content and he almost wanted to feel bad that he didn’t realize his feelings for her a lot sooner. He didn’t dwell on that thought much though since he knew there was no point in crying on lost time. Instead, he really is happy that he has her now.
His brooding cut short when Kame stepped next to him, chuckling.
“Well, I know someone who’s hoping that looks can really kill and someone who’s happy that it couldn’t…” he said.
“Huh?” Toma asked.
Kame continued chuckling, nodding towards Jin, who was having a conversation with Aiba, Shige and Ohno. A few feet away from them was where Meisa was having a light conversation with Sho and Riko, her back fully (and deliberately) turned to Jin.
Meisa and Jin had agreed to, at the very least, be civil for the day for the sake of the occasion, something which Meisa had translated into completely ignoring Jin’s existence and, in the circumstance when Jin would enter her field of vision, throw death glares at him. It wouldn’t really be that funny if Jin would just stop trying to appeal to Meisa, at least in the way they see and interpret what he’s doing.
As the group chuckled at Jin’s expense, Yamapi turned to Kame and asked “How did you know about this anyway and I didn’t?”
“Well, I found out about it the same day you seduced Maki-chan…” Kame shrugged and Yamapi knew immediately what day he meant. “He wouldn’t stop talking about what happened between them at that bar… I actually think he likes her more than he thinks…”
“That’s not impossible…” Koki said smilingly, shaking his head. “Since Jin rarely ever thinks of anything in the first place…”
“You think he has a chance?” Toma asked, chuckling.
Yamapi, remembering how difficult it was for him to get to Maki because of what Jin did to Meisa, smirked and said “As the British would say, not bloody likely…” before leaving the others behind.
----------
Matsujun noticed immediately the moment Johnny Kitagawa stepped away from the crowd and seated himself a few feet from where most of the people are mixing in. While most of the younger batch of idols were enjoying playing volleyball near the waters, and most of the older ones having fun at karaoke with the guests, Johnny had silently slipped away to the side.
It wasn’t because the old man hated mingling with the crowd; he knew that Johnny just preferred to observe things rather than get caught in it. Excusing himself from Yuu, Nino, and Yui, Matsujun headed straight to their company president.
“Johnny-san…” he bowed a bit before occupying the empty seat beside the old man.
Johnny nodded back.
“Enjoying yourself?” Johnny asked smiling, as he continued letting his eyes wander through the crowd.
“It’s a nice day…” Matsujun said meaningfully, observing the crowd on his own. His own eyes had just caught sight of Yamapi rejoining Maki and he couldn’t help but smile, especially when he saw Yamapi hug Maki from the back as the newlyweds continued conversing with their guests.
Johnny and Matsujun had stayed silent for a while, each of them enjoying the sight of people enjoying themselves and simply being happy for the day’s celebrants. All of a sudden, Johnny chuckled, making Matsujun turn to him in confusion.
“Is something wrong?”
“Oh no…” Johnny shook his head, still smiling. “I just thought I imagined this happening a couple of years ago…”
“What exactly is this?” Matsujun asked.
“This conversation…” Johnny said. “You are going to ask me something, aren’t you?”
Matsujun looked mildly surprised before he himself chuckled. “Yeah… I thought I’d want to ask you something…”
“And what exactly would that be?”
“Just out of curiosity, does this have to be the pattern a Johnny should follow before he gets married while still in his 20’s?” he asked.
Johnny chortled, much like a grandfather’s laughter after seeing one of his grandchildren do or say something cute in front of him.
“Is it the only pattern? No… It just so happened that a 100% of those who married before 30 followed this type of scheme… But there is another pattern out there…”
“What would that pattern be?”
Johnny smiled. “That would be something you’d need to find out for yourself…”
Matsujun was taken aback for a while, before he ended up shaking his head and chuckling. Standing up, he bowed to Johnny once again before leaving him with the words “Maybe I just might be able to find out…”
Johnny couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched Matsujun walk towards the where Yamapi, Maki, Shun, Mao, and Director Ishii were having a talk, his former on-screen pair smiling seeing him arrive.
His attention on the group was cut short when his assistant arrived, handing him a folder, before bowing away. Opening the folder, it contained a single piece of paper that had the names Matsumoto Jun, Yamashita Tomohisa, Kamensahi Kazuya, Ninomiya Kazunari, and Sakurai Sho typed on it, the last two names having an asterisk before them.
He couldn’t help but shake his head a bit and breathe a resigned sigh as he closed the folder and looked back at the direction of the group he was just looking at. Yamapi and Maki were no longer there but the other four were still having a light chat. Just at that moment, Ishii, who had been watching his surrounding as well, saw him and nodded respectively.
He nodded too, and gave him a small smile as he sighed “You’ve just won round one…”
----------
Yamapi and Maki could see from the hut how the party continued on full swing despite the fact that they’ve already left. Some of their guests had already noticed their absence but didn’t seem concerned about it. If anything, they only smiled mischievously before continuing what they were doing before they noticed it.
But their attention wasn’t really on what was going on outside, especially when they knew that there’d be a lot of responsible ones to take charge of what they’d left there. inside the hut, they’re in their own world.
Maki is reclining on Yamapi, whose back is on the wall, with their hands playing with each other atop her baby bump, both of them not talking.
“What are you thinking about?” Yamapi whispered to Maki’s ear after a while.
“Hmmm? Nothing, I just never thought we’d end up here…”
“Don’t tell me you’re regretting this now…” Yamapi pouted, hugging her a bit closer to him.
“Now?” Maki asked, turning her head to look at his face. “Never…” she added with a chuckle before pecking him on the lips.
Yamapi’s smile grew wide before his lips touched Maki’s, this time kissing her a bit more passionately than just a peck. When the kissed ended and while both of them are catching their breaths, he couldn’t help but breathe in deeply with his eyes closed, inhaling her scent.
“Thank you…” he heard her say making him open his eyes again.
“Thank you…” she repeated. “For being with me… For making me this happy…”
He shook his head vigorously. “No, I should be the one saying that…” he said, his right hand reaching up to caress Maki’s cheeks. “I never thought I could ever be this happy… I never thought I could ever be this content until you happened… Thank you… Thank you for having the courage of loving me…”
“It wasn’t an easy thing to do…” Maki chuckled. “But it’s something I’d gladly do again… I love you, Yamashita Tomohisa…”
Yamapi could feel his insides get all giddy once again; he just couldn’t get enough of Maki telling him she loves him. He leaned in again to kiss her on the lips, before their lips would touch though, he whispered to her lips “I love you Horikita Maki… I’ve been so stupid in the past… But I would gladly spend the rest of my life making it up to you…” before closing the distance and kissing her.
This time, their kiss was slower, sweeter, and deeper, as they allowed their lips to communicate the unspoken promise that they’d always and still love each other.
----------FIN----------
the name i chose for their child really does mean beautiful blessing, according to Japanese name meaning site i saw on google... :)
so yeah, that's the end of Baby Steps! :)
to all those who liked this fic and commented, thank you...
to all those who liked this fic and didn't comment, thank you too...
to all those who read this fic and didn't really like it that much, still, thank you... :)
and yeah, drop by a comment and tell me what you think... :) (but please don't be too harsh... :))
and yeah, i'm really supposed to be asleep by now...