After the Rain
Title: After the Rain
Author: fangirlism_era
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: The characters in this story are not mine, this did not happen, it’s just a figment of my crazy imagination.
Pairing: Kato Shigeaki/Sasaki Nozomi
Summary: She wants him and does everything she can to get him, making the future more beautiful.
Author’s Note: I have a girl-crush on Sasaki Nozomi and this just came into my mind.
“If there’s a will, there’s a way!” Sasaki Nozomi shouts to Aoyama Thelma as they were hanging out in her apartment.
“Come on, Nozomi. It’s mostly impossible. He’s a Johnny, you’re a gravure idol,” Thelma tells her friend while laughing.
Nozomi merely pouts as her friend continues to laugh at the absurdity of her statement.
When Thelma finished laughing, she finally looks at Nozomi and asks in a serious voice, “Do you really like him?” Nozomi looks at her. “I mean, I can probably introduce you guys. I know Yamapi’s number so I can get his quite easily.”
Thelma continues on about how she will introduce Nozomi to her crush that she failed to notice the rare smile blooming on her friend’s lips until Nozomi actually hugged her real tight.
“Really? You know I love you, right?” Nozomi continues shouting thanks to her friend’s ears as she hugs her real tight.
----------------------
“You want me to what?” Yamashita Tomohisa looks at Aoyama Thelma incredulously.
“I want you to help me introduce Kato Shigeaki to my friend.”
“And who is your friend?”
“Sasaki Nozomi,” Yamapi suddenly raises his eyebrows.
“Believe me, I found it weird too but Nozomi likes him so a friend has to do what she can do,” Thelma shrugs like it’s nothing but is still seriously looking at Yamapi for an answer.
Yamapi can only sigh and nod his head as he fishes for his phone to call Shige.
----------------------
“Yamapi got you a date?” Koyama all but shouted at Shige when his friend told him about his phone call with their leader.
“Yes, he got me a date and he won’t even tell me who,” Shige sighs as he gets up from his bed, phone cradled between his shoulder and ear as he looks for something to wear for the date.
“Who do you think is it, Shige?”
“I honestly don’t know, Koyama.”
“Knowing Leader, she’ll be a nice girl. He never gives us bad things, right?” Koyama pauses. “And you haven’t had a girlfriend in years, it’s about time you do.”
“Maybe you’re right. I have to go now Koyama, I’ll prepare for the date.”
“Call me after the date, okay?”
----------------------
Yamapi told Shige to come to a posh restaurant in Shibuya, that he reserved a private room there.
Now, Kato Shigeaki is sitting in a private room in a sushi restaurant in Shibuya, waiting for whoever his date will be. He waits for another 10 minutes, fiddling with the menu, deciding on the best choice, before someone enters the room who didn’t sound like a waiter.
Shige looks up and finds a very pretty person in front of him, bowing apologetically at him for being late. He stands from his chair and approaches the other side of the table. Maybe it’s instinct or something but he pulls out the chair, looks at her, and then cracks a smile. Not fake, but that true, handsome smile that he always shows his friends.
Nozomi, on the other hand, is struck-silent and merely nods quietly and sits down on the offered chair. Awkward silence fills up the room as the two looks over the menu and waits for the waiter to finally take their orders. Shige is seriously looking over the menu, focusing more on trying hard not to look at the girl in front of him whole Nozomi spends the whole time looking over the top of the menu, keeping a trained eye on the man in front of her while trying to go unnoticed. It’s a comical sight to behold and when the waiter finally enters the room, he stops at the door and quietly hides a chuckle.
The two places their orders and when the waiter leaves the room, the menus in his hands, Nozomi and Shige was left with no choice but to looks at each other.
“Uhm,” Shige says as Nozomi says, “So.”
Both pulls back then opens their mouth to speak again. Shige suddenly chuckles, making Nozomi look up from watching her hands fiddling on her lap.
“We’re really bad at this.” Shige clears his throat. “I’m Kato Shigeaki.”
Nozomi smiles, “I know, I wanted to meet you. I’m Sasaki Nozomi.”
“And why, may I ask, would the great Sasaki Nozomi want to meet a measly idol like me?” Shige asks her, teasingly.
“I like you. I’ve been interested ever since I watched Soukon.” She looks up to see the idol hiding his face underneath his bangs, the beginnings of a blush blossoming from his cheeks. Nozomi feels her heart accelerate.
“Uhm, thank you, Sasaki-san.” Shige tells her, smiling.
“You can call me Nozomi.”
“Then you can call me Shige.”
----------------------
“It was really hard, expecting to show emotion like that in front of lots of people. They may call me No Mercy but I was merely being honest. Really, I just wanted to be…” Nozomi looks up to Shige in the middle of her sentence when her breath caught in her throat, amazed by the intensity of his gaze and the interest in his eyes. She chokes on her food.
“Nozomi-chan?” Shige stands from his chair, walks around to stand behind her seat and hits her back to get the food out of her throat.
Shige hand stays in her back as he bends down to look her in the face. “Nozomi-chan, are you okay now?” He asked once the coughing subsides.
“I’m fine,” she answers, smiling at him.
Shige once again sits on his chair and looks at her.
“Ah, was I boring you?”
“Nope, it’s good that you’re getting it all out,” Shige coughs, “I find it cute.”
Nozomi can only blush in return.
----------------------
After eating dinner, Shige pays and they head out into the shimmering lights of Shibuya, where paparazzi can easily get a photograph of them walking together but Shige decided to ignore the niggling at the back of his head saying that it’s not a good idea.
“So where do you want to go now?” Shige asks Nozomi once they’re out on the street.
“Is it really okay for you to be seen with me?”
“That’s what I should be asking you. I hardly get recognized anyway,” Shige chuckles at his self-deprecation.
“The agency really doesn’t care much if I get photographed. Any publicity is better than no publicity,” Shige outright laughs at her statement. “Do you care if you get photographed with me?”
“Not really. I haven’t really been photographed before so maybe the fans will think, ‘Finally he’s not gay at all!’ or something like that.”
“Really? I guess we should just walk around for now?” Nozomi suggests.
They ended up walking to a less crowded area where they talked about everything they pops out of their heads, arms linked, walking slowly. They were having so much fun that they failed to notice the time until Shige looks at his watch and sees the hands telling him that it’s already past 12 midnight and it’s time for him to take the girl home.
He walks her home, finding her apartment a few blocks away from the restaurant and teased her about why she was late for the date.
“This is it,” Nozomi tells him when they were in the lobby of her apartment building.
“I had fun, Nozomi-chan. Thank you,” Shige tells her.
“Thank you, Shige-kun,” Nozomi leans in to kiss his cheek.
“I’ll head home now.”
“Wait! Let me borrow your phone,” Shige hands her his phone and she hands hers to him. “Let’s exchange numbers.”
They enter their numbers on the phones and bid each other farewell, promising another date.
Little did they know, a photographer has been following them around all night.
----------------------
A copy of Friday lands in front of Shige while they were having a photo shoot. He looks up and sees Nishikido Ryo towering over him.
“What is this about a date?”
Shige hurriedly opens the magazine and sees himself with his date splattered across the pages and groans. He’s about to reach for his phone when Ryo beats him to it, snatching it away to continue the interrogation.
“What is this about your date with Sasaki Nozomi?” Ryo repeats the question, with more emphasis on every word.
“What do you want to know? A date is a date and can you please give me back my phone, I have to call someone.”
Ryo’s about to open his mouth when the rest of the members enter the room and sees the magazine opened on top of the table.
“SASAKI NOZOMI!?!” Koyama screeches, eyes wide in shock as he looks at his best friend.
Then Koyama looks at Yamapi, “You set him up with Sasaki Nozomi?”
“Why are you guys even making a big deal out of this?”
“She’s pretty, you’re awkward!” Ryo tells him, like it’s paining him to see Shige having a date with a pretty girl.
Then everyone starts talking a mile a minute on how it was impossible for Shige, why he was on the date, and how he was finally caught having a date. Shige sighs at the craziness of his band mates. Everyone is startled out of their ranting when Shige’s phone rings in Ryo’s hand. Shige immediately snatched the phone, before Ryo can look on the screen.
“Hello,” Shige answers cheerfully, surprising the members.
He listens for a while. “Yeah, I’ve seen it. Don’t worry, I can handle it.” More talking from the other side. “What about you? Is it okay?” Shige listens some more. “Okay, I’ll call you later. I’m on a photo shoot.” He then hangs up.
----------------------
Kato Shigeaki is sitting in front of Johnny Kitagawa, trying to read the old man’s mind. Based on the look Johnny is giving him, it’s not really anger, it’s more of resignation.
“I don’t really care what you do on your free time but keep it private, don’t get photographed, blah-blah-blah.” Shige looks up at the last part and sees Johnny smiling at him.
Johnny, seemingly reading his mind, laughs.
“It’s your first scandal, it’s okay. I’m guessing the fans are thinking along the lines of ‘Kato Shigeaki is not gay’ so it’s okay, Shigeaki.”
Shige comes out of the office feeling light.
----------------------
They know that it has become intimate when Shige arrives at her apartment unannounced in the middle of the night, slightly drunk and sleepy because he went out with the members. He didn’t need a key because she gave him one, he didn’t need to sleep in the clothes he arrived in because he has clothes in her closet, and he didn’t need to just gargle water because he has his own toothbrush in her bathroom.
And as he crawls to bed next to her, the space seemingly reserved for him, she unconsciously rolls toward the heat of his body, molding herself to him. His hands are around her waist, her head on his chest, and finally, her even breathing lulls him to sleep just as the clock strikes 2.
Author: fangirlism_era
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: The characters in this story are not mine, this did not happen, it’s just a figment of my crazy imagination.
Pairing: Kato Shigeaki/Sasaki Nozomi
Summary: She wants him and does everything she can to get him, making the future more beautiful.
Author’s Note: I have a girl-crush on Sasaki Nozomi and this just came into my mind.
“If there’s a will, there’s a way!” Sasaki Nozomi shouts to Aoyama Thelma as they were hanging out in her apartment.
“Come on, Nozomi. It’s mostly impossible. He’s a Johnny, you’re a gravure idol,” Thelma tells her friend while laughing.
Nozomi merely pouts as her friend continues to laugh at the absurdity of her statement.
When Thelma finished laughing, she finally looks at Nozomi and asks in a serious voice, “Do you really like him?” Nozomi looks at her. “I mean, I can probably introduce you guys. I know Yamapi’s number so I can get his quite easily.”
Thelma continues on about how she will introduce Nozomi to her crush that she failed to notice the rare smile blooming on her friend’s lips until Nozomi actually hugged her real tight.
“Really? You know I love you, right?” Nozomi continues shouting thanks to her friend’s ears as she hugs her real tight.
----------------------
“You want me to what?” Yamashita Tomohisa looks at Aoyama Thelma incredulously.
“I want you to help me introduce Kato Shigeaki to my friend.”
“And who is your friend?”
“Sasaki Nozomi,” Yamapi suddenly raises his eyebrows.
“Believe me, I found it weird too but Nozomi likes him so a friend has to do what she can do,” Thelma shrugs like it’s nothing but is still seriously looking at Yamapi for an answer.
Yamapi can only sigh and nod his head as he fishes for his phone to call Shige.
----------------------
“Yamapi got you a date?” Koyama all but shouted at Shige when his friend told him about his phone call with their leader.
“Yes, he got me a date and he won’t even tell me who,” Shige sighs as he gets up from his bed, phone cradled between his shoulder and ear as he looks for something to wear for the date.
“Who do you think is it, Shige?”
“I honestly don’t know, Koyama.”
“Knowing Leader, she’ll be a nice girl. He never gives us bad things, right?” Koyama pauses. “And you haven’t had a girlfriend in years, it’s about time you do.”
“Maybe you’re right. I have to go now Koyama, I’ll prepare for the date.”
“Call me after the date, okay?”
----------------------
Yamapi told Shige to come to a posh restaurant in Shibuya, that he reserved a private room there.
Now, Kato Shigeaki is sitting in a private room in a sushi restaurant in Shibuya, waiting for whoever his date will be. He waits for another 10 minutes, fiddling with the menu, deciding on the best choice, before someone enters the room who didn’t sound like a waiter.
Shige looks up and finds a very pretty person in front of him, bowing apologetically at him for being late. He stands from his chair and approaches the other side of the table. Maybe it’s instinct or something but he pulls out the chair, looks at her, and then cracks a smile. Not fake, but that true, handsome smile that he always shows his friends.
Nozomi, on the other hand, is struck-silent and merely nods quietly and sits down on the offered chair. Awkward silence fills up the room as the two looks over the menu and waits for the waiter to finally take their orders. Shige is seriously looking over the menu, focusing more on trying hard not to look at the girl in front of him whole Nozomi spends the whole time looking over the top of the menu, keeping a trained eye on the man in front of her while trying to go unnoticed. It’s a comical sight to behold and when the waiter finally enters the room, he stops at the door and quietly hides a chuckle.
The two places their orders and when the waiter leaves the room, the menus in his hands, Nozomi and Shige was left with no choice but to looks at each other.
“Uhm,” Shige says as Nozomi says, “So.”
Both pulls back then opens their mouth to speak again. Shige suddenly chuckles, making Nozomi look up from watching her hands fiddling on her lap.
“We’re really bad at this.” Shige clears his throat. “I’m Kato Shigeaki.”
Nozomi smiles, “I know, I wanted to meet you. I’m Sasaki Nozomi.”
“And why, may I ask, would the great Sasaki Nozomi want to meet a measly idol like me?” Shige asks her, teasingly.
“I like you. I’ve been interested ever since I watched Soukon.” She looks up to see the idol hiding his face underneath his bangs, the beginnings of a blush blossoming from his cheeks. Nozomi feels her heart accelerate.
“Uhm, thank you, Sasaki-san.” Shige tells her, smiling.
“You can call me Nozomi.”
“Then you can call me Shige.”
----------------------
“It was really hard, expecting to show emotion like that in front of lots of people. They may call me No Mercy but I was merely being honest. Really, I just wanted to be…” Nozomi looks up to Shige in the middle of her sentence when her breath caught in her throat, amazed by the intensity of his gaze and the interest in his eyes. She chokes on her food.
“Nozomi-chan?” Shige stands from his chair, walks around to stand behind her seat and hits her back to get the food out of her throat.
Shige hand stays in her back as he bends down to look her in the face. “Nozomi-chan, are you okay now?” He asked once the coughing subsides.
“I’m fine,” she answers, smiling at him.
Shige once again sits on his chair and looks at her.
“Ah, was I boring you?”
“Nope, it’s good that you’re getting it all out,” Shige coughs, “I find it cute.”
Nozomi can only blush in return.
----------------------
After eating dinner, Shige pays and they head out into the shimmering lights of Shibuya, where paparazzi can easily get a photograph of them walking together but Shige decided to ignore the niggling at the back of his head saying that it’s not a good idea.
“So where do you want to go now?” Shige asks Nozomi once they’re out on the street.
“Is it really okay for you to be seen with me?”
“That’s what I should be asking you. I hardly get recognized anyway,” Shige chuckles at his self-deprecation.
“The agency really doesn’t care much if I get photographed. Any publicity is better than no publicity,” Shige outright laughs at her statement. “Do you care if you get photographed with me?”
“Not really. I haven’t really been photographed before so maybe the fans will think, ‘Finally he’s not gay at all!’ or something like that.”
“Really? I guess we should just walk around for now?” Nozomi suggests.
They ended up walking to a less crowded area where they talked about everything they pops out of their heads, arms linked, walking slowly. They were having so much fun that they failed to notice the time until Shige looks at his watch and sees the hands telling him that it’s already past 12 midnight and it’s time for him to take the girl home.
He walks her home, finding her apartment a few blocks away from the restaurant and teased her about why she was late for the date.
“This is it,” Nozomi tells him when they were in the lobby of her apartment building.
“I had fun, Nozomi-chan. Thank you,” Shige tells her.
“Thank you, Shige-kun,” Nozomi leans in to kiss his cheek.
“I’ll head home now.”
“Wait! Let me borrow your phone,” Shige hands her his phone and she hands hers to him. “Let’s exchange numbers.”
They enter their numbers on the phones and bid each other farewell, promising another date.
Little did they know, a photographer has been following them around all night.
----------------------
A copy of Friday lands in front of Shige while they were having a photo shoot. He looks up and sees Nishikido Ryo towering over him.
“What is this about a date?”
Shige hurriedly opens the magazine and sees himself with his date splattered across the pages and groans. He’s about to reach for his phone when Ryo beats him to it, snatching it away to continue the interrogation.
“What is this about your date with Sasaki Nozomi?” Ryo repeats the question, with more emphasis on every word.
“What do you want to know? A date is a date and can you please give me back my phone, I have to call someone.”
Ryo’s about to open his mouth when the rest of the members enter the room and sees the magazine opened on top of the table.
“SASAKI NOZOMI!?!” Koyama screeches, eyes wide in shock as he looks at his best friend.
Then Koyama looks at Yamapi, “You set him up with Sasaki Nozomi?”
“Why are you guys even making a big deal out of this?”
“She’s pretty, you’re awkward!” Ryo tells him, like it’s paining him to see Shige having a date with a pretty girl.
Then everyone starts talking a mile a minute on how it was impossible for Shige, why he was on the date, and how he was finally caught having a date. Shige sighs at the craziness of his band mates. Everyone is startled out of their ranting when Shige’s phone rings in Ryo’s hand. Shige immediately snatched the phone, before Ryo can look on the screen.
“Hello,” Shige answers cheerfully, surprising the members.
He listens for a while. “Yeah, I’ve seen it. Don’t worry, I can handle it.” More talking from the other side. “What about you? Is it okay?” Shige listens some more. “Okay, I’ll call you later. I’m on a photo shoot.” He then hangs up.
----------------------
Kato Shigeaki is sitting in front of Johnny Kitagawa, trying to read the old man’s mind. Based on the look Johnny is giving him, it’s not really anger, it’s more of resignation.
“I don’t really care what you do on your free time but keep it private, don’t get photographed, blah-blah-blah.” Shige looks up at the last part and sees Johnny smiling at him.
Johnny, seemingly reading his mind, laughs.
“It’s your first scandal, it’s okay. I’m guessing the fans are thinking along the lines of ‘Kato Shigeaki is not gay’ so it’s okay, Shigeaki.”
Shige comes out of the office feeling light.
----------------------
They know that it has become intimate when Shige arrives at her apartment unannounced in the middle of the night, slightly drunk and sleepy because he went out with the members. He didn’t need a key because she gave him one, he didn’t need to sleep in the clothes he arrived in because he has clothes in her closet, and he didn’t need to just gargle water because he has his own toothbrush in her bathroom.
And as he crawls to bed next to her, the space seemingly reserved for him, she unconsciously rolls toward the heat of his body, molding herself to him. His hands are around her waist, her head on his chest, and finally, her even breathing lulls him to sleep just as the clock strikes 2.