~Only You~ Chapter 4 - Truth
Author's note - I was so excited to write this chapter for you all! It took a lot of research and most of it is based on fact. There will probably either be one or two more chapters left in this fanfic. So, I'm glad you all read it, but I might not write another one in awhile since writing fanfics is tiring, but it was a lot of fun! I'm happy for all your support on this fanfic and hopefully you all liked the way it was written! Right now, I should be studying for a math test tomorrow and then a math test on Thursday and finally a math final on Friday. So, after I finish with the links and so forth, I'm off to study! Have fun reading this chapter! Remember, there will probably only be 2 more chapters left of this so, take your time reading!
Sources for Japanese Obon Festival - http://www.allsands.com/history/events/japanesefestiva_rwb_gn.htm
Also, there is a TON of Yamajima for those that like that genre. Please take your time reading! ^^
Chapter 4 - Truth
A few days later, I noticed that living in China wasn’t that bad. Cousins babied me like I was a little kid, Uncle who showed me around his big condo and apartment, and three Aunts following me wherever I go… Talk about luxury! I also wondered why I haven’t heard from Keito. Perhaps he was writing another long story. I went to check my laptop as usual. It was one of those nice afternoons where it was quiet and everyone was out aside me who decided to stay in for the day. Keito finally sent me another email! This time, the subject was, “Lots have happened…”.
“Interesting title…” I said to myself. I clicked the email and began to read…
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keito@mail.goo.ne.jp to me
Well, sorry again for the long response. There have been a lot of things going on here. For example, we have so many concerts this month, it isn’t even funny. I really wish you could see us in at least one of them! Other than that, there have been some improvements with Chinen and Daiki. But apparently there is more than meets the eye… Here is how everything went. We were given a small vacation (three days) to go to Hokkaido private resort to rest up and enjoy a few days of relaxation and fun. However, we had to allow the company to film some of it and take pictures for later usage. I’m not into the business aspect of things, so we all took up the offer. Though personally, I haven’t been to anywhere but Tokyo when I came back from England, I was happy to go somewhere other than Tokyo.
So here is the story...
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“Now now Yama-chan. There is nothing to be afraid of. We are only going a few hour flight to Hokkaido. It isn’t that bad now,” said Yuuto trying to convince Ryosuke that there will be nothing wrong on the flight to Hokkaido.
Ryosuke just sat in his seat all curled up in a ball holding his carry-on refusing to move. All he did was look at Yuuto with a scared puppy dog look.
Hikaru walked up to Ryosuke and poked him while saying, “Aww… Kawaii ne~! Since you won’t go on the plane for us, at least go on the plane for Yuuto. He tried convincing you for a full thirty minutes and you still haven’t budged.”
Ryosuke turned red and buried his face in his carry-on. Hikaru just continued to laugh, but at the same time he was worried. In the end, we all convinced Ryosuke to go on the plane, but he specifically asked to sit by Yuuto. We all looked at our tickets and saw that someone else was sitting in the seat next to Yuuto. I was sitting next to Chinen, so I asked if he wanted to move with me so Yuuto and Ryosuke could sit together. He nodded and we both just switched seats with them. I sat by the window where Yuuto was going to sit and Chinen ended up sitting with Daiki.
“Dai-chan… I’m scared. Will we crash?” asked Chinen innocently. I watched from the other side and was so positive Chinen was acting since he has no problems with planes.
Daiki looked up and saw Chinen’s innocent eyes replied, “I’m sure we won’t. Planes nowadays are pretty safe.” Daiki went straight to the point in his next question, “So what is it that you want to ask me?”
Chinen was struck dead seeing that his plan was so easily seen and quickly thought up an excuse, “Umm… I just wanted to know if I’ll be able to use your shoulder as a pillow later since it will take a few hours to get to Hokkaido and I’m very very tired.”
“Haha, you’re always free to sit on my lap as it is. Now you want to use my shoulder too? You spoiled little Chinen you. Of course you can. I never said no before right?” chuckled Daiki.
Chinen jumped up and down in his seat with glee. The attendant that walked past gave Chinen a stern look. “Excuse me, but you will have to sit still. We are about to take off,” said the flight attendant. We all laughed at Chinen and he grabbed Daiki’s shoulder to hide his face.
A few hours later, we arrived in Hokkaido. Ryosuke gave a sigh of relief as we got off the plane. We then took a van to this beautiful cliff near the sea. It was an amazing sight! The sky was clear blue and you can see the crystal sea glittering in the sun. We all unpacked our things and got settled. I picked the room with the nice view from the patio. I was also sharing the room with Chinen. After that, we changed into our swim gear and ran outside to play some volleyball. I was about to leave the house when I overheard Daiki on the phone talking to someone. I hid behind the wall and from the corner of my eye, Chinen was also hiding behind the front patio door trying to listen onto what Daiki was talking about on the phone.
“Ne, I think you’ll look fine. Just wear something you usually would wear. Nowadays, girls like wearing pink clothing. I think a pink skirt and a white top would look very nice on you. Not too much make-up because you look great the way you are,” said Daiki smiling while he was chatting on the phone.
I swear, Chinen’s eyes were like this ----> ( >_>) . He looked like he was jealous of Daiki. Daiki finished talking on the phone and walked outside. Chinen quickly entered through the patio door and ran to get a notepad. I didn’t see what he wrote down, but apparently it was important since he put it in his pocket. I decided to forget about it and ran up to Chinen pretending I saw nothing.
“Chinen! Wait up will you?” I shouted trying to catch up to Chinen. When I finally caught up, Chinen’s face looked down.
“Ne, do you think rumors are true about Dai-chan?” whispered Chinen.
“Eh? Personally, I don’t think so. I mean, I think we should worry a bit more on our careers at the moment don’t you agree?” I replied. I would’ve said something else, but I didn’t want to let Chinen know I overheard the conversation too.
“You’re right. Let’s join the others down in the beach!” said Chinen with an upbeat tone.
Down at the beach, everyone already started the game of volleyball. When we arrived, the teams ended up being Hey Say BEST against us. Yuuto was our team captain.
“Everyone… LET’S DO OUR BEST!” Yuuto shouted at the top of his lungs!
“We won’t lose to you will we now? We are the B-E-S-T after all!” laughed Hikaru.
“Eh? If I remembered correctly, the last time we played volleyball, we BEAT YOU!” Ryutaro shouted back.
“Bring it on!” said Kei. “We are ready for everything you toss at us!”
“Oh really?” smirked Yuuto. He was the first to serve and his overhand serve hit home and missed Hikaru by a hair.
“Hey! Watch it there! It took me so long to fix my hair this morning!” shouted Hikaru angrily.
“You fix your hair when you’re off camera?” chuckled Ryutaro.
“You little…” said Hikaru twitching his eyebrows. He ran and attacked Ryutaro tickling him from the sides.
“AHAHAHAHAHAH! STOP STOP! HAHAHA! UNCLE UNCLE!!! YOU WIN!!!” laughed Ryutaro who couldn’t stand being tickled.
“Hehe, goes to show, don’t mess with the BEST,” chuckled Hikaru. We all cracked up on the sand. It was hilarious! We continued our game and then later went to get something to eat.
“Hmm… What to get…” said Ryosuke to himself.
“Can I have the strawberry sundae please?” asked Yuuto. “We’ll share. Besides, you know I can’t eat all.”
Ryosuke went red and replied, “Yuuto… You have a bigger appetite than I do. You even eat a variety of things that I don’t eat and you’re saying that you have a smaller appetite?”
Yuuto scratched his head in embarrassment. “I can’t help it when it tastes good now can I?”
I laughed and looked at the table where we were sitting. Chinen was looking at the note he wrote to himself earlier. I wasn’t quite hungry anyways so I walked over to see what it was. When I was close Chinen quickly put it back. I thought it’d be best not to mention it.
“Ne, what do you like about Dai-chan?” I asked out of the blue.
Chinen’s face popped up at the mention of Daiki’s name and went red. “Ano… He is very nice to me and I depend on him a lot. When I need him he’s there and…” I looked glanced above the table a bit and saw Chinen fiddling with his fingers.
“I see. He is an amazing person ne? I suppose you’re still upset from the rumors right?” I asked.
“Yeah… a bit. But, it isn’t like they are true right? I mean, rumors can be anything,” whispered Chinen.
I didn’t know how to respond to that so I stayed quiet. Everyone got back with their lunch and started to eat. We all tried to sit inside, but there was too many of us. I volunteered to move till Daiki said, “Chinen, you can sit on my lap. I didn’t order much anyways.”
Chinen’s face lit up like Christmas lights on a Christmas tree. “Can I? Yay!” Chinen got on top of Daiki’s lap and then ruffled his pockets for his phone. Daiki wasn’t bothered by it since Chinen loved playing with his flip phone. Chinen flipped through Daiki’s phonebook and was dismayed when he saw that some of the contacts were indeed girls, but they were only a few. He couldn’t make head or tails of some of them because he didn’t know them. He put Daiki’s phone back down and watched everyone eat.
“Chinen, you want to try some?” Daiki asked offering some of his gyoza that he ordered. Chinen looked away but couldn’t resist and nodded. Daiki got another fork and fed Chinen. Chinen’s face went red, but accepted the food.
“Itadakimasu…” whispered Chinen quietly.
After lunch, we decided go shopping a bit for new clothing and just walk around Hokkaido. Yuuya, Hikaru, Kei, and Yabu decided to go the other direction that we wanted to go in, but they didn’t want to leave us behind without someone older so Daiki volunteered to walk with us around. From the corner of my eye, I could’ve sworn I saw Chinen smile.
At the end of the day, I bought nothing, Yuuto was forced to buy bunny ears because Ryosuke said it looked cute on him. Chinen separated from us awhile back and bought a bag filled with stuff he wouldn’t tell us. Daiki just walked around acting as our guardian. We all had a fun time and it was time to return to the resort.
Later that night, we gathered in the living room. Hikaru, Kei, and Ryutaro were the loudest of all arguing about the rules. Yabu and Yuuya were both reading magazines. Chinen was in our room and Daiki was showering. I was still worried for Chinen so I decided to go check up on him. Before I opened the door completely, I peeked through the crack of the door and saw that Chinen was listening to the wall. I looked back outside and saw that the room right next to ours was the bathroom.
“What the…” I said to myself. Then, I overheard bits of a song in the bathroom. After that, I found out what Chinen was trying to listen to. He was trying to listen to Daiki sing in the bathroom since he has a habit to do that like most of us. I left Chinen to do that and went back to everyone outside.
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The next day, one by one we woke up. I was one of the early birds. I looked at Chinen and saw he was sound asleep. I walked outside and saw that everyone was still asleep from yesterday. It looks like JE did the right thing to give us a vacation. I was positive Daiki was asleep still. I thought about talking to him about Chinen and about the rumor. Luckily, Daiki woke up early and was going to the bathroom when he saw me up.
“Yo, what are you doing up so early in the morning? Get some more rest. Sleep is good for you,” said Daiki while yawning.
“Hmm… something is just troubling me that’s all. Dai-chan, do you like Chinen?” I asked out of the blue.
“Huh? You ask the queerest questions in the morning. He is like a little brother to me, nothing more and nothing less. Other than that, he is just an ordinary frie-,” said Daiki who flinched at the sound of a door slamming. I looked at the direction of our room. The door was closed. I remembered clearly that I didn’t close the door when I left the room. “What do you think that was?”
“I think someone was still sleepy and slam the door on accident,” I lied quickly trying to hide the fact that it was Chinen who overheard our conversation.
Daiki just shrugged his shoulders and went back to his room because he still was tired. He is definitely not a morning person. I was pretty tired as well, so I decided to go back to sleep as well and wait for the sun to rise a bit more.
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A little later, we all woke up and went off to eat some breakfast. I noticed that Chinen’s pillow was a little wet.
“Probably from crying,” I said to myself. I shook the idea off my head and left the room.
Hikaru and Ryutaro were at it again as usual. Even so early in the morning they tend to argue quite a lot.
“NO THAT IS MY STRAWBERRY!” shouted Ryutaro at the top of his lungs.
“YOU SHOULD RESPECT YOUR ELDERS! Besides you don’t like strawberries!” replied Hikaru in the same manner.
“Well I felt like eating one today!” puffed Ryutaro.
As the two were arguing, Ryosuke swooped down and ate the last strawberry. Both Ryutaro and Hikaru looked at the plate then at Ryosuke.
“Sorry! I couldn’t help it…” said Ryosuke innocently.
Yuuto petted Ryosuke. “Hehe, you just love strawberries don’t you?” Ryosuke answered with a nod.
I laughed looked down the table. I saw Chinen was eating quietly and Daiki was talking to Yuuya about the latest fashion. Apparently, Chinen hasn’t touched his food even though it looks like he did. I walked over there and gave Chinen a big pat on the back.
“What do you want to do later? Anything in mind later?” I asked trying to forget about what happened this morning. Chinen just nodded and stayed quiet. I was trying to think of something to cheer Chinen up until Yabu spoke up.
“Everyone! Today is the 16th of August, which means the Hachigatsu Bon Festival is this week! Let’s go to the Hachigatsu Bon Festival! Though it is the end of the festival, we can still make it to the Toro Nagashi,” exclaimed Yabu.
“Floating lanterns? Really?? Let’s goooo!!!! I can’t wait to see Ryosuke in a yukata!” shouted Yuuto who poked Ryosuke’s padded cheeks.
“But it is so embarrassing…” whispered Ryosuke, but he couldn’t say no to Yuuto so he just looked down. Hikaru and Kei were ready to go. Yuuya was deciding what to wear by the look on his face and Chinen was still quiet but at least he had a smile on his face.
We all went to buy a yukata from a nearby store. I chose a dark blue colored one with a bamboo shaped pattern. Ryutaro did the same too. Yuuto and Ryosuke took the light grey one with a love poem written on top of it. Kei and Hikaru chose the dragon pattern one. Yuuya chose the one with the word “sushi” repeating all over it. Yabu chose the white yukata with the word “longevity” written all over. Though those are the colors that one usually would wear, Chinen decided to pick the dark green yukata with light green vertical stripes.
After the rest of us were situated, we waited for night fall before we headed for the festival. Since we weren’t residents in Hokkaido, we didn’t quite know our way around, so we just followed the villagers nearby to the festival. We were all getting pretty hungry so we decided to try one of the stalls. Ryutaro wanted to eat ramen as usual, so we went to a ramen stall.
“Can I have two bowls of tonkotsu ramen with soy sauce please?” exclaimed Ryutaro with a drooling face.
“Yes sir! Two bowels of tonkotsu on the double!” shouted the man.
The rest of us ordered something small as well. After we ate we went to try out some games. We agreed to meet back to see the fireworks later tonight and then end the night with the toro nagashi. I went with Chinen, Daiki, Yuuto and Ryosuke. Ryutaro decided to stick around with Hikaru and argue some more when the time came along. Yabu, Yuuya, and Kei decided to walk around.
Daiki tried out the rice-paper scoop game to win a goldfish. It ended up in failure since it dissolved before he got it out. I tried myself and it didn’t work out well. It was harder than it looks. Yuuto and Ryosuke both bought corn skewers. Daiki bought a beef skewer and offered some to Chinen, but Chinen refused and asked if Ryosuke would share some of his corn skewer since he can’t eat all of it after dinner. Ryosuke obviously said yes and Chinen took a nibble. Yuuto gave Ryosuke a glare for sharing it to Chinen. Daiki’s face went a little down after Chinen said no to him.
When it was time to meet with the others again for the fireworks, we all gathered near the shrine. Everyone brought something to eat so they could watch the fireworks.
Daiki asked Chinen, “Do you want to sit on my lap?”
Chinen bit his lip hard. It looked like he wanted to say yes, but in the end he replied, “Yama-chan… Can I sit on your lap? It is comfy!”
Yuuto gave Ryosuke an evil glare signaling to him to say no, but Ryosuke replied, “Sure Chinen. Come here you little rascal!” He picked up Chinen and put him on his lap. Yuuto just gave a sigh.
“Why can’t I ever sit on your lap?” whined Yuuto.
“Maybe it is because Chinen weights five kilograms less than you?” Ryosuke pointed out. Yuuto turned his head away offended because he was called “heavy”. Chinen chuckled at how the two were acting. I looked back at Daiki, though his expression didn’t change, I’m sure he was sad inside that Chinen has rejected everything that Daiki offered to him tonight.
After the fireworks, it was time for the toro nagashi. We lit our lanterns and prepared them for their trip down the river to guide the spirits back to the Spirit Realm. Though no one close to me passed or away, or any that I know of, I just decided to write down a general note to guide those that died for their country and especially the wars going on right now. We watched the lanterns float a bit before leaving the river.
As we were walking back, Chinen appeared to be extremely tired. But then again, for someone his age, he needs a lot of sleep. Everyone else was pretty exhausted too, but Daiki appeared to be energetic as ever still. Maybe it is because he sleeps better than the rest of us at night. He walked over put Chinen on his back.
Chinen was going to resist, but he was too tired to move. All he was able to mutter out was, “Daiki no baka…” so quietly that even I almost couldn’t tell what he said. Daiki’s face was expressionless and we all continued to sluggishly walk back to the resort. Each one of us crawled into our beds and Daiki put Chinen down in his room purposefully to be able to talk to me. He came back in a few minutes and asked, “Hey Keito, you still up?”
I muttered, “Yeah sort of. I’m kind of exhausted from today.”
“It won’t be long. I just want to ask about Chinen. Is something the matter? He’s been acting rather odd today,” whispered Daiki.
“Umm… How should I put it…” I stammered trying to think up a fast excuse was too exhausted to do so.
“You know something don’t you? Tell me,” demanded Daiki who sat straight up. I knew it was useless to lie to him anymore, so I decided to tell him the full story. I started from when we arrived to Hokkaido and everything that I knew.
“So that is why he’s been acting strange around me. You should’ve told me sooner!” growled Daiki angrily but in a low tone so he wouldn’t wake anyone else up.
“I’m sorry… I knew I should’ve told you sooner. I’m sure this mess would’ve been solved earlier if I did,” I said apologetically.
“Well… We’ll find some way to solve it. We need some rest. It is very late and we need rest. We’ll talk later,” replied Daiki who started to yawn. I nodded and just went right to sleep.
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The next morning, it was quite quiet because we were still pretty exhausted from last night. We pretty much relaxed the whole afternoon and did nothing. It was cute seeing Ryosuke sleeping on Yuuto’s shoulder. Apparently, they still needed sleep. Chinen was still surprised that he was sleeping on Daiki’s bed as well as finding out that it was Daiki that carried him back. Daiki tried to think of something to say to Chinen, but couldn’t think of the right words. Yabu noticed the tension in the room and decided to question the two separately. He decided to go for Daiki first.
“Daiki, can I talk to you for a bit?” Yabu asked. Daiki just got up and followed Yabu outside. I decided to take this chance to talk to Chinen.
“Hey Chinen! Are you doing alright?” I asked with concern.
“I’m fine… I just need some time alone to think about stuff. But don’t worry about me,” said Chinen trying to make his voice sound happier. That just made me worry more for Chinen. It didn’t take Yabu to finish talking to Daiki. Then he asked to talk to me for a bit. We walked out and started to walk along the beach.
“Looks like you are quite busy lately with this stuff ne?” Yabu asked.
“Yeah… But I suppose I can’t help it when I see someone in need of help,” I replied.
“Hehe, good answer. What do you plan on doing about the current problem? Let it solve itself?” asked Yabu with concern.
“Perhaps… I can’t see what else we can do. I mean, unless they solve it themselves, we really can’t interfere right?” I answered back.
“You really are starting to grow up aren’t you? Apparently those two will too soon. Well, let’s wait and see what will happen. Hopefully it will be solved before we get back to the studios and work or else it can cause problems,” commented Yabu. We started to walk back.
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The sun was starting to set that day and so far no improvement whatsoever between Daiki and Chinen. However, as night approached, I lost sight of where those two were. I checked the resort looking for either one of them. Then, I checked whether or not they were in their rooms. Chinen and Daiki weren’t in their rooms. I also noticed that the bag of stuff that Chinen bought was missing as well. I decided to go check outside again. As I was about to leave the resort, I saw Daiki headed towards the beach. I followed behind to see what he was up to.
When we got to the water’s edge, he just stared out to the sunset trying to think of a solution. I watched from behind a ship that was docked nearby. I think spotted someone walking towards Daiki. Though, I couldn’t make out who it was. All I was able to make out was the person was wearing a pink skirt and a white top. I was surprised and nearly shouted out his name.
“That’s Chinen!” I whispered to myself. I saw a small fishing house nearby and I went closer to hear what they were going to say.
“Dai-chan… You really like this stuff don’t you?” whispered Chinen quietly.
Daiki was awestruck at what he saw. He didn’t expect Chinen to actually have actually taken his advice so seriously. “Chinen, you’ve got it all wrong! I’m not going out with anyone!”
“うそつき。That is such a lie! I... I overheard you on the phone talking to a girl and I also heard about…” murmured Chinen.
“You completely got it misunderstood. I wasn’t going out with this girl. She is my friend’s sister. He wanted me to help her be more social and confident with herself. Yes, she may look like she is as old as me, but really, she is pretty young. I agreed to help him out because I owed him a favor to begin with. She needed some fashion help too, so I thought I’d help her out with that as well,” explained Daiki.
Chinen didn’t know what to say. He felt so embarrassed that he didn’t have the courage to look at Daiki. He felt stupid about himself for believing such a rumor. “But… you said that I’m just like an ordinary friend to you…” whispered Chinen was at the verge of tears but held them back.
“Chinen… You know that you’re one of the closest people I have in the group. I didn’t expect you to hear me say that in the morning when I was talking to Keito. I’m sorry for making you mad at me. You really are someone that I care dearly about,” admitted Daiki.
“Really?” whispered Chinen who looked up at Daiki. When he looked up, his tears couldn’t hold back and he started to cry. Daiki smiled and walked over to Chinen.
“You will forever be the closest one to my heart and you know that,” whispered Daiki to his ear and gave him a tender hug. Chinen’s eyes opened up wide and then held onto Daiki very tightly. “Besides, whether you’re a girl or a guy, they don’t look cute when they are crying,” teased Daiki.
“You’re the one who made me cry…” replied Chinen with a smiling face.
I seriously thought it was the perfect Kodak moment. The sun was setting and the area was quiet with no one around. It was basically their world right here and now. I crept away quietly so I wouldn’t disturb them and returned to the resort.
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The next morning, it seems that Chinen and Daiki stayed late at the beach watching the stars because when we woke them up, they were sound asleep curled up like kids on the bed. When they finally woke up, Chinen went red and made everyone leave the room because he was still in the skirt and white top. We all laughed as we were kicked out of the room, including Daiki. On the plane ride back, after another thirty minutes of convincing Ryosuke that there is nothing to be afraid of, all boarded the plane on our way back to Tokyo. Daiki and Chinen sat together both fast asleep, but with smiles on their faces.
That is pretty much all there is that happened in the past few days. We just got back so I thought that I’d email you this so you could read up on what we were up to. Sorry for it being so long again. Eventually the truth is better than telling lies. I should remember that. It must be me, I suppose since you are someone that is patient and listens to people, it is easy to communicate with you. Thanks for listening to this long story. It hurt my hands quite a lot just typing it all out, but I suppose it was worth it. Keep me updated on things in China!
Keito
P.S. When are you leaving for the US?
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I was surprised at the turn out. I was extremely happy that everything went well. I didn’t know what to tell him in the next email, since there really nothing much I had to say since he did it all on his own. I decided to reply his email telling him congratulations for being able to solve problems easily.
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To: keito@mail.goo.ne.jp
Subject: RE: Lots of things happened…
Keito
I’m glad things went well! You were able to solve things without my help. I’m sure if you showed fans this side of you, they’d be amazed. I mean, personally I’m amazed at how you calmly took this. I would’ve surely freaked out. You should be proud that you did this and I’m sure they are glad for you as well. I really am speechless at the moment. However, I’m glad that you said I listen a lot. That is usually the only good thing I’m good at. I maybe an outgoing person, but at the same time, I can’t really start a conversation.
Most important thing is, you know what is best for them. So, here is personal advice. Do what you think is right, even though there will be consequences in the end, what you think is right, probably is. You just need to have confidence in yourself.
Also, over here in China is kind of unbearable. Cousins running around me 24/7 and having my little brother being annoying as ever. I’m so happy that I was able to get internet or else I would lose my sanity. I hope all the concerts this month go well, since I really wish I could see one myself, but since I only stay in Japan for one night, I don’t think I will be able to. However, it was a pleasure meeting you and being able to chat with you. I’m just happy you don’t think of me as a bother to your work, since you are a student as well as an entertainer working. Hope things go well with the upcoming month!
Simon
P.S. I’ll be in Japan on Thursday night. After that, I don’t know when I’ll be back over here. Nonetheless, it was a great experience reading on what you and everyone gone through to get this far. I hope things go well!
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With that, I ended the email and clicked “Send”. I really don’t want to go back to school… But, it isn’t like I have a choice. I closed my laptop and decided to go out to get some fresh air.
To be continued...
| Chapter 5 Fin |
Sources for Japanese Obon Festival - http://www.allsands.com/history/events/japanesefestiva_rwb_gn.htm
Also, there is a TON of Yamajima for those that like that genre. Please take your time reading! ^^
Chapter 4 - Truth
A few days later, I noticed that living in China wasn’t that bad. Cousins babied me like I was a little kid, Uncle who showed me around his big condo and apartment, and three Aunts following me wherever I go… Talk about luxury! I also wondered why I haven’t heard from Keito. Perhaps he was writing another long story. I went to check my laptop as usual. It was one of those nice afternoons where it was quiet and everyone was out aside me who decided to stay in for the day. Keito finally sent me another email! This time, the subject was, “Lots have happened…”.
“Interesting title…” I said to myself. I clicked the email and began to read…
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keito@mail.goo.ne.jp to me
Well, sorry again for the long response. There have been a lot of things going on here. For example, we have so many concerts this month, it isn’t even funny. I really wish you could see us in at least one of them! Other than that, there have been some improvements with Chinen and Daiki. But apparently there is more than meets the eye… Here is how everything went. We were given a small vacation (three days) to go to Hokkaido private resort to rest up and enjoy a few days of relaxation and fun. However, we had to allow the company to film some of it and take pictures for later usage. I’m not into the business aspect of things, so we all took up the offer. Though personally, I haven’t been to anywhere but Tokyo when I came back from England, I was happy to go somewhere other than Tokyo.
So here is the story...
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“Now now Yama-chan. There is nothing to be afraid of. We are only going a few hour flight to Hokkaido. It isn’t that bad now,” said Yuuto trying to convince Ryosuke that there will be nothing wrong on the flight to Hokkaido.
Ryosuke just sat in his seat all curled up in a ball holding his carry-on refusing to move. All he did was look at Yuuto with a scared puppy dog look.
Hikaru walked up to Ryosuke and poked him while saying, “Aww… Kawaii ne~! Since you won’t go on the plane for us, at least go on the plane for Yuuto. He tried convincing you for a full thirty minutes and you still haven’t budged.”
Ryosuke turned red and buried his face in his carry-on. Hikaru just continued to laugh, but at the same time he was worried. In the end, we all convinced Ryosuke to go on the plane, but he specifically asked to sit by Yuuto. We all looked at our tickets and saw that someone else was sitting in the seat next to Yuuto. I was sitting next to Chinen, so I asked if he wanted to move with me so Yuuto and Ryosuke could sit together. He nodded and we both just switched seats with them. I sat by the window where Yuuto was going to sit and Chinen ended up sitting with Daiki.
“Dai-chan… I’m scared. Will we crash?” asked Chinen innocently. I watched from the other side and was so positive Chinen was acting since he has no problems with planes.
Daiki looked up and saw Chinen’s innocent eyes replied, “I’m sure we won’t. Planes nowadays are pretty safe.” Daiki went straight to the point in his next question, “So what is it that you want to ask me?”
Chinen was struck dead seeing that his plan was so easily seen and quickly thought up an excuse, “Umm… I just wanted to know if I’ll be able to use your shoulder as a pillow later since it will take a few hours to get to Hokkaido and I’m very very tired.”
“Haha, you’re always free to sit on my lap as it is. Now you want to use my shoulder too? You spoiled little Chinen you. Of course you can. I never said no before right?” chuckled Daiki.
Chinen jumped up and down in his seat with glee. The attendant that walked past gave Chinen a stern look. “Excuse me, but you will have to sit still. We are about to take off,” said the flight attendant. We all laughed at Chinen and he grabbed Daiki’s shoulder to hide his face.
A few hours later, we arrived in Hokkaido. Ryosuke gave a sigh of relief as we got off the plane. We then took a van to this beautiful cliff near the sea. It was an amazing sight! The sky was clear blue and you can see the crystal sea glittering in the sun. We all unpacked our things and got settled. I picked the room with the nice view from the patio. I was also sharing the room with Chinen. After that, we changed into our swim gear and ran outside to play some volleyball. I was about to leave the house when I overheard Daiki on the phone talking to someone. I hid behind the wall and from the corner of my eye, Chinen was also hiding behind the front patio door trying to listen onto what Daiki was talking about on the phone.
“Ne, I think you’ll look fine. Just wear something you usually would wear. Nowadays, girls like wearing pink clothing. I think a pink skirt and a white top would look very nice on you. Not too much make-up because you look great the way you are,” said Daiki smiling while he was chatting on the phone.
I swear, Chinen’s eyes were like this ----> ( >_>) . He looked like he was jealous of Daiki. Daiki finished talking on the phone and walked outside. Chinen quickly entered through the patio door and ran to get a notepad. I didn’t see what he wrote down, but apparently it was important since he put it in his pocket. I decided to forget about it and ran up to Chinen pretending I saw nothing.
“Chinen! Wait up will you?” I shouted trying to catch up to Chinen. When I finally caught up, Chinen’s face looked down.
“Ne, do you think rumors are true about Dai-chan?” whispered Chinen.
“Eh? Personally, I don’t think so. I mean, I think we should worry a bit more on our careers at the moment don’t you agree?” I replied. I would’ve said something else, but I didn’t want to let Chinen know I overheard the conversation too.
“You’re right. Let’s join the others down in the beach!” said Chinen with an upbeat tone.
Down at the beach, everyone already started the game of volleyball. When we arrived, the teams ended up being Hey Say BEST against us. Yuuto was our team captain.
“Everyone… LET’S DO OUR BEST!” Yuuto shouted at the top of his lungs!
“We won’t lose to you will we now? We are the B-E-S-T after all!” laughed Hikaru.
“Eh? If I remembered correctly, the last time we played volleyball, we BEAT YOU!” Ryutaro shouted back.
“Bring it on!” said Kei. “We are ready for everything you toss at us!”
“Oh really?” smirked Yuuto. He was the first to serve and his overhand serve hit home and missed Hikaru by a hair.
“Hey! Watch it there! It took me so long to fix my hair this morning!” shouted Hikaru angrily.
“You fix your hair when you’re off camera?” chuckled Ryutaro.
“You little…” said Hikaru twitching his eyebrows. He ran and attacked Ryutaro tickling him from the sides.
“AHAHAHAHAHAH! STOP STOP! HAHAHA! UNCLE UNCLE!!! YOU WIN!!!” laughed Ryutaro who couldn’t stand being tickled.
“Hehe, goes to show, don’t mess with the BEST,” chuckled Hikaru. We all cracked up on the sand. It was hilarious! We continued our game and then later went to get something to eat.
“Hmm… What to get…” said Ryosuke to himself.
“Can I have the strawberry sundae please?” asked Yuuto. “We’ll share. Besides, you know I can’t eat all.”
Ryosuke went red and replied, “Yuuto… You have a bigger appetite than I do. You even eat a variety of things that I don’t eat and you’re saying that you have a smaller appetite?”
Yuuto scratched his head in embarrassment. “I can’t help it when it tastes good now can I?”
I laughed and looked at the table where we were sitting. Chinen was looking at the note he wrote to himself earlier. I wasn’t quite hungry anyways so I walked over to see what it was. When I was close Chinen quickly put it back. I thought it’d be best not to mention it.
“Ne, what do you like about Dai-chan?” I asked out of the blue.
Chinen’s face popped up at the mention of Daiki’s name and went red. “Ano… He is very nice to me and I depend on him a lot. When I need him he’s there and…” I looked glanced above the table a bit and saw Chinen fiddling with his fingers.
“I see. He is an amazing person ne? I suppose you’re still upset from the rumors right?” I asked.
“Yeah… a bit. But, it isn’t like they are true right? I mean, rumors can be anything,” whispered Chinen.
I didn’t know how to respond to that so I stayed quiet. Everyone got back with their lunch and started to eat. We all tried to sit inside, but there was too many of us. I volunteered to move till Daiki said, “Chinen, you can sit on my lap. I didn’t order much anyways.”
Chinen’s face lit up like Christmas lights on a Christmas tree. “Can I? Yay!” Chinen got on top of Daiki’s lap and then ruffled his pockets for his phone. Daiki wasn’t bothered by it since Chinen loved playing with his flip phone. Chinen flipped through Daiki’s phonebook and was dismayed when he saw that some of the contacts were indeed girls, but they were only a few. He couldn’t make head or tails of some of them because he didn’t know them. He put Daiki’s phone back down and watched everyone eat.
“Chinen, you want to try some?” Daiki asked offering some of his gyoza that he ordered. Chinen looked away but couldn’t resist and nodded. Daiki got another fork and fed Chinen. Chinen’s face went red, but accepted the food.
“Itadakimasu…” whispered Chinen quietly.
After lunch, we decided go shopping a bit for new clothing and just walk around Hokkaido. Yuuya, Hikaru, Kei, and Yabu decided to go the other direction that we wanted to go in, but they didn’t want to leave us behind without someone older so Daiki volunteered to walk with us around. From the corner of my eye, I could’ve sworn I saw Chinen smile.
At the end of the day, I bought nothing, Yuuto was forced to buy bunny ears because Ryosuke said it looked cute on him. Chinen separated from us awhile back and bought a bag filled with stuff he wouldn’t tell us. Daiki just walked around acting as our guardian. We all had a fun time and it was time to return to the resort.
Later that night, we gathered in the living room. Hikaru, Kei, and Ryutaro were the loudest of all arguing about the rules. Yabu and Yuuya were both reading magazines. Chinen was in our room and Daiki was showering. I was still worried for Chinen so I decided to go check up on him. Before I opened the door completely, I peeked through the crack of the door and saw that Chinen was listening to the wall. I looked back outside and saw that the room right next to ours was the bathroom.
“What the…” I said to myself. Then, I overheard bits of a song in the bathroom. After that, I found out what Chinen was trying to listen to. He was trying to listen to Daiki sing in the bathroom since he has a habit to do that like most of us. I left Chinen to do that and went back to everyone outside.
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The next day, one by one we woke up. I was one of the early birds. I looked at Chinen and saw he was sound asleep. I walked outside and saw that everyone was still asleep from yesterday. It looks like JE did the right thing to give us a vacation. I was positive Daiki was asleep still. I thought about talking to him about Chinen and about the rumor. Luckily, Daiki woke up early and was going to the bathroom when he saw me up.
“Yo, what are you doing up so early in the morning? Get some more rest. Sleep is good for you,” said Daiki while yawning.
“Hmm… something is just troubling me that’s all. Dai-chan, do you like Chinen?” I asked out of the blue.
“Huh? You ask the queerest questions in the morning. He is like a little brother to me, nothing more and nothing less. Other than that, he is just an ordinary frie-,” said Daiki who flinched at the sound of a door slamming. I looked at the direction of our room. The door was closed. I remembered clearly that I didn’t close the door when I left the room. “What do you think that was?”
“I think someone was still sleepy and slam the door on accident,” I lied quickly trying to hide the fact that it was Chinen who overheard our conversation.
Daiki just shrugged his shoulders and went back to his room because he still was tired. He is definitely not a morning person. I was pretty tired as well, so I decided to go back to sleep as well and wait for the sun to rise a bit more.
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A little later, we all woke up and went off to eat some breakfast. I noticed that Chinen’s pillow was a little wet.
“Probably from crying,” I said to myself. I shook the idea off my head and left the room.
Hikaru and Ryutaro were at it again as usual. Even so early in the morning they tend to argue quite a lot.
“NO THAT IS MY STRAWBERRY!” shouted Ryutaro at the top of his lungs.
“YOU SHOULD RESPECT YOUR ELDERS! Besides you don’t like strawberries!” replied Hikaru in the same manner.
“Well I felt like eating one today!” puffed Ryutaro.
As the two were arguing, Ryosuke swooped down and ate the last strawberry. Both Ryutaro and Hikaru looked at the plate then at Ryosuke.
“Sorry! I couldn’t help it…” said Ryosuke innocently.
Yuuto petted Ryosuke. “Hehe, you just love strawberries don’t you?” Ryosuke answered with a nod.
I laughed looked down the table. I saw Chinen was eating quietly and Daiki was talking to Yuuya about the latest fashion. Apparently, Chinen hasn’t touched his food even though it looks like he did. I walked over there and gave Chinen a big pat on the back.
“What do you want to do later? Anything in mind later?” I asked trying to forget about what happened this morning. Chinen just nodded and stayed quiet. I was trying to think of something to cheer Chinen up until Yabu spoke up.
“Everyone! Today is the 16th of August, which means the Hachigatsu Bon Festival is this week! Let’s go to the Hachigatsu Bon Festival! Though it is the end of the festival, we can still make it to the Toro Nagashi,” exclaimed Yabu.
“Floating lanterns? Really?? Let’s goooo!!!! I can’t wait to see Ryosuke in a yukata!” shouted Yuuto who poked Ryosuke’s padded cheeks.
“But it is so embarrassing…” whispered Ryosuke, but he couldn’t say no to Yuuto so he just looked down. Hikaru and Kei were ready to go. Yuuya was deciding what to wear by the look on his face and Chinen was still quiet but at least he had a smile on his face.
We all went to buy a yukata from a nearby store. I chose a dark blue colored one with a bamboo shaped pattern. Ryutaro did the same too. Yuuto and Ryosuke took the light grey one with a love poem written on top of it. Kei and Hikaru chose the dragon pattern one. Yuuya chose the one with the word “sushi” repeating all over it. Yabu chose the white yukata with the word “longevity” written all over. Though those are the colors that one usually would wear, Chinen decided to pick the dark green yukata with light green vertical stripes.
After the rest of us were situated, we waited for night fall before we headed for the festival. Since we weren’t residents in Hokkaido, we didn’t quite know our way around, so we just followed the villagers nearby to the festival. We were all getting pretty hungry so we decided to try one of the stalls. Ryutaro wanted to eat ramen as usual, so we went to a ramen stall.
“Can I have two bowls of tonkotsu ramen with soy sauce please?” exclaimed Ryutaro with a drooling face.
“Yes sir! Two bowels of tonkotsu on the double!” shouted the man.
The rest of us ordered something small as well. After we ate we went to try out some games. We agreed to meet back to see the fireworks later tonight and then end the night with the toro nagashi. I went with Chinen, Daiki, Yuuto and Ryosuke. Ryutaro decided to stick around with Hikaru and argue some more when the time came along. Yabu, Yuuya, and Kei decided to walk around.
Daiki tried out the rice-paper scoop game to win a goldfish. It ended up in failure since it dissolved before he got it out. I tried myself and it didn’t work out well. It was harder than it looks. Yuuto and Ryosuke both bought corn skewers. Daiki bought a beef skewer and offered some to Chinen, but Chinen refused and asked if Ryosuke would share some of his corn skewer since he can’t eat all of it after dinner. Ryosuke obviously said yes and Chinen took a nibble. Yuuto gave Ryosuke a glare for sharing it to Chinen. Daiki’s face went a little down after Chinen said no to him.
When it was time to meet with the others again for the fireworks, we all gathered near the shrine. Everyone brought something to eat so they could watch the fireworks.
Daiki asked Chinen, “Do you want to sit on my lap?”
Chinen bit his lip hard. It looked like he wanted to say yes, but in the end he replied, “Yama-chan… Can I sit on your lap? It is comfy!”
Yuuto gave Ryosuke an evil glare signaling to him to say no, but Ryosuke replied, “Sure Chinen. Come here you little rascal!” He picked up Chinen and put him on his lap. Yuuto just gave a sigh.
“Why can’t I ever sit on your lap?” whined Yuuto.
“Maybe it is because Chinen weights five kilograms less than you?” Ryosuke pointed out. Yuuto turned his head away offended because he was called “heavy”. Chinen chuckled at how the two were acting. I looked back at Daiki, though his expression didn’t change, I’m sure he was sad inside that Chinen has rejected everything that Daiki offered to him tonight.
After the fireworks, it was time for the toro nagashi. We lit our lanterns and prepared them for their trip down the river to guide the spirits back to the Spirit Realm. Though no one close to me passed or away, or any that I know of, I just decided to write down a general note to guide those that died for their country and especially the wars going on right now. We watched the lanterns float a bit before leaving the river.
As we were walking back, Chinen appeared to be extremely tired. But then again, for someone his age, he needs a lot of sleep. Everyone else was pretty exhausted too, but Daiki appeared to be energetic as ever still. Maybe it is because he sleeps better than the rest of us at night. He walked over put Chinen on his back.
Chinen was going to resist, but he was too tired to move. All he was able to mutter out was, “Daiki no baka…” so quietly that even I almost couldn’t tell what he said. Daiki’s face was expressionless and we all continued to sluggishly walk back to the resort. Each one of us crawled into our beds and Daiki put Chinen down in his room purposefully to be able to talk to me. He came back in a few minutes and asked, “Hey Keito, you still up?”
I muttered, “Yeah sort of. I’m kind of exhausted from today.”
“It won’t be long. I just want to ask about Chinen. Is something the matter? He’s been acting rather odd today,” whispered Daiki.
“Umm… How should I put it…” I stammered trying to think up a fast excuse was too exhausted to do so.
“You know something don’t you? Tell me,” demanded Daiki who sat straight up. I knew it was useless to lie to him anymore, so I decided to tell him the full story. I started from when we arrived to Hokkaido and everything that I knew.
“So that is why he’s been acting strange around me. You should’ve told me sooner!” growled Daiki angrily but in a low tone so he wouldn’t wake anyone else up.
“I’m sorry… I knew I should’ve told you sooner. I’m sure this mess would’ve been solved earlier if I did,” I said apologetically.
“Well… We’ll find some way to solve it. We need some rest. It is very late and we need rest. We’ll talk later,” replied Daiki who started to yawn. I nodded and just went right to sleep.
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The next morning, it was quite quiet because we were still pretty exhausted from last night. We pretty much relaxed the whole afternoon and did nothing. It was cute seeing Ryosuke sleeping on Yuuto’s shoulder. Apparently, they still needed sleep. Chinen was still surprised that he was sleeping on Daiki’s bed as well as finding out that it was Daiki that carried him back. Daiki tried to think of something to say to Chinen, but couldn’t think of the right words. Yabu noticed the tension in the room and decided to question the two separately. He decided to go for Daiki first.
“Daiki, can I talk to you for a bit?” Yabu asked. Daiki just got up and followed Yabu outside. I decided to take this chance to talk to Chinen.
“Hey Chinen! Are you doing alright?” I asked with concern.
“I’m fine… I just need some time alone to think about stuff. But don’t worry about me,” said Chinen trying to make his voice sound happier. That just made me worry more for Chinen. It didn’t take Yabu to finish talking to Daiki. Then he asked to talk to me for a bit. We walked out and started to walk along the beach.
“Looks like you are quite busy lately with this stuff ne?” Yabu asked.
“Yeah… But I suppose I can’t help it when I see someone in need of help,” I replied.
“Hehe, good answer. What do you plan on doing about the current problem? Let it solve itself?” asked Yabu with concern.
“Perhaps… I can’t see what else we can do. I mean, unless they solve it themselves, we really can’t interfere right?” I answered back.
“You really are starting to grow up aren’t you? Apparently those two will too soon. Well, let’s wait and see what will happen. Hopefully it will be solved before we get back to the studios and work or else it can cause problems,” commented Yabu. We started to walk back.
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The sun was starting to set that day and so far no improvement whatsoever between Daiki and Chinen. However, as night approached, I lost sight of where those two were. I checked the resort looking for either one of them. Then, I checked whether or not they were in their rooms. Chinen and Daiki weren’t in their rooms. I also noticed that the bag of stuff that Chinen bought was missing as well. I decided to go check outside again. As I was about to leave the resort, I saw Daiki headed towards the beach. I followed behind to see what he was up to.
When we got to the water’s edge, he just stared out to the sunset trying to think of a solution. I watched from behind a ship that was docked nearby. I think spotted someone walking towards Daiki. Though, I couldn’t make out who it was. All I was able to make out was the person was wearing a pink skirt and a white top. I was surprised and nearly shouted out his name.
“That’s Chinen!” I whispered to myself. I saw a small fishing house nearby and I went closer to hear what they were going to say.
“Dai-chan… You really like this stuff don’t you?” whispered Chinen quietly.
Daiki was awestruck at what he saw. He didn’t expect Chinen to actually have actually taken his advice so seriously. “Chinen, you’ve got it all wrong! I’m not going out with anyone!”
“うそつき。That is such a lie! I... I overheard you on the phone talking to a girl and I also heard about…” murmured Chinen.
“You completely got it misunderstood. I wasn’t going out with this girl. She is my friend’s sister. He wanted me to help her be more social and confident with herself. Yes, she may look like she is as old as me, but really, she is pretty young. I agreed to help him out because I owed him a favor to begin with. She needed some fashion help too, so I thought I’d help her out with that as well,” explained Daiki.
Chinen didn’t know what to say. He felt so embarrassed that he didn’t have the courage to look at Daiki. He felt stupid about himself for believing such a rumor. “But… you said that I’m just like an ordinary friend to you…” whispered Chinen was at the verge of tears but held them back.
“Chinen… You know that you’re one of the closest people I have in the group. I didn’t expect you to hear me say that in the morning when I was talking to Keito. I’m sorry for making you mad at me. You really are someone that I care dearly about,” admitted Daiki.
“Really?” whispered Chinen who looked up at Daiki. When he looked up, his tears couldn’t hold back and he started to cry. Daiki smiled and walked over to Chinen.
“You will forever be the closest one to my heart and you know that,” whispered Daiki to his ear and gave him a tender hug. Chinen’s eyes opened up wide and then held onto Daiki very tightly. “Besides, whether you’re a girl or a guy, they don’t look cute when they are crying,” teased Daiki.
“You’re the one who made me cry…” replied Chinen with a smiling face.
I seriously thought it was the perfect Kodak moment. The sun was setting and the area was quiet with no one around. It was basically their world right here and now. I crept away quietly so I wouldn’t disturb them and returned to the resort.
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The next morning, it seems that Chinen and Daiki stayed late at the beach watching the stars because when we woke them up, they were sound asleep curled up like kids on the bed. When they finally woke up, Chinen went red and made everyone leave the room because he was still in the skirt and white top. We all laughed as we were kicked out of the room, including Daiki. On the plane ride back, after another thirty minutes of convincing Ryosuke that there is nothing to be afraid of, all boarded the plane on our way back to Tokyo. Daiki and Chinen sat together both fast asleep, but with smiles on their faces.
That is pretty much all there is that happened in the past few days. We just got back so I thought that I’d email you this so you could read up on what we were up to. Sorry for it being so long again. Eventually the truth is better than telling lies. I should remember that. It must be me, I suppose since you are someone that is patient and listens to people, it is easy to communicate with you. Thanks for listening to this long story. It hurt my hands quite a lot just typing it all out, but I suppose it was worth it. Keep me updated on things in China!
Keito
P.S. When are you leaving for the US?
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I was surprised at the turn out. I was extremely happy that everything went well. I didn’t know what to tell him in the next email, since there really nothing much I had to say since he did it all on his own. I decided to reply his email telling him congratulations for being able to solve problems easily.
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To: keito@mail.goo.ne.jp
Subject: RE: Lots of things happened…
Keito
I’m glad things went well! You were able to solve things without my help. I’m sure if you showed fans this side of you, they’d be amazed. I mean, personally I’m amazed at how you calmly took this. I would’ve surely freaked out. You should be proud that you did this and I’m sure they are glad for you as well. I really am speechless at the moment. However, I’m glad that you said I listen a lot. That is usually the only good thing I’m good at. I maybe an outgoing person, but at the same time, I can’t really start a conversation.
Most important thing is, you know what is best for them. So, here is personal advice. Do what you think is right, even though there will be consequences in the end, what you think is right, probably is. You just need to have confidence in yourself.
Also, over here in China is kind of unbearable. Cousins running around me 24/7 and having my little brother being annoying as ever. I’m so happy that I was able to get internet or else I would lose my sanity. I hope all the concerts this month go well, since I really wish I could see one myself, but since I only stay in Japan for one night, I don’t think I will be able to. However, it was a pleasure meeting you and being able to chat with you. I’m just happy you don’t think of me as a bother to your work, since you are a student as well as an entertainer working. Hope things go well with the upcoming month!
Simon
P.S. I’ll be in Japan on Thursday night. After that, I don’t know when I’ll be back over here. Nonetheless, it was a great experience reading on what you and everyone gone through to get this far. I hope things go well!
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With that, I ended the email and clicked “Send”. I really don’t want to go back to school… But, it isn’t like I have a choice. I closed my laptop and decided to go out to get some fresh air.
To be continued...
| Chapter 5 Fin |