016 : Meant To Be (3)
Title: Mysteries After Breakfast
Characters: Ninomiya Kazunari-Toda Erika (pair), Aragaki Yui-Aiba Masaki
Date: September 20, 2011
Point of View: Third Person Omniscient
Notes/Disclaimer:
Word Count: 1, 905 words
***
Chapter 3
The smell of a burnt tamagoyaki awakened Erika from her deep thought. Usually, she would wake up at 6 in the morning but today was different. Early at four o'clock in the morning, she already woke up, just to prepare her breakfast with Nino. No, they didn't sleep together nor live together. They just planned to eat breakfast together.
LAST NIGHT
As they felt each other’s warmth, Nino finally broke the silence. "Do you want to have breakfast tomorrow morning? At least I can talk to you in personal about something that I wanted to say a long time ago."
Erika immediately looked directly into his eyes. "A long time ago? You really mean 'a long time ago', as in the first time we met?" Nino nodded in reply. "Anyway, just look forward to it. Ah, and where do you prefer eating, in my apartment or yours?"
"I think mine is better. Probably your apartment is full of many kinds of things. You know what I mean, right?" she smiled as she answered.
Ahh, that smile again. Please stop flashing those kinds of smiles Erika-chan. "Then it's decided. Tomorrow at 6 o'clock in the morning, we'll have our breakfast together and you'll cook, right?"
Sighing, she said, "Okay, okay. I know since I'm the girl here. I need to cook. Don't worry; I won't put poison in it."
"Well then, it's night time already. We better go home." As they left, the meteor shower was also gone.
---
"Hahh~ It feels good to be happy~" Erika said as she placed the last dish on the table, at the same time the doorbell rang. That must be him, but he's early, huh? Erika thought. She opened the door and there stood a little girl, wearing a yellow-colored dress gave her a sunflower with a card attached on it. "For you, Onee-chan." said the little girl. On the card read the hiragana 'o' on it. She came back in the kitchen and placed the sunflower on a small vacant vase and said, "He really has a unique way of greeting someone in the morning." Erika just smiled to the sunflower as she put water onto the vase. Later then came another kid on her door, giving her another sunflower with the same card but a different character on it. "So, it's 'ha' this time." Consecutively, two more children came and she received the same flower but not the same character written on the card. As she arranged the flowers on the vase, she already knew what was going to happen next.
For once again, her doorbell rang. When she opened it, this time it's not a child that's bringing a sunflower on her hand, but an idol who's smiling so brightly at Erika and greeted her at a high-pitched voice, "Good morning!" Ninomiya Kazunari was there standing right before her. "The weather sure is nice, right? Perfect for a breakfast together with someone, right?"
Erika smiled back. "Just as I thought, it's only you who would do that. Come in." She led the way to the kitchen wherein a delicious-looking breakfast was waiting for them. "Oh~ Look what we have here! You really cooked, huh?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I? I even woke up at four just to prepare these." She then held out her hand and said, "So, where's your contribution, sir?"
"Of course, there IS already a contribution of mine, ma'am" He pointed to the, for-once-that-was-empty vase that has the flowers perfectly fitting for a refreshing morning breakfast.
Erika's eyes were blinking a lot and her face turned red. "Hu~h? What do you think have you contributed?! THOSE flowers?!"
He smirked. "Well, let's start eating, alright? It doesn't matter. Don't get mad now, okay? Itadakimasu~" Erika didn’t have a choice but to reply with a smile. It's just hard to resist that character of him; it's so childish yet charming. Erika just sighed. "Eat a lot. I had that specially made for you. But not only for you though." she said as she started eating.
Soon after they finished eating, Nino sat down on the couch in the living room. As he was scanning the room, he saw tapes lined up on a shelf and has no label. He asked what tape was that but Erika didn't answer. "Come on; just tell me what kind of tape are they." Nino was about to pull out one when Erika slapped his hand. "Don't touch them! They're important...to me and to...someone important to me." He then removed his hand from the shelf and apologized.
"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have hurt you; you're a guest here, right?" Erika said as she gave a faint smile. Nino then said, "I think it'd be better if I should go now. Breakfast's done after all. See you next time." In these scenes, usually authors would write something like between the lines of ‘she then prevented him from leaving’ but in my case this chapter, I didn’t. After Nino left, Erika grabbed her phone and sent a mail to him.
To: Ninomiya Kazunari
I again apologize for what happened earlier.
Thank you for visiting. :)
Hope you can come again next time.
- Erika
Nino then received her mail and replied immediately.
To: Toda Erika
No need to apologize, it's my fault in the first place.
I shouldn't have been persistent.
The food was delicious and I hope too next time.
- Nino
Erika too received his mail and smiled. Once again, she received another mail from another person.
To: Toda Erika
Erika-chan, can we meet today?
I think I have some kind of problem...
- Yui
Blinking in surprise, Erika read the name of the sender once again to check if she’s not dreaming. And she’s not. Definitely not. It IS Aragaki Yui; her childhood friend who left the country two months ago and now mailed Erika saying that she has some kind of problem. When did she come back? Sending a mail back, she added in her mail what she wanted to ask.
To: Aragaki Yui
Sure. At the park where we usually meet;
Would that be okay?
By the way, when did you come back?
And why did you come back earlier
than expected? Did something bad happen?
- Erika
Aragaki Yui was unpacking her things when she received her friend’s mail to her. She just came back from Paris for their shooting in her upcoming drama. She decided to stay at a hotel for a while, fearing to meet her parents. They’re quite strict and over-protective for a 23-year-old daughter, said Yui herself. If not because of her close friend, Erika, she wouldn’t be able to go to Paris, to which her parents are against to. Many people might be wondering why Erika, the childhood friend, is closer to the Aragaki family than Yui, the daughter herself. One simple answer: Yui’s parents like Erika. What do expect from childhood friends, right? Back on what’s happening, Yui replied saying okay. Changing to her normal clothes, she left to meet up with Erika.
---
“So? What’s this problem you’re talking about?” asked the childhood friend. Yui was silent, letting out a shy aura. “I…”
“Go ahead.” said Erika. “I’m…” the young lady repeated.
“…in trouble.” Yui added. Her companion was so much confused on what she’s talking about. “What do you mean by you’re ‘in trouble’? Don’t tell me your parents grounded you again?”
“No. It’s not about them. I haven’t met them yet. It’s about someone different. About something different. It’s just that when I look at him, my heart beats so fast, then faster, and faster. His smile is so innocent, like a puppy rejoicing to see its master! I don’t know what to do! Help me, Erika-chan!”
The moment Erika heard that sentence, a young man immediately appeared in her mind. Thinking of him made Erika smile and blush. She nodded in agreement and said in a soft voice, “I know.”
“You understand me? You can feel what I feel? Really real?” Yui asked in search for relief, to which Erika nodded. Yui sighed and smiled. “Thank goodness! Does that mean you have someone making your heart beat fast too?” Erika’s eyes widened with what Yui said. “Eh? No! There’s no one. No one at all.” Erika, who kept on denying everything that’s true, tried hard not to let Yui know. Urgh, what am I doing? Why don’t I just tell her? She my friend, anyway. A childhood friend, to be precise.
“Well, it’s not a big deal if you won’t tell me who it is. Letting me know that you can understand what I’m feeling right now is enough.” she stood up, “I’ll be going now. I better face my parents. Probably, they’ve been fiercer than ever. But thanks to you I was able to go to Paris.”
“How about your Onee-chans? Have you met them yet?” asked Erika. Unfortunately, Yui shook her head, “I know they’re not affected when I left, but…I don’t know. I’ll face my parents first, I think. So, see you next time!” and waved goodbye. Erika, waved in return, received a call from a unknown number. Who might this be? she thought as she answered the phone call.
“…h-hello?” the voice was too weak to be heard. Surely, it belonged to an unknown person.
Though having a bad feeling about the call, Erika still spoke. “Um... Hello? Who might this be?”
“Is this Toda Erika-san? I’m Aiba Masaki; Ninomiya Kazunari’s group mate.” said the husky voice that belonged to the so-called Aiba Masaki.
Aiba Masaki? Ah, I know him. Nino had told me a lot of things about him. “Yes, this is Toda Erika. How may I help you?”
“Do you know Aragaki Yui; the actress that left for Paris? I heard that she just came back here in Japan.”
Who wouldn’t be curious if somebody out of the picture knows about your friend? Erika did. She did become curious how he knew about Yui.
“Ah, yes. I know about her. In fact, she’s my friend.” Erika stopped for a while, thinking about the safety of Yui. But it seems that he’s a good man based on what Nino told me. Ah, but just to be sure, I won’t tell him anymore further. Mhm, okay. “Eh, what do you need from her? I can tell her on your behalf.” Erika offered.
“Okay.” Aiba was assured of Erika’s words. “Please tell her to meet me at the café tomorrow at 3 pm.”
“What café? Specify, will you?”
“She knows where. Okay, I need to hang now. Please tell Yui what I told you. Thank you.” and there he ended the call. Erika was definitely confused on how he knew about Yui. “I can assume that Nino gave him my number but what’s his connection with Yui?”
---
The sound of teaspoons constantly whirling around the teacups filled the whole café. “So, why did you call for me?” Yui asked the young man sitting opposite her side.
“I need your help, Yui-chan!” Aiba cried out. Yui was just surprised with what he told her. Leading lady? Huh? Who would, me? Why would I? “Why? Why do you have to pick your own leading lady? Is that your job?”
The fear in his eyes was clearly visible. “I’m in trouble…”
“What?! Again?!” Unexpectedly, Yui banged her hands on the table making their cups bump into each other, and making the people around them look at her intensely with fire in their eyes.
Oh no. Here we go again…
***
Characters: Ninomiya Kazunari-Toda Erika (pair), Aragaki Yui-Aiba Masaki
Date: September 20, 2011
Point of View: Third Person Omniscient
Notes/Disclaimer:
- Nino's character has undergone a big change, maybe not too big, but it HAS changed, isn’t it?
- Title adopted from Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de, Sakurai Sho and Kitagawa Keiko’s upcoming (right?) drama. (I’m surprised that I was able to remember that long title just after glancing at it for a short period of time)
- Here start all mysteries that will lead to bigger problems that’ll greatly affect the pair.
- Mail exchange and flashbacks are mikaa22- inspired. Thank you!
- Starting from this chapter, I will be posting all my fics in my journal, here in LJ.
Word Count: 1, 905 words
***
Chapter 3
The smell of a burnt tamagoyaki awakened Erika from her deep thought. Usually, she would wake up at 6 in the morning but today was different. Early at four o'clock in the morning, she already woke up, just to prepare her breakfast with Nino. No, they didn't sleep together nor live together. They just planned to eat breakfast together.
LAST NIGHT
As they felt each other’s warmth, Nino finally broke the silence. "Do you want to have breakfast tomorrow morning? At least I can talk to you in personal about something that I wanted to say a long time ago."
Erika immediately looked directly into his eyes. "A long time ago? You really mean 'a long time ago', as in the first time we met?" Nino nodded in reply. "Anyway, just look forward to it. Ah, and where do you prefer eating, in my apartment or yours?"
"I think mine is better. Probably your apartment is full of many kinds of things. You know what I mean, right?" she smiled as she answered.
Ahh, that smile again. Please stop flashing those kinds of smiles Erika-chan. "Then it's decided. Tomorrow at 6 o'clock in the morning, we'll have our breakfast together and you'll cook, right?"
Sighing, she said, "Okay, okay. I know since I'm the girl here. I need to cook. Don't worry; I won't put poison in it."
"Well then, it's night time already. We better go home." As they left, the meteor shower was also gone.
---
"Hahh~ It feels good to be happy~" Erika said as she placed the last dish on the table, at the same time the doorbell rang. That must be him, but he's early, huh? Erika thought. She opened the door and there stood a little girl, wearing a yellow-colored dress gave her a sunflower with a card attached on it. "For you, Onee-chan." said the little girl. On the card read the hiragana 'o' on it. She came back in the kitchen and placed the sunflower on a small vacant vase and said, "He really has a unique way of greeting someone in the morning." Erika just smiled to the sunflower as she put water onto the vase. Later then came another kid on her door, giving her another sunflower with the same card but a different character on it. "So, it's 'ha' this time." Consecutively, two more children came and she received the same flower but not the same character written on the card. As she arranged the flowers on the vase, she already knew what was going to happen next.
For once again, her doorbell rang. When she opened it, this time it's not a child that's bringing a sunflower on her hand, but an idol who's smiling so brightly at Erika and greeted her at a high-pitched voice, "Good morning!" Ninomiya Kazunari was there standing right before her. "The weather sure is nice, right? Perfect for a breakfast together with someone, right?"
Erika smiled back. "Just as I thought, it's only you who would do that. Come in." She led the way to the kitchen wherein a delicious-looking breakfast was waiting for them. "Oh~ Look what we have here! You really cooked, huh?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I? I even woke up at four just to prepare these." She then held out her hand and said, "So, where's your contribution, sir?"
"Of course, there IS already a contribution of mine, ma'am" He pointed to the, for-once-that-was-empty vase that has the flowers perfectly fitting for a refreshing morning breakfast.
Erika's eyes were blinking a lot and her face turned red. "Hu~h? What do you think have you contributed?! THOSE flowers?!"
He smirked. "Well, let's start eating, alright? It doesn't matter. Don't get mad now, okay? Itadakimasu~" Erika didn’t have a choice but to reply with a smile. It's just hard to resist that character of him; it's so childish yet charming. Erika just sighed. "Eat a lot. I had that specially made for you. But not only for you though." she said as she started eating.
Soon after they finished eating, Nino sat down on the couch in the living room. As he was scanning the room, he saw tapes lined up on a shelf and has no label. He asked what tape was that but Erika didn't answer. "Come on; just tell me what kind of tape are they." Nino was about to pull out one when Erika slapped his hand. "Don't touch them! They're important...to me and to...someone important to me." He then removed his hand from the shelf and apologized.
"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have hurt you; you're a guest here, right?" Erika said as she gave a faint smile. Nino then said, "I think it'd be better if I should go now. Breakfast's done after all. See you next time." In these scenes, usually authors would write something like between the lines of ‘she then prevented him from leaving’ but in my case this chapter, I didn’t. After Nino left, Erika grabbed her phone and sent a mail to him.
To: Ninomiya Kazunari
I again apologize for what happened earlier.
Thank you for visiting. :)
Hope you can come again next time.
- Erika
Nino then received her mail and replied immediately.
To: Toda Erika
No need to apologize, it's my fault in the first place.
I shouldn't have been persistent.
The food was delicious and I hope too next time.
- Nino
Erika too received his mail and smiled. Once again, she received another mail from another person.
To: Toda Erika
Erika-chan, can we meet today?
I think I have some kind of problem...
- Yui
Blinking in surprise, Erika read the name of the sender once again to check if she’s not dreaming. And she’s not. Definitely not. It IS Aragaki Yui; her childhood friend who left the country two months ago and now mailed Erika saying that she has some kind of problem. When did she come back? Sending a mail back, she added in her mail what she wanted to ask.
To: Aragaki Yui
Sure. At the park where we usually meet;
Would that be okay?
By the way, when did you come back?
And why did you come back earlier
than expected? Did something bad happen?
- Erika
Aragaki Yui was unpacking her things when she received her friend’s mail to her. She just came back from Paris for their shooting in her upcoming drama. She decided to stay at a hotel for a while, fearing to meet her parents. They’re quite strict and over-protective for a 23-year-old daughter, said Yui herself. If not because of her close friend, Erika, she wouldn’t be able to go to Paris, to which her parents are against to. Many people might be wondering why Erika, the childhood friend, is closer to the Aragaki family than Yui, the daughter herself. One simple answer: Yui’s parents like Erika. What do expect from childhood friends, right? Back on what’s happening, Yui replied saying okay. Changing to her normal clothes, she left to meet up with Erika.
---
“So? What’s this problem you’re talking about?” asked the childhood friend. Yui was silent, letting out a shy aura. “I…”
“Go ahead.” said Erika. “I’m…” the young lady repeated.
“…in trouble.” Yui added. Her companion was so much confused on what she’s talking about. “What do you mean by you’re ‘in trouble’? Don’t tell me your parents grounded you again?”
“No. It’s not about them. I haven’t met them yet. It’s about someone different. About something different. It’s just that when I look at him, my heart beats so fast, then faster, and faster. His smile is so innocent, like a puppy rejoicing to see its master! I don’t know what to do! Help me, Erika-chan!”
The moment Erika heard that sentence, a young man immediately appeared in her mind. Thinking of him made Erika smile and blush. She nodded in agreement and said in a soft voice, “I know.”
“You understand me? You can feel what I feel? Really real?” Yui asked in search for relief, to which Erika nodded. Yui sighed and smiled. “Thank goodness! Does that mean you have someone making your heart beat fast too?” Erika’s eyes widened with what Yui said. “Eh? No! There’s no one. No one at all.” Erika, who kept on denying everything that’s true, tried hard not to let Yui know. Urgh, what am I doing? Why don’t I just tell her? She my friend, anyway. A childhood friend, to be precise.
“Well, it’s not a big deal if you won’t tell me who it is. Letting me know that you can understand what I’m feeling right now is enough.” she stood up, “I’ll be going now. I better face my parents. Probably, they’ve been fiercer than ever. But thanks to you I was able to go to Paris.”
“How about your Onee-chans? Have you met them yet?” asked Erika. Unfortunately, Yui shook her head, “I know they’re not affected when I left, but…I don’t know. I’ll face my parents first, I think. So, see you next time!” and waved goodbye. Erika, waved in return, received a call from a unknown number. Who might this be? she thought as she answered the phone call.
“…h-hello?” the voice was too weak to be heard. Surely, it belonged to an unknown person.
Though having a bad feeling about the call, Erika still spoke. “Um... Hello? Who might this be?”
“Is this Toda Erika-san? I’m Aiba Masaki; Ninomiya Kazunari’s group mate.” said the husky voice that belonged to the so-called Aiba Masaki.
Aiba Masaki? Ah, I know him. Nino had told me a lot of things about him. “Yes, this is Toda Erika. How may I help you?”
“Do you know Aragaki Yui; the actress that left for Paris? I heard that she just came back here in Japan.”
Who wouldn’t be curious if somebody out of the picture knows about your friend? Erika did. She did become curious how he knew about Yui.
“Ah, yes. I know about her. In fact, she’s my friend.” Erika stopped for a while, thinking about the safety of Yui. But it seems that he’s a good man based on what Nino told me. Ah, but just to be sure, I won’t tell him anymore further. Mhm, okay. “Eh, what do you need from her? I can tell her on your behalf.” Erika offered.
“Okay.” Aiba was assured of Erika’s words. “Please tell her to meet me at the café tomorrow at 3 pm.”
“What café? Specify, will you?”
“She knows where. Okay, I need to hang now. Please tell Yui what I told you. Thank you.” and there he ended the call. Erika was definitely confused on how he knew about Yui. “I can assume that Nino gave him my number but what’s his connection with Yui?”
---
The sound of teaspoons constantly whirling around the teacups filled the whole café. “So, why did you call for me?” Yui asked the young man sitting opposite her side.
“I need your help, Yui-chan!” Aiba cried out. Yui was just surprised with what he told her. Leading lady? Huh? Who would, me? Why would I? “Why? Why do you have to pick your own leading lady? Is that your job?”
The fear in his eyes was clearly visible. “I’m in trouble…”
“What?! Again?!” Unexpectedly, Yui banged her hands on the table making their cups bump into each other, and making the people around them look at her intensely with fire in their eyes.
Oh no. Here we go again…
***