Love So Sweet [an Ohno Satoshi love story] - Chapter 32
It was now mid-July. The “Rina/Shizuka combi” was booked for a Jelly magazine photoshoot. The public had paired them together as the angel/devil of the show, respectively, and were fascinated by their interactions. There was always bound to be some “pretty girl” tension. They arrived at the Illusion Photography building together, and passed by none other than Matsumoto Jun in the lobby, who was the first of Arashi to show up for their own engagement. Shizuka jumped on the opportunity, and pressed Rina to introduce them.
“Konnichiwa, Matsumoto-kun,” Rina smiled wryly. “This is Endo Shizuka, my cast mate.”
The older girl gave the idol a dazzlingly pretty smile. “I’m so glad to meet you, Matsumoto-san!”
“Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.” he nodded, slightly aloof; he was very perceptive and having been in the industry for over a decade, knew when someone was being phony. “What business do you two have here?” he asked pleasantly.
“A Jelly magazine photoshoot.” Shizuka simpered. “It’s going to be fun~! It’s one of my favorite magazines, you know.”
“Jelly…? Even you, Rina-chan?” Matsumoto looked at Rina with raised brows. Was she sure about this? Now, Rina wasn’t too familiar with all of the popular companies and had no idea what Shizuka meant by ‘fun’ or what to expect, so she just shrugged. Jun wouldn’t question her management team, but it was still kind of a concern. “Well, ganbatte, ne…”
Energetic, bold music was playing somewhere in the background of the studio. The two girls were seated at brightly lit mirrored counters, and hair and makeup artists started fussing with them. Shizuka’s hair was straightened and slick as silk, and had dangerous smoky eyes. Rina’s hair was set into giant voluptuous curls, and she was given bright sparkling eyes and pink lipgloss. The director and photographer of the shoot, Arai Noboru, greeted his two models energetically. He was a very suave character.
“Yoroshiku! How are you two feeling today, excited? Good, you look amazing already. Now, I’ll explain the concept of this shoot. As you know, Jelly caters to young, gorgeous, appealing women such as yourselves. For this issue, we’re highlighting the newest summer clothing trends ne, so it’ll have a steamy look. But of course going along with your images, Katsumi-chan will be the good girl, and Endo-chan the bad girl. Keep it sexy though! Great. Takuma-kun will show you to wardrobe, and then we’ll get started!”
They were shown to the changing room, where stylists showed them racks of slinky clothing. As they held up different skimpy outfits that they’d put together, Rina started getting nervous. There was nothing necessarily wrong about being sexy, but… she felt wary.
Meanwhile, the rest of Arashi arrived along with their manager, Satake-san.
“What do you mean they were accidentally booked at the same time?” Satake simmered crossly to the secretary. “These guys have a list of other very important bookings they have to get to on time! All our staff is here already too. Is there no other studio available?”
“No, I’m very sorry for our mistake. We have taken measures with the one responsible.” the woman at the desk shook her head. “But the director working in there now, he insisted that you are more than welcome to start setting up, and once they’re done you can move right in.”
No other option available, they trudged quietly into the occupied space, excusing themselves for the rudeness. The five men saw a large bed with lacey, alluring sheets being prepared as the backdrop for the people already in there. Professionals, they didn’t disturb them and went to sit down at the makeup counter.
This was not good. She took an uneven breath as she saw herself in the mirror. Hers was the cowgirl theme (since she was American, after all). They had put her in a gallon hat, jeweled push-up bra, a checkered belly shirt, tiny denim shorts, and towering cowboy boots. On top of that, this sparkling lotion had even been spread all over, accentuating her curves. She felt like… a prostitute, to put it properly. A staff member ushered her out to the camera area; she avoided eye contact with everyone, keeping her flushed face down. Shizuka was already there, coy in her own corset outfit.
The shoot commenced. The girls were told to hold each other, smile seductively. Rina had no idea what to do. She was incredibly uncomfortable. The lights felt too glaring.
“More alluring, Katsumi-chan, more! Learn from Endo-chan.” Arai-san called from behind his lens. “Bring your chest out a bit, there you go...”
(an example of a Jelly shoot)
Waiting in the back behind all the equipment, Jun’s head cocked up from his book and his eyes narrowed.
“Who got here before us, Manager-san?”
“People from Jelly magazine.” Satake answered.
“Whoo~ we should go watch, then!” Aiba grinned. Nino smirked and shook his head, and Ohno chuckled. They all knew about that magazine’s reputation.
Jun turned to Sho, who seemed unconcerned and absorbed in his newspaper. “Sho-kun.”
“Hmm? Nani?”
“Listen, maybe you should get over there.”
“Eh, why? It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”
Jun pursed his lips. “Because… I think that’s Rina doing the modeling.”
Everyone whipped around. Not good news.
“Usso…” Sho growled, neck going rigid. He leapt from his seat, impulsively followed by Ohno.
The camera was flashing away. Rina blinked a few times at the bursts of light, and tried to keep her face up.
“Agatte, Katsumi-chan!” The photographer had been struggling to get her to give a vixen vibe. She just looked uneasy the whole time. “What about this - think about your boyfriend! Imagine him coming towards you full of passion! Wouldn’t he love to see you in this?”
Just then, two men who she most wanted (and at the same time least wanted) to see show up, walked in. Her cousin Sakurai Sho, and Ohno Satoshi, the very boyfriend Arai-san was trying to get her to think about. Sho’s nostrils were flaring with anger at the strange treatment she was getting. Ohno’s intent expression was harder to read. Rina froze, entirely embarrassed and confused. Her watery eyes desperately pleaded for escape.
The photographer turned with surprise at their entrance. He shifted his attention and started apologizing for the mix-up, and was quite overly friendly and star-struck with these two idols. Sho entertained the conversation, trying to keep his cool and figure out a solution.
“I’m so sorry for intruding. Would you mind giving these girls a break? I have something - err - urgent I need to discuss with you.” Sho smiled coldly, using his influence to his advantage.
“Oh, sure why not? Let’s come back in ten minutes everyone!”
Rina exhaled gratefully, hurried past everyone to the dressing room and shut and locked the door behind her. There was nothing to cover herself up with. Where had her own clothes gone? They must be around somewhere. She searched the shelves, trying to calm down, and took the gigantic hat off.
After a minute, there was a soft knock, and a kind voice she recognized right away. “Open up… it’s me.”
She let Ohno in apprehensively; he closed the door behind him with a little click. Ohno couldn’t help but stare at his girlfriend and feel his blood rush with aching. It took all the control he could muster to not -- right then and there, after all they were alone, he could have -- he tried to shake the fantasies from his head. He knew how distressed she must be feeling, having been thrust into such a risky atmosphere. She stared at her feet and hugged her arms around herself in vain attempt to cover herself up.
Ohno sighed compassionately, shook off his sweater and draped it over her. Then he gently took her in his arms, protecting her with his own body. Rina buried her face in his shoulder, breathed in his comforting scent. She was entirely relieved with him warming her up, unaware of how hard it was for him to keep still.
“I feel ridiculous,” she admitted after a moment. “Causing all that trouble for Arai-san and… I mean maybe I should just put up with it, you know? I’m already 20 years old. Manager-san is probably going to scold me too…”
“You shouldn’t do anything that makes you uncomfortable, ne.” Ohno replied gruffly, in the back of his mind keeping his hands from roving; he had to rein in his craving, but it was difficult. “You… don’t need to sell yourself like that. Sho-kun is already - ahno - making a deal with him to let you go. Shizuka-san is going to do the shoot by herself, I think. It’s alright.”
“Majide? Yokatta~… Arigatou ne, both of you.” Holding his sides, she gave him a sweet, appreciative kiss, not realizing what effect this had on him. Hungrily he leaned in for more but she pulled away, and with a grin, pushed the poor guy out the door; he whimpered in disapproval. “Now get out, I need to change.”
Since school was now out for the summer, Rina had time to go around site-seeing and such, to make the most of her trip to Japan. Sho couldn’t be there however, as the ToGeiDa cameras followed Rina everywhere; he couldn’t have anyway because of his schedule. Satomi, who had graduated Tokyo University in March, was also busy with her summer internship at a big law firm in the city. So one day, Sora invited Rina to hang out with him and his friends - they wanted to finally meet their friend’s cute, famous older cousin.
It felt a bit awkward at first, for Rina to tag along with a haggle of fifteen-ish year old boys reveling in their summer vacation. As the teenagers goofed around the neighborhood, slurping down ice creams, commenting on cute girls that they passed by, she felt more like a babysitter than anything. But being boys, they acted differently around Rina, sometimes vying for her attention with good sportsmanship or by being as gross or immature as possible. She took it all with her easy humor. It was a beautiful summer day, and she felt very… free (even if the cameras were there).
Also, she did notice that Sora had some sort of unspoken but unmistakable authority over the pack. Whether it was because of his connections through Sho and Rina to the media, or the whole Sakurai family prestige, he stood out as someone influential even if only by relation. It wasn’t a bad thing, but Rina hoped that he didn’t manipulate this status for things when he should be using hard work and character to succeed - situations like getting girls, for example.
Earlier during the excursion she had sent Ohno a picture mail of her giving a big shrug with the young boys fighting behind her over the last popsicle. She supposed it would be more interesting than a normal text explaining her day. About an hour later, she received a reply and checked her phone secretly. It consisted of two pictures. Rina laughed out loud at the first one - a snapshot of Ohno’s big toe, sticking out of the hole in his old sock. It was so random and not exactly a response to what she’d sent, but it didn’t matter. The second snapshot was more relevant - Ohno was up close, barely able to fit in the box, and the rest of Arashi was behind him looking very casual, waving at the cameraphone before getting back to fixing their appearances. Rina smiled; it was another surreal day on the job for them. Have fun, you guys.
Arashi was busy as always. They had to get ready for their next engagement in fifteen minutes, but Ohno took a moment to share a moment of his day with her with the snapshot. Since Rina had so much free time now, he wished he was spending it with her, but he just couldn’t. He itched to leave the studio to see her, but his work had to come first. But he knew, and was glad that, she understood.
At the end of the day though (or all-nighter for that matter), Ohno loved his work. Even though he didn’t often show it, he really cared about his fans. As the group’s anniversary was coming up very soon, these feelings of gratefulness welled up even more.
“Please be on standby, Arashi no minna-san!” the stage director called into the dressing room. Sho, Jun, Nino and Aiba stood up and started walking out. Ohno watched them for a moment in a daze, not quite believing that this was what he did for a living - but in a good way.
“Oh-chan, come on!” Nino said.
“Yeah Riida, are you drifting off thinking about fishing again?” Aiba grinned.
Sho came back and hoisted Ohno off the couch. Jun put his arm around Ohno’s shoulder, insisting that they walk on stage together.
credit: shaneen
-----------------------------------------
I've got to say, I love Nino's hair in that gif lol.
Thanks so much for all the feedback! :)
“Konnichiwa, Matsumoto-kun,” Rina smiled wryly. “This is Endo Shizuka, my cast mate.”
The older girl gave the idol a dazzlingly pretty smile. “I’m so glad to meet you, Matsumoto-san!”
“Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.” he nodded, slightly aloof; he was very perceptive and having been in the industry for over a decade, knew when someone was being phony. “What business do you two have here?” he asked pleasantly.
“A Jelly magazine photoshoot.” Shizuka simpered. “It’s going to be fun~! It’s one of my favorite magazines, you know.”
“Jelly…? Even you, Rina-chan?” Matsumoto looked at Rina with raised brows. Was she sure about this? Now, Rina wasn’t too familiar with all of the popular companies and had no idea what Shizuka meant by ‘fun’ or what to expect, so she just shrugged. Jun wouldn’t question her management team, but it was still kind of a concern. “Well, ganbatte, ne…”
Energetic, bold music was playing somewhere in the background of the studio. The two girls were seated at brightly lit mirrored counters, and hair and makeup artists started fussing with them. Shizuka’s hair was straightened and slick as silk, and had dangerous smoky eyes. Rina’s hair was set into giant voluptuous curls, and she was given bright sparkling eyes and pink lipgloss. The director and photographer of the shoot, Arai Noboru, greeted his two models energetically. He was a very suave character.
“Yoroshiku! How are you two feeling today, excited? Good, you look amazing already. Now, I’ll explain the concept of this shoot. As you know, Jelly caters to young, gorgeous, appealing women such as yourselves. For this issue, we’re highlighting the newest summer clothing trends ne, so it’ll have a steamy look. But of course going along with your images, Katsumi-chan will be the good girl, and Endo-chan the bad girl. Keep it sexy though! Great. Takuma-kun will show you to wardrobe, and then we’ll get started!”
They were shown to the changing room, where stylists showed them racks of slinky clothing. As they held up different skimpy outfits that they’d put together, Rina started getting nervous. There was nothing necessarily wrong about being sexy, but… she felt wary.
Meanwhile, the rest of Arashi arrived along with their manager, Satake-san.
“What do you mean they were accidentally booked at the same time?” Satake simmered crossly to the secretary. “These guys have a list of other very important bookings they have to get to on time! All our staff is here already too. Is there no other studio available?”
“No, I’m very sorry for our mistake. We have taken measures with the one responsible.” the woman at the desk shook her head. “But the director working in there now, he insisted that you are more than welcome to start setting up, and once they’re done you can move right in.”
No other option available, they trudged quietly into the occupied space, excusing themselves for the rudeness. The five men saw a large bed with lacey, alluring sheets being prepared as the backdrop for the people already in there. Professionals, they didn’t disturb them and went to sit down at the makeup counter.
This was not good. She took an uneven breath as she saw herself in the mirror. Hers was the cowgirl theme (since she was American, after all). They had put her in a gallon hat, jeweled push-up bra, a checkered belly shirt, tiny denim shorts, and towering cowboy boots. On top of that, this sparkling lotion had even been spread all over, accentuating her curves. She felt like… a prostitute, to put it properly. A staff member ushered her out to the camera area; she avoided eye contact with everyone, keeping her flushed face down. Shizuka was already there, coy in her own corset outfit.
The shoot commenced. The girls were told to hold each other, smile seductively. Rina had no idea what to do. She was incredibly uncomfortable. The lights felt too glaring.
“More alluring, Katsumi-chan, more! Learn from Endo-chan.” Arai-san called from behind his lens. “Bring your chest out a bit, there you go...”
(an example of a Jelly shoot)
Waiting in the back behind all the equipment, Jun’s head cocked up from his book and his eyes narrowed.
“Who got here before us, Manager-san?”
“People from Jelly magazine.” Satake answered.
“Whoo~ we should go watch, then!” Aiba grinned. Nino smirked and shook his head, and Ohno chuckled. They all knew about that magazine’s reputation.
Jun turned to Sho, who seemed unconcerned and absorbed in his newspaper. “Sho-kun.”
“Hmm? Nani?”
“Listen, maybe you should get over there.”
“Eh, why? It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”
Jun pursed his lips. “Because… I think that’s Rina doing the modeling.”
Everyone whipped around. Not good news.
“Usso…” Sho growled, neck going rigid. He leapt from his seat, impulsively followed by Ohno.
The camera was flashing away. Rina blinked a few times at the bursts of light, and tried to keep her face up.
“Agatte, Katsumi-chan!” The photographer had been struggling to get her to give a vixen vibe. She just looked uneasy the whole time. “What about this - think about your boyfriend! Imagine him coming towards you full of passion! Wouldn’t he love to see you in this?”
Just then, two men who she most wanted (and at the same time least wanted) to see show up, walked in. Her cousin Sakurai Sho, and Ohno Satoshi, the very boyfriend Arai-san was trying to get her to think about. Sho’s nostrils were flaring with anger at the strange treatment she was getting. Ohno’s intent expression was harder to read. Rina froze, entirely embarrassed and confused. Her watery eyes desperately pleaded for escape.
The photographer turned with surprise at their entrance. He shifted his attention and started apologizing for the mix-up, and was quite overly friendly and star-struck with these two idols. Sho entertained the conversation, trying to keep his cool and figure out a solution.
“I’m so sorry for intruding. Would you mind giving these girls a break? I have something - err - urgent I need to discuss with you.” Sho smiled coldly, using his influence to his advantage.
“Oh, sure why not? Let’s come back in ten minutes everyone!”
Rina exhaled gratefully, hurried past everyone to the dressing room and shut and locked the door behind her. There was nothing to cover herself up with. Where had her own clothes gone? They must be around somewhere. She searched the shelves, trying to calm down, and took the gigantic hat off.
After a minute, there was a soft knock, and a kind voice she recognized right away. “Open up… it’s me.”
She let Ohno in apprehensively; he closed the door behind him with a little click. Ohno couldn’t help but stare at his girlfriend and feel his blood rush with aching. It took all the control he could muster to not -- right then and there, after all they were alone, he could have -- he tried to shake the fantasies from his head. He knew how distressed she must be feeling, having been thrust into such a risky atmosphere. She stared at her feet and hugged her arms around herself in vain attempt to cover herself up.
Ohno sighed compassionately, shook off his sweater and draped it over her. Then he gently took her in his arms, protecting her with his own body. Rina buried her face in his shoulder, breathed in his comforting scent. She was entirely relieved with him warming her up, unaware of how hard it was for him to keep still.
“I feel ridiculous,” she admitted after a moment. “Causing all that trouble for Arai-san and… I mean maybe I should just put up with it, you know? I’m already 20 years old. Manager-san is probably going to scold me too…”
“You shouldn’t do anything that makes you uncomfortable, ne.” Ohno replied gruffly, in the back of his mind keeping his hands from roving; he had to rein in his craving, but it was difficult. “You… don’t need to sell yourself like that. Sho-kun is already - ahno - making a deal with him to let you go. Shizuka-san is going to do the shoot by herself, I think. It’s alright.”
“Majide? Yokatta~… Arigatou ne, both of you.” Holding his sides, she gave him a sweet, appreciative kiss, not realizing what effect this had on him. Hungrily he leaned in for more but she pulled away, and with a grin, pushed the poor guy out the door; he whimpered in disapproval. “Now get out, I need to change.”
Since school was now out for the summer, Rina had time to go around site-seeing and such, to make the most of her trip to Japan. Sho couldn’t be there however, as the ToGeiDa cameras followed Rina everywhere; he couldn’t have anyway because of his schedule. Satomi, who had graduated Tokyo University in March, was also busy with her summer internship at a big law firm in the city. So one day, Sora invited Rina to hang out with him and his friends - they wanted to finally meet their friend’s cute, famous older cousin.
It felt a bit awkward at first, for Rina to tag along with a haggle of fifteen-ish year old boys reveling in their summer vacation. As the teenagers goofed around the neighborhood, slurping down ice creams, commenting on cute girls that they passed by, she felt more like a babysitter than anything. But being boys, they acted differently around Rina, sometimes vying for her attention with good sportsmanship or by being as gross or immature as possible. She took it all with her easy humor. It was a beautiful summer day, and she felt very… free (even if the cameras were there).
Also, she did notice that Sora had some sort of unspoken but unmistakable authority over the pack. Whether it was because of his connections through Sho and Rina to the media, or the whole Sakurai family prestige, he stood out as someone influential even if only by relation. It wasn’t a bad thing, but Rina hoped that he didn’t manipulate this status for things when he should be using hard work and character to succeed - situations like getting girls, for example.
Earlier during the excursion she had sent Ohno a picture mail of her giving a big shrug with the young boys fighting behind her over the last popsicle. She supposed it would be more interesting than a normal text explaining her day. About an hour later, she received a reply and checked her phone secretly. It consisted of two pictures. Rina laughed out loud at the first one - a snapshot of Ohno’s big toe, sticking out of the hole in his old sock. It was so random and not exactly a response to what she’d sent, but it didn’t matter. The second snapshot was more relevant - Ohno was up close, barely able to fit in the box, and the rest of Arashi was behind him looking very casual, waving at the cameraphone before getting back to fixing their appearances. Rina smiled; it was another surreal day on the job for them. Have fun, you guys.
Arashi was busy as always. They had to get ready for their next engagement in fifteen minutes, but Ohno took a moment to share a moment of his day with her with the snapshot. Since Rina had so much free time now, he wished he was spending it with her, but he just couldn’t. He itched to leave the studio to see her, but his work had to come first. But he knew, and was glad that, she understood.
At the end of the day though (or all-nighter for that matter), Ohno loved his work. Even though he didn’t often show it, he really cared about his fans. As the group’s anniversary was coming up very soon, these feelings of gratefulness welled up even more.
“Please be on standby, Arashi no minna-san!” the stage director called into the dressing room. Sho, Jun, Nino and Aiba stood up and started walking out. Ohno watched them for a moment in a daze, not quite believing that this was what he did for a living - but in a good way.
“Oh-chan, come on!” Nino said.
“Yeah Riida, are you drifting off thinking about fishing again?” Aiba grinned.
Sho came back and hoisted Ohno off the couch. Jun put his arm around Ohno’s shoulder, insisting that they walk on stage together.
credit: shaneen
-----------------------------------------
I've got to say, I love Nino's hair in that gif lol.
Thanks so much for all the feedback! :)