Love So Sweet [an Ohno Satoshi love story] - Chapter 12
“We received another large box this week!” Sakurai Sho announced. “Please take a look.” They saw the pink stickers on the front. “This one… she says she’s quite a ‘normal’ young girl. I’m not really a celebrity, it says.” Sho read curiously. The audience ehh-ed.
“Nani, Sakurai-san?” Ninomiya exclaimed. “We’re supposed to make people excited! Who’s going to want to watch now?”
“But she must be really cool!” Aiba chimed in. “Like… the most popular girls at school that you could only stare at and... eto…”
“Aiba-kun isn’t part of the cool crowd then?” Ogura-san chuckled.
“Chotto, using ‘Isn’t’ is wrong, Ogu-san! I am! I’m cool now!” Aiba exclaimed in his not-angry laugh.
“And,” Sho continued. “She has presents for us!”
“Suge… How nice…” Jun murmured, hiding his sarcasm as the camera focused on the pair on top of the box. Ohno just smiled sleepily.
“Hey - I bet I know what the presents are! Valentine’s Day is today, after all!” Ogura-san nodded. It wasn’t really, but that was when the episode was airing.
“Now, here is tonight’s guest! Dozo!”
(This is singer Kagami Seira... I'm using different models occassionally lol)
They opened up the large box to reveal a slightly nervous pretty young girl in a white blouse. She stood up and bowed as the audience cheered. She met her cousin’s gaze for a brief moment and took much encouragement to stay calm. Honestly, when she found out she’d be appearing on Arashi no Shukudai-kun, she wondered how Johnny-san would possibly allow it, and thought of the countless ways things could go wrong…
“Kawaii, ne!” Ogura-san said with bright eyes. “Come sit next to oji-san.”
Rina was a little alarmed.
“Don’t worry, Ogu-san’s tension always goes up when pretty young female guests come.” Nino pointed out.
They moved to the red couches. Rina sat in the middle, between Sho and the curious old man Ogura-san. Sho had told her a bit about him…
“Once again, please welcome our guest for tonight, Katsumi Rina-san! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!”
“Yoroshiku onegaishimasu…” Rina murmured. She looked out at the wholly female audience, all around her age.
“So, Katsumi-san, you say you’re pretty new in this business, but you’re gaining popularity extremely quickly.” Sho started.
“Hai. This is only my fourth time on TV as a guest. And ToGeiDa has only aired about three episodes.”
“ToGeiDa, na! It’s become an overnight hit.”
“How does it feel? Being kind of pushed into the spotlight like that.” Sho asked.
“Well, I was honestly really worried when you opened the box. I thought no one would recognize me, but then everyone clapped...” The guys laughed appreciatively.
“Are you still feeling a bit uneasy? We’ll have the Master of Nicknames think of a name for you, to make you feel more welcome.”
“Hai! My turn.” Aiba jumped in eagerly. “How about… Katsu-chan?” This literally meant victory-chan. “Too strong, ne? - Katsumi, hmm - Kami-chan?”
They burst out laughing. “Ka- Kami?!” Lord-chan?
“What did your friends in America call you?” Jun asked.
“Ah, because she’s from New York, right?” Nino nodded.
“Ahno, just Rina. Sometimes Kat.”
Aiba gave up. “… Let’s just go with Rina-chan, ne?”
“Rina-chan.” everyone repeated after Sho. “Growing up in America, you didn’t hear about Arashi?”
“No, but I did my own homework! It would be rude if I came here not knowing anything about you all… I’ve started listening to your songs and I watched some of - some of Ohno-san’s drama Maou. It’s amazing so far.”
She nodded a little sheepishly at Ohno, who looked very pleased. The audience ooh-ed.
“You did it, otou-san.” Nino teased.
“So, the box said that you had presents for all of us.” Sho smiled. A staff member brought a large basket, and Rina handed out little wrapped packages to everyone.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, minna-san!”
“Arigatou gozaimasu!” They all grinned and started ripping in.
A bright, unexpected happiness stirred in Ohno as he unwrapped the parcel to reveal a special handmade chocolate, a honmei choko. So she cared for him. He looked up in awe at Rina. She was smiling as she watched everyone open their gifts with hope that they’d like them.
Then, he noticed the rest of Arashi’s chocolates - they were all handmade.
Aiba immediately started laughing. “Kawaii, ne~!” He was quite easily won over.
The other members of Arashi, and Ogura-san, gave her strange looks and didn’t say anything for a moment.
“Ahno, Katsumi-san… You’re only supposed to give honmei choko to ONE person!” Matsujun cried. “To the one you like!”
The audience was laughing at the boys’ disappointment and surprise, although Aiba was still simply laughing his carefree giggle, not offended at all. Ogura-san slapped his knee with glee.
Rina’s embarrassed face was pretty hilarious too. “What? Gomen, gomen! I didn’t realize…! All of you guys are super nice… so… I thought I was supposed to…”
“These are only giri chokos then?!” Aiba cried out.
“What a mistake, ne…” Nino exclaimed jokingly. “I was really excited for a moment there.”
Ohno’s smile tweaked at the corners as he stared down at his now not-so-exclusive chocolate. His usual spaced-out cheerfulness quickly came back though, because of his easy disposition. Soon he was laughing along with everyone else again.
“These are really creative though, Rina-chan.” Sho reassured. He held his fan-shaped chocolate up for the audience to see. One side had his name written with icing, the other with an icing chibi cartoon of him. She had done that with the rest too, even Ogura-san’s. “Are these supposed to be uchiwas?”
credit: Aimai3
“Sa! Ogura-san, let’s go to our first homework assignment.”
Ogura-san pulled out a small chalkboard. He was still chuckling a bit from the chocolate misunderstanding. “The homework from the guest: Research and turn in unusual foods you’d find at a festival!”
“Festival food? I wouldn’t think that you would like that. The image…” Jun mused.
“Hai, I went to a local Setsubun festival the other day and it was fun.”
They all gathered around a yellow cart that Nino wheeled in.
“This was submitted by Sukinaiyo-chan of Kagawa… Pani puri. Don~” They were cute little Indian dough shells filled with spiced peas and various sauces. It was delicious. Sho noted how he’d tried this on his trip to India. The next dish, however, was much stranger.
Nino took the box off the table, revealing a strange pastry floating in a ghastly thick green puddle.
They all gawked. “Nani kore?” Rina exclaimed.
“Gross.” Jun grimaced along with the others.
“This is a pie floater, a well-loved dish in Australia. It was made famous by Harry’s Café de Wheels. A pie floater consists of a small meat pie floating in green pea soup. Australians often eat this with ketchup.” He drizzled a bit of the bright red sauce on top, making it look even worse.
“Be brave, Rina-chan.” they cheered.
“It looks so weird...” Rina made a face as she cut a piece for herself. She put it in her mouth, chewed hesitantly; her eyes grew wide. “Somehow… umai. Really. It’s like soft steak inside, and it goes well with the pea soup.”
Ohno, the iron stomach, was pushed to try it. He shook his head and stood back.
“C’mon, Riida… A~n…” Nino scooped a bit, took Ohno’s chin and fed it to him.
“Oishi.” Ohno simpered. Everyone laughed; the audience squealed at Ohmiya. As expected.
Rina wasn’t sure how to respond to that bit of “brotherly” love there. The rest tentatively tried it, giving their various funny reactions. Nino started pushing the cart back. “Ma, that’s the last one-“
“-- Chotto matte!” Aiba giggled. Nino pretended to ignore him. “Oi! Wait, I have something!” He put on an apron and rolled in his own cart with a large contraption sort of like a waffle iron, but with fish moulds. “Normal taiyaki is filled with red bean paste, or custard or chocolate, deshou? Well, in honor of Rina-chan, I’ve come up with my own special fillings that are sure to be total hits!” There was a vat of pale batter and bowls of numerous random foodstuffs. “Presenting Aiba’s Tasty Taiyaki~!”
“I don’t know about this, Aiba-san…” Nino muttered, always the tsukkomi to Aiba’s bokke.
“Ne, Rina-chan, what would you like to try first? Pick anything you want, some of this, some of that, or maybe a combination if you’re adventurous - Everyone at home - take notes, ne!”
“No one’s gonna want to try these!” Matsumoto scolded.
Rina looked at the ingredients with a wary smile. She’d give them a shot, sure; it was impossible to turn down the sweet guy. “How about the… omelette? That sounds kind of safe. Waffles and eggs, like breakfast.”
“Right! One omelette taiyaki coming up!” The name itself sounded doubtful. He poured the batter in the moulds, then put in a scoop of yellow scrambled eggs. “Actually, I’ll make enough for everyone to try. Sound good?”
The men groaned.
“Watching the vendors at festivals make the food right of you like this makes it even more fun.” Rina commented encouragingly.
“Deshou?!” the guy exclaimed, tension rising as the little cakes happily fried away. When they were done and golden brown, Aiba presented them proudly to her on her own plate.
“Itadakimasu!” She bit into the hot fish-shaped waffle cake.
“Oh no… she’s silent.” Sho murmured dramatically.
“Look at her face.” Nino chortled.
She swallowed carefully. “Ahno… Gomen, it’s like…” She didn’t know how to say it in Japanese. “Mush.”
The guys laughed, telling the ‘chef’ that he should just stop right here, but they convinced Ogura-san to have a bite. He gave Aiba an incredulous glare. “What are you ruining perfectly good taiyaki for?”
“Suma- sumimasen, Ogu-san!” Aiba giggled. Not deterred at all, he moved right along to the next one. They tried taiyaki filled with Castella cake (a rather fair but redundant success) and then with tapioca (which turned into a disgusting warm, sticky mess that looked like smashed octopus eyeballs.)
There was one that had been covered by a bowl this entire time. “Now, I knew if I showed you guys right away you wouldn’t let me…” He revealed the secret ingredient, and all the men rolled their eyes.
“What’s with you and mabo tofu?” Nino cried. Everyone was fearful as a questionable smell started wafting from the taiyaki maker…
Yama pair :)
They moved onto the next segment, image homework of the guest.
“Even though fans can see some of what Rina-chan’s real life is like on ToGeiDa, what to they think she usually does?”
Matsumoto read, “Submitted by Fufukoi-san from Ehime: A cute university boy was going to approach Katsumi-san, but was scared off when he saw the cameras around the corner.”
Rina hid her face with pathetic laughter as the audience ehh-ed.
“It’s just an image! An image, ne.” Nino ensured.
“Is this accurate?” Sho asked.
“It can’t be! Rina-chan seems very approachable.” Ogura-san said in her defense.
“Kind of… actually…” she squirmed. “It doesn’t happen exactly like that but - I’m not all that successful with guys, I suppose. Things just always turn out wrong.” No one believed her. She spoke of one clumsy mistake in junior high (an incident nearly as bad as Aiba giving his crush deodorant by accident on White Day). She could laugh about them now (as the others surely found easy to do), but they had forced her outlook that, unless it was slapped on in the middle of the forehead, she would not take it as real love.
“Maybe identifying the right guy is the thing, ne? Apparently, from your nicola interview,” Sho pulled out a glossy magazine from the back of the couch. He flipped to a page and showed the audience a very pretty Rina posing in various outfits.
“Eh? You’re showing that…” she chuckled.
“How cute!” the audience exclaimed about the pictures.
“You said here that one of your appeal points is “a good hug.” What do you mean by that?”
The audience was taken aback.
Rina smirked. “Well, you fall for someone partially because of things you can’t control, right? People hug differently; some go for under the arms, some go around the neck… I think someone’s instinctive hug can show a lot about their personality. People back home hug a lot more than in Japan, so maybe that’s why… But once two people become comfortable enough with each other to hug, it means a lot.”
“We’d like to see this, ne!”
In a whirl, Rina was pulled to the front and an eye mask was placed on her. The members of Arashi, plus Ogura-san and a random staff member were randomly numbered. The giggling audience made her even more nervous.
“H-hazukashi~!” She struggled with her laughter as she stood there all by herself.
“First up!”
This was Ninomiya. The audience ooh-ed as he got closer to her and got her in a kind of scrunched hug.
“I’m jealous, ne...” Ohno whined with a half-smile. He pouted at Nino, who then came to give Ohno an affectionate cuddle too. The audience squealed Ohmiyaaa! but in all seriousness, Ohno was being honest.
“How was that, Rina-chan?” Sho the MC asked.
Once she got over her giggles, feeling weird for talking while blindfolded, “It was nice but - it was like he was doing all the hugging, ne, since my arms were restricted … It should be about both people, right?”
Nino caught his laugh and moved to the back of the line. Next was Ogura-san, who had a fatherly hug. The Shukudai-kun staff member was a little suffocating. Aiba jumped in and gave her a fun, spinning embrace. Jun gave an emotional clasp from behind, making the audience squeal with their Hana Yori Dango fantasies; Jun grinned at the effect on the crowd. Sho understandably gave Rina a simple, light squeeze.
“Last one, number seven, onegaishimasu!”
Ohno stood in front of her, wondering how he should go about it. Naturally and gently as not to startle her, he wound one hand around her small waist and the other hand cradled the nape of her neck. He pulled her in with a warm feeling, sending electricity through Rina’s toes. She could smell that deep comforting scent again. Their body shapes somehow complimented each other. She wanted to stay like this--
-- Sho quickly walked up and bopped Ohno on the head, interrupting the moment. “Too long!” he reprimanded, giving Ohno a steady look. Ohno pulled away from Sho’s cousin with a sheepish look and bobbed in apology.
With the blindfold still on, Rina announced her best and worst. Best - number seven. Ohno gave the guys all a smug look as the audience clapped. Worst - number three. They felt sorry for the embarrassed staff member. Rina would make sure to apologize to him after the show was over; it definitely wouldn’t be good if she were to work with him later on. Removing the blindfolds, she saw the numbers, and blushed at the contented look on Ohno’s face.
Ohno's so cute when he's smug XD I know this is from HnA...
Aiba faced the crowd with his lively smile. “Shiodome Aibaland! In short…?!”
“Ailando~!” the audience cheered. Island? Love land? Rina wasn’t sure.
“I’ve heard that Rina-chan likes fashion, is that right? Well then, you will enjoy this. This game was submitted by Koufushou-san from Ginza: Newspaper costume battle!”
They divided into two teams, and those who lost at janken would be the models. They drew different themes and had three minutes to create costumes from newspaper and tape. It was an embarrassing frenzy of flying supplies. When it was finished, they ended up with a mermaid Sho whose newspaper bra highlighted the sports section, and a gnome Nino complete with a crunchy beard and cone hat. Sho started doing the hula very stiffly. Nino crouched down to make himself as little as possible and shifted his eyes (reminiscent of his alien CM). Amazingly, Ogura-san picked the Sho-Rina-Aiba trio as the winners. They congratulated each other gleefully.
Behind the scenes after the show, Rina was surprisingly included in greeting the special girls who had won backstage passes. The fans were given a small tour of the control room and wardrobe and such, and more importantly were given the chance to talk to the stars. Rina stood right beside Arashi, but the girls still noticed her and talked to her as if they were good girl friends.
“Katsumi-san, what’s going to happen with you and Izumi-san?” one of them asked breathlessly.
“Izumi-san, hmm?” Sho muttered suspiciously, earning an amused look from Rina.
“I have no idea. We’re just acquaintances, really.” Rina smiled. “He’s certainly entertaining though.”
“I think he likes you.” the fan nodded. “Last week’s episode - when he left Endo-san’s side and went to sit with you in the cafeteria - that was so cute!”
It sounded and awful lot like a cheesy high school drama to Rina, but Aiba and Nino whistled jokingly.
“I think you should watch out for him.” the other girl said knowingly. “He’s stayed back two years because he never finished his senior thesis, right? That means he’s like… four years older than you. Guys like that are only looking for one thing.”
Ohno, who had been rather silent, was starting to feel rather dejected from this conversation.
“Well… I think these guys are an exception, don’t you think?” Rina wanted to quickly steer away from the subject. She chose one of them at random. “For example - Ninomiya-san is several years older, but I’m positive he would only be an absolute gentleman if he dated you. Deshou, Ninomiya-san?”
He covered his surprise. “Uh - Ah, of course. You’re safe with me.” Nino did his cocky salute, sending the young girls wheeling into a fit of giggles; they leaned on each other for support. This reaction could always be expected, especially when done at close range.
Ending will a cool picture of Nino :)
Cropped from scans by crystalove87
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Lol sorry so random... In my mind, I imagine the hugging bit to be like AnS 133.
“Nani, Sakurai-san?” Ninomiya exclaimed. “We’re supposed to make people excited! Who’s going to want to watch now?”
“But she must be really cool!” Aiba chimed in. “Like… the most popular girls at school that you could only stare at and... eto…”
“Aiba-kun isn’t part of the cool crowd then?” Ogura-san chuckled.
“Chotto, using ‘Isn’t’ is wrong, Ogu-san! I am! I’m cool now!” Aiba exclaimed in his not-angry laugh.
“And,” Sho continued. “She has presents for us!”
“Suge… How nice…” Jun murmured, hiding his sarcasm as the camera focused on the pair on top of the box. Ohno just smiled sleepily.
“Hey - I bet I know what the presents are! Valentine’s Day is today, after all!” Ogura-san nodded. It wasn’t really, but that was when the episode was airing.
“Now, here is tonight’s guest! Dozo!”
(This is singer Kagami Seira... I'm using different models occassionally lol)
They opened up the large box to reveal a slightly nervous pretty young girl in a white blouse. She stood up and bowed as the audience cheered. She met her cousin’s gaze for a brief moment and took much encouragement to stay calm. Honestly, when she found out she’d be appearing on Arashi no Shukudai-kun, she wondered how Johnny-san would possibly allow it, and thought of the countless ways things could go wrong…
“Kawaii, ne!” Ogura-san said with bright eyes. “Come sit next to oji-san.”
Rina was a little alarmed.
“Don’t worry, Ogu-san’s tension always goes up when pretty young female guests come.” Nino pointed out.
They moved to the red couches. Rina sat in the middle, between Sho and the curious old man Ogura-san. Sho had told her a bit about him…
“Once again, please welcome our guest for tonight, Katsumi Rina-san! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!”
“Yoroshiku onegaishimasu…” Rina murmured. She looked out at the wholly female audience, all around her age.
“So, Katsumi-san, you say you’re pretty new in this business, but you’re gaining popularity extremely quickly.” Sho started.
“Hai. This is only my fourth time on TV as a guest. And ToGeiDa has only aired about three episodes.”
“ToGeiDa, na! It’s become an overnight hit.”
“How does it feel? Being kind of pushed into the spotlight like that.” Sho asked.
“Well, I was honestly really worried when you opened the box. I thought no one would recognize me, but then everyone clapped...” The guys laughed appreciatively.
“Are you still feeling a bit uneasy? We’ll have the Master of Nicknames think of a name for you, to make you feel more welcome.”
“Hai! My turn.” Aiba jumped in eagerly. “How about… Katsu-chan?” This literally meant victory-chan. “Too strong, ne? - Katsumi, hmm - Kami-chan?”
They burst out laughing. “Ka- Kami?!” Lord-chan?
“What did your friends in America call you?” Jun asked.
“Ah, because she’s from New York, right?” Nino nodded.
“Ahno, just Rina. Sometimes Kat.”
Aiba gave up. “… Let’s just go with Rina-chan, ne?”
“Rina-chan.” everyone repeated after Sho. “Growing up in America, you didn’t hear about Arashi?”
“No, but I did my own homework! It would be rude if I came here not knowing anything about you all… I’ve started listening to your songs and I watched some of - some of Ohno-san’s drama Maou. It’s amazing so far.”
She nodded a little sheepishly at Ohno, who looked very pleased. The audience ooh-ed.
“You did it, otou-san.” Nino teased.
“So, the box said that you had presents for all of us.” Sho smiled. A staff member brought a large basket, and Rina handed out little wrapped packages to everyone.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, minna-san!”
“Arigatou gozaimasu!” They all grinned and started ripping in.
A bright, unexpected happiness stirred in Ohno as he unwrapped the parcel to reveal a special handmade chocolate, a honmei choko. So she cared for him. He looked up in awe at Rina. She was smiling as she watched everyone open their gifts with hope that they’d like them.
Then, he noticed the rest of Arashi’s chocolates - they were all handmade.
Aiba immediately started laughing. “Kawaii, ne~!” He was quite easily won over.
The other members of Arashi, and Ogura-san, gave her strange looks and didn’t say anything for a moment.
“Ahno, Katsumi-san… You’re only supposed to give honmei choko to ONE person!” Matsujun cried. “To the one you like!”
The audience was laughing at the boys’ disappointment and surprise, although Aiba was still simply laughing his carefree giggle, not offended at all. Ogura-san slapped his knee with glee.
Rina’s embarrassed face was pretty hilarious too. “What? Gomen, gomen! I didn’t realize…! All of you guys are super nice… so… I thought I was supposed to…”
“These are only giri chokos then?!” Aiba cried out.
“What a mistake, ne…” Nino exclaimed jokingly. “I was really excited for a moment there.”
Ohno’s smile tweaked at the corners as he stared down at his now not-so-exclusive chocolate. His usual spaced-out cheerfulness quickly came back though, because of his easy disposition. Soon he was laughing along with everyone else again.
“These are really creative though, Rina-chan.” Sho reassured. He held his fan-shaped chocolate up for the audience to see. One side had his name written with icing, the other with an icing chibi cartoon of him. She had done that with the rest too, even Ogura-san’s. “Are these supposed to be uchiwas?”
credit: Aimai3
“Sa! Ogura-san, let’s go to our first homework assignment.”
Ogura-san pulled out a small chalkboard. He was still chuckling a bit from the chocolate misunderstanding. “The homework from the guest: Research and turn in unusual foods you’d find at a festival!”
“Festival food? I wouldn’t think that you would like that. The image…” Jun mused.
“Hai, I went to a local Setsubun festival the other day and it was fun.”
They all gathered around a yellow cart that Nino wheeled in.
“This was submitted by Sukinaiyo-chan of Kagawa… Pani puri. Don~” They were cute little Indian dough shells filled with spiced peas and various sauces. It was delicious. Sho noted how he’d tried this on his trip to India. The next dish, however, was much stranger.
Nino took the box off the table, revealing a strange pastry floating in a ghastly thick green puddle.
They all gawked. “Nani kore?” Rina exclaimed.
“Gross.” Jun grimaced along with the others.
“This is a pie floater, a well-loved dish in Australia. It was made famous by Harry’s Café de Wheels. A pie floater consists of a small meat pie floating in green pea soup. Australians often eat this with ketchup.” He drizzled a bit of the bright red sauce on top, making it look even worse.
“Be brave, Rina-chan.” they cheered.
“It looks so weird...” Rina made a face as she cut a piece for herself. She put it in her mouth, chewed hesitantly; her eyes grew wide. “Somehow… umai. Really. It’s like soft steak inside, and it goes well with the pea soup.”
Ohno, the iron stomach, was pushed to try it. He shook his head and stood back.
“C’mon, Riida… A~n…” Nino scooped a bit, took Ohno’s chin and fed it to him.
“Oishi.” Ohno simpered. Everyone laughed; the audience squealed at Ohmiya. As expected.
Rina wasn’t sure how to respond to that bit of “brotherly” love there. The rest tentatively tried it, giving their various funny reactions. Nino started pushing the cart back. “Ma, that’s the last one-“
“-- Chotto matte!” Aiba giggled. Nino pretended to ignore him. “Oi! Wait, I have something!” He put on an apron and rolled in his own cart with a large contraption sort of like a waffle iron, but with fish moulds. “Normal taiyaki is filled with red bean paste, or custard or chocolate, deshou? Well, in honor of Rina-chan, I’ve come up with my own special fillings that are sure to be total hits!” There was a vat of pale batter and bowls of numerous random foodstuffs. “Presenting Aiba’s Tasty Taiyaki~!”
“I don’t know about this, Aiba-san…” Nino muttered, always the tsukkomi to Aiba’s bokke.
“Ne, Rina-chan, what would you like to try first? Pick anything you want, some of this, some of that, or maybe a combination if you’re adventurous - Everyone at home - take notes, ne!”
“No one’s gonna want to try these!” Matsumoto scolded.
Rina looked at the ingredients with a wary smile. She’d give them a shot, sure; it was impossible to turn down the sweet guy. “How about the… omelette? That sounds kind of safe. Waffles and eggs, like breakfast.”
“Right! One omelette taiyaki coming up!” The name itself sounded doubtful. He poured the batter in the moulds, then put in a scoop of yellow scrambled eggs. “Actually, I’ll make enough for everyone to try. Sound good?”
The men groaned.
“Watching the vendors at festivals make the food right of you like this makes it even more fun.” Rina commented encouragingly.
“Deshou?!” the guy exclaimed, tension rising as the little cakes happily fried away. When they were done and golden brown, Aiba presented them proudly to her on her own plate.
“Itadakimasu!” She bit into the hot fish-shaped waffle cake.
“Oh no… she’s silent.” Sho murmured dramatically.
“Look at her face.” Nino chortled.
She swallowed carefully. “Ahno… Gomen, it’s like…” She didn’t know how to say it in Japanese. “Mush.”
The guys laughed, telling the ‘chef’ that he should just stop right here, but they convinced Ogura-san to have a bite. He gave Aiba an incredulous glare. “What are you ruining perfectly good taiyaki for?”
“Suma- sumimasen, Ogu-san!” Aiba giggled. Not deterred at all, he moved right along to the next one. They tried taiyaki filled with Castella cake (a rather fair but redundant success) and then with tapioca (which turned into a disgusting warm, sticky mess that looked like smashed octopus eyeballs.)
There was one that had been covered by a bowl this entire time. “Now, I knew if I showed you guys right away you wouldn’t let me…” He revealed the secret ingredient, and all the men rolled their eyes.
“What’s with you and mabo tofu?” Nino cried. Everyone was fearful as a questionable smell started wafting from the taiyaki maker…
Yama pair :)
They moved onto the next segment, image homework of the guest.
“Even though fans can see some of what Rina-chan’s real life is like on ToGeiDa, what to they think she usually does?”
Matsumoto read, “Submitted by Fufukoi-san from Ehime: A cute university boy was going to approach Katsumi-san, but was scared off when he saw the cameras around the corner.”
Rina hid her face with pathetic laughter as the audience ehh-ed.
“It’s just an image! An image, ne.” Nino ensured.
“Is this accurate?” Sho asked.
“It can’t be! Rina-chan seems very approachable.” Ogura-san said in her defense.
“Kind of… actually…” she squirmed. “It doesn’t happen exactly like that but - I’m not all that successful with guys, I suppose. Things just always turn out wrong.” No one believed her. She spoke of one clumsy mistake in junior high (an incident nearly as bad as Aiba giving his crush deodorant by accident on White Day). She could laugh about them now (as the others surely found easy to do), but they had forced her outlook that, unless it was slapped on in the middle of the forehead, she would not take it as real love.
“Maybe identifying the right guy is the thing, ne? Apparently, from your nicola interview,” Sho pulled out a glossy magazine from the back of the couch. He flipped to a page and showed the audience a very pretty Rina posing in various outfits.
“Eh? You’re showing that…” she chuckled.
“How cute!” the audience exclaimed about the pictures.
“You said here that one of your appeal points is “a good hug.” What do you mean by that?”
The audience was taken aback.
Rina smirked. “Well, you fall for someone partially because of things you can’t control, right? People hug differently; some go for under the arms, some go around the neck… I think someone’s instinctive hug can show a lot about their personality. People back home hug a lot more than in Japan, so maybe that’s why… But once two people become comfortable enough with each other to hug, it means a lot.”
“We’d like to see this, ne!”
In a whirl, Rina was pulled to the front and an eye mask was placed on her. The members of Arashi, plus Ogura-san and a random staff member were randomly numbered. The giggling audience made her even more nervous.
“H-hazukashi~!” She struggled with her laughter as she stood there all by herself.
“First up!”
This was Ninomiya. The audience ooh-ed as he got closer to her and got her in a kind of scrunched hug.
“I’m jealous, ne...” Ohno whined with a half-smile. He pouted at Nino, who then came to give Ohno an affectionate cuddle too. The audience squealed Ohmiyaaa! but in all seriousness, Ohno was being honest.
“How was that, Rina-chan?” Sho the MC asked.
Once she got over her giggles, feeling weird for talking while blindfolded, “It was nice but - it was like he was doing all the hugging, ne, since my arms were restricted … It should be about both people, right?”
Nino caught his laugh and moved to the back of the line. Next was Ogura-san, who had a fatherly hug. The Shukudai-kun staff member was a little suffocating. Aiba jumped in and gave her a fun, spinning embrace. Jun gave an emotional clasp from behind, making the audience squeal with their Hana Yori Dango fantasies; Jun grinned at the effect on the crowd. Sho understandably gave Rina a simple, light squeeze.
“Last one, number seven, onegaishimasu!”
Ohno stood in front of her, wondering how he should go about it. Naturally and gently as not to startle her, he wound one hand around her small waist and the other hand cradled the nape of her neck. He pulled her in with a warm feeling, sending electricity through Rina’s toes. She could smell that deep comforting scent again. Their body shapes somehow complimented each other. She wanted to stay like this--
-- Sho quickly walked up and bopped Ohno on the head, interrupting the moment. “Too long!” he reprimanded, giving Ohno a steady look. Ohno pulled away from Sho’s cousin with a sheepish look and bobbed in apology.
With the blindfold still on, Rina announced her best and worst. Best - number seven. Ohno gave the guys all a smug look as the audience clapped. Worst - number three. They felt sorry for the embarrassed staff member. Rina would make sure to apologize to him after the show was over; it definitely wouldn’t be good if she were to work with him later on. Removing the blindfolds, she saw the numbers, and blushed at the contented look on Ohno’s face.
Ohno's so cute when he's smug XD I know this is from HnA...
Aiba faced the crowd with his lively smile. “Shiodome Aibaland! In short…?!”
“Ailando~!” the audience cheered. Island? Love land? Rina wasn’t sure.
“I’ve heard that Rina-chan likes fashion, is that right? Well then, you will enjoy this. This game was submitted by Koufushou-san from Ginza: Newspaper costume battle!”
They divided into two teams, and those who lost at janken would be the models. They drew different themes and had three minutes to create costumes from newspaper and tape. It was an embarrassing frenzy of flying supplies. When it was finished, they ended up with a mermaid Sho whose newspaper bra highlighted the sports section, and a gnome Nino complete with a crunchy beard and cone hat. Sho started doing the hula very stiffly. Nino crouched down to make himself as little as possible and shifted his eyes (reminiscent of his alien CM). Amazingly, Ogura-san picked the Sho-Rina-Aiba trio as the winners. They congratulated each other gleefully.
Behind the scenes after the show, Rina was surprisingly included in greeting the special girls who had won backstage passes. The fans were given a small tour of the control room and wardrobe and such, and more importantly were given the chance to talk to the stars. Rina stood right beside Arashi, but the girls still noticed her and talked to her as if they were good girl friends.
“Katsumi-san, what’s going to happen with you and Izumi-san?” one of them asked breathlessly.
“Izumi-san, hmm?” Sho muttered suspiciously, earning an amused look from Rina.
“I have no idea. We’re just acquaintances, really.” Rina smiled. “He’s certainly entertaining though.”
“I think he likes you.” the fan nodded. “Last week’s episode - when he left Endo-san’s side and went to sit with you in the cafeteria - that was so cute!”
It sounded and awful lot like a cheesy high school drama to Rina, but Aiba and Nino whistled jokingly.
“I think you should watch out for him.” the other girl said knowingly. “He’s stayed back two years because he never finished his senior thesis, right? That means he’s like… four years older than you. Guys like that are only looking for one thing.”
Ohno, who had been rather silent, was starting to feel rather dejected from this conversation.
“Well… I think these guys are an exception, don’t you think?” Rina wanted to quickly steer away from the subject. She chose one of them at random. “For example - Ninomiya-san is several years older, but I’m positive he would only be an absolute gentleman if he dated you. Deshou, Ninomiya-san?”
He covered his surprise. “Uh - Ah, of course. You’re safe with me.” Nino did his cocky salute, sending the young girls wheeling into a fit of giggles; they leaned on each other for support. This reaction could always be expected, especially when done at close range.
Ending will a cool picture of Nino :)
Cropped from scans by crystalove87
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Lol sorry so random... In my mind, I imagine the hugging bit to be like AnS 133.