{Shades of Blue Chapter 9
- After School -
Ami and Kaori were at their shoe lockers, changing their shoes once again.
"Hey Ami, wanna hang out today after school? We don't have a lot of home work to night, so what do you say?"
"Sure, I guess that's okay. So what are we going to do?"
"Oh, I thought you'd like to meet the rest of my friends. You'll really like Shou, Hideki, and Keito."
"Keito?"
"Yeah, you know him?"
"Ah, not really."
"Oh, but once you do get to know him, I'm sure you will."
You have no idea Kaori.
"Come on Ami! The boys are waiting at the park!"
"Boys? Just boys?"
"Yeah, all my girlfriends have work or chores to do."
"Yup! Now let's go before they accuse us of being fashionably late!"
Kaori took off down the street followed by Ami.
- - - - - - - - - -
- Park -
They both arrived at the park a few minutes later, giggly and hyper. The boys were waiting by a table near by and Shou hopped up to great them.
"Kaori! Ami! We thought you guys ditched us!"
"Nonsense! We would never do that! Unless there was a sale." Kaori winked at Ami as Shou put his arms around both of their shoulders.
"Ami, this is Hideki."
Shou gestured to a guy with glasses, who was pretty cute and decently tall.
"And this is Keito." Shou then gestured to Keito, who was sitting on the right of Hideki, with wide eyes.
"Konnichiwa Ami-chan. Hideki-desu."
Ami nodded her head shyly towards him.
"Konnichiwa Fujiok Ami, Okamoto Keito-desu."
Noticing the tension and awkwardness that was building, Kaori began to speak.
"Hey, uh, I thought Keito had dance rehearsal no?"
"Yeah, I do. Thanks for reminding me Kaori."
Keito bowed his head good bye and grabbed his bag and left.
Ami knew she has to follow Keito, so she excused herself from her new friends and left, hot on Keito's trail.
- - - - - - - - -
Running out of the front gates in her 'pursuit', Ami was surprised to find that Keito wasn't walking down the street, but standing there, looking straight at her.
It was pretty awkward, with Keito staring at her like that. Kind of as if his eyes were boring deep within her soul. His stare made Ami feel like some stalker. She was caught red-handed but it wasn't like she was obsessed with the boy. Right? Whatever the case was, it was too late to ponder the consequences since he was just standing there. But the question is, why?
- - - - - - - - -
Everything was moving in slow motion. It was as if some force made him stop walking and turn to face the gate. As soon as he looked up, his gaze met a very surprised AMi. The look on her face reminded him of the not long ago past. It was the look that she would get if something went wrong, the look of guilt he recalled.
Her face was turning bright red, Ami could feel her face flush with color and warmth. Some would say she looked cute, but this was down right embarrassing. She was caught following, not stalking, Okamoto Keito. The Okamoto Keito, the one who's part of the famous, most sought after boy group, Hey! Say! JUMP. Wait until her friends back in England hear about this. They'll all have a hearty laugh all right. Think of the headlines, Crazy fangirl stalks Hey! Say! JUMP member, Okamoto Keito, from school. Ami shuddered at the thoughts.
Just as she was preparing her self for some name calling, anything, something else happened. Keito began to speak.
"Ami-chan, I've missed you."
It was as if a weight was lifted. The words he'd been holding back all day and now he told her. He missed her and it's as simple as that.
- - - - - - - - - -
Ami-chan, I've missed you...
The words kept repeating in her head. She couldn't help herself and blurted out the question any ways.
"Keito, so you do remember?"
"It took some time, but yes. I do remember."
Keito was walking over to Ami now, hands in his pockets.
"Oh, well that's good right?"
"Yeah, it is. And I've seemed to have noticed that your Japanese has improved hmm?"
"And so has yours, Keito-kun."
They were both smiling now. While Ami's was a sunshine bright grin, Keito was the opposite; all that was shown was a shy smile. One rarely seen now days.
Complete opposites? Not totally. Friends forever? Always.
“Hey Ami, want to come to dance practice with me? I’m sure you’re already aware of Hey! Say! JUMP.”
“All too clearly Keito and I have no homework tonight so why not?”
“Okay. Cool so let us go!”
The two began walking, discussing miniscule things such as teachers, friends, and of course reminiscing about the past.
- - - - - - - - - -
- At the Jimosho -
“Gahhh… Keito’s never this late! Practice was supposed to start half an hour ago! Ugh…” Hikaru began to complain.
“Maybe he has cram school?” Ryosuke politely suggested.
“If he did, he would have at least phoned one of us. But whatever the case he better get here-”
Yabu was cut off when the door opened and Keito appeared… with a girl?
“Keito! Finally you’re here! And you brought a friend!” Chinen chirped from his spot on Takaki’s lap.
With a smile on his face Keito replied happily, “Oh, yeah. Guys, this is Ami. I’m sure some of you met her before.”
Daiki was spitting out his rice, spluttering grains all over the table and the front of his shirt.
“Nani?! Keito, YOU’RE FRIENDS WITH HER?!” Daiki hollered.
Keito just remained calm, and shrugged his shoulders. “Uh yeah. We were best friends until I moved.”
“Oh…” Daiki was recollecting his thoughts and mumbling incoherent sentences as he turned back to his rice.
“Anyways-” Keito turned his attention to Ami.
“-since I know you love to dance and sing, why don’t you join us? As long as Yabu doesn’t mind.”
“Me? Oh, I don’t mind, she can stay for as long as she wants. But now let’s begin the long delayed rehearsal.”
Yabu got up and led the rest of the group into a large rehearsal room, followed by Chinen, Ami, and Keito having a brief discussion about how cold England was and what A & F stood for and why.
- - - - - - - - - -
- Practice Room -
Dance practice had begun and well, Ami was loosing interest since she wasn’t the one out on the dance floor. She didn’t know why, but she really wanted to just join them. Show them what she can do. But she stayed quiet and watched some more.
The moves were swift, quick and precise. All the things for a prefect dance. It was… amazing. How fast they changed from one move to the next, all interlinked into one another, forming a work of art of moving bodies and rhythm. It was such a great spectacle to watch, all the members were working together, dancing as one. And she, Fujioka Ami knew she wanted, and was, a part of this world.
Minutes passed as she hesitated, wanting to join but too scared to say anything. This was not the Ami everyone back home knew, and she wasn’t going to let it change here. So, she sucked up all her courage and walked up to Yabu.
“Anou… Yabu-kun?”
“Yes Ami-chan?”
“Can I join in?”
“Uhh… why not? Some of the boys need some help with the moves. Ultra Music Power is pretty much an ‘all dances’ song.”
“Oh really? You’ll let me join?”
“Isn’t that what I just said?”
“Hai! Arigatou gozaimasu!”
Ami and Kaori were at their shoe lockers, changing their shoes once again.
"Hey Ami, wanna hang out today after school? We don't have a lot of home work to night, so what do you say?"
"Sure, I guess that's okay. So what are we going to do?"
"Oh, I thought you'd like to meet the rest of my friends. You'll really like Shou, Hideki, and Keito."
"Keito?"
"Yeah, you know him?"
"Ah, not really."
"Oh, but once you do get to know him, I'm sure you will."
You have no idea Kaori.
"Come on Ami! The boys are waiting at the park!"
"Boys? Just boys?"
"Yeah, all my girlfriends have work or chores to do."
"Yup! Now let's go before they accuse us of being fashionably late!"
Kaori took off down the street followed by Ami.
- - - - - - - - - -
- Park -
They both arrived at the park a few minutes later, giggly and hyper. The boys were waiting by a table near by and Shou hopped up to great them.
"Kaori! Ami! We thought you guys ditched us!"
"Nonsense! We would never do that! Unless there was a sale." Kaori winked at Ami as Shou put his arms around both of their shoulders.
"Ami, this is Hideki."
Shou gestured to a guy with glasses, who was pretty cute and decently tall.
"And this is Keito." Shou then gestured to Keito, who was sitting on the right of Hideki, with wide eyes.
"Konnichiwa Ami-chan. Hideki-desu."
Ami nodded her head shyly towards him.
"Konnichiwa Fujiok Ami, Okamoto Keito-desu."
Noticing the tension and awkwardness that was building, Kaori began to speak.
"Hey, uh, I thought Keito had dance rehearsal no?"
"Yeah, I do. Thanks for reminding me Kaori."
Keito bowed his head good bye and grabbed his bag and left.
Ami knew she has to follow Keito, so she excused herself from her new friends and left, hot on Keito's trail.
- - - - - - - - -
Running out of the front gates in her 'pursuit', Ami was surprised to find that Keito wasn't walking down the street, but standing there, looking straight at her.
It was pretty awkward, with Keito staring at her like that. Kind of as if his eyes were boring deep within her soul. His stare made Ami feel like some stalker. She was caught red-handed but it wasn't like she was obsessed with the boy. Right? Whatever the case was, it was too late to ponder the consequences since he was just standing there. But the question is, why?
- - - - - - - - -
Everything was moving in slow motion. It was as if some force made him stop walking and turn to face the gate. As soon as he looked up, his gaze met a very surprised AMi. The look on her face reminded him of the not long ago past. It was the look that she would get if something went wrong, the look of guilt he recalled.
Her face was turning bright red, Ami could feel her face flush with color and warmth. Some would say she looked cute, but this was down right embarrassing. She was caught following, not stalking, Okamoto Keito. The Okamoto Keito, the one who's part of the famous, most sought after boy group, Hey! Say! JUMP. Wait until her friends back in England hear about this. They'll all have a hearty laugh all right. Think of the headlines, Crazy fangirl stalks Hey! Say! JUMP member, Okamoto Keito, from school. Ami shuddered at the thoughts.
Just as she was preparing her self for some name calling, anything, something else happened. Keito began to speak.
"Ami-chan, I've missed you."
It was as if a weight was lifted. The words he'd been holding back all day and now he told her. He missed her and it's as simple as that.
- - - - - - - - - -
Ami-chan, I've missed you...
The words kept repeating in her head. She couldn't help herself and blurted out the question any ways.
"Keito, so you do remember?"
"It took some time, but yes. I do remember."
Keito was walking over to Ami now, hands in his pockets.
"Oh, well that's good right?"
"Yeah, it is. And I've seemed to have noticed that your Japanese has improved hmm?"
"And so has yours, Keito-kun."
They were both smiling now. While Ami's was a sunshine bright grin, Keito was the opposite; all that was shown was a shy smile. One rarely seen now days.
Complete opposites? Not totally. Friends forever? Always.
“Hey Ami, want to come to dance practice with me? I’m sure you’re already aware of Hey! Say! JUMP.”
“All too clearly Keito and I have no homework tonight so why not?”
“Okay. Cool so let us go!”
The two began walking, discussing miniscule things such as teachers, friends, and of course reminiscing about the past.
- - - - - - - - - -
- At the Jimosho -
“Gahhh… Keito’s never this late! Practice was supposed to start half an hour ago! Ugh…” Hikaru began to complain.
“Maybe he has cram school?” Ryosuke politely suggested.
“If he did, he would have at least phoned one of us. But whatever the case he better get here-”
Yabu was cut off when the door opened and Keito appeared… with a girl?
“Keito! Finally you’re here! And you brought a friend!” Chinen chirped from his spot on Takaki’s lap.
With a smile on his face Keito replied happily, “Oh, yeah. Guys, this is Ami. I’m sure some of you met her before.”
Daiki was spitting out his rice, spluttering grains all over the table and the front of his shirt.
“Nani?! Keito, YOU’RE FRIENDS WITH HER?!” Daiki hollered.
Keito just remained calm, and shrugged his shoulders. “Uh yeah. We were best friends until I moved.”
“Oh…” Daiki was recollecting his thoughts and mumbling incoherent sentences as he turned back to his rice.
“Anyways-” Keito turned his attention to Ami.
“-since I know you love to dance and sing, why don’t you join us? As long as Yabu doesn’t mind.”
“Me? Oh, I don’t mind, she can stay for as long as she wants. But now let’s begin the long delayed rehearsal.”
Yabu got up and led the rest of the group into a large rehearsal room, followed by Chinen, Ami, and Keito having a brief discussion about how cold England was and what A & F stood for and why.
- - - - - - - - - -
- Practice Room -
Dance practice had begun and well, Ami was loosing interest since she wasn’t the one out on the dance floor. She didn’t know why, but she really wanted to just join them. Show them what she can do. But she stayed quiet and watched some more.
The moves were swift, quick and precise. All the things for a prefect dance. It was… amazing. How fast they changed from one move to the next, all interlinked into one another, forming a work of art of moving bodies and rhythm. It was such a great spectacle to watch, all the members were working together, dancing as one. And she, Fujioka Ami knew she wanted, and was, a part of this world.
Minutes passed as she hesitated, wanting to join but too scared to say anything. This was not the Ami everyone back home knew, and she wasn’t going to let it change here. So, she sucked up all her courage and walked up to Yabu.
“Anou… Yabu-kun?”
“Yes Ami-chan?”
“Can I join in?”
“Uhh… why not? Some of the boys need some help with the moves. Ultra Music Power is pretty much an ‘all dances’ song.”
“Oh really? You’ll let me join?”
“Isn’t that what I just said?”
“Hai! Arigatou gozaimasu!”