How to Fall in Love (1/?)
Title: How to Fall in Love Without Really Trying (1/?)
Author: smile-arigatou
Rating: PG
Genre: Romance, fluff, comedy
Pairing: SAKURAIBA! (woohoo!), Ohmiya, Jun x Mao
Summary: It’s 2014, Arashi’s 15th anniversary. For the members themselves, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to actually perform and hold a concert in Hawaii. For Yuki Sakurai, it’s her grand opportunity to finally try and get her Papa and Uncle Aiba together and fall in love and be happily ever after!
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Chapter one: Before Hawaii
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“So this is the setlist you’ve decided on?”
Uncle Jun nodded. “Yeah, I think so. Once we actually get to Hawaii, though, it might change. We’ve never done anything completely like this before.”
Yuki bounced up into a chair and tried to read the paper in front of her uncle. She couldn’t actually read just yet, but she had begun to recognize certain characters that her uncles would read to her whenever she asked. She already knew the kanji for ‘Arashi’ and she could recognize her name pretty well and songs like ‘My Girl’ and ‘Kansha’ she could pick out. Papa had also gotten her started on learning her hiragana and katakana, so Yuki could read names with that easily. The only thing Yuki couldn’t seem to get a hand on yet was English. The different letters confused her, but Papa said it would take time.
Uncle Jun pushed the piece of paper towards the little girl. “What do you think, Yuki-chan?” he asked. “Look like a good song list?”
Yuki smiled. “Looks good!”
“By the way,” Uncle Nino spoke up. “How are we going to get all of our equipment to Hawaii? That’s a long ways from here.”
“They’ll probably fly it.”
“Eh?” Yuki asked. “But isn’t all of your things here in Tokyo? Just build it here for the concert.”
Everyone looked at each other. “Yuki,” Uncle Nino said. “Where is Hawaii?”
Yuki shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Aiba-shi quickly pulled up a map on his phone and handed it to Yuki. All she saw was a group of green dots surrounded by blue. “This is Hawaii,” Aiba-shi said before expanding his map and pointing at another group of islands. “And this is Japan. We have to fly by airplane to get there.”
At this news, Yuki’s heart sunk. “You mean the special concert isn’t here in Tokyo?” she asked. When her uncles shook their heads, Yuki wanted to cry. “I really wanted to go to your special concert.”
“Yuki-chan,” Uncle Satoshi said. “Why don’t you think you’ll be able to come?”
“Papa never lets me go to concerts unless they’re with Aunt Mai in Tokyo.”
Everyone seemed to understand at once. And it was because of Papa’s rule that Yuki knew she probably wasn’t going to get the chance to go to Arashi’s special concert. Papa never really allowed her to travel with him even though she always wanted to.
“This time we’ll have to convince Sho-chan!” Aiba-shi announced. “It’s unfair!”
“What’s unfair?”
Yuki turned around and jumped off her chair to go run up to Papa. Papa reached out his arms and picked up his daughter so that she was resting on his hip. “How’s my snowflake?” Papa asked smiling.
“Good,” Yuki answered. “Are you done with work today?”
“Not yet,” Papa said. “We still have two hours of VS Arashi to record, then I have another photoshoot after that. Now, why don’t you tell me what your Aiba-shi is so upset about.”
Aiba-shi walked up to Papa. “You should let Yuki-chan come with us for our Hawaii trip. She’s never been on something like this, and you never let her anywhere near the concert making or behind the scenes things. Maybe she would like to go this time.”
“Aiba, the reason I don’t let Yuki near the rehearsals is because that’s where all the cameras are!” Papa sighed. “And I’ve told you this before! I really don’t know if I want my daughter to be filmed like we are on a daily basis.”
“Sho-chan, it’s not like she’s a secret,” Uncle Jun said as Yuki slipped out of her father’s arms to go sit with Uncle Satoshi. “The whole world already knows she exists. Why don’t you let her around work sometimes? She behaves herself better than most four year olds I know.”
“That’s because we’ve all raised her not to be a spoiled brat,” Uncle Nino said without looking up from his game.
“And that’s obviously something she never learned from you,” Uncle Jun spat back.
Papa groaned. “I don’t even know if Johnny-sama would allow it. He’s so strict. And I remember I had to fight to my very last ounce of strength to even let her come to work with me here!”
“One look at her and he’ll be hooked. C’mon, Sho-chan. Just give her a chance. She behaves like an angel! And besides, it might be refreshing for me to have a fresh pair of eyes helping me plan the concerts.” Uncle Jun winked at Yuki before smiling. “What about it, Yuki-chan? Want to help me plan our special concert?”
Yuki gasped and smiled. “Really? Uncle Jun, you’ll let me help?”
“If your papa lets you.”
As fast as she could, Yuki ran up to her father. “Please, Papa! Please let me help Uncle Jun! I’ll be good, I promise! I won’t cause any trouble at all!”
“Just ask!” Uncle Nino told Papa. “Ask Johnny! The worst he could say is no.”
“You really should,” Uncle Satoshi added. “It would be really nice to have her around. She’s our special good luck charm after all.”
Papa thought for a second before he knelt down next to Yuki. “Do you really want to come with us that badly?”
Yuki nodded.
“We’ll be away from home for two weeks. Is that okay?”
She nodded again.
“And being filmed and put on camera? It’s a lot different than you think. Everyone in the whole world will suddenly see you. If you don’t like being on camera, you tell me right away.”
“I promise I will, Papa.”
Papa nodded. “Then I’ll go ask Johnny-sama.”
Yuki nodded back. “Thank you, Papa!”
--
Sometimes, Yuki had no idea how her Papa did the amazing things he did. Not only did Johnny-sama allow her to go to Hawaii with everyone, but he allowed her to be filmed and put on camera if her and Papa wanted to. Yuki thought either Papa is really good at convincing Johnny-sama or he used a magic spell on him to make him change his mind.
“Stage one complete!” Uncle Nino whispered to Yuki as they ate lunch of store bought bento together. It was Tuesday. Tuesday was always Yuki’s lunch date with Uncle Nino. Monday’s were dates with Uncle Satoshi, Wednesday’s were dates with Uncle Jun, Thursday was Aiba-shi’s day, and Friday belonged to Papa. “When we leave for Hawaii, our second stage will be put into place as long as J doesn’t get in the way.”
Yuki ate her shrimp and tried to hurry and eat it so that she could talk. When she swallowed, she answered. “Do you really think this will work, Uncle Nino?” she asked. “What if Papa and Aiba-shi don’t realize they’re in love?”
Uncle Nino smiled. “Don’t worry about that.” He leaned in as if telling her a secret. “Us uncle’s will do our parts perfectly. Everything will work as planned.”
“I hope so,” Yuki said. “I don’t want to see Papa sad anymore.”
“And I’m tired of seeing both men avoiding each other.”
When they got back to the Jimshou, Papa smiled. “Yuki-chan, guess what! I have a surprise for you!”
“Really?!” Yuki jumped. “Papa, what is it?”
“Your Aunt Mai is going to come visit us in Hawaii for a few days! She’ll be there for the concert, but afterwards she’ll have to come back to Japan.”
“Eh?” Uncle Nino said for both him and Yuki. “You mean she’s coming with us?”
Papa looked up at him. “Is that a problem?” When Uncle Nino said nothing, then he turned back to Yuki. “Also, your Uncle Toshio is coming with as well! That way you don’t have to alone in Hawaii.”
“But Papa!” Yuki told him. “I won’t be alone! I’ll be with you and Arashi.”
Papa sighed. “Yuki-chan, I don’t know if I really want you with us while we’re filming all the time.”
“Then what’s the point of even bringing her along?” Uncle Nino snapped just as Uncle Satoshi, Uncle Jun, and Aiba-shi walked into the greenroom. “If she’s going to be up in a hotel room for twelve days, why even bring her along?”
Papa stood up. “She won’t be up in a hotel room for twelve days! Mai and Toshio will probably take her places like the zoo, the beach-“
“Wait,” Uncle Jun spoke up. “Your pawning your daughter off on your sister?”
“That’s not fair!” Aiba-shi added.
“Exactly!” Uncle Nino glared at Papa. “What the literal hell, Sakurai? Part of the reason why she wanted to come on this trip was so that she could hang out with you! You’re her father!”
“And I will!” Papa said trying to defend himself. “And your acting like I’m just gonna leave her and not give a damn!”
“That’s exactly what you’re doing!” Uncle Jun sounded angry, and Yuki quickly went over to Uncle Satoshi to be out of the way. Uncle Satoshi was always her safe haven when arguments began. Uncle Satoshi never fought, and most of the time he colored with her until everyone was done fighting. As Uncle Jun continued, Uncle Satoshi took Yuki’s hand and led her over to the small table in front of the couch and got out Yuki’s drawing pad and crayons out of the bag underneath the table. “You’re just going to give her to your sister while we go around Hawaii and do our thing? When was the last time you actually spent time with your daughter?”
“I spend time with her all the time!”
“Yeah, when we’re working! How about outside of work?”
“I don’t really want my daughter to be filmed!”
“Well that’s kind of inevitable at this point! You told Johnny-sama it was okay. You’re shielding her away from your job! Why don’t you actually let her see her father at work instead of keeping her locked away in a room?”
Meanwhile, Uncle Satoshi leaned over to Yuki and whispered. “What are you making?” he asked as he looked at her three red stick figures on her paper.
Yuki put down her crayon and answered. “It’s Papa, Uncle Jun, and Uncle Nino fighting.”
“Why does Uncle Jun have that big red line on his head?”
“That’s his angry line on his forehead.” After a second, the two realized how quiet it was and they looked up to see that the other four were looking at them with looks of curiosity and surprise.
“She drew it, not me,” Uncle Satoshi told them.
Finally, Uncle Jun took a deep breath and looked at Papa. “I can’t tell you what to do,” he said. “But I think it’s unfair how Yuki won’t have any time to spend with her father. You realize she’s never seen a rehearsal, right? She’s never gotten to hang out with us while we’re relaxed on camera. And on top of it, we’re going to Hawaii! A vacation! Don’t you think she gets to have a vacation with her father? Who knows when we’ll have another opportunity like this again.”
Yuki watched her father to see what kind of reaction he would have. Papa stood there in silence for a moment before he nodded at Uncle Jun. “You’re right. It’s unfair of me to do that to her.” Papa looked back at Yuki before going over to sit next to her. “Yuki-chan, I’m sorry. I guess I wasn’t thinking about us.”
“That’s okay, Papa,” Yuki smiled.
“No, it’s not!” Papa insisted. “I promised you that I would take you to Hawaii and we would have fun, and I promise you I’m going to do that.” He brushed some hair out of Yuki’s face and kept his hand on her cheek. “Okay? I promise.”
Yuki had never seen her father this serious before. She knew that he meant every word, and she nodded to let him know it was okay. “I accept your promise!”
--
“Yuki-chan!” Aiba-shi smiled, picking up the little girl and putting her on the makeup table as he sat down in front of the mirror. “Are you excited about going to Hawaii tomorrow?”
“Yeah!” Yuki beamed. “Aiba-shi, are you excited?”
Aiba-shi nodded. “I am. You know, the last time I was in Hawaii with Arashi, I wasn’t able to really enjoy myself.”
“Why is that?”
“Well, that was about the time that I had to go to the hospital for my lung. The doctors ordered me not to do a lot of dancing or singing, so I couldn’t really be with Arashi.”
Yuki remembered being told that a long time ago. She had seen pictures of Aiba-shi when he was younger and in the hospital. Papa was so scared, she thought, even looking at pictures that happened a long time ago.
“That’s why!” Aiba-shi took her hands in his and swinged them slightly. “That’s why this trip is so important! Hawaii is a magical place. Dreams come true in Hawaii.”
“Like fairy tale dreams?” Yuki’s eyes lit up. “Like where the prince and the princess fall in love and live happily ever after dreams?” As soon as she said it, Yuki covered her mouth.
Aiba-shi watched carefully. “Why are you covering your mouth?” he asked. As Yuki tried to think of something to say, her favorite uncle only smiled and ruffled her hair. “I bet Sho-chan has been saying nonsense stuff again like ‘fairy tales don’t exist’ or something, huh. Well, fairy tales do exist. Don’t ever believe otherwise.”
Relieved that her plan wasn’t ruined, Yuki nodded. “Aiba-shi, can we watch a movie tonight?” she asked.
Standing up and picking up Yuki, Aiba-shi thought. “Well, I suppose so,” he answered. “I’m taking you home tonight, huh? Papa still has to work. I guess we could watch a movie. What movie do you want to watch tonight? Anna and Elsa?”
“Nope!” Yuki shook her head. “’Snow White’!”
“’Snow White’ it is!” Aiba-shi announced. “Now, let’s get you home before it gets too late!”
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A/N: So apparently, my entire playlist for this story is going to be a lot of Disney songs and Arashi love songs /hittingmeintheliteralfeels
Here's chapter one! I'm working on ch.1 for 'Missing' too so be on the lookout! But with school and everything, I'm certainly trying! Thank you for reading and please continue to look after me! Oh, and comments are love :3 <3 <3