"I thought we agreed to court her slowly? How could you asked her out on a date without telling and get yourself caught by the media?"

An upset Yamada Ryosuke approached a scared Kamiki Ryunosuke in the very café the young actor met their long-time friend last month. He did not start his conversation with the actor with his usual hi-five slap, nor did he even pause to acknowledge his non-bandmates best friend.

The young idol narrowed his eyes upon the fidgeting young actor, wishing that he could strangle Kamiki Ryunosuke for throwing such a twist into his… err… their perfect plan.

Taking in a deep breath, Kamiki Ryunosuke stuttered out an almost rehearsed reply to the young idol, clearly revealing that he was also in shock of the scandal.

"I... I was just telling her about our neighbourhood. You knew about the girls moving into my neighbourhood don't you? Ohgo-chan has asked for my help in planning their sleepover in Shibuya to ensure that there is enough time for Mirai-chan to travel to PARCO. And you know how much of a perfectionist Mirai-chan could be! So I just thought I will help her out with the move since she is still busy with her play... I never thought it would turn out that way.... Mirai-Chan is going to get mad with me for this...Oh no…! She hates being the centre of attention! But I didn’t do anything… I can’t do anything at all. I am even banned from commenting by my management! I don’t even know how we could be seen or captured by paparazzi! I have never seen any since I started staying there!"

Rolling his eyes at his panicking best friend, Yamada Ryosuke sighed aloud as Kamiki Ryunosuke addressed his worst fear unknowingly.

The young actress who had caught their eyes since the days of their childhood acting project Tantei Gakuen Q with her unpretentiousness had never been a big fan of attention. Despite her fame as a genius child actress and being the only double Best Actress Awardee of their age, Shida Mirai had always been that down-to-earth girl next door to everybody.

She was considered the best of their age in the industry. Teachers adored her maturity and would task her with the job as one of the class representatives despite her busy schedule.

But she was the most popular girl of their class simply because she had that ability to put anyone at peace and allowed them to act themselves in front of her. It was that rarity that drawn all their famous classmates to her like moth to a flame.

“Yes, people know my name because of the work I do. But aside from that, I am nobody special. I am very much like any other girl you see on the street,” the young actress would insist whenever anyone tried to convince her otherwise.

What the young actress did not realise was, that was the exact reason why she was endeared to the public and her friends.

"Baka! I am going to ask Kawahima-chan how Mirai-chan is doing. Knowing her, she must have been very shocked by all these sudden attention! I hope she will not be overwhelmed by them especially when she has a play to do," Yamada Ryosuke frowned worriedly as he glanced through his tweeter feeds on his mobile.

The reaction of the netizens and media was unexpected.

Instead of the hatred and ugly posts they had expected of when learned of the scandal, the thought of Kamiki Ryunosuke and Shida Mirai being an item was actually blessed by the public.

Some would even say that this was probably the only rumoured couple which was well-received by the Japanese media and netizens. Simply because they grew up together as the nation’s favourite genius chid actor and actress.

Discussions on how well-matched the two were since their collaboration in Tantei Gakuen Q made Yamada Ryosuke grinded his teeth angrily.

Had the public forgotten that he was also part of the cast of Tantei Gakuen Q and that he too, shared many similarities with her?

Growing up with her? Checked!

Acted in Tantei Gakuen Q? Checked!

Same Age? Check!

Same Birthday month and almost same day? Checked!

Classmate in Horikoshi High School? Check!

Strawberries lovers? Checked!

It was frustrating how he was often overlooked by the public simply because he was the untouchable famous Johnny idol.

Even Mirai-chan had joked about him being an idol and how she was fearful of idols and their jealous fans whenever the tables were him.

But strangely enough, Mirai-chan got along well with his bandmate, Nakajima Yuto, to include the young idol in her network of friends. It was moments like these; he had a love-hate relationship with Yuto and Kamiki.

He liked how they could update him about the little things happening in her life.

But he also disliked how he could never get close enough to hear from her first hand unlike them.

They said that Mirai-chan was sad that he ignored her during their first year but soon thought of that it was another Johnny rule when she noticed how he would distance himself from all girls.

But she had never mentioned anything to him nor did she try to find out the real reason for his isolation. Because if she did, she would have known that it was because of her.

He could not tell her that he was easily overwhelmed by her presence or that how different she look at the age of sixteen when compared to fourteen? Her maturity and the way she tried to do her best in every task given to her, made him felt as though he was not good enough for her.

She was the reason why he pushed himself to be better, hoping that he would become somebody more reliable to her than that scary-cat Yama-chan she remembered.

"Ne Yama-chan, you are being unfair! I am also affected by the scandal but you never thought of asking about me?"

Kamiki Ryunosuke frowned at his best friend unhappily as he realised that the young idol was once again in deep thought about their long-time friend.

Kamiki supposed that he was in a better position than Yamada because he was one of the very few male friends who could stand beside the young actress and not suffer from any public lash-back.

But that opened another can of worms for him as well.

Because of the close relationship he shared with the young actress, he felt as though he had been drafted into another untouchable territory by the very girl sometimes.

Even Ohgo-chan agreed with him on that and wondered about the way the mind of their friend work. It was also during such discussion they have realised that the young actress has no clear understanding of relationship despite yearning to have one.  

"You do know that there is a BIG difference between best friends and girlfriend right?" Yamada Ryosuke smirked at the question asked and answered in a matter of fact manner.

"I know… That’s why I am troubled by her choice of song in her diary…” Kamiki Ryunosuke nodded his head sadly for a moment before he realised that real meaning behind Yamada’s words and exclaimed aloud. “Matte! Since when has she become your girlfriend, Yama-chan? Don’t tell me you have been secretly making moves on her!"

"Since she called you her friend forever in her Dairy so subtly, Baka! You have to agree that she is really very smart to include that in one of her diary entries for public. I am sure that she is also banned from commenting to the public by her company, but the way she does it is so Kakkoii! Unlike you, Baka!" Yamada Ryosuke snickered at Kamiki Ryunosuke’s wide eyes shocked look and decided to tease his friend further.

"Mou! I really hate you Yama-chan sometimes! Don’t think that I have missed how you have tried to get closer to her by making appearance near her events! The one at Disneyland and PARCO were so obvious that I am surprised she didn’t realise it," Kamiki Ryunosuke growled in displease at the reminder of his lack of response.

It was not just Yamada who had on it but the rest of the D class had constantly for not growing a backbone and commenting about the scandal when Mirai-chan had stepped in to deny in a subtle and public manner worth of everyone’s admiration.

But he could not. Not when he had projects going on now. Not when their relationship status remained unclear. There was nothing he could claim aside from the usual ‘just friends’ as what was mentioned by his agency.

There were far too many things to consider before he could word his own response to the scandal. He wanted to protect her as well and to tell the truth. But would the public believe it if he revealed that Ohgo-chan and Kawahima-chan were with her when it happened? He would be dragging more people down with his honesty and Mirai-chan would probably get more upset with him for causing more unwanted attention.

Like Shida Mirai, he could also be considered somewhat of a perfectionist. But unlike her, he would prefer being more prepared before rushing into any situation, a trait which Mirai-chan had found to be too troublesome for her forwardness.

“The same for me, I hate you too,” Yamada Ryosuke nodded his head in agreement with a little smile, “you have no idea how much suffering you have put me through with that scandal! For a moment I almost thought that I have lost for good. Even Yuri had avoided me during the last few days since the scandal broke out because I was too gloomy.”

“Ah… that was why fans were discussing why you looked so unhappy recently. I didn’t realise that the scandal has affected you so much,” Kamiki Ryunosuke grinned as he recalled reading about how fans were worrying over their idol recently.

"You know that there is only one thing in this world that I would never support you in and that's it!" Yamada Ryosuke remarked seriously, “You are one of my closest friends, but what we agreed previously still stands. Until she makes a decision, we will not going to push her further.”

"Hmmmm but I have seen the song and it's also promising a future together, plus you have seen the support I have on the Internet... We are the most approved and best matched couple!" Kamiki Ryunosuke teased his friend mercilessly in an attempt to get back at the young idol for his words earlier.

"Yet you are banned from your company from making a comment about this rumour when Mirai-chan has made her point," Yamada Ryosuke wriggled a brow at him, “Eien Friends!”

"Urusai, idol!" Kamiki Ryunosuke glared at his best friend bitingly.

The two young men stared at each other for a while before breaking into laughter just like before.

They might have been older now, but that friendship has never changed since 2007, along with the promise they made to each other at the age of twenty-one years old.

The promise to stand by her as they try to open her eyes slowly to something new to her was a hard one. But they agreed that it was the most manga-like situation suitable for someone like her.

Fate has it that, the three of them were all manga fans, and she did mention that she would like a manga-like relationship if possible.

So they would try to make it possible for her since she was that clueless to their feelings.

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AN: So I heard that some of you are waiting for Yamada's reaction to the rumour... This would be what I imagine for YamaShi and KamiShi...