**************************************************Author's Note*****************************************************************

This was supposed to be posted yesterday for Arashi's 5x13 anniversary but then RL came up. Anyway, here's another update...

-sachiyo_sama-

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“And that’s a wrap people! Good job, everyone! Thank you for all your hard work.” The satisfied photographer clapped his hands and bowed his head as he announced the end of the photo shoot. The crew members applauded with him and exchanged the same greeting.

In the middle of the packing up area, there stood the main subjects of the said photo shoot.

“Otsukaresama dea!” Inoue Mao bowed her head towards the photographer and the crew in gratitude for their care and help during the said photo shoot. She then turned towards Arashi and expressed her gratitude as well with a hasty bow.

The Arashi boys did the same and broke into smiles upon facing Mao.

Mao, in response, couldn’t help but blush at the sight of five handsome men beaming in front of her. “Anou… If you don’t mind, I’ll be on my way.” Mao shyly informed them. She took a quick bow and motioned to leave the area.

Arashi members were puzzled by Mao’s haste in leaving. Aiba suddenly grabbed a hold of Mao’s arm and pleaded, “Don’t go so soon yet, Mao-chan.”

Mao was surprised at Aiba’s action. “Eh? Aiba-san? What are you doing?” She wasn’t expecting for anyone to follow her and ask for her to stay.

“Oy Aiba! What do you think are you doing to Mao-chan?” Nino’s tone of voice was definitely different from the latter. “Let go of her!” Nino was being his bratty self again. Hearing that, Aiba immediately dropped the lady’s hand.

“Masaki, what on earth were you thinking of, suddenly grabbing her hand and asking her of some ridiculous act?” Sho sounded much like a father reprimanding his son for a naughty act.

Aiba just smiled and rubbed the back of his head in response. “My body kind of acted on its own. I’m sorry Mao-chan if I startled you with this silly act.”

Jun decided to just laugh this off. “Pardon this guy for his action. ‘Think before you act’ does not apply to him.”

“Ah. Uhm. It’s okay. I don’t really mind.” Mao quickly averted her gaze from Jun towards the others. “I really must go. It was a real pleasure to be working with all of you.”

“Mao, I really want to get in touch with you. If it’s okay, can I have your number?” Nino flashed his most charming smile that fangirls would die to see in person.

Mao fished out her phone from her Burkin bag and exchanged numbers with the seventeen-looking dude. Nino just couldn’t help but wink at his co-members and be smug about what he did.

Ohno who has been observing the others the whole time spoke all of a sudden, “Mao-chan should I accompany you home?”

Mao had never been startled this many times in a day. Arashi was really a bunch of people full of surprises.

Guess this is part of their charm that captured the hearts of thousands of fans…

Mao walked towards him and touched his arm. “Thanks for the offer, Ohno-san. You’re really such a sweetie pie but I just can’t abandon my car here.” She gave a godly smile.

“So how about we all usher you to the parking lot? That’s where we’ll be going anyway.” Sho just got a message reminding that he and the rest of Arashi should already retire for the day. He passed on this message to the others just by pointing towards his watch as they went their way towards their vehicles.

Mao stopped in front of her car and turned around to face those five gorgeous idols. “See you some other time neh?” She bid them goodbye and then entered her car. As Mao started the engine, she could still view the boys on her side mirror, smiling and waving her goodbye. However what caught her attention was Jun’s smile. It was more of a smirk rather than the concrete smile the others are giving her. This intrigued her more and filled her mind as she started maneuvering the vehicle.

The Arashi boys went inside the company vehicle provided exclusively for their use. As the driver ignited the engine, the boys found time to finally relax after a whole of day filled with tiring activities. Nino rummaged through his bag and seized his beloved DS. His fingers started tapping through its buttons and this meant that it will be hard to get Nino’s attention all throughout the journey. Ohno, on the other hand, immediately fell asleep once he climbed inside the van. Nino saw this and was considerate enough to play with his DS on mute. Aiba opted to just turn on his iPod and listen to his favorite playlist. Only Jun and Sho were the ones who just sat inside the vehicle, basically doing nothing.

After minutes of pure silence, Sho decided to break it and faced Jun. In a hushed voice, he asked Jun something that has bothered him for a while. “Anou… Jun-kun… Have you noticed anything weird about Mao-chan?”

Jun was startled with this much unexpected question. “Eh? Not really. What do you mean by this?”

The newscaster-idol started to explain himself. “You see, I observed something very peculiar about her a while ago and this just happened to involve you.”

Upon hearing Sho’s last word, Jun smiled. “What? Me?”

“Yes. You. It was you whom Mao was secretly trying to avoid.”

“Is that so? Hmm. Well I guess it’s just a natural reaction to what I’ve done to her. Don’t worry, Sho-chan. Just wait and see. Everything will turn out to be right.”

“Eh? What did you do to Mao-chan?” Aiba shouted at Jun. This awakened Ohno. It also intrigued Nino who paused his game and leaned back unto his seat, wanting to listen to whatever his co-members will be saying.

“Oh nothing much. I just happened to kiss her. That’s all.” Jun had this smug look all over his face.

The other Arashi members couldn’t help but express their surprise. “Nande?” they said in unison.

Meanwhile, Mao was still on her way home whilst this conversation between Arashi was taking place. All the silence inside her car made Mao think about what happened between her and Jun in the photo shoot.

 *Flashback

“Cut!” Both Jun and Mao were startled upon hearing this word. They immediately broke off from each other. The color red could be seen from their faces. Mao unconsciously touched her lips.

While the photographer expressed his glee on the outcome of the photo shoot and the crew members started to clean up, Jun and Mao were pretty much still staring at each other. Jun’s intense stare on Mao made the latter blush and avert from this gaze.

While maintaining her eyes on the floor, Mao announced that she’ll be going back to her dressing room. With quick steps, she went towards the said room.

It has always been part of Matsumoto Jun’s personality to plan for his decisions in life. He is the kind of person who thinks not only twice, but more than that, before he acts. He always considers the consequences of all his actions. He was never the one to let his emotions cloud his thinking. Whatever possessed him to lean forward and kiss Mao was beyond his understanding. This is why he had to explain himself to her.

Jun, still contemplating on how to defend himself, followed Mao towards her dressing room. He was already at her door just a minute after Mao stepped inside.

Jun cleared his throat loud enough for Mao to turn his direction.

“Matsumoto-san! What brings you here?”

“Anou… I just want to explain what happened back there. About the kiss…” Jun stated while looking at his shoes. He was looking very handsome while doing this with his hands on his pockets.

Mao cut him off before he can finish. “You don’t have to explain. That was just part of the job, right? Don’t worry. I respect you as a professional on this field.” She was sporting a smile all the while she was saying this.

“A professional eh?  Want me to show you how the not-some-professional-actor Matsumoto Jun kisses?” Jun walked dangerously towards Mao. Mao in response started walking backwards, slowly backing off.

Mao’s plan to escape turned out to be futile when she was cornered by Jun.

“Planting to escape, my dear?” Jun whispered unto Mao as he encircled her waist.

“Too bad. I won’t let you.” He brought Mao closer to him until their faces were just millimeters away.

Mao froze. She swallowed nervously and blushed.

Jun gently cupped Mao’s face in his hands and leaned forward to capture her lips with his. The lady’s eyes widened with shock but then decided to slowly close it as she began to enjoy the kiss.

At first it was very gentle, only nipping and pecking involved but Jun started to deepen the kiss. Mao felt open and give in to his mouth’s gentle prodding. Her body began unconsciously moving as they continued lip-locking. She started straddling him and wrapped her hands around his neck. Their tongues continued to battle in dominance, only stopping for a while to gulp some air when their breathing was already hindered.

Jun nuzzled her neck, his lips landing near her pulse. “Jun.” Mao shuddered and moaned at her partner’s action.

He silenced her moan by crushing his lips unto hers more. His hands also started moving, wanting to explore her more. He ran them on Mao’s arms then unto her waist. His hands went to her back, trying to find the lock on the wedding dress she was still wearing.

Just as Jun was about to pull down the zipper of Mao’s dress, a voice interrupted them. “Mao-chan, are you finished changing clothes? The one in charge of the costumes already needs the wedding dress back.”

Mao recognized her manager’s voice. She replied, still panting from exhaustion, “Anou. Just give me a few minutes. I’ll be returning it right away, so don’t worry K-chan.” She tried her best to sound normal as possible.

“Okay. Just hand it over to me first. I’ll be the one taking it to him. I’ll be waiting for you at the lobby.” Her manager stated and then walked away.

When they heard her footsteps disappear, Jun whispered. “So where were we?” He tried to lean again unto Mao but failed when Mao gently pushed him back.

“Anou. Let’s stop this. You need to go now. I bet the others are already looking for you. Besides, I need to change from this dress.” Mao said hastily.

The man wearing a wedding suit smiled and said, “Okay. But just so you know, this is not yet over, Inoue-san.” He left the room, leaving Mao’s heart beating as hard as it can.

*End of Flashback

“Eh?” Once again, Maki and Becky cried in unison.

“Matsumoto Jun of Arashi kissed you? Again? Passionately?” Becky was utterly surprised by the piece of information Mao shared to them about the photo shoot just minutes ago.

“Do I really have to repeat myself again, Becky-chan? Yes. He kissed me. Passionately.” Mao told her as stuffed with the 10^th piece of strawberry Maki brought to her.

“This Matsumoto-san really intrigues me. I mean from what I’ve researched he’s a ladies’ man. You better be more careful, Mao-chan. He might just be using his tricks on you.” Maki warned her friend, not wanting Mao to be hurt again by another bastard.

“Don’t worry, Maki-chan. I’ll follow your reminder and be really wary of my actions next time. I won’t take this thing seriously.” Mao didn’t know that she’ll be eating her words in the future.

“Hey, Maki. These strawberries are really delicious. Thanks for bringing them to me.” Mao smiled and popped another one unto .

“I haven’t even tried one. Let me have one.” Becky exclaimed and Mao passed her the basket of strawberries in return.

Once Becky took a bite, her reaction turned out to be quite different from Mao’s. “Bleah! Oh boy, this is really sour. How can you enjoy all of these?” She handed the basket to Maki. “Here. Try some. Maybe it’s just me that has bad taste buds.”

Maki picked one and tasted it. She definitely had the same reaction with Becky. “Yup. They’re sour alright. I thought you only wanted sweet stuff, Mao-chan. If I had known that these strawberries weren’t sweet as that shop claimed, I would have sued them right then and there!”

“No no no, Maki. These are fine. Seriously, I can’t get enough of them.” Mao stated. Afterwards, her phone let out a sound.

Thinking it was a message, Becky asked. “Who’s that? Mind if we know who texted you?”

“No. It wasn’t a message. It was just a reminder from the period app I downloaded months ago. It said that today was supposed to be my first day of period but it also says here that I’ve been late for two months now.”

“Wait a minute. You said you haven’t had your period for two consecutive months?” Maki asked.

“Yes. I never knew that app was reliable.” Mao replied, wanting to change the topic.

“And then you suddenly have this liking for sour foods which you never did before.”

“Guess I had a change of taste then.” Mao let out a chuckle.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Maki asked Becky who in response nodded and smiled.

Mao was clueless about what Maki led on. “So what is it that you two are thinking that I’m not thinking?”

“I think you’re pregnant!” Maki and Becky shouted in unison.

Mao chuckled again. “How can I be pregnant—” Then it hit her. “Wait here.” She ordered her friends to just stay put. She, on the other hand, went rummaging through her medicine cabinet.

“Found it.” She declared as she held a particular device.

Mao went to her bathroom and decided to use this device that she has been keeping for a while now.

After a few minutes, Mao let out a shriek. Hearing this, Becky and Maki rushed towards her bathroom and found Mao holding a pregnancy test.

She was never a fan of using profanities but this time it was the first thing that entered her mind. “.” Mao muttered.

“I think you’re right.” She turned the stick around for her friends to see, showing to them two perfectly vertical lines.