Shoujo JUMP Project

Kawaii Kimi no Koto da Mono!

Kuroneko

Disclaimer: we do not own Johnny & Associates, and Hey! Say! JUMP. All events are entirely fictional.

Chapter 20: March

Miki fluttered her eyes open as she held on her bruised head from yesterday. The girl rubbed her eyes and noticed the clock on the wall, and totally ignored the fact that she was in Ryosuke’s room.

“Oh no! It’s eight, and I’m late!” She dashed to the bathroom and grabbed clothes from the drawer. Unbeknownst to her, the uniform she just took were Kana’s. Miki didn’t care. The last practice for the Ronda Alla Turca was today, and today, too, was the school’s festival.

Ryosuke’s eyes were open when Miki closed the door behind her. the boy smirked to himself and went to get ready for work.

===

Miki was running past the pedestrian lane while carrying her keyboard when Yana and Maria greeted her.

“Oh, Micchan! Do you have a dress for tonight’s festival?” Yana asked her out of the blue as they offered to walk with her.

“Um, well... I could use my summer Yutaka, can I?” Miki told her. Yana and Maria exchanged glances and shook their heads.

“Sorry, Kusakabe-san. It’s a promenade, and we’re required to wear something western and formal.” Maria explained. Miki sighed in despair as she realized that she had forgotten about the promenade tonight. Yana pinched her cheeks.

“It’s alright, Micchan! You do know that Tsugunaga-senpai is my neighbour, right?” Yana winked. Both Miki and Maria shook their heads, and Yana could only sigh.

“Well, Tsugunaga-senpai’s great with dresses, and you just have to tell her that you’ve got no dress for tonight. She’ll make one! Maria-chu’s dress was from Inoo-senpai, right?” Yana nudged Maria, but the other girl just blushed.  

===

“Oh? Yansii-san? What brings you three here?” Momoko opened the door and rubbed her eyes.

“Tsugu-senpai, we need a dress for your underclassman!” Yana pointed at Miki, who was flustered and tried to apologize.

“W-well, I thought I could make do with the summer Yutaka I wore back in Aomori... I’m sorry for bothering you, Momoko-senpai!” Miki bowed her head. Momoko patted her and motioned the three to come in.

“It’s okay, Miki-san~ I was actually sewing your dress just now. Seniors would be the one to provide the dresses for tonight’s dance. Umm, the dress is mostly red and warm pink. Is that alright for you?”Momoko led them to her room and revealed a satin red dress which was unfinished. Miki felt the cloth by her fingers.

“It’s... Very soft and comfortable, senpai...” Miki muttered. Momoko threw a thumb up.

“Yeap. I love creating dresses, and I just finished the dress Kei-kun purchased yesterday. I wonder who’ll be the lucky lady...” She wondered to herself.

====

“Ball! Make it quicker, you ladies!” Himeko shouted at the male players who were pitching the ball. Himeko wasn’t satisfied with them and kept on shrieking while she tried to bat the balls.

“Himeko-san!” Miki called from the barbed wire. Himeko took off her shades and waved at Miki, Maria, and Yana while walking towards them.

“Heya~” She greeted the trio as she took the water bottle.

“We’ve brought tickets for Micchan and Maria-chu’s performance tonight. Are you going to come?” Yana asked while handing her a ticket.

“Well, sure! Airi-senpai is my upperclassman, and she told me she’ll be attending.” Himeko nodded and took the ticket. She waved goodbye and went back to the male players.

“Ne, Oikawa-san... Who’s your upperclassman?” Miki asked Yana as they watched Himeko dealing with the pitchers in the field. Yana hummed and looked for a list inside her bag.

“Ah, here~ This is the list of the upperclassmen that are paired with the first year students. Yep, Mine’s Akimoto Sayaka. A member of SKE48.” Yana informed her as she handed the list to Miki.

“My upperclassman would be Momoko-senpai

,

Fujiwara-san’s would be Kei-sensei

, Yurikkun’s would be Kiyomoto Taiga

yours would be Akimoto Sayaka,

and Ryosuke-kun’s would be Sugaya Risako,

and Himeko-san’s would be Suzuki Airi.

” Miki muttered and read the list.

Maria sighed in relief when she heard that Kei had chosen her for the graduation ceremony.

“Yeeh, Maria-chu’s happy because Inoo-senpai chose her~” Yana teased and pinched Maria’s cheeks that just turned bright red.

===

“Okay, guys. We’ve got a performance for January, and Chii hasn’t come back from his drama yet. So we’ll make do for our newbie.” Kei pointed at Ryosuke as they practiced inside the dance hall in Johnny’s agency.

“What?” Ryosuke stood up and asked.

“Yamada, you’ll be the one singing. This is your debut concert, and we’ll be acting as back dancers. You could sing ‘Asia no Yoru’ if you’d like.” Kota clarified and motioned Ryosuke to sit.

Kei looked at the other JUMP members.

“We’ll have to do better if you guys are going to tonight’s dance. For our January concert, we’ll be performing Over, Your Seed, Romeo and Juliet. “ Kei told them when Ryosuke raised his arm.

“Change of plans. I’m singing another song that I composed...” Ryosuke changed his mind of singing ‘Asia no Yoru’ again.

“Well, how unexpected for ya, newbie. I hope it’s as good as ‘Asia no Yoru’. “ Kota threw a thumb up at Ryosuke.

Kei checked the time and stood up from the floor.

“Alright, kids. Tonight is the school festival. So if you’re all going to your stupid dates, we’ll have to make do with our time.” He sarcastically announced as he motioned everyone else to stand up for their rehearsal.

====

Maria and Miki were already setting up their keyboards and were going to practice since Kei wasn’t going to arrive.

“He told me that he’s really busy for their rehearsal for Yamada-san’s debut concert. I guess we’ll be practicing alone.” Maria sighed and closed her phone.

“It’s alright. We can do it already. I’m surprised I got this far, actually since I was slow on my fingers.” Miki smiled at her club mate.

Maria was delighted at Miki’s sudden enthusiasm and optimism.

“That’s Kei-senpai’s talent. He can let anyone learn quickly.” Maria shrugged to herself and went back to practice. Three more hours until the sun goes down, and their performance will be on the go.

===

“Class deezmeezed~” Daiki shouted through the microphone inside the rehearsing gym. His voice blared and bounced back all over the room, and most of the JUMP members closed their ears. Keito managed to unplug the microphone and stop Daiki’s odd behaviour.

Kei was walking briskly at the corridors in effort to go downstairs quickly, when he noticed Ryosuke catching up with him.

“Hey. What are you hasting about?” Kei asked him bluntly while glaring. He seemed aware that Ryosuke was Maria’s fiancé.

“I’ve got a da-, er, I’m going to school. I was just going to ask the same thing.” Ryosuke answered and glared back at him.

“Well, I guess I’m headed for school too. I’m worried about your fiancée and Miki.” Kei answered without looking at Ryosuke.

“Moron. I know you like Maria.”

These words stopped Kei right on his tracks and he stared at Ryosuke intently. The younger boy, however, just stared back. Kei was about to hit him when he stopped himself from doing so.

“I, I don’t... I can’t...” Kei muttered while still frozen on the place he stood. Ryosuke walked past him.

“Weak willed...” He scoffed at Kei and went back into walking.

===

Good Evening, ladies! Gentlemen! Everyone, welcome to Shibuya District Private Academy’s 61^st School Festival!

Everyone in the school auditorium clapped as Masahiro Nakai, the High School Department dean gave his welcoming speech.

“But, everyone... What is the use of our school anyway? Why is the academy so important that we have one of the grandest festivals in Shibuya? It’s because even if most talents and famous people have studied here, all of the students, famous or not, are given the chance to shine.” Nakai continued as the red curtain opened.

“I want all of you to experience stardom here, literal or not. Thank you.” He bowed and exited the stage.

Nakayama Nana, Yuma’s older sister, went up the stage and smiled at the guests.

“For today, our performing students from different clubs will be keeping us entertained with their various talents and performance” Nana gleamed at the microphone.

“For the first performance, let’s all welcome... Kusakabe Miki and Fujiwara Maria, two of Inoo Kei-sensei’s piano students!” She continued as the stage curtains fled up and revealed Miki and Maria, who looked relaxed at their situation.

===

Miki actually felt afraid inside when she saw hundreds of people looking at her and Maria. The blonde looked at the other girl, and Maria gave her a determined nod. Yuto, Himeko and Yana were at the front seats and gave them a cheer.

“Good luck!” the trio wildly gave them a thumb up and went giggly.

Miki gave one last look at Maria, while the girl silently uttered one last word.

“Go.”

Miki and Maria both closed their eyes and started to think about everything they’ve cared about. Miki felt a swirl of emotions as everyone she loved suddenly appeared in her mind like a beautiful dream.

Yurikkun... Ryosuke-kun... Himeko-san... Nakajima-kun... Everyone...

The two were drowned in nostalgia as their fingers played about on their keyboards. The Ronda Alla Turca was slowly beating, rising it’s tempo as the music went on.

From afar, Kei was sitting on one of the chairs, and smiled to himself when he saw Maria. Ryosuke, too, was there, standing as he too, smiled at the figure in the stage who was drowned in her own nostalgia, her own beautiful dreams.

~to be continued.