A New Year YamaShi One-Shot
New Year Resolutions

‘The things I would do for my best friend…’ Hey! Say! JUMP Idol Chinen Yuri sighed for the countless time as he looked at his reflection.

“Do I really have to dress up like that?” The Johnny idol pulled at the heavy hat in displeased and asked his best friend again, “why do you get to dress up with a Mickey theme but I have to be Donald? I am a much bigger Mickey fan than you ever were!”

“Well, Kawashima-chan is dressed up as Daisy theme if you like to know?” The other Hey! Say! JUMP idol, Yamada Ryosuke shrugged his shoulders as he proceeded to pull on the Mickey Mouse face mask on his face, to hide most of his face from the crowd.

Turning around, Chinen Yuri was met with an almost stranger wearing a big baggy orange Mickey Mouse jacket, black skinny jeans, a Mickey Mouse hat, a Mickey wide grin face mask and a Mickey Mouse sunglass. Staring blankly at his bandmate for a few seconds, Chinen was amazed by the amount of effort his usually lazy friend had put in specially for this New Year date.

What was most noticeable about his best friend’s disguise was that while he could no longer recognise Yamada Ryosuke beneath the Mickey Mouse fan getup, he had spotted something very familiar about the dressing.    

“Waahhhh, Yama-chan is really putting in lots of effort in perfecting his Mickey Mouse disguise ne? You look almost identical to Mirai-chan’s Minnie Mouse disguise!” The young idol realised suddenly when he remembered the photograph which Kawashima Umika had sent them earlier this morning, “how on earth did you manage to gather all these items in such a short time?”

“Eh… I saw it on television once when they were showing Mirai’s interview,” the said idol scratched his Mickey Mouse head shyly, “and decided to get something like that because no one could tell it was her when she donned the disguise. This was how she always went unnoticed by others whenever she visits Disneyland and I thought it was brilliant.”

“No, Yama-chan, Mirai-chan is smart to come up with the disguise, but you are brilliant one here,” Chinen Yuri shook his head and tried to control his laughers, “don’t think I can’t tell what you really had in mind when you sneakily bought all these things!”

“Eh… I have no idea what you are talking about!” Yamada Ryosuke turned away from his best friend immediately, not wanting Chinen Yuri to see through his main purpose for the dress up. 

“I think I will be very happy being the official photographer of Mickey and Minnie’s date today!” Chinen waved the DSLR camera which he had specially borrowed from fellow bandmate, Nakajima Yuto for the occasion and cheekily said, “what a good-looking couple they will make in this very special couple getup ne!”

“Urusai, baka no Chii!” The blushing Mickey, Yamada Ryosuke tried to sound irritated but Chinen could feel his best friend’s bubbling excitement over his first date of the year. 

“But Yama-chan, you know what all this will mean right? If she finally agrees to date you, you will have the responsibility of protecting her from everything that arise once news about the two of you dating is known to the public. Are you truly ready for all the challenges ahead?” Turning sombre for the moment, the young idol remarked seriously to his best friend, “it was not just about our fans that I am concerned but at the same time, you have also noticed protective the netizens can be when it comes to her. The both of you are my friends and I really don’t want to see any of you getting hurt over this.”

Taking the Mickey Mouse sunglasses, Yamada Ryosuke looked straight into the eyes of Chinen Yuri before replying in a firm tone.

“Chii, you know I am the last person to jump into a situation unprepared, right? I have been working hard these two years, toning my acting skills in order to catch up with her. Because I really want to be able to work with her again, it has been my greatest wish that even Johnny-san knew about it,” Yamada Ryosuke explained seriously.

“Johnny-san?” Chinen Yuri’s eyes widened with surprise, “what did you do behind our back, Yama-chan?”

“You know of the yearly talks we usually have with the management?” Yamada Ryosuke questioned his friend, “I told Johnny-san that I wanted to be a great actor and get to work with Ryu and Mirai again because I was not satisfied with my performance in Tantei Gakuen Q. I told him that it was them who made me want to become the best.”

“Johnny-san actually buys that explanation?” Chinen raised his brows at the revelation doubtfully.

Yamada Ryosuke smiled at his friend, “I don’t know, but he did say that he thinks that I have set very high target for myself because the two of them are the best of our age and would look forward to see the three of us work together in the future.”

“Incredible!” Chinen Yuri exclaimed wide mouth in surprise, “Johnny-san must have really like Ryu and Mirai-chan to say that. I would have thought that he would ask you to stay away from her instead.”

“He didn’t,” Yamada Ryosuke laughed at the look of disbelief on Chinen Yuri, “he had agreed that they were great role models for any young actors and even said that they are the most responsible artistes he had ever seen of their age.”  

“But he had no idea that you like Mirai-chan more than you are letting on, does he? Come to think about it, we had no idea as well until we were enrolled into Horikoshi and saw the way you acted around her,” Chinen tried to analyse the situation with a thoughtful look.

“No one has to know about it, until there is really something to talk about. Besides, if it really happened, I would rather keep it under wrap than to shout it out loud. I think Mirai would agree with me on the decision as well,” Yamada put on the Mickey Mouse sunglasses again with a smile, “because like me, she does not like attention at all.” 

Chinen Yuri had to laugh out loud when he heard the conclusion made by his best friend, “and that’s why we agree that the two of you are best matched for each other.”

“Is that so?” The singer-actor grinned proudly behind his mask and gave his best friend a light punch, “let’s start convincing Mirai that we are the perfect couple then!”

“Hai hai,” Chinen Yuri smiled at the excitement of his best friend, he had no doubt that his two classmates were the most ideal match in terms of personality and height. But it would be a difficult path ahead of them if they have chosen to accompany each other in this industry. It would be too great a loss for the audience to lose the best actress and top idol of their generation if anything happened to them.

Hence, as his best friend, Chinen Yuri had bravely taken up the challenge to help to get the two of them together.

‘Yama-chan and Mirai-chan better make me and Umika-chan their best man and maid of honour when they get married in the future for putting us through all these scheming and planning!’

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‘We reached, Umika-chan!’

‘Near Walt Disney statue?’

‘Un! Try lure her there and Yama-chan will meet her there.’

‘Ok, give me a call in 5 minute and I will pretend that it’s from my manager!’

‘Okie! :)’

‘Keep Yamada-kun out of sight for now, or he will ruin the surprise!’

‘Yes, madam!’

The non-stop messaging between Chinen Yuri and Kawashima Umika was beginning to catch the attention of their victim of their plotting, Shida Mirai.

“What happened, Umika?” Concerned about her best friend, the young actress stopped suddenly to enquire, “is there anything wrong?”

“Ah… it’s just messages from my manager about work,” Kawashima Umika covered up with a worried look, “I might be needed suddenly due to some scheduling issues.”

“Oh… that can’t be helped I guess?” Upon hearing her best friend’s worry, the gleam of concern in her eyes changed into a look of disappointment, Shida Mirai had wished to be able to spend some time with her best friend when they failed to meet for Christmas.

“Gomen, Mirai, but I don’t have to leave until my manager calls me,” spotting the disappointment in her eyes, Kawashima Umika was beginning to feel guilty about plotting against her best friend.

However, just as she said that, her mobile phone decided to ring on the cue, wiping the hopeful look completely off Shida Mirai.

“Moshi moshi, Kawashima desu,” the singer-actress offered her best friend an apologising look before answering the call.

Taking a deep breath, the young actress decided to call upon her professional self by lifting up the corners of her lips and offering her best friend an assuring smile after the former idol ended her call, “no worries, Umika! Work is more important! We can always come back here together again.” 

“No, Mirai. Stay and enjoy yourself, you will only make me feel guiltier if you were to leave the place with me,” Kawashima Umika quickly responded to her best friend’s suggestion, while glancing worriedly around for a certain Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. 

Rolling her eyes while her best friend was not looking at her, Kawashima Umika had lost count of the number of lies she had uttered to her best friend since they woke up this morning, ‘I never knew being a match-maker can be so difficult!’

“Eh… but…” the young actress was torn between spending the day alone in her favourite place in the world, or sending her best friend out to work instead.

“Ok, how about this? Let’s walk to the Walt Disney statue together and take a photo for remembrance sake before I head off to work and you continue to explore Disneyland,” Reading the conflicting feeling of Shida Mirai perfectly, Kawashima Umika decided to offer her a solution instead, “how about it Mirai?”

“Is it really fine?” The young actress was still worrying about her friend, causing Kawashima to pull her in for a hug.

“I’ll meet you back here again when I finished my job, alright?” The singer-actress whispered near her ear, “in the meanwhile, have fun!”

“Un,” comforted by her best friend’s promise to return, the actress slipped off her mask to show her happiness by beaming at Umika.

“You can be so silly at times, Mirai,” Kawashima Umika had to laugh at the look of happiness on her best friend because of a simple suggestion she made, “a simple thing like this can make you happy so easily.”

Giving her friend a sheepish smile, Shida Mirai continued to pull her best friend towards the direction of the Walt Disney statue, “I like spending time with Umika.”

“Hai ha