Chapter 5 

After Himitsu my luck in variety shows had opened up. I was getting requests from many shows so I had a full schedule. I was to appear on Music Japan for today. Arashi was also on the show promoting their new song, Hatenai Sora. During the filming, Ohno-san was not-so-surprisingly quiet but he would make dorky faces when the camera would show him. 
He was really adorable. 

They were so calm and carefree during the filming while I was too cautious of my words. 

“So the question we received from your fans is this: who is your celebrity friend?” 

Oh. Who should I say? If I say Takeru or Ohno-san their fans might kill me. “Aiko-san. She is a really good senpai of mine.” I said, smiling. 

“Oh, that is surprising. We heard from the people around that you were actually close with Takeru of SuG.” The MC said, my smile disappeared. 
If looks could kill, she would be dead by now. I turned towards the camera with a smile. 

“Of course, I get along with him, too. He is a nice friend but I do have a lot of friends from my company anyways.” I tried to explain. That MC just wanted to create rumors and news. I really hated people like her. 

Once the show was over, I turned towards the MC. “Why would you bring him up? He is a very dear friend of mine and now his fans might misunderstand.” 

“What is there to misunderstand?” She asked with an exasperating smile. 

“Nothing, but you are trying to make it look like there is something!” I said and stormed out. I wanted to wash my face but I couldn’t. I could not afford to mess up my make-up. 

I got out of the bathroom breathing heavily. I mean why would she-?! 

AAHHHH!!!! 

“Are you okay, Akemi-chan?” Ohno asked appearing before me. 

“I’m fine…” 

He gave me a skeptical look. 

“Okay. I’m not fine. I mean did you see what that MC did? It is getting on my nerves.” 

“Calm down. You just need to ignore and act like nothing happened.” Ohno advised and patted my head. 

“Fine.” I said fixing my hair. Was I some sort of a puppy for him?! 

-- 

“AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” I screamed. 

“Are you okay?” Takeru asked his head peeking outside of “his” room. 
I was sitting on the floor in my living room trying to compose my upcoming single’s lyrics. There were paper balls in my surroundings filled with lame lyrics. 

I’ve been frustrated about this for some time now. 

“Oh. I’m perfectly fine.” I said sarcastically. 

He got out of the room and walked towards me, placing his self beside me on the floor. 

“How is the song coming around?” 

I was on the verge of crying. I had to at least present a preview to the boss by Monday morning and today was Saturday night. Oh, actually Sunday morning since it was already 1 AM. 

“You will be able to do it. You are a great procrastinator. “He tried to joke around but it made me feel more miserable. 

“Oh god, oh god. Yabai, yabai. Don’t cry. You know I hate it when people cry around me.” 

“I won’t cry.” I lied, well I wouldn’t cry next to him at least. 

I opened up my arms with my puppy eyes towards him. 

“What?” he asked confused. 

“I need a hug. C’mon you are my friend right?” 

“Okay, that I can deal with.” He said and opened up his arms. I wrapped my arms around his waist and put my head against his chest. He was soft surprisingly, for a guy, and warm. But no matter how hard I tried I could not fall for him. He was just my best friend. 

I knew that he liked me. If he didn’t he wouldn’t stick around this long for someone like me. I was a horrible person. I did not know what to do. I was selfish. I felt myself heave heavily. Oh god, here it comes. And my tears started streaming down. Oh no, he did not know how to comfort crying people, I was making this even harder for him. This made me cry harder though. 

“Why are you crying? It’s just a song. You still have time. No need to cry.” 
I pulled away from him. “You. are. right.” I sniffed. “It’s just that. I feel. So bad for being such a bad friend. And I’m a horrible person. And.” 

“Shhhh….” He hushed me. “What are you talking about?”He said and embraced me. After a while I managed to calm down. 

“Great, finally. Go wash your face and go to sleep.” He said and got up, then pulled me up as well. 

“Look what you did. My shirt is soaked! It was brand new, too.” 

“Sorry. I’ll buy you a new one.” I smiled at him. 
-- 

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