“Ya~ma~da~” 

The stress of the last syllable of his name came straight from Arioka Daiki’s mouth onto Yamada Ryosuke’s left shoulder, which made him jump wide awake. 

“What the hell?! I swear someday you’re gonna kill me Daiki!” 

“You haven’t participated or answered anyone in the last 10 minutes,” the older band member pinched his cheeks, making him frown, “can you actually sleep with your eyes open like that?” 

Without answering, Yamada launched himself at Arioka’s cheeks, knocking the latter off his seat. The two got themselves into an unyielding stance, hands on each other’s cheeks, determined to make the other’s face into a stretched mess by the look of it. 

“Do we want to interfere?” Yaotome Hikaru turned to the oldest member. Yabu Kota stared at the scene for a second, then said simply, “nah.” 

By the time Yamada and Arioka let go, their cheeks had turned bright red. 

“Now howamI supposedto sing, aho! We’rehere to record you’now,” Yamada rubbed his sore face, his words coming out as a jumble. 

“Same to you, youlittlemonkey,” Arioka didn’t seem to have any better luck with making out complete sounding sentences. 

Chinen Yuri just stepped out of the recording room alongside Nakajima Yuto, took a glance at his two friends doing staring battle and sat down, decided not to bother himself with whatever happened between them. It wasn’t a rare sight, Nakajima expressed his agreement by sitting down next to him. 

“Yama-chan” 

“Hmm?” 

Okamoto Keito had his gentle smile on as usual. His voice was soft, as if he was asking for permission to speak. Yamada always had a soft spot for this lost puppy. Sure there were a lot of times when he thought Keito could do better as an artist, but he couldn’t start hating the guy. 

“Did you get a hold of that Harushika person?” 

That got everyone else’s attention. Throughout their career, Yamada was the one who had the most contact with the opposite . Like it or not, they were still a group of teenage boys. They weren’t as concerned about what her purpose was as they were about who she was, how old she was, how Yamada knew her and if she was single. 

Mostly if she was single. 

“U…uhm, I did,” Yamada had been trying his best to avoid the topic for the longest time. Somehow, he’d preferred not having to discuss the girl in details, even though when he thought about it long enough, he knew there was nothing of excitement to hide. 

Harushika was still as evasive as ever. She had turned down his requests to come see JUMP’s performances twice, to meet him at school 4 or 5 more times, and never picked up his calls. She had the courtesy to reply to his mails at least, but no, he did not ‘get a hold’ of her. He never should have called her out on the 1st of April. He never should have said anything to her. The thoughts of his embarrassing failure drowned him. 

Yamada felt a hand on his head. 

“Yosh yosh, daijoubu da. Yama-chan is fine the way he is,” Inoo Kei flashed his motherly smile, all the while patting Yamada like petting a kitten. Yamada remembered thinking what an odd guy he was, that Inoo. 

Slowly, but surely, he felt the weight on his head increased. 

“I never said all of you can pat me, and definitely not at the same time!!!” 

* 

Harushika stopped twirling her mobile and let out a sigh. 

“Harushika-san, are you nervous?” 

Now that is an understatement. “I am a little,” she smiled sweetly. 

As the door creaked open, she secretly sighed once more. 

* 

“You didn’t have to walk me home…” 

“Otherwise you wouldn’t even look at me, would you?” 

The short distance between the station and Harushika’s home was stretching out forever. The silence she enjoyed during the train ride broke as soon as she stepped off. Yamada Ryosuke did not take his eyes off her once throughout the trip, lest I jump off the train or disappear into thin air, she thought grimly. 

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this?” 

Here we go… 

“Yamada-san…” 

“Don’t apologize. I feel like I’ve heard more apologies from you than I’ve ever heard in my life. Seriously.” 

Yamada wasn’t sure why he was mad, but he was. Looking at her apologetic smile didn’t help, either. His gaze pierced at her, expecting a response of any kind. Instead, all he could hear was her faint chuckle, and their footsteps echoing into the night. 

Her unruly hair softly swayed as she walked. Moonlight flickered off her glasses, danced in her eyes. 

“Do you want a drink, Yamada-san?” 

Her voice tore him off his train of thoughts. Yamada looked up at the direction of her finger, realizing they were next to a small park. 

“I guess I do owe you an explanation,” she smiled, “is coffee okay?” 

He reluctantly accepted. The two ventured deeper in before settling down on a pondside bench. Full moon light reflected off the water surface, dripping off the sky, onto the ground and freely flowed between the shadows. Here and there a few ducklings drifting peacefully back to their nests, the late May winds still carried a hint of cold. The girl stood around a little while longer, seemingly immersed in the scenery, before taking the seat next to him. 

The water silently crippled. 

“To be honest, I have no idea how you’d come to take interest in me,” Harushika took a sip, “Don’t get me wrong, I was super flattered. I still am. So much I didn’t know how to respond.” 

She was avoiding his eyes. 

“So I ran away. I’m sorry, Yamada-san, I really am.” 

A breeze passed through layers of leaves, brushing pass them in an invisible dance, so light he could almost see the silence crystallizing between them. 

"Do you hate me," his voice pleaded, no louder than a whisper, "am I troublesome?" 

"What, no! I like you, as much as anyone else," she finally lifted her head to catch his eyes, two flawlessly round orbs that could easily be emitting light themselves. His face was slowly growing out of the shape it had the years before, the jawline was starting to show under his chubby cheeks. He was going to grow into a fine man yet. 

Thinking back now, she regretted not ever pinched those cheeks before they were gone. 

"But, as much as I like you, I have a lot to lose. We both do. And I'm not gonna risk it, not for you, or anyone else for that matter," her matter-of-fact tone knocked the air out of his lungs. She slightly turned away, struggling to keep eye contact, knowing how much her words must have stung. 

"That aside," Harushika continued, wondering how long she could keep this one-sided conversation going, "I heard you were together with Nishiuchi-san, that's why I agreed to the meet-up just now." 

That tugged a string in his heart. Nishiuchi Mariya, his bubbly, adorable and full of energy co-star. He hadn’t seen her much save for the few times he showed up in class, but she never failed to gift him with her brightest smile every time. 

Even when her page was forced to shut down. 

He was suddenly engrossed with the movement of his intertwined fingers. 

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..." 

Harushika unconsciously his long hair. 

"No, it's okay," his voice trailed off, "she's a good friend, that's all." 

"Your fans can be a little..." 

"Yeah" 

That one word summed up the whole reason why they ever had to have this little awkward session in the middle of the night.

 

This chapter dragged. And boring. I'm sorry.

Anyways, this is a late birthday note to the main boy

HAPPY 23rd BIRTHDAY, YAMADA RYOSUKE!!!