And the bitterness starts all over again in the new coffee...
Bitter Coffee & Sweet Sugar
Amu and Daiki had been secretly dating for almost six months. Though they had some small quarrels in between, they always got back together successfully. The members were always on the nerves of breaking out cold sweats when they saw the couple arguing, especially Yuya and Ryosuke. Sometimes, Yuya really wondered if Daiki should have a girlfriend. He really missed the old Daiki who would always hang out with the members most of the time and cracked tons of jokes. And not to miss out, Daiki was also getting into many trouble with Johnny recently.
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Johnny sighed for the ninth time on the same day. In front of him, sat the person he had seen for so many times that he could just blindfold himself and still recognise him. Johnny pushed the white envelope towards Daiki, who seemed to be very tired of seeing him too.
"Open it."
Daiki obeyed and opened the white envelope. He took out the content and placed it on the table. There lied four photographs of Daiki and Amu having close contacts with each other. The first picture showed their hands intertwined together. The second picture showed Amu feeding Daiki an ice-cream. The third picture showed Daiki hugging Amu from the back. And the last picture showed the both of them kissing. Heat crept up his cheeks as he saw the last picture and he looked away in embarrassment. Looking at the pictures, Johnny shook his head in disappointment.
"Arioka-kun, you shall do all the explanations today. I won't interrupt or ask anything. We have done this umpteen times already and you should be very familiar with it," Johnny said firmly. Daiki could only see his side view and his right index finger pointing at him.
"I think he really doesn't want to see my face anymore," Daiki thought and laughed silently.
"Well, you may start when you're ready. Both my ears are listening," Johnny instructed and placed his chin on his intertwined fingers. Daiki sighed. He couldn't believed that he had gotten into trouble for more than five times already. The worst thing was that it's always for the same thing and he had to explain it over again. Taking in a deep breath, he repeated his explanation he had said just two weeks ago.
"We're just doing what a normal couple should do. I have to admit that we do hold hands whenever we go out, but other actions such as kissing or hugging, we don't show it in the public. Look at these snapshots," Daiki said, pointing at the first picture," We were holding hands in the amusement park, it's nothing wrong right?" He moved on to the last two pictures.
"These were taken outside her house! You can't call that public can you? I mean, it's just outside her house for goodness' sake!" Daiki exclaimed loudly. He was practically screaming while explaining. All these explanations were seriously getting on his nerves. He just wanted to have some private time with his girlfriend and the paparazzi just don't give a damn about it. He was really fumed up. Johnny was surprised by Daiki's tone.
"Daiki-kun, don't get so agitated first. Calm down," Johnny cooed, finally facing Daiki. Daiki let out a heavy sigh and looked away. He swore if he ever gets a chance to scold all this people, he would really and definitely do it. He don't care whether they were his fans or someone else. It's really irritating. A while later, Daiki finally calmed down a little. Johnny closed his eyes, phrasing all his sentences properly in his mind and opened his eyes again.
"Arioka-kun," Johnny called and Daiki stared at him.
"How many times have we met so far?" Johnny asked with a smile. Daiki did his countings.
"Eto..8 times?" he answered, feeling unsure of it. Johnny smiled and shook his head.
"More than that, my son. It's 10 times," Johnny said. Daiki nodded his head slowly. Johnny shifted a little in his huge comfortable chair and placed his chin on his intertwined fingers again.
"Please listen up carefully on what I'm going to say. This will be the last warning from me," Johnny said slowly, pronouncing each word carefully. Fear started to grow inside Daiki.
"Ever since you started dating this girl, I've been seeing these pictures for umpteen times. Have you ever wonder why there weren't any reporters bugging you or her?" Johnny asked him a simple question. Daiki thought for awhile before shaking his head. Johnny smiled.
"Of course you won't know. Because I've told the reporters that she's your cousin," Johnny answered with a pause and continued,"Distant cousin to be exact."
Daiki's eyes widened. Distant cousin? Who was he kidding? Put aside the holding hands, feeding and hugging part. Do cousins even kiss each other outside the house? Whoever believe it must be an idiot. Looking at Daiki who seemed to be astounded by his answer, Johnny let out a soft chuckle.
"I know what you're thinking. I told them that it's photo-shopped. Actually, you were just helping her to blow away the dust in her eyes," Johnny simply replied. Hearing that, Daiki relaxed a little. Then, Johnny's expression became grim.
"However, I can't continue to help you cover up by repeating all these lies over and over again. Those crazy fans of yours will definitely dig out the truth. And when they find it, they won't and they can't harass you for sure. They will change their target to her," Johnny said and his right index finger pointed at Amu. Daiki's eyes widened again. Harassing Amu? He can't let that happened! Daiki stared at Johnny in horror. Johnny just nodded his head.
"Th-then what should I do to stop it?" Daiki asked anxiously. He can't let his girlfriend get harm by those crazy fan girls! Johnny leaned back on his chair and looked into Daiki's eyes.
"Break up with her."
Upon hearing that, Daiki stood up and banged both his palms on the table.
"No way I'm going to break up with her!" Daiki shouted angrily. Johnny glared hard at him.
"Then stop getting yourself into this kind of trouble!" Johnny raised his voice and roughly swept away the pictures on the table. The pictures scattered onto the floor. Daiki looked at the pictures on the floor and closed his eyes. He fell back on his chair and put his head in both his hands. He needed to relieve stress. This whole problem was making him crazy. Johnny's gaze softened and he shook his head.
"Being a famous music artist just means that your private life will definitely be taken away as an unofficial deal."
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The members were waiting anxiously in the practice room. Earlier on, when their manager came in to ask for Daiki, all of them cringed. They knew that it must be Johnny who wanted to see him again. They gathered at the couch and each of them had a worried look on.
"Ne Yama-chan, will Dai-chan be alright?" Yuuri asked, hugging the cushion. Ryosuke shrugged. He himself was also getting into trouble with Johnny too, just that his was much lesser than Daiki. To speak the truth, he felt weird about all these photos and stuffs. In reality, he had to admit that he was more popular than Daiki but there were more photos taken on Daiki than him. He found that really suspicious. Once, he told Daiki about it but Daiki just laughed it off, stating that "Because I'm much cuter than you". Ryosuke sighed and leaned back against the couch.
"Life as a popular music artist is tough ne?" he thought silently and closed his eyes. Few moments later, the door clicked open and all the heads turned around. Daiki walked in with his head hung low.
"I think the meeting earlier on was a bad one," Yuto muttered softly and Keito, who heard it, slapped his shoulders hard to hush him. They watched him sat down on an empty spot of the couch. All of them then averted their gaze to Kota, who let out a sigh.
"Dai-chan, how was it?" Kota asked with a worried look. Daiki shook his head. All of them held their breath.
"Yabai! What did Johnny-san say?" Yuya asked this time round. Daiki finally looked up and met all their gazes.
"He told me to break up with her," Daiki said slowly. Everyone's eyes widened. Break up? That's..too harsh!
"Then what was your reply?" Kei asked with hint of urgency.
"I banged the table and said that no way I'm going to break up with her," Daiki replied with a sigh. Everyone relaxed a little.
"Then what was Johnny-san's reply?" Ryosuke asked. He needed to know about this. It was critical. He promised Rio that he did keep a look out on Daiki for the sake of Amu.
"At first, he didn't agree. Then he said that if he happens to see those pictures again, he'll take actions," Daiki answered, leaning against the couch and massaged his temples. Everyone heaved a sigh of relieve. Well, at least Johnny-san still has a heart.
"Maa, he's giving you a chance!" Hikaru said and the other members nodding their head in agreement. However, Daiki shook his head.
"It's not a chance at all. It's just a temporary excuse for him to plan his actions. He knew it very well that the pictures will definitely arrive back on his desk again," Daiki said seriously, avoiding their gaze. The members looked at each other.
"Then you'll just have to be careful," Kota said and Daiki looked up.
"We'll help you to take a lookout for paparazzi," Ryutaro said with a smile. The other members nodded their heads and gave him a reassuring smile. Tears welled up in his eyes. He was touched by the members' words.
"Just give us a call and we'll immediately be there to help you! Count on us!" Yuto said with a determined look and patted his chest. Daiki looked at each of them.
"Minna..arigatou," Daiki thanked with a smile and tears rolled down his cheeks. The members stood up and walked over to give him a big bear hug.
That's what friends - or I should say band mates are for, right?
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