Takaki X Yana

“And we’re live in three, two,...” the director gestured with his finger the number one.

“Welcome to Yori-Yori where we have famous artistes coming in every week. I am host, Akanishi Jin and this week, we have Hey! Say! JUMP on set. Let’s welcome them. Starting from the younger batch, Hey! Say! 7, Morimoto Ryutaro. Fourteen years old. Next is Chinen Yuri, sixteen years old. Then it is Nakajima Yuto, sixteen years old. And Yamada Ryosuke, sixteen years old. Okamoto Keito, sixteen years old.”

Ryutaro, Chinen, Yuto, Yamada and Keito walked in the set and waved at the camera, smiling. They bowed and so did the host.

“Next, we have the older batch, Hey! Say! BEST. Arioka Daiki, eighteen years old. Yaotome Hikaru, nineteen years old. Inoo Kei, nineteen years old. Next, Takaki Yuya, nineteen years old. And Yabu Kota, nineteen years old.”

Then, Daiki, Hikaru, Inoo, Takaki and Yabu entered the set and did the same thing.

“Hi, we are Hey! Say! JUMP.”

In the background, screams and cheers could be heard.

“Now, before we let these boys relax, let’s have them play a game.”

“Ehh??”

The Hey! Say! JUMP members looked at Jin with shocked expressions. Jin, on the other hand, had on a wicked expression.

~~~~~
Every week, he does the same thing. How come the artistes don’t learn?

Yana shook her head. She was really bored, waiting for her brother to be done with the show. Ever since her parents passed away, her brother and her only had each other. She took out her laptop from her bag and signed in her chat account. Her eyes scrolled the online page. Many were online, but not the person she wanted. Where was he? She wondered.

Recently, she had made a new friend in that account. He had seemed fun and was full of interesting things to talk about. He was also smart. He had told her many things that she didn’t know. Like how to make your voice sound nicer. How to improve your dancing. And also how important self-confidence was. She had asked him what he worked as. But he didn’t reply. Afraid he might not reply her anymore, she didn’t persist.

She wondered why she had seem afraid of losing him as a friend. He was just a friend, one whom she had never seen before. He could even be an old man or a girl hiding behind a hidden identity of a young man. So why was she feeling that way?

~~~~~
“And thank you for coming. Let’s give another round of applause for them,” Jin said, facing the camera, clapping his hands and bowing.

“Okay. We’re done. Thank you everyone for your hard work,” the director said, standing up.

“Hey, you alright there?” Jin asked Yana at backstage.

“Bored. As usual. And who wouldn’t be, if they were me,” she replied with a bored expression.

“Come on. I’ll pack and in a few minutes we’re out of here.”

“I hope so.”

“Jin! You want to go out for a drink? I mean, drinking as in water, juice and such. Not beer or alcohol,” one of the Hey! Say! JUMP members said. “We have small kids here.”

“Ah, Yuya. Sorry I can’t. I’ve got to go home with my sister. Another time,” Jin replied with a smile.

“Aww.. Come on. It’s not every time we get to hang out. The rest are coming too,” Yuya said, indicating the other members.

“He said he didn’t want to go. So leave him alone. Let’s go, bro,” Yana said loudly, pissed off.

“Oh no, you don’t,” Yuya said, blocking Yana as she tried to walk pass him. “We’re going drinking and you’re coming with us.”

~~~~~
Yana sat in between her brother and Yuya. What could be worse? She thought.

“Who wants to dance?” Yuri asked, smiling.

“Me!” Ryosuke, Ryutaro, Keito, Yuto, Kota and Kei said.

“Haha.. What about you Hikaru and Yuya?” Yuri asked, facing them.

“I will sing the song for you to dance,” Hikaru winked and stood up.

“Yuya?” Yuri asked, making a cute face.

“I’m sleepy. I’ll just watch you,” Yuya replied.

“Aww.. Jin?” Yuri made puppy eyes. “Yana?”

“Okay, okay. I just can’t say no when you make that face. You’re just like my sister,” Jin said.

“Excuse me. I don’t make faces like that,” Yana retorted. “No, thanks Yuri. I don’t feel like dancing now.”

“Yeah you do. You just don’t know it,” Jin stood up and Yuri pulled his hand.

Everyone was dancing to different songs from Japanese to Korean to Chinese to English. Hikaru tried to sing to all the songs and everyone ended up laughing more than dancing. Yuya and Yana just sat at where they were. Yuya had his eyes closed and looked like he was sleeping. Yana was silently laughing along with the others. Suddenly, Yuya’s head fell towards her shoulder. She turned.

She was just about to wake him up when she looked at his face. It was so flawless and his hair was nice. How come she never thought of that before? Was she so prejudiced against him that she never actually took the time to notice how nice his features were? He looked so cute with his hair falling over his face. He looked so peaceful and his lips were slightly curled up. Yana smiled. She didn’t know why but his smile made her smile along. Why? She thought.

She closed her eyes. Looking at him sleeping so soundly made her feel sleepy too. She had not had a good night’s sleep in a long time. Every night, she would have to study late into the night for her examination. That day was the last day and she was happy she could at last rest as long as she wanted until the next examination. Her was mind full of Yuya’s image at that moment. His smiling face. His serious face. Why was she thinking about him?

Suddenly, she felt something on her lips. She opened her eyes and they grew big. Yuya was kissing her. She tried to push him away but he hugged her tightly. She struggled and tried to make sounds so that the others could hear. But the music was too loud and added with Hikaru’s singing and the laughter, it was impossible to hear anything.

A few moments later, Yuya broke off. He looked at her.

“What did you think you were doing?” Yana asked.

“You know your special friend?”

“What special friend? Since when did I have a special friend? What...” Yana stopped abruptly.

She DID have a special friend. That special someone whom she didn’t want to lose as a friend. But how did he know? She looked at him suspiciously. He smiled.

“You do, don’t you.”

Yana kept quiet. She didn’t want to say anything. What was he doing now? First he annoys her and now? Stalk her?

“I like you.”

“What?”

“Don’t make me say that again,” Yuya suddenly blushed.

Yana had not seen him feel embarrassed before. So, him blushing was something new to her. It was somewhat contagious. She blushed too. She didn’t know why. Everything he did had an effect on her. When he smiled, she smiled. When he slept, she felt like sleeping along. Now when he blushed? She blushed too. Why? There had to be a simple explanation. What could it be? Don’t tell me, she thought. I.. like him?

They were silent for a moment, not that it help. The music was still blasting and the rest were singing and laughing.

“You want to go out with me?” Yuya broke the silence between them.

She looked at him. She felt her heart jump. Yes, she did want to. But how was she going to say it?

Without thinking, she nodded and continued blushing. That solved her problem. Unable to say a word, action would be the next thing to do. Yuya smiled and hugged her and she hugged him back. His back felt nice and his hug was warm. How cosy, she thought.

“Yay!” Jin suddenly appeared beside them, smiling.

They broke the hug and turned away from each other, with faces as red as beetroot.

“Are you together? Good. I guess my plan worked,” Jin went on.

“Plan?” Yuya said, looking suspiciously at him.

“Hehe. Yeah. Remember I told you about the chatroom? I knew my sister signed up for it and I thought you were compatible with her. So, I introduced you to it. And ta-dah! My plan to have you two together produced great results.”

“Hey! Then what about me? How come you didn’t think I was compatible with her?” Hikaru appeared out of nowhere.

“You’re just too goofy,” Jin said.

“Aw.. Shucks. Haha,” Hikaru started laughing, making the rest laugh too.

“Let’s celebrate more!” Chinen shouted at the top of his voice.

“Yeah! We’ll do that and leave you two love birds alone,” Yuto said.

Both Yuya and Yana blushed as Yuya slowly reached for Yana’s hand on the sofa while everyone jumped about.

-brenda-