Chapter 1
I loved you.
Ever since that day, ever since your first performance, I've loved you.
It's strange isn't it? How love works, that is. It's such a powerful emotion. It motivates people to give everything their all. And that's how it was for me, Mizuki Kanzaki.
Everything I did was because of you. I felt like I could keep pushing in my darkest moments. I knew eventually one day you would catch up to me, but not without a fight, of course. After several long years, you were declared the top idol and overcame me. I knew you could do it.
Ichigo Hoshimiya, you stole my heart.
Unfortunately, things never worked out between us. I wish things could've been different, that we could've been together. My feelings were never reciprocated. I'll never forget what you said to me that night.
"Mizuki-san, I'm flattered," Ichigo said smiling, looking at me in the moonlight. Her ruby eyes glimmered bright under the dark sky illuminated by the beautiful moon, her strawberry scented hair fluttering gently in the wind. We were standing in the same place we always met at on a late night at Starlight Academy.
I looked into her eyes with desperation, my heart racing. What would she say? What would she do now that I've confessed to her?
A moment of silence passed before her lips parted again.
"...But I think it would be unfair to you."
Another moment of silence passed.
"What do you mean, Ichigo?" I asked worryingly as I felt my heart sink.
Ichigo gave me a sympathetic smile and said, "I mean that it would be unfair to you because I admire you."
It suddenly became hard for me to swallow. So she didn't feel the same.
"I see," I whispered, holding back tears. As an idol, I learned how to act, but this particular feelings of what one would probably call heartbreak was almost impossible to mask in the presence of Ichigo.
"I'm sorry," she said back to me, giving me another sweet, sympathetic smile. "I really do admire you, Mizuki-san. You're very important to me."
I smiled back, masking my emotions of sadness.
"You're important to me, too."
Five years have passed since then. I've cut my hair, I've dated several other people, and I've even tried forgetting the way she oh so gently broke my heart, yet she's still on my mind.
It was a late Saturday night and I was sitting alone in my apartment drinking a hot cup of tea by the fireplace. It was my day off and I spent the day lounging around watching TV, nothing compared to what I used to do as a top idol. I would stay on top of my training if I ever had an off day, which was extremely rare for me.
I sighed and turned off the TV, getting up from the small chair I was sitting in and grabbing my cup of tea, taking a long sip. I looked over to the window and noticed that it was raining outside, and I began humming the tune to Move on Now.
As I was humming, I placed my now empty cup of tea into the sink and headed for the bathroom to take a long, hot bubble bath.
I cranked on the water slowly and allowed it to heat up a bit before I closed the plug and poured in some strawberry-scented body wash. I took off my clothes and threw them carelessly onto the floor, hopping into the bath.
The water was so hot it began to sting at first, but I slowly began to get used to the heat that slowly enveloped me. I began to relax, closing my eyes as the water rose.
I wonder how Ichigo's been.
Is it weird to still have her on my mind after five years? I didn't have feelings for her anymore, but some twinge of emotion was lingering and I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
I let out a sigh once more, sinking into the water. It's ridiculous how fast time flies, I thought. Back then, I never would have imagined she would have took my place as top idol. It seems just like yesterday I saw her performance of Idol Katsudou, which greatly caught my attention. I wanted her to catch up to me as quickly as possible.
I let my mind fade away as I sat in the bath for a good fifteen minutes before hopping out. I pulled the bathtub's plug and allowed the water to drain as I wrapped myself up in a towel, heading to my room to find clean clothes to put on.
Opening the drawer of my wardrobe, I pulled out a fresh pair of panties along with a plain white t-shirt and blue shorts. I put them on quickly and threw the towel on the floor carelessly.
Where did I put my phone?
I looked around my room for it, but couldn't seem to find it. I looked literally everywhere, even under my bed and under the piles of clothing I had thrown around the room. I finally walked back into the living room to where I was sitting and saw my phone sitting on the table next to the small, brown chair I was sitting on. I unlocked my phone at the touch of a finger and my heart sank.
On the screen of my phone was the text: "one missed call from Ichigo Hoshimiya."
