Sorry for the long wait. Pretty short chapter... gotta get back in the writing groove and stuff. Well here's chapter 7


I enjoyed myself a lot more than I had planned to. Maybe the debut of Masami's band helped a bit with that. They sounded amazing. It was definitely a surprise. I'm sure Yuri knew about it, that's why she didn't bother me with that girl earlier. Or why she let me go to Masami's house... even though she wasn't there... Dammit Yuri...

"Have a good time?" she said appearing seemingly out of nowhere, conveniently.

"You knew she was gonna perform tonight all along didn't you?" I asked with a straight expression.

"Well neither me or Hinata would care nearly as much as you would." she replied.

"He knew about her performing, too?" I asked with my voice raised a bit.

"No, he'd spoil the surprise." Yuri replied. She planted her hand on my shoulder as she turned to watch the band pack up beside me. "Let's just say this can be a kick in the right direction."

"What?" I asked before she walked away, not bothering to answer me. I smiled as I watched her start back inside. "Hey, Yuri!" I called to her.

"You're welcome." she waved back before she slid her back door open and stepped through, disappearing into the house. I smiled at her 'all-knowingness.' Intuition I guess. She should be a lawyer or something. I looked back at the band, almost nearly packed up. I took a step towards them, but was halted by Hinata sliding into view from... out of nowhere... My friends are not normal, I see that now.

"Great show, right?" he said, snaking his arm around my shoulder.

"Yep," I said quickly. Giving him a 'not right now' look. He returned it with a smugly raised eyebrow.

"It's awesome how our people got Iwasawa to do this." he replied, tightening his grip around my shoulders.

"Yeah," I said again, still handing him that look.

"Bet you enjoyed the show, didn't you?" Hinata said again, clearly ignoring my look.

"Well, I've heard most of the songs before. I'm just glad she's here." I said dropping the 'get away' look and replacing it with a smile. He smiled too and finally released the wrap around my shoulders and placed his hand on one instead.

"This is probably the last time you guys'll get to hang out before we leave." He said softly, then grinned malevolently. "Make it count, man."

"I don't know if I should thank you or punch you." I replied with a flat voice, hardly surprised by his comment. He laughed before pushing me towards the stage.

"Have a good time, Yuzuru." he replied before he walked off with a wave. I sighed trying to mentally shrug off his comment... Wait... "Let's just say this can be a kick in the right direction..." Yuri's voice played back in my head. That just made things creepy...

"Lookin' for an autograph, kid?" Hisako teased as she leaned over the stage towards me with a smile.

"You guys sounded awesome Hisako. Thanks for doing this." I replied with a smile.

"Don't thank me, this was Masami's idea. Actually the party was kinda her idea too. She wanted to perform for you before you left." Hisako said pointing her thumb over her shoulder at Masami talking to… my parents…. That kinda made me feel bad about getting upset with her the other night. I wish I would've known. I wish she would've told me. But it was a surprise, a huge one. I loved every second of it. It brought a smile to my face that I really couldn't hide. I just hope I wasn't blushing.

"Looks like you're catching a fever, doc. You're turning as red as an apple." Hisako smiled as she offered me a hand up onto the stage. I took it and stepped on looking out over Yuri's backyard. "We can finish the rest of the clean-up. You and Masami go enjoy each other, alright?" she said as she continued to wrap her cables from her guitar. I walked towards the back of the stage where Masami was still talking to my parents… not sure about what or if I wanted to know. I think I caught the tail end of the conversation.

"Well you guys go on and get out of here." Dad wrapped his arm around my mother and they walked away he looked at me and nodded with a grin as he walked away. Is everyone waiting for us to have sex or something? I brushed y hair out of my face with a bit of embarrassment as I finally approached Masami.

"Surprise, surprise." she smiled as she grabbed her right forearm.

"Yeah, it was quite a surprise." I said shifting my hand from the front to the back of my head. I felt so nervous for some reason. Kinda like I'm meeting her for the first time again.

"So..., what'd you think?" she said, inching closer to me.

"It- it was great! I loved it." I smiled feeling a bit more at ease since she seems as nervous as I do.

"Really? I was worried since you'd heard almost all of our songs already that you'd be bored." she said, releasing the hold on her arm.

"I don't get tired of hearing you sing, no matter how many times I've heard the song." I smiled. She returned it with a beautiful grin of her own. God, I love it when she smiles. I felt a blush creep onto my face but I didn't care. That is, until I saw one explode onto hers. She hid her face with a chuckle and I covered mine with my hand.

"Hey, uh, you wanna get outta here before we embarrass ourselves any further?" she whispered, still grinning.

"Yeah." I said quickly. She grabbed my hand as and almost ran out of Yuri's backyard before, Yuri's parents stopped us... I knew it wouldn't be that easy.

"Wait! Before you leave we need a picture of all of you together!" Ms. Nakamura said, grabbing for her camera. Yuri, Hinata, Hatsune, Yuri's brother and sisters and the band flocked toward the stage and so did we. The band climbed onto the stage, Yuri's siblings gathered in front of her and Hinata threw his arm around me.

"Sorry Iwasawa, but you wouldn't mind if I take this picture with my buddy here, would you?" Hinata said with his usual questionable 'charm'. I turned to Masami, silently asking her to save me.

"No, I don't mind at all" she chuckled. She let her hand slide out of mine as she climbed onto the stage behind me. Her band mates gathered around her leaving her in the center. Yuri settled in with her siblings to the other side of me, my little sister in front of me, leaving me in the center.

"You guys ready?" Ms. Nakamura said, more than asked. "On the count of three!"

I felt Masami moving around behind me but never took my eyes away from the camera. I heard one when I felt something pull me backwards. Masami had pulled me against the stage where she now sat.

Two

I looked up at her giving me another red-faced smile before her lips met mine. It's been a while since we've kissed like this. And every time always feels as good as the first. I never heard three.