Remedy
Chapter Ten
Author's Note: Please read the AN at end of the chapter. It is very important, so please check it out.:)
Maddi looked stumped, befuddled and amazed all at once. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were the size of her mother's best china plates. She tried to speak, but her lips wouldn't move. The rest of her limbs too were immobile. She was rendered frozen on the spot, unable to do anything but gawk.
Meanwhile, Noriko watched the little girl staring up at her bug wide eyes and a mouth that looked ready to fall off from her face at any second in great puzzlement. She cocked a perfectly tweezed eyebrow and placed her right hand on the side of her slim hip. "Sweetie, what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Maddi gulped her face suddenly turning red. She opened her mouth prepared to speak, but again nothing came out.
Noriko's eyebrow rose higher. "Sweetie, what's the matter?" She inched forward, but Maddi took a step back. Noriko halted, perplexed. "Sweetie?" she tried calling out to her again. "What's the matter? Come on, you can talk to me. I won't bite."
Maddi's blush flourished and ears started to heat up. This wasn't good. This wasn't how she wanted to meet her idol. "A-Ano…" She took another step back, starting to fiddle with her sweaty palms. "I-I—"
"Maddi-chan, there you are!" In a second she was pulled into the tight arms of Ryuichi. "I was wondering where you went. I hope you didn't get lost." She felt the singer nuzzling her cheek with the side of his face; however, the action did nothing but make her skin darken.
"Ryuichi-san," she mumbled under her breath.
"Ryuichi, do you mind telling me who this is?" Noriko inquired, intruding on the moment.
Ryuichi looked up to meet her gaze, smiling widely, "Hai, hai, Noriko-chan. This is Maddi-chan, my new friend. Isn't she cute?" He hugged her tighter and placed his head atop hers. "Maddi-chan met Shu-chan and the others already. They liked her a lot, but Shu-chan said she's a bit too quiet. I don't think so though."
Noriko crossed her arms over her chest. "Does Tohma know that she's wandering the studio halls alone?" There was no doubt in her mind that Tohma would be prepared to reprimand Ryuichi for his foolish behaviour. It was one thing to wreak havoc on the studio—even with Shuichi—but to let an unknown child enter the premise and wander alone was a huge no, no.
Ryuichi's eyes lined with tears. "Noriko, how can you be so mean? Of course I got Tohma's permission to let Maddi-chan come and visit."
"Correction, you had me obtain Tohma's permission." An authoritative voice corrected the singer. The three looked up to see K walking forward, rather smug, as he dragged a… an empty banana suit behind him. "Tohma is fine with her visiting today, so long as she behaves," K informed Noriko, who nodded appropriately.
"I guess that makes sense." The girl seemed well-behaved, but highly shy. She was the exact opposite of Noriko's own pride and joy, her only daughter Saki Ukai. Saki was always loud and loved to talk, especially when meeting new people.
"Maddi-chan's only quiet because she ran into Noriko-chan!" Ryuichi protested making the girl in his arms squeak.
"Huh?" Noriko blurted out. "What the heck does that mean Ryu?"
Ryuichi started to laugh. "Noriko-chan is funny." His grin widened. "Maddi-chan is only excited because she finally got to meet you, her idol."
"Idol, huh?" She repeated the word, running her tongue across the back of her top teeth, tasting, almost savouring the foreignness of it. The term definitely brought back memories of times before when she had heard that term uttered directed to her. It had been some time since though—even with the reunion of Grasper. Yet, to hear straight from Ryuichi's mouth that the girl, this little girl idolized her, and not the great Ryuichi Sakuma, or even the multi-talented synthesizer Tohma Seguchi made her heart—and ego, though she wouldn't admit it openly— swell with pride.
"Is that so sweetie?" Noriko couldn't contain the large grin that quickly spread across her face. "Am I really your favourite?"
Maddi, still in the comfort of Ryuichi's arms, bashfully looked up to meet the synthesizer's amber eyes. When seeing that charismatic smile and those orbs locked on her small frame, she merely nodded. "H-Hai, U-Ukai-san is m-my fa-favourite …" She despised her stuttering and her obvious shaking frame, but she couldn't help it. She was standing close to her only idol and having an actual conversation with her! Maddi never imagined she'd actually have the chance to meet Noriko up close and in person. This was a dream come true for her.
Ryuichi started to smile. This scene was too amusing from him to hold back his amusement. It seemed like K also felt the same. Out of the corner of the singer's eye, he noticed the way the blond was smirking. Perhaps he found Maddi's antics amusing or maybe that obvious glimmer of pride that reflected itself on Noriko's expression… well, whatever the case might've been, both men were entertained and finding the scene worthwhile to witness.
"Maddi-chan, it's alright if I call you that, no?" Noriko inquired sweetly.
Maddi nodded, leaning further back into Ryuichi's tight embrace. "H-Hai… that's fine, U-Ukai-san."
Noriko crinkled her nose. "Maddi-chan, don't call me by my last name, it makes me sound so old. I'd prefer it if you simply called Noriko-chan."
Noriko watched the way Maddi's eyes widened and slowly began to sparkle with joy. Beaming, she placed both hands on her hips and smiled. "I guess I really am your favourite, huh?" Even though she was securely wrapped in Ryuichi's arms, Maddi didn't respond to the singer in the way that she did with her. Noriko felt even giddier. "Well, come-on Maddi-chan, let's hear you call me by my name." She inched closer to the duo, paying more attention to Maddi then Ryuichi.
Maddi gulped, obviously embarrassed. "N-Noriko-chan," she whispered.
Ryuichi laughed squeezing her tighter while Noriko leaned over and ruffled her head. "Much better, Sweetie, I'd like it if you called me that from now on."
Maddi's eyes widened slightly. Her mouth dropped partially making Noriko smirk. "Maddi-chan, if you're friends with Ryu then that means that we'll be seeing a lot more of each other from now on." Playfully she tapped the girl on the nose. "The next time we see each other, I expect you'll greet me by my first name and not my last, okay?" She winked. "Is that a promise?"
Maddi felt her heart race at the prospect of seeing Noriko again. Without thinking it through she readily agreed, "Hai, Noriko-chan!"
All three adults laughed making Maddi look down at her feet, mumbling quietly.
Author's Note: So sorry for the shortness, I would have written more, but I was finding it hard to write Noriko's character. She's much spunkier than the other characters, so I hope I did an okay job. I also wanted to more or less "finish" Maddi's adventure at the studio, since I know you readers want to see more Kagome and Ryuichi interactions... not mention bringing more Gravitation characters into the story - I'm guessing a lot of you want to see Yuki. I've got a few ideas, but I need you to vote on what you want. Just tell me in your review which character you want to see, and I'll make sure that character is not only featured in the next chapter, but has interactions with Kagome, our heroine, too.
A) Mika Seguchi
B) Sakano
C) Tatsuha Seguchi
D) Eiri Yuki (I'm guessing a lot of people will vote for him... personally, I'm rooting for Mika, but you're the readers so I'll go with your preferences. x3)
E) Hiroshi Nakano
Take your picK. The character with the most preferences will be in the next chapter and have a meeting... greeting or something with Kagome; but it all depends on who you pick. ;) So remember to leave your pick in a review.
All the best,
TFSA
(November 1, 14)