Define Date
"So is this the size I should be chopping the onion?" inquires Hikaru as he glances hopefully at the pretty teen who is whipping two eggs into a frothy mixture just an arm's length away from him in his mother's large kitchen.
Kyoko offers the older male a nod and a smile of encouragement before she folds her eggs into a large bowl of ricotta cheese. The teen adds some crushed tomato sauce and some Italian spice to her bowl while her companion finishes slaughtering the tear inducing vegetable. Hikaru adds his chopped onion to his mother's large skillet which already has crushed garlic and ground beef in it. Kyoko sits aside her bowl and lights the gas burner under the skillet. After washing his hands, Hikaru returns to the stove and watches over Kyoko's shoulder as she expertly shuffles the contents of the skillet with a bamboo spatula.
"No just watching," teases Kyoko as she hands the spatula to the idol as she slides away from the stove top.
"I don't think this is a good idea," Hikaru warns as he gingerly taps the sizzling concoction. Images of setting the house of fire and burning down the neighborhood flit through the oldest Bridge Rock member's mind.
Kyoko just shakes her head and encourages him to keep trying. The male continues to push with his right hand at the meat and vegetables with a truly lackluster amount of effort and skill. He tightly grips the handle of the skillet in his left hand while nervously pleading with his eyes to his companion.
"Hikaru, you need to try harder," scolds Kyoko as she reaches across the front of his body. Her right hand grasps his right wrist and guides it through the proper motions for flipping the meat. The soft brush of her arm across his chest distracts the young man, and he accidentally jabs the spatula into the mixture too hard. Some of the onion and pink meat flips out of the pan and onto the counter.
"See, I told you that you should do this," Hikaru confirms with a expression that clearly says that he should not be allowed near the stove.
"You won't learn if I do it for you."
Hikaru pouts a bit but then puts a tiny bit more effort into properly sauteing the food. When a buzzer sounds, Kyoko grabs hot mitts to protect her hands when she drains the pot with the lasagna noodles. With Hikaru's enforced assistance, Kyoko layers the noodles, cheese mixture, and meat mixture into a casserole pan. The pair places the meal in the oven, cleans the dishes, and finds themselves with free time until the lasagna bakes. Suddenly nervous about something other then burning himself on the stove or ruining the meal, Hikaru glances around the kitchen trying to think of something to do with Kyoko now.
"Want a tour of the house?"
"I would like that," she replies with an encouraging smile.
Hikaru escorts Kyoko through his home giving her a rambling commentary on different points of interest such as the steps his sister pushed him down when he was eight after he dipped Hinako's pony tail in glue and also the poorly patched spot on the wall where Shinichi had accidentally jammed a ski pole into the drywall when he tripped over Yuusei's skis. Although currently filled with dry, dead plants, Hikaru even shows her the tiny garden and patio at the back of the house and makes her promise that she will come over for a cook-out in the summer with his family and the other Bridge Rock members.
The idol then pulls Kyoko up the steps to end the tour in his bedroom which Hikaru actually tidied Sunday morning on the off chance that Kyoko might visit it. Hikaru's room is painted a soft gray and plastered with a myriad of rock posters. There is even a dart board attached to the back of his door. At least Hikaru's darts have a less destructive home unlike the poster of Sho in Kyoko's room. The actress glances quickly around the surprisingly masculine space and finds her attention drawn to a professionally matted and framed production poster gracing the position of honor on the wall opposite his bed and above his long, short dresser. Embarrassment flushes across Kyoko's cheeks as she realizes that Natsu and her gang of bully buddies from Box R are the faces that greet Hikaru every morning when he wakes. Deciding to ignore the possible implication of her image hanging on the oldest Bridge Rock member's wall, Kyoko forces her attention to the rest of her talento section senpai's room. A number of candid photographs of the Ishibashi big brothers cover the top of the dust-free dresser. There is even a picture of Shinichi dressed as a samurai threatening Bo the chicken who is also in the armor of a warrior. Instead of swords, the chicken and the joker wield huge loaves of french bread. During the episode, the audience roared in laughter when the two mock combatants had beaten one another silly with the hard bakery items.
"That was one of my favorite skits," Kyoko admits as her fingertip brushes against the carved wooden frame.
"Mine too," confirms Hikaru as he pulls open his closet, steps on a small stool, and removes a large box from the top shelf.
The idol rests the box on his bed and begins to dig through the dated file folders. Kyoko absently investigates the remaining photographs. She stops though when she reaches the framed eight by ten inch screen shot from Fuwa Sho's Prisoner promotional video. Fleetingly, the actress wonders how Hikaru got a copy of the picture. The quality of the shot suggests that the photograph is actually a production copy and not just something printed from the internet.
Sensing Kyoko's question before she can ask, Hikaru moves beside the teen. He hands a copy of the Chicken and Shinichi picture to the actress to keep as he explains sheepishly that he coaxed a singer from Queen Records for whom he wrote a couple songs to convince the production staff from the PV to make him a copy of the image.
"You were really haunting as the angel, Kyoko-chan," compliments the idol. For a moment, Hikaru wonders if he should have hidden that particular photograph when he cleaned. The fear that Kyoko might think his desire and effort to secure the picture a bit reminiscent of a stalker invades his thoughts. The idol grimaces as he waits for Kyoko's response.
Kyoko sighs at the memory of the moment captured on film.
"I sometimes feel that the Prisoner PV only brought me grief," Kyoko states as she gently touches the beautiful image carefully preserved on her senpai's dresser. "But then I remember how it helped Director Ogata notice me and in turn how much Dark Moon meant to me and I can not help but love it just a bit."
The actress glances up at Hikaru and shares an accepting smile with him.
"Isn't it strange how so many things are connected?" she adds. "I'm glad that you appreciated the angel part too."
Hikaru raises his hand in an unconscious response to his desire to mirror the gentle touch Kyoko performed on her own image. He moves slowly as Kyoko remains staring intently into his chocolate brown eyes. The actress takes a short breath just before his fingers touch her cheek.
At the moment before his touch can connect, Hikaru's door slams open.
"HIKARU!" yells his sister from the doorway.
The LME talents start at the unexpected interruption. Feeling a bit like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Hikaru lowers his hand quickly and inwardly curses at fate and his overly energetic sister. He can't help but lament yet another chance lost because of her slamming a door. Since this one stings so much more then his discontinued dream, the idol finds himself asking what Hinako needs in a tone much sharper then he normally uses with his kid sister.
"The timer keeps buzzing in the kitchen," his sister replies in her own huffy tone.
With an exclamation, Kyoko scurries from the room to save their dinner. Hikaru follows her from his bedroom. When he passes his sister, the imp cannot help but tease her adorable older brother.
"Sorry to interrupt your big moment," she snickers. Hinako is disappointed when Hikaru does not rise to her bait. Instead, he wraps his arm around her shoulder and gives her a quick squeeze. The oldest Ishibashi is used to these things. After all, most of his time spent with Kyoko is also in the company of Shinichi, and no matter how enthusiastic and care free his sister may be, she is no match for that joker's innate ability to shatter a moment.
After their delicious dinner, Hikaru's mother shoos her son and his friend from the kitchen. She insists that she and Hinako should clean the meal mess since they were kind enough to cook. As expected, Kyoko tries to protest, but Hikaru just takes her hand and pulls her from the kitchen.
"You will never win an argument with my mother," he whispers in warning. "She is a force of nature unto herself."
Kyoko giggles because after only an hour in the older woman's company, she would definitely agree with the older celebrity. His mother is a barreling bull of a woman, stubborn and passionate. She is the exact opposite of her friend's father. Kyoko is not sure if the oldest Ishibashi said even five words during dinner. Other then complimenting the food, Hikaru's father remained silent through the entire meal. The actress can't help but wonder which mother figure would win a competition of wills between her adopted mother and Hikaru's mother. The thought pulls another giggle from the teen which in turn elicits a broad grin from her companion even though he has no idea why she is grinning.
"So, do you need me to take you home now or do you want to stay for awhile?" Hikaru inquires in hopes of keeping Kyoko in his home longer. It feels so right to have her here, and the idol loathes the thought of returning her home so soon after dinner.
"Um, I want to review my script for tomorrow," the actress admits. She instantly notices the sorrow that her response causes her host. "but I can do it here. I mean, if you don't mind and you can take me home later. I have the script in my bag."
Hikaru's glow returns, and Kyoko soon finds herself back in his bedroom reclining on her stomach on top of his double bed. On the floor, her senpai sits with his beat-up guitar in his lap as he strums his way through a partially written song. A strong wave of nostalgia washes over Kyoko. She rests her chin on her hand as the actress remembers evenings spent at the Fuwa Ryokon in this exact manner. She would be studying or reading, and Sho would be on the floor practicing or writing music. Kyoko's golden eyes settle on Hikaru's hands as they shift against the strings.
The bittersweet feeling of forgotten memories fades as Kyoko takes notice of all the differences in her current situation compared to her past. Her script is a far cry from the boring curriculum her school required. Reviewing for work on Monday is a joy and not the chore required to prove her worth that she always saw studying to be.
Her thoughts turn to her current companion. Although talented, it is obvious even to Kyoko's untrained ears that Hikaru's skills do not compare to her childhood friend's genius. Hikaru creates music methodically as if slowly nurturing a tiny plant to grow from a seed into a bloom. Sho's writing always reminded her of the Aesop's fable of the Tortoise and the Hare. His initial writing was always explosive. He wrote in a mad dash for the finish line like the arrogant hare. It was only after the initial rush of creativity flew from his being that Sho would return to the song to clean it. In this, her friend was like the tortoise. He would meticulously plod through his creation and fine tune it to perfection.
Pushing aside thoughts of Shotaro, Kyoko smiles once more at the young man sitting on the carpet before returning to her script.
Forty minutes later, Kyoko closes her script. She is satisfied that she knows the part well enough to keep her director and her co-stars happy. Her heart pounds in anticipation of this unique opportunity to play such a different part. Realizing that the room is unexpectedly silent, Kyoko sits and glances at Hikaru. Her Ishibashi big brother is sitting quietly with his back against his dresser and his one knee raised. His arms wrap around his bent knee while his head rests comfortably on his crossed arms. Hikaru's eyes follow Kyoko as she moves, and the actress blushes when she determines that he has been sitting and silently watching her for quite some time. She had been so involved in her script that she had not realized when her companion returned his guitar to the stand in the corner of the room.
To cover her embarrassment, Kyoko apologizes for being a poor guest. Hikaru chuckles and assures her that she is a perfect guest.
Feeling strangely uncomfortable to have Hikaru watching her while she is sitting on his bed, Kyoko slips to the floor so that she can face her friend on the same level. For some reason, the expression on Hikaru's face as he watches her unsettles Kyoko. It plays against a misplaced memory that Kyoko can not quite find the connection. Juli's advice about kissing skitters through her racing mind. Nervously, the teen licks her lips, and she notices that Hikaru's eyes follow her little pink appendage on its quick detour. Her heart rate jumps, and butterflies seem to erupt in her stomach.
"Um, Hikaru-san?" she anxiously stutters.
"Hmm?"
"Is this a date?"
Hikaru shifts until he is sitting cross legged with his hands resting on his knees. "Do you want it to be?" he finally replies.
If possible, Kyoko's heart rate rises even more and she clenches her hands into fists as a slightly dizzy feeling washes through her. Before she can answer properly, the actress finds that she needs to swallow a very large lump at the back of her throat.
"Um, I'm not sure?" she answers with a worried expression as if expecting to be scolded.
Hikaru chuckles once more.
"Well, when you decide, you let me know," he teases with a companionable grin. "Then I will be able to answer properly too."
Unable to resist his friendly smile, Kyoko relaxes and returns his smile with one of her own.
In an effort to further make Kyoko feel more comfortable, Hikaru makes a show of checking the time and commenting that he should probably get her home soon. The idol drives the actress back to her home in his dad's station wagon. During the drive, Hikaru keeps a friendly chatter going which Kyoko appreciates. When she drives with Ren, he only rarely talks unless she starts the conversation. She finds Hikaru's lively and varied topics a pleasant distraction. Surprisingly soon, he pulls his borrowed vehicle into a spot near her home. The idol walks his companion to the door and watches as she digs in her purse for her front door key.
As Kyoko pulls the key from her bag, Hikaru takes her hand.
"So did you decide if you wanted this to be a date?" he asks innocently.
Kyoko blushes and her heart instantly begins beating double time. Fleetingly, she wonders if Hikaru can hear it since he is standing so close. As if he knows what the nervous girl is thinking, Hikaru's eyes twinkle in amusement. Gently, his left hand tilts the actress' chin up ever so slightly which causes Kyoko to freeze as the voices in her head start panicking that he is going to kiss her again. Instead of the anticipated warm pressure on her lips, Hikaru gently presses his lips against Kyoko's forehead. He pulls back and winks at her.
"Whatever this was, I had fun. Maybe we can do it again some time? Just let me know, okay?"
Unsure of what to say, Kyoko just wishes her senpai good night and slips into the darkened restaurant.
Hikaru is pulling the car into the driveway when his phone vibrates to announce he received a text. He turns off the engine and flips open his phone. As he exits the car, the idol scrolls to open the message from Kyoko. The quiet of the residential neighborhood is momentarily shattered.
"YES!" he shouts with an exuberant jump before saving the message that simply read "I am free again next Sunday evening."
A/N: Just to warn everyone, it is hockey play offs so updates will be a bit slower... sorry but the puck calls and I must listen - me
