*Picking up from where we left..
Mimi woke up to the (unusual) smell of food. It took a while for her to open her eyes and focus them enough to understand what was going on. In some place of her mind, her first instinct was to think of her mom's cooking, of being at home in New York or in her childhood one in Tokyo.
When she came to, feeling something cold pressed on her forehead, she realized belatedly that, of course, that was her apartment. She sat up, finding herself still dressed in the t-shirt and jeans shorts she put on earlier, on the couch, turning around just in time to see Yamato near the stove.
-How are you feeling?- he asked, noticing her up and looking around like a lost puppy.
-Uh..why- how are you here?- she replied instead, still confused, making him snort lightly.
-Yeah how indeed- he muttered -You left your door open- he side-eyed her.
-O-Oh- she stuttered, left with nothing to say except an unbecoming -Oops-
The blonde rolled his eyes -Stay there, I cooked you porridge- he got near and placed a plate, on a small wooden tray, on her lap -Eat, so you can take your medicine-
Mimi managed to smile teasingly, despite feeling still dizzy and her head swimming a bit -Thanks mom-
The boy huffed but didn't add anything, simply sitting beside her and watching her eat. It was just when she put down her spoon that he added -You almost gave me an heart attack, you know-
-Sorry- she looked at him sheepishly, under her lashes, nevertheless feeling her heart warm a little.
-Why didn't you call anyone for help?-
-Uh..- at this point she had finished her plate and Yamato passed her the tall glass of water and the medicine, which she took with a grateful nod of her head -I didn't want to bother anyone- she looked at her lap, a sad hue to her eyes -Everybody's busy with their own life-
-Stupid- he flicked her forehead, fixing her with his gaze for a moment as if he was studying something about her -I understand what you mean but next time, just call me-
And Mimi, for the life of her, couldn't control the goofy adoring smile that appeared on her lips -Really? Can I trust you then?- she said it jokingly but the last part had an underlying of truth to it.
Yamato huffed again -Of course you can- but he looked so endeared when he looked back at her, still smiling with her red cheeks and glossed over eyes, he couldn't help but return the smile, while brushing her hair back and feeling her temperature on her forehead. It seemed still pretty high.
-Go to sleep now-
-I feel better already- but a stern glance from Yamato shut her up -Yes sir!- Mimi mimicked a salute, laughing, and went ahead to change in her bedroom. Not even two minutes later she peeked her head out of the door and shyly asked -Stay with me?-
Yamato smiled (again! a record), feeling his heart squeeze at the sight and, without saying anything, he stood up and came to her, grabbing her waist and dragging her up to the bed.
And really, it took only 10 minutes for Mimi to fall asleep, under the watchful gaze of Yamato.
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It took two days for the fever to go down and for Mimi to recover completely. Yamato stayed with her as much as he could, cooking for her, making sure she took her medicines, when he didn't have work or band-activities. It was all real domestic.
And, for the first time, Mimi felt truly loved.
From there on, it was a bliss between them.
Yamato stayed over a lot, cooked a lot for her too with the excuse she needed to stop feeding herself with pre-made dinners all the time (which, guilty, Mimi guessed), but she just loved his presence there with her. Her house felt alive again, she didn't feel lonely anymore and their relationship got stronger.
It was the same when Yamato's university and the new high-school year started, they stayed close and when free, they were always together, mostly hanging out in her house, since they were already busy doing things outside on their own. Though, they still had the occasional date out, dining in some good and forgotten place one of them discovered or had always loved.
It was good.
Mimi even thought of asking Yamato to move in with her, although he basically was staying over half a week already, and had a lot of clothes there too. So she didn't say anything, because now, they really were fine. Yamato was also a lot more affectionate with her and Mimi felt herself grow fonder and fonder of the boy, even though that seemed impossible with how much her heart and mind were already full of him.
School was good too, her average grades raised and all professors agreed she improved and were looking positively at her entrance exam results for the fashion school of her choice. Of course she still went to cram school too, and finally managed to find a good balance, so she didn't exhaust herself again.
Work, after the ads for the lipbalm, kept on coming even more and Mimi found herself in a couple of important campaigns that got her name out even more. Mimi did more ads and a lot more photoshoots, she also got invited to a few fashion or brand events which made her meet a lot of cool (and not so much) new people in her field. Luckily, Mimi was naturally outgoing and never seemed nervous, although she was just good at keeping her poker face on.
She even made the briefest appearance on a fairly well-known youtube show about beauty trends but still refused to go on tv, although she had several offers to do so, until she was underage and in school.
Needless to say, the agency and Lee-san were ecstatic with her and her job. The man also noticed her closer relationship with Yamato and advised them both to be careful, especially now that they were getting more known and gaining fans (but still nowhere near famous). They weren't too bothered about it but still remained careful, hence also why they mostly met up alone in her house.
Their passion never wavered, they still wanted each other like crazy and, as they were young and had lots of stamina, they often found pleasure in one another arms.
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Like this, months passed again.
(again, college/university and schools terms start on April in Japan)*
Yamato, Taichi and Sora had started university for a while, Hikari and Takeru started high-school in the same school as Mimi and Koushiro, and the latter were just preparing for their university entrance exams.
Life was busy and Mimi forgot all about what was coming when, already at the end on June, The Teenage Wolves' music video finally came out.
It was, simply put, madness.
People loved it, someone hated it, but everyone talked about it. It spread in Japan like wildfire, the album hadn't even come out yet but the single sold-out in a matter of 2 weeks. And Mimi now got recognized everywhere (of course, mostly by young people).
At school, people who had known her for almost two years now, even just by sight, suddenly were all up her space and wanted a piece of her or some info on Yamato or something else. Thank god, Mimi had made a pretty tight group of friends in her classroom, who often protected her from the 'harassers', as they called them.
But she knew the best tactic was to not indulge people, not flat out ignore them like Koushiro did, but more of the nonchalant attitude Takeru had when people found out he was the frontman's little brother. He just shrugged and went on with his life, so Mimi took the same approach, or at least she tried to seeing as she had to work in the spotlights too.
And lord, if she had work before.. now it was literally piling up. The MV was a great success and it launched her name even further, to her bafflement. They even released some articles on her, going from 'who's the girl from the MV' to 'everything you need to know about Mimi'.
Mimi was, in a word, shocked. She did expect the band to have success but not for her to be dragged into it. And, of course, she received hate too, from some new and old, die-hard Yamato's fans who were claimed she was riding on their coattails and whatnot.
She took it hard at first, it all seemed too much and kind of overwhelmed her, but a good talk with her friends and she calmed down, knowing this, as all the new trendy things, would blow out sooner or later.
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Yamato's life also changed. Before that, he had adjusted well to university, loved studying music production, and even made some new friends. He had to quit his job, because between university and preparing for the band's debut, he had too much on his plate, but he knew it was just temporary so he didn't really mourn it (also he kinda hated it).
As his agency predicted, and the band hoped, it was expected for The Teenage Wolves first music video to be a hit but nobody was prepared for what really came.
Thankfully, as his face wasn't plastered anywhere near the cd single's jacket and he was just briefly shown in the mv, his daily life went on almost the same. But words still spread, after all his band had been around for a couple years already, and he found himself the centre of (unwanted) attention.
He hated it. Hated that media circus and refused to be a part of it.
Yamato had already made it clear with his agency as soon as he signed the contract, he wouldn't play any games, wouldn't do the idol life, wouldn't do tv shows or any type of appearance except for performances, refused to give up his freedom and privacy to play a puppet for the fans' affection.
He just cared about his music and he wanted his fans to do the same.
Obviously, as they were basically rookies in the industry, he didn't always had a say, although promised to present them with a more american-ish rock-band approach instead of the idolish j-rock bands.
Also thanks to his general aura of aloofness ('You glare a lot and you're scary' Taichi told him), people didn't bother him too much and left him alone before his temper got the best of him. Mimi wasn't that lucky though, he knew and saw it with his own two eyes, although he couldn't do anything about it and they hadn't been able to see each other much in the last 2 weeks since his debut. It seemed like a pattern to their relationship, super hot and then intensely cold, where they didn't see each others for days almost like they needed the distance (more like, Yamato did), although lately they had been awfully domestic.
They still texted every day though and sometimes resumed their goodnight calls, but even Mr Lee advised it would be better to keep their distance until it all calmed down. So they did.
Honestly, Yamato missed Mimi. After a couple months, being so close and together so much, he felt a little bit empty. Still, another part of him, the stubborn one, told him it was better this way, that it was getting too much. He never behaved like this before, he was never so affected by a girl, not even Sora who was his first love.
To keep his mind busy was the imminent schedule that kept the band on their toes, they had to record a performance on national television for two shows, and after a few days after that, the agency would announce their summer tour.
The Teenage Wolves would be going all around Japan, this time not the opening act of some more famous band anymore, it was their first real tour. They would be gone for a month, in larger venues, still not any stadium or anything that fancy, but it was already much more than they were used to.
Getting out of practice at the agency just now, at 10 pm, as they were preparing hard for the tv performances, Yamato crashed on his bed. He huffed out, exhausted and wanting nothing more than to sleep for a hundred years. Nevertheless, he reached out to his phone, replied to a couple texts in his chats and called Mimi.
It ringer three times before she picked up.
-Hey stranger- she called, a subdued amusement in her voice.
-Right back at you- he couldn't help but smile. Damn, he really missed her.
-How did it go today?- she called back his attention, her voice soft, almost whispering.
-Long day- he replied -Suzaku dropped the drumsticks on his head more times than I can count-
Mimi laughed, a trilling sound reverberating through the phone -I bet you're all nervous-
The blonde plastered a hand on his face tiredly -Yeah, performance in two days and then tour announcement-
-I've seen the list of cities, it's impressive, and a lot- Mimi commented, easily
-That too- Yamato sighed -Since we're newbies, we're going to go around a lot-
-That's reasonable- she hummed -Who's coming with you on tour?-
-Mm the manager and an assistant, I think- he scratched a spot on his eyebrows -We haven't really talked through everything, all I know is they're booking hotel reservations now, already made arrangements with clubs and venues for our performance.- he hated talking so much but, oddly enough, he didn't feel that way with her.
-I see, I thought there would be more people. You know, hairstylist and makeup artist and such-
The boy snorted -We don't need that, it's already enough we'll have that for the tv performance-
-Well, good for you in that case- she laughed again, small and precious -And after the tour, then what?-
Yamato hummed, trying to collect his scattered thoughts -If it all goes to plan, we should be able to perform in the Summer Rock Fire Festival- it was an important music festival, held in the summer every year, with rock and alternative music, somewhere Yamato always dreamed to go to.
-That's really cool!- Mimi gasped, excited -I'm so happy for you- the added, more subdued -Come see me before you go away, mister-
-I will- he smiled, genuine, wanted to touch her and trail his hands up and down her soft rosy skin but alas.. -Soon-
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Sorry for the delay and shortness (?) of this chapter, to be honest, I struggled a bit. The first part of the chapter should convey how close their relationship got, while the second is a sort of transitional chapter, describing how their life is changing and starting dealing with the impact their jobs will have in their life.
That's also why the pace is a bit fast, and it will be in the next chapter as well, as we'll soon arrive to the main events.
Anyway I made up the name of the Festival, I don't know if it exist for real and I was too lazy to research it so.. lol.
Until next time! :)