Akari POV

My name is Akari Yukimura and I'm twenty-one years old. My occupation is an actress and my stage name is Haruna Mase, the acclaimed acting prodigy. I've been in many roles and many movies because of my flawless acting skills and my cute appearance. My height is about 159 cm (5'2 ft.) and I have long brown hair and my amber eyes that catch the eye of many. My older sister, Aguri, tells me to wait until I find the one that likes me for who I am and not just my looks or something like that. Ever since our parents died when I was eight, it was just me and Aguri. We lived together in a small house as we paid for the bills. Aguri had a teaching job nearby at a school called Kunugigaoka Junior High and I got acting gigs so I also helped pay the bills. Life was a bit rough at the start, but we managed. I was mostly homeschooled by Aguri until high school because my acting was in the way sometimes. I took a bit of a hiatus during high school and that's where I met my best friends Manami and Yukiko. They're the best of friends I could ever ask for, as they don't care if I'm a world-star actress or not. Even when they saw my bad sides, they still continue to be by my side. They are really great.

As an actress, I travel a lot around the world and film. I've been in movies like Dragonfly, Honey Camp, and even scary movies like Doll House. My manager is quite nice and she's been with me ever since I started acting very young. She tried to avoid making me star in romance movies, as she didn't really think it would be appropriate to do any kiss scenes at a young age. Recently, she told me that I was ready to enter the romance movie business and there's a movie called Shooting Star that I would be perfect for, but there was something holding me back. That thing is that I don't know anything about romance or love. Of course I was excited about finally being in a romance movie. I've seen many romance or love-story movies, but I have no experience in actual romance in real life. I followed Aguri's advice about waiting for the right guy, but now I'm impatient! I told my manager if I could hold on to the offer until I had prepared myself for the role so she told the director that I was at least interested. My manager then told me that I should head back home and rest for a while before I audition for the movie and I did. I went back to Japan and went home to the house I shared with Aguri. With the money I earned from movies, we had a slightly bigger house with good security, as we didn't want to attract ourselves too much. I told my manager that I really don't want bodyguards and that I was able to take care of myself. She was hesitant at first, but obliged eventually.

Here I am now, I'm on my bed, hoping the man of my dreams would come into my life and swoop me by my feet. A girl can dream huh? Anyways, I am waiting for Aguri to come back home from work. I was on my phone researching love and had an idea to just binge romance movies. I decided to fetch some snacks from the fridge to eat while I binge. Pudding is my favorite food and dessert. For that reason, I should have pudding in my house at all times, right? To my unholy surprise, there was no pudding?

"I guess it's been a while since I've been back home. There was no real reason for Aguri to buy a lot of pudding," I said to myself, disappointed that I didn't think about buying pudding beforehand. I sighed to myself as I decided what was the next course of action.

'Should I just watch movies without pudding or buy pudding somewhere and continue my research later?' In the middle of my thought process, my stomach started growling. I was embarrassed to say that I was leaning more towards buying pudding first. If I were to choose pudding or my lovely manager that's been with me since the very start then … I would choose pudding. I was still kind of sad that there was no pudding in the fridge. There were no pudding or dessert places that offered pudding nearby the last time I was here, so Aguri and I usually made our own pudding. I looked around the kitchen for any supplies and ingredients, to which there were none I could scavenge. Then I remembered Aguri telling me that a new pudding store had opened nearby. I looked at a nearby clock and the time was 3:30 p.m..

"Well I hope Aguri was right," I questioned myself if I was really heading out and jeopardizing my identity just for pudding. The answer was 'yes'. I grabbed my keys, purse, and wallet. As I was about to lock the door behind me, the breeze had blown my hair. It was then I realized that I wasn't wearing a disguise! After my realization, I immediately went inside my house and locked the door. I then went to my room in search of an appropriate and convincing disguise. Looking through my closet and room, I couldn't find a single good disguise that didn't scream 'Look at me!'. I continued scavenging through my closet and I came across a little green wig. It was a wig that I used only a few times and it was one of the few disguises that actually succeeded in fooling the media.

"This will do I guess," I said as I grabbed the wig. I put on a wig cap and put the wig over my head. I went over to the mirror and glanced over myself. As I fixed the position of the wig, I realized that it would look better if I tied it up. I then tied it up into two pigtails and it looked pretty cute. With that set, I grabbed my belongings and left my house, with the door locked of course.

Time Skip:

It's been ten minutes since I left the house. I just thought that if I kept walking I would eventually find it. The delicious taste of pudding was my determination on walking and risking my identity being revealed to the public. I could already taste the delectable pudding, soft and sweet, on my tongue. Before I realized it, I was already drooling a bit about my pudding fantasy. As I went back to reality, I noticed how nice the day was. There was a gentle breeze and birds were singing. I'm inside the studio so much that I really don't get to enjoy the weather outside often. Even when we do shoot outside, I'm so focused on my lines that I don't get to enjoy the scenery. I smiled and closed my eyes for a bit as the wind gently blew my wig in the air slightly. It was that moment I smelled something familiar, something delicious. I walked towards the alluring and enchanting smell and I came across the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It was a little pudding cafe. My eyes had stars as I gazed at the pudding cafe and my mouth started to water. I shook myself back to reality and told myself to just act like a normal girl wanting to purchase pudding.

'You're just a girl buying pudding. Just buy for here and buy some more for later. That's the plan, Akari! You could do this! Don't mess this up,' I told myself in my head with determination.

"I got this!" I screamed but was startled when I heard a few birds fly away suddenly. I looked around frantically, hoping that no one heard me. Luckily, no one was around. I sighed in relief and I quickly glanced at the cafe. "I got this," I said, a bit quieter. With that, I stepped into the cafe. I opened the door and the bell on the entrance rang, signaling the girl at the counter to look at me with a welcoming smile. I, too, bore a friendly smile as I walked in.

"Good! She doesn't recognize me."

I looked around the cafe and realized it was practically empty. It was just me, the girl at the counter, and a boy with brown hair. I noticed him giving me a small look before he returned to what he was reading. I smiled at his shyness and thought one thing at that moment.

'Cute'