"JSDF?!" Yamato asked with a raised eyebrow.
"That's what the rumour is." His classmate retorted with a shrug.
"That's news to me." Yamato replied, as he continued to make his way up the stairs with his bike helmet in hand - his classmate followed.
"So no job offers yet?" Yamato's classmate questioned whilst catching upto him.
Yamato frowned. It was true that he had yet to receive any job offers, but it was also true that he hadn't yet applied for any.
"Let me guess, you got one?" Yamato questioned, looking at his classmate.
"First choice!" Yamato's classmate grinned with a victory pose.
They arrived at their designated classroom and found a pair of empty seats. Yamato removed his bike jacket from his slander frame and proceeded to quick grab his laptop from his bag. His classmates imitating Yamato's actions as the classroom started to fill. He was joined by a larger group of his friends, the class wouldn't start for another fifteen minutes as he peered towards his watch.
His friends were gossiping around him - Yamato made little effort to keep track. His mind wondered towards his future, or the lack of direction for his future.
"BIG NEWS!" Yamato was awaken from his thoughts as a female classmate came running into the room - she had gone straight to where the rest of the female clique sat, "Look, look!" The girl excitedly brought forth a magazine from her bag as the rest of them circled around.
"Come'on, stop leaving us hanging!" One of the girls replied.
"Look at the title! National Idol Tachikawa Mimi resigns! Engagement ring spotted!" The girl excitedly point to the magazine's cover article.
Yamato did a double take and mentally face palmed - what had Taichi done this time?
"What!" Yamato's friend, whom sat next to him exclaimed as he slammed the classroom table, "This is a disaster! Yamato you agree with me right!"
Yamato raised his eye brow and laughed, "Not sure what you're talking about. Didn't know you were a fan."
"Tachikawa Mimi is a national treasure! Japan's Top Idol. She's only a year younger than us and already engaged! I bet you it's some millionaire politician or maybe an athlete!" The boy exclaimed.
"Could be a regular university student." Yamato replied half heartily.
His friend wasn't listening. He was already on his laptop, searching widely on who had purposed to Japan's Top Idol. Yamato sighed, as he could hear the girls making wild accusations about Tachikawa Mimi's supposed fiancee.
Yamato pulled his smartphone from his pocket and quickly tapped on the Line app icon. He scanned his phone until he found the name he was looking for: Yagami Taichi.
[Something you've been hiding from the rest of us?] Yamato quickly typed. He knew Taichi's schedule, the boy was probably still cozying up in his futon.
[What are you talking about?] Yamato was right, Taichi was free to chat.
[Seen the latest gossip magazines?]
[No, should I?]
[Have you done a search for Tachikawa Mimi lately?]
[Why would I do that?]
[I thought you were her devoted boyfriend. Do everyone a favour and look it up] Yamato typed, he could see Taichi's annoyance forming.
He waited for his friend to reply, eyeing his watch. Five minutes.
His phone beeped, [You got to be kidding me!]
[When's the wedding? Or did you accidentally knock her up?] Yamato smiled. He had witnessed Taichi's apartment, it wasn't hard to find Taichi's special stack of magazine - which the boy had claimed was for research purposes.
[Neither! It was a birthday present!]
[On her ring finger?]
[That was an accident and she's keeping it on so she can "hold me accountable"]
[She's a keeper then. So again, back to my original question: when's the wedding?]
[Oh look at the time, Sora's messaging me now...bye!] It was too easy to get Taichi flustered.
[Same time, same place?] Yamato replied. It had become a ritual for the two friends to catch up with each other at their favourite izakaya on nights when they were both free.
[Yea, I'll see you there.]
"Good morning class." Yamato's professor announced as he arrived into the classroom. Yamato quickly put his phone on silence and back into his pocket. His concentration fully on his professor. Yamato was top of the class for a reason.
"One point of announcement I would like to make before we begin today. This year's final project will be multidisciplinary. Meaning our aeronautic engineering department will be partnering with Todai's civic policy and life sciences departments. Each of you will be forming groups with members from the other two departments. More information will be made available soon." The professor announced before pulling up his regular lesson plan.
Great. Yamato thought sarcastically.
It was hours later that the Westminster Chimes played. Yamato stretched. Class was finally over. He gathered his belongings as he waved good bye to the rest of the students leaving the classroom. It was a ritual for him to leave last, usually because he questions he wanted to ask his professor.
Yamato looked over to his side, he could see his friend was still depressed.
"Just get over it. You never had a chance with a national idol anyways." He consoled his friend.
"Speak for yourself mister top of the class." The boy sighed, "I even bought tickets to her next concert."
"You can still go. If I remember right, she's part of an idol group is she not? There's more than one idol you can put your support behind." Yamato reassured, slinging his bag behind his shoulder and grabbing his bike helmet.
"It's not the same. My heart belonged to the one and only Mi-chan!"
"Mi-chan?" He raised an eyebrow.
His friend just sighed. The two left the classroom and said their goodbyes, going separate ways. His bike was parked at the school's only parking lot. Majority of the students took the subway or the JR Trains, only a few students and professors had personal vehicles.
O O O
He checked his watch. It was nearly five, the sun would be setting in a couple of hours. Shinjuku traffic was killing him, weaving in and out of standstill traffic wasn't the safest, Yamato much preferred the open highways from the outer wards of Tokyo. He would find his way to one of the many underground parking lots - a perk he shared with his mother, whom had a company permit allowing parking spot nearly anywhere in Tokyo.
Yamato locked his bike and made his way above ground to the streets of Shinjuku. He would never get accustomed to the lights and sounds of Shinjuku. It was not like Minato City where he grew up. Shinjuku was the place for the rich and famous. He pulled out his phone to check for the location of his destination, only a block away.
He found what he was looking for. The only five star hotel in the area, The Peninsula Tokyo. He was out of place. Everywhere he looked, men in expensive business suits walked, and on their arms, women dressed in expensive looking kimono's or girls in opulent dresses. Yamato sighed, he didn't want to be here.
Yamato made his way to the main counter. The girl at the desk did a double take, no doubt because he was the only one around in a black leather jacket and a bike helmet. The girl was reluctant to speak up.
"I'm looking for the Grand Hall. I'm here to help a friend set up for the Kanto Ikebana Junior Super Cup." He spoke up. The girl pointed him to the right location without a word.
O O O
"Can you believe it?!" Sora huffed.
"Believe what?" He asked, continuing to unbox Sora's flower supplies.
"Look!" She angrily pulled up her phone. It was a selfie of a smiling girl in the background, but the focus was on her hand. A ring.
Yamato sighed, "Yeah I've already seen the headlines."
"How dare they not tell us! I thought I was their best friend!" Sora huffed.
"Could it be that they didn't want to distract you from this?" He calmly asked.
"I deserve the right to know when my best friend asks my other best friend to get married!"
He laughed.
"What so funny?! You knew didn't you!" She closed the distance between them, her angry face was inches from his.
"Nope." He smiled. Pulling out his phone to show Sora his conversation with Taichi.
Sora narrowed her eyes. Pulled out her phone and began typing away. Yamato sighed, he would be hearing from Taichi any minute now.
[What did you tell her!] Right on cue, his phone blew up.
[Nothing] Yamato replied.
"We're going!" Sora announced.
"Going where?" He asked looking up from his phone, Sora was already down the hall.
"Akihabara!" She left him behind in shock.
"Akihabara?! Why Akihabara?" He asked, trying to catch up to Sora.
"Please! Don't think I don't know what you and Taichi are up to every time you two go out to drink." She scoffed, "Plus, it's on the same train line as Mimi-chan's new cooking school."
Yamato followed until they reached the front of the hotel. A Rolls Royce was already waiting for them. Sora was slowly becoming a name in the world of Ikebana, often catering to the rich and famous. If she were to win the Kanto Ikebana Junior Super Cup, it would fast track her to superstardom.
Their car pulled up to the jam packed streets of Akihabara, LED lights flashing every direction and many speakers blending into barely recognizable noise. It was all too familiar to Yamato, this was his and Taichi's guilty pleasure when they wanted to get away from the rest of their friends. Akihabara was the last place anyone who knew Yamato would guess he would be. He knew exactly where they were and his body began to shake at the thought of what Sora knew.
"Come on." Sora demanded, he simply followed.
The entrance wasn't particularly distinguishable from the outside, blending into the multiple other offices and restaurants. If a person didn't know where they were going exactly, they would never find the place. Yamato and Taichi themselves stumbled onto the place one day, after having already too much to drink - it had been a joke at first, but the pair kept finding themselves returning to the place.
Yamato followed Sora until they were at the entrance. There was a single sign - Granvania: Maid Izakaya. Sora simply led the pair in, ignoring Yamato as he followed.
"Welcome to Granvania!" An overly sweet voice greeted them, before recognizing Yamato, "Ah, Ishida-sama! Welcome back goshujin-sama!"
Sora gave him a frown, Yamato could only sigh, "Nice to see you again, Sayuri..."
"We have a room under Takenouchi." Sora said sternly, ignoring Yamato.
"Ho! Right this way!" The girl said in shock before calming down, "Yagami-goshujin-sama is already waiting."
They were lead into a tiny room and upon opening the door, they were met with the sight of Taichi already finishing his beer - and not his first from what Yamato could see. Sora sat down straight away, before Taichi could sober up.
"Yo Taichi..." Yamato trailed off as he raised his hand to greet Taichi.
Yamato took a seat beside Sora, "The regular for me Sayuri."
"Hai! One Highball coming right away!" Sayuri cheered before leaving the trio to their privacy.
"You told her about Granvania!" Taichi whispered to Yamato.
"Of course not!" Yamato replied.
"I can hear you two." Sora replied, Yamato and Taichi could both feel her stern aura. "It's not hard to figure out where you two go all the time. Taichi, you don't think Mimi doesn't knows where you're at any given minute? And it's not exactly hard to break into your phone."
Taichi choked on while taking a sip from his beer glass, but quickly wiped his mouth, "Oi Yamato. You're girlfriend can be scary."
Yamato could only nod but felt a cold stare towards his direction. He didn't make any acknowledgment towards Sora. Taichi had one secrete which he shared with Yamato through the years; the one person he was most afraid of ever since the age of six was Takenouchi Sora, Yagami Tachi's childhood friend and neighbour.
His thoughts interrupted as the door to their private room ripped open, "Yo everyone!"
The once national idol had arrived, disguised only by a hat. Yamato could only guess how no one ever recognized the girl out in public with such shoddy disguises, when he could easily pick-out the girl from miles away.
"Mimi-chan!" Sora announced before rushing to hug the girl. Immediately Sora had made her way towards Mimi's new ring.
"Oi." Yamato grabbed Taichi from across the table, the two girls blissfully in their own conversation, "How did you afford that?"
"Why do you think my apartment is in Chiba?" Taichi whispered.
"Oh my god!" Sora interrupted them, "I'm so happy for you and Taichi, Mimi-chan!"
Mimi was glowing and Taichi was speechless.