Nami sat in the doorway; she felt the hot tears running down her face. What had just happened, just moments ago Ray and her shared a moment that was so sincere, so filled with love. Yet work was still more important to her? What was she missing? The small girl leaned into Atsuko, as the taller girl had soothed her. All the other girls had looked at the two. Only Atsuko knew out of everyone what had just happened. Everyone wore concerned faces. They've never seen their strong captain so weak.
Yuko looked up at Asahi as she was still holding onto her waist. "Nyan Nyan, what happened?" Yuko was curious as to why the strong minded captain was in tears on the floor, looking oh so weak, and why Atsuko was the only one there to share comfort.
"I don't know..." Asahi trailed, and started towards the two that were on the floor. She placed a hand on the small, quivering girl's shoulder, in attempt to show her that she's there for her. Yuko stood there, motionless, watching, just like everyone else. First the diva of Japan comes to an AKB48 party, they haven't even come out with their first single yet. Said diva goes into Nami's room. Diva runs out of Nami's room in tears, and a dejected Nami is now on the floor, crying like there's no tomorrow. What was going on?
"Nami...shhhh, it'll be alright." Atsuko rocked the girl in her arms like a small child.
"Atsuko...is work really more important than love?" Nami looked up, tears still falling, the pain was eminent in her expression. Atsuko just stared at the girl. "No, no. Love is by far more important." Atsuko answered. The other girls stared, putting little bits and pieces together, just understanding the edges of this complex puzzle. Nami suddenly wiped the tears off of her face and slowly stood up. Her legs wobbly, she felt numb all over. Her first true love, her first girlfriend, had just broke up with her. It was a difficult thing; anyone would be at this state emotionally.
"Nami, what happened?" Asahi asked as the girl rose up. Nami just shook her head and passed it all off.
"It's alright, I'm okay." Nami forced a smile and made her way outside the apartment. She had no idea where she was going, but she knew she needed out. Atsuko wanted to follow behind the short girl, but something gave her the feeling that she needed to be alone.
So there Nami was, an eighteen year old girl walking alone on the familiar streets of Tokyo, in the evening. The tiny girl could feel the tears still begging to fall out of her eyes, and she felt herself shaking still. This was by far the worst holiday season she's ever experienced. How could this have all happened? They'd kissed so passionately that day, and Nami had given the diva all she had. What had gone wrong?
Ray trudged her way to her home, not caring in the world who saw the mascara filled tears. She knew that as soon as she got home though, she'd be breaking out the Sake she bough for Christmas night, another date she had planned out with Nami, but it had obviously been canceled. A lot of their plans had been canceled. All because of Ray found work more important. The reason why she found work more important though, was all due to a promise she'd made years ago with an old friend, an old love.
So there Atsuko stood, as everybody stood there, tempted to ask questions, but knowing that more than likely it was best not to give into the temptation. Atsuko didn't know if she should take their break up as a good thing, or a bad thing. Was this her opportunity take Nami as her own, or should she feel bad for her friend. Well, she already felt rather bad for her, but she didn't know if she should be feeling the heartbreak her smaller friend was feeling. It hurt her though, that's for sure, to know that Nami was in pain, that her heart ached. Knowing that Nami was out there on her own, all by herself, made Atsuko pick up her feet, and followed Nami's path. If Nami were hurting, she'd be there to try and comfort her. The other girls looked at her questionably as she made her exit. Only one girl was snapped out of the drama enough to speak,
"What just happened?" That girl had happened to be the one and only, Akimoto Sayaka. To think that a time like this, she's the only one to speak up, it's rather shocking, especially with her usually being the quiet one. When she spoke though, it instantaneously snapped everyone else out of the little trance they had, contemplating on the events that had just happened within the past fifteen minutes. Such a long time, but it only appeared like just a few seconds. They all settled back into the party though, with the conversations usually pertaining to the little event.
So there Nami sat, on a random park bench, a light just across the little walkway, the trees around her whistled a small tune, no one else was in the park, especially not at this time of night. But the preposterous happened; she heard footsteps, making their way towards her. Nami looked up, and saw the last person she wanted to see right now.
"Nami?" Hiro, her old best friend from before becoming a part of Persona, asked questionably. The poor boy had confessed to Nami, but Nami only took it as a joke, little did she know he was very serious. The concerned friend had immediately sat down next to Nami, seeing the tears still falling from her face, he put his arm around her and pulled her close. It was too cold, and she was out without a coat. All the girl knew though is that there was someone to cry into, so she did. She turned to Hiro's chest, and cried, and cried. No words were exchanged, just the occasional hiccup or two.
Atsuko walked, and walked, looking high and low for her friend. She decided to take a walk in the park though, hoping that's where her little amigo was. And indeed she was, in the arms of a really rather handsome boy. She felt her heart break a little bit, as she saw Nami taking comfort with someone other than her.
"Nami..." Atsuko whispered under her breath, today was just full of heartbreak. The black haired girl watched though, as Nami slowly spaced herself from the tall boy, putting him at arms length. The boy had looked confused.
"Hiro, what're you doing here?" Atsuko heard Nami ask the boy, whose name is apparently Hiro.
"I was going for a jog, and I saw you.." The boys voice faded off, he seemed a little hurt.
"Don't get the wrong idea with what just happened, it's just been a really long night.." Nami too, had trailed off. Atsuko watched the scene full of question, wondering what the relationship between the two was.
"Nami, you know, everyone misses you..I miss you.." Hiro bravely looked into Nami's eyes, looking for an answer.
"I've got a break in show business, I can't go back to what life I had.." Nami looked up at her friend, it hurt her knowing that she couldn't go back with her friends, back to the people that saw her at her worst, as well as her best.
"Really? We all though that I'd scared you off...I've been really worried about that..I'm happy to hear you're achieving your dreams." Hiro smiled a gentle smile, half of it was because of relief, and another was due to genuinely being happy for his friend.
"I was really scared that day though, but that was also the day where I made my big break." Nami, too, had smiled a little smile.
"You've been in the business for three years? You'd think that you'd be on TV by now.." Hiro pondered, remembering if he'd heard anything Nami being on TV.
"I used to be on TV a LOT but then things happened, and me and my band mates, we had to quit that particular group, but we remained friends, and we'll be on TV again soon!" Nami got energy from remembering her days as Persona, sure, she was had to be on her toes a lot, but it was fun, a whole ton of fun.
"Wait, what group were you in?" Hiro look at Nami questionably, crossing his arms, giving his 'you're bullshitting me' stare.
"Well, uhm..." Nami looked around, not knowing what to say. That's when she spotted her, Atsuko, "Atsuko!" Nami smiled big, while Hiro just frowned, she always did this when she was in a tough spot.
"Nami! Are you okay?" Atsuko ran up to Nami, wrapping her in her arms and pulling her into a hug. Nami's muscles relaxed and leaned into the hug, it felt so natural to be close to Atsuko. The hug loosened a bit, and Nami was able to look up at her friend, she smiled impishly and replied;
"I'm fine, thank you" Nami went back to the hug, Atsuko held a slight blush on her face and as she looked up a bit, she met a face of anger, jealousy, Hiro gave Atsuko a look that would make a grown man scream. The face only made her hug Nami tighter, now knowing his true feelings of her friend. Nami slowly let go and pulled out of the hug, leaving a lingering stare in Atsuko's eyes. Nami turned to Hiro, and that's when something very unexpected happened, he took ahold of Nami's face, and closed the distance between their faces, between their lips. Nami immediately jumped back with widened eyes.
"I told you, that day, I'm going to make you mine, Nami, I will." Hiro whispered, feeling successful that he managed to kiss her.
Nobody had managed to see who was watching everything happen though. It had been Ray. The tall, slender, black haired woman buckled to her knees. It appeared that everybody had a crush on Nami. Was it true? Had Ray truly let someone that popular go without a second thought? Her walking out on Nami really broke the pair up?
When Ray let herself fall though, one person caught a glimpse of Japan's number one selling artist. "RAY!" Hiro yelled, he'd had wet dreams about Ray, and there she was right in front of him. He had a celebrity crush on the girl, though his heart was set on Nami, his hormones definitely reacted to Ray. When Hiro exclaimed that, Nami's face turned grim quicker than a snap. Atsuko instinctively grabbed ahold of Nami's hand, while Hiro ran to the diva's side and helped her up, Ray had mascara running down her face, her make up was fuddled up, and the moment she saw Nami up close, it only caused more tears to form. And Nami's tears started as soon as she saw Ray on the ground.
"Nami?" Ray asked weakly, as if everything was leaving her body. Nami automatically stretched out and took ahold of Ray, making Hiro let go. Nami led the woman to a park bench and set her down, so she could regain strength. "Nami, I'm sorry..I...I still love you.." The Ray had passed out. She had been dealing with a lot of stress from work lately, and tonight really didn't help. Hiro's eyes widened hearing Ray say that to his high school crush.
"Nami, what's going on?" Hiro asked, grabbing Nami's shoulders.
"Take care of Ray for me, will ya?" Nami shook the boy's hands off of her, and she grabbed Atsuko's hand, and left the scene. As soon as Nami turned her back to Ray though, tears had poured down her face. It's always hard to say a final goodbye.
Atsuko looked down at the small yet powerful girl beside her, wondering, what all had she experienced? What was going on her life? When the taller of the two pondered on that, Nami had managed to wipe away her tears and looked up at her.
"Acchan, can I stay at your house tonight?" Nami didn't want to go home, she knew she'd be bombarded with questions, not after such a heart wrenching night.
"Of course, any time you need me, just tell me and I'll be here to help you." Atsuko threw her arm around Nami and gave a side hug as they continued to walk to her house. When the duo came to a really rather nice home, Atsuko unlocked the doors carefully, to try and avoid making loud noises. Although Nami and Atsuko had been friends for quite some time, this was actually the first time she'd actually been to Atsuko's house. "Sorry if it's a bit messy, I haven't cleaned in a while." Atsuko smiled nervously, kicking a random sock that was on the floor in the little kitchen into the living room. It was a, a very American styled home.
"It's perfectly fine, the apartment isn't that clean itself either" Nami chuckled a bit, catching Atsuko's subtle movement of the sock. "Are your mom and dad upstairs asleep?" Nami asked, curious as to why Atsuko was being so careful and quiet.
"No, mom and dad live out in Hokkaido so I just live here all alone." Atsuko smiled a gentle smile as she set down in a kitchen chair, inviting Nami to also sit down.
"Ahhh, then why so quiet?" Nami asked, responding to Atsuko's smile with one of her own.
"I don't want to wake Mina-chan." Atsuko chuckled a bit, thinking of how she treated her dog as if she were a human being. Nami also chuckled. "So, are you ready for tomorrow?" Atsuko asked Nami, everyone was nervous for tomorrow's events; they'd be getting put into their own agencies. There was tons of offices coming in to interview each and every one of them, well, each agency had their eyes on a few, but in the end, all would end up being picked by and agency.
"Not really, as long as Hinata, Asahi, and I are put in the same agency, I don't really care." Nami replied softly.
"You three have a long history together don't you?" Atsuko couldn't help but feel a little jealous since she didn't know what Nami's history was, yet Nami knew Atsuko's history inside and out.
"Yeah, I'll have to tell you sometime" Nami said, feeling a little bit of jealousy emanating off of Atsuko.
"Well, I think I'm going to go to bed, don't want to look bad for them agents. Nighty night, Nami." Atsuko smiled, patting Nami on the head as she walked past the small girl and walked up the stairs to her room. Nami knew she'd be sleeping on the couch, so she made her way to the living room, grabbed a blanket and huddled up in the fetal position and fell into some much needed sleep.
When morning rose, Atsuko stretched, and walked downstairs for her normal glass of orange juice before getting ready for work. As she walked past the little entryway to the living room, she saw a tear falling down Nami's cheek and wiped it away with her thumb and kissed Nami on the forehead, as if that'd take the bad dream away. The small girl stirred a bit and slowly opened her eyes, only to be met with an empty room, since Atsuko fled to the kitchen, not wanting her friend to know that she'd been crushing on her since the two had become friends. Nami stood up slowly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, and walked to the kitchen to see Atsuko standing there, drinking her orange juice nonchalantly.
"Good morning" Atsuko greeted Nami, as the girl was still half asleep.
"Good morning" Nami greeted her back, still just standing there, not quite sure what to do.
"Do you possibly want something to drink?" Atsuko asked, and Nami slowly shook her head, as if a wrong move could cause her brain to fall out. The tall girl went over to the refrigerator and poured Nami a small glass of orange juice, in which was quickly chugged down. "Well, I'll get you a change of clothes and you can get ready in the bathroom down here, I'll just be upstairs getting ready, if you need anything, just go ahead and ask." Atsuko smiled and Nami once again shook her head slowly. Standing in place for quite a bit of time even after Atsuko had left and was upstairs getting ready. Nami went and found the bathroom that was downstairs and took a quick shower and changed quickly, she checked the time, and they only had about ten minutes to get to the theatre! Nami made a mad dash to find Atsuko, she flung the bathroom door open without thinking and there Atsuko was, stark naked, right in front of Nami, it was obvious she had just gotten out of the shower, but what had taken her so long in there in the first place? Now wasn't the time to wonder things like that though, they had to get to work! Atsuko's eyes were as wide as a deer's that were caught in headlights. Luckily the tall, black haired girl had had the instinct to grab ahold of the towel she had sitting on the toilet and covered herself up rather quickly. After realizing what she'd just done, Nami quickly covered her eyes and a little pink blush formed on her cheeks.
"We only have ten minutes to get to work.." Nami said, slowly backing up.
Atsuko made a sound of acknowledgement and closed the door as Nami stepped out. Her heart was beating a million beats a second, it was weird though. Nami has seen her naked before, back when they bathed, why did she all of a sudden become so embarrassed about it? As Atsuko was in the bathroom, fumbling over her hands and feet to finish getting ready to head out as quickly as she possibly could, she quickly raced out, grabbed Nami's wrist and the two were off. Running down the streets, knowing the route by heart and could walk it blind, they quickly got to their destination. They climbed up the stairs, and as the duo entered the practice room, they saw how all the girls were huddled together in the corner of the room, and a little boy emerged from the small group, thin as a stick and looked like he was picked out of a junkyard, the boy looked up at Nami, hope in his small eyes.
"Mommy?" Everyone in the room froze, eyes stuck on Nami, who was this boy?