DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN AIKATSU
"I can't believe you helped Karasuma in busking." Fumiko said as Momo and her had finished watching a clip from earlier today. "When I showed you that first clip, you were so against it."
"I am still very much opposed to his actions. This was a one-time event due to circumstances." Momo stood up, heading towards her bed.
"Mmhmm." Fumiko mused. "Anyways, how was Shouta? Did Karasuma make him cry at one point with how scary he is?"
"Actually no. In fact, they got along quite well. I wouldn't be surprised if they became friends later on. If they meet again that is."
"You think that Shouta and Karasuma could be friends? What kind of crazy day did you just have?" Momo rolled her eyes.
"I don't see why not. Shouta-kun is very good at winning people over and Yu-kun can get along with people if he really wants to. Besides crazier things have happened this month alone. Who would have thought that I would get into a scandal my first year as an idol and end up in a romance drama with my childhood friend?"
"Hey, I have been meaning to ask you, why didn't you use your parents as a romance reference instead of going on a fake date with Shouta? Wouldn't it have been easier?" Fumiko said as she tucked herself into bed.
"I did consider it but given the circumstances of their relationship I found that they did not fit the story that I am auditioning for. My parent's story is not exactly a friendship to lovers' type."
"Well yeah, I know that but like they are the standard couple goals. They continued their very successful careers together, got married, had you. And as their daughter you have full knowledge of them I would think you would know their relationship the best."
"I guess so. I've heard a lot about their relationship growing up. Always asking this and that about them. They were like a real life story book to me. I don't think there's much more to study about their relationship." Momo had a smile on her face thinking about how affectionate her parents were with one another.
"I could imagine. Their relationship must have been perfect. They are both in the music industry that everything about their relationship fits so nicely." Momo chuckles at her.
"You make them sound so paradisiacal with each other. But even they have their quandaries. They are two different people with such contrasting personalities. Quite frankly if they didn't have their problems that would have been worse. I can think of plenty of times where their issues resulted in a pretty happy ending."
"No way! Like what?" She thought about it for a second.
"How about their first date?"
"I really like you. Please go out on a date with me!"
Hoshimiya Ichigo finally did it. She had asked Suzukawa Naoto on a date. The two of them have been getting closer recently that Ichigo took it upon her own hands to take the first step. The two of them were worried about their careers that neither wanted to risk anything with a relationship. Until right now.
It was really a spur of the moment when Ichigo asked. But once she had said it out loud there was nothing to take it back. The embarrassment was evident on her face enough. Naoto, on the other hand, was cool on the outside. Inside he was just as thrilled as she was.
The idea of idols not dating was not even a thought to either of them. There was a lot that was going through both of their heads but the possibility of a scandal didn't matter much.
"Alright." Naoto flinched as his voice cracked. He turned away as it was obvious that his cool exterior was breaking. "So um is there something that you want to do?"
"Nope!" She cheerfully responded. To her it was amazing that she even got the courage to ask him out in the first place. The two of them got along well enough that a plan to meet wasn't really ever needed. They just found each other and talked.
"How about we just go out to eat? Is that okay with you?" Naoto was more the type to actually plan things out. Life was unpredictable but having some guidance never hurt.
"I would love that! I know a lot of really good restaurants that we can try out. Are you free this Friday night?"
"Friday night? That's when More Than True is having a concert. It'll run until pretty late. How about Saturday?"
"Sorry but I have a fan-sign pretty much all day Saturday. Then Sunday I'll be meeting with a few music producers for my new album. And you know how long that'll take. They both had busy schedules that meeting up was going to be difficult.
As they kept going through possible days that they could go out on dates they started to see how even with their similar jobs it wasn't going to be all that easy. To them their jobs came first rather than a possible lover that they had no planned out future yet.
It's true that they did have an interest in each other. The idea of dating had been on both of their minds for a while that it was only natural for this to happen. However, they also knew that right now they were still testing the waters. Going from a friendly relationship to a romantic one could be a rocky ride if they didn't think this through. And they both unspoken, mutually agreed that they wouldn't want to hurt each other because of any recklessness.
After a few trial and error days, it looked like their date would be in 2 weeks at best. They didn't think of it as a bad thing though. To them it was lucky that they were able to find a date that would work. But it looked like they had more cut out for them if they were serious about things.
"Ehhhh?! You asked Nao-kun on a date?!" Aoi expressed loudly over the phone.
"Congratulations Ichigo! I thought you two would never ask." Ran said calmer than her friend. The three of them were busy with their own activities that a three-way call was normal now. Ichigo would tell them about Naoto and her meeting up more as often as she could that this was only a matter of time.
"I know right! But I don't know when I was talking with him today I just-" She sighed, contently falling back onto her bed.
"Aoi. She has it bad."
"I would say. Rockstar Nao and top idol Ichigo. I like the sound of that. I call being a bridesmaid at the wedding!"
"Me too!" Ichigo laughed at her two best friends. Even apart they had a close bond.
"I can hardly believe it myself. Have you ever seen Suzukawa-san on stage? Of course you guys have, but he's so cool up there. But he's even cooler off stage. As a lyricist he has such a way with words and I could feel that I can really rely on him when I needed it. Ahhh I can't wait until our date!" She squealed while shaking happily.
"Good thing, it's Nao-kun. Who else could handle Ichigo-chan when she's this pumped up?"
"You're right about that. Naoto's calm personality fits Ichigo perfectly."
Ichigo took a second to think about it. It's true that Ichigo showed off her energetic side more often than he did but what Ran and Aoi didn't know was that Naoto had his own cute side. Whenever he talked about his job or More than True, even he could get ahead of himself. He wouldn't scream and shout like she would. Instead when he spoke she would sometimes see him loosen up without thinking about it.
There was a time that More than True started to get some real attention after signing with their record label. Naoto didn't show it to his band members but to Ichigo he had no problem dropping his act.
She remembered it clearly how he started to imagine more of the band's possible future. The records they would break, the stages they would stand on, the legacy they would leave behind. To Ichigo, Naoto's soft spot for things close to him separated him from the cool rock star on stage that everyone saw. His loyalty to everything he did was what made Ichigo fall for him more every time.
It didn't matter that they had differences in energy levels. When both of them wanted something done, nothing could stop them.
"Hey hey, so what are you guys going to do on your date?"
"We're going to a restaurant. We haven't decided which one yet. You guys should have heard us trying to get one day that worked for us. 2 weeks is too long a wait."
"2 weeks?!" They shouted at her.
"Yeah, that was the only time that worked. Even then it's pretty late at night after I finish my work." She glanced over to her agenda sitting on her desk. Then beside it were sheets of work that she had to do. They were disorganized all over the place in a way that only she could understand.
"Let's look on the bright side. At least you have time to plan ahead. Make sure you have a good restaurant and outfit planned out. If the first date is in 2 weeks who knows how long, it'll take until the second one." Hearing that Ichigo came to a realization.
If she was going to date Naoto there would have to be a lot of effort put in. In the movies, couples didn't work out because of things like this. Not having time or energy to continue or not giving enough to the other person. She didn't even ask him with any plans ahead. Naoto wasn't like that.
As the leader of More Than True that was proven time and time again. He took care of his members before they had made it big. Not only his members but even his students, her friends and Ichigo herself. He was someone that was level headed, cool, overall Naoto was more relaxed than she was. Things that were spontaneous didn't fit him when he liked to make sure that every aspect was covered.
"You guys are right. You know what? I'm going to make this the perfect date! Find the best place, plan what we could do afterwards, have absolutely everything planned out! That way even if we don't see each other for a long time it would be okay!"
Aoi and Ran had their slight doubts about this plan. "Are you sure about this Ichigo?"
"Yeah Nao-kun is already used to your laid back behaviour that I'm sure he wouldn't mind a more improvisational type date."
"No way! I want to make sure that nothing bad happens." The two friends sighed over the phone knowing that they wouldn't be able to change her mind.
"Hoshimiya asked you out on a date?!" Naoto nodded nonchalantly when the drummer, King, jumped up in shock of his announcement. More than True had gathered in their usual studio with their instruments.
Hiro and Shurato put down their instruments and sat next to their leader tuning his guitar. "Congrats Naoto. Thought you would have asked her first though."
He chuckled to himself. "I don't even think that she knew that she would be asking herself."
"You have to admit that this is very much like her. The type to go with flow."
"Completely different from our strict leader, wouldn't you guys agree?" They all laughed at Shurato's comment. Naoto rolled his eyes, leaning back into their sofa.
"I'm, personally, very interested in how their relationship will turn now that I actually think about it. Ichigo was always so far away from the box I'm not even sure she knows where the box is anymore. Not to mention, her status in the Aikatsu ranking. Compared to that is..." King trailed off looking at Naoto.
"Are you insulting me?"
"No no not at all! Just... worried that you two may be over your heads." The room went silent.
"King has a point. They say opposites attract but isn't this a bit too opposite? I really like Ichigo-chan but there's a lot of contrast between the two of you." Naoto lightly plucked at one of his strings, not making a sound with them.
There was a big difference in how the soon to be couple acted. From the moment they met Naoto already knew that. When he first met her there was no way that he would have thought their relationship would have become the thing that it is today. It started with unplanned meet ups.
They knew each other from when she was a student and he did part time as a grounds caretaker. When Ichigo was down, somehow it was always Naoto that found her. But for Naoto, Ichigo was the one that went to find him whether he wanted her to or not. With just one look they knew if the other needed help and didn't dance around that idea. They talked to one another without any barriers of career or age that made it so free for both of them.
"Naoto? Hey, we didn't mean anything wrong by it. We were just talking." Hiro said after their leader didn't respond.
"I know. You guys are wrong though. Ichigo does know where the box is. She holds a lot of responsibility with her title. If she constantly went off, she wouldn't have any troubles." Naoto had seen it all. On the outside she goes about things in her own without a care in the world. In fact, she was constantly thinking about her actions, what she and cannot do.
Naoto admired that part of her. That she had her priorities straight but never hid who she truly was on camera. She genuinely loved Aikatsu despite the hardships. He had seen her suffer. He also saw how much fun she had on stage. That purity was nothing compared to what the haters tried to put on her.
"I guess that's true. Being the top idol must be a lot of stress. Being her boyfriend is going to come with its own challenges all on its own. If it was anyone other than our leader than I would have doubted they could handle it."
Then there was that. Even if they were both strong to handle the consequences that came upon them, there was the idea of each other's position. They were both putting on something on the line but she was more in a position to have it hurt.
More than True, though influential in the music industry, didn't have as many eyes as them as she did. One wrong move and her entire career was down the drain. Not even a wrong move. If the general audience found that she even looked the wrong way by the tiniest smidge, everyone could go against her. As a teacher, he knew that as much as she did.
They weren't together right now so what was the other thinking? Was Ichigo holding in her fear for the consequences to herself? Was he so blind sided by her asking him out that he didn't even realize how scared she was for what to come? What if after them trying to find a day to work she started to regret her decision?
Naoto was usually more level headed than this. But he didn't want to ruin Ichigo's career just because of a date. The same goes for More than True too. If any backlash gets on him, it hurts his bandmates too.
"Guys, serious question. How do I make sure that she has fun on our date?"
"Fun?" He nodded.
"When we were going through which day would work best she didn't have a lot of free time. And you guys are right, I'm not really the 'fun, outgoing' type that she usually hangs out with. So teach me how to become more like that. I want her to enjoy her time with me."
It was finally D-day. Ichigo just finished her entire day's schedule and was a nervous ball of energy. She took a look into the full body mirror. After a full day of working she was worried about possibly looking like a mess. She had planned everything down to the tiniest detail.
With some suggestions from her friends her outfit and slight make-up were all ready. She wore a high waist red skort with a yellow belt and a pale pink-purple wide shoulder sweater with frills on top. With a pair of tall black socks and coral pink ballerina flats, she had her outfit complete. Since she was a known figure she didn't want to dress too flashy but cute enough to impress him.
She took a few deep breaths, double checking that not one strand of hair was out of place. She prepared a lot of today, she looked great and nothing could ruin it. Ichigo repeated in her head that everything would be okay. After feeling that she shouldn't waste any more time she left her dressing room.
Ichigo gave out a loud thank you to the staff around her as she was leaving. She thanked everyone she came across while in a ever so slightly rushed manner. When she exited the building she was greeted by a few fans. Seeing how kindly they were waiting for her, Ichigo couldn't resist taking some time to take a few pictures and sign a few things.
They praised her for all her hard work and for being able to take the time to talk to them. She constantly had to tell them not to worry about it. And she meant it. She loved her fans that the bare minimum she could do was give them a few minutes to talk to her. It's what made Ichigo so loved.
She didn't realize how much time had passed until someone commented about how cute her outfit was. She smoothly had to say her goodbyes to avoid anyone viewing it as being rude. Luckily her fans were nothing but nice to her and understood that she was off hours at this point and let her go.
Ichigo managed to get her usual driver to drop her off at the restaurant that she had picked out. With the help of Kii and Aoi specifically, they had researched a bunch of popular places to have a first date. This restaurant was the one that appeared most often for having the classy atmosphere and a lot of privacy. As well, there were a lot of small stores nearby that they could go to afterwards. They could go walking in the park nearby, do some window shopping, eat some dessert, lots of options that Ichigo prepared.
Ichigo checked her phone to see that she was roughly 10 minutes late for the reservation. She thanked the driver, rushing into the restaurant. She greeted the person at the desk, telling them the reservation name. "Please follow me. Your dinner mate is already there I believe."
She sighed knowing that she had made Naoto wait for her. The person took a menu in hand and led her to one of the tables in the back. Sure enough, there he was, waiting for her. She bowed to him, surprising him.
"I'm sorry for being late! There were just a few fans waiting for me outside of my shoot and I couldn't brush them aside and I got lost track of time." Naoto shook his head with a smile.
"Don't worry. I figured that something like that happened. I wasn't waiting for that long. Please take a seat and we'll order. You must be hungry after working all day." He gestured for her to the chair across him.
Of course he expected this to happen. Ichigo wasn't the type to turn away fans. He wasn't at all bothered by her being a little late especially seeing how apologetic she was. But in Ichigo's perspective the unorganized side of her was showing. Since she already made a mistake, she had to make sure that nothing else went wrong with the rest of the night.
"So how was your day so far?" Ichigo asked.
"It was alright. When teaching first years they are very eager to learn everything and still have a lot of energy to do anything. You may have some competition in the upcoming years if you're not careful."
"I'm looking forward to it! That's one of the best parts of Aikatsu. I remember being a first year, I was exactly the same if you remember."
"Trust me I remember. Like sneaking into Kanzaki's van, dressing up like Frankenstein's Monster's wife, and following me into the studio. You as a first year was quite the experience to see first hand." She gave out a nervous laugh.
"You don't have to remind me. First year was also when I first met you. And now we're here." They both blushed with that last part.
At that point a server had returned to take their order. With their conversation going on, Ichigo never even got the chance to look at the menu. Naoto, on the other hand, did get a bit of a head start in doing such.
He ordered first with no problem while Ichigo was trying to speed run through all the options. She didn't want to keep the server or Naoto waiting that she eventually settled for the first thing that she saw. Good thing she wasn't particularly a picky eater.
After the server had left Ichigo had the returning feeling that she had not prepared enough again. Since she had selected the restaurant, she should have taken the chance to look at the menu beforehand. Maybe even recommend him something based on reviews. She couldn't even talk about what she wanted since she ordered in such a hurry.
Naoto could tell that something was off with her. They didn't talk that it filled the air with tension. Now was the time to show off Naoto's 'fun training'.
"Hey Ichigo?" She looked at him. "What did the tomato say to the other tomato during a race?"
"Oh I've heard this from Raichi before. What was it again? Tomato to the other ah ketchup!" She smiled that she managed to remember the joke. "What's with the sudden joke though?"
"N-no reason." There was no way that Naoto was going to tell her that this was his failed attempt at making her laugh. It was at this moment that Naoto realized that maybe he should have asked Tiara for advice rather than his single boy band mates.
So silence overtook them again.
It's not like they had to be constantly talking. They had times in the past where being in the silence was nice. It was a sign that both of them were comfortable with each other. But when their minds were running through the worst things, silence was not very helpful.
They finished dinner with little to no talking. This wasn't how it was supposed to go for either of them. She was supposed to surprise him with how well she planned the night out and make everything worth it. He was supposed to give her a stress free night by acting like her other friends. Neither of their plans were working.
Naoto sighed. "I'm going to the washroom."
He pushed out his chair without much thought that he knocked into a server. The server dropped their metal tray onto their table causing their empty plates and used utensils to get knocked off the table. Ichigo was fast enough to throw her body onto the floor to prevent anything from shattering.
Naoto looked at her lying face flat on the floor with a bunch of cutlery on her. The serve was quick to apologize and collect everything off of her with Naoto's help.
With everything off of her the server left in a panic manner. Ichigo still didn't move. "Ichigo? Are you okay?"
"Everything just keeps going wrong isn't it?" He was surprised. "This was the only time that we could go on a date and nothing is working. I wanted everything to be perfect. I planned out my outfit, timing, and the restaurant. Yet I showed up late, I can't couldn't come up with a single topic to talk about and now this. I understand if this is our last date."
Ichigo slowly pushed herself back up when she heard him laughing. He kept shaking his head while giving her a few napkins to clean herself up. "W-why are you laughing?"
He gave her one hand so that they wouldn't be sitting on the floor. "I was doing the same as you."
"You were? How?"
"Well you're constantly doing everything at your own pace. I wanted to make you feel comfortable in your small amount of free time by trying to be more outgoing like you. When you didn't laugh at my joke I thought that I was trying too hard that I ruined the mood."
"That's not true! I was just overthinking! You're plenty funny without trying! If anything I was the one trying too hard by acting like someone that I'm not."
"But planning ahead for things is you. Things get in the way and you're usually better at adapting than this. I guess you were trying to stick so closely to perfect that you forgot how to relax. Even though that was what I was trying to do for you."
They looked at each other and started laughing together. The way they acted contradicted what the other did. Ichigo trying to make everything go according to plan and Naoto trying to do it spontaneously. That wasn't really who they were. But it was clear that they both wanted to make the other person have a good time.
"Now what? Assuming that I didn't mess up too much already."
"How about we get dessert? Let's go around and see what fits. How's that for a plan?" Ichigo offered.
"I like that. And hopefully no more dropping plates." She giggled at him being able to joke about the incident. They called over a server to pay for the bill that they agreed to split.
They both headed to the exit when they heard quite a loud commotion. The two cautiously approached when they saw a small crowd at the entrance. On instinct they ducked down before anyone could see them.
They crouched down behind a small barrier. Slowly they tried looking through the fake plants to the entrance. There stood a small group of people holding cameras. They were looking all around with their fingers on the shutter button. A worker was talking to them, not realizing their true intentions. If they had gotten into the restaurant it would give them a chance to find Ichigo and Naoto together.
They both quickly ducked back down when they seemed to look in their direction. Ichigo realized quickly how they found them. "They must have followed me from the shooting. I was in such a rush that they must have gotten too curious. I should have been more careful."
She looked at him not saying anything. Ichigo wanted everything to be so perfect with this date that she just ended up ruining it. Say goodbye to a second date if the press gets a sniff at them being at this fancy restaurant together. A fancy restaurant that she chose. If it was some chain fast food store they could easily play it off as a casual meet up. There was no good reason they could give them without raising suspicion.
Ichigo peered over the wall. She bit down on her lip seeing that they were beginning to be let in. It would only be a matter of seconds before they would be passing by them. And since they were looking for Ichigo, they would have spotted them easily.
"What should we do? Maybe we can ask the staff if there's a back way out that we could take?" Ichigo started to shuffle her way when Naoto grabbed her hand.
"Let's run."
"Huh?"
"Let's run." He suddenly stood up and took off in the opposite direction of the paparazzi. At first Ichigo had trouble with her footing but with Naoto still holding her hand, she managed to keep up.
They paused outside the doors when they saw that in the time they spent eating it started to rain hard. They looked at each other and nodded. Even if the paparazzi didn't see them leave, it was the idea of running through the rain that just felt right to them.
Through the pouring rain they laughed loudly at the chaos happening around them. Both of them were drenched, their feet splashing in mud puddles, avoiding the sensible people with umbrellas. Just all around not caring about anything but running away.
At some point they had found that they had ran into a park, taking shelter under the trees. Naoto leaned one hand up against the tree trunk out of breath.
"Are you okay?" Ichigo with a mix of concern and humor patted him on his back as she was completely fine.
"Yeah but I haven't run like that in ages. Looks like I need to go through Aikatsu training as well to get my stamina up." Ichigo reached into her pocket, taking out two handkerchiefs. She gave one to him which he gratefully took to pat down his wet hair.
"Why do you have two handkerchiefs?"
"Always running around from set to set with little time, it's always good to come prepared." He smiled at how she naturally had these things. It was at this time that he realized that they were still holding hands. He readjusted his hand to comfortably hold it.
"You know it reminds me of when I first found out about you being in More Than True. We ran away from the guards at times too." They both smiled at the memory.
"Who would have thought it would have ended up like this?"
"Life's full of surprises. Today's definitely showed us that. I never thought that I would see you running head first into the rain without a care."
"And I never thought I would see you trying to plan out what you're going to say." Today the two of them saw a side of the other that they hadn't before. With Ichigo being extremely meticulous and Naoto being loose, it was almost like they had switched roles.
"I wanted today to be perfect. But I think here, after everything." She let go of his hand, wrapping her arms around him. "This is what my perfect date is like."
She could feel him nodding before returning her hug. They stood still for a few moments. Even in the cold, rainy night, holding each other felt warm. So close they could still hear each other's heartbeats over the rainfall. At first it was a fast pace from running but slowed down the longer they held onto one another.
"You know we're going to be so sick tomorrow?" They slightly pulled apart at Naoto's comment.
"Then we'll finally be able to get a break from work." They shared a short laugh. Ichigo stopped when a pink flower petal fell onto her nose.
They looked upwards to finally notice that the tree that they were under was in full bloom. And as fate would have it, the rain clouds parted ever so slightly to let the moonlight through. At that moment rain droplets shined on the flowers all around them creating an almost paradise image with no one else but the two of them.
"I didn't realize that the cherry blossoms were in bloom already." Ichigo picked up the petal that fell on her, looking at it closely.
"Not cherry. Peach blossoms actually. You can tell by the petal shape. I learned about it on a trivia show I was on once." Naoto picked at another petal that fell into her hair. The small, fragile petal that had a pale colour from being so young. Yet it was still beautiful in its own way.
The breath taking peach blossom tree that protected them from the harsh rain.
"Suddenly peach blossoms are my new favourite flower."
"Funny. Mine too."
"What a nice story! Your parents were so cute! Is that why you're named Momo?" Momo nodded, pulling the covers over her. With the story finished she was planning to finally turn in for the night.
"That's what my parents tell me at least. Though I, personally, consider it to be funny that for three generations the ladies in my family are all fruits. That's enough story time we have class tomorrow so let's go to bed now."
"Awwwww do we have to? I want to hear more stories about them." Momo shook her head, her hand already on the desk lamp switch.
"Maybe some other time I'll tell you another tale of my parents. For now, goodnight." She turned off the lamp putting an end to their day.
Aipom4: Not sure if I met your expectations with this Ichigo/ Naoto chapter but yeah here it is.
Trivia:Hope you enjoyed my little try at Ichigo and Naoto's relationship, I know that this has been requested for a while. I'm not too good at the romance genre that this one of the few times that I've experimented with it. Kinda short though lol.