Cherish Love the Most

Begin Again

     The sustained, final note of the song dissipated and everyone in the arena was quiet. No sounds can be heard except for whimpers and sniffling that came from the audience. Yui's eyes were red and overflowing with tears. She covered her mouth to muff her crying. Moa stood there, in the center of the stage, trying to maintain her emotions but began to slowly break down as the silence sunk in. Gradually, the crowd began to clap and cheer wildly, still trying to fight their tears. Moa gave a big smile and bowed to the audience. While she was bowing, she heard them stop abruptly and looked up. The audience were no longer looking at Moa, they were looking to the side of the stage...looking at Yui.

     Much to her surprise and relief, Yui had decided to come to the concert after all. Yui, still with tears in her eyes, smiled and stared at Moa. Moa turned the rest of her body towards Yui and stared at her as well. The crowd was confused yet astonished at the same time because, to them, they thought the girls had gone their separate ways after Babymetal disbanded. They had no idea that the girls still kept in touch after all those years ago. Then, Yui began to walk towards Moa. She slowly inched her way towards her with little steps. Her walk soon turned into a sprint and she wrapped her arms around Moa's body. Moa, surprised that she would receive a hug, paid little thought to the reasoning and hugged Yui tightly with their heads resting on the other's left shoulder. The audience began to cheer again, still incredibly flustered with euphoria and confusion nonetheless.

"Was that....was that for me?" Yui asked.

"Of course, silly. Who else would it be?" Moa answered.

"I'm hoping this can help us make amends. I didn't mean to leave you in the dark like that. It pained to me to see your hatred towards me whenever we made eye contact at home. So then I wrote this song about our situation and to also tell you that whatever happens, I'll always love you, Yui Mizuno."

     Yui lifted her head from Moa's shoulder and looked up at her radiant face with tears of joy and the biggest smile on her face Moa had ever seen since meeting her in the fourth grade. "I love you too, Moa. To be honest I was never actually mad at you--just at what you've become. There was no longer any time for 'us' and I...got selfish. I just wanted you all to myself and ignore the rest of the world." Yui paused as she felt her voice give way to her emotions every now and then. "I love you, Moa. I love you so, so much." Her arms broke it's grasp on Moa's body and her hands moved up to her face. Both hands caressed Moa's cheeks with each thumb over Moa's cute dimples. "Wh--What are you doing, Yui?" In a soft whisper of desperation and temptation, "I love you, Moa. I love you, I love you, I love you--" she kissed Moa on the lips; lips just as soft, warm, and welcoming as the first time. The crowd stopped cheering and looked on at the spectacle. 

     Realizing her current situation, being on stage in front of thousands of people, Yui pulled away from her kiss to a fear-stricken Moa. In a panicked whisper, "Oh...my God, Moa I--I didn't mean to--" Moa suddenly lunged her lips onto Yui's, sealing them shut before she could finish apologizing. The audience and Moa's staff and assistants were in a state of shock and awe. She pulled away from her kiss and looked into the sea of astonished eyes. "I'm Moa Kikuchi. This is Yui Mizuno. I am an Idol. If you are going to see me as such, you will also see me as a human. I cannot be human if I cannot love; let alone love someone wholeheartedly. Feel free to look at me as a fallen Idol...because I am an enlightened human. Thank you for coming and sharing this experience with me. Drive safe...and good night." With that Moa took Yui by the hand and headed off the stage. The production crew and assistants made way for the girls to exit the arena. "Otsukaresama...otsukaresama" said Moa as she passed them. 

     They made their way to Moa's dressing room to get into her normal clothes and headed home in her limo that was promptly waiting outside. During the ride home Yui asked, 

"Um...so what's going to happen now?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"You know...after what happened tonight?" 

"If they truly love me...if they truly respect me as Moa Kikuchi, then they will understand: both my fans and the people that work with me." 

"And what if they don't?" 

"Then they are foolish to call themselves humans. To be human and not love goes against Heaven's Will--goes against nature itself. It doesn't matter to me if they're blinded by their rules--their limitations, their restrictions. The nature and absolute truth of the universe always wins."

     The next day, Moa received a call from her manager that the higher-ups of Amuse wanted to have a meeting with her. Knowing this could possibly be the end of her Idol career she went in head on, regardless of the outcome. 

     The meeting was attended by Moa, her manager, the president of Amuse and two of his associates. "So...I've been told that you are now in a relationship with Miss Mizuno, yes? Of course, I usually brush it off if it came from gossip and tabloid magazines as garbage but....this came directly from the producers and staff members of last night's concert--which, congrats, was another sold out extravaganza." His face never shifted from his stern look while speaking to Moa. "I have the utmost respect and gratitude towards you, Miss Kikuchi, but this violates the 'no-relationship' clause of your contract. I will give you the opportunity to cut ties with Mizuno and be pardoned for your penalty."

     The a/c unit running throughout the building was the only thing speaking as Moa looked down at her feet and twiddled her thumbs. A few minutes later she responded.

"Do you believe people are stupid enough to just ignore what happened? Pictures and videos of the event have been posted on the internet from Twitter to YouTube and everything in between. I made a statement about my relationship at the end of the show as well and I don't intend on taking back those words. As much as people would want to be with me, fantasize about being with me as their secret lover, in the end they know they'll never get that close to me.

      As an Idol I have given my heart and soul to this industry and have been rewarded wonderfully. However, this one thing was never given to me in all my years of being an Idol: Love. I'm not talking about the adoration and admiration of millions of people, no. I'm talking about a deeper form of love. Something so deep and profound words can't describe the feeling. Only one person has given me that and it is Yui Mizuno. Not to burst your bubble, sir, but I've been in a relationship with her for quite some time now. The only reason it has surfaced now is because we had a fallout when I reached immense levels of success. I used last night as a means to make mends with her to heal emotional wounds and I don't plan on reopening them for the sake of 'saving' my career; my reputation. 

     If it irks you that much for an Idol to be with someone then I'm sorry that I'm also going to be the one telling you this: many others in my profession are also in secret relationships. They are afraid of the wrath of their superiors that they hide their love in the shadows and pray that they don't get discovered and lose their job--their 'image' tarnished. Your title, your 'authority' doesn't scare me. Not in the slightest--because it's just that: a title. 

     You are not a god, let alone, a messenger of God. You have no purpose and no business dictating what or how your talents live their lives. Professional and personal lives should be separate, never to interfere with the other's realm of existence. And if you want to uphold an archaic model of what it means to be an Idol then go ahead. I'll gladly watch this industry crash and burn when it's veil of illusions is lifted and people will see that Idols are just as flawed and as human as them."

     Taking a few minutes to let the company president digest and absorb her monologue she then pressed on and threatened, "So if you're going to do it, then do it. Don't hesitate and make yourself miserable."

     With a sigh of disappointment and frustration, the authority states, "Fine. I will do it. As of today, I, the president of Amuse, terminate your contract of being an Idol. In addition to breaking your contractual clause you, Moa Kikuchi, will be blacklisted from being signed to any other Idol company--for life. On behalf of Amuse, we wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. Otsukaresama deshita." He concluded his statement with a bow. Moa stood up from her seat, "Otsukaresama deshita" and bowed in return.