Shuta accompanied Chiaki to her apartment when the rain suddenly started to pour heavily, leaving Shuta no choice but to stay for the night at the girl's place. When Chiaki was already in her room to sleep and Shuta was lying at the sofa, ready to sleep as well, a cellphone suddenly caught his attention when it received a mail. He got up from the sofa and checked the phone.
"Ah, it's Chiaki's." He said. "Who will send her a mail at this hour?" He thought as he accidentally read the sender and part of the message as it was flashed on the screen for notification.
"Dr. Ken?" He continued reading. "Hi Chiaki-chan. I'm sorry for the late message, something came up at work. Anyway, how's my princess doi..."
"Eh?!" He rubbed his eyes, afraid he might have read the message wrong.
"Hi Chiaki-chan. I'm sorry for the late message, something came up at work. Anyway, how's my princess doi..." It was the same message. He read every word perfectly. He still tried to read it one last time, hoping that there would be words that he read incorrectly.
"Hi Chiaki-chan. I'm sorry for the late message, something came up at work. Anyway, how's my princess doi..." Unfortunately, nothing changed. He slowly put back the phone on the table and sat on the sofa.
"Oi... who the hell is this Dr. Ken?! And why is he calling Chiaki princess?!" His heart became troubled. He's too tempted to open the mail to read the whole message, but he also didn't know Chiaki's passcode so even though he really wanted to, he technically couldn't open it.
"Argh! I thought I'll have a good sleep! Why did this Dr. Ken suddenly ruin my mood?!" He thought in frustration. Suddenly, Chiaki's bedroom door opened. Shuta was surprised that he suddenly jumped and laid down on the sofa, pretending to be asleep already.
"Iya! That was close." He thought.
"Hm... where did I put it?" Chiaki whispered. Based on the volume of her voice, Shuta predicted that she went directly to the kitchen area. Her footsteps then became louder to his ear.
"She's coming here." He thought. He could sense that she picked up her phone. She was standing there for a while. "Is she reading the mail already?" He thought. Suddenly, he heard giggles from her.
"Eh?! Why is she laughing? Did his message make her heart flutter?! Argh! I can't stand being clueless to what's happening!" He exclaimed in his thoughts. Suddenly, the phone rang.
"Ah! Hello?" Chiaki tried to lower her voice. She started going back to her room.
"He called her at this hour?" He thought curiously. When he heard that the door's already closed, he got up from the sofa and crawled on the floor, going to the bedroom door. He placed his ear beside the door, hoping to understand what she's saying.
"Ah I can't hear anything." He said, frustrated. "I should stop this. Chiaki wouldn't like it if she sees me like this." He gave up, crawling back to the sofa.
"I'll just get away with it for tonight. Maybe I'll find something tomorrow. No, I mean later. It's past midnight already. My head's already hurting." He calmed himself as he felt his eyes becoming heavy. A few minutes later, he fell asleep.
-----
"Shu-chan, wake up!" Chiaki exclaimed.
"Ah it's morning already..." Shuta thought. He slowly opened his eyes, which were irritated with the bright light coming from the windows. He blinked twice to exercise his eyes and fix his vision. Chiaki's face was in front of him. He could smell the fragrant smell of her lotion. The memory of her hugging him last night suddenly appeared in his thoughts.
"Ah, Chiaki!" He was surprised as he sat on the sofa, blushing. He noticed that the girl just took a bath. "W-what time is it?" He asked, trying to divert his thoughts.
"6:40." She answered.
"Ah! It's still early! Can I sleep some more minutes?" He tried to avoid to look at Chiaki with his 'just woke up' face. He tried to position his body back on the sofa.
"Ah! No, no, no. Breakfast is served already. We need to eat it." Chiaki ordered as she tried to prevent her friend from lying down.
"Arf! Arf!" Kiki barked.
"Eh?!" Shuta was shocked as he suddenly stood up. "Ah, Kiki, hello." He greeted.
"Look, you made her angry. She wants to eat already." Chiaki explained.
"I can live the day without having breakfast. You two can go ahead." He said, but Chiaki started to frown seriously. "Oi, are you mad already?" He thought.
"Okay. Okay. I'll eat with you. I'll just wash my face first." He then headed to the bathroom to freshen up his face. He went straight to the dining table after.
"What do you have here?" He asked, looking at the food on the table. "Woah! Ramen! Did you prepare it?" His face looked excited. Chiaki nodded her head while smiling.
"That's why we should eat it already, before it gets cold." She said.
"Ah. Thank you." He said as he sat on a chair. "Let's eat!" He sipped first on the soup. "Ah! It's delicious!"
"Thank you." Chiaki giggled. A doorbell was then heard. Shuta looked at Chiaki.
"You're expecting a visitor today?" He asked.
"Actually...Nope..." Chiaki answered. "Hm... Who could that be?" She said, clueless. She stood up and went to her door. She was about to turn the knob when Shuta suddenly spoke up.
"Ah wait, Chiaki!" He shouted.
"Eh? What?" She asked.
"Whoever is behind that door, I'm pretty sure they have no idea that I'm here, ne? That's why... Um... I mean... Should I... hide?" He askd shyly. Chiaki laughed at him.
"Hahaha! Shu-chan, why are you embarrassed? There's nothing wrong if you're here-"
"Don't be stupid! I'm wearing your clothes!" He suddenly exclaimed. "Tsk! Whatever. I'll just change quickly in the bathroom." Chiaki continued to laugh at him. "She's really dumb, not even thinking people might judge her wrongly because I'm here." He thought as he entered the bathroom. As he closed the door, he could hear that Chiaki has opened the front door and welcomed her visitors.
"I wonder who could that be." He thought while taking a quick shower. "Ah, what if that person is Dr. Ken? At least I'll have this chance to meet him." He quickly dried himself and put on his clothes. He tried his best to dry his hair so as not to make it look like he just took a bath.
"Okay, I'm ready." He thought as he slowly opened the door. As he was walking to the dining area, he had a view of the visitors.
"Eh?" He bowed his head to give greetings, surprised to see two persons, a man and a woman, there.
"If that man is Dr. Ken, then he must be old already." He thought, making judgments about the man's age. "And he seemed to be married already." He chuckled. "Yes! At least, I don't need to bother myself-" His thoughts were suddenly disturbed by Chiaki's voice.
"There he is! This is Shuta, but I call him Shu-chan." She said.
"Ah, good morning Ma'am and Sir." Shuta greeted, bowing his head. "I'm Sueyoshi Shuta, Chiaki's co-member in AAA." He introduced himself.
"Oh, and Shu-chan please meet the two important persons in my life, my parents." Chiaki introduced them.
"Hi Shuta-kun." Chiaki's mother said sweetly as she shook hands with the boy. Chiaki's father did the same greeting.
"It's our pleasure to meet you." The old man said.
"Heh, so these are how Chiaki's parents look like..." He thought to himself as he sat down at the dining area with the others. "Eh?!" His heart suddenly beat faster. "Her parents?!"
"Ah!" He suddenly exclaimed. The three persons with him suddenly looked at him, surprised. He froze in embarrassment. He wanted to die at that moment.
"Shu-chan, what's the matter?" Chiaki asked. Her parents were looking at him.
"Ah, please stop looking at me. Wah. Please..." He thought with a red face. "Ah, no! This ramen is really delicious, ne?" He lied as he let out a light chuckle. His face started to turn pale.
"Eh? Hadn't you tasted it already earlier?" Chiaki asked, confused.
"Eh, really? Hahahaha!" He didn't know how to react anymore. He then tried to hide his face from Chiaki's parents using the big bowl of ramen. "Wah, this is not good..."
"Chiaki," Her father suddenly said. "Do you always invite your friends here to sleep, especially guys?"
"Oh no, I'm dead. That's why I didn't really want to go here in the first place." Shuta thought. "Please don't look at me." He prayed, trying to avoid Chiaki's father's gaze. "They might think that I'm a pervert." He thought gloomily.
"Hm. Sometimes. From time to time. But girls most of the time. Actually this is the first time I had invited a guy here." She paused. "But Shuta was only here because he couldn't go home yesterday because of the heavy rain. He accompanied me going here because driver-san mailed me and said he couldn't make it yesterday." Chiaki answered.
"Oh Is that so?" Her father asked. Shuta nodded his head, smiling shyly. Chiaki's parents then stood up and bowed to Shuta.
"Eh?" Shuta exclaimed.
"Thank you very much for taking care of Chiaki!" They said in unison.
"Ah, t-thank you for your appreciation! Um... I just couldn't let her go home alone because it was already late when we arrived. It's my pleasure to take care of her." He said, blushing. Both parents then sat again. They then continued eating their food.
"Ah, by the way, Chiaki, who was your co-member who answered the last fan's question yesterday in your concert? I really can't remember the name and his face. I'm really getting old. Hahahaha." His father laughed.
"It was Shu-chan, ne?" Chiaki looked at Shuta.
"Ah, yes, it's me. Hahaha." He faked his laugh with a worried expression. He was not feeling good about her father's question.
"Oh come on, please stop whatever you're planning to say!" He thought. His face was becoming really pale. Chiaki's mother noticed his condition. She tried to relay her observation to the old man by hitting his arm with her elbow.
"Why do you ask?" Chiaki asked her father.
"Ah, because I and your mother find him entertaining, ne, Mom? Hahahahaha." Her father answered.
"I really admire how you can beatbox, Shuta-kun." Her mother added.
"Ah, thank you very much. It's my please to entertain you." Shuta responded. "Whew! That was very close!" He let out a huge sigh in relief. "But I'm pretty sure they're aware of my slip of tongue there." He thought nervously.
"Anyway, what do you plan to do today, Chiaki-chan? It was your free day at work, right?" Her mother asked.
"Actually I will meet Dr. Ken at 11:00 this morning, but I can move it later or some other day so I can spend time with you before you return to Nagoya." She answered.
"Oh, Dr. Ken! How is he? I haven't seen him for almost a year!" Her father exclaimed.
"They also know this Dr. Ken? Hm... what could be this guy's relation to Chiaki and her family? It's impossible he's a relative because he calls Chiaki 'princess'. Or could it be her parents know him because he and Chiaki have been officially dating?" Shuta thought. "Argh! I don't have time for this Dr. Ken for now. What I have to deal with is Chiaki's parents."
"He's fine. I just talked to him around past midnight earlier and he said that he misses his princess very much. Hihihi." Chiaki shared.
"That's so sweet of him! You're really lucky to have known him." Her mother said.
"I know. I'm very lucky. Hihihi." Chiaki giggled. She then started composing her mail about moving her meeting with the doctor some other day.
"Oi, oi. Why is it turning out to be like that? Chiaki and her parents seem to really like that guy..." He then sighed. "I guess I just have to give up and continue to hide my feelings for Chiaki. Her parents have already approved of the doctor anyway." He thought.
"How about you, Shuta-kun, what are you planning to do today?" Chiaki's father suddenly asked.
"Eh?" Shuta was shocked. "Ah I'll just go straight home after this breakfast."
"Oh that's great! So you're free? Why don't you join us? We'll just stroll around the area." The old man invited.
"Oh no! I can't spend any extra time with them or I'll really die of heart attack!" Shuta's heart didn't stop beating very fast.
"Ah well..." He tried to find an excuse. "I'm sorry but I actually intend to clean my house today." He lied.
"Oh is that so?" Chiaki's father said. "Then, don't worry about it, I'll send some housekeeper to your apartment tomorrow, just let me know your address. Hahaha." He laughed.
"Eh?" Shuta looked at Chiaki. "Is he serious?" He whispered.
"I'm sorry Shu-chan, he's really like that. Please accept his invitation. I'm here anyway, don't worry. I won't leave you."
Shuta's face became pale once again. "...Hm. Okay... I think I can schedule some other time my household chores. Um... Thank you for inviting me." He said half-heartedly as he bowed his head. "Ah this can't be happening..."
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To be continued...
So, how did you find this part? Once again I'm sorry if I included a GS concert spoiler (Shuta's beatboxing). For those who still haven't watched it yet, please do so. The concert's superb! Also, just to share with you, it's a fact that the first thing Shuta does after waking up is washing his face. :D Anyway, I hope you get excited as you read it, just as I was while writing it. Hihihi. Please don't forget to leave your comments, too, I'd appreciate them very much. Thank you! <3
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