Ch 13: A Risky Game

Minami sat awkwardly on Naoto's beige leather couch in silence, looking around the tiny living room of his apartment. It was her first time there alone with him and she was incredibly nervous. She had liked him since she met him and they had so much in common.

Both of them were huge fans of 5year, and both of their favorite member was Ri, they had the same sense of humor and loved the anime "Kiss in the Clouds", which they would be watching the new episode of tonight. He was two years older than her but she felt like they were practically one in the same.

Although, she would definitely spruce his place up more if she were him. He had a wooden coffee table that sat in between his couch and tv, a small bookshelf with a few books and some pictures of him, her and Akina on it. There weren't any photos of his family since they didn't get along.

'Needs more decorations.' She thought to herself and she smoothed out her mint checkered skirt, making sure nothing embarrassing was showing.

Naoto entered the room, two drinks in his hand; a water and a lemonade. He placed the lemonade in front of Minami on the table and sat down next to her.

"So, where have you been?" He asked as he stretched one arm across the back of the couch.

"Ummmm…" she bit her lip, she wanted to tell him so bad, but she was told not to.

"Um? Um what?" He gently poked her cheek, as if to push the answer out of her.

"Well…" She clenched the edges of her skirt nervously. 'Do I tell him? Should I just say it? He wouldn't betray me, he can keep a secret. I trust him. It should be fine right? Maybe I should just lie…' her mind was racing, unsure what to do.

"Well?" Naoto scooted closer, his eyes narrowing and staring at her with concern, "Is…everything okay? No one is harassing you, right? You can tell me if something is wrong…."

She avoided eye contact with him and blushed as she cleared her throat, "Well…there's…hold on."

Minami jumped up and grabbed her bag, pulling her planner out of it. She shuffled back to the couch and sat beside him, keeping her head down to shield herself from his gaze. She held the planner out to him and waited for him to take it.

Naoto lifted his eyebrows, "Oh?" He smiled and took it out of her hand gentle, chuckling, "Nice planner, where'd you get it?"

She remained there with her head down, "Someone important to me gave it to me as a gift."

He smiled, "Someone important huh? What are you trying to say by handing me this? You want to be busy with me?"

Her face became completely red and her head shot up, "Flip to this month!"

"You didn't deny it…Now, let's see what is this month?" Naoto smirked and flipped to the current date, "Photoshoot…recording….meeting….huh? What's going on? Is this for Smile Days? Are they finally debuting? You know Akina is a fan of theirs."

She cleared her throat, refusing to acknowledge the fact that he pointed out how she didn't deny it, "Not Smile Days…..me."

His eyes widened, "You?!"

Minami pouted, "What do you mean? Why'd you say it like that? I can be an idol too!"

He chuckled and ruffled her hair, "Of course you can. You'd make the best idol. I was just surprised. I thought you'd given up."

Minami smiled shyly, looking down and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I didn't give up…I just put it on the backburner."

"And yet now it's on the front burner. How'd it happen?" He grabbed her chin and pulled her head up to look at him.

Her face somehow felt hotter and hotter and each time she thought the heat couldn't increase, it did.

"Well, Smile Days WAS going to debut, but their guide singer never showed up to record, so I had to do it and I did it so well that I was offered to debut. I really didn't think they were serious! But then I was called into a meeting and all of these details were thrown at me and then suddenly my planner was filled up and I was off to photoshoots." Her face lit up as she was talking and the redness faded away, it was almost as if she had been transported to another world as she went on and on about the photoshoots and the recording session.

Naoto sat there watching her intently as he listened, his head resting on his hand. His smile grew larger and larger as she continued in the story.

When she had finished, she had the largest smile he had seen from her in a long time. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and cupped her face with his hand, rubbing her cheek lightly and causing the deep red hue to make its return to her face. "You know, you look really beautiful when you're talking about this love of yours."

"H-huh?" Minami's eyes widened and she felt her whole body start to get hot. 'This is the first time someone has told me I'm beautiful…'

"That twinkle in your eyes…..it's really attractive…." He stared deeply into them and started to lean forward.

Minami turned her head and quickly grabbed her lemonade, gulping it down quickly and fanning herself. "It's really hot in here you know…"

Naoto laughed and ran his fingers through his blonde locks, "It is…isn't it?" Minami was too flustered to notice, but there was a red hue also crossing his face.

They sat in silence for a while, occasionally clearing their throats or taking a sip of their drink. When finally, Naoto broke the ice.

"Minami….do you want to be my girlfriend?"

She looked up and, upon making eye contact with him, immediately averted her gaze, too shy to look him in the eyes. She wanted to be his girlfriend so bad, but…she was going to debut soon, she wouldn't have time for him, she wouldn't be able to have a boyfriend at all, it was so frowned upon.

"I…I….don't know…" Her shoulders slumped. She wanted so desperately to say 'Yes! Absolutely!' but, she wanted to be an idol more than anything, it was her dream, it was her passion.

"What don't you know?" he laughed nervously, "Do you not like me or something?"

She rapidly shook her head, "No! No! That's not it at all! I do like you! I've liked you since I met you! It's just…" she bit her lip, embarrassed that she just confessed. "It's just…I can't. I want to, but I'm going to debut…dating and being an idol never works out."

He breathed a sigh of relief, "That's all your worried about? Do you think they don't date? They're all doing it, they're just being discreet." He scooted closer to her so their hips were touching. "So be mine."

His breath tickled her ear and she felt a shiver go up her spine. It was getting hard to breathe and the heat was unbearable. Tiny sweat drops started to form on her face making her even more nervous. "But…..it could ruin my career."

Naoto gently pushed her over and climbed on top of her, "Then, be my temporary girlfriend. Have fun with me until you debut. Your not an idol yet, so it should be fine right? There's nothing against you having a boyfriend right now, is there?"

She turned her head to the side, still avoiding his gaze, "There isn't….I guess that could work…"

Naoto smiled and leaned in, his lips almost touching her ear, "So it's a deal then? You're mine?"

Minami glanced over at him and glanced away again, shutting her eyes, unable to find the courage to look at him. "D-deal!"

"Good. Then, Ishihara Minami, from now until you debut, you're mine and no one else's!" He gently nibbled on her ear which caused her hand to fly up and grab it, grazing along his hip and side as she did so. "Hey! Naoto! Cut it out!"

He blushed at the warmth of her touch, butterflies erupting in his stomach. He cleared his throat, "You're pretty handsy…"

"No I'm not! You're the one that's handsy! Look at what you're doing right no-" Finally she turned her head to face him and they locked eyes.

They'd made eye contact multiple times throughout their friendship, this wasn't the first time, so why did they both feel so surprised and shy? Why did both of their hearts skip a beat? Truthfully, they both had liked each other since their first meeting, so why did they suddenly feel like strangers meeting for the first time. They had both longed for this moment for years.

Naoto leaned down and pressed his lips against hers, "Mm!" Suddenly, things felt more relaxed, it was like that kiss broke the tension between them and returned them to that familiarity. "Mm!" Their kissing became more heated, more passionate and Naoto began stroking her thigh.

"Ah!" Minami broke their kiss, turning her head to the side and pushing his hand away. "N-no!" He pulled back, and sat back down on the couch, lifting his hands in the air, "Okay! We'll stop!"

"I-I'll talk to you later!" Minami quickly jumped up, grabbed her bag and ran out of the apartment.

"Damn…" Naoto scratched the back of his head awkwardly. 'Why did I do that, it was too fast…' he wondered.

He reached to grab his drink, desperate for some water to cool him down, when he spotted her planner on his coffee table. "Shit…she forgot this…I'll bring-" he thought for a moment, bringing it to her work might jeopardize her debut, "I'll tell Akina to bring it to her tomorrow…."