•*¨*•.¸¸☆*･ﾟaishi's pov
"why did i choose to buy them flowers again?" i muttered as i slowly stumbled towards the back stage of the theater.
yep! i have been given a backstage pass by taiki just so he can pester me. he said that he missed me a little so he wants to see me right after their performance.
taiki doesn't like me, guys, believe me. he's just very clingy, i think.
i moved the flowers in my hand down for a little bit just so i could actually see the path that i was taking. i have brought four small bouquets of flowers to give to the four people that i know.
one for kana-senpai, melt-kun, taiki, and especially, for my loml, aqu-cchi.
i can't help but blush whenever i get reminded of how cool he was earlier. i shook my head, exhaling a little to try and remove the warmth on my cheeks.
"gosh, i really need to get my feelings for aqu-cchi in order..." i quietly muttered as i was finally able to reach the entrance of the back stage.
"name?" the guard asked with a serious look while looking at his notepad.
"uhm, my name...is aishi nakahara, i am under taiki himekawa's guest..." i mumbled, hoisting the flowers up so i'll have a stronger hold to them.
the guard squinted his eyes before nodding to his companion, who opened the door.
"go in." that's the only thing that he said.
"oh, thank you and sorry for the trouble." i replied with a smile (that was covered by the flowers) and a polite tone, bowing a little.
i heard the confused noises from the security guard as i walked pass them. ah, did i apologize for nothing again? i really need to work on my words again...
"akane-chan!" i had to move a bit to the side to let those who called akane in.
i walked past them, still having the flower obstructing my view. using my peripheral vision, i was able to see that the people who i just walked past were the old cast of lovenow.
i shrugged and ignored them, i don't know them personally plus i still have these flowers to give to the other.
"oh, aishi-chan?" i heard my name being called and turned around. my eyes brightened when i saw goa-san coming to me.
"goa-san! it's nice to see you again!" i exclaimed, moving closer to him with a huge smile.
"we never got to talk before the play started haha." i added, stopping in front of him.
"that's a lot of flower, aishi-chan" goa-san noticed, looking at the bouquets of flowers that i was carrying.
i let out a small giggle when i saw him having a surprised and worried expression plastered on his face.
"ah, it's a gift for my friends" i replied, hugging the flowers tighter because i feel like some of them are slipping.
"are your friends actors?" he asked.
"yep! i was just about to look for them but i fear like i'm about to get lost in this massive place" i mumbled, looking around the confusing hallways.
goa-san let out a laugh as he patted my shoulders. "you're in luck, i was just about to go to the dressing room. abiko-sensei wanted to meet the other actors and actresses to congratulate them."
"as part of the people who made the script, why don't you join us?" he added.
"e-eh? would that really be alright? i...i wasn't even a big help..."
"yes you are" the older man gently smiled. "if you haven't talked to me that day, i might've rejected abiko-sensei's offer because i was too down-hearted.."
he continued to pat my head gently. "you deserve to be there too."
my cheeks burned red in embarrassment, still not used to being praised like this.
"if...if you insist.." i shyly murmured, making him smile.
"come on, follow me closely, i don't want you getting lost after all" i nodded as i followed him.
we had small talks here and there as we walked side by side. he even tried to offer his help with carrying the flowers but i declined.
"ah, we're here" goa-san said once we stopped in front of a door. it's a long walk from the entrance, so it makes sense that i couldn't find it earlier.
he knocked on the door before holding onto the doorknob and twisted it.
"ah, goa-kun! you're here" raida-san exclaimed, coming closer and hugging the scriptwriter.
"hello, raida-kun.." the soft spoken man replied, reciprocating raida-san's hug.
"come in, come in, and who is..." raida-san looked behind him and i gave him a small wave. he seemed to recognize who i was despite my face being hidden.
"oh! hello copy reader-chan!" wow, he really does have a nickname for everyone.
"ano, sumiaki-san..." kichijouji-sensei said, calling his attention.
with my miniscule view from behind the bouquet of flowers, i can see how abiko-sensei was still hiding behind kichijouji-sensei. i also saw most of the cast, now wearing their civilian clothing.
"ah, pardon me sensei, we can start now" raida-san exclaimed before pulling goa-san beside abiko-sensei. i was just following the scriptwriter and standing beside him.
"abiko-sensei, you can start talking now.." kichijouji-sensei said, sweat dropping a little when the younger mangaka hesitantly came out behind her.
the author of tokyo blade looked up, still holding the pamphlet for the play to her mouth.
"...uhm, you...all acted very well.." she said quietly, looking around
"you brought every scene of my manga back to life and acted just like what the characters would do.."
"i'm very happy and grateful for the results and success of this play. i know we started on a... rough note but i'm glad that everything worked out well in the end.."
"himekawa-san, arima-san, narushima-san, hoshino-san, kurokawa-san, kamoshida-san, and everyone, i am really impressed with your skills as an actor and actress.." the cast bowed, smiling as they pass their silent gratitude towards the praise.
abiko-sensei then turned to goa-san and gave a small smile. "goa-san, i apologize for insulting your skills as a writer. during our script brainstorming call, i have learned a lot from you and we managed to write an amazing script that everyone liked..."
i saw raida-san made a face, probably remembering how monstrously good the script was when he first saw it.
"...mirai-chan.." i flinch a little with surprise when i was acknowledge by her.
"y-yes?" i asked, my voice a little quieter.
"...thank you for helping us with the script. with your presence, you inspired me a lot."
she approached me and gave me a small book. my eyes widened a little when i saw what book this is.
"isn't this..." she gave me a smile.
"the one that i was telling you? yes, this is the current release of tokyo blade" i can hear the gasp coming from the cast.
"that is the new arc, oh my.." i heard someone whispered.
"i have finished it already and it was about to be released tomorrow but...i wanted you to have the first copy.."
"after all, i based mirai to you"
'miss ma'am?!? not you suddenly dropping a bomb in this room?'
"mirai--no, aishi-chan, thank you." wow, hello, surprise guys. i can see in my peripheral that some people already got an idea of who i was.
"sensei..." i mumbled, lowering the flowers so that i can properly see her.
"i'll treasure this forever and congratulations to the success of the play" i added, giving her a smile.
she blushed before running back to hide behind kichijouji-sensei.
"ah-- I thought we were in a friendly state by now.." i mumbled, making goa-san laugh a little.
"don't worry, she's like that to me too.."
raida-san clapped, wiping his fake tears.
"ah, what a beautiful scene! we should all take a photo for commemorative purposes!" someone holding a camera appeared out of nowhere.
i was now forced to stand beside goa-san, holding the flowers lower so my face can be shown.
i gave a smile before the photo was taken. several more photos was taken before raida-san decided to pull the two mangaka away, along with goa-san.
i sighed as i was now left at the mercy of the casts.
on cue, taiki approached me and flicked my forehead. "what the-- what is your problem you old geezer..!" i exclaimed.
"old geezer?! i'm not that old!" he defended himself, having an extremely proud expression on his face after he flicked my forehead.
"aren't you? you already turned twenty right? that's practically old, grandpa, do you need help?" i said, smiling mischievously as we continued to fight, laughing and insulting each other.
•*¨*•.¸¸☆*･ﾟthird person's pov
"should we interfere?" mei muttered as they watched taiki and aishi fight.
"hm, nah, i think that is normal if they're dating." ryouma shrugged, making aqua stop on his tracks. his eyes sharpened as he turned his eyes towards the two.
"dating? they're not dating." melt mumbled, getting the attention of others.
"eh, really, they look like they're together" koyuki exclaimed while she was busy combing her short brown hair.
"they are really not together.." he replied, shrugging a little.
"ehe, are you jealous?" sakuya asked, swinging his arm on melt's shoulder. the latter was confused on the actor's sudden closeness after he continuously insulted his acting before.
"i'm not" melt sighed, looking away when he felt someone glaring at him.
aqua really needs to control his jealousy.
a knock on the door interrupted the other cast gossiping. the door opened and there enters the cast of lovenow.
"akane-chan~" yuki exclaimed, hugging the blue haired girl. their early conversation was cut off when a staff called akane earlier so they're here to continue. aqua was even pulled into the conversation, excluding the others who just sighed and decided to talk to themselves.
"hey, koneko-chan, why do you have so many flowers by the way? is this all for aq--" aishi glared at taiki, giving him a threatening look.
"i will sell your address to the paparazzi if you continue that"
after threatening him, aishi sighed and gave him a bouquet with dark purple hydrangea and purple eustomas.
"here." she said before her expression softened and gave him a genuine smile. "congratulations, taiki. you did well"
taiki accepted the bouquet and immediately started to tease the younger. "wow, aishi-chan, i never expected you to actually give me a flower. are you accepting that i'm your future hus-- oww"
aishi elbowed him in the stomach, now glaring again. "no, i'm just being a good friend."
she looked around and saw that melt and kana are relaxing while the others are talking with each other.
"kana-senpai.." she called to kana, approaching her with a happy smile.
kana looked up and saw the junior that was always with aqua. she was confused as to why she was approaching her since they haven't talked personally.
"here, for you! congratulations for the whole play" aishi exclaimed, giving her a bouquet with red tulips and roses.
kana was surprised that someone was giving her flowers. she felt that she didn't perform well enough earlier plus... she thinks that she doesn't deserve getting recognition at all.
"why? why are you giving me..." aishi let out a small giggle before speaking.
"have you forgotten that i am your fan, kana-senpai? i have been so impressed with your acting earlier! it's the same acting that you did when you were a kid" she smiled as her eyes shined.
"...that made me happy, senpai, so please accept my miniscule gift..!"
kana's eyes were shining and her cheeks were practically burning red from the sudden praises coming out of the girl's mouth.
"h..hmph! i'll only accept this because you're insisting, it's not... as if it was needed or something.." she replied, taking the bouquet on her hand while still blushing.
'ha ha, what a tsundere..' aishi thought before bowing and excusing herself.
"meruto~!" melt looked behind him and saw his friend approaching him.
"a..aishi-chan.." aishi stopped in front of him before presenting melt a bouquet with lilac, light purple hydrangea, and tulips.
"congratulations! as your mentor, friend, and fan, i'm so proud of you! you're so great earlier, you made me proud more than taiki made me proud of him." taiki, who's following aishi behind, let out a strangled noise after hearing what she said.
"aishi-chan??!?? that's a low blow..!" taiki exclaimed, shaking the girl's shoulder.
"and what do you mean by mentor? are you two going around places without me?" he added a little louder than before, getting the attention of everyone.
"shut up, you chuunibyou.." aishi replied with a fake disgusted expression.
"himekawa, calm down. aishi-chan just helped me before.." melt tried to explain, holding onto the bouquets.
"she helped you, where and when? that doesn't sound like her at all..." aishi's eyes twitched at taiki's words.
"ah, she helped me with my acting, and with my trick too..." melt sheepishly confessed.
"without me?? aishi-chan, are you cheating on me-- ow!" the girl stepped on taiki's foot while smiling creepily.
"you're overreacting, taiki, isn't intense emotion bad for older people like you?" aishi replied, making melt stifle a small laugh.
"narushima, i thought you were on my side?" taiki said, betrayal was etched on his face.
"i am legally not allowed to comment." the purple haired boy commented, closing his lips.
that made aishi laugh a little. taiki then dropped the subject before leaning on aishi.
"hey, what did you even teach melt?" aishi shrugged and looked at the prop sword on the table.
"i taught him the principles of flag throwing, isn't it nice? have you seen his sword throwing trick from the back stage? i helped him with that.."
"eh, you're very talented for a pretty lady" sakuya commented as she spoke behind aishi.
'damn it...' aishi thought as she unwillingly looked back.
"...thank you, k..kamoshida-san, right?"
"kamoshida-san.." melt, knowing how sakuya flirted with girls, already stood behind aishi.
sakuya laughed, sensing the overprotective aura with taiki and melt. "calm down gentleman, i am just here to praise this pretty lady."
he then turned to aishi and gave her his signature playboy smile.
"i heard you participated in the writing of the script in this play, i must say, you're very smart" aishi was just smiling politely but she was internally seething.
'the audacity, after bullying my poor son, you're here to flirt with me?'
"uh, thank you, i... guess.." she replied quietly. that prompted sakuya to lean forward and smile.
"you're too pretty to be alone, say, are you interested to date me--" before sakuya could finish his sentence, a hand grabbed aishi's wrist.
"aishi, i need to talk to you."
aishi looked up and was frozen when she saw who was now holding her wrist.
"...aqu-cchi?"
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word count: 2541
a/n: i think my motivation is starting to slip (人 •͈ᴗ•͈) but welcome back, aquamarine hoshino!
this chapter have been fueled by the aquamelt magazine cover from pash! they look so good, omg (｡ŏ﹏ŏ)
i'm so happy, we're almost at 10 thousand reads for just a month! thank you guys for your continuous support to this book. i'll do my best to provide you all with future chapters that you can enjoy!
anyways, please enjoy this chapter everyone! thank you for reading!