Remembering You
Pairing/Subject: Yaotome Hikaru x OC (Kou Aoki)
Rating: PG
Genre: Romance, slight comedy, Slice of Life, Pre-Valentine's
A tall ash color haired guy was around Shibuya on his way to work when he decided to take a detour to McDonald's dessert stand with his abnormal craving for a soft ice cream after eating his spicy breakfast nabe from home. There wasn't much of a line, it was a cold February and spring was right around the corner after all, but there was this one other person there. A small girl standing right in front of him & wearing a fluffy light brown boots, light blue torn and worn out jeans, dark blue spaghetti shirt, white colored scarf and black jean jacket. She had a sort of cute rocker chick type of aura around her.
"Large vanilla cone, please!" She squeaked excitedly, like a kid.
'Uwa~ cho kawaii!' the guy thought to himself as his eyes kept watching the young girl with waist long reddish brown hair.
"Please wait for a moment." The cashier said before scattering to get and make the girl's soft ice cream.
The girl couldn't help, but smile while excitedly clapped her hands once as she watched the cashier make her order. The cashier came back not very long after with her tall vanilla soft ice cream and handed it to her.
"That'll be 150 yen." The cashier said as the girl lick on the ice cream as she took out some coins in her pocket.
The rosy white skinned girl reached and gave the 150 yen to the cashier, before turning around. She was so focused on her tall soft ice that she accidentally bumped into the guy behind her. His white undershirt stained a slight yellow color, while his white hoodie shirt suffered minimal damage and his dark blue and white stripped scarf stayed safe.
"AH!!!" The two chorused with wide eyes as they both step out of the line.
"Ahh- My shirt's all yellow and sticky now." The guy muttered to himself.
The girl realized what she had done as her eyes travel to the guy's shirt not a second later.
"Hontou ni gomen nasai!!" The chibi girl said instantly as she apologetically bowed her head.
He scratched the back of his head as his sunglasses slipped down slightly.
"At the very least, let me wash it..." She guiltily said to the guy as she looked up at his face with eager eyes, making the guy chuckle.
"Ahh~ Demo betsuni iiya!" He told her as he shrugged with a crooked smile.
Suddenly remembering her ice cream cone, she glanced at her cone before throwing it in the trash. The guy noticed her sighing in disappointment of losing her treat.
"Ikki mashou ka?" The girl asked politely and dragged him to the park near by.
They found a fountain in no time at all as the girl kept her guilty eyes on his shirt.
"A-ano… Shirt..." She tried to point out and he caught on quickly as he instantly took his top off, while his scarf stayed draped around his neck.
His well toned abs revealed as the girl's eyes traveled somewhere else instantly being embarrassed. She tried to grab the hooded shirt and undershirt without look at him in general, but accidentally their skin had made contact, sending electricity between them. The guy stared at the hand that retreated quickly from his 6 packed abs, while the girl was trying not to have the guy notice her cheeks flaring up completely aware what she had done as quickly glance to where the shirts are and grabbed them from him. She shuffled as she located the stains she had made earlier and tried her best to wash it clean. The tension between them was great, but the guy, that was now only in his dark brown boots, his blue and white striped scarf and black straight cut jeans, knew how to break the ice.
"Ice cream-chan, what's your name?" He asked her casually as his eyes didn't even leave her for a minute.
"Kou… I'm Kou Aoki." She answered softly as she took his undershirt and whipped it out to dry.
This guy in front of her was attracting too much attention, as he awkwardly tried to cover his abs with his hand. Aoki even saw 2 high school girls hiding in a bush near by with their phones in hand as she walked toward the well toned guy she unlucky smothered her dessert on.
"Gomen na… It's still not completely dry, but at least you'll be warmer with these. Plus you won't be so exposed." Aoki said in a hushed tone as subtly gesturing towards the two girls in the bush to the guy.
He grabbed the shirt quickly; wiggled into the shirt and noticed the time on his wrist watch.
"Ah, Shimatta! Arigatou, Aoki, but I have to go to work." He told her as he tried to dust away the coldness of the shirt against his skin.
"B-but..." Aoki tried to reply, but was cut off by his finger on her lips.
'EH?? So casual!' she thought to herself as her eyes were glued to the finger on her lips.
"Meet me back here by the big tree at around 5pm today. Alright? Ok. I'll look forward to seeing you later!" He said as he jogged his way to work in a hurry, not even giving her time to give him a proper answer.
"B-but your shirt is still a bit yellow… AH! And your hoodie shirt..." She tried to tell him but he already disappeared and groaned in defeat.
Aoki checked her watch and saw it was already 10am.
'No ice cream… Ruining some guy's shirt… Behind schedule… What else can go wrong with today??' Aoki complained inwardly to herself then sighed.
She had planned on only sneaking away for a bit and spending the day just to look for a couple of special ingredients to make chocolates for her friends and family. Now, she had to meet up, with some boy she just accidentally met, by the big tree at 5pm… She looked around to see any signs to where she was at present.
'Yebisu Garden Place.' Aoki noted to herself before sighing and went to do what she was set out to do.
Aoki was standing alone in front of the big tree at Yebisu Garden Place. It was 10 minutes to 5pm and the place was filled with couples not much, but not few either; it didn't surprise her the air at this place was romantic at this time of year. The place was cover in pure white blanket of snow, was lit up by the lights of the stores and the couples walking by made it so beautiful, romantic and breathe taking. Aoki looked at her phone for the time. It was still early to meet up with the ash haired guy which his name she still didn't know of- But she already bought all the ingredients she needed for her friends and family to make those Valentine's chocolate to give tomorrow. A wave of guilt attacked her conscience as her eyes fell on the white hoodie that was on her arm the whole day and frowned to herself. Aoki looks around to see if he was already around and spots a department store near by instead. She went to the department store to look for a replacement undershirt for the one she had ruined.
'It is my fault after all.' Aoki reminded herself.
"Excuse me… Um… Are there any men's white undershirts around here?" Aoki asked a random sales clerk.
"What size?" The clerk asked and Aoki held up the hoodie shirt the guy had left her in front of the clerk.
"This size?"
"Ah… I'm sorry, but we had a sale and we're all out of white ones. The last one in stock was already bought by an old woman a while ago." Another sales clerk intervened.
"Oh… Um… then do you have any other undershirts in this size?"
"I do think we still have one last, but it's black in color. Is this for you boyfriend?" The previous sales clerk said to her and she blushed instantly.
"No, no. It's just for my… Um.. Friend. His shirt… I got food stains on them." Aoki said as her face furiously turn red as if she got caught red handed.s
"Well, then black is slimming and stains won't be so visible in this color." The other said and Aoki chuckled at the 'slimming' remark.
"I think he doesn't need help in the weight department, but I'll take it." Aoki said as she paid for the black undershirt.
"Thank you for shopping here at Mitsukoshi department store!" The two chorused as they gave her the item she had bought.
Aoki nodded as she took the item and jogged back to their meeting place only to see the guy from before sitting next to promised meeting place with two cans of hot drinks in his hand.
"Ah! Gomen. Were you waiting long?" Aoki said as she approached the guy.
The guy just shrugged a 'no' in return. His appearance was slightly different from that morning and he looked like he just got out of the shower.
"For you." He said as he gave her the hot canned latte drink and a crooked smile with it.
"Arigatou!" Aoki said while smiling back as she took it and they both opened their cans to drink.
The two were quiet for a moment as they drank. He sneezed slightly out of no where breaking their silence and made Aoki chuckle.
"Here. Go change." Aoki instructed as she held up the newly bought black undershirt and his white hoodie shirt from before while he stood up.
"A black undershirt?"He asked curiously as he took them from her hands.
"To replace the one I ruined… B-besides it-it'll suit the white hoodie shirt and the hair color you have." Aoki tried to explain as she playfully push him to the direction of the bathroom, making him chuckle as he let her push him to the nearest bathroom.
Aoki waited for him outside the bathroom door leaning on the wall next to it as he changed his clothes, like she wanted.
"Ne… What's your name? You didn't tell me before..." Aoki asked casually as she stared at her drink.
"Eh? Seriously? But… Hmm… I suppose… I'm Yaotome Hikaru." The guy said as he came out of the bathroom and disposed his now empty coffee can.
"AH!!!" Aoki exclaimed as Hikaru prepared himself to be screamed at.
"Ii no namae." Aoki said with a giggle.
It was as if she had been hiding under a rock since 2003 or at least wasn't in Japan before today. She really didn't have any idea who he was or at least Hikaru thought so.
"Hikaru meaning Light. Mine is Ao meaning Blue and Ki meaning Tree." She translated absent mindedly.
"Aaahhh~ Blue-chan~ That sounds interesting. I'll call you that from now on." Hikaru said with a chuckle of his own and patted her head, earning a glance from her.
Aoki finished her drink in one gulp before shooting her can into the trash.
"Yay! 3 points!" Aoki said as she jumped and cheered for herself when the can went inside the trash.
Hikaru smiled as he watched the enthusiastic girl, when something cold made contact with his face.
"Snow!! Winter is still the best!" Aoki announced.
"I know! It's the best!" Hikaru replied with a grin as he watch her spun, but fell on her butt.
Hikaru's eyes went wide, but Aoki just laughed it off and he felt relieved at the sound of her laugh. His lips formed a warm and small smile.
"Jaa! Let's go eat somewhere, Blue-chan." Hikaru told her as he put an arm around her shoulders.
Aoki stared at Hikaru with a questioning look.
"What?" Hikaru asked as he turned to face her, only a few centimeters away.
Aoki blushed a light shade of red and Hikaru sneezed away from her. She giggled.
"We can eat at a shabu-shabu to keep warm~" Aoki said with a knowing tone.
"Sounds great!" Hikaru replied eagerly with a smile as he let go of her.
They walked side by side as the time passed by.
"My hands are getting a bit cold now..." Aoki muttered as she blew on her hands desperate to get the feeling and warmth back.
Hikaru took her hand in his, even though his hands weren't any hotter than her's and rubbed their hands together for warmth.
"It's easier to get warm together than alone." Hikaru said when an idea suddenly struck him.
"Wait for me, Blue-chan. I'll just go get something up ahead." Hikaru told her, then jogged ahead.
Aoki fearing she might be left behind again, ran after him. She spots him in from of a vending machine and getting 4 cans of drinks.
"Eh? What are you doing?"
"Getting us warm." Hikaru said proudly as he put a pair in her jacket's pockets before putting the other in his hoodie's pockets.
"And now we put our hands in our pockets." Hikaru said with a big grin on his face.
"Uwa~ It is warm~ Arigatou, Light-kun." Aoki said as beamed a smile to him.
"It's just a trick I thought up over the years."Hikaru said proudly with a light blush on his cheek.
"It's pretty handy."
"That's right! But you're pretty good too, thinking of shabu-shabu." Hikaru complemented her.
Aoki smiled and shrugged as they continued their way to the shabu-shabu place she knew near by. Truthfully she only thought of it to get rid of his cold. They reached a small shabu-shabu place.
"Table for 2." Hikaru told the waiter and received a nod.
The waiter led them to a table for two by the window.
"The usual, ne? We'll have the miso soup though." Aoki added, before the waiter scattered to the kitchen.
'I think I like this girl.' Hikaru noted as he nodded to himself.
A pause over came them, but Hikaru broke it easily with a question.
"…So you always eat here?"
"Oniichan and his friend likes it here and they always take me here. Specially when it's raining or cold out."
The waiter came out with some raw meat slices, some seafoods, vegetables, tofu, 2 raw eggs, some raw chicken, shiitake mushrooms and ramen noodles accompanied by a small sushi boat.
"You want any thing else?" The waiter asked politely at them as he served them the plates of raw food.
"Nah, I'm good. Light-kun?" Aoki asked him as she slightly tipped her head to the side, while the waiter poured the miso soup on the pot on the table.
"I'm good. We got our own drinks." Hikaru said as he chuckled in amusement and the waiter turned on the stove.
The waiter bowed and left them alone. Aoki smiled and shrugged.
"I'm assuming you're not taking those off." Aoki mused as she gently put in the chicken in the soup to cook.
"Does it bother you?" Hikaru asked as he put in some vegetables too.
"Not really, my niichan and his friend does that too. Eat with glasses on." Aoki pointed out with her chopsticks and giggled as she remembered.
The two just kept on putting raw food in the soup as they talked.
"You hang around your brother a lot?"
"Well, he's my cousin, but I wanted an older brother so he treats me like his own sister. They take me everywhere and take good care of me."
"Sounds like a good brother."
"What about you?"
"My brother has two kids, one girl and one boy. I love playing with them a lot."
Aoki bit his lower lip as she held a laugh.
"You sound like a dad, Light-kun."
Hikaru laughed lightly. The atmosphere between them was comfortable, things came naturally and he liked it a lot. Aoki put in the ramen noodles in the soup.
"I wonder how will this taste like? We just put in all the ingredients without even knowing what we were doing." Hikaru said as his laugh continued on.
"Assorted Miso Ramen?" Aoki joked as she laughed along with him.
"Jaa~ Ittedaikimasu!" The two chorused and took some onto their small bowls.
"Uwa~ Umai! Sugoi umai!" Hikaru said as he was the first to take a bite.
Aoki smiled at him and took her first bite as Hikaru continued eating.
"Oishii~" Aoki softly squeaked and Hikaru let a chuckle slip through his lips.
Hikaru already had 8 bowls and Aoki had 5 bowls.
"I'm getting full." Aoki groaned as Hikaru put more on her bowl.
"We have to finish this!" Hikaru said and Aoki laughed.
"No, no, you have to finish it! Look at you, we have to make you gain a bit of weight." Aoki shot at him as she continued to laugh.
"But I already had 8 bowls!"
"Small bowls."
"You only had 5!!"
"… Point well taken."
'Did she just gave up on our argument?' Hikaru laughed as the thought passed his mind.
"But I'll only eat 2 more bowls and the rest is yours. That's the deal and that's as good as it's gonna get." Aoki said with a playful smile on her lips.
Hikaru took out one of the canned drinks from his pocket thoughtfully, opened it and took a sip of it like it was some English tea in fine china. Aoki laughed at the sight as he wiped the ends of his lips with his napkin.
"Deal."
The two continued to eat with a light atmosphere in the air , while continued their small talk and true to her word she only ate 2 bowls and left the rest to Hikaru.
"Check please!" Aoki announced to the waiter and caught someone else's attention with it.
A pair of tall guys covered up just like Hikaru arrived at their table.
" See, Teppei? I knew, she'd come here like it was a bad habit of her's. No thanks to her big older cousin." The taller of the two casually teased his companion as he lightly and playfully push him.
"WaT?!" Hikaru yelled out as his eyes went wide.
"Oh! Eiji-kun! Aahh! Te-niichan!!" Aoki called.
"Weltz Eiji? Koike Teppei? Eehh? Wait! You!" Hikaru exclaimed as he saw the two older men and repeatedly looked between WaT, then back at Aoki.
"We've been looking all over for you! Do you know how worried mom is??" Teppei shouted which is the smaller of the two rushing to Aoki's side.
"Oh! Look, Teppei, it's Yaotome Hikaru of Johnny's Hey! Say! JUMP." Eiji told Teppei excitedly as he patted Teppei's back repeatedly.
"Hey!" Teppei greeted as he continued to make his way to Aoki.
"Yo, Hikaru! Just ignore Teppei, he has a sister complex." Eiji greeted as he patted Hikaru's shoulder once and chuckled.
Teppei rolled his eyes, but still smiled at his partner's teasing.
"Oh, very funny, Eiji-kun. He does not." Aoki shot at him with a grin as Teppei took her by the arm and made her stand up.
"Let's go home. You have lots of explaining to do." Teppei warned her with a slight frown.
"Ok, ok." Aoki gave up and sighed.
Eiji took her things as Teppei dragged her away from a still surprised Hikaru.
"OH! Wait! I need to do something first, Te-niichan!" Aoki said as she wiggled her way out of his grasps and jogged back to Hikaru.
Aoki took out some money from her pocket, put it on the table as she leaned towards Hikaru.
"I had lots of fun. Let's do this again sometime, ne?" Aoki whispered at Hikaru's ear.
She left some money on the table. Obviously, payment for her half of the food.
"Ah! Yeah, we should! But no more staining my shirt next time." Hikaru teased as he chuckled a bit.
She giggled and nodded as she was about to leave him there.
"Same place, tomorrow?" Hikaru continued with a grin forming on his lips.
"Alright. Next time, I'll remember who you are. Promise." Aoki mused with a smile and stuck out her tongue before leaving with WaT.
Hikaru watched them leave and smiled.
"It's a date."
Rating: PG
Genre: Romance, slight comedy, Slice of Life, Pre-Valentine's
A tall ash color haired guy was around Shibuya on his way to work when he decided to take a detour to McDonald's dessert stand with his abnormal craving for a soft ice cream after eating his spicy breakfast nabe from home. There wasn't much of a line, it was a cold February and spring was right around the corner after all, but there was this one other person there. A small girl standing right in front of him & wearing a fluffy light brown boots, light blue torn and worn out jeans, dark blue spaghetti shirt, white colored scarf and black jean jacket. She had a sort of cute rocker chick type of aura around her.
"Large vanilla cone, please!" She squeaked excitedly, like a kid.
'Uwa~ cho kawaii!' the guy thought to himself as his eyes kept watching the young girl with waist long reddish brown hair.
"Please wait for a moment." The cashier said before scattering to get and make the girl's soft ice cream.
The girl couldn't help, but smile while excitedly clapped her hands once as she watched the cashier make her order. The cashier came back not very long after with her tall vanilla soft ice cream and handed it to her.
"That'll be 150 yen." The cashier said as the girl lick on the ice cream as she took out some coins in her pocket.
The rosy white skinned girl reached and gave the 150 yen to the cashier, before turning around. She was so focused on her tall soft ice that she accidentally bumped into the guy behind her. His white undershirt stained a slight yellow color, while his white hoodie shirt suffered minimal damage and his dark blue and white stripped scarf stayed safe.
"AH!!!" The two chorused with wide eyes as they both step out of the line.
"Ahh- My shirt's all yellow and sticky now." The guy muttered to himself.
The girl realized what she had done as her eyes travel to the guy's shirt not a second later.
"Hontou ni gomen nasai!!" The chibi girl said instantly as she apologetically bowed her head.
He scratched the back of his head as his sunglasses slipped down slightly.
"At the very least, let me wash it..." She guiltily said to the guy as she looked up at his face with eager eyes, making the guy chuckle.
"Ahh~ Demo betsuni iiya!" He told her as he shrugged with a crooked smile.
Suddenly remembering her ice cream cone, she glanced at her cone before throwing it in the trash. The guy noticed her sighing in disappointment of losing her treat.
"Ikki mashou ka?" The girl asked politely and dragged him to the park near by.
They found a fountain in no time at all as the girl kept her guilty eyes on his shirt.
"A-ano… Shirt..." She tried to point out and he caught on quickly as he instantly took his top off, while his scarf stayed draped around his neck.
His well toned abs revealed as the girl's eyes traveled somewhere else instantly being embarrassed. She tried to grab the hooded shirt and undershirt without look at him in general, but accidentally their skin had made contact, sending electricity between them. The guy stared at the hand that retreated quickly from his 6 packed abs, while the girl was trying not to have the guy notice her cheeks flaring up completely aware what she had done as quickly glance to where the shirts are and grabbed them from him. She shuffled as she located the stains she had made earlier and tried her best to wash it clean. The tension between them was great, but the guy, that was now only in his dark brown boots, his blue and white striped scarf and black straight cut jeans, knew how to break the ice.
"Ice cream-chan, what's your name?" He asked her casually as his eyes didn't even leave her for a minute.
"Kou… I'm Kou Aoki." She answered softly as she took his undershirt and whipped it out to dry.
This guy in front of her was attracting too much attention, as he awkwardly tried to cover his abs with his hand. Aoki even saw 2 high school girls hiding in a bush near by with their phones in hand as she walked toward the well toned guy she unlucky smothered her dessert on.
"Gomen na… It's still not completely dry, but at least you'll be warmer with these. Plus you won't be so exposed." Aoki said in a hushed tone as subtly gesturing towards the two girls in the bush to the guy.
He grabbed the shirt quickly; wiggled into the shirt and noticed the time on his wrist watch.
"Ah, Shimatta! Arigatou, Aoki, but I have to go to work." He told her as he tried to dust away the coldness of the shirt against his skin.
"B-but..." Aoki tried to reply, but was cut off by his finger on her lips.
'EH?? So casual!' she thought to herself as her eyes were glued to the finger on her lips.
"Meet me back here by the big tree at around 5pm today. Alright? Ok. I'll look forward to seeing you later!" He said as he jogged his way to work in a hurry, not even giving her time to give him a proper answer.
"B-but your shirt is still a bit yellow… AH! And your hoodie shirt..." She tried to tell him but he already disappeared and groaned in defeat.
Aoki checked her watch and saw it was already 10am.
'No ice cream… Ruining some guy's shirt… Behind schedule… What else can go wrong with today??' Aoki complained inwardly to herself then sighed.
She had planned on only sneaking away for a bit and spending the day just to look for a couple of special ingredients to make chocolates for her friends and family. Now, she had to meet up, with some boy she just accidentally met, by the big tree at 5pm… She looked around to see any signs to where she was at present.
'Yebisu Garden Place.' Aoki noted to herself before sighing and went to do what she was set out to do.
Aoki was standing alone in front of the big tree at Yebisu Garden Place. It was 10 minutes to 5pm and the place was filled with couples not much, but not few either; it didn't surprise her the air at this place was romantic at this time of year. The place was cover in pure white blanket of snow, was lit up by the lights of the stores and the couples walking by made it so beautiful, romantic and breathe taking. Aoki looked at her phone for the time. It was still early to meet up with the ash haired guy which his name she still didn't know of- But she already bought all the ingredients she needed for her friends and family to make those Valentine's chocolate to give tomorrow. A wave of guilt attacked her conscience as her eyes fell on the white hoodie that was on her arm the whole day and frowned to herself. Aoki looks around to see if he was already around and spots a department store near by instead. She went to the department store to look for a replacement undershirt for the one she had ruined.
'It is my fault after all.' Aoki reminded herself.
"Excuse me… Um… Are there any men's white undershirts around here?" Aoki asked a random sales clerk.
"What size?" The clerk asked and Aoki held up the hoodie shirt the guy had left her in front of the clerk.
"This size?"
"Ah… I'm sorry, but we had a sale and we're all out of white ones. The last one in stock was already bought by an old woman a while ago." Another sales clerk intervened.
"Oh… Um… then do you have any other undershirts in this size?"
"I do think we still have one last, but it's black in color. Is this for you boyfriend?" The previous sales clerk said to her and she blushed instantly.
"No, no. It's just for my… Um.. Friend. His shirt… I got food stains on them." Aoki said as her face furiously turn red as if she got caught red handed.s
"Well, then black is slimming and stains won't be so visible in this color." The other said and Aoki chuckled at the 'slimming' remark.
"I think he doesn't need help in the weight department, but I'll take it." Aoki said as she paid for the black undershirt.
"Thank you for shopping here at Mitsukoshi department store!" The two chorused as they gave her the item she had bought.
Aoki nodded as she took the item and jogged back to their meeting place only to see the guy from before sitting next to promised meeting place with two cans of hot drinks in his hand.
"Ah! Gomen. Were you waiting long?" Aoki said as she approached the guy.
The guy just shrugged a 'no' in return. His appearance was slightly different from that morning and he looked like he just got out of the shower.
"For you." He said as he gave her the hot canned latte drink and a crooked smile with it.
"Arigatou!" Aoki said while smiling back as she took it and they both opened their cans to drink.
The two were quiet for a moment as they drank. He sneezed slightly out of no where breaking their silence and made Aoki chuckle.
"Here. Go change." Aoki instructed as she held up the newly bought black undershirt and his white hoodie shirt from before while he stood up.
"A black undershirt?"He asked curiously as he took them from her hands.
"To replace the one I ruined… B-besides it-it'll suit the white hoodie shirt and the hair color you have." Aoki tried to explain as she playfully push him to the direction of the bathroom, making him chuckle as he let her push him to the nearest bathroom.
Aoki waited for him outside the bathroom door leaning on the wall next to it as he changed his clothes, like she wanted.
"Ne… What's your name? You didn't tell me before..." Aoki asked casually as she stared at her drink.
"Eh? Seriously? But… Hmm… I suppose… I'm Yaotome Hikaru." The guy said as he came out of the bathroom and disposed his now empty coffee can.
"AH!!!" Aoki exclaimed as Hikaru prepared himself to be screamed at.
"Ii no namae." Aoki said with a giggle.
It was as if she had been hiding under a rock since 2003 or at least wasn't in Japan before today. She really didn't have any idea who he was or at least Hikaru thought so.
"Hikaru meaning Light. Mine is Ao meaning Blue and Ki meaning Tree." She translated absent mindedly.
"Aaahhh~ Blue-chan~ That sounds interesting. I'll call you that from now on." Hikaru said with a chuckle of his own and patted her head, earning a glance from her.
Aoki finished her drink in one gulp before shooting her can into the trash.
"Yay! 3 points!" Aoki said as she jumped and cheered for herself when the can went inside the trash.
Hikaru smiled as he watched the enthusiastic girl, when something cold made contact with his face.
"Snow!! Winter is still the best!" Aoki announced.
"I know! It's the best!" Hikaru replied with a grin as he watch her spun, but fell on her butt.
Hikaru's eyes went wide, but Aoki just laughed it off and he felt relieved at the sound of her laugh. His lips formed a warm and small smile.
"Jaa! Let's go eat somewhere, Blue-chan." Hikaru told her as he put an arm around her shoulders.
Aoki stared at Hikaru with a questioning look.
"What?" Hikaru asked as he turned to face her, only a few centimeters away.
Aoki blushed a light shade of red and Hikaru sneezed away from her. She giggled.
"We can eat at a shabu-shabu to keep warm~" Aoki said with a knowing tone.
"Sounds great!" Hikaru replied eagerly with a smile as he let go of her.
They walked side by side as the time passed by.
"My hands are getting a bit cold now..." Aoki muttered as she blew on her hands desperate to get the feeling and warmth back.
Hikaru took her hand in his, even though his hands weren't any hotter than her's and rubbed their hands together for warmth.
"It's easier to get warm together than alone." Hikaru said when an idea suddenly struck him.
"Wait for me, Blue-chan. I'll just go get something up ahead." Hikaru told her, then jogged ahead.
Aoki fearing she might be left behind again, ran after him. She spots him in from of a vending machine and getting 4 cans of drinks.
"Eh? What are you doing?"
"Getting us warm." Hikaru said proudly as he put a pair in her jacket's pockets before putting the other in his hoodie's pockets.
"And now we put our hands in our pockets." Hikaru said with a big grin on his face.
"Uwa~ It is warm~ Arigatou, Light-kun." Aoki said as beamed a smile to him.
"It's just a trick I thought up over the years."Hikaru said proudly with a light blush on his cheek.
"It's pretty handy."
"That's right! But you're pretty good too, thinking of shabu-shabu." Hikaru complemented her.
Aoki smiled and shrugged as they continued their way to the shabu-shabu place she knew near by. Truthfully she only thought of it to get rid of his cold. They reached a small shabu-shabu place.
"Table for 2." Hikaru told the waiter and received a nod.
The waiter led them to a table for two by the window.
"The usual, ne? We'll have the miso soup though." Aoki added, before the waiter scattered to the kitchen.
'I think I like this girl.' Hikaru noted as he nodded to himself.
A pause over came them, but Hikaru broke it easily with a question.
"…So you always eat here?"
"Oniichan and his friend likes it here and they always take me here. Specially when it's raining or cold out."
The waiter came out with some raw meat slices, some seafoods, vegetables, tofu, 2 raw eggs, some raw chicken, shiitake mushrooms and ramen noodles accompanied by a small sushi boat.
"You want any thing else?" The waiter asked politely at them as he served them the plates of raw food.
"Nah, I'm good. Light-kun?" Aoki asked him as she slightly tipped her head to the side, while the waiter poured the miso soup on the pot on the table.
"I'm good. We got our own drinks." Hikaru said as he chuckled in amusement and the waiter turned on the stove.
The waiter bowed and left them alone. Aoki smiled and shrugged.
"I'm assuming you're not taking those off." Aoki mused as she gently put in the chicken in the soup to cook.
"Does it bother you?" Hikaru asked as he put in some vegetables too.
"Not really, my niichan and his friend does that too. Eat with glasses on." Aoki pointed out with her chopsticks and giggled as she remembered.
The two just kept on putting raw food in the soup as they talked.
"You hang around your brother a lot?"
"Well, he's my cousin, but I wanted an older brother so he treats me like his own sister. They take me everywhere and take good care of me."
"Sounds like a good brother."
"What about you?"
"My brother has two kids, one girl and one boy. I love playing with them a lot."
Aoki bit his lower lip as she held a laugh.
"You sound like a dad, Light-kun."
Hikaru laughed lightly. The atmosphere between them was comfortable, things came naturally and he liked it a lot. Aoki put in the ramen noodles in the soup.
"I wonder how will this taste like? We just put in all the ingredients without even knowing what we were doing." Hikaru said as his laugh continued on.
"Assorted Miso Ramen?" Aoki joked as she laughed along with him.
"Jaa~ Ittedaikimasu!" The two chorused and took some onto their small bowls.
"Uwa~ Umai! Sugoi umai!" Hikaru said as he was the first to take a bite.
Aoki smiled at him and took her first bite as Hikaru continued eating.
"Oishii~" Aoki softly squeaked and Hikaru let a chuckle slip through his lips.
Hikaru already had 8 bowls and Aoki had 5 bowls.
"I'm getting full." Aoki groaned as Hikaru put more on her bowl.
"We have to finish this!" Hikaru said and Aoki laughed.
"No, no, you have to finish it! Look at you, we have to make you gain a bit of weight." Aoki shot at him as she continued to laugh.
"But I already had 8 bowls!"
"Small bowls."
"You only had 5!!"
"… Point well taken."
'Did she just gave up on our argument?' Hikaru laughed as the thought passed his mind.
"But I'll only eat 2 more bowls and the rest is yours. That's the deal and that's as good as it's gonna get." Aoki said with a playful smile on her lips.
Hikaru took out one of the canned drinks from his pocket thoughtfully, opened it and took a sip of it like it was some English tea in fine china. Aoki laughed at the sight as he wiped the ends of his lips with his napkin.
"Deal."
The two continued to eat with a light atmosphere in the air , while continued their small talk and true to her word she only ate 2 bowls and left the rest to Hikaru.
"Check please!" Aoki announced to the waiter and caught someone else's attention with it.
A pair of tall guys covered up just like Hikaru arrived at their table.
" See, Teppei? I knew, she'd come here like it was a bad habit of her's. No thanks to her big older cousin." The taller of the two casually teased his companion as he lightly and playfully push him.
"WaT?!" Hikaru yelled out as his eyes went wide.
"Oh! Eiji-kun! Aahh! Te-niichan!!" Aoki called.
"Weltz Eiji? Koike Teppei? Eehh? Wait! You!" Hikaru exclaimed as he saw the two older men and repeatedly looked between WaT, then back at Aoki.
"We've been looking all over for you! Do you know how worried mom is??" Teppei shouted which is the smaller of the two rushing to Aoki's side.
"Oh! Look, Teppei, it's Yaotome Hikaru of Johnny's Hey! Say! JUMP." Eiji told Teppei excitedly as he patted Teppei's back repeatedly.
"Hey!" Teppei greeted as he continued to make his way to Aoki.
"Yo, Hikaru! Just ignore Teppei, he has a sister complex." Eiji greeted as he patted Hikaru's shoulder once and chuckled.
Teppei rolled his eyes, but still smiled at his partner's teasing.
"Oh, very funny, Eiji-kun. He does not." Aoki shot at him with a grin as Teppei took her by the arm and made her stand up.
"Let's go home. You have lots of explaining to do." Teppei warned her with a slight frown.
"Ok, ok." Aoki gave up and sighed.
Eiji took her things as Teppei dragged her away from a still surprised Hikaru.
"OH! Wait! I need to do something first, Te-niichan!" Aoki said as she wiggled her way out of his grasps and jogged back to Hikaru.
Aoki took out some money from her pocket, put it on the table as she leaned towards Hikaru.
"I had lots of fun. Let's do this again sometime, ne?" Aoki whispered at Hikaru's ear.
She left some money on the table. Obviously, payment for her half of the food.
"Ah! Yeah, we should! But no more staining my shirt next time." Hikaru teased as he chuckled a bit.
She giggled and nodded as she was about to leave him there.
"Same place, tomorrow?" Hikaru continued with a grin forming on his lips.
"Alright. Next time, I'll remember who you are. Promise." Aoki mused with a smile and stuck out her tongue before leaving with WaT.
Hikaru watched them leave and smiled.
"It's a date."