Melon Love - Chapter Seven
It was Saturday, and early in the morning - around 5-ish, Chieko went over to Daisuke’s house because she wanted to see him before her audition. When she arrived, Daisuke was home alone, because the maids and butler had gone with his mother to the audition centre, to get things ready for the contest auditions.
As she walked into the house, she saw him sitting on the couch, reading a book, with the TV turned on.
“Ne,” she walked over to him, and plonked down next to him, on his left.
He looked up at her from his book. “What?”
“Maa…” she looked at the TV, not really taking in what was going on. “Why are you reading and watching the TV at the same time?”
“Because I want to?”
She twisted her mouth, not really buying his answer, but then she shrugged and leaned on him. It was quiet for awhile; the only sound was made when Daisuke turned a page of the book. He took a deep breath and then exhaled, and he folded the corner of the page that he was reading, closed the book, and put it down onto the coffee table in front of him.
He looked down at Chieko, who had fallen asleep. He smiled softly, and moved her fringe out of her face. Slowly, and careful not to wake her up, he put his arm around her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered, but that was it. She then began to mumble.
“Mummy…”
He looked at her, eyes wide. “Mummy?”
“Mummy… tummy… hurts…”
Daisuke looked away. “Mummy, tummy, hurts?” he repeated to himself in a whisper.
“Mummy…! Rub my tummy…” Chieko muttered, and she turned to face the other way.
He looked back at her and laughed softly. He then gently placed her down onto the couch, and got off and put her legs up onto the couch.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “But I can’t do that…”
Chieko’s eyes blinked, even though they were closed, and she slowly opened them. When she looked to her right, she saw Daisuke’s face, watching her intently.
“AHH!!!” she squealed, and quickly sat up.
He fell back, startled at her reaction, and he laughed.
“What’s so funny?” she pouted.
“Your reaction.” Daisuke said as if it were obvious.
“Ah… Mummy~~~~~~~!” Chieko whined. “I’m nervous.”
She, her mother, Hideyoshi and Akiyo were in the car, driving to the venue where the auditions would be held.
“Shut up… your voice is annoying.” Hideyoshi muttered.
Akiyo whacked him on the head. “You shut up!”
“Can you all just be quiet?!” Their mother shrieked after having to endure this for the last half an hour or so. “Jeez…”
As they pulled up to the parking lot, Chieko rolled down her window and looked out. “Uwaa~~~!” She looked back to her mother. “There’s so many cars here! Oh, I’m nervous again…”
They all got out of the car, and their mother locked it. Chieko was first, hands in her jacket pockets; Akiyo was walking beside her on her right with Hideyoshi and their mother trailing after them.
“Ne,” Akiyo started. “Will that boyfriend of yours be here?”
“Un, most likely, ne?” Chieko replied. “I mean, his mum is a judge and the sponsor.” (un = yeah/yes)
Hideyoshi walked up to them, and was on Chieko’s left. “You have a boyfriend?”
Chieko nodded. “Un.”
“He’s rich?”
“Un.”
Hideyoshi pondered. “You like him?”
“If she didn’t, why would he be her boyfriend?” Akiyo answered for her, as if it were obvious. She shook her head. “I never knew you were so dense.”
“What?!” Hideyoshi ran to her and head locked her. “What’d you say?”
“I said, ‘You’re stupid’.” Akiyo broke free from him, and stuck her tongue out.
“You think you’re so smart.” He spat.
“That’s right, I am,” was his younger sister’s response.
“Hey, you two!” their mother had caught up to them and pulled them apart. “Stop fighting! You know how embarrassing you look?”
“Sorry…” they mumbled, bowing their heads.
Chieko was already inside the city theatre. “I wonder where Shintani-kun is…” she looked around, and saw him walking up to her, hands in pockets.
“Hey,” he said.
“Shintani-kun!” she squealed and ran up to him, throwing her arms around his neck.
He caught her quickly, and almost fell backwards. “Excited?” he asked.
She nodded her head. “Yeah, and nervous.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll get through.” he reassured her.
She looked up at him. “Why, you bribed your mother?”
He looked away. “No, why would I? You know you can do it without a bribe.” He corrected himself. “DEFinitely without a bribe.”
She smiled and laughed softly. “I guess so…”
“Could number one-oh-six-nine-seven-three please come in!” called the person standing outside the big doors to the audition room. (one-oh-six-nine-seven-three = 106973)
Chieko looked down at her sticker on her hand. “Ah! That’s me!”
Daisuke let go of her and she skipped away. Just before she opened up the door, she turned back to him. “I’ll do my best!” she grinned, holding her fist in front of her.
“You better,” he smiled.
As soon as she turned around and walked into the room, all of her enthusiasm disappeared. She took a deep breath, and looked at the three judges sitting behind a bench-like table.
The person on her left was Etsuko, who was beaming happily; she had her hair done up in a bun, and was wearing a bright green, lacy dress.
The person who sat in the middle was Aki Kuroki, a famous Jpop singer and actress, noted for her rolls in One Fine Day and The Old Man’s Melody. She had her dyed brown hair done so that it was straight, and then at her ears it became wavy, which was different from her usual straight hair. She was wearing a grey T-shirt and bright yellow hooded jacket, with a black skirt on.
The last person, on Chieko’s right, was AmaPop, real name: Katsumi Komatsu. He was quite young, in his late teens, and yet he was very successful with the songs that he wrote lyrics for and composed. He had hair similar to Daisuke’s except that it was orange, the same colour as Yuya’s. He was wearing a white T-shirt with the words ‘Make Love Not War’ written on it, a black vest over it and grey jeans.
Chieko bit her lip as she took a deep breath, stopping herself from flailing.
“So…” AmaPop started. “You are…?”
Chieko gasped, and then quickly bowed. “Anoo… I’m Chieko Asai. 15 yrs old, Blood type O.”
“Eh…” Aki started. “So you’re an O blood type, huh?”
Chieko nodded. “Yes.”
“Okay.” Etsuko nodded. “Now, why have you entered this competition?”
Chieko looked at her. “Y-Yes…?”
“Why’d you enter this competition?” AmaPop repeated.
“O-oh…” Chieko thought for a moment before answering. “I… I love to sing.”
She could see the three of them scribbling something down onto a sheet of paper before them.
Aki picked up a different sheet. “On your application form, it says the same thing… Is that it?” She looked Chieko straight in the eyes. “You just love to sing?”
“I…” Chieko opened her mouth, but couldn’t say anything, so instead she bit her lip and then took a deep breath.
I have a passion
Something that pulls me through
It follows me wherever I go
Guiding me along the way
In the form of a person
And in the form of music
The both of them
I cannot live without
When she finished singing, she closed her eyes and pursed her lips. Argh… she thought. Why did I just have to sing then…? That wasn’t even the song that I wanted to sing… Well, it was… but… the tune wasn’t like the one that I thought of in the car.
“Wow.” she heard someone breathe.
Chieko looked up, and saw Aki smiling from ear to ear.
“You’re really good!” she exclaimed.
“Eh…? Oh,” Chieko bowed her head. “Thank you.”
“Hmm… definitely a voice that could sing my songs…” AmaPop murmured.
“So…” Etsuko turned to face her fellow judges. “Is she in, or out?”
“In!” They both replied happily.
Chieko blinked. “R-really?”
“Of course! The judges’ words are final.” Etsuko smiled.
“A-arigatou gozaimashita!” Chieko sang, bowing deeply. (Arigatou gozaimashita = very polite ‘Thank you very much’)
“No, not at all!” Etsuko said, still smiling,
“You’re through to the big ‘on stage’ performance finals.” Aki explained.
“So… we’ll see you in a few weeks, ne?” AmaPop said.
“Yes!” Chieko bowed once more, before turning and walking out the door. When she did, she saw Daisuke leaning on a pole next to the seats; Akiyo sitting on the floor, and Hideyoshi and her mother sitting on the seats.
“So,” Akiyo stood up as Chieko walked towards them. “How did it go?”
“I…” Chieko took a deep breath. “I GOT IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“OKAY! Okay…” Akiyo pushed her younger sister away from her. “You don’t have to scream in my ear.”
The other people in the centre looked at the small group as if they were weirdoes; some of them rolled their eyes.
“What?!” Akiyo trudged up to them. “You’ve got a problem with my little sister getting through, huh?!”
“AKIYO!” their mother had stood up. “You don’t need to yell at them.”
“But they’re--!” Akiyo was about to retort when she sighed. “Hai…”
The family of four walked out of the centre, as happy as they could be; Daisuke came out with them. When they were at the car, he decided to introduce himself to the rest of the family.
“I’m Daisuke Shintani.” he bowed.
“Shintani, huh?” Hideyoshi murmured.
Daisuke nodded his head.
“You…” their mother said, putting a hand onto Daisuke’s shoulder. “Take good care of my Chieko, ne?”
He smiled wryly and then nodded. “I will.”
“Ne, Shintani! Chieko! Come here!” Akiyo called out.
The two that she was talking about walked up to her.
“What?” Chieko whispered.
Daisuke was on Akiyo’s right, and Chieko was on her left. She cleared her throat.
“Dearly beloved,” she looked at her mother and older brother, winking. “We are gathered here today to celebrate the…” She furrowed her brow, thinking. “Oh!” She cleared her throat again. “To celebrate the special occasion of holy matrimony between a man and a woman.”
“HUH?!” Chieko cried out.
Ignoring her younger sister, Akiyo continued. “Before we begin, something, something… or forever hold your peace.”
Hideyoshi stifled a laugh, looking away.
“Yes?” Akiyo looked at him.
He shook his hand. “No, it’s nothing.”
“Ahem.” Akiyo took a deep breath. “Do you, Daisuke Shintani take Chieko Asai to be your lawfully wedded wife, until the day you die?”
Daisuke smirked. “I do.” He decided to play along.
Chieko stared at him. “What?”
“And do you, Chieko Asai, take Daisuke Shintani to be your lawfully wedded husband, and be loyal to him, until the day you die?”
“I…” Chieko looked up. “…don’t.”
Everyone stared at her.
“What?” Hideyoshi scoffed.
“Excuse me…?” Akiyo stammered.
“I mean…” Chieko turned around and looked at the ground. “This is stupid…”
She then walked to the car and got in, sitting in the left side passenger seat. She was pouting, and her arms were crossed.
“Jeez…” Akiyo muttered as she got into the right side passenger seat. “We were only teasing…”
“But still…!”
“Yeah.” Hideyoshi started as he sat in the front. “It was only a game.”
“Whatever…” Chieko muttered.
“Maa…” Their mother sighed as she got into the driver’s seat. “If you get married, will it be the traditional Shinto? Or Western style?”
“Western for me.” Akiyo answered in an instant. “Shinto seems… a bit too extravagant.”
“Me too.” Hideyoshi sighed. He then looked at their mother. “Which one did you have?”
“Western.” Their mother smiled as she began to reverse out of the parking space.
“Eh…”
“Your father’s parents and my parents argued with us, but we stood with Western style.”
Akiyo laughed. “I can see grandma arguing with you about that.”
Chieko, meanwhile, wasn’t really listening. She had her left arm up on the window sill, and she was leaning on it, thinking.
I wonder why Daisuke wanted to go along with it… she murmured silently. She then sat up abruptly.
“What?” Akiyo said, startled.
Chieko looked at her. “Huh? Oh, it’s nothing.” She leaned back into the seat. I… just called him Daisuke… I wonder if he’ll be okay with that.
As she walked into the house, she saw him sitting on the couch, reading a book, with the TV turned on.
“Ne,” she walked over to him, and plonked down next to him, on his left.
He looked up at her from his book. “What?”
“Maa…” she looked at the TV, not really taking in what was going on. “Why are you reading and watching the TV at the same time?”
“Because I want to?”
She twisted her mouth, not really buying his answer, but then she shrugged and leaned on him. It was quiet for awhile; the only sound was made when Daisuke turned a page of the book. He took a deep breath and then exhaled, and he folded the corner of the page that he was reading, closed the book, and put it down onto the coffee table in front of him.
He looked down at Chieko, who had fallen asleep. He smiled softly, and moved her fringe out of her face. Slowly, and careful not to wake her up, he put his arm around her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered, but that was it. She then began to mumble.
“Mummy…”
He looked at her, eyes wide. “Mummy?”
“Mummy… tummy… hurts…”
Daisuke looked away. “Mummy, tummy, hurts?” he repeated to himself in a whisper.
“Mummy…! Rub my tummy…” Chieko muttered, and she turned to face the other way.
He looked back at her and laughed softly. He then gently placed her down onto the couch, and got off and put her legs up onto the couch.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “But I can’t do that…”
Chieko’s eyes blinked, even though they were closed, and she slowly opened them. When she looked to her right, she saw Daisuke’s face, watching her intently.
“AHH!!!” she squealed, and quickly sat up.
He fell back, startled at her reaction, and he laughed.
“What’s so funny?” she pouted.
“Your reaction.” Daisuke said as if it were obvious.
“Ah… Mummy~~~~~~~!” Chieko whined. “I’m nervous.”
She, her mother, Hideyoshi and Akiyo were in the car, driving to the venue where the auditions would be held.
“Shut up… your voice is annoying.” Hideyoshi muttered.
Akiyo whacked him on the head. “You shut up!”
“Can you all just be quiet?!” Their mother shrieked after having to endure this for the last half an hour or so. “Jeez…”
As they pulled up to the parking lot, Chieko rolled down her window and looked out. “Uwaa~~~!” She looked back to her mother. “There’s so many cars here! Oh, I’m nervous again…”
They all got out of the car, and their mother locked it. Chieko was first, hands in her jacket pockets; Akiyo was walking beside her on her right with Hideyoshi and their mother trailing after them.
“Ne,” Akiyo started. “Will that boyfriend of yours be here?”
“Un, most likely, ne?” Chieko replied. “I mean, his mum is a judge and the sponsor.” (un = yeah/yes)
Hideyoshi walked up to them, and was on Chieko’s left. “You have a boyfriend?”
Chieko nodded. “Un.”
“He’s rich?”
“Un.”
Hideyoshi pondered. “You like him?”
“If she didn’t, why would he be her boyfriend?” Akiyo answered for her, as if it were obvious. She shook her head. “I never knew you were so dense.”
“What?!” Hideyoshi ran to her and head locked her. “What’d you say?”
“I said, ‘You’re stupid’.” Akiyo broke free from him, and stuck her tongue out.
“You think you’re so smart.” He spat.
“That’s right, I am,” was his younger sister’s response.
“Hey, you two!” their mother had caught up to them and pulled them apart. “Stop fighting! You know how embarrassing you look?”
“Sorry…” they mumbled, bowing their heads.
Chieko was already inside the city theatre. “I wonder where Shintani-kun is…” she looked around, and saw him walking up to her, hands in pockets.
“Hey,” he said.
“Shintani-kun!” she squealed and ran up to him, throwing her arms around his neck.
He caught her quickly, and almost fell backwards. “Excited?” he asked.
She nodded her head. “Yeah, and nervous.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll get through.” he reassured her.
She looked up at him. “Why, you bribed your mother?”
He looked away. “No, why would I? You know you can do it without a bribe.” He corrected himself. “DEFinitely without a bribe.”
She smiled and laughed softly. “I guess so…”
“Could number one-oh-six-nine-seven-three please come in!” called the person standing outside the big doors to the audition room. (one-oh-six-nine-seven-three = 106973)
Chieko looked down at her sticker on her hand. “Ah! That’s me!”
Daisuke let go of her and she skipped away. Just before she opened up the door, she turned back to him. “I’ll do my best!” she grinned, holding her fist in front of her.
“You better,” he smiled.
As soon as she turned around and walked into the room, all of her enthusiasm disappeared. She took a deep breath, and looked at the three judges sitting behind a bench-like table.
The person on her left was Etsuko, who was beaming happily; she had her hair done up in a bun, and was wearing a bright green, lacy dress.
The person who sat in the middle was Aki Kuroki, a famous Jpop singer and actress, noted for her rolls in One Fine Day and The Old Man’s Melody. She had her dyed brown hair done so that it was straight, and then at her ears it became wavy, which was different from her usual straight hair. She was wearing a grey T-shirt and bright yellow hooded jacket, with a black skirt on.
The last person, on Chieko’s right, was AmaPop, real name: Katsumi Komatsu. He was quite young, in his late teens, and yet he was very successful with the songs that he wrote lyrics for and composed. He had hair similar to Daisuke’s except that it was orange, the same colour as Yuya’s. He was wearing a white T-shirt with the words ‘Make Love Not War’ written on it, a black vest over it and grey jeans.
Chieko bit her lip as she took a deep breath, stopping herself from flailing.
“So…” AmaPop started. “You are…?”
Chieko gasped, and then quickly bowed. “Anoo… I’m Chieko Asai. 15 yrs old, Blood type O.”
“Eh…” Aki started. “So you’re an O blood type, huh?”
Chieko nodded. “Yes.”
“Okay.” Etsuko nodded. “Now, why have you entered this competition?”
Chieko looked at her. “Y-Yes…?”
“Why’d you enter this competition?” AmaPop repeated.
“O-oh…” Chieko thought for a moment before answering. “I… I love to sing.”
She could see the three of them scribbling something down onto a sheet of paper before them.
Aki picked up a different sheet. “On your application form, it says the same thing… Is that it?” She looked Chieko straight in the eyes. “You just love to sing?”
“I…” Chieko opened her mouth, but couldn’t say anything, so instead she bit her lip and then took a deep breath.
I have a passion
Something that pulls me through
It follows me wherever I go
Guiding me along the way
In the form of a person
And in the form of music
The both of them
I cannot live without
When she finished singing, she closed her eyes and pursed her lips. Argh… she thought. Why did I just have to sing then…? That wasn’t even the song that I wanted to sing… Well, it was… but… the tune wasn’t like the one that I thought of in the car.
“Wow.” she heard someone breathe.
Chieko looked up, and saw Aki smiling from ear to ear.
“You’re really good!” she exclaimed.
“Eh…? Oh,” Chieko bowed her head. “Thank you.”
“Hmm… definitely a voice that could sing my songs…” AmaPop murmured.
“So…” Etsuko turned to face her fellow judges. “Is she in, or out?”
“In!” They both replied happily.
Chieko blinked. “R-really?”
“Of course! The judges’ words are final.” Etsuko smiled.
“A-arigatou gozaimashita!” Chieko sang, bowing deeply. (Arigatou gozaimashita = very polite ‘Thank you very much’)
“No, not at all!” Etsuko said, still smiling,
“You’re through to the big ‘on stage’ performance finals.” Aki explained.
“So… we’ll see you in a few weeks, ne?” AmaPop said.
“Yes!” Chieko bowed once more, before turning and walking out the door. When she did, she saw Daisuke leaning on a pole next to the seats; Akiyo sitting on the floor, and Hideyoshi and her mother sitting on the seats.
“So,” Akiyo stood up as Chieko walked towards them. “How did it go?”
“I…” Chieko took a deep breath. “I GOT IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“OKAY! Okay…” Akiyo pushed her younger sister away from her. “You don’t have to scream in my ear.”
The other people in the centre looked at the small group as if they were weirdoes; some of them rolled their eyes.
“What?!” Akiyo trudged up to them. “You’ve got a problem with my little sister getting through, huh?!”
“AKIYO!” their mother had stood up. “You don’t need to yell at them.”
“But they’re--!” Akiyo was about to retort when she sighed. “Hai…”
The family of four walked out of the centre, as happy as they could be; Daisuke came out with them. When they were at the car, he decided to introduce himself to the rest of the family.
“I’m Daisuke Shintani.” he bowed.
“Shintani, huh?” Hideyoshi murmured.
Daisuke nodded his head.
“You…” their mother said, putting a hand onto Daisuke’s shoulder. “Take good care of my Chieko, ne?”
He smiled wryly and then nodded. “I will.”
“Ne, Shintani! Chieko! Come here!” Akiyo called out.
The two that she was talking about walked up to her.
“What?” Chieko whispered.
Daisuke was on Akiyo’s right, and Chieko was on her left. She cleared her throat.
“Dearly beloved,” she looked at her mother and older brother, winking. “We are gathered here today to celebrate the…” She furrowed her brow, thinking. “Oh!” She cleared her throat again. “To celebrate the special occasion of holy matrimony between a man and a woman.”
“HUH?!” Chieko cried out.
Ignoring her younger sister, Akiyo continued. “Before we begin, something, something… or forever hold your peace.”
Hideyoshi stifled a laugh, looking away.
“Yes?” Akiyo looked at him.
He shook his hand. “No, it’s nothing.”
“Ahem.” Akiyo took a deep breath. “Do you, Daisuke Shintani take Chieko Asai to be your lawfully wedded wife, until the day you die?”
Daisuke smirked. “I do.” He decided to play along.
Chieko stared at him. “What?”
“And do you, Chieko Asai, take Daisuke Shintani to be your lawfully wedded husband, and be loyal to him, until the day you die?”
“I…” Chieko looked up. “…don’t.”
Everyone stared at her.
“What?” Hideyoshi scoffed.
“Excuse me…?” Akiyo stammered.
“I mean…” Chieko turned around and looked at the ground. “This is stupid…”
She then walked to the car and got in, sitting in the left side passenger seat. She was pouting, and her arms were crossed.
“Jeez…” Akiyo muttered as she got into the right side passenger seat. “We were only teasing…”
“But still…!”
“Yeah.” Hideyoshi started as he sat in the front. “It was only a game.”
“Whatever…” Chieko muttered.
“Maa…” Their mother sighed as she got into the driver’s seat. “If you get married, will it be the traditional Shinto? Or Western style?”
“Western for me.” Akiyo answered in an instant. “Shinto seems… a bit too extravagant.”
“Me too.” Hideyoshi sighed. He then looked at their mother. “Which one did you have?”
“Western.” Their mother smiled as she began to reverse out of the parking space.
“Eh…”
“Your father’s parents and my parents argued with us, but we stood with Western style.”
Akiyo laughed. “I can see grandma arguing with you about that.”
Chieko, meanwhile, wasn’t really listening. She had her left arm up on the window sill, and she was leaning on it, thinking.
I wonder why Daisuke wanted to go along with it… she murmured silently. She then sat up abruptly.
“What?” Akiyo said, startled.
Chieko looked at her. “Huh? Oh, it’s nothing.” She leaned back into the seat. I… just called him Daisuke… I wonder if he’ll be okay with that.