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In the end, Mizuki couldn’t make it in the pro sports world so he decides to do the next best thing…join the sports musical world! Here, Mizuki has the opportunity to put his singing talents and beauty to good use, and he also gets his very first taste of fame.
It starts with the letters. After each performance the show manager distributes a big box of fan mail to the cast. Mizuki always gets at least one. (Although, most of the time it’s hate mail, but he never lets anyone know that). The cast always reads their letters together in the breakroom (because a good chunk of the cast gets hundreds upon hundreds of letters and they need to utilize whatever free time they have). Mizuki just reads his same letter from his singular fan over and over again, shuffling the pages every once and awhile, trying to make it look as if he has more than one fan. (It doesn’t work).
Watching his fellow cast answering their fan mail, Mizuki can’t help but feel jealous. After work, he googles his name in vain, trying to find one or two people fawning over the great Mizuki Hajime.
This is when he discovers the blogs. Blogs dedicated to posting photos of each sports musical performance and writing little blurbs on what they liked and didn’t like. For example, many people, apparently, like the previous actor who played Kirihara better than Mizuki. Whatever. Besides the general sports musical blogs, a good number of blogs are focused on one particular actor. Mizuki, however, doesn’t have a whole lot of blogs dedicated to him. (All the ones which do exist, seem to strangely disappear a day or two after their creation.
After meticulously google searching, Mizuki finally finds a Mizuki-centric blog. While a lot of the photos are from performances, some are from his personal life which makes him slightly uncomfortable. Especially the ones of him in the bath, because the only way someone could have access to those is if they were following him around. But, for the most part, he doesn’t mind. The photos are exquisite, editing out any imperfections to make him look literally flawless. That day his hair was a bit off center during Wimblemyu? Gone. He looks better than ever.
Mizuki saves some of the photos on his hard drive, printing his favorite ones out to put with his fan mail. It makes Mizuki so happy to find a blog dedicated to him and him only that decides to tell the blogger himself.
Nice blog, he comments.
To his surprise the blogger replies almost immediately. Thank you! I really like Mizuki!
He’s pretty good at singing, right? Mizuki replies. Not that he’s fishing for compliments or anything.
Yes, and he’s cute!
Then blogger quickly adds, Ah, but he would never like someone like me.
Honestly it’s probably true. Mizuki isn’t fond of many people, but he can’t tell that to his only fan.
You never know.
A couple minutes pass with the blogger not saying anything, so Mizuki logs off.
In a way Mizuki empathizes with the blogger. Even if the blogger is just a common fan, he understands what they’re going through. The feeling that the person you like will never give you the time of day, or even remember your name.
Mizuki sighs, looking through his accordion file filled with Fuji Syusuke themed photos, drawings, and sonnets. They’re all organized precisely by year dating all the way back to 2008. Even though they’ve known each other since middle school, Fuji still pretends not to know who he is. At least, Mizuki thinks it’s just pretending. Whenever he sees Fuji, Mizuki tries to play it off like he doesn’t really care. Maybe it’s become a sort of habit, or maybe it’s just too painful to realize his crush can’t even bother to remember him.
Since Fuji became an actual pro tennis player, it’s become almost impossible to get close to him. Long past are the days of secretly taking Fuji’s photos outside the tennis courts. Now, he would probably have to sign some sort of legal document. Unlike Mizuki, Fuji has thousands of fans blogging about him, sending him mail, and vying for his affection. Now if Mizuki wants a picture he either has to draw one himself or beg Yuuta for one in exchange for baked goods.
**
Unable to stop thinking about the blogger and their similar situations, Mizuki gets into the habit of checking the blog fairly regularly.
Then the blog goes two whole weeks without updating and Mizuki starts to feel what can’t be anything other than withdrawal symptoms. Has his one and only fan left him for another?
Please update! He comments under the blog’s most recent post.
A couple hours later he gets a response:
I got tickets to Wimblemyu! I’m going to be taking some pictures, and I’ll post my edits next week.
Maybe you’ll run into Mizuki? It’s unlikely they’ll run into each other. Hundreds of people would be attending the performance.
Wouldn’t that be great? I’m wearing bright yellow so hopefully he spots me!
**
Mizuki trips over his only line on stage, when he spots Fuji Syusuke with a camera strapped around his neck, and wearing a sunshine yellow jacket.
It can’t be!
The cast members are discouraged from mingling with the audience after the show, and are supposed to wait until some formal signing events to speak with their fans. But, Mizuki is burning with half a million questions for Fuji and knows this might be his only opportunity to ask.
Mizuki sneaks out of the dressing rooms and corners Fuji right after the performance. It isn’t difficult to find him in that yellow coat.
“Fuji Syusuke!”
Fuji turns around. “Who are you?” He blinks. “A fan? Would you like an autograph?”
Mizuki’s stomach sinks. He’d gotten his hopes up that Fuji was the blogger.
“It’s Mizuki. Yuuta’s tennis manager in middle school? I also played Kirihara in tonight’s show.”
He waits for Fuji to give some type of response but it never comes.
“So Fuji, what are you doing here?”
“I like musicals,” Fuji answers, “And being a professional tennis player Wimblemyu seemed right up my alley.”
“Did you take any pictures of me?” Mizuki asks, a seed of hope still nesting in his heart.
“Why would I?”
Mizuki wants to explain to Fuji about the blog and about how the blogger told him they’d be wearing bright yellow. He decides it would be easier to show him rather than fumble around for the right words, but when he takes out his phone and tries to go to the bookmarked website, he discovers the link’s been taken down!
“How could this happen? My only blog!”
“Someone made a blog about you? Are you sure you’re not imagining things?”
Mizuki scowls, clenching his hand around Fuji’s wrist. “I am not!”
Mizuki remembers he has a few print outs of his favorite blog photos filed together with the fan mail he received earlier this month.
“Come back to my apartment,” He says, hand still wrapped around Fuji’s wrist. He isn’t thinking about the possible implications behind those words, only about proving to Fuji Syusuke that he’s Right.
**
It’s only once they’ve arrived at his apartment, that it dawns on him just exactly what he’s done. He’s invited Fuji Syusuke, the gorgeous Fuji Syusuke, over to his apartment. And now Fuji is waiting for him to find proof of a blog that may or may not exist, sitting on his bed, the bed Mizuki often fantasizes in immaculate detail about all the things they might do...
Mizuki takes out the file containing his fan mail and photo edits and hands it to Fuji. Or--at least he thinks it’s that file. But, in his nervous haze he must have gotten it mixed up with his other file, the one where he keeps all of his photos, sonnets, and fantasy drawings of Fuji. Before he can take it back Fuji’s already looking through it.
“Is this your weird way of saying you have a crush on me?”
“I don’t!” Mizuki says a little too quickly, ears burning. He looks at the ceiling, then at the floor, inspecting the grout carefully. He wonders if Fuji can see through him, or if Fuji already knew and this whole thing was an elaborate ruse to ‘catch’ him.
“Oh?” Fuji hums, “To be honest I’m a little disappointed.”
“D-disappointed?”
“I like you.” Fuji states. “You’re cute when you’re flustered. Although, I will admit, I might take things too far sometimes.”
“Anyway, I was hoping we could try out something like this.” Fuji holds up one of Mizuki’s fantasy drawings. One where they’re wearing nearly nothing and doing some of the activities Mizuki imagined up on his bed. “Ah, but since you don’t feel the same way I’ll just be on my way.”
Just as Fuji’s getting up to leave Mizuki calls after him, “Wait. I...would like to try that.” It comes out in a whisper. He hadn’t meant for anyone to actually see those drawings.
“What? I can’t hear you.” Fuji smirks.
“I said I would like to try that!” Mizuki snaps, pressing Fuji up against his bedpost.
He hears the click of a camera behind him, but is too focused on making his dreams come true to really think much of it at the time.
**
In the morning Mizuki finds the blog is back online and there’s a whole host of photos from last night. Fuji is conveniently edited out of all of them, but Mizuki knows he’s there. The photos are so artistically done you can’t really tell what they were doing or even that Mizuki isn’t wearing clothes. It’s like their little secret. Mizuki prints his favorites out to put with his collection.
Nice photos, he comments.