Chapter Text
Weekends were boring to Osamu. Culinary school was mostly practice with some theory mixed in, so his weekends ended up free most of the time. Having almost no hobbies outside of cooking and eating, he would sleep, read recipes and go try out new restaurants from time to time. Rarely interacting with his classmates outside of school and group projects, he was seen as a loner, to the point that Atsumu felt like he needed to intervene, especially since they were now separated from one another. Atsumu was staying in the MSBY dorms in Osaka, whereas Osamu was living in a small apartment in Tokyo, near his school.
“Samu, ya need to socialise more, or else yer gonna look back on yer college days with regret.”
“Like ya can talk, Tsumu. Ya never even went to college. Well, yer head’s so full of volleyball that ya can’t fit anythin’ else in there, so college was never an option for ya anyway.”
“If we were in person and not on the phone, I would hit ya right now, ya drip.” answered Atsumu, without any real anger behind his words.
Still, Osamu took what his twin brother said seriously after deciding that it wouldn’t hurt to try and socialise a bit more with his classmates. He started to hang out with them more, inviting them to different restaurants and in turn, he got invited to karaoke and other activities.
“Hey Osamu, wanna come to an underground concert with us this weekend? We got extra tickets!” asked one of his classmates.
He paused to think about it. Eventually, he shrugged away his concerns about the atmosphere of a concert and how he might feel uncomfortable in the crowd, replying nonchalantly.
“Sure, I got nothin’ else to do anyway.”
Osamu walked into the concert venue without any thoughts or interest. The place was small but decently crowded. His classmates left to go buy merchandise, leaving him alone. Tired and getting bored since the show did not pique his interest in the slightest, he thought about doing an Irish goodbye and going home. However, before he could decide to do so, the stage lit up again.
A melodious voice rang out, smooth but filled with enthusiasm. It broke a bit towards the end.
“This is my first live show! Thank you for your a-attention!”
Sweat glistened in the stage lights as the idol sang and danced. Bright orange hair, as vivid as a sunrise flashed before Osamu’s eyes, but what truly captivated him were the idol’s honey brown eyes, filled with determination yet oh so innocent.
As their eyes met, an angelic smile graced the idol’s face and caused Osamu’s heart to skip a beat. His mind went blank as his vision zoned in and all he could see was this cheerful idol whose name he didn’t even know. His heart rate went up steadily as he took in every movement, which were sometimes sharp, sometimes clumsy. His knees felt weak and he was getting lightheaded from forgetting to breathe, all his focus on the person on stage. Two questions popped into his head at the same time.
“ Is this love at first sight? Who is this angel?”
As the concert ended, the energetic idol bowed and left the stage as well as Osamu’s sight, letting the lovestruck student fall back to earth. Looking around, he noticed he had subconsciously stepped forward towards the stage as he was now only a few meters away from it. Spotting his classmates at the back of the venue, he jogged his way to them, with only one intention: to get information on that idol.
Sho.
That bright, cheerful idol’s stage name was Sho. After hunting him down on social media platforms, Osamu found and wrote down Sho’s live event schedule into his planner. It fit with his schedule perfectly; the concerts were always on weekends and so Osamu, without fail, went to each and every one of them. His classmates went him the first few weeks, but eventually stopped as their enthusiasm for idols (or idol singular) was no match for Osamu’s.
Two months passed before the smitten culinary student started to buy merchandise of Sho and his CD. Special T-shirts with the idol’s name woven into the fabric, orange and black hand held fans and glow sticks with a crow design, plus a towel with those same colors, Sho’s name taking up the whole length and a small crow on the end of it. Only one CD had been released at that time, but Osamu treasured it, listening to it everyday of the week.
Sitting down at his desk one Friday night, while still listening to Sho’s CD on repeat, Osamu started to write a fan letter to his number one idol. Wanting to show his gratitude for bringing excitement into his life, he went through draft after draft, finally settling on something simple and clear.
He carefully folded the letter and sealed the envelope with an onigiri sticker.
The only reason why Shoyo was backstage was because his manager, Daichi, wanted him to learn from the idols that were performing tonight. He was still a fledgling idol who hadn’t had a debut yet, nor his own song. He didn’t even have his own outfit! So when Noya, one of the performers, couldn’t make it and Daichi suggested Shoyo go on stage in their place, he was shocked.
“But Daichi-san, I don’t even have an outfit!” exclaimed Shoyo.
“Actually, you do now! I just happened to have received it this morning and was going to surprise you with it after the concerts were over, but this is an opportunity you can’t miss. Besides, you know Noya’s song and dance like the back of your own hand, no? I’ve seen you practice it.”
“Well, yes, I have been practicing it, but-”
“No buts. This is your big chance to finally debut in front of a relatively large audience. You won’t get this lucky again, Shoyo.”
Shoyo paused, considering his options here. Either go perform a cover of his friend’s song and dance in front of a large crowd and possibly fail, or refuse and miss a chance of getting a lot of exposure that could kick start his career as an idol.
“...Alright, I’ll do it!” he said, a determined look on his face.
Go big or go home, right?
Shoyo put on his outfit, which consisted of a blue T-shirt under a white and blue jacket, the sleeves stopping a little bit past the elbows. Black pants and ankle high boots with blue laces, as well as a black belt, completed the set.
Taking a deep breath, he took the microphone from a staff member. He then jumped on stage, a nervous but excited smile on his face. The lights flashed, a spotlight following him as he walked to the middle of the stage.
“This is my first live show! Thank you for your a-attention!”
A slight voice break at the end of his sentence betrayed the nervousness inside of him, but he ignored it and started to perform. Looking over the crowd as he danced to the music, he locked eyes with a young man who seemed mesmerized. Shoyo smiled, simply happy to have someone looking at him with such interest. Perhaps he already obtained a fan one minute into his performance?
The thought made him cheerful and slightly distracted, making some of his dance moves clumsy. His singing wasn’t the best either, he kept messing up his breathing pattern, losing air to hold out on long notes. Even so, he ended his time on stage to a decent amount of cheers as he bowed and walked away off stage, waving to the audience.
“Good job out there, Shoyo.” said Daichi, handing him a water bottle and a towel.
“Thank you!” smiled Shoyo, wiping away sweat and taking a swig of water.
“So, how did it feel, finally being up on stage in front of an audience?”
“It felt great! Although I know I still have a lot that needs to be improved.”
“How about a new schedule then? You’ll perform on Sundays and we’ll make Saturdays your day off instead. Your weekdays will stay the same. Of course, if you become popular before you finish your education at ESP, you likely won’t have a day off anymore.”
“Really?! Where will I perform?” answered Shoyo, almost jumping for joy. He didn’t mind not having a day off if it meant he could achieve his dream.
“Right here. The owner of this venue took a liking to you, so he’s willing to give you a permanent place in the lineup.” smiled Daichi.
“Where is the owner? I want to thank them!” asked Shoyo, looking around the backstage area. All he saw were busy staff members doing their jobs.
“Ah, he left the second you finished. He seemed like a busy person, but I’ll tell him you’re thankful next time I see him."
In the two months that passed, Shoyo’s popularity steadily rose. His merchandise sold well, and his first single was a hit among the underground scene. However, with fame comes fans and with fans comes drama, criticism and haters.
Back at home, in the evening, Shoyo was ego surfing and found hateful posts, most of them consisting of angry comments that he shouldn’t have sung Noya’s song for his first concert. He knew reading these kinds of comments wasn’t a good idea and that he shouldn’t let himself be affected by them, but he couldn’t help it. His first concert ended up being a double edged sword. It had kick started his career as an idol, but was also harshly criticized by many. Noya himself had publicly said it wasn’t an issue to him, but this did little to stop or weaken the flow of hate.
Of course, Shoyo did not only receive hate. His positive attitude, cuteness, musical sense, dance skills and radiant smile attracted fans from all over. Most of the online messages he would receive were positive, and the few hateful ones were ignored as much as possible.
The next day, he went to the usual venue to perform his weekly concert. Daichi greeted him in the greenroom.
“Hey Shoyo! You got a fan letter.” he said, holding out an envelope.
“Really?! My first fan letter!” the idol exclaimed, eyes sparkling, a wide grin on his face.
The envelope was plain white and sealed with an onigiri sticker. Shoyo carefully opened it, taking out the folded piece of paper.
Dear Sho,
I'm writing a fan letter for the first time in my life.
The first time I saw you was at a small idol live concert event. I usually listen to music, but I knew nothing about idols, and although I was invited to go to the concert by friends, I was a little worried that I might not be able to keep up. Meanwhile, you appeared. You said this was your first live performance with a voice that broke a little.
You didn't have your own song, you didn't make your debut yet, and you just jumped in to fill the hole. But you did it to the end. I was impressed. You may have thought that concert doesn't deserve a passing grade, but I admired your liveliness and how hard-working you were. I can't forget my feelings from that time.
"Soon it will be Monday. Monday’s Melancholy begins again." I was always thinking about that, but I'm glad I met you at that time. I'm really looking forward to the weekend where I can meet you, so I'll do my best for another week. Thank you for bringing excitement and joy to my life.
From now on, there may be as many hard things as fun things. Or maybe there'll be more hardships for you. And as a young college student, I probably shouldn’t be saying such a big thing but as one of the fans that you’ve inspired, I want to support you.
I will always support you.
Miya Osamu
P.S. Monday's first period is particularly depressing.
Every single word was carefully written, the calligraphy was neat; it was obvious that this fan had put a lot of love and care into it. Shoyo committed to memory the name of the sender, as he reread the letter over and over again with a soft smile on his face.
His dream as an idol was to bring joy to people through music and dance. This letter was proof that he had achieved that for at least one person, motivating Shoyo to keep doing his best. No matter how much hate he might receive now and in the future, as long as someone was happy to see him perform, he had no intentions to let the spiteful comments get to him.
Osamu was generally a calm person. Other than food, not much excited him or even got his interest. But when he saw on social media that you could get a ticket to a handshake event with Sho if you bought his most recently released CD, he gasped and frantically went to buy one before even reading the rest of the post. Receiving an email confirming his purchase, he marked the day of the event on his calendar.
Going back to the post that had informed him in the first place, he read the details that he hadn’t bothered to check before. Most of it was the usual: time, place and date but it also said that each fan had 5 minutes maximum and weren’t allowed to take photos.
He'll get to meet and talk to Sho for 5 minutes.
Just the thought brought a smile to his face. He went through all he wanted to say to the idol: how his concerts were a great motivator to get through the week, the amount of serotonin his music gave him, how much he admired Sho’s positive attitude and hard working nature… Honestly, 5 minutes might not be enough.
Later that month, Osamu made his way to the usual venue Sho performed at and stood in line. Looking around, he noticed he was the only guy that was alone. The others seemed to have been dragged into the event by their girlfriends, some looking bored. He looked down at his phone; only a few minutes before the start. As he thought about how close he was to meeting Sho, he felt a mix of excitement and nervousness. His heartbeat started to accelerate and his body swayed slightly back and forth.
The more the line dwindled, the more nervous Osamu got. He went through what he wanted to say in his head, taking in deep breaths to calm down. In what seemed like no time at all, it was his turn to meet Sho.
Flashing Osamu a charming grin, the idol reached a hand out.
“Hello there! Thanks for coming!”
Finally seeing his one and only idol up close, all nervousness left Osamu. However, the wave of happiness that had washed away his nerves took his pre-prepared words with it. Autopilot kicked in, saving him from standing there in awe and embarrassing himself. He shook Sho’s hand.
“Hello. I’m Miya Osamu. I’m a college culinary student. My favorite food is onigiri.”
Sho’s eyes widened in surprise, a hand coming up to cover his open mouth.
“Autopilot, you have failed me! Who cares what my favorite food is?! Not Sho!”
Unexpectedly, a joyful smile appeared on his face, his eyes crinkling.
“You’re Miya-san! Thank you so much for your letter! I’m so, so happy to meet you!” he exclaimed, picking up the fan’s hand with both of his, lightly squeezing it.
This time, it was Osamu’s turn to be surprised.
“Ya remember my name? I only sent one letter!”
“Of course I do, your letter was the first one I ever got, making it extra special! It’s one of my treasures. I hope you don’t get too depressed on Mondays, but if you do, just listen to my songs; it should cheer you right up! And I hope to see in the crowd on Sundays, as I always do!”
Between his hand being firmly held by someone he held in high regards, the fact that his letter was treasured and that he was noticed despite being in a sea of people during concerts, all he could do was blush and try to keep his jaw from dropping in shock.
Osamu mentally kicked himself back into gear after Sho let go of his hand. He then proceeded to say, as calmly and concisely as he could with the time he had left, all that he wanted to say to Sho. He thanked him for the compliments and was quite happy about one specific statement.
“It’s the first time I hear someone say my music gives a large amount of serotonin! That’s an interesting way to say it brings you happiness, but nonetheless I’m overjoyed to hear that!”
Right at the end of his sentence, the 5 minutes timer went off.
“Oh, that was fast! Thank you for your support, Miya-san! Please come see me again at my next concert, I’ll be waiting for you!” said Sho, waving goodbye at Osamu before greeting the next fan.
Leaving the venue with a spring in his step, Osamu hummed the melody of his favorite song all the way back home.
A few months passed before Sho’s next fan event. During these months, Osamu had gained a certain reputation among the idol’s fanbase. He was nicknamed the “Ice Prince” for his good looks and frigid demeanor towards other fans. Girls would hit on him, using their shared interest in Sho as an icebreaker. Ironically, this would only solidify the ice, as Osamu hated anyone who used Sho as a means to an end. He’d politely find a way to end the conversation as quickly as possible and leave.
He wouldn’t have minded talking to another fan if it were only about how brightly Sho shined, but he wasn’t a very social person to begin with, so being the one to start a conversation with a stranger wasn’t something he was comfortable with. And when every single person who came to talk to him before or after a concert had ulterior motives, it made sense that he was cold to them.
Once again in line to see Sho, this time for a photo op with the idol, Osamu internally vibrated with joy. Externally he seemed calm, perhaps even bored as he stared ahead, not particularly looking at anything. Only when it was his turn did he crack a smile.
“Hi Miya-san! I had a feeling I’d see you here.”
“Of course. Nothin’ in the world would have made me miss this opportunity.”
The idol beckoned the student over to his side, a cheerful smile illuminating his face. After passing his phone to the photographer, Osamu made his way and stood beside Sho.
“What’s one plus two?” asked the photographer.
“Three!” answered the two, one with more energy than the other. Sho did double peace signs, while Osamu automatically crossed his arms. A genuine smile crossed Osamu’s face at Sho’s enthusiasm.
In the little time left before the photographer returned his phone to him, which would signal the end of his turn, Osamu turned towards Sho to have one last look at him up close. Surprisingly, Sho was already looking at him, a small but grateful smile on his face.
“Thank you so much for your continued support, Miya-san. I hope you’ll keep enjoying yourself at my concerts.”
Osamu’s eyes widened for a second. He then nodded, a tender smile blooming on his face.
“Of course I will. And you’ll always have my support, no matter what happens.”
They smiled at each other for a few seconds before the photographer cleared his throat, reminding them that they were in public and on a time limit. Osamu took his phone, uttered a quick thank you and waved goodbye to Sho. He hoped no one noticed how red his ears had gotten as he fled from the venue.
Cheers rang out from the crowd as Shoyo finished his last song of the night. He walked off the stage with a bright smile. Making his way to the greenroom, he thanked all the staff members that he happened to pass by for all their hard work. At this point in time, Shoyo was on a first name basis with everyone who worked behind the scenes, even the part-timers. After entering the greenroom, he changed his clothes to casual ones. Daichi wasn’t there, as he had other idols to manage and Shoyo was doing just fine on his own. Glancing over at the table, he noticed a sealed envelope. Thinking it was another fan letter, he carefully opened it and took out the folded piece of paper.
The second his brain processed the message, his grip loosened, letting the paper slip from his hands and float down to the ground. Blocky newspaper letter clippings spelled out:
“I’m always watching you, my idol.”
A chill ran down his spine, goosebumps forming on his arms. His first instinct was to call Daichi. After rummaging through his bag for his phone, he speed-dialed the number. Much to his dismay, all that he heard was the phone ringing before he got the voicemail message. Since he needed to talk to him now , leaving a voicemail would be pointless so he just hung up before the beep. As he thought over his options, he remembered what Daichi told him a while back, before his debut.
“...An idol is always in control of themselves.” Shoyo mumbled under his breath.
Taking a few deep breaths, he thought about this a bit more rationally. There was nothing but a short message to go off of; it didn’t automatically mean it was a stalker.
“ This could be just a prank. Yes, that’s probably all this is. ”
Even with that conclusion, Shoyo was creeped out. He picked up the “letter” and crumpled it, throwing it into the trash. The “Always watching you” was creepy enough, but the end just made it worse. If it was a prank, it was in very poor taste. Suddenly, a knock at the door pulled him out of his thoughts.
“Come in!”
A staff member opened the door.
“Hello, Sho! Since you’re still here, I thought I’d give you this week’s fanmail.” she smiled, not noticing the slight frown on his face before he composed himself and smiled back as he took the fanmail. He thanked her, waving goodbye as she closed the door. Looking down at the single white envelope in his hand, he got a bad feeling. After opening it up, he almost immediately crumpled it.
“You’re even cuter when you’re scared, my idol.”
Again, it was a message made from blocky newspaper letter clippings. Looking around the room, he saw no cameras. Slightly paranoid now, he texted Daichi to call him as soon as possible. Crumpling the paper into a ball, he threw it into the trash. For the moment, he decided to leave and go back home, where he should be safe.
Putting on his cap, he also wore a mask and sunglasses just to be on the safe side. Thinking this was good enough a disguise, he left the venue through the back door. He only took two steps when a light flashed in front of him, which would have blinded him had he not worn sunglasses. The “snap” sound made it clear that it was a phone camera.
“Oh my god, it’s really him!”
“I didn’t think we’d actually get to see him!”
“Aaaah! You look so good in casual clothes!”
3 teenage girls stood in front of him. Normally, he’d just thank them for being his fans and talk to them a little, but after what just happened to him, this was the last thing he wanted. As they got closer to him, his fight or flight response kicked in, and he ran away at full speed.
“Wait! We just want an autograph!”
Looking behind him, he saw the girls chasing after him. Not expecting this at all, he let out a small yelp. Turning around a corner, he bumped into someone’s chest, his sunglasses falling off. He would have fallen onto his behind had the person he ran into at full speed not pulled his arm towards them. Shoyo looked up, and was about to apologize and start running again when he realized who it was, their eyes meeting.
“Miya-san?!”
“Sho?!”
Osamu immediately recognized the voice, plus Sho was the only one other than his teachers that still called him Miya-san.
Throwing a glance behind his shoulder, Shoyo didn’t see the girls, but could hear the footsteps getting closer.
“Miya-san, you have to help me!”
Osamu wasn’t sure he understood the whole situation, but he did notice how out of breath and frantic Sho was, and that glance was enough to infer that he was being chased by someone. Using the grip he already had on Sho’s arm, he quickly pulled him into a dark alleyway. Just in case, Osamu took off his coat and draped it over the smaller boy, pulling the hood up over his head. This completely covered the idol, hiding him from view.
The fangirls ran past the alleyway, but stopped close enough for the boys to be able to hear them.
“Where did he go?”
“Aw, we lost him!”
“Hey, maybe he went down this alleyway…?”
At those words, Osamu pulled Shoyo closer to him, with one arm around his waist. The close proximity caused Shoyo to blush. He was enveloped by Osamu’s smell, which, incidentally, smelled mostly like soap, but had a hint of freshly cooked rice. Osamu was completely oblivious to Shoyo’s reaction, as he was looking towards the entrance, hoping the teenagers would go down another alley. However, his plea went unheard as the three overzealous fans looked into the alley they were in.
“Excuse us…”
Osamu was pissed the moment he realized Shoyo was being chased, and all that anger was evident in his death glare that he leveled on the teenage girls. He said the first thing that came to mind that would not make it clear that the person in his arms was the idol they were chasing.
“Don’t interrupt our date, ya squealin’ pigs!”
“Eep!” yelled the girls as they ran away, frightened by the sheer anger behind those words.
Once he was sure they were gone, Osamu sighed.
“Um, Miya-san... “
“Yes?” he asked, looking down at him.
“I think you can let go of me now…”
Finally realizing how close they were, Osamu blushed and let go of Shoyo, backing up a step and moving his head backwards, only to bash it onto the wall behind him. Crouching down in pain, he held his head in his hands.
“Are you okay?!”
Holding up a hand, he looked up at Shoyo’s worried face, doing his best to smile through the pain.
“I’m fine, don’t worry about it. I have a thick skull.”
He stood back up, hoping to dispel the worry in Shoyo’s face. He was also curious about what that whole situation was about exactly.
“Do ya mind explainin’ what was going on? Why were ya being chased?”
“Well… I might have freaked out for nothing, those girls were most likely just normal fans who knew where the back door was…”
Osamu raised an eyebrow.
“Normal fans don’t wait for their idol to leave through the back door and then chase them when they run away.”
He then paused.
“Wait, ‘freaked out’? Ya don’t usually freak out when fans recognize ya, right?”
Shoyo shook his head side to side.
“No, but this was a case of bad timing. What happened was…”
As he was explaining the letters he got, Shoyo could visibly see Osamu getting upset, a frown appearing on his face and deepening by the second.
“So, ya think it’s either a prank or a stalker,” He sighed, clearly worried. “I, personally, would prepare for the worst and assume it’s the latter. Tell your manager as soon as possible and have him set up some security measures for ya. Keep the letters as evidence just in case. Don’t go out alone, especially when it’s dark, and avoid fans outside of your events.”
Listening earnestly, Shoyo nodded, but looked down in contemplation at the last part. After a few seconds, he looked up at Osamu, an honest and pure look in his eyes.
“I don’t want to avoid my fans, especially if this is a prank! They are the reason I do my best, I can’t treat them that way just because one person decided to be creepy. That isn’t fair to the rest. Plus, wouldn’t that mean I’d have to avoid you too?”
“I’d rather ya avoid me and stay safe, y’know. But if ya really are that set on not avoiding your fans, just don’t be alone when you interact with them. Be with someone ya trust at all times when ya go out, at least when it’s late. How does that sound?”
“Sounds like a great idea!”
“Good. So… how do you usually get back home?” asked Osamu.
“Oh, I take the train.”
“I’ll go with you then. Doesn’t feel right letting you go by yourself after all I just said after all.”
Shoyo nodded, and started walking towards the train station, Osamu falling in step next to him. After a few moments of silence, the idol started a conversation with the student to fill in the void of sound.
“I remember you said you’re a culinary student. Is there a particular type of cuisine you study, or do you study up on all of them?”
“We learned about all types of cuisine, but my practical classes consist mostly of Japanese and French cuisine.”
“I’m assuming there are classes about nutrition, right?”
“Yes?”
Osamu wasn’t sure where this conversation was going.
“I’ve been looking up online what a healthy diet is, but you can’t always trust the Internet, so I thought I could ask you…”
“I’m not an expert, but I can certainly help you out to the best of my ability.”
“Really?! Thank you!”
“Here, let’s exchange phone numbers. That way you can text me your questions whenever you want.”
They both took out their phones.Making their way onto the train, they talked about nutrition and their favorite foods and in a blink of an eye, they were in front of Shoyo’s apartment building.
“Thanks for everything tonight, Miya-san.”
“Call me Osamu, that’s what everyone calls me.”
“Then you can call me Shoyo. Good night, Osamu-san!”
“Good night, Shoyo-san.”
Osamu made his way back home, clutching his phone like it was a treasure. With what was added to his contacts, it might as well be one to him.
As both went to bed, they were staring at the new phone number in their contacts with a content smile before turning the screen off and falling asleep.