Work Text:
Sasago Jennifer Yuka, at the crux of her first year in high school, upon taking a highlight picture of her seniors, had this thought.
Oh, wow, that girl is really cute.
And so Yuka had moved to request the girl be another model for her brand new venture of cataloguing the school grounds of Yoba Academy. The reaction she got was also golden.
"Ah? Me? You're praising me too much!"
Her upperclassman-- Towa was her name-- had blushed and giggled at her proposition. Yuka thought at that moment, about how melodious the laugh and little giggles were to her. Of course, she took a photo. She wanted to immortalise the moment. The girl in question seemed to not notice so that's something Yuka can keep in secret.
She was beautiful.
Yuka knew that much.
Their interaction didn't end there, as Yuka soon found herself becoming fast friends with the girl despite their differences.
"And so you see, that's why Idols are the best!"
"Sounds like they are, Towa, I never knew!"
Yuka of course never had any idea that the job of being an idol entailed so many things to do on their end. She's only ever seen the ones that do get to be on the TV sometimes. She's always thought that as far as performers go their routines only extend to just look pretty for their fans while they sang and danced their number. Apparently that wasn't the case for most idol groups.
"Right, right?" Towa giggled at that, "I'm lucky I passed my auditions, transferring here was so nice!"
"Oh! That figures, you're a transferee, right, Towa?"
"Yup! Producer was really insistent about making me attend Yoba, so here I am." Towa answered with more excitement before going on another tangent about how the producer was also someone she looked up to for her teenage career days.
"Hm, that's so interesting." Yuka hummed, finding the information a little bit scattered but nonetheless amusing.
"Hey, you two," Not long after Towa had finished, another upperclassman came to where they sat together. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh, hi Ibuki!" Yuka greeted back, "Towa was just telling me about how idols work."
"Yup!" Towa nodded, then she started waving at Ibuki to come sit next to her, "Join us!"
Ibuki paused, eyes staring at her. Then, to Yuka. A small smile quirked its way up to her face, though she started shaking her head at the offer. "I better not, I still have some things to take care of, I'll see you guys later, yeah?"
"That's too bad." Towa pouted but quickly shook it off. "See you later, Ibuki!"
"...Yeah, we'll see each other later then. Bye, Ibuki!"
Leaning away from them, Ibuki nodded, quickly going to her own seat. She retrieved her bag before waving at them both, leaving the classroom.
"Right, so where were we..."
"And that's how you came to know that I had a crush on... On Towa? Don't be silly!"
Yuka had raised her voice, which only made the person across her seat blink.
"You were already being obvious." Ibuki explained, sipping her own drink for the evening.
"That was three years ago!"
"And not to mention now. You're even more obvious."
"You're being outrageous."
"I tell it how I see it." It was Ibuki's response.
Despite the nature of how she tells the story, Ibuki didn't mean for it to come across as rude. It was just a result of having known Yuka for all this time and being in the downtime of not having to work the desk for the rest of the evening.
"Look Jenny, as outrageous as it may seem to you that even I managed to notice you ogling her, is it really that weird to admit that you do still have a crush on her?"
"That's the thing, what would I even do if I admitted it anyways?"
"Telling her that would be nice."
"I don't know if you've been living under a rock these past two years, but she's now an up and coming idol you know." Yuka huffed.
"And...?"
"You do realize any signs of romantic involvements can break her career what with the number of crazy stalkers involved with that kind of career." Yuka shot back, "Not to mention she's real cute and just the type those kinds really latch onto."
"Well, do you still keep in contact with her at least?"
"I do." Yuka nodded, "Don't tell me that you don't."
Ibuki shook her head. "No, I still do. But, she's been busy too. We're not as close as we were back then."
"Also would you be mad if I said that I almost dated her?"
"What... Ibuki..."
Ah right, the story of that time Ibuki got to be Towa's date. It was another eventful day for them both, and another quite successful time on the student council as its president. Weird how many people strong armed voted Ibuki into that role huh?
"Ibuki, please be my girlfriend!"
The peace and quiet of such a successful day just had to be ruined by the fact that Towa had went all up to Ibuki's face with the most pleading look she could muster.
"...What?"
Of course, that was the normal response.
"Miomi-san told me that they had offers to put me on a romance drama, but I'm really nervous if I can pull it off. She told me I can turn it down if I want to, but I know that something like this can help with my place in the group!" Towa leaned in closer, "So please Ibuki, you have to help me!"
"Towa..." Ibuki sighed, "so that's what you mean."
There's a small pause for a moment before Towa nodded, "Yeah." Then held Ibuki's hand. "You're... The only one I know that will treat me right."
Ibuki bit her lip. Certainly, an unexpected choice of praise.
"You're really serious about being an idol huh?" Ibuki shook her head in amusement and patted her on the back, "First off, slow down and tell me everything." Ibuki had led Towa to sit down for the moment. "Are you starring in it or just for a couple scenes?"
"Umm..." Towa had finally let herself breathe, looking back at Ibuki's inquisitive stare. "I'm not so sure, but it's a web drama, they said they're interested after seeing clips of my POV shots."
"Why didn't you ask Noa instead?" Ibuki reasoned, "Even if she's more of a theatre person, acting is more her field than mine."
"Ugh..." Towa seemed to chew on her lips at that, "You know how she gets if she took a look at the script later. I don't think I'll hear the end of it..."
"And I'm somehow a better choice?"
"Oh come on! You're one of the girls that somehow get endless chocolates on Valentine's Day! That automatically makes you the best for playing the part of a hot guy!" And now it's almost like there's fire in Towa's eyes. It was a bit scary for Ibuki.
"O-oh..." Truth to be told, Ibuki had no idea why it was that big of a deal considering most of those were probably obligatory chocolates to thank her for helping everyone out. Though they do seem like fancy chocolates... You can never tell when it comes to the girls attending a rich school like this. Some people like her got in through talent sponsors after all. "I mean I wouldn't have any idea about anything realistically romantic after all..."
"Come on Ibuki... For me? It's just play pretend."
Ibuki gulped. Maybe she should've been more stern towards her like she was usually, but the curiosity and that helpless look got the better of her.
And so from then on, fueled by the need to help a friend and the line "what's the worst that could happen?" Ibuki had tried to act as the perfect romantic partner for Towa despite her experience-- or lack thereof. The timing of Towa getting the details of the kind of character she'll be playing with the main guy in the web series and Noa lending her another set of shoujo manga for her newly found hobbies couldn't coincide better.
Ibuki played the part of a perfect romantic target-- a shoujo manga male lead.
Towa was clearly impressed by the effort at the time, though she did find it rather silly when Ibuki started throwing pickup lines at her-- it only served to embarrass herself instead of Towa. In the end, getting accustomed to the kind of overly sweet and corny character Ibuki was playing was what was needed for Towa to treat the project with the kind of utmost care she could.
"Wait, so that was what all that business about escorting her was?" Yuka stared, flabbergasted, "you were just emulating a shoujo manga protagonist?"
"Yes?"
"I thought you were just putting yourself through some sort of shame training that month with how red your ears go every time it happened."
"Ugh..." Ibuki just sighed, "but yeah, that was it, really."
"But did you kiss though?" This was the important part.
"I guess we did..." There's a blush there, prompting Yuka to raise an eyebrow. "It was nothing."
Well, Yuka understood where the girls back in high school were coming from. Ibuki cleans up nicely when she tries, goes super hard for the one she cares about, and then flips to getting embarrassed at the slightest appreciation, contrary to her super cool image back then.
Maybe her not-that-cool senior coming back home in the middle of her studies in UTokyo was a sign of something. She could tell that no one in their right mind would ditch Tokyo just to come back to Seiho looking for a part time job. Especially not before an actual semester break.
Whatever it was that ailed her best friend, Yuka's there to help and lend an ear. Maybe not now, with all this talk serving as deflection. Maybe eventually.
Yuka did not expect that 'eventually' to come as a gigantic warhead bomb in the form of "Haha sorry to drop in on you but I'm bleeding badly, so a little help please? Also I'm an assassin for hire currently affiliated with Yakuza just so you know." Years after that thinking settled in her mind.
"Damn it, Ibuki!" Yuka would curse, slamming her glass of vodka and orange juice cocktail down. Maybe she should have asked Dalia for something lighter for her gut. Oh well.
"I heard," Dalia gives her the most patronizing smile she's ever seen. "She's finally told you about the business, huh."
"It makes me want to strangle her." A pause. "Maybe not. She gets up to dangerous stunts everyday in that ridiculous getup."
"Well, she did say to me it was a tailor made suit." Dalia supplied.
"I'm her best friend." Yuka sighed. "She was lousy at lying too, so the fact that I never noticed makes me so..."
"Angry?"
"No, just disappointed." Yuka downed her drink. With it, she stopped lamenting about her best friend's sin. Silence took over, and Yuka resorted to using her phone.
A few messages from Towa was all it took for her to forget about the current predicament.
Towa: did you eat already???? miomi-san got takeouts
Towa: was so-so
Towa: i want crepes •́ ‿ •̀
Yuka smiled, and began typing her reply.
Yuka: we can eat crepes tomorrow, at break!
Yuka: I'm your photographer tomorrow remember? :p
or you can come over so I can make you something better instead of just eating those all day
Yeah, that one is not making it in.
Towa: of course!!!! marika-chan is with us tmrw
Yuka glanced at Dalia who's now quite away. Marika-san has been busy these days with her modelling job on top of her new stage play production. Maybe she should mention this to Dalia... Or maybe not. Marika-san is an adult and is her own person. She can take care of herself.
She should really stop trying to fuss over everyone before thinking, huh?
Tomorrow came quick as it turns out, and fortunately Yuka didn't drink herself dead. Even if the job itself was more of a companion photo to an interview piece it will still take quite the time and effort to produce the perfect results.
"Alright Towa, Marika-san! Smile for me please!"
It was hard not to grin at how well those two complement each other. Towa was in a black and blue ensemble for the day, hair combed and straightened to look more like a sweet and innocent little devil complete with the petit horns. Meanwhile Marika was clad in something more angelic, pure white robes with only some speck of green acting as highlights. Her eyes shone, reflecting the lights off of the green contact lens she wore today.
All in all, Yuka got a lot of nice photos in various poses thanks to them. It would be a waste to throw away the rest that didn't make the cut past post production. Still, who's Yuka if not an appreciator of amazing models?
Yuka might've created a slight problem on her hand.
The bonus shot photos that didn't make the cut were saved to be archived somewhere, she thought. Clearly the processed copies were only saved on her work computer. She thought so. Surely.
When did she post them on her Digtter Towa fan account? Those numbers of engagement through likes, retweets and comments were just not good for her heart right now!
@soygator
Replying to @supatowachanlovebot
She's so cute!!! Towa-chan... I'm crying...
Of course Towa's cute anon! But that's not important! How did she unconsciously leak important materials this close to publishing!? It's a good thing that it's a low quality upload and she could just press delete right now... Or maybe not? It depends on whether or not the bosses will want to take down the post. Technically they're off shoots.
Yuka sighed, there's a lot of phone calls she needed to make. She can still fix this, it's fine. No one will know she runs the account.
All over a silly -- and perhaps, probably drunk-- tweet.
The next time Ibuki met Yuka, she could tell it was out of desperation more than anything.
"Come on, Tower Records will get so packed if we don't hurry."
Ibuki followed along, not really asking much over what they were doing. The records shop stood tall as always and Ibuki hung close by to Yuka who immediately said something about preorders and store bonuses. Ibuki only took a side glance. It was Towa's newest single complete with an aluminium pack. But not just the one copy, but ten of them. The clerk packed the singles and the bonuses in a gift bag as Yuka placed down the exact change on the counter's money tray. Yuka was buying ten of Towa's newest singles.
Quickly, Yuka marched ahead, saying "Come on! We still need to get to the next one!"
Somehow, Ibuki was relegated to bag duty as Yuka's purchases kept increasing. Ibuki was a little amused at the fact that Yuka is buying the same single about fifty times over spread out in different stores. She looked at one of the TV displays playing out the promotional video for the newest arrival.
She smiled. Ibuki understood perfectly. Three different versions of cover artwork and different store bonuses tied to each version would certainly explain the repeat buying.
Though...
There's still fifty or so cases involved. Ibuki shook her head then.
"So hopelessly in love."
Ibuki settled down on Yuka's couch- the one where she had slumped into when Yuka nursed her usually. Not that it's a habit of hers to get her blood spilled over. Yuka set down the bags on the coffee table and sat next to her.
"So..." Ibuki started...
"I know, it looks stupid."
"Did you really have to get this much?"
"Knowing my luck I really needed it to get the good ones."
Yuka started to get cracking at the cases, meticulously opening each one to take the included code card and setting them aside on a pile. It was quite puzzling to see the dedication. Once she was done with that, Ibuki watched as Yuka's face changed expressions the moment her hands moved to take a gamble with the aluminium packs.
Maybe it was an understatement to say that woman was ecstatic over her pulls. One of them was apparently a very rare signed photo card of Towa smiling with an ice cream in her hand. It looks like a POV shot of her on a date.
"I don't get it." Ibuki had turned to inspect another of the more common pictures of smiling Towas. "You go through all these hoops just to get a photo you could've taken yourself. For free too."
Yuka shook her head at that, "There's an artistry involved in the production of idol bromide photos and the photo cards. I appreciate those just as I appreciate the best moments that can only be captured by myself."
"I still don't get it, but if that's the justification you'll use, sure."
Yuka's glad that Ibuki tried at the very least. After all, she still has more use for the extra copies she didn't need.
The auction sale and the single giveaway she did was a success at pawning off the excess she didn't need. It was also put to good use for the community. A goofy smile escaped Yuka's lips. She didn't mean to brag, but
the fanclub 'Heartful! LOVE! Super Towa-chan Maji Tenshi!' that she runs was flourishing and generous on trying to push their favourite idol. Her extra copies went to the hands of equally passionate fans.
Meanwhile all that was done, Ibuki was still hanging around her apartment and making herself at home.
"You know, I'm amazed you've gotten to the point of raiding my fridge anytime you want." Yuka joked, "What if someone had the wrong idea?"
"It's just as likely as you asking Towa out on a date." Then a slam of the fridge door. "Which is never."
"Oh... shut up."
Ibuki walked over to her then, the bottle of water sloshing about in her hand. " Here." Yuka craned her neck up to look at her, another idea forming in her head as she took the offered water.
"Ibuki, can you stand there and partially take off your outer layer?"
"What."
"Smile for the camera!"
Ibuki smiled with a peace sign, holding in her embarrassment as her other hand held her suit open to reveal the abdominal section of her body.
"Now that's what I'd call Killer Abs."
Yuka chuckled proudly, taking all the shots she wanted to take with her phone, not even stopping as she continued on to command Ibuki to change her poses. The subject of the matter blushed hard, once again she had relented to being a photo model for her blonde friend. It was easy for Yuka when it comes to it, after all, that woman sure is super weak to pressure.
“Would you mind telling me what you’d do with these photos?”
“Oh, you’ll see, Ibuki,” Yuka grinned, turning to take her phone to pose for a selfie. “It’s time for a #JennyYukaAbdate!”
“Spare me…”
Such nice content is meant to be shared!
Okay, so maybe in hindsight Yuka had an inkling of an idea of why Ibuki asked her to come with for this dramatic gala. So maybe Yuka posted a new set of photos that highlighted Ibuki’s abs with the caption "LITERAL KILLER ABS 💪💪💪", but she didn’t include her face in it! If she did, then it was blurred!
"Ah!"
"Towa-chan!"
The sudden cry made Yuka leapt forward, hands at the ready to catch and steady Towa before her fall. "Towa!" The things Towa was carrying fell out of her grasp, but all it mattered was how her hands flew to catch themselves onto Yuka's strong arms.
"Are you alright?" Yuka shelved her rambling guilt, now more concerned to look at Towa in her arms. "If you needed a hand you should've just told me!"
"I- I'm okay," Towa looked to the side, seeing the mess of bowls and spilled fruits she's made. "I made a real mess… oh no…"
"That's fine! We can clean up later," Yuka assured her, gently letting Town down with a swift motion. "What were you doing with two servings anyway?"
"I thought you wanted to eat the fruits too because I know you love to eat healthy…"
"Towa…" Yuka sighed, she turned to reassure everyone else that was starting to crowd them, including Dalia and Marika who were together with them earlier.
"Thank goodness you're alright Towa-chan." Marika sighed in relief.
"I was just too excited to pass something to Yuka, hehe."
Yuka smiled, "Come on, why don't we retry that like how you wanted to show me the crepe bar earlier?"
"Okay!"
Later in the night, Yuka would whip out her camera to report on the unveiling event Towa has hinted at since the beginning.
And so, between juggling her professional life and her personal life, Yuka found it hard to actually match up with Towa. Sure, her daily dose of live Towa increased, but so did her work. Admittedly, they've never really went out beyond their normal shared brunch or dinner, and the normal hanging out between friends they've done since forever. Not to mention she's been slacking on managing the fan archive and the fan discord.
This and her never actually appearing in the live events made everyone else cry- as best as the emojis could express anyway.
"Jennifer you always organized the flower stands but you never attend the event"
"Jennifer when are we ever going to have an offline meet with you???"
"Jennifer aren't you wasting money since you're stuck with just the online viewing"
"Jennifer are you that busy you can't come to the venue???"
"Jennifer when" "Jennifer why" "Jennifer-"
A picture of her flexing her muscles and showing her gains surrounded by merchandise convinced them she was indeed occupied everyday. Hopefully they will never recognize her to be someone so close to Towa IRL. As it is right now she can't wave lightsticks and dance around like she did when Towa was still an underground name. Being entranced by Towa's performance that day and cheering her on from a room was all she needed. Towa winking and making eye contact through the camera was just her usual fanservice.
But oh dear, it still brought up a lot of the adoration inside her.
"TOWA YOU'RE THE BEST!" Tears ran down Yuka's face.
The next time Yuka was in her apartment sitting around without anything in her schedule, someone barged in like an angry horse demanding immediate attention.
"Geez Ibuki, my door can't handle any more of your abuse if this keeps up."
"Yuka, I thought you'd think me better than that! Maybe Ibuki would be the one to think that I'm a dumb girl, but I didn't expect it from you!"
It was, in fact, not Ibuki.
"T-Towa!?" Yuka scrambled from her seat and fell dishonourably. It only took her a moment to regain her bearings and stand up to address the intruder. "W-what brings you here?"
"I'm here to set things straight!" Towa exclaimed. "Because it's been years and I can't believe you still haven't said anything about this." She gestured to both her and Yuka. Yuka's eyebrows raised as she felt shivers run down her spine. "I knew you were Jennifer the moment you put down your birthday for the yearly message, and then your billing information with your own name and address, and that was a couple years ago!" Towa continued on, "I'm not that dumb!"
"I thought those go through your manager-"
"And my manager is kind enough to tell me because she knows I'm also your best friend." Towa shook her head, "Seriously, Yuka, why didn't you say anything?"
Yuka gulped then, sighing as her shoulders finally sagged in defeat. "I'm…" Then a smile. "I'm in love with you."
Then in response Town grinned. "...I know."
"What…?"
"I thought we were… already…" Towa pointed at herself, "is it my fault…?" Then her face began to grow red, "Here," Towa moved closer, giving a quick peck on her lips. "Sorry."
"Okay, I need you to repeat everything back to me Towa."
"Oh um… I guess, hooray for our first kiss on the lips?"
In the humble home of one Matsuyama Dalia, Ibuki wiped tears out of her eyes as she clutched her side with one hand. Meanwhile Dalia repeatedly let out a "heh" as she bit down her lip keeping herself from laughing out loud. In the midst of it all, Yuka sank down in her seat, hiding her face by hugging a pillow.
"You guys promised not to laugh…" The voice came out weakly.
"Well, can you blame us?" Dalia argued as she tried to mask her chuckles by sipping on her drink. "Your most embarrassing secret was an open and public secret for years."
"Furthermore," Ibuki cleared her throat, "You had the gall to lecture me on my relationship while Towa just basically turned everything you believed in to be false."
"I'm sorry about that, okay."
"It's not like you two were the brightest of the bunch though." Dalia commented.
"Hey!"
"Years of what amounts to dates and companionship never occured to mean something to you, so it's not her fault she's not physical about the relationship." She continued, "If anything I'm more amazed that she only decided now that it was getting ridiculous."
"Dalia, if you wanted to serve me a funeral you could've just said so." Yuka sobbed.
If there was anything that disturbed Yuka more than her own issues that day, it was Ibuki guffawing and laughing so much that she almost choked on herself.
Thankfully, the only victim was Yuka's sense of self.
Meanwhile, over at SuperTMTcord…
Mod Banana: you guys might've read about the tabloid post that went online earlier this week and I think it's credible. It's official that Towa-chan got a girlfriend now. We should be happy and wish her and her partner the best! Let's not get too depressive about it, alright @everyone
Also send thoughts and prayers to @Admin Jennifer I haven't heard back from her since the news