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“Hey Utage have you heard? EdelGlanz and F/ACE are having a collab!”
“What!? No way!” Utage nearly jumped out of her chair in excitement.
“It has been confirmed online, look!” Yuina said as she showed her friend the announcement on her phone. It just said Coming soon F/ACE X EDEL GLANZ, however the post already had thousands of likes and reposts.
“F/ACE are getting pretty popular now, Wow!”
“And that's not all, they will have a special magazine photo shoot! Utage, we need to get it, I bet Tamon-kun will look amazing as always, what if they put him in a old era prince outfit?” Yuina said as she put her phone close to her and closing her eyes…
("Will you come with me my lady?")
Imagining the glorious scene of an Edo period prince Tamon, both girls started daydreaming.
"He's too dreamy…"
"I might just faint from such a thought."
“Okay!" said Riko. "It says December 30th. Hmm, that is in 2 weeks!” She said while writing something on her notes.
“We will get it!” Utage said very excitedly.
“YEAH!” her 2 friends said at the same time, hyping each other up.
A moment after The homeroom teacher Miss Asuka came in so class was starting, that meant no more fangirling for a while. But, Utage had tons of questions and things she wanted to say to a certain someone.
A few hours later, class had finished for the day and it was time for Utage to head to work at one of her usual client’s apartment.
She made it to the front where she called at the doorbell. The apartment was what some would say a tad fancier with outer marble walls and tall glass doors.
"One moment please."
A gloomy-esque voice answered on the intercom and allowed her to enter. She took the elevator and once she got to the 3rd floor she knocked on the door all the way to the left hallway. It was silent for a few seconds but then it opened slightly, as a shy young man with pink hair wearing all black, including socks for once because of the weather peeked out.
“I look forward to working with you today.” Utage said as she gave a warm smile.
“Please come in.” Tamon said in a shy manner like usual, but he opened the door wider for Utage to enter through.
She took her winter jacket off, and changed into some different special work shoes, while Tamon was just standing idle waiting for her.
Once she had gotten settled in and was about to begin cleaning with a vacuum cleaner that was in the closet, she couldn't keep her thoughts to herself anymore, so with a vacuum in hand she said:
“Jimehara-san, I saw the news about your new collab… CONGRATULATIONS! F/ACE is becoming more well known every day!”
…
“... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, I didn’t want to bring it up because, I HAVE NEVER INTERACTED WITH MORE IDOLS THAT ARE NOT FROM F/ACE, LET ALONE FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY!!!” Tamon said at the couch, proceeding to turn himself into a little ball and hide in the wall’s corners.
“What do I even talk about!? Dancing? singing?! I was told I have to do a photo shoot with the leader of EdelGlanz!? WHY? What do I do?!” I know the fans are very excited for this, and I don't want to disappoint them, but—
“Tamon-kun is capable of out shining even the prettiest of diamonds!” Utage said, as she held the massive Church of Tamon sign high up. That was the cue for Tamon to repeat.
“Tamon-kun is capable of out shining even the prettiest of diamonds!” He repeated diligently.
Though Tamon's nervousness was justifiable, after all the leader of the group Jinshi aka The Moon Prince was very famous for being as beautiful as a nymph, his singing was also very recognized by many as his perfect voice was tough to replicate.
“Even if Jinshi-san is the heavenly nymph of the group, he cannot beat our god.” Utage said very proudly of herself, which made Tamon feel a little better.
"…Kinoshita-san, will you be watching the show?" Tamon said while looking straight at Utage's eyes like a little puppy.
"Of course! I wont miss it, Tamon-kun will be as extraordinary as always!"
"Then…if you don't mind me asking…what is something I could do right now to prepare? The first meeting with Jinshi-san is in 1 week."
"Oh, that's sooner than I thought."
They both looked at the ground in a thinking pose.
Utage then put her finger up. "Maybeee, let's test out your skills in different situations you might come across.
Tamon looked at her and gave a little nod.
Utage set aside the mop and got into position, preparing herself with a pair of sunglasses as well.
"Okay! let's try an interview question. Mr. Fukuhara, what kind of expectations do you have for this collaboration?" Utage said as she pointed a pen at Tamon's face as if it were a microphone.
Tamon took this as a sign and switched to his A-side (Hottie hara).
Good thing Utage was wearing those sunglasses, she knew Tamon's radiance as Ike Hara was blinding like the sun.
"I… hmm I am hoping my efforts with Jinshi-San can bring everyone happiness, and my girlfriends get to meet a new side of Tamon Fukuhara."
"(Wow a true pro, Tamon kun is able to adapt to any situation so rapidly.)" Utage told herself in her head.
"Then Mr. Fukuhara, What do you plan on focusing on during these 2 weeks?"
"Ummm, let's see… I would like to perfect my dancing skills as well as social skills so everyone gets to enjoy the best experience."
Utage then clapped at Tamon's response.
"Then Mr. Fukuhara did you previously know Jinshi-San and EdelGlanz's music?"
"Well, to be honest I had only heard a couple of songs that came up on the TV, however, they seem amazing and I'm very thrilled at the chance to work with them, especially being able to hopefully become closer with everyone in the group."
"See, I think you got this in the bag! Tamon kun is a god where nothing and no one can stop him!"
"However, Uta-chan" Tamon said in his hottie hara voice. "What do I do about the photo shoot?"
…
(I never get used to him calling me that.) … "Ahem well… you have done photo shoots before, haven't you? Would it really be any different?"
"Well… I guess your right..."
"Excellent… Ah, oh dear look at the time. I will now begin to clean before more time goes by." Utage said as she looked at the wall clock, and proceeded to grab the vacuum once more.
In that moment she also felt someone place a hand on her shoulder.
"Hm?" She said as she turned around and found the very tall Tamon standing in front of her.
"…There will also be a game show were we have to compete against EdelGlanz to win over the audiences hearts… So, I was just wondering what kind of things would my fans want to hear from me, or see me do..." Tamon said while he looked straight at her.
"Eh?…Um well you are always very good at making our hearts flutter so it shouldn't be a problem right? I mean, Ikehara has always been able to give us butterflies in our stomachs from just breathing and standing in place." Utage said while having a hard time looking at him straight in the eyes, he was glowing like an angel.
"Then would this work?"
"Hm? What?"
He didn't give her time to react as he began to brush his fingers over her hair making her flinch a bit, then made his way to the sunglasses and took them off, setting them on the coffee table. Next proceeded to move onto the pink scrunchie holding her hair in place, sliding it off letting the hair loose.
"You should wear your hair down more often."
Utage had been frozen in place all flustered not knowing what to do, she kept telling herself its just a practice run, its just a practice run…
"Or what if I braid it for you?" Tamon said as he began to grab her hair while Utage was still stuck."
"Uh-um….."
Tamon began to gently make a basic braid with hair while the scrunchie was on his wrist and Utage was standing still.
"…"
But in a moment of hesitation—
"I CAN'T EVEN MAKE A SIMPLE BRAID?!"
Jimehara was back.
Utage snapped out of her momentarily dreamworld.
"Jeez… I've told you to warn me whenever you will switch sides…, Utage said as she grabbed her hair Tamon had let go in a quick panic and was a tad flustered."
"I'm sorry, I'm as useless as the left over skin of a peeled vegetable!"
"You are not useless, take that back!"
"I'm not useless…"
"It's all about practice Jime hara-san, but look you did pretty well, it's just the end that got put on the opposite side, therefor it began to come apart."
Tamon looked at her explanation as she pointed towards the half done braid.
"Would you like to try again?"
"Can I?"
"Of course!" She said while smiling, however she then would realize that she had just given her crush permission to braid her hair, now she was feeling a bit more restless, had she washed her hair properly the night before? Was it untangled? Did it smell good? Was it oily?
Alot of thoughts were suddenly going through Utage's mind as she sat down on the floor, because she knew it would be easier to braid that way.
Tamon sat right behind her and with shaking hands grabbed the hair he had previously been trying to braid.
"Right, I will try again."
Tamon undid the braid and brushed his fingers through her hair once more to get each of the 3 needed pieces in place. He began to intertwine them little by little as to not get it wrong a second time, he was determined. In the mean time Utage was still overthinking on the inside, but she managed to get used to the feeling of her hair being done by someone else. In all honestly it felt nice, she had forgotten the feeling since she was normally the one brushing and braiding others hair like her siblings, also as well as her own. A relaxing atmosphere with help of the golden hour lighting set and Utage felt at ease as she closed her eyes momentarily taking in the calmness of a slow winter.
.
.
.
"I managed to do it!" Tamon said feeling very pleased and proud of himself.
"See, I told you so, it's all about practice."
He began searching with his head for something, but couldn't seem to find it.
"What are you looking for?"
"I don't remember where your scrunchie is. I could have sworn I put it somewhere."
Utage chuckled a bit "You've had it on your wrist all this time."
"Ah… I… forgot, I'm sorry…" He said as he raised his hand with it over his wrist, bringing it closer to his face.
He recalled the day of when he gifted it to her for her birthday after a set of unfortunate events, There were other gifts that he had wished to gift her, yet he was very grateful she kept it close. It was a pink scrunchie, same tone as his hair, it was a nicer fabric so it felt a bit satined. He then also managed to feel a scent coming off it, it was a very pleasant smell, probably from whichever hair products Utage uses, the fabric had been infused with the aromas from wearing it every day. He wasn't able to tell which ones they were exactly, but regardless it was very nice.
"It smells like flowers."
"…" Utage had gone a bit red.
Tamon then proceeded to wrap and tie it around the successfully done braid. And with that he had also successfully made her heart flutter, he was definitely ready for the week ahead.
The next few days were pretty normal, Utage went to school, then work, though she had been getting called in by a lot of newer clients as well, so she hadn't been able to see Tamon in a while.
Tamon on the other hand, had been just as busy with the other members of F/ACE as they were getting ready for their EdelGlanz first meetup and preparing the new choreo. Everyone was feeling quite nervous as the meetup would be at a private restaurant rather than at the company building or on public view, they would discuss the new song they were working on as well as any other topics worth discussing, in general they all just hoped to get along.
"Well you heard the boss, the meeting will be at the luxurious Teppanyaki Omotesando Ukai-Tei (Which, btw is a real restaurant in the heart of Shibuya in Tokyo.)
The manager Fujita said quite nervously as he looked at the companies credit card sighing.
"Well there is a lot that needs to be done, but for today you boys are free. Good work today, now if anyone needs me I will be in my office." Fujita said as he left the room, closing the door behind him, leaving the 5 boys seated across each other at a long rectangular white table in a big room.
"Well I guess expensive food isn't all that bad as long as there's good drinks to go with it, ya know? Natsuki said as he scrolled through his phone and yawned.
"The company doesn't even have the sufficient economic funds yet for such a fancy dinner for so many people, I don't know what they are even thinking, they can barely even pay for all of the apartments. And Natsuki! You better not ask for luxurious sake. Knowing you, it wouldn't take long for you to get drunk. Or even worst it will definitely be taken off your paycheck!" Keito said looking quite annoyed.
"Ugh, what a pain."
Keito pretended to not have heard that and went back on his phone researching if the restaurant offered packages for the different meals, his eyes almost jumped out when he read the prices.
"Thir- thirty… THIRTY EIGHT THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED?!! PER PERSON!? and if we multiply that by lets say 10 people…" Keito felt like fainting a little right then and there.
"Oh common that's not even that bad, there's way more expensive places, you are acting as if we were buying a new car or something." Ouri said acting all smug with his arms over his head.
"ALMOST 400,000 YEN! How will we ever recover, and that's not even all of the guests…"
"Oh please you underestimate the company as much as I hate to admit it, they always manage to get back up, you want to know why? because of us! And mostly myself." Ouri said as he crossed his arms looking very proud of himself.
"I-I agree with Ouri-Kun, we just need to have faith in them, surely if they couldn't pay for it, they would have switched locations...maybe" Tamon said as he looked down at the table, playing with his fingers.
"Fine, however there are some things I will not let you guys ask for, especially you NATSUKI or we are definitely getting it deducted from our payments."
"Heard ya the first time."
"Rintaro, what do you think?" He said looking straight at the black haired and with ear piercings member of F/ACE, Rintaro.
"Well… If it were necessary I wouldn't mind pitching in so everyone can have the best service." Rintaro said quite happily, he would love to help.
"There so it's settled, now stop being such a grandpa about it!" Ouri said quite directly at Keito."
Keito stared back at Ouri quite annoyed, but before anything escalated…
"However, what do you think they are like?" Rintaro said looking up at the ceiling in a thinking position."
"I just hope they are friendly…" Tamon said also looking up.
"Do you think any of them like boxing?" Ouri said but looking at the wall and spinning in his chair.
"As long as they don't make us stay up too late talking with them." Natsuki said as he put his arms and head down on the table, as if ready to sleep.
"They better be responsible." Keito said finally looking at his watch.
"Maybe we should invite them to Karaoke." Let's have a singing duel!!!
The 5 boys were obviously excited, it was their first big collaboration, but whatever happened in that dinner would define their new relationship and possible future activities, so they had to make a good impression on the members of EdelGlanz.
Tamon was just as nervous, if not much more now. Even though Utage had helped him practice some aspects of the weeks ahead, there were still thoughts that slightly bothered him. What was a good introduction? He probably wouldn't be able to show his "true" self to the others, right? So that would mean more days of having to constantly be in Ikehara form which was tire ring. Oh well, he had chosen this career path, so he had to do what was needed.
He had just gone out of the subway station, and was headed back to his apartment, going through different streets while having such difficult thoughts invading his mind. His head was covered by a paper bag with holes for the eyes, some would say it looked funny, or weird, but, Tamon didn't mind.
It was quite dark, so he was struggling a bit to see his phone through the small holes on the bag hunched down a bit, swiping through songs on his playlist. For some reason they were all kind of gloomy, so that didn't really help lift up his anxious mood.
"Haaah… still, I'm scared—"
And in that moment:
*CRASH*
.
.
.
Tamon just looked at the ground rubbing his head in a bit of pain.
"I apologize I should watch where I'm walking."
"No, I apologize as well, I was just as distracted."
The voice came from a young lady before him who was right in front also on the ground rubbing her head a bit. She was dressed in a Grey colored outfit, and slightly long straight hair, but Tamon couldn't really make her face out as she was wearing a face mask and had long bangs. In the next moment she was starring at him as if there was a strange object on his face.
"Hmm…" she said with a detective like expression.
Tamon didn't quite understand at first why she was staring at him so much, he figured it was probably the paper bag…
Regardless he helped her pick up the groceries she had been holding and put things back inside, it was only the right for him to do so.
Back on their feet, he looked at her once more "Again, I am very sorry." He said bowing to her.
"No need for apologies really, it was a mistake."She said also bowing her head.
"Could I get you something to make up for this?"
"Oh, don't worry about it, I am already running late to meet my friends, so leave it at that.
"If we ever meet again, I'll promise to make it up to you. Have a good night miss." Tamon said as he walked away into the night.
"Hmm, where have I seen him before?…" She said monologuing to herself with her hand on her chin as she watched him walk away. But, there was no time to think, so she headed to the other direction still thinking.
…
"Maomao! Where were you?" Said a girl with curly reddish hair and hazel eyes.
"Sorry I got caught up on something."
"I bet it was medicine again, huh?" Said another girl who was shorter but had brown hair and eyes.
"Right…"
"Well let's get going, it's dinner time!"
"Dinner!?" The girl said with stars in her eyes as she walked with her friends.
.
.
.
Back at home Tamon had a realization that night, as he was starring at the mirror and his anxiety just grew even more.
"…Where is my bag…?"
He had gone all this time without it…