Track 01 - BathRoom

WARNINGS: Sappiness

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The girls were really happy to hear the fans seemed okay with what was happening. They knew it was probably a very big surprise but they just seemed to be more worried if the band would be splitting up. Even the girl's thought if the band split up because of them, they'd never forgive themselves. But just when they thought the conference was over, they heard another reporter speaking up and asking questions. The girls eagerly listened but their faces dropped when they heard him say 'convenient'. It really did hurt them to hear something like that - even Mika gasped when Ruki almost started a fight with the reporter. They had to jump back suddenly when the guy's manager opened the main door and told them to quickly move. They all stood huddled to one said as the guys returned and Kira jumped when Reita expressed his frustration with Ruki. She then giggled a little as he took deep breaths and circled his arms to calm down.

"Reita-kun, I think you need to side down for a little while. Yes, Ruki-san almost ruined the moment by having a hothead but I do see his point ..." Kira said, approaching Reita and patting his shoulder before glancing back at Ruki and then back to Reita, "I really do think it was kind of flattering that he defended us. To hear us being called 'convenient' really hurt ... like we're just here for no reason, you know?"

Ai, Mika, Kikyo and Megumi didn't respond to Kira's comment but she was saying what they were all thinking. If Ruki hadn't defended them like he did, they were just keep thinking they shouldn't even be near the guys. But instead he'd really made them feel more welcome. Megumi stepped over to Kai and placed a hand on his shoulder with a smile. She could see he was sweating from the 'Ruki incident'. Mika then laughed at Aoi as he held Ruki in the headlock.

"Aww, Aoi-san leave Ruki-san alone~! I really loved his speech. It was very sweet and sentimental, except we were all worried about the first half of it ..." Mika said as she scratched the back of her head and blushed when Aoi said the speech was all about her and Ruki, "Well I'd be lying if I didn't say that is very flattering but I also think his speech can be said for all of us as a group. Because you think of us a friends".

Ai, Kira, Megumi and Kikyo all looked at each other and made exaggerated 'aww'ing sounds at Mika's statement. They knew she'd meant it to be serious but they really just wanted to tease her. It was actually becoming annoying that Mika was pretending not to have a crush on Ruki when they were around the guys. They just couldn't wait for one of them to make the first move. Kikyo then laughed at Uruha when he mentioned Ruki being moody all week.

"Ah well we can safely say that you've seen every side of each other, seeing you work together. Kind of reminds me of the five of us because we're always together", Kikyo said, now teasing the other girls and receiving glares from each of them before nodding at Uruha's second statement, "Yes, we did hear everything. If it wouldn't get us into more trouble we'd have sent Kira in there to beat him up for you".

Kira held a clenched fist up to Kikyo and tried to look menacing but she was blushing so it didn't help. Well really Kikyo was joking about Kira being the one to beat up people - she was just the strongest out of the five of them, both physically and mentally. Only because she used to practice Yoga with a mother, of course when her mother wasn't busy managing their Japanese restaurant chain in America with her husband, Kira's father. Megumi decided to break the 'Kira teasing'.

"So you guys really do want us in your lives? You have no idea how cool that is. I mean, we didn't actually expect to even meet you again after the party last week", Megumi said honestly, smiling up at Kai and then around to the other band members, "In fact we had to look at our passes and the group photos with you the following morning to really register that it wasn't a dream. We even pinched each other!"

Megumi jumped and made a short squeak when she felt someone pinching her arm. She spun around and saw Ai snickering behind her hand. Megumi reached out to swat Ai but she managed to duck out of the way and run over to Aoi for safety. Megumi was right though, they did have to look twice at their back-stage passes to realise they would be meeting the band again. Ai then smiled at Aoi before looking around to the other guys.

"But anyway you all did well with explaining the photos to your fans. I really think they understood and were relieved that your not breaking up or anything", Ai said, saying what they had all been thinking as Mika, Kira, Megumi and Kikyo all nodded in agreement, "But it can't be helped if there are still a handle-full of fans who can't let it go. We are still going to have to be careful ..."

It was just something that couldn't be avoided. Ninety percent of the fans probably wouldn't draw attention to them anyway but sometime down the track they would most likely encounter a jealous fan or two. But as always that had each other's support so they hoped to not bring any more trouble to the band. The girls were really proud to be able to know the guys personally. In fact they were even looking forward to more meetings, if they weren't very busy that is. After all with preparations for their next tour and of course writing new songs, plus photo-shoots, radio gigs and TV spots ... it was likely they may not see the guys at all until after the next tour. But regardless of any of that, they were still willing to stay friends with the band as long as they were allowed. Especially if the bands singer Ruki was so infatuated with their little Mika.

* * *
Kai returned Megumi's smile when she said it was very cool that they still wanted the girls around. Aoi, Reita, Uruha and Ruki smiled too - was it really so hard to believe that the girls got to meet them, so they had to pinch each other? Aoi and Reita laughed at hearing Megumi say that because they could just imagine the girls chasing each other around and pinching each other. But when Ai mentioned still having to be careful around the jealous fans that remained, they knew she was right. That was just something they'd have to work out when and if it did happen. If anything it could happen while the guys were away on their next tour, when the fans would know that they couldn't protect the girls at all. Even though all of them had only meet twice in the last week, they were really hoping nothing happened to them - the girls had become special to them.

"Yeah, we won't dull it down for you because it's what you want to hear but sometime in the future you will have the fans to deal with but it can be resolved", Kai said honestly, at the same time hoping he wasn't scaring the girls to death, "But of course we will be there for you as best we can, also hoping we're not tied to work at the same time. After all, I really think Ruki wants Mika-chan to stick around ..."

Kai for once got his chance to tease Ruki; it made Aoi, Reita and Uruha snicker to themselves. Ruki felt even more embarrassed; he just lowered his head again and put a hand over his face, turning away. Kai laughed at him, and the other guys all started poking him softly from all directions causing him to squirm a bit. Finally Uruha grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him to face Mika.

"All right that's enough fooling around. Ruki ... we all know it. And I'm sure the Mika's friends know it too ... you really like Mika-chan", Uruha said and he slapped Ruki in the back, which caused him to stumble in Mika's direction, "It's just painfully obvious now, so why don't you just say something and stop pretending it's no big deal. You've always been the most outspoken one after all".

Ruki sharply glanced back to Uruha who had already moved to stand with Kikyo, leaving one hand on her shoulder. Kai was standing by Megumi with his arms crossed. Reita was with Kira, resting his arm around her neck casually and Aoi stood beside Ai. They were all smiling at him and waiting for him to speak. Ruki then slowly turned back around to look at Mika - his face felt like it was on fire. He took another step closer to her and kept looking from her face to the ground.

"Well I'm stuck now so I should say something. I've never been this nervous before, believe it or not. Not from lives or interviews or even signing autographs for fans", he said slowly, swallowing hard and slipping his hands into the pockets of his pants, clearing his throat, "And I don't think I've really been the type to directly ask someone to be my girlfriend ... especially not in front of these dorks."

In response to Ruki's statement, he received a grumpy 'Hey~!' from Aoi, Reita and Uruha in unison. But Kai didn't say anything - after all, Ruki never referred to Kai as a dork. But Kai was proud that Ruki was finally telling Mika how he felt - he'd been stewing over it for the last week. Which was the reason for his moody behaviour, as Uruha had called it. Reita was becoming more anxious as Ruki rattled on.

"Oh come on Ruki, your delaying again~! Dude, just say it or one of us will say it for you, and believe me, you don't want that~!" Reita barked as he punched the air, Aoi and Uruha saying 'Yeah' together in response before Reita continued, "Let me say Mika-chan that all week Ruki was wandering around mumbling to himself. He would always tell us off for interrupting what he was thinking about".

Ruki turned away from Mika specifically to pull down the lower lid of his left eye with his middle finger. Here he was trying to tell Mika with as little embarrassment as possible but of course Reita had to make sure that wasn't going to happen. Aoi and Uruha laughed at Reita as he did the same thing back to Ruki; Kai laughed quietly to himself as he looked at the ground. Uruha spoke up next.

"Come on guys, give him a break. You know how sensitive he is about wording things properly, so give him a chance before we get told off again", Uruha said, trying to defend the singer as he smacked the back of Reita's hand seeing he was the closest and he then turned back to Ruki, "Go on Ruki, keep going. I think Mika will be anxious to hear what you want to say ..."

Ruki gave a little smile and a thumbs up to Uruha to say thankyou. What he was mumbling about all week was how he was going to tell Mika he really liked her. And the more he thought about her, the more he was falling in love with her. She had been directly in front of him for so many years - since their first One Man concert to be exact - and now finally he'd met her.

"Mika, you were saying that you've been to all of our concerts since our first One Man. Now we finally meet, it feels just like our song 'BathRoom'," Ruki continued, now reaching over to take her hand, "I know I've only known you for a week and we've only seen each other face-to-face twice. But I really want to get to know you and for us to be together".

Reita clenched his fist and held it up in a 'Yes!' gesture before lifting the hand up to high-five Uruha. Aoi and Kai also smiled at each other - he finally did it. After spending the last week thinking about how to tell Mika. Yes, they had only met face-to-face twice but they hoped Mika was willing to give him a chance. They could definitely back him up on how much he really did care for her.

"You Ruki, your speeches are very pretty but your best to just tell her straight out. Your using too many big words, you'll probably confuse her", Aoi teased Ruki's well-worded speech simply because he could before looking at Mika, "Mika-chan, he's asking you to be his girlfriend in case you had lost him half way through. The one time he should have been direct and he wasn't".

Reita, Uruha and now Kai laughed as Ruki made a face at Aoi before nervously looking back at Mika and smiling. He felt much better for telling her what he wanted to say. But really and truly, he wasn't the only one who had feelings for the girls. He'd seen major differences in the others behaviour over the last week - they all seemed happier and more energetic from meeting the girls, and they had only been around them for a few hours accumulated. It was just a matter of time before the others did something about their feelings. Of course, it had been playing on Ruki's mind the most because Mika had stood out the most from all the other girls. He only hoped that Mika's friends would be just right for his fellow band mates.

* * *
The girls were feeling a little worried about a possible confrontation with angry fans but the worry quickly disappeared when Kai said Ruki wanted Mika to stay with him. Megumi looked surprised at Kai but she then grinned around to her friends. Ai, Kira and Kikyo in particular returned her smile and held thumbs up. Mika just looked confused at them until Uruha pushed Ruki in her direction. She blushed and looked down at her hands as she tangled her fingers together. She had a small inkling about what he was going to say to her but she didn't want to get her hopes up just yet. Kikyo giggled at Uruha when he came to stand beside her - he was right, they did know Ruki really liked Mika. Ai smiled at Aoi and Kira held onto Reita's hand that was draped around her neck. Megumi clasped her hands behind her back while she waited for Ruki to speak.

"You know Kai-san, Mika has been talking about Ruki-san all week. I think she's surprised at how normal he is; how normal all of you in fact", Megumi whispered to Kai honestly with a smile as she watched Ruki talk to Mika, "I will be honest and say that all of us really do feel at easy around you because we see so many celebrities that just won't associate with non-famous people. It's a shame".

Mika's friends eagerly listened to Ruki speak, thinking it was funny that he could be nervous from something like this - and even when he'd been in the public eye for about four years now. If anything they would have thought Mika would be nervous but she just looked calm despite having bright red cheeks from blushing so much. When Ruki finally mentioned the word 'girlfriend', the girls gasped and looked excitedly at each other. Mika was embarrassed that her friends were acting so excited but she liked the attention between her and Ruki. When Reita butt in and told Ruki to hurry up, Kira scolded him.

"Reita-kun, leave Ruki-san alone, he's doing fine on his own~! He doesn't need you ruining the moment for him and you can't rush things like that", Kira snapped at him and nudged him in the gut with her elbow before smiling back at Uruha's defence to Ruki, "Your absolutely right, Uruha-san. Yes, go on Ruki-san. I think you may be surprised at how Mika will respond ..."

Kira gave a knowing smile to Ai, Kikyo and Megumi. They knew that Mika would most definitely say yes to being Ruki's girlfriend - she just wouldn't shut-up about him all week. So as Mika continued to listen to Ruki, she nodded when he recalled her saying she'd been to all of Gazette's Live's with the other girls. She thought it was sweet that he referred back to the song 'BathRoom' again. It was like that song brought them together. Her heart rate began to increase when he said they had only known each other for a week. And finally she felt like her head would erupt from being so red - he was actually asking her to be with him. If he hadn't been holding her hand Mika probably would have fainted, fallen backwards on the floor.

"Oh-my-gosh, this is so incredibly cool~! Our little Mika is being asked out by Ruki from the Gazette~! Wow, this is something that you don't see everyday", Kikyo said out loud, but instantly regretting it because she realised she'd said it in front of the whole band, "Anyway, come on Mika, say yes~!! If you don't then we won't speak to you ever again. He really likes you~!"

Because Kikyo and Kira were side-by-side, they turned and gripped each other's hands excitedly. Ai and Megumi did the same but giggled uncontrollably before cuddling. Mika thought, gee the way their acting it was like they were being asked to be someone's girlfriend. But she still loved what was happening at that moment. And she thought her friends would be relieved that finally one of them made the first move. The girls laughed at Aoi's comment about confusing Mika but Ai didn't.

"Great going, Aoi-san. You just ruined a beautiful moment! And here Ruki-san is pouring his heart out to Mika and now your teasing them. How rude", Ai whispered to him, also nudging him in the gut like Kira did to Reita before turning her head back smile at Mika, "Well Mika, what do you say? He really does like you, and forgive me for telling but you really like him too. So...?"

Mika was kind of in shock. It was all so fast, but she really couldn't be happier. And she wasn't the only one to be falling for one of the boys. Megumi had never really cared about how she looked around other people, unless it was a date or a concert, but for Kai she looked so pretty. Kikyo was usually never practiced her guitar, and now she was playing love songs all the time on it. Kira had never worn any kind of skirt, but recently she bought six of them. For Ai, well it was the first time ever that Ai has ever looked forward to going to see a boy.

"Wow Ruki-san, this has really caught me by surprise but I will say that it is a good surprise. And if my friends would stop interrupting I can respond", Mika said, finding it hard to wipe the smile off her face as she looked around to her friends and finally at Ruki, "I will definitely say yes, I would love to be with you. Because your such a passionate person, I really loved that you lead up to asking me".

Mika smiled even more - she couldn't help but smile. She also wanted to tackle-hug him but she didn't just in case he might get scared or fall and break something, then the fans would kill her. Megumi, Ai, Kira and Kikyo couldn't hold it any longer - they squealed excitedly and ran over to group hug poor Mika. The poor girl had barely enough time to say 'yes' before she was attacked by the other girls. If anything she would have preferred a cuddle from Ruki first. The girls had bet on how long it was take Ruki and Mika to get together. Mika knew about it, which she found funny. Kikyo said about one week, Ai said after they meet three times, Kira said two weeks, and Megumi said about three weeks. Of course Kikyo won, and they had to pay her fifty dollars each. But even without the bet, they were really happy Mika said 'Yes'.

* * *
The guys were really happy that Ruki told Mika how he felt about her but admittedly they were even more excited that Mika said 'Yes' to him. Not that they thought she probably didn't like him, but he was just so determined to know more about her. The thought that she'd say 'no' would have made all of his wondering for nothing - likely they had been wrong. Kai, Aoi, Reita and Uruha actually jumped when the girls squealed and bombarded poor Mika - even Ruki had to jump out of the way a little. He was thinking the same thing as Mika; he would have preferred a cuddle from her first too. Ruki smiled as he watched his girlfriend being hugged to death until finally they let her go - so he quickly reach over to her and pulled her out of the circle of squealing friends.

"Do you really mean it? I was afraid you would say 'no' because of the fans. You have no idea how happy its made me that you do want give me a chance", Ruki said the last part as a joke but then he got serious but still smiled at her, leaning in closer to whisper while staring into her eyes, "There's just something about you that drew me towards you. I promise I will be there for you whenever and where-ever I can".

Ruki, for the first time in a very long time, actually felt whole - Mika really said yes? All he could do was let a silly grin spread across his face and he could finally hug her tightly. The other guys applauded, feeling such a relief that they were finally together. When Ruki actually did let Mika go, he stepping back but kept holding her hands. Aoi came up behind him, smiling brightly.

"You know Mika, now that he's finally told you I can rat him out. He's done nothing all week but day-dream and play soft tunes on his acoustic guitar", Aoi said, poking Ruki's cheek which made Ruki glare side-ways at the guitarist before Aoi laughed and ruffled the singers dreadlocks, "So I can assure you he's a romantic, no matter how much he denies it".

The others laughed, then Uruha and Reita moved to stand with Aoi, each taking a turn to congratulate both Ruki and Mika. Kai however stayed where he was with Megumi, smiling happily. Once again he felt like a parent, watching over his children. Of course it sounded silly seeing there wasn't much difference between their ages. While the others talked, he looked at Megumi and smiled.

"Sorry Megumi-san, I never answered you earlier but I did hear you. So Mika-chan has been thinking of Ruki all week too? Wow that must really mean they were meant for each other", Kai said quietly, liking the chance to get to talk to Megumi while the other's were distracted with congratulating the new couple, "Yes I do agree that it's a shame how most celebrities sometimes ignore their fans. That's something we could never do and I'm glad you and the girls are happy around us because it makes us happy".

Kai really liked talking to Megumi because it seemed she was just like him - the parent among your friends. He was seeing along in common between Megumi and himself. Kai really hoped they could have more group meetings. Kai was startled when he suddenly heard Aoi, Reita and Uruha begin to loudly sing a congratulatory made-up song in Japanese to Ruki and Mika. Kai laughed because he'd never heard them sing it before so they must have made it up on the spot. Once their short song was finished, Reita spoke up.

"So now that everything is cleared up can we possibly get on with our practice? The staff are starting to look at us weirdly and I don't think our manager wants us to slack-off anymore today", Reita said was a slightly grimaced face and still with a little smile as he gestured over his shoulder to the stage, "And Ruki you can play one of your sappy love song for Mika-chan that you've been playing all week, as I recall Aoi saying just before",

Ruki turned around and pretended to go and punch Reita in the stomach, but Reita ducked out of the way to hide behind Kira again. Kai, Aoi and Uruha laughed as Reita coward behind Kira while Ruki went back to take Mika's hand. The guys all knew that had to get a decent practice that day before they had to leave for their radio gig at four o'clock. While Ruki guided Mika back to the stage, Aoi took Ai's hand too, Reita had his arm again wrapped around Kira's neck, Kai gestured to Megumi to walk in front of him and Uruha placed his hand on Kikyo's back.

"So Kikyo-san, do you or your friends have any other requests you'd like to hear before the end of the practice? Maybe something a little less romantic in case Ruki gushes again?" Uruha suggested, as he kept the teasing on a role which resulted in Ruki calling 'shut up' from the front of the line, "Okay, so I hit a nerve with our esteemed singer over there. Anyway, give us some ideas and we'll play them".

Aoi and Reita both shouted 'Alright!' and clapped their hands over their heads - they were itching to play some heavier songs for a change. And they thought it would do Ruki some good considering he'd just spent the last ten minutes or say confessing his love for Mika. Then as they all climbed back to the stage, Ruki walked with Mika back to his mic-stand and gave her a little peck on the lips before she sat down. He only did it because he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable so soon. Aoi walked with Ai back to his guitar and picked it up from the hook on his mic-stand. Reita guided Kira to sit back down on Kai's platform as he too picked up his bass. Kai climbed back over his platform first before helping Megumi over by holding her hands. And finally Uruha let Kikyo sit down in front of him before he stepped up to the main stage and took his guitar. Hopefully there would be no more surprises for the rest of the practice.

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NOTES:
1) Ruki's confession: It's hard to determine how Ruki would act when telling a girl he likes her, so I just guessed ... heh

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