On A Jog

seikapan:

After being yelled at by Ushiyama-sensei for having pathetic endurance, Seika had decided to do other training to hopefully improve. She was on a jog when she ran into a team mate.

“Good morning~!”

Miyuki was out on her daily morning jog. She usually woke up long before any of the other kenkyuusei, due to the force of habit from when still attended high school - because of the large number of sports clubs she was in, there were a lot of times where the trainings would be held as early as 5 or 6 in the morning.

She kept up a steady pace, enjoying the cool breeze on her skin. Running was something she loved to do. It relaxed her, and sometimes she felt as though she could run forever - after all, she rarely got tired thanks to her high endurance. Speaking of endurance…

“Ah, Seika-chan!” Miyuki said, surprised that there was someone else jogging at this time. “Why are yo-” She stopped, and laughed. “Oh yeah, you got yelled at yesterday, didn’t you? Something about having no endurance! Is that why you’re out jogging this morning?” She slowed down a bit to accommodate for her friend’s pace.

seikapan:

takamiyu:

“Ah, I’ve never seen a beach before…” Miyuki said thoughtfully. “I mean, I’ve seen pictures of them, but living in the city my entire life…The closest I’ve gotten to water is a pool. I’m hoping we get to go to beaches when we start travelling around and doing photoshoots!”

She led Seika to a large window covered by curtains, and swept the curtains open to reveal a large backyard with apparently nothing in it…Before three blurs flashed up towards the two girls and tackled Miyuki to the ground. A fully grown white tiger stood over Miyuki, licking her face as she giggled and tried to get him off, completely ignoring the razor sharp teeth inches from her head. Two, much smaller black jaguars nibbled playfully at her feet. She rolled around on the ground, wrestling with the tiger, then eventually got up, grinning and her hair completely messed up, holding one of the jaguars in each hand while they scratched and pawed at her. “The white tiger is Snow, and the two little girls are twins, Yui and Yuki! You can go ahead and touch Snow, he doesn’t bite! These two, on the other hand…” She put them down, and they immediately went to work on attacking her feet again, like how Spotty had done with Seika before.

Seika watched, horrified as Miyuki was tackled. Listening to her, she put her hand out for Snow to sniff, trying not to provoke it. She didn’t want to be rude and ignore it, but she thought her heart was going to come out of her throat with how scared she was.

Eventually, she ended up patting it and sighed with relief when her hand wasn’t bitten off. “You have kind of a crazy life, y’know?”

“Really?” Miyuki replied absentmindedly, while flicking at Yui and Yuki with her finger to try and keep them away from her feet. They dodged around her hands and made a beeline for her legs, but somehow managed to run into each other head-on and wandered around for a bit, dazed. They eventually came to, and apparently having forgotten their original objective, turned to playing around with Snow’s tail instead.

“This is kinda normal for me. I’ve been around these guys all my life, after all…Snow was actually born in the same year as me! My parents were zookeepers at the Akibastar zoo, and they tended after the big cats…After my parents-” She stopped, and changed course. “After I began living alone, they started coming to look for me. I don’t know how they escape the zoo, but I like the company so I don’t really worry about it.” She scratched Snow behind his ears, earning a playful swipe at her hand by him - it almost seemed like an exchange between siblings who had been raised together their entire lives, just messing with each other.

seikapan:

Seika giggled as Spotty ‘attacked’ her. “You’re so cute! Yes you are! Yes you are!” She continued to coo over the fluff ball before he was taken away, which lead her staring, in awe and slightly frightened, but finding it too cute and funny at the same time.

Seika followed as Miyuki led the way to the backyard. “I don’t really have a backyard, living in a hotel and all. We’ve got a inground pool in the back, but its mostly for guests, but since the front yard is the beach, I can’t really complain, y’know?”

“Ah, I’ve never seen a beach before…” Miyuki said thoughtfully. “I mean, I’ve seen pictures of them, but living in the city my entire life…The closest I’ve gotten to water is a pool. I’m hoping we get to go to beaches when we start travelling around and doing photoshoots!”

She led Seika to a large window covered by curtains, and swept the curtains open to reveal a large backyard with apparently nothing in it…Before three blurs flashed up towards the two girls and tackled Miyuki to the ground. A fully grown white tiger stood over Miyuki, licking her face as she giggled and tried to get him off, completely ignoring the razor sharp teeth inches from her head. Two, much smaller black jaguars nibbled playfully at her feet. She rolled around on the ground, wrestling with the tiger, then eventually got up, grinning and her hair completely messed up, holding one of the jaguars in each hand while they scratched and pawed at her. “The white tiger is Snow, and the two little girls are twins, Yui and Yuki! You can go ahead and touch Snow, he doesn’t bite! These two, on the other hand…” She put them down, and they immediately went to work on attacking her feet again, like how Spotty had done with Seika before.

seikapan:

takamiyu:

“Well, I don’t really see the point of tidying up,” Miyuki said dismissively. “Don’t you find that when you tidy stuff up, it’s sometimes harder to find what you want than when you just leave it lying around? At least that way, I know it’s somewhere…” She motioned in the general area of the mess that was her living room. “…around here.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it dedication…Well, maybe,” Miyuki said thoughtfully. “It’s more like I just want something to do other than homework, y’know?” As if on cue, Spotty darted back into the mess he had come crawling out of, and came out dragging what looked like a test sheet with a red mark on it that clearly said zero. Miyuki snatched the sheet away from the cub and crumpled it up.

“Yeah, you can pat him! And you don’t really have to whisper, as long as that one isn’t asleep her-“ A massive shape rose up from behind the kitchen counter and blinked lazily at Seika and Miyuki, then apparently not registering them as a threat, lay back down and disappeared behind the counter. Miyuki sighed and lowered her voice slightly, rolling her eyes. “That one’s a fully grown lion, Sasha. She’s really lazy and sleeps all the time, but she’s also the quietest and most sensible of them all! Must be her age, she’s getting old, I think.” A growl was heard from behind the kitchen counter as Miyuki mentioned the word ‘old’, and she poked her tongue out. “Sasha doesn’t like being reminded of her age, just like me,” she said, giggling. In the meantime, Spotty had apparently taken an interest in Seika’s shoes and was attacking them relentlessly.

Seika nodded, agreeing completely. “I hate when that happens! Its annoying when things just disappear like that…”

Seika laughed. “I’m not much a homework person either. I just hate learning useless stuff!” She politely ignored Spotty’s actions until he started batting her shoes.

"Hey! C’mon buddy, don’t do that!” Leaning down, she gently tried to pry him from her shoes and get him to behave by patting him gently.

Spotty responded to Seika’s actions by directing his assault from her shoes to her hand instead, viciously attacking it. Or as viciously as the cub who’s teeth weren’t sharp and who still hadn’t learnt to extend his claws could, which amounted to lots of batting with his paw and nibbling. Miyuki sighed and whistled, which was answered by a low rumble as Sasha rose again and padded over to where they were. Miyuki motioned at Spotty, and the lion responded by lifting the cheetah cub up by the scruff of the neck in her mouth, and carrying him away much to his protest.

Miyuki motioned for Seika to follow as the bizzare sight of the grown lion carrying the cheetah cub disappeared around the corner of the corridor. “Next is the backyard!”

seikapan:

“Yes! I met Yuuko there once! It was a few years ago, just before she succeeded, actually. The last Acchan was there too. I wasn’t a fan of 00 at the time though…”

Seika followed Miyuki in and kept her shoes on as told. “A-are you sure?” Her mother would have killed her if she left her shoes on! Seeing the state of Miyuki’s lounge, she giggled a bit. “You kinda remind me of a bachelor, living alone!”

She stopped when she noticed all the AKB stuff. “Wow! You’re really dedicated, huh? I guess you’re a bit like the Suzuko of our generation! I suppose thats normal though, being born here and all!”

Seika stifled a squeal as “Spotty” cam wandering out. She wasn’t sure if she was terrified, thinking of the other ‘things’ that might be roaming around, ready to eat her, or if she was about to have a heart attack from how cute the little guy was.

“Is it okay to pat him? Seika crouched on the floor and whispered, not wanting to startle him.

"Well, I don’t really see the point of tidying up,” Miyuki said dismissively. “Don’t you find that when you tidy stuff up, it’s sometimes harder to find what you want than when you just leave it lying around? At least that way, I know it’s somewhere…” She motioned in the general area of the mess that was her living room. “…around here.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it dedication…Well, maybe,” Miyuki said thoughtfully. “It’s more like I just want something to do other than homework, y'know?” As if on cue, Spotty darted back into the mess he had come crawling out of, and came out dragging what looked like a test sheet with a red mark on it that clearly said zero. Miyuki snatched the sheet away from the cub and crumpled it up.

“Yeah, you can pat him! And you don’t really have to whisper, as long as that one isn’t asleep her-" A massive shape rose up from behind the kitchen counter and blinked lazily at Seika and Miyuki, then apparently not registering them as a threat, lay back down and disappeared behind the counter. Miyuki sighed and lowered her voice slightly, rolling her eyes. "That one’s a fully grown lion, Sasha. She’s really lazy and sleeps all the time, but she’s also the quietest and most sensible of them all! Must be her age, she’s getting old, I think.” A growl was heard from behind the kitchen counter as Miyuki mentioned the word ‘old’, and she poked her tongue out. “Sasha doesn’t like being reminded of her age, just like me,” she said, giggling. In the meantime, Spotty had apparently taken an interest in Seika’s shoes and was attacking them relentlessly.

seikapan:

takamiyu:

She continued to skip forward, moving out from the busy, bustling city into one of the many neighbourhoods surrounding it. She chattered as she walked.

“Really? What’s your home like? I’ve never left Akibastar before, so I’m really interested in other planets!”

As she walked through the streets, her steps became much more familiar, and she moved eagerly as though something was pulling her. People walking by called out her name as she passed them, doing it quickly as the almost sprinted past. It seemed as though they were used to Miyuki’s high-paced, high-energy movements around the place, and many stepped aside almost subconsciously as she sped past, like they were expecting her to crash right into them - which she had done before, more often than not. She slowed down a bit to make sure Seika was keeping up, then stopped very abruptly beside a slightly worn-out looking lemonade stand. She put a hand on it softly, touching it as though it were family, then walked up the footpath next to the stand towards a large house. She stopped at the door, and looked at Seika apologetically. “Uh…I live here by myself, so it’s going to be very messy inside. I’m not telling you because I care about you seeing it’s messy, it’s just a…err, warning. If you feel anything moving underneath your feet, stand still and let it pass or it might bite you.”

“I live on Atamistar, so its practically all water. Theres a shining expanse of blue everywhere.” Seika sighed, missing home. “Its warm, naturally like, without a weather system like Akibastar’s, and I live right on the beach so theres a lot of people around. Theres huge hotels and stuff, but I don’t think our cities are as crowded as Akibastar. Its a bit… suffocating, here I guess.”

Seika tried to talk and she ran, keeping up with Miyuki (sort of). She was thankful when the girl slowed down for her. She glanced idly at the lemonade stand and laughed when the girl mentioned her messy household, but then was sort of frightened. “B-bite me? F-for real?”

"That’s awesome,” Miyuki said absentmindedly, imagining the scenery in her head. “I hope we get to go there sometime. Don’t 0048 sometimes go there for photoshoots? I hope I get to as well! I’ve never seen a beach before…”

Miyuki opened the door, revealing a (surprisingly) clean entrance. She indicated for Seika to leave her shoes at the door, then paused. “On second thought, keep ‘em on. They’ll protect you.”

She headed in by herself barefeet, disregarding her own warning, and opened the sliding door to reveal the living room area with a flourish. It was exactly as she had warned - a complete mess. Clothes were scattered all over the ground, dishes unceremoniously dumped in the sink without having been washed, and more clothes on the couch with barely any space to sit. The walls themselves were plastered with 0048 posters - an entire wall on the right-hand side of the wall had been dedicated to the original Mariko, and all the Marikos that had followed, including Tsubasa. Another wall was just assorted posters, with the last two walls covered with sheets of paper with what seemed like notes written on them. Miyuki gestured at that half of the room. “Those are all notes about the original members and how the performed, assorted over the years, as well as my own little opinions and stuff on their dancing and singing styles.”

She walked to the middle of the room and whistled. The clothes on the couched moved, and a pair of glowing, yellow eyes stared out. “Come on, Spotty! Say hi to the guest!”

A small cheetah cub slowly came out from under the clothes, eyeing Seika suspiciously before walking over to Miyuki. She bent down and scratched it behind the ears, and grinned at Seika.

“This is just one of ‘em. I have a habit of attracting cats…Big cats. And if you think the living room is a mess, wait till you see mine.”

seikapan:

takamiyu:

“Of course I’m aware of that risk!” Miyuki said, a steely glint in her eyes. “But I want to do it anyway! The Centre Nova phenomenon…I don’t care about all that! I’ll know that if I disappear, it will have been for a reason, just like when Acchan the 13th disappeared! Or Yuuko the 7th! Yuihan the 6th! Takamina the 4-“ Miyuki’s voice cracked, and a tear slowly slid down her face. Having lived on Akibastar her entire life, and having been to every 0048 concert that had been held there, she had personally witnessed all the Centre Nova been initiated and then disappear when the conditions had been met. It was heartbreaking to see it happen once live, but to see it happen multiple times…It had given Miyuki a steely reserve to chase that Centre Nova position, and to prove that she could hold it and not disappear in front of the fans.

Miyuki quickly wiped away the tear, and turned around, breathing in deeply…Then spun back to face Seika, and was all smiles again. “Yes, I live on Akibastar! I was born and raised her, and I’ve been to every 0048 concert that’s been held here!” She headed towards the door, glancing back to check if Seika was following her. “It’s not too far, about a 10 minute walk from here!”

Seika smiled. It was nice to see people get passionate about what they loved. Laughing as the girl got her bearings again, she followed.

"Good! I wouldn’t go if it were too far!” She poked her tongue out playfully. “Hey, do you go home often then? Being so close and all, it must be nice…” It made her nostalgic for her own home. “It must be nice not having to move. I’m still trying to familiarise myself with Akibastar. My home is so much different..”

She continued to skip forward, moving out from the busy, bustling city into one of the many neighbourhoods surrounding it. She chattered as she walked.

“Really? What’s your home like? I’ve never left Akibastar before, so I’m really interested in other planets!”

As she walked through the streets, her steps became much more familiar, and she moved eagerly as though something was pulling her. People walking by called out her name as she passed them, doing it quickly as the almost sprinted past. It seemed as though they were used to Miyuki’s high-paced, high-energy movements around the place, and many stepped aside almost subconsciously as she sped past, like they were expecting her to crash right into them - which she had done before, more often than not. She slowed down a bit to make sure Seika was keeping up, then stopped very abruptly beside a slightly worn-out looking lemonade stand. She put a hand on it softly, touching it as though it were family, then walked up the footpath next to the stand towards a large house. She stopped at the door, and looked at Seika apologetically. “Uh…I live here by myself, so it’s going to be very messy inside. I’m not telling you because I care about you seeing it’s messy, it’s just a…err, warning. If you feel anything moving underneath your feet, stand still and let it pass or it might bite you.”

seikapan:

takamiyu:

Miyuki’s mouth started watering again, this time for a different reason. “Mmm…Melon pan…Food…" She shook her head again and snapped out of her reverie. “B-but yeah, cute things are hard to resist, aren’t they?“

Miyuki giggled as Seika talked about her pets. “Mariko sure is a little devil, isn’t she? I’m glad my pets don’t eat each other!” Truthfully, it would’ve been a tad troubling if they did - Miyuki would definitely get in trouble from the zoo if their big cats started to eat each other at her house. They usually got along well, but that didn’t mean that Miyuki didn’t worry.

“Although talent is natural-born, hard work and dedication will trump it if the talent does not work hard,” Miyuki said dreamily, as though quoting from a book. “I heard that somewhere. That’s why I’m determined to work hard to succeed Jurina, and then become Center Nova!“

"Ah…” she glanced at the clock, then grinned. “We’ve still got time before afternoon practice! Do you want to come to my house and meet my…uhh, pets?“

Seika’s eyes widened. “I think… I get it?” The statement sounded cool, at least. “Eh! Center Nova? Aren’t you scared of disappearing though?“ She freaked out for a moment, before becoming more mellow. Yuuko-san did… and I watched the Battle of Akibastar… for a moment, it looked as though Chieri-san had disappeared too… but she showed up right after..”

“Ah, so you were born on Akibastar? Do you live close by?” Groaning, she flopped to the side lazily. “I don’t wanna walk too far…"

“Of course I’m aware of that risk!” Miyuki said, a steely glint in her eyes. “But I want to do it anyway! The Centre Nova phenomenon…I don’t care about all that! I’ll know that if I disappear, it will have been for a reason, just like when Acchan the 13th disappeared! Or Yuuko the 7th! Yuihan the 6th! Takamina the 4-” Miyuki’s voice cracked, and a tear slowly slid down her face. Having lived on Akibastar her entire life, and having been to every 0048 concert that had been held there, she had personally witnessed all the Centre Nova been initiated and then disappear when the conditions had been met. It was heartbreaking to see it happen once live, but to see it happen multiple times…It had given Miyuki a steely reserve to chase that Centre Nova position, and to prove that she could hold it and not disappear in front of the fans.

Miyuki quickly wiped away the tear, and turned around, breathing in deeply…Then spun back to face Seika, and was all smiles again. “Yes, I live on Akibastar! I was born and raised her, and I’ve been to every 0048 concert that’s been held here!” She headed towards the door, glancing back to check if Seika was following her. “It’s not too far, about a 10 minute walk from here!”

seikapan:

Seika laughed at the girls antics. “Cute things are hard to resist, huh? I gotta admit, I get like that when I see melon pan items~“ Her favourite food and it could be made into so many different items! “I have a whole bookcase full of melon pan stuff!”

Seika nodded. “The weather is nice here, but I prefer the bright sun and hot sand of home… I’ll get used to it though!“ Nodding again she continued on. “Uh-huh! We used to have goldfish too, named after 48 Group members, Tanochan and Milky… except Mariko ate them… well, we think, cuz they just kinda disappeared…”

“I will eventually. I’m already getting better! Just gotta work hard!” Seika’s eyes widened at all the clubs her senpai was in. “Yep! Anya was gorgeous! She’s so funny and cute! I really like how she can be so friendly and approachable to everyone - I think that takes a lot of courage!“

Seika laughed. “We’ll definitely get there! No doubt about it!”

Miyuki’s mouth started watering again, this time for a different reason. “Mmm…Melon pan…Food…” She shook her head again and snapped out of her reverie. “B-but yeah, cute things are hard to resist, aren’t they?”

Miyuki giggled as Seika talked about her pets. “Mariko sure is a little devil, isn’t she? I’m glad my pets don’t eat each other!” Truthfully, it would’ve been a tad troubling if they did - Miyuki would definitely get in trouble from the zoo if their big cats started to eat each other at her house. They usually got along well, but that didn’t mean that Miyuki didn’t worry.

“Although talent is natural-born, hard work and dedication will trump it if the talent does not work hard,” Miyuki said dreamily, as though quoting from a book. “I heard that somewhere. That’s why I’m determined to work hard to succeed Jurina, and then become Center Nova!”

“Ah…” she glanced at the clock, then grinned. “We’ve still got time before afternoon practice! Do you want to come to my house and meet my…uhh, pets?”

seikapan:

“Thats right! My parents own a beach side hotel, which is also where we live!” Seika blushed and giggled when Miyuki kissed her. “Are you going to become our generation’s ‘kiss monster’ then?“ She asked with a laugh.

"No no! I haven’t spoken to many people so I’m happy to talk! Well, I’m from Atamistar! I really miss the water! I have a cat! I named her Mariko, because she’s a bit of a devil. I really like big cats too; I think my favourites are snow leopards.”

“I’m not hugely active so the practice has been tough. But that just means I gotta work harder! I’ll get used to it eventually… right?” She sighed, somewhat gloomy. Being an idol looks so easy but it really isn’t! Continuing on she said, “Mmm, favourite members… Right now it’d be Paruru! I guess because we’re both kinda ‘my pace’ people. Ever? Thats easy! Murashige Anna! I want to succeed her! And I’ll do it, too!“ Most of the time, Seika was relatively carefree and ‘my pace’, but when it came to Aanya, she was fiercely determined. 

"Possibly,” Miyuki said, thoughtfully. She had never aimed to be a ‘kiss monster’ or anything, it’s just that when she got her hands on something cute…“I mean, I’m trying to hold back, but y'know…With all these cute girls running around here…” Her eyes sparkled and she started drooling a little out of the corner of her mouth, then blinked and wiped it away like nothing happened.

“Atamistar? Awesome! I love beaches and stuff! It’s too bad Akibastar has the weather control system…Just doesn’t feel the same on the beach, y'know?” Miyuki’s eyes lit up. “You named her Mariko? Yay! I should name my cats after AKB members too, I never thought of that! Although they’re never around for too long…After all, they usually escape from the zoo and come around to my house. Oh, did I mention I liked big cats? It seems like they like me too…Or there’s a stash of massive catnip somewhere in my house.” She laughed. “Either way, they make good guards for when I’m out! People think twice before robbing a house with a lion or two sitting on the front porch!”

“I’m sure you’ll get used to the routine!” Miyuki said cheerfully, while unconsciously going through the moves they had gone in practice on the spot, clearly not exhausted at all. “I’m already used to it! Ah, well…I was part of the soccer, basketball, athletic, tennis, and swimming teams in school…” She poked her tongue out. “Though they have nothing to do with dancing!” She continued dancing through the 'Flying Get’ routine, unaware of her own movements. “Paruru is great! Although my favourite right now has gotta be Yuko! I can relate to her drive for the top!” Miyuki pumped her fist enthusiastically. “Ah, Anya! She was half-Russian, wasn’t she? And her eyes were beautiful! My favourite of all time was Jurina! And I’ll be her first successor, just you watch!” Miyuki grinned at Seika. “The future Anya and Jurina! Here we go!”