Fangirl Invasion 2 – Chapter 2

Story Title: Fangirl Invasion 2
Chapter: 2
Author: tashiichaan
Type: Short Story
Genre: Crack fangirl humour, ENCORE XD
Length: Estimated 5 chapters
Chapter length: 1,958 words
Banner designed by: tashiichaan
Summary: The new year’s approaching, and Arashi is given a few days off to prepare themselves for the upcoming Johnny’s Countdown. However, as far as they’re concerned, their relaxing days are about to be interrupted by the return of three very, very familiar girls.
Comments: Here’s Chapter 2 as promised! I’m surprised at myself for having updated so quickly O_o For some reason I really went overboard and wrote nearly 2,000 words >_< And yes PAIRU-CHAN YOU WILL BE HAPPYYYYYYYY.
Side note: I only know that Keikarou restaurant’s in Chiba; I don’t really know which district it’s in, so I picked a random district off of a map xD Keikarou’s Hanamigawa district! in I also don’t know how Aiba’s brother looks like, so the character and appearance are all pure fiction!

To understand the conversations better:
English words that are italicised - are spoken in English
Japanese words that are italicised - are Japanese words spoken in Japanese (durrr lool xD)
Normal English words – are spoken in Japanese

Dictionary Corner:
kochira – over here
O-hisashiburi – Long time no see
oniichan – affectionate title for an elder brother
baka – idiot
itai yo - it hurts!
“Hajimemashite, Aiba no otoutou! Dozo yoroshiku, ne?” – “Nice to meet you, Aiba’s younger brother! Please take care of me, ne?”
Dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu – A more polite version of “Please take care of me“
Uso – in the same context as “No way!”
Uso nai yo – something like “Yes way!”

- – - – - -

Fangirl Invasion 2
Chapter Two

In the middle of an uptown Hanamigawa district road, in front of a single-storey restaurant of clean white walls, two young girls stood rooted to the ground. Their jaws were dropped and not a word exchanged between the two of them, seeming as if completely mesmerised by the huge signboard above them:

桂花楼.

Hardly containing her excitement and her enlarged eyes not leaving the signboard, Tashii yanked onto Pairu’s jacket urgently and whispered, “Pairu-chan, we’re here; WE’RE HERE!”

As if in stubborn disbelief, Pairu checked the map in her hand repeatedly. “Kei…ka…rou… ne, Tashii-chan, are you sure this is the place? You know I’m horrible at kanji…”

Tashii tore her eyes away from the signboard and glared madly at Pairu. “We’ve asked four different people for directions and they all said the restaurant’s right here!” she exclaimed, pointing at the entrance.

Just then, a group of designer clothes-clad women passed by the duo and positively charged into the restaurant. They didn’t even bat an eyelid at the girls standing oddly at the front without entering the restaurant. Fuelled by those fangirls’ fierce enthusiasm, Tashii grabbed Pairu’s shoulders and shook her in mock desperation.

“Come ON, Aiba-chan could be mobbed by those fangirls if we don’t go in now!” she said shrilly. She was incredibly exasperated by her friend’s delay, now that their ticket to meeting Aiba was just six steps from them. She glanced through the wide windows into the interior and narrowed her cold eyes at the majority of female customers inside.

Pairu still wasn’t convinced. She cast her sceptical eyes at Tashii. “It’s just… we might not even meet Aiba, you know? He’s most likely still in Tokyo or wha-”

“You’re just upset because Reiji-chan managed to stalk Matsumoto, I found Aiba-chan, but you don’t get to meet your Sho-chan,” Tashii bit back evilly. Her eyes practically burned with the message, ‘I can read your miiiiiind’.

Stung by Tashii’s accusation, Pairu crossed her arms and pouted, definitely not admitting that her friend had hit a sensitive spot. To think about it – as soon as Pairu’s uncle offered tickets to the Johnny’s Countdown at Tokyo Dome, Pairu had packed her stuff, called up her friends (both across the continents) and boarded a direct plane to Narita Airport – all in just a day – with only one thing on her mind: to meet Sakurai Sho again.

At Pairu’s silence, Tashii’s face broke into a happy smile and she cheerfully took Pairu’s arm. “C’mon, Aiba-chan’s waiting for us!”

They crossed the threshold and pushed the entrance door open, only to be slapped with loud, high-pitched chatters and sickeningly-sweet giggles. Almost every table was occupied with females, all prettied and dolled up and scanning every single centimetre square of the dining area for their idol.

A waitress tended to the two hesitant girls right away. “How many of you are dining here?” she asked politely.

“Err… just us,” Pairu told her anxiously.

Tashii was gripping Pairu’s arm in a bone-cracking hug nervously. The waitress nodded slowly with an understanding, sympathetic smile at Tashii. “Right, I’ll lead you to your table then,” the waitress said, and gestured them to a table all the way at the back of the crowded dining area, positioned right beside the kitchen door.

Aside from the flurry of waiters constantly rushing through the door (which would mean no privacy), the table was almost hidden from the sight of the rest of the restaurant, blocked by the towering trolley of cutlery and stacks of plates and bowls.

“We’ve a special lunch set today,” the waitress piped once Tashii and Pairu awkwardly took their seats, and handed them the menus, “Spicy beef noodle. Cooked by our special chef today.”

Tashii tried hard to fight off the urge to ask the waitress about Aiba. As she debated with herself, Pairu seemed to read her mind and gave her a behave-yourself glare, and Tashii returned to her menu with disappointment. She casually opened the menu, but immediately went starry-eyed at the Japanese words. Need she mention she almost failed her Japanese theory test?

Pairu raised an eyebrow at her friend, knowing how much Tashii would faint at the sight of kanji characters. As if on cue, Tashii frantically searched for Pairu above her menu and whispered to her as if the waitress on standby wouldn’t notice.

“Psst, Pairu-chan, should we just get the beef noodle? I, er, can’t read anything here…”

Pairu nodded, frowning at Tashii’s wrecking nerves and the odd smile on her face. She ordered two sets of the spicy beef noodle as professionally as could (even though she was speaking Japanese with a peculiar accent). The waitress took back the menus and scooted off.

“What would I do in Tokyo without you…” Tashii said with honest gratitude, dramatised by her shining eyes.

“You know very well you can survive on your own. You’re just scared of those hentai old men on the streets,” Pairu retorted back, sipping her green tea with ease.

A waiter, with his hands laden with dirty plates and bowls, passed by their table and swung himself into the kitchen. In his haste he forgot to close the door, and a pungent odour of oil and the surge of heat from the kitchen immediately hung in the air around Tashii and Pairu’s table.

“Bloody hell,” Tashii cursed under her breath, “Pairu, close the door before we start smelling like deep-fried fish!”

Pairu’s chair was right beside the door, and hence she obliged and got up. She was about to fling the door close when she suddenly stopped in her tracks, her wide eyes fixed onto a target in the kitchens.

There, by the glimmering silver counters beside the stove, was Aiba Masaki, chopping carrots deftly with a sharp knife. He was saying something amusing to a chef beside him and then he threw his head back in laughter. Such a lovely sight.

“Pairu! What the hell are you doing?!” Tashii whined from behind her.

“T…Tashii… you will not freaking believe this…” Pairu squeaked, pointing a slim finger inside.

In annoyance, Tashii leaned sideways and peered into the kitchens. She followed Pairu’s finger and as soon as her eyes fell on Aiba, she gasped aloud.

“Ai-ai-ai-ai-ai-ai-ai-ai…” Tashii stammered, the very name completely lost on her tongue. She gulped down an escaping breath of anxiety as Pairu turned to her.

“Should we call him out?” she asked, excitement clearly written in her face.

Tashii didn’t reply Pairu, but in response she glanced around secretively to check if the coast was clear (or if they weren’t in any of the fangirls’ scrutinising radar), and stuck her head out and called out, “Aiba! Aiba-san, kochira!”

Aiba looked up from his chopping board in confusion and searched around for the voice calling his name. His eyes fell on the two girls popping their heads out of the doorframe of the kitchen entrance, and his face lit up. A grin broke onto his face.

“Aaah, Tashii-chan, Pairu-chan!” he cried out. He put down his knife and muttered something to the neighbouring chef before crossing over to the girls. He squatted down on the floor to hide from any angle of viewing and squealed, “O-hisashiburi! You… back Tokyo?”

Tashii giggled at Aiba’s confident attempt at English and in amusement she squatted down in front of Aiba. “Hai! We’ve come to visit Aiba-chan in his family’s restaurant!”

Aiba marvelled at the improvement in Tashii’s Japanese (Tashii hadn’t mentioned the fact that she’d been taking insane intensive classes for months), and they both chatted so happily among themselves. that they were unaware of the incredulous stares they got from waiters passing by. It wasn’t everyday that Aiba was so friendly with a fangirl, and squatted down at the most unlikeliest place was definitely out of ordinary. Pairu could only bow at them apologetically.

“Ne, why don’t the both of you eat at the back of the restaurant?” Aiba suggested, a dancing gleam in his eyes, “I’ll cook your beef noodles!”

“Aaaaah, my lunch cooked by Aiba-chan!” Tashii squealed in an unordinary high-pitched tone, seeming on the verge of fainting. She turned to Pairu with the widest smile ever and begged, “How about that, Pairu?”

Pairu couldn’t resist returning a very happy-doodle-fangirl smile, and nodded her answer vigorously. Aiba called his younger brother, Yusuke, who was by the station of pots of soup, and told him to guide Tashii and Pairu to the back.

“You’re oniichan’s friends… right?” Yusuke eyed them warily.

Aiba playfully smacked the back of Yusuke’s head. “Of course, you baka! Asking a silly question when you already know the answer!”

“Oniichan, itai yo! I don’t know, so I asked!”

The two brothers glared at each other, but it was obvious that they had a strong brotherly love between them. They had a strong resemblance to each other: both were tall and lanky, with the same round, childish eyes and relaxed smile playing on their lips. They both wore similar chef outfit and hat, and with a glimpse one would think they were twins.

Tashii couldn’t help but walk up to Yusuke and held out her hand. “Hajimemashite, Aiba no otoutou! Dozo yoroshiku, ne?”

Pairu elbowed Tashii in the ribs, who groaned loudly and doubled over in pain. Pairu did that in the objective of ridding Tashii of her fangirl excitement before Aiba’s brother decided they’d be kicked out. In Tashii’s defeat Pairu bowed to Yusuke and said politely, “Dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu, Yusuke-san. Please lead the way.”

Waving to Aiba who’d gone back to his station, the girls got their bags and followed Yusuke through the busy kitchen. Along the way they kept asking Yusuke all sorts of questions, to which Yusuke replied willingly now that he’d warmed up to them. They followed him through the locker room, and reached a decently-decorated dining room. At one side of the table in the middle, loudly slurping his noodles and reading the newspaper with a taut face, sat Sakurai Sho.

“Aah! Sho-chan!” Tashii yelled out in surprise.

In puzzlement Sho looked up from the newspaper, a bundle of noodles dangling from his mouth sloppily. He looked from a shrugging Yusuke who retreated quickly, a waving Tashii and a stunned Pairu by the doorway, and his eyes widened.

“Uso!” he cried out, once he swallowed the noodles.

“Uso nai yo!” Tashii refuted, followed by a giggle. She ran over and sat herself on a chair beside Sho. “I hope you don’t mind us meeting you again.”

“No, no!” Sho said loudly, his face contorting into a friendly smile. He gestured Pairu, who was still frozen by the door, to another chair beside him. “Sit down, please! Why have you returned to Japan?”

At Sho’s question, Tashii nudged Pairu playfully with a knowing wink. Nervously, Pairu coughed and stuttered, “We… we’re here for the Johnny’s Countdown.”

“Pairu’s uncle got us tickets!” Tashii squealed, as Sho poured them tea, “Pairu’s been dying to meet Sho-chan, ne Pairu-chan?”

Pairu didn’t return Tashii’s mischievous smirk, because she had choked on the green tea she was drinking at that remark. Sho himself couldn’t resist a smirk, and Pairu blushed furiously and distracted herself with more tea.

“Haiii, two spicy beef noodles coming up!” Aiba’s rang out brightly as he flailed into the dining room, the two enormous bowls on the tray he carried tipping dangerously.

“Be careful with those noodles!” Sho warned.

“Aaaah, Sho-chan, don’t be so mean in front of these girls! They flew all the way here to see us and Sho-chan’s already scolding me!” Aiba complained, setting the bowls in front of the girls. Tashii and Pairu exchanged grins as they dug into their noodles, listening intently to the argument ensued between Aiba and Sho.

- – - – - -