Mendol - Ikemen Idol!

Chapter 36

author's note: AND WE ARE DONE. This chapter really just wraps things up... not very satisfactorily. MWAHAHA. It's actually been sitting on my harddrive for a while, I just forgot about this for a bit and decided to read a bit from the Portal fandom for a bit. My bad. Enjoy, guys!

Ushijima had gone into hiding, apparently. Saeko had told them she had gone to see him before he left and he had just been... sad. He hadn't really ever wanted to be a Yakuza, Usshi was just really good at it and decided to go with it since there wasn't anything else he had wanted to do. Now all the other Yakuza heads wanted to find him and make him pay through his skin for his betrayal. Saeko had been worried for her ex-bandmate... but Usshi had just accepted it with a shrug. Sarukawa had completely destroyed the only thing Ushijima had ever loved and it had devastated the once talented drummer. Nothing else that could happen to him would ever compare to the loss Ushijima felt when he thought of his Animal Crush days..

He told Saeko he had seen Persona on-stage, watched them on TV and seen how the boys shone. And the Yakuza had wept, remembering how he had once been on stage, bathed in light and had been HAPPY. Saeko had watched her old friend leave, promising this would be the last she'd hear from him. She had been sad to see him go.

The president of Kamonohashi Talent Agency had also been diluged with a mass of mail from fans when Persona had left and now, postal services were just FLOODING their house with fan mail after hearing about what they had done in helping the police in uncovering a weapons-smuggling ring that ended up with several high-level politicians being arrested. Persona had become household names and were idols in every sense of the word. From a money-making point of view, it was stupid to hide their talents from the public eye. But Saeko had always watched out for the boys and right now it was best for them to not be talking to interviewers and let the management feed the press the news they were hungry for.

While Kamonohashi Talent Agency were busy worrying about and discussing the future of Persona, the three girls who had been masquerading as Persona were lying low.

"School is boring." Nami whined. Returning to a normal life meant having to return home and to school and part-time jobs. School was quite easy, as Saeko had made sure when they weren't doing idol-things, they were doing school work. With Saeko hovering around with a whip and Marilyn patiently helping them out with work they didn't understand, they found that going back to regular school was quite easy.

But by no means were things the same as before they went into the idol world. Nami was now sort of trying out dating with Ray and would quite often sneak away from school during lunch to meet up with the songstress.

Today, Nami had sneaked out to have lunch with Ray in a park and they were now sitting there behind some bushes away from prying eyes, Nami dutifully eating the lunch Ray had made for her. The food had gotten slightly better after Nami had printed out some recipes of easy things to make with detailed instructions. Ray didn't quite get the taste right and everything was a little bland... but it was better than surprisingly disgusting like Ray's other concoctions or nauseously revolting that required Nami to be holed up in the nurse's office after lunch.

"But you need to go." Ray speared an oddly coloured cauliflower and fed it to Nami, grinning when the girl chomped down on it. Even though the food had gotten a BIT better, Nami still got some nasty surprises some times and she made a face as an explosion of bitterness coated her mouth. Nami tried to smooth her expression down but Ray noticed and frowned.

"Is something wrong?"

"Just... it's..." Nami gulped the horrible tasting cauliflower down and lied through her teeth. "Delicious."

"Oh! I'll make more!" Ray promised, missing the look of terror on Nami's face.

"You know, next week if you have time for lunch, I'll make lunch." Nami tried another approach with this, learning to side-step saying really hurtful things. And despite how bad the food was some times, Nami never discouraged Ray from cooking because Ray really did put her heart into it for Nami... and that made the smaller woman quite happy.

"Would you?" Ray put down the bento and chopsticks she had to thread her fingers in Nami's. Usually, public displays of affection were a big no. For Ray it was because she was still the number one FEMALE artist in Japan (Ray insisted that Persona counted as a group so Ray was still number one) and knew that Nami really cared for Ray's career though Ray really couldn't give a rat's ass who knew. It was also because Nami wasn't into PDAs at all. Hand-holding, however, was acceptable.

"Yeah." Nami grinned, squeezing Ray's hand. It had been hard to accept that Ray really cared about her but now she was getting used to the concept, liking the fact that Ray messaged her all the time, called her all the time, wanted to see her all the time and told Nami she loved her all the time. Nami wasn't quite there yet, but she found that she did care about Ray a lot, too.

And Nami really, really liked how Ray's hand fit so perfectly in her own.

They had only been really seeing each other for a couple of weeks, but Nami had to admit she had fallen for the tall songstress a little bit, charmed by her sincerity and this kinder Ray Nami had always known was there, hiding behind the persona of Ray the Diva. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, though, as both had issues they had to work on, especially Nami. Sometimes, Nami was worried that Ray liked the BOY named Kai. Some times Nami worried about that quite a lot, actually. It was a legitimate worry when Ray seemed rather odd whenever Nami would wear her blonde wig and don her Kai disguise to go on really public dates with Ray where they might be recognized. It got to the point where Nami actually confronted Ray about it.

The songstress had honestly told Nami that her problem was that now that she'd been with Nami so long, she really preferred Nami in her real identity. Ray actually didn't like going out with 'Kai' because she'd gotten it into her head that now that Ray officially knew about Kai's real identity, she stubbornly wanted to hang out with the real Nami. To the Diva, it felt like Nami was ashamed to be with Ray in her real identity and Ray liked the real Nami infinitely more than the Kai persona.

That had been such an adorable answer, Nami had been struck completely speechless. And that had been the SECOND time Nami had initiated a kiss. It was a quick peck on the lips, but it wiped away the Diva's pout at that time and put a smile on her face for the rest of the week.

"So will you ever invite me to your house?" Ray brought up a subject that was a topic of contention in between them. Ray didn't want to push... but she just wanted to know if Nami was going to keep her a secret and not tell her parents. Which was fine and all... but Ray knew that even though Nami didn't really get along with her mother and liked her away time from her family a lot more than their together time, the Kawachi family was still important to Nami.

A small blurr suddenly burst through the foliage. "YEAH! When will you bring her home?"

"AGH!" Nami screamed in shock as Miho clung to her demandingly. The little girl had followed her older sister. She had seen Nami sneaking out a few times before and this time had decided to follow her sister.

"Miho!" Ray was pleasantly surprised and allowed the young girl to jump up and barrel into her arms. "How are you?"

"I miss you!" Miho said bluntly, looking up at the beautiful songstress. "Your new CD is going to be awesome! When will you do a duet with Persona?"

"Persona's taking a break, remember?" Nami scowled at her little sister and dragged the girl away from the tall Diva. "Leave Ray alone. You're bothering her."

"It's fine." Ray held open her arms and Miho scrambled in to them again. If the little girl had a tail, she would be wagging it profusedly. "I missed Miho! Where's your older sister?"

"She's eating lunch with her boyfriendddddd..." Miho grinned, looking over at Nami. Nami was trying hard not to freak out at the mention of 'boyfriend'. Being home for a while, the oldest Kawachi girl had found out that Erena WAS dating the guy in the Judo club (Nami had done some snooping and found out his name was Yuma) and Nami was NOT cool with that.

"Nami, relax. Erena'll be fine." Ray soothed. "Come on, lets finish eating."

"FOOD!" Miho's joyful cry sent Nami on the alert and made her forget briefly about this Yuma guy. The youngest Kawachi was eyeing Ray's cooking hungrily but before she could even come close, Nami had grabbed the bento box and eaten everything in it. She would sacrifice herself to protect Miho's health and Ray's pride! Because Nami knew for sure if Miho had gotten a taste of Ray's food, regardless of it was impolite or not, Miho would spit it out in front of the creator of the meal and declare it unedible.

"AW!" Miho pouted as her sister ate down every last bite. "I'm hungry, too."

"We'll *urp* get you some... Yoshinoya." Nami promised while repeating the 'don't barf' mantra to herself. She HAD to start making lunch. Ray's lunches were just, unfortunately, not meant for human consumption! From previous experience, Nami knew that horrible abdominal pains would be setting in in around ten minutes...

"Well, look what I found." The three looked up at the newcomer and while one of them frowned, two were delighted.

"MAEDA ATSUKO!" Miho's voice was so high, it was barely audible as she looked up at Maeda in awe.

"Acchan, you made it!" Nami grinned up at her friend.

Atsuko smiled at her friend and sat down carefully on the spread out blanket, managing a small nod in Ray's direction.

"Ray."

"Maeda." Ray gave the actress a weak smile. Atsuko and Ray would never really get along on their own if it weren't for Nami, but Ray was trying. When Nami had gotten a text the day before saying Atsuko would be in the area and was on a very rare break... Nami had been hanging out with Ray at the songstress' apartment and the look on Nami's face had prompted Ray to urge Nami to invite Atsuko to their little lunch date no matter how much Ray was against it. Happy Nami was something Ray liked more than Sad Nami.

"And who's this?" Atsuko smiled warmly at the starstruck Miho. The little girl's mouth opening and closing, but no words were coming out.

"This is Miho." Nami tsked at Miho's glassy-eyed stare. "She's a big fan of yours. It'll take a little bit for her to recover, but with both you and Ray here, it'll take her a while."

Ray hugged Miho to her possessively when it seemed like Maeda wanted to talk to the young girl. Atsuko already had Nami's full attention, she can't have Miho's too!

"Didn't think you'd come!" Nami shifted over so that Atsuko could sit closer to her, unaware and too happy that Atsuko was here to notice that her girlfriend was less than happy. "What did you bring?"

"A couple of sandwiches in case people were still hungry." Atsuko brandished her canvas lunch bag and smirked when she saw the empty bento box. Nami told her everything and Atsuko knew that Ray's cooking was poisonous. She had hoped to get here before Nami started eating so the poor girl could have some edible food... but it seemed she had been too late.

"Could I have a sandwich?" Miho, at the mention of food was in front of Atsuko, salivitating. Maeda let Miho choose whichever sandwich she wanted first, immediately earning Miho's undying love and adoration.

"I love you!" Miho's eyes shone with happiness as she wolfed down her food.

'Is she trying to steal Miho, too?' Ray couldn't keep that uncharitable thought from her mind, watching Maeda rub Miho's head fondly. The songstress' eyes narrowed as Atsuko passed Nami a 'special drink she had made'.

"Special?" Nami really didn't feel like drinking the clear, greenish concoction in the bottle. She was starting to feel slightly ill and anything else would really tip her over the edge. Nami knew that she was just a very short ways away from puking everything up.

"Special." Atsuko looked at Nami pointedly. She had actually made a drink that consisted of gingerale, aloe vera, honey and a tiny bit of sea salt. It was a good alternative to the medicine Nami said she had to take after one of Ray's meals and Atsuko hoped it would help Nami with her tummy aches.

"Oh man. This is good." Nami's eyes widened in pleasure as she took a tentative sip. The drink was miraculously irradicating any weird feelings she had in her tummy! She was feeling a whole lot better! AND she was able to feel her tongue again!

"Drink slowly." Atsuko clucked her tongue in disapproval as Nami started gulping down the miraculous beverage.

"What did you make?" Ray asked relunctantly. Seeing Nami gulp down the drink with such enthusiasm made her quite jealous and Ray was determined to steal the recipe so she could make it for Nami.

"I could show you." Atsuko offered, going out on a limb. Nami was chugging her drink and choked on it, almost spraying everybody but managing to turn her head just in time.

"Can I have some?" Miho disregarded Nami's choking, almost sitting in her older sister's lap. The young girl was eager to try something that her older sister thought was delicious!

"Miho," Nami growled disapprovingly but gave her sister the bottle so she could watch Atsuko and Ray's conversation. Nami was under no such illusion that Atsuko and Ray were anything more than relunctant acquaintances. Atsuko was wary of Ray and Nami now knew Atsuko could be quite jealous of Nami's girlfriend. Meanwhile, Ray was pretty transparent about how much she disliked Atsuko. To give the Diva some credit, Ray was really trying to accept the fact that Nami was not going to drop Atsuko as a friend and Ray had grudgingly accepted Nami's insistence that Atsuko and her were just friends.

"We could have," Atsuko had to draw from her talent as an actress to force a friendly smile on her face. "A girls' night. I could show you some recipes that Nami just loves! She always tries to come over to eat!"

Ray narrowed her eyes and glanced over at her short girlfriend, who froze under that furious look. Why the hell was Atsuko acting as if she knew INTIMATELY what Nami wanted to eat? They had only had several meals together and usually they went out to a restaurant to eat! RAY WAS GOING TO *DO THINGS* TO HER LATER BECAUSE OF THIS!

"Atsuko-"

"Nami, how's your drink?" Atsuko cut off whatever her friend was saying.

"Uh." Nami blinked, caught off guard. "It's delicious."
"How delicious?" Atsuko asked, sounding a bit like she was flirting. The actress' tone of voice went completely over Nami's head but Ray caught on to the subtle pout in Atsuko's lips and narrowed her eyes.

"Very delicious!" Nami chirped back automatically as Atsuko patted Nami's head in a fond manner. Miho sat there quietly sipping at the drink, trying not to grin at how Atsuko was manipulating her sister and Ray so transparently, yet neither noticed. Why she was doing it, Miho didn't know, but Atsuko was to be admired!

"Lets have... a girls' night. Lets find a day that we're both free." Ray gritted out. Atsuko's self-satisfied smile made Ray think that she had just fallen into a trap, but Ray didn't really care. If she could make Nami smile like she does at just a sip of Atsuko's drink, Ray would be very happy. In her mind, anything Atsuko could do, Ray had to be able to do and do it even BETTER. After Ray had ironed out a day with Atsuko and turned to busy herself with Nami, Miho shuffled over to Atsuko's side.

"Nice one." Miho grinned up at the actress.

"I don't know what you mean." Atsuko's half-smile, though, and the fact that she gave Miho a high-five told the young girl that Atsuko knew EXACTLY what she meant. Maeda Atsuko was not going to allow Nami to eat Ray's subpar food and Nami's inability to tell Ray that her food was horrible would kill her friend. So Atsuko was just going to have to break the truth to Ray and then teach the popular songstress how to cook.

"How long are you going to be depressed for?" Asahi frowned at a down and out Jiro. Long story short, he had gotten nominated for a Pulitzer, but hadn't managed to win. That had sent him down into the dumps.

"Until I get my Pulitzer and marry you." Jiro groaned.

"I told you I'm not going to marry you." Asahi rolled her eyes and continued to study. Honestly! She was letting him hang around to cheer him up and he was just being a stick in the mud!

"She's going to marry ME!" Yuko crowed from the bed. The three were in Asahi's room, Jiro refusing to leave as long as Yuko was there and Yuko was taking a day to just hang out with Asahi. Asahi had come home to this 'surprise' and had insisted that she needed to study. So instead of a date, Yuko had decided to catch up on rest in Asahi's room.

A knock on Asahi's door brought Asahi's mother and a quick end to anything Jiro would've said in retort.

"I brought you three, drinks!" Mama Wakamatsu came in with a tray of juice and cookies.

"Thanks, mama!" Asahi grinned up at her mother as Yuko scrambled out of bed to sit at Asahi's low table, thanking Mama for the snacks. Jiro perked up too, remembering Mama Wakamatsu always made her cookies from scratch.

"These are just as good as I remember to me!" Jiro took a large bite.

"These are really really good cookies!" Yuko agreed, forgetting about her rivalry with Jiro in the face of food. "Thanks, mama!"

"You can't call her mama!" Jiro sat up, upset. "You're not her daughter!"
"I'm her daughter IN LAW." Yuko crowed, reaching for a drink.

"Are not." Asahi snapped.

"See?" Jiro smacked the table in triumph. "I'm going to marry Asahi in the future and-"

"No. That's not going to happen either." Asahi cut off her childhood friend. She was getting a headache. "Both of you, shut up. I have to study."

"Don't disturb her too much, or both of you have to leave." Mama Wakamatsu warned. She liked Asahi's suitors, but Asahi had to concentrate on school! "Just because she's made a lot of money from this Persona thing doesn't mean she can slack in school-"

"You mean NO money." Asahi scoffed. It had been fun but there hadn't really been any money from this little escapade. She didn't regret a thing, though.

"No. There is." Mama Wakamatsu started listing off things Asahi had done. "TV appearances, commercials, your singles, that 'Three Sisters' story arc you did-"

"What?" Asahi frowned. "We got nothing for that-"

"Did you check and ask your manager?" Mama Wakamatsu folded her arms and looked down at her child, shaking her head. "Or did you just assume?"

"Um..."

"Your manager had opened accounts for all of you and was depositing money in them for you." Mama Wakamatsu sighed and shook her head. Really, if Asahi had had a different manager, she would've gotten so taken advantage of! "I have them in trust."

"What?" Asahi's mouth gaped open. "How much do I have?"

Mama Wakamatsu ball-parked it from her last look at the account balance. The sheer amount of money stunned Asahi and Jiro, but Mama had gotten used to it and Yuko knew that if you were hard-working, this kind of money was easy to get.

"I should really switch over to Kamonohashi Agency if they helped you guys get that much." Yuko mused out loud. "But then Ohori-shachou would come after me."

Asahi wasn't listening as she was on her phone emailing her friends.

Did you two know that shachou put aside A LOT of money for us?

Nami's reply was quick. How much?

Asahi sent the reply and waited, meanwhile, Hinata had mailed back.

Yes. Hinata just took a little money out and treated herself to a new dress! And Hinata saw her prince again! he said he was going away... I'm sad.

Asahi jumped a bit when she heard her phone ring.

"Hello?"

"HOW MUCH MONEY?" Nami was hyperventilaing. "You're not joking, right? Are you joking?"

"I'm not joking." Asahi shook her head, not realizing that Nami probably couldn't see her.

"That's probably more than what my ma and da make in a year, COMBINED!" Nami weezed. "This is great! How'd you find out?"

"I asked my mom-"

"MA!" Nami was no longer listening to Asahi. "MA! Did Saeko-shachou put some money aside for me?"

"Stop yelling, Nami!" Ma's voice was faraway on the phone, like she was in another room. "Yeah she did!"

"MA, HOW MUCH DO I HAVE?"

There was a click and Nami was gone. Asahi just shook her head ruefully and put her phone back on the table, going back to her work and her mother finally left the room to finish up on her chores. Looking at her homework again, she let out a weary sigh. She still had to do this work. Boo. Yuko was watching the long-haired woman and scrambled over, hugging Asahi and giving the girl a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"You can do it, Nyan-Nyan!" Yuko encouraged, her dimply smile was so adorable, it sent a burst of energy into Asahi.

"Get off." Asahi grumped, blushing, went back to her work. Yuko threw Jiro a thriumphant smile as the blonde boy glowered at Yuko. The two had been having a silent competition on who could get more approval from Asahi. Jiro had started it first by helping Asahi with a particularly difficult math problem. Then Yuko had given Asahi a backrub. Then Jiro had made Asahi laugh. And now, it was another point for Yuko for getting Asahi to relunctantly accept the kiss and blush.

"I know what you two are doing and I am so kicking the both of you out if you keep this up." Asahi declared, not looking up from her work. Sheepishly, the two combatants withdrew, silently agreeing to a cease-fire until Asahi was in a more amiable mood.

Mariko smiled at the strange lolita watching her, again. The model had been filming a commercial in Shibuya and this girl had followed her around, in the crowd of onlookers at the perimeters of the set. Of all the people following the film crew around and snapping phone pics, this girl stood out for Mariko somehow and seemed really familiar... but where had the model seen this girl before? Normally, Mariko might be a bit creeped out but this person seemed kind of familiar to her and really, the tall model had a weakness for cute young girls.

'Not that I'm like Yuko the big Gaymo.' Mariko consoled herself. Speaking of which... Mariko took out her cellphone and pressed the button that speed-dialed to Yuko.

"I don't wanna talk to you, you say discouraging things." was the first thing Yuko said to Mariko. The short-haired model can imagine the dimply-woman pouting.

"Because you need to hear them. If you are seriously out on a date with a girl, there will be consequences." Mariko warned. This was for the stupid fool's own good!

"I'm not out on a date."

"Well, that's good-" Mariko relaxed a little bit.

"We're at her house!" Yuko chirped.

Mariko slapped her hand to her face. She was going to have a heart-attack. She didn't want a scandal to hit and then have to work with someone new. Mariko liked having Yuko around!

"Who are you talking to?" The mystery lady's voice was heard in the background.

"Nyan-Nyan, Mariko's being mean to me!" Yuko whined, sounding faraway also, now.

"Yuko? YUKO! Don't you dare hang up on me-"

"Hello?" Yuko's 'Nyan-Nyan' answered the phone. "Is this Mariko?"

"Yes." Mariko sighed. She could hear Yuko in the background fighting with someone over cookies or something.

"I'm sorry, I didn't meant to cause you two to fight, Yuko just dropped by unannounced." Nyan-Nyan apologized. "I would kick her out if I could, but she has this weird idea that we're going to get married and I can't get rid of her!"

"Cold, Nyan-Nyan! You know you love meee-"

"GET AWAYYYYYY-"

Mariko just smacked one hand across her forehead as she heard screeching in the background and a third, unknown voice protesting Yuko and her Nyan-Nyan's closeness.

"Mariko," Nyan-Nyan was back on the phone. "Mariko, can you please come get her later?"

"I'm done here soon." Mariko rubbed the bridge of her nose. She felt like she was talking to this Nyan-Nyan about an unruly child. "I'll swing by, Nyan-Nyan-san and get my friend. Sorry to have troubled you."

"It's no problem. And my name's Asahi." Asahi corrected politely. She didn't need another person calling her by that ridiculous nickname.

"Well, Asahi-san, please mail me your address and I'll be there soon." Mariko said her good-byes and hung up. There wasn't much else to do besides wait as the set people tried to figure out the lighting in the next scene.

"Mariko-sama," A timid production assistant came up to her with a bottle of calpis soda. "I got you your calpis soda."

"Thank you." Mariko said graciously and twisted off the cap. Taking a large gulp, she immediately spat it all out, choking on the unbelievably salty beverage. The PA was freaking out, apologizing and not knowing why Mariko was sputtering on her drink.

"Who-" Mariko's ears caught a low, evil chuckle and her eyes shot over to the lolita that had been watching her. The cutely-dressed girl gave a jaunty wave and then skipped off.

'No... It can't be...' Mariko dabbed at her mouth with a tissue that was provided to her, pulling up a face from her bank of memories and putting it next to the girl who had spiked her drink. But the similarities were there... what the hell... Mind racing, Mariko was called back to the set and finished filming her scenes quickly. She had to get to Asahi's place, get Yuko and investigate this!

Mariko was driven to Yuko's... 'friend's place. Ringing the doorbell brought a young boy to the door.

"Riku?" Mariko blinked, surprised. Persona had been had gone missing after their very last performance on stage. It had been at least a month and Mariko missed seeing the three boys on TV all the time. Their unknowing humour and naïveté when they did interviews, or communicated with each other had been a source of amusement for Mariko.

"Uh..." The boy, at second glance, was not Riku but looked like someone who could be related to the idol. "Uh... Mariko-sama?"

"Yes." Mariko nodded, suddenly at a loss. Was she at the wrong house? "Um... is... does Asahi live here?"

"Yeah." The boy nodded, his face breaking into a bashful grin. "Um... are you Mariko-sama?"

Mariko smiled down at the boy, retreating back into her role as a celebrity.

"Yes, I am. Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine!" The boy blurted out, flushing completely red. "Come in, come in!"

The boy, introducing himself as Kouhei, lead the way up the stairs while gushing about how much he loved her most recent appearance in such-and-such magazine. Knocking once very quickly on Asahi's door while simultaneously throwing it open, Mariko was treated to a sight.

There was Asahi, laying on the floor, pinned down by Yuko. A young man with oily blonde hair was trying to pull Yuko off and the lolita that Mariko had seen before was sitting on the bed, mid-laugh. Upon seeing Mariko, she pointed at the model and let out a little screech of outrage.

"Mariko, help me!" Asahi squealed from the floor.

"It's the old woman!" The lolita on the bed was still pointing at Mariko. "What the hell is she doing here?"

Mariko took a few minutes to process the scene... then her eyes narrowed.

"Riku." Mariko growled, pinning Asahi with a look. The woman in question froze. Then, the model turned to the girl in the frilly dress on the bed. "KUU."

"Wow, you saw right through their girly veneers!" Yuko applauded enthusiastically. Her applause slowed and died, though, when Mariko pinned her with a murderous look.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON." Mariko loomed ominously over all of them, resembling a demon out of the deepest parts of hell. Kouhei promptly retreated, closing the door behind him and locking the occupants of the room with a furious Mariko. Even though Hinata was cowering in fear along with everyone else, she looked up at Mariko triumphantly.

"How did that calpis taste?"

Mariko's roar shoke the entire house.

ENDNOTE: WE ARE DONNNNNEEEE! I know it leaves a lot of things hanging but your imaginations will fill in the blanks, right? RIGHT? Maybe I'm being a bit egotistical, but I've been seeing a lot of Miichan/Mariko pairing fanfics popping up...

Thank you to all you reviewers, I'm always unbelievably happy to see these reviews though I'm really bad at replying and I apologize for that. Really, without your reviews, I would've just languished and not really pushed myself to write. So I thank all of you once again and gian from S48 for reading over my work and letting me use him as a sounding board. If you're reading this, you're alright, buddy. lol.

Til next time, guys! Same bat time, same bat channel!