25Hello readers! Sparkle9510 here with my friend Eponine-chan. As you might know already, this will not be a romance story. My dear mother banned me from romance because they are inappropriate. (And disney princesses with kissing is okay... weird logic... oh well) Luckily though, the sequel will be a romance story. It will be posted on Eponine-chan's account. So anyway, please read and enjoy. Remember to review~! =D ~Sparkle9510
Disclaimer: We don't own Aikatsu!
"Ichigo!" Aoi yelled, running after her best friend. "Wait up! You're going to hurt yourself!" Ichigo merely laughed as she continued running. She turned back to see Aoi still running after her. She looked back to the front only to run into a red wheelbarrow.
"Ouch," Ichigo mumbled. Aoi ran forward and helped her up. She grinned as Ichigo rubbed her stomach.
"I told you so," Aoi had her all knowing smile. Ichigo only grinned sheepishly. Then she widen her eyes. What was that wheel barrow doing there in the first place? She looked at the wheel barrow to see the same boy she encountered yesterday. He had his hands on his hips and a frown on his face. He looked angry and annoyed, just like yesterday.
"What did I tell you?" he glared. Ichigo shuffled her feet and mumbled an apology.
"Sorry about that." Aoi said. "Ichigo, here, is a bit overly excited to become an idol. I'm Kiriya Aoi, and this is my best friend, Hoshimiya Ichigo." Naoto stood there stunned. It is her… When did she choose to become an idol? Her dream was running a bento shop with her mom…
"Are you okay?" Aoi asked him. Snapping back into reality, he cleared his throat.
"I'm Suzukawa, Naoto," he introduced himself. "I'm the groundskeeper of Starlight Academy."
"Nice to meet you, Suzukawa-san!" Ichigo exclaimed, shaking his hand until he thought it would fall off. "Thank you so much for making Starlight Academy so pretty!"
"Ichigo…" Aoi warned nervously.
"Ah! Sorry!" Ichigo cried as she quickly stopped shaking Naoto's hand. Yeah… this is definitely Ichigo… Why didn't I notice it before? Her eyes, her hair, even her personality is the same…
"It's nice to meet you too," he replied. She doesn't recognize me? Wasn't she the one who made me promise never to forget about her? Geez, that kid… "Anyway, excuse me, I need to get back to my work now. Look where you're going next time." He turned and walked away, pushing his wheel barrow to a desolated place to think. Why doesn't Ichigo remember me? Has it really been too long for her to remember? But… I find it strange… She's the type of person who would never break a promise… Something must have happened to her… Maybe I should ask Aoi about it, as Ichigo's… well, new best friend, she should know.
~(^ o ^)~
Aoi stared out the window thinking of her first audition. It had to be against her best friend… Ichigo didn't seem fazed by it, but Aoi didn't want this to cause their friendship to break. Should I just let her win? Immediately, she shook her head. I want to be a top idol… I'm sorry Ichigo, but I'm going to try my hardest to win! Outside the window, something caught her eye. Oh! It's that guy from earlier… Suzukawa, Naoto… He seemed surprised when he saw Ichigo earlier… Did he know her or something? I've never seen him before though… Then why did he seem unbelieving when I introduced him to her? Does he like her?
~(^ o ^)~
Naoto had just started pruning the hundreds of shrubs that Starlight Academy had on their campus when someone called out to him.
"Suzukawa-san?"
Naoto sighed, he really wanted time to think about the reappearence of his childhood friend.
"What?" He asked as he turned around… to face Ichigo's best friend.
"Oh…" He muttered to himself, then to Aoi, "Kiriya-san, right?"
"Yup!" Aoi exclaimed.
"What do you want?" Naoto asked.
"Um, well… Do you, um, know Ichigo or something?"
Naoto looked at her in surprise. "Did she mention me or something?"
Aoi looked uncomfortable, "Well, no… but just the way you looked at her when you met her today… I figured you either knew her, liked her, or both."
Naoto blushed at that statement, "Me, like her? She's just a kid! We used to be close friends back when we were little. We were neighbors, but then I moved and I never saw or heard from her. She made me promise never to forget her, but… I guess I didn't really matter. She forgot about me…" He trailed off, then remembered who he was talking to. "Anyway, when I left, I gave her a rice paddle because her dream then was to run a bento shop and-"
"Was it wooden?"
"What?"
"The rice paddle, was it a wooden rice paddle?"
Naoto nodded. "Yeah, how did you know?"
"Ichigo still has it." Aoi informed. "She always told me it was special to her, but she never knew why."
Naoto stared at her. "But why doesn't she remember me? If the rice paddle's so special, why doesn't she remember me?"
Aoi looked uncomfortable. "Well… Ichigo doesn't know this, but Ichigo's mom told me that some thing happened to Ichigo when she was really little, and she has amnesia…"
"What?! What happened?" Naoto exclaimed.
"I don't know… Ichigo's mom didn't say anything else…" Aoi mumbled quietly.
Naoto's mind was whirling. "I'm going to ask her."
"What?"
"I'm going to ask Ichigo's mom, what happened." Naoto declared determinedly. "I can't just let Ichigo forget about me… I was her best friend. She's important to me."
"Are you sure you don't like her?" Aoi asked slyly.
"YES! I'M SURE!" Naoto exclaimed, his face flushed.
Aoi laughed. "I was just joking. You don't need to get so worked up about it. Anyway, I got to practice for my audition, so, see you later!"
"Yeah, see you later." Naoto replied distractedly. Only when Aoi was several feet away did he remember his manners. "Kiriya-san!" He called after her. "Thank you!" She waved her hand without looking back.
~(^ o ^)~
Back at the dorms Ichigo was waiting for Aoi.
"Ichigo, I'm back!" Aoi exclaimed.
"Aoi!" Ichigo turned excitingly toward her best friend. "Welcome back! Let's practice the audition together!"
"Okay!" Aoi happily obliged.
The two danced and practiced together until the moon shone brightly in the dark night sky.
"Hey, Ichigo?" Aoi called, grabbing her friend's attention.
"Yeah?" Ichigo replied, grinning in her direction.
"Let's make a promise." Aoi suggested. "A promise to always be friends and to move up in the idol world together."
"Yeah!" Ichigo agreed. "Pinky swear?"
"Pinky swear." Aoi promised.
When Ichigo and Aoi linked pinkies, Ichigo was brought back to past.
"Pinky swear?" She heard her own voice saying.
"Pinky swear." This voice seemed to be a boy's voice.
"Who are you?" Ichigo muttered.
"Huh?" Aoi was looking at Ichigo with concerned eyes.
"Oh, sorry!" Ichigo laughed nervously. "I just spaced out for a bit. I think I practiced too hard. I think I'm going to bed. Night, Aoi."
"Good night Ichigo." Aoi said, still looking at Ichigo worriedly.
Ichigo curled up on her bed, still thinking about what she had seen. Who was that boy? No… it couldn't have been real… I think I really did practice too hard. With troubled thoughts on her mind, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
Okay, so onto the reviews:
Yemi Hikari: Thanks for your review. We'll try to improve on writing this story.
Williukea: Thanks for the review. Glad you liked it. We'll try to update soon, but it might take a while since we're trying to make this story the best it can be.
IchIchi: Haha thanks. Love your enthusiastic review. =)
redandblackpanda: I think they would sing Let it go in Japanese. I would love to see it! =3
cheng: Like we said to Williukea, we'll try to update, but since we want this story to be the best it could be, it'll take a while to write. Hope you'll enjoy this story! =D