Prompt: 025 ~ Forget                                                                                                                                                        May 2011©
Fandom: Alice Nine
Focus: Shou x Erika
Word Count: 1,190

            Erika was rather spacey.

            Her friends teased her about it relentlessly.

            She managed to keep track of everyone’s schedules, juggling their extra-curricular activities, the parties and promotionals and reconcile them with the schedules of touring and recording and producing, so that the members and associates of Alice Nine had plenty of down to time to relax and hang out together, while still getting work done and living up the rockstar life.

            And yet, she forgot to lock the door when she got home.

            She got lost in the mall.

            She got on the wrong train.

            She forgot to change out of her pajamas before going shopping.

            She forgot if the last time she had eaten was at lunch, or if it had been lunch yesterday.

            Erika was spacey and adorable and wonderful, but she was really quite forgetful.

            She even forgot her own birthday.

            Without her friends jumping to remind her about it, Erika had spent the day keeping track of where they were all supposed to be in the midst of a VIP fan-meeting that got them close access to the fans and had them performing on stage in a very tightly scheduled timeline of events. She’d made sure they’d all gotten in enough rehearsals to be perfect, enough down time to be refreshed, and enough food to be fueled. She was bright and chipper and completely oblivious as she wished her dear friends well and watched the five rockstars head out to perform.

            Erika watched from her post in the wings, singing along to her favorite songs and losing herself in the music as the fanmeet progressed. Shou’s achingly wonderful voice lifted her spirits in ways she couldn’t even describe and the smiles he sent her way made her giddy with ease.

            And then something different happened.

            It was the end of the first part of the performance and Alice Nine was supposed to head back stage for a quick costume change and a short break before heading out to meet their fans for a while before the second half of the concert teased them with songs that were to be released with their next album. That was what they had planned out and rehearsed for.

            But that was not what happened.

            At the end of the set, Alice Nine didn’t even put their instruments down as they stayed on stage.

            Even the fans were perplexed. They had known how things were supposed to go for this, there was a certain procedure to these things, a routine. Everyone waited with baited breath in a mix of anticipation, excitement, and confusion as they looked on at the band’s activity on stage. They settled quickly into silence in hopes that it would prompt Shou to explain what was going on.

            Shou, with Tora and Hiroto on his flanks, came to stand center stage. “Gomen, Mina-san!” He started, looking the crowd over with a grin. “Please be a little bit patient with us tonight, okay? Tonight is a very special night for Alice Nine as it marks the birthday of one of our most important friends.” Looking towards Erika in the wing with his smile still in place he continued, “This person is one of the kindest, most patient people in the world, and she’s the reason that we’re all able to perform for you. She is very dear to all of us in Alice Nine and since she’s the reason that we can be here at all, we thought that we should let you all celebrate her birthday with us!”

            Namie popped up at Erika’s elbow then, but Erika didn’t notice. She was too busy staring across the stage to where Nao and Saga had disappeared. They’d returned after only a moment, carrying an enormous sheet cake between them. It had Erika’s name on it.

            At this point, Erika was tearing up.

            She didn’t realize that she was expected to come out on stage with them, for the first time be presented to the fans as someone important, until Shou turned back to the audience and asked, “So, mina-san? Will you help us make this a birthday that Eri-chan will never forget?”

            At the roar of the crowd, Namie tugged on Erika’s arm, towing her slowly out of the shadows as Shou began leading everyone in a round of Happy Birthday as Tora and Hiroto played the tune behind their words, adding in their own little flourishes. As Nao and Saga began to cut the cake into pieces, Shou presented Erika with a cupcake that had a candle stuck in its icing. Namie lit the candle as she gave Erika a tight hug. “Make a wish!”

            Erika couldn’t even comprehend her words for a moment. She looked to Shou in complete shock. “How . . .?”

            As Shou pulled her away from Namie and into a one armed hug while miraculously maintaining his hold on both his mic and the cupcake he was still trying to get Erika to take from him, Shou replied, “Not in a million years could I ever forget your birthday! You might forget about it, but it’s far too important to me to ever forget about!”

            Erika, at last, took her cupcake from him, still in shock. “But when did you plan all of this?”

            “Namie-chan might be unable to figure out her own schedule, but she can be pretty devious if she wants to be,” Shou admitted. “Now, make a wish!”

            Erika felt her teary eyes over-flow and prayed briefly that her make-up didn’t run. She’d never been on stage before and she wanted to look her best, and even though the whole teary-face thing wouldn’t be her best, she wanted to look as good as she possibly could. She had to stand up to the gorgeousness of Alice Nine after all.

            While she was distracting herself from reality by thinking about her make-up, Erika tried to think of something to wish for. She had plenty of things she wanted, but at the moment she’d forgotten all of them. Right now, she had everything she could imagine wanting.

            She ended up making a vague wish for the continued and compounding success of Alice Nine and her other friends with pop-culture careers. She blew the candle out and then threw her arms around Shou’s neck, thanking him profusely as she fought to get her tears under control.

            When the mic was passed to her, Erika had managed to stop crying.

            She looked out on the audience and saw that many of them had been crying too, though whether from happiness or dismay that there was a girl with their heart-throbs was debatable. “Arigatou, Mina-san! This is definitely a birthday I will never forget!”

            She took a bite of her cupcake, getting a bit of the frosting on her nose. Shou laughed at her and she retaliated by using a finger to smear icing onto his cheek. There was a short pause as the instruments were given to staff and the cake was handed out to the fans . . . and then the food fight began.

            No one really knew who had started it, though the smart money would have been on Hiroto or Yuuki. The band members, their friends, and their fans all mixed together in a jumble of cake and icing and laughter that ensured that this would be an event that none of them ever forgot.



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