to be there (miho, open)

[Ayuki Mashiro]

Fluffls off white descended like sakura petals, drifting softly as the winter wind carried their light existence. The snow crunched beneath her feet, dusting the soft brown texture of her winter boots. Her petite face huddles futher into her scarf, decorated with Native American-style patterns. A large, cat jacket hung over her petite frame - black ears sticking upright from the brown hood, dark paw prints adorning her back and pokets. The outfit felt more autumny to the young girl so she felt a bit out of place when wearing it in the middle of winter.

However, warmth was the least of her problems.
sheeP's kiosk was bustling with event goers craving a warm filling to last them the night. The middle schooler moved left and right, greeting and caring for the flood of incoming customers. Serve and introduce yourself- it was a plan hatched by the group's manager to attract more eyes on the idols outside of their native city of Tokyo, but Ayuki got the feeling that these people were more interested in the cheap fares than the ambitious young bunch.

"My name is Mashiro Ayuki," the brunette found herself repeating to the new batch of customers.

"Please remember us! We are sheeP!" she says enthusiastically as she watches them off.

Her amber orbs often traveled off, gazing at the massive snow sculptures, dancing with hazes of pink, blue, and green. The sight marveled her, she never imagined she would get the chance to see such masterpieces in person - not at her age, at least. The soft pounding of music echoed in the distance, the very same idols she had competed with this past summer in the AiDORU competition, the idols her group had unexpectedly beaten.

Despite ranking above such national superstars, her group was still small-scale. They gained a few more fans but there was still a lot more work to be done, the title was only a stepping stone.

HIBOU of BACK TO NEVERLAND

^{notes: (Miho Hidaka) sorry for the wait! the end of the semester is eating me aagh}

[Miho Hidaka]

After sheeP had somehow beaten more well known idols in the AiDORU competition, Miho had been incredibly surprised and pleased at the same time.  Along with all of his friends in the group he was getting ever closer to achieving the dream of becoming a famous idol.  A famous girl idol!  It was all the more encouraging that a couple of the other members of sheeP had discovered his secret and were very supportive while still keeping it under wraps.  He was living out his dream with friends who knew all about him and who'd stand by him no matter what.  Miho was in such a good mood because of this that he'd be happy to do anything for the sake of his group, including a trip up to Hokkaido for a promotion.

In fact his mother had heard about the offer and encouraged Miho to go as well, since he hadn't been on a trip anywhere outside Honshu his entire life.  Now that he found himself working in a café to promote sheeP at the festival in Sapporo he was actually kind of enjoying himself.  Sure their establishment was busy because of the low prices being offered for warm beverages in the middle of winter, but he loved being able to work directly with fans or potential fans.  He was on shift with Ayuki, the youngest member of sheeP but also his best friend in the group.  Compared to her cute jacket he felt kind of overly dressed up in the outfit his mother had helped him pick out.  A sky blue kimono with white snowflake designs outlined in silver embellishing the sleeves and a silver obi bringing it all together.  There was really only one kind of formal clothing you'd get when your mom worked in a kimono shop, not that Miho minded whatsoever.

"Thank you so much for coming!  We're sheeP and we're here to bring a smile to your face!" he managed to repeat to every batch of customers he spotted while flitting about the enclosure with a platter bearing another group's order, "My name is Miho, I appreciate all your support!"

Once things quieted down just enough he managed to pass by Ayuki while bringing his empty platter back to get more drinks, "You're doing really great, Ayuki-chan!  Keep it up!"

[Ayuki Mashiro]

The crowd dispersed as the dinner hour ticked away, groups of family and friends comfortably setting out towards the night's main event. Ayuki scurried towards to exit, handing out flyers to some of the evening's final dinner customers, the later shifts were responsible to take the next batch of snackers of drinkers.

A satisfied sigh escaped the young girl's lips as tidied up a newly empty table, humming softly to sheeP's new single that has been playing on the small radio throughout the night. Realization had hit her once again; she really was in an idol group, wasn't she?

Just the simple thought of it made her giddy.

She wiped down the table with a wet cloth, drying it properly to prevent it from freezing in Sapporo's frigid weather. As she made her way towards the back of the kiosk, a familiar voice flicked her ear. She was so busy with crowd, she had forgotten that she shared the shift with her best friend!

"Ah, thank you, Miho-chan!" the girl replied with a giggle as she turned to face the young boy. He stood before her with a platter in hand, wearing one of the most gorgeous kimonos the middle schooler has ever seen. "Waah, Miho-chan! Your kimono is gorgeous!" the girl cried as her honey-hued orbs sparkled with astonishment. "I'm so jealous that your mom can get you such nice things!" The girl gave a soft chuckle as she admired the intricate snow patterns on the sapphire colored dress. The palette of the dress defined the festival's wintery theme, impeccably complimenting the young boy's natural scheme.

"You really pull this off perfectly, Miho-chan!" Ayuki smiled brightly.

HIBOU of BACK TO NEVERLAND

^{(Miho Hidaka)}

[Miho Hidaka]

Oh Ayuki, the boy's best friend looked so cute in her outfit despite how cold she must have been in Sapporo's winter.  It was even more adorable how excited she got about Miho's looks in this newest kimono his mom had managed to snag him.  Sometimes he imagined that Ayuki was basically the little sister he never had, someone he'd already done a bit of dress-up with back at his mom's shop.  She treated him like just another girl and that was all that Miho could ever have asked for from someone.  Now that they were off shift he was looking forward to enjoying the ice festival with the younger girl as nothing more than friends, rather than promoting their music.  Of course if any fans did come up he'd be happy to sign autographs or pose for pictures, they were the ones making his dream possible.  Otherwise he was all Ayuki's for the rest of the evening, which reminded him of something else his mom had sent with him before he'd gotten on the plane to Hokkaido.

"Thank you Ayuki-chan, I appreciate your compliment.. but the only reason I pull this off is because I have lots of practice," Miho responded with a giggle, hiding his mouth as he did so as any proper young lady would.  Then his expression lit up as he set the platter down on an empty table, "Now that we're off shift I have a big announcement for you: I used part of my last paycheck to buy you your own really nice kimono.  It's in my bag back at the hotel, but I picked one out that I hope you'll really like.  I'll help you with it whenever you want to try it out!"

With that he smiled and offered, "In the meantime, I brought a scarf for the cold but this kimono's keeping me nice and warm.  Would you like to borrow it?" 

[Ayuki Mashiro]

A rosy blush pigmented the young girls cheeks as Miho mentioned the gift awaiting at the hotel room. "A-Ah, you really didn't have to, Miho-chan!" the brunette said sporadically. "I feel bad, I haven't gotten you anything..." she said with a soft smile, scratching her cheek with an index finger. "I-If there's anything you want, don't hesitate to tell me, Miho-chan!"

Her honey-hued orbs traveled back towards the ice sculptures, watching the multi-colored lights dancing on their massive presence. She turned towards the young boy as he spoke again, offering his scarf. She opened her mouth with a peep, without realization she could feel her legs shake - she had become cold without realizing. "Ah, I guess I could use it. Thank you, Miho-chan." Ayuki giggled, pushing back a lock of hair.

Her attention turned back towards the winter wonderland, it's radiating lights calling her towards its majestic sculptures. She wanted to go see them so badly! Even if it was just a peek! The innocent excitement of Christmas resurfaced inside of her, the wonders twinkling in her auburn orbs.

HIBOU of BACK TO NEVERLAND

^{(Miho Hidaka)}

[Miho Hidaka]

Miho smiled happily as Ayuki showed her gratitude for the gift he'd mentioned bringing with him.  Her own smile just made the dark haired idol's smile wider as he contemplated where they should go to enjoy their time off shift.  Not only was he infinitely more comfortable as a girl but he was very content to spend time as one in the company of his best friend.  There wasn't much Ayuki could do for him in return than she was already doing so he just resolved to make this evening worthwhile and fun for the both of them.  He didn't think either of them had ever been to Hokkaido before so they should really make the most of their time away from Tokyo.  The big question was really where they should start this new adventure, since there were so many amazing things to see and do during a winter festival in the country's northernmost region. 

"Don't worry about giving me anything, Ayuki-chan!  You're already giving me something really nice by giving me your friendship.  Actually, Ayuki-chan, you're my best friend," Miho told the young performer as he pulled out the scarf and offered it to the brunette, "Here's the scarf.  It's a little old but I can promise you that it's going to keep you very nice and warm."

Then he smiled cheerfully as he too looked to the finely crafted ice sculptures, "Say, you want to go look at the sculptures?  Now that we've got some free time it'd be a shame not to see them after we came all the way up here."

[Ayuki Mashiro]

The idol tucked her face into the warm and fuzzy scarf, hiding her pleased expression. It held a sweet scent, pleasingly simple and not at all overpowering. Miho had called her a friend - no, her best friend! Ayuki was never really great at anything, but it warmed her knowing that she was a good friend. Regardless of what the darker haired said, the brunette was determined to return a gift to her. Miho had done so much for her already! Ayuki pulled down at the scarf, revealing her usual, innocent smile, "You're my best friend, too, Miho-chan!"

She turned towards her fellow sheeP as he spoke again, inviting the young girl to view the night's main event. "Yeah! Let's go!" the fourteen year old cried excitedly. Like an excited child, she was ready to run off towards the fantastic masterpieces. Her first Snow Festival! Ayuki was excited to take in their size and details and feel the pastel lights dancing on her skin.

HIBOU of BACK TO NEVERLAND

^{(Miho Hidaka)}

[Miho Hidaka]

Miho honestly was pleased just to have the gift of a friend he could confide in and enjoy being himself around.  Really it was quickly becoming apparent that it was more a matter of enjoying being herself around because honestly Miho knew that being a girl better suited him.  It was hard to avoid being reminded on a daily basis that he wasn't a girl though, every time he changed clothes giving him a painful reinforcement as to his physical state.  Times like this afforded Miho the opportunity to forget that and act like the girl he completely believed he should have been born as.  Ayuki was really cute when she tucked herself into the scarf and seemed to really enjoy getting to borrow it.  Walking alongisde the younger girl, Miho felt like this must be what having a little sister was like.  He certainly did feel like he needed to look after and protect Ayuki to some degree, though they weren't that far apart age-wise.  Additionally he felt really happy when the lighter haired girl said Miho was her best friend too.

Ayuki was clearly very excited about the chance to see the sculptures on display, to enjoy the festival now that they were off shift and had the time to do so.  Miho knew he wanted to ensure his best friend was able to get as much enjoyment out of their trip to Hokkaido as they possibly could.  So without waiting any longer he took the younger idol's hand and started walking at a somewhat brisk but not unladylike pace to get to the nearest masterpiece.  On the way he looked down at Ayuki and couldn't help but smile.  This was a moment he really wanted to remember forever, it was so happy and lighthearted!  Finally as they neared an ice sculture of what looked to be distant time's princess, Miho took in its beauty and came to a final conclusion.  He.. no, she was ready to commit herself fully to it, and decided it was something to share with a best friend.

"Ayuki-chan... I think I figured something out just now," Miho told the brunette, still taking in the ice figure's serene calm, "I don't want to only become a girl idol.. I just want to be a girl.  Period."

[Ayuki Mashiro]

Ayuki's auburn orbs glistened with wonder as she gazed at the towering masterpiece. To think that someone had sculpted such a graceful figure out of ice kept her awestruck, she never would have believed it if she had not seen the model for herself. The brunette peered closer to the ice-chiseled princess, inspecting the fine detail and craftsmanship put into each and every fold of her majestic dress. The talent some people had was completely unfair.

Her small ears flicked at the sound of her name; it seemed as if Miho had reached an epiphany. "What is it, Miho-chan?" autumn orbs blinked curiously at the young boy, wearing an inviting smile. Her eyes set on the older character, watching his calm profile admire the ice sculpture's serenity. His next words made the young girl's heart skip a beat; the fact that he - no, she - had confided something so serious to plain ol' Ayuki... She really trusted the brunette, didn't she?

A warm expression spread across the idol's petite features as she took Miho's hand. "You've always been a girl, Miho-chan!" the young girl smiled naively. As long as you felt like a girl, you were a girl - that's how it was, right? Perhaps she was still too young to understand the complications associated with the situation.

HIBOU of BACK TO NEVERLAND

^{(Miho Hidaka)
sorry for the delay! i got really busy suddenly!;;}