#katiuta

   They kept it under the table, of course. The last place Uta wanted to find herself was in the tabloid gossip and the front page but she couldn't help herself. It was love. It was turning up outside in the freezing cold with a bouquet of baby pink roses and getting down on his knee. All to say that Cutty dedicated his entire being to his one true idol, his kamioshi. It was as romantic a confession as Uta could hope as she came off that stage, elated but a bundle of nerves to have debuted her true self in front of such an audience but it was Cutty's cheers that meant the most.

   They always had.

   So now they were here. Sweethearts. Doing all the things that lovers did. Holding hands, watching each other, getting into saccharine competitions of who loved who more. It was all the promised honeymoon phase and more as they enjoyed each other’s company in Cafe Glitter wherein they were totally at home and in a world of their own. 

   Uta had butterflies in her stomach as she watched Cutty eat. The older she got, the more she appreciated a man who could put it away and show gratitude in every smack of his lips. She never would have picked it for herself when she was younger, an attraction to the big and burly, but now it really got her going as she and Cutty had lunch together. She was full but hungry in other, more important ways as she chewed her bottom lip and pined.

   It was likely odd to pine and yearn for a man who was right there in front of her, whom she had bent around her little, pinkie finger but consider: she had a lot of catching up to do. She had spent her youth chasing the spectre of someone else, someone who was bright and shiny but never felt that way about her. Not at all compared to Cutty who was so full of heart and brilliance in his own way: Uta hadn’t looked twice at him as he smiled politely and kept his distance.

   She never would have guessed that even back then, he was harbouring a crush for her. He had done well to keep it under wraps as Cuttin versus when he was on the fringes of redemption from his days as a general for Team Chokkiri. It was then when he was all full of prickles and on the edge of his seat in love with Cure Idol so that something as small as a handshake would send him to the hospital. He managed to get better as he kept his heart a little further from his sleeve, content to support You and Idol Pretty Cure from where he could as a jobber and cashier. 

   But now…

   He had Uta all to himself. He smiled in every bite of garlic bread or slurp of spaghetti noodles. It was so cute and fun to watch as he delivered gusto and impeccable table manners. No elbows on the table, no talking with his mouth full: Cutty valued etiquette and Uta appreciated that as she basked in the warmth of the atmosphere they found themselves within.

   Around them, Cafe Glitter hustled and bustled with a mix of regulars and out of towners. Uta wouldn’t know, though. She barely registered as yet more plates came out of the kitchen, made with love from her parents, just for them, or more accurately, Cutty. 

   Still, Uta was in bliss. Her chin in the palm of her hand, a smile painted on her face with both joy and pink tinted nude coloured lipstick. She batted her eyelashes and she wondered what the future looked like.

   She hoped it was more of this. More winter days spent inside, next to the heater and across from the one she loved. Her dream was to be an idol right now but she understood that popularity came and went. The new hot thing would always be younger and prettier than her: she could enjoy it whilst it lasted, when right now she was the new thing on the block, Japan’s up and coming sweetheart but what then.

   What happened after she got older, when she couldn’t move as fluidly or sing so far as to reach the furthest seats in a half sold out stadium…?

   Cafe Glitter was still her parents’ dream. They had asked her to chase a new tale and she did. She worked hard: singing, dancing, crowd pleasing. She had the support from her friends to take her to new heights of lyricism or choreography but still, her home was her home, it was where her heart was and where she ate. If her career ever lost its lustre and she found she couldn’t sing for thousands again, she wanted to be right here still. Waitressing and cooking in the kitchen, taking orders and making drinks. She would like that a lot. It just seemed so stable and steady and as for Cutty…

   He figured into this back up plan quite prominently. A golden band on his finger, a tutelage from his father-in-law in all things in cheffing. Uta thought he would be quite good at it. He had taken to other odd jobs of the human world like shelf stacking and managerial duties quite well. So she saw no reason that he couldn’t take to making food as well as he ate it. It’d be nice to keep the family business in the family for one more generation and maybe even longer…

   Mm, Uta thought to herself, she and Cutty had only been sweethearts for several weeks at most but already. She wanted to marry him. It might seem odd but it rang true for Uta deep in her heart: the past they had overcome, the future that seemed so bright. They were so far away from when they met, on the brink of light and in the depth of darkness, they had fought and they had atoned, Cutty found his kirakilala once more and it was all because of Uta. It was the kind of romance sung in love stories.

   She was helplessly head over heels by now. Her eyes far too rose tinted to see that maybe it was ill advised since it was so soon, she was a young, human woman and he was a fairy but it didn’t matter to Uta as she found herself further down the flight of fancy. The thought of it made Uta hear wedding bells toll just for them, she got dizzy and giddy off it and finally, at long last…

   Cutty had noticed her staring. He paused, his hands either side of his nearly finished plate of fish filet and salad, his cutlery at attention as he met Uta’s eyes curiously. They were so dark and inset but they had a quiet sparkle to them.

   “Is something the matter?” Cutty asked. He blinked owlishly. “Do I have something on my face?”

   Uta giggled to herself. She could feel how gooey and gaga her own eyes was for him but she kept her feelings to herself. They would make a good love song later down the line, she was sure. She reached out and she touched Cutty’s hands, her fingers trailed along the hard curve of them.

   “Oh, nothing…” Uta confessed in such a mysterious and impish way that yes, of course, there was a matter. “I was just thinking about you,” she flirted, “and how much you mean to me.”