HOT & HAPPY VALENTINE
Swaying, Leisurely, Love.
This month’s Duet features a Valentine’s Day special, bringing you a total of 57 pages of heartwarming love stories. First up is the five members of Arashi. Let’s start with the love story they shared under the blue sky, shyly but calmly!!

🔵I started to become conscious of girls when I was in the 3rd grade. I don’t remember exactly, but there was a girl in my class that I was interested in. But at the time, I was enjoying playing baseball more than hanging out with girls. Plus, I wasn’t popular at all at school (lol). So I thought I could wait until middle school to fall in love. And then, before I knew it, I was on TV without having fallen in love… Honestly, I was surrounded by men, so I have zero memories of Valentine’s Day. It was only after I started this job that I started receiving chocolate. I’ve had strangers give me chocolate with love confessions, but I had no experience in love so I didn’t know what to do. It makes me feel like I should have been in love more….

🔵That being said, I do have an ideal romance. Basically, I prefer unrequited love. You can imagine all sorts of things, right? What is the girl I like doing now? Does she like someone else? If I go through all those stages and end up with a girlfriend… I want to go abroad right away. If the other person doesn’t like me, I won’t go, but I want to go to an English-speaking country, like America. It might be nice to get married, too. But I read a fortune in a magazine that I’d never get married and would just have a domestic partnership. So I thought, ‘Well, maybe living together would be okay.’ (laughs) In reality, even if I had a girlfriend, I probably wouldn’t go on dates around town. We’d just go to one of our houses, maybe listen to music, watch videos, and just chill. As for music, The Beatles would be good. Especially the song “Let It Be”. It feels like a love song to me. I don’t know why, but…

🔵The girls I like are strong-willed. When they set out to do something, they absolutely do it. I’m attracted to strong-willed people. For example, Cacciatori from the Italian women’s volleyball team. I thought, ‘I wish I could have a girlfriend like that’. But it ended up being a one-sided crush. Also, my first impression is of hands. Someone with thin, long fingers is ideal. But… if I actually met a girl like that and we were alone… I don’t think I’d know what to say. Personally, I’m happy with just being together. Maybe my requirement for a girlfriend is someone who doesn’t find silence uncomfortable. Anyway, I’ve said a lot, but I definitely won’t fall in love until I’m 18. I’ll get my driver’s license and expand my range of activities, and then I’ll take my time with romance. For now, I’ll keep my green thumbs on both love and a car (lol).

🟢I clearly remember my first love when I was in late elementary school. She was a beautiful girl who looked like a doll. Personality-wise, she was calm, and even though she was in the group where the other girls were chattering away, she wasn’t noisy and she was the type to listen seriously in class. She was pretty popular, and I think she had a crush on one of her friends. I had hung out with her in a group before, but nothing more. I was embarrassed thinking she’d realize I liked her, so I tried not to let her know until I confessed. I did… But when you confess, you both become self-conscious and it becomes harder to talk. After all, elementary school kids are just kids, so they’re at the age where they like to tease each other, right? In fact, I’m the type of person who will be the first to tease a friend when they confess their feelings to someone. So, with the teasing from my friends, my love in elementary school quickly faded away…

🟢The type of girl I like changes a little bit depending on context, so I can’t say for sure. But, there are some things that are common to all the girls I’ve liked so far. Someone totally ordinary and not boisterous, but not exactly adult-like either. Just a really average person. I don’t really care about appearances. Your first impression might be based on the face, but it’s not the face that makes you fall in love. That’s why I don’t fall in love at first sight. Of course, I’m a guy, so I do think that someone is cute or pretty. But that’s different from liking someone. Well, I’ve never experienced “passionate love” yet, so I don’t have anything to say about romance. What I’m more concerned with is making a warm home in the future. My ideal situation would be to have my own house, even if it’s small, and about three children… something where we could go on picnics together as a family of five from time to time. The reason I chose 3 children is because I have a younger brother, so one more seemed right. I’ve been busy lately and don’t get to eat meals with my family, but I thought that if I had another sibling, my younger brother wouldn’t be so lonely… I hope that in the future I can find a good wife who will help me create the family I envision. I guess only God knows what will happen, right?

🟢I value personality over appearance, but the first thing I notice about a girl is her face. It’s not that I like a specific type of eyes or a particular face, but they say that a face reveals a person’s character, right? So I look at the face first, and then imagine if this person has a personality that suits me. In the past, I used to care about appearance and had silly thoughts like I was into “Kogyaru” girls, or I only liked older women. But these days, I don’t care if they wear platform shoes or jeans. More than anything, I want to know if that person can do something better than me…There’s something about people that are better than me at something that I’m attracted to. It could be cooking, sports, or anything else. I want the person I’m dating to have something that I can honestly respect.

🟢If I were to date someone, it would be hot (passionate)! That said, I’m not a big fan of being overly affectionate. I’m not good at holding hands, and kissing in public is way too passionate. What I mean by being “hot” is that I’ll go see her every day no matter what. As for dates… going to an amusement park or seeing a movie is fine, but I prefer just the two of us lounging around in my room. Watching TV and videos. The background music is of course “A・RA・SHI”. We can sing the karaoke version together (laughs). Well, that’s a joke, but the song I really like is “Forget-me-not” by Yutaka Ozaki. It’s been my favorite love song since I was in junior high. If we can spend some time together listening to that song, then there’s nothing better.

🟢Have you been in love lately? Hmm, I haven’t really thought about it recently. Of course I want to fall in love, but I’m so busy with work right now that I don’t have time to think about it. Doing so helps me to find balance within myself. But if you’re wondering whether you can find balance by falling in love, when you’re in love, your life is full of excitement, and you can work hard with the girl you like as your motivation. To be honest, I long for that state of mind. Ah, talking about this is making me want to fall in love more and more (laughs). But for me, love is often just a mild fever. If there’s a girl I like, I fall in love right away, but it cools off before it gets serious. The temperature of love feels like it’s around 37 degrees or so? It’s not easy to meet a girl that ends up leading to a serious relationship~.

🟠I don’t really care about events like Valentine’s Day or Christmas, but I do like giving presents to people. It makes me incredibly happy to see the other person happy… but you know, when you ask someone what they want, there are those who ask for brand name stuff, right? I don’t like that sort of thing. If they say something cute like “anything is fine,” it makes me want to put in the effort to choose.

🟠All the girls I’ve liked so far have one thing in common: beautiful eyes. Age doesn’t really matter. Sometimes I’m attracted to girls about 10 years older than me, and sometimes I find younger girls cute… Lately, I’d say I’m more into girls with big eyes (lol). My first love was in fifth grade, a quiet girl with big eyes. We’d play together during recess and got along pretty well, but then she disappeared when I was in sixth grade. I asked my friend, “Where did she go?” and they said, “She transferred schools.” I was shocked. Then, I discovered a cute girl in the next class over. I was kind of touched to find out that a girl like her existed. And when I fell in love with her, I think she probably liked me too. However, when we entered junior high school and joined the same class, she said something that made fun of me, and my feelings for her cooled off. We hung out together in groups, but we didn’t have much contact.

🟠My love pattern is that once I like someone, it lasts a long time. But, if I realize the other person isn’t interested in me I can’t be devoted to them… Come to think of it, I’ve never asked someone to “go out” officially, it guess it just always happens naturally. The end of love… I’ve also experienced heartbreak. I thought there was a girl who I trusted and who I was comfortable with, but then one day she suddenly said, “Let’s just be friends.” Initially I cried a lot and felt regret, but eventually I accepted that that’s just the way it was. Now, I think, “Love is good, but first I need to get my driver’s license.” I want to, but it’s such a hassle… For now, I think I’ll just get the automatic transmission one.

⚪My first love was when I was in sixth grade. I told the girl I liked her, and it seemed she liked me too, so we became quite close, but then I saw her hanging out with another guy three days after I confessed, I stopped liking her (lol). I was a kid at the time, so I couldn’t let it go… Now I think I can tolerate it to a certain extent, but if I ever get a girlfriend, I want her to tell me openly when she’s hanging out with other guys. If she sneaks around, I’ll think there’s something going on, and I’ll get worried. I guess I’m a jealous type …

⚪I think experience is what matters in love. I don’t have much experience, so a lot of times it doesn’t work out. How can I put it? I’m not good at bargaining. Personally, I’m the type of person who just charges ahead, so I don’t really know how to back down. The timing is bad, or I can’t deal with unexpected events… And in the end, I get dumped. After being dumped… sometimes it’s hard to forget. Even if you give up, sometimes your feelings for that girl come back when you talk to your friends. I wonder. But, you know, I tend to show my feelings through my actions. I think that a proper confession should be made. That being said, I can’t say it to her face to face, so I approach her over the phone, half-jokingly…… If the other person is oblivious, they might not even realize (lol). The type of girl I like is usually an honest one. Age doesn’t matter, but if I had to say, I think it’s easier if the other person is older. If the other person is younger or the same age as me, I end up acting tough, thinking I have to be strong. But if they’re older, I can show my weak side too, right? It’s no good to be weak all the time, but sometimes… you can be gentle in front of the person you like. I want to. I might be the type that likes to be pampered.

⚪Regardless of all that, I’m currently living a life that’s free from romance. Things can’t always go the way you want. But If there’s an opportunity, I’d love to do it(laughs). Work is certainly busy, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have the time. If I’m determined, I’m sure I can make time, even if it means cutting down on sleep. If it’s something that benefits me, I think I can do my best even if it’s a little tough.