On Friday, the notorious tabloid and pictorial magazine FRIDAY published a snapshot of actor Ikuta Toma and actress Yoshitaka Yuriko holding hands with their fingers entwined, sparking curiosity as to the status of their relationship.

The truth is that the picture was taken the morning after a very fun get-together back in the beginning of July between Ikuta, Yoshitaka, Takaoka Sosuke, Motokariya Yuika, Mori Kanna, and another unknown young man. The first four are all actors who just finished filming the live-action movie adaption of “Bokura ga Ita” (“We Were There”), scheduled to open in cinemas next spring. Furthermore, Mori and Yoshitaka are good friends.  Apparently, the group organized this get-together to tighten their bonds for the sake of having better on-screen chemistry in their movie.

The tabloid’s story begins at a darts bar in Shibuya, Tokyo. Ikuta Toma and Takaoka Sosuke were recognized by customers entering the VIP room. At first, the customers weren’t able to figure out all the members of the group, but they eventually learned their identities once the celebrity VIPs had to leave the area to use the restroom.

The first woman who was recognized was the model and actress, Mori Kanna, who didn’t yet look tipsy at all. Unlike Mori, the next woman to go to the restroom looked to be quite drowsy and had to be escorted by a young man whose name is still unknown. The two disappeared in the restroom for a little while.

The woman was wearing a cap to hide her identity, but the customers were quick to recognize her as Motokariya Yuika. She usually has a neat and clean image, so the sight of her in such a state was a big surprise for the customers.

The whole group after leaving the karaoke box. (top picture, from left: Mori, unknown ikemen, Yoshitaka, Motokariya, Ikuta, and Takaoka)
A customer commented that Ikuta and the other two guys vigorously ordered drinks, one after another.  The three actresses simply couldn’t refuse the drinks, especially coming from such ‘ikemen‘, even though they might not normally be heavy drinkers.  To onlookers, the actresses didn’t appear to hold their liquor all that well. But, decked out in black sunglasses, Yoshitaka Yuriko seemed to have had the most fun that night, the tabloid reports.

The party of six remained at the bar until 3am.  After leaving the bar, they hailed a taxi then headed for a karaoke room in Meguro, Tokyo. They spent another two hours together singing karaoke.

At approximately 5am they left the karaoke box and… what do we have here? A very lively Yoshitaka and Ikuta suddenly looked like a pair of lovers, walking along streets holding hands. They even intertwined their fingers, playfully fought for her bag, and he put his arm around her shoulder.

Yes, they are playing a pair of lovers in the movie, but was that really just a display of their great chemistry or did their bond grow deeper than expected that night?  Both of Yoshitaka and Ikuta have been rumored to be in relationships with other people – it will be interesting to follow the development of their love lives in the upcoming months.