Keeping his eyes closed, Asakura continued to speak. His deep voice was tinged with a melancholic hint.

"The look in his eyes told a different story. Right now, he isn't far from how I used to be. He is still suffering and afraid to move on."

"Well then, let's hope he won't follow in your footsteps and become a stalker like you did."

"Would you stop bringing that up!" Asakura's eyes snapped open and he glared at Kota.

"Nope. As of now, I am considering that to be your most defining trait."

"You're crazy."

"Perhaps, but at least I am not a crazy stalker." Kota replied casually. 

He waved a hand in the air before turning around to leave.

"Why do I put up with you, I wonder?" Asakura grumbled. 

But even as he did so, she still followed behind Kota.

In response, the latter chuckled and Kota threw the words over his shoulder, following them up with a teasing wink.

"Because I'm handsome and give you information about Keita-chan." 

"Haaah.” Asakura groaned, rubbing his face with both palms. “Let's just go and find the others, before I do something I’ll most surely regret later." 

~~~

When the next morning came, Sato and his group left for the city, while Asakura and the rest remained for a couple of days longer to finish their location viewing.

After that fateful encounter, both Asakura and Sato went back to their usual lives. 

One was busy with managing the company and the movie planning. His mind was too engaged in work to think of anything else.

Meanwhile, the other spent his days doing small jobs whilst, at the same time, trying to sort out his thoughts. That last part, though, proved to be rather difficult.  

Ever since meeting Asakura Ryuu, Sato’s mind had been filled with the man’s image. Their last conversation caused Sato to keep fretting over that person’s words. It got to the point where he couldn’t even sleep well. A storm was brewing inside his mind, making him unable to rest or think properly.

From time to time, Sato would pull out Asakura’s business card, pondering so hard about what he should do, that he soon felt his brain was on the verge of combusting. 

After a while, he simply couldn’t take it anymore and threw the card onto the floor. The small pieces of paper landed near the dustbin, looking both crumbled and pitiful.

Sato’s instincts told him that he shouldn’t throw it away, that the small piece of paper represented a chance to rebuild his life. However, his mind simply wouldn’t listen. 

Habits were really hard to break. Sato had been so used to this current state of things that escaping it just didn’t seem possible to him anymore.

One day, almost two weeks after the trip, Sato and Kyosuke were both called by Director Kyota for a short meeting. They were supposed to go to HoshiAkari Entertainment headquarters and have lunch together with the Director afterwards.

Even though they were relatively known actors, neither Sato nor Kyosuke liked to be hassled by people or have someone chasing after them all day long. Therefore, they always preferred to manage things like food and daily activities by themselves. Especially since Sato had been without a steady schedule for a long time, they didn’t need to call on a driver from the company.

Compared to Sato, Kyosuke did have an assigned manager. That person sometimes drove him between filming locations, or oversaw his schedule and talked to clients. But the lady manager was currently in the hospital after sustaining an accident. It would take several months before she could return to work. 

As a consequence, Sato and Kyosuke had to deal with everything on their own for the time being.

“What do you think he wants from us?” Kyosuke asked while driving.

“I don’t know.” Sato replied simply. “It must be something regarding a project, otherwise Director Kyota wouldn’t have called us in.”

“Hmm. I think so too. And besides, it’s been a while since he asked for you as well. During this past year he only ever talked to you over the phone, right?”

“En.” Sato nodded pensively.

It was true that Director Kyota hadn’t wished to see him face-to-face in quite a while. Thinking about it, Sato immediately began to worry. 

What if Director Kyota wanted to give him an ultimatum? Like ‘Do your job or leave the company.’ What if it got down to that?

That dreadful thought made his heart sink. Having to give up everything he’s worked so hard for made Sato feel out of breath. 

At the same time, though, thinking about going back in front of the cameras caused a different kind of panic. It wasn’t that he was afraid of acting poorly, or that he cared about what others might think of him. What truly terrified Sato was having to deal with people’s expectations.

In the beginning, when he had just started acting, Sato never thought about what others wanted from him or how people saw him. He simply played the roles as he saw fit and did a wonderful job at it. 

But somewhere along the line everything shattered into pieces. 

What exactly broke first? Was it the trust he had in himself or perhaps the trust he harbored in other people?

Ever since Touma left his life, there had been a void inside Sato’s heart, one he hadn’t been able to fill no matter how hard he tried. 

Without having to wonder, Sato was sure that something broke inside him that night on the crossing, something that may never be recovered.

When the two finally arrived at the agency, Kyota’s assistant was waiting for them in the lobby. She was ready to lead these two rather special people to the top-floor office.

Once in front of Kyota’s office door, Sato began to feel even more nervous than before. He took several deep breaths, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart. 

Yet, before he could properly settle his nerves, Kyosuke pushed the door open and entered.

The Director was sitting at his desk. 

When the door opened, followed by two people walking in, he didn’t even raise his head. Instead, he continued to write calmly, appearing completely unperturbed by the sudden commotion. 

Only after he finished what he was working on did Director Kyota place the pen down and finally looked up.