A Challenge, Apparently

Asahina Fuuto had become even more popular.

His face was plastered somewhere in every nook and cranny of the cities, and photo shoots for magazines were being offered to him more and more often. The paparazzi became increasingly difficult to stay "perfect" in front of. One would wonder why there was such a sudden spike, but it was surely due to the success of his first movie.

And Fuuto was more than happy with the attention—no matter how tedious many basic tasks became. He had proven himself to be a fine actor, regardless of his main career of being an idol. With his looks, voice, and supreme acting skills, he easily grabbed the attention of much of Japan's female population between the ages of twelve and twenty-six. Surely, all of that practice, all of those late movie nights, were worth it. Because he had done more than well. A fact proven by his new offer.

The well-known director Kato had selected him to be the part of the male lead of his most recent movie. It had yet to be titled, but the plot resembled his others: a romance with an intricate and almost random premise.

The most well-known idols had all been in one of these movies, and this offer would only increase Fuuto's popularity by an enormous amount. His fame would begin leaking—if only a bit—overseas. Which was, in fact, something new. Very few of his albums had gained much interest internationally.

The sudden burst of energy this provided for Fuuto is what led him here: half-conscious in an odd, almost upright position, at four in the morning.

He had gone back to stay with his brothers and step-sister, having been informed that the movie would be filmed nearby. He had considered inviting Ema to watch with him—just for a bit of fun—but decided it would just be distracting. He needed to focus on work, not tease his older sister.

Despite the odd hour, the familiar ringtone of Fuuto's cell phone brought him out of his daze. He ran his fingers through his hair, annoyed, before reading his manager's name on the screen. For a moment he simply sat there, before realizing that—no matter the hour—a phone couldn't answer itself. He tapped the answer button and put it on speaker, too lazy to even pick it up.

"Hey~!" Fuuto called out, faking energetic cheer.

His manager, Hisakawa, sighed. "So you are still awake… I wanted you to be, but at the same time... Asakura-san, you have to take care of yourself."

"I'm fine!" he replied, no hint of his exhaustion leaking into his voice. He was an actor now, after all. "So what did bring about this four a.m. phone call?"

"Ah, yes," the man replied, as though he had somehow forgotten. "I woke up this morning to my phone's reminder tone. I meant to tell you something, but set the reminder for four a.m., not four p.m. As such, I wanted to get in contact with you as soon as possible. Since you study so many films, I figure you might want to focus on movies with your costar. In other words, I wanted to let you know that your costar is Koizumi Ai."

Fuuto hardly had to search his mind for the name—her popularity, too, had spiked recently. She was known for her figure—she had once been a model—and for her angelic nature. She had long, blonde hair and was fairly modest in her clothing choices. The type of cutesy girl who would wear frilly miniskirts, but no low cut or backless shirts. She didn't seem to be someone he would personally get along well with, though she was relatively close to him in age, but she was certainly a very good actress.

"Is that so? Goodnight, Hisakawa-san. You sound tired," Fuuto said into the phone, his thanks only suggested in his words.

As though to prove his point, a yawn escaped the manager's lips. "Goodnight. Make sure you get some rest, as well." The call disconnected.

Fuuto immediately stood and left his room, slipping into the elevator. He walked into the living room and approached one of the cabinets, certain that they owned at least a few of Koizumi Ai's films.

"Fuuto, what are you doing up so late?" a familiar voice called.

He turned only for his eyes to be met with Masaomi's. Avoiding the question, Fuuto asked, "Another emergency appointment?"

Masaomi nodded, rubbing the back of his neck and taking a deep breath. "I'm thinking we should both go to bed now."

"I'm good, though you seem to need some sleep," Fuuto replied, his usual smirk painting his features.

Masaomi sighed. "Honestly, dedication is important, but don't let it affect your health." Knowing insisting further was useless, however, Masaomi went back up to his room.

Fuuto glanced over movie titles quickly, trying to focus on the words. He was going to pass out soon. But he was certain he could get at least one more movie in. His eyes finally caught on a title he wanted, and he took it out, almost dropping it in his sudden drowsy clumsiness.

He went back to his room and sat on the floor, his back against his bed, and skipped through the ads. As the menu screen read, this movie was called Destined. A generic title, but a known movie nonetheless. This had been Koizumi Ai's first major role. The movie was also almost three hours long.

It was going to be a long night.

When the alarm had gone off, Fuuto had only had an hour and a half of sleep. He sat up, cracking his neck, and noticed that he was still wearing his clothes from yesterday. He further noticed that he had been lying on the floor and that the television was still on. He must've fallen asleep halfway through.

He had to meet at the studio for the first time today. This day was mostly just to introduce the cast members to each other and to recognize one another's roles. They would also be handing out the finalized script.

When Fuuto arrived, he kept up the character he was in front of the cameras. While he was still known as mischievous, he was also shown as a bit more polite. He had met none of the actors before, which wasn't a surprise, but none of them seemed particularly interesting (though all of the girls were highly attractive).

Currently, the blonde girl he recognized easily to be Koizumi Ai walked toward him. Her hair was swept into a bun, though a few strands were left to frame her face. As was her character, she wore a ruffled pastel skirt and a white blazer. She smiled warmly as she stopped in front of him. "Koizumi Ai," she stated. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Asakura Fuuto-san."

"The pleasure is all mine," Fuuto replied, bringing the back of her hand to his lips, before letting it fall. She really didn't seem his type. Too sweet.

A bit of an awkward silence began. It seemed neither was particularly fond of their first impressions of the other. But this silence was quickly broken by Hisakawa.

"Asakura-san, Koizumi-san… There's something you're needed for in the back," he stated, motioning for them to follow as he walked through a pair of double doors.

When they walked in, the CEOs of their separate agencies were there, having both wanted to greet the film director, who was also present. The three stood and bowed, to which Fuuto and Ai formally bowed back.

Without any verbal greeting, Kato began, "I have spoken with your CEOs, and we were all thinking along the same direction… That is, you both have had increasing popularity. You are both young, with an age difference of only about two years. Since you have similar situations and you are costars in this movie, we think it would do you two and this movie good if you were to enter a romantic relationship."

The words were all business, cold and uncaring for their emotions. It was basically another job offer, though one that they were very much pushed into. Now in front of the CEOs, Kato, and Hisakawa, Fuuto reverted back to his usual attitude. Raising an eyebrow, he questioned, "Do you honestly believe that will work? Our public images are conflicting. I'm Mister Mischievous, and this chick is Little Miss Perfect." He said the last part with a bit of disgust.

Taking Fuuto by surprise, Ai gave an annoyed laugh. "It works plenty well for my popularity, and I don't have to worry about half the dirty rumors I would otherwise. So get off my back, Mister Highschool Playboy."

Fuuto smirked. "Are you suggesting a distaste for the age of some of my fans? Sure, some older women are interested in my youth, but you have middle-aged men fawning over you."

"But that's hardly because they want a good hookup with me. They like me because they think I'm 'pure'. They like you because they think you're 'tainted'."

Fuuto looked back over to the silent adults, ignoring her. "See? She agrees. Our images clash."

"Which will make it interesting," Kato told them. "Will Fuuto stain Ai, or will Ai purify Fuuto. The fans will just eat that up."

Fuuto sighed. Ai, however, nodded. "That's true. I wouldn't mind another little push up the celebrity ranking. How about you, Asakura-san?" she asked, the honorific mocking, almost challenging him.

Fuuto grinned at her competitive tone. So they would wait to see who came out on top, huh? "I say you're being too formal, Ai-chan!" he told her, his voice sickeningly sweet.

Noting the twist the two celebrities added, Kato shrugged. "Whatever works for you, I suppose. We'll announce it in a few weeks. Get used to one another. You'll be seeing a lot of each other." He stood and left the room, the CEOs following behind him. Sensing the tension in the air, Hisakawa quickly followed suit.

"Ready to play, Fuu-kun?" Ai asked, her voice taking on an extraordinarily fake, clingy tint.

"Game on, Ai-chan."

In a few weeks, magazines would portray them together, gossip columns would focus on their relationship, and the headlines would be filled with nothing but their heartbeats.