- Chapter Two -
A week had gone by and everyone, excluding Tokiya, were surprised to see Ren recover unexpectedly fast. Masato's disappearance had badly affected him not too long ago, however, it was thanks to Tokiya, Ren was able to see the light at the end of the dark tunnel.
Ranmaru knew Tokiya had something to do with Ren's current state of mind and behaviour as he and the others noticed how close the two friends had been as of late. They normally would always be on each other's throats. Despite them being classmates at one point, they were never fond of each other.
The blond was always looking for his brunet friend after a long day at work to a point that Tokiya had to leave Otoya behind alone with Reiji although Otoya didn't mind but Otoya would whine and complain about it afterwards since Tokiya was just as important to him as everyone else. Reiji, on the other hand, was always repeatedly telling Otoya, "Otoyan, let Tokki be. We all know Ren needs him."
Syo, Natsuki, Otoya and Cecil found it terribly weird. The flirtatious Jinguuji Ren hadn't been flirting with girls like he usually did. His attention was a hundred percent on Tokiya. The sweet words, the smirks, the winks and the touches… He had reserved them for only Tokiya. Initially, they were for Masato.
Ren was sitting on a bench at the nearby park alone. Tokiya was at work with some producers, working on a new project for an upcoming TV drama. Ren did ask Tokiya if they would be able to meet up after Tokiya was done. At first, Tokiya hesitated and afterwards told Ren that he didn't need to but Ren insisted so he gave in.
While waiting for time to fly by, Ren spent some time alone at the park. It was a day off for him. His mind was always thinking about Masato and the many scenarios he was always coming up with. Sometimes he'd overthink too much, he ended up with a splitting headache.
"Ah, fancy bumping into you here, Ren-kun."
"Hm?" Ren looked over his shoulder, only to find a smiling Natsuki standing behind him. "Ah, it's just you, Shinomi."
Natsuki smiled warmly before taking a spot on the bench next to Ren.
The two bandmates sat in silence as they watched the sun setting.
"This is awkward," Ren broke the silence.
"Eh?"
"I was supposed to watch the sunset with Hirijikawa instead of you, Shinomi." Ren added a wink, with a smirk plastered on his face.
Natsuki chuckled, "That's right but it doesn't matter, does it?"
Ren wordlessly shook his head. "Nah, it doesn't."
"Ne, Ren-kun, will it be okay if I ask you something?"
"What is it, Shinomi?" Ren didn't take it to account that Natsuki probably wanted to ask a serious question. His gaze was still fixed at the sunset.
"Do you spend your time thinking of where Masa-kun is right now?"
Ren froze. His gaze finally shifted to his friend, who was wearing a frown on his face.
"Because you see, I miss Masa-kun a lot. We all do. He's a dear friend of ours but I'm sure you miss him more than the rest of us do, ne?"
"S-Shinomi…"
"Masa-kun probably is somewhere, wanting to return home as well. Right now, the police are doing their job to find Masa-kun so I guess all we can do is wait."
"Shinomi…"
"Hm?"
"It's a lot harder to deal with Hirijikawa's disappearance than anything else for me right now. I may smile all the time but inside I am hurting so much. I sleep on his bed instead of my own and cry every night, hoping for Hirijikawa to return home. Ran-chan isn't good at comforting people so all he did was watch me from across the room."
"Then what about Tokiya-kun?"
A small smile formed on Ren's face. "I am grateful for Ichi. That's all I wish to say."
Natsuki nodded and flashed a gentle smile. "Well, Ren-kun, don't forget you have all of us. If you're having a hard time, you can always look for us. Anytime."
Ren returned the smile.
"It's a wrap!"
Everyone gave a round of applause.
Tokiya's work had already been done for the day. The boy glanced at his watch, which read ten minutes after seven in the evening. Ren was already probably waiting for him at the lobby of the building. He grabbed his bag by the strap and hung it on his left shoulder as he headed for the elevator. He stepped into the elevator just as the doors opened and briefly greeted the other man who was standing at one corner of the spacious elevator to acknowledge his presence, who in return, responded with a slight nod.
On his way down to the first level, he happened to look over his shoulder before turning his head back to face the front. He found the other man mysterious as he had his eyes fixed on the ground and was clothed in a beige trench coat and a black fedora hat that covered his eyes. However, the hat wasn't enough to hide a beauty mark underneath his right eye.
Tokiya had taken notice of this, as he had only known one person with a small beauty mark under his right eye. That man also had pale skin – it was almost clear to Tokiya who this person was to him.
The man in the trench coat flashed a small smile and his lips parted. He was about to say something when the elevator jerked and finally stopped moving. However, unlike Tokiya, he did not move a muscle. It was as though he was already expecting it. Tokiya, on the other hand, had his arms stretched out as far as he could to maintain his balance. The boy looked up and the lights in the elevator began shutting down.
[Earlier]
"Ne, Ren-kun, I found out something from Ringo-sensei."
"Oh yeah?" Ren asked, giving Natsuki his full attention. "What is it, Shinomi?"
"It's about Masa-kun."
Ren's eyes widened in shock and he grew impatient. "What about Hirijikawa?" He asked, trying to sound as calm as possible.
"Ringo-sensei told me that Masa-kun has projects to attend to and he attended to them without fail."
"Eh?" Ren's brows furrowed. "You mean before or after he disappeared?"
"After he disappeared." Natsuki nodded when he saw the look on Ren's face. It was as though he had seen a ghost. "Yup, that was my reaction, too."
"Wait a minute, so that means he isn't actually missing?"
"Calm down, Ren-kun."
"But—"
"Ringo-sensei said it may be just a rumour but who knows if he's still around somewhere. None of us know why he vanished without a word, causing us all to worry so much."
"Then I'm looking for him—"
"No wait!" Natsuki immediately grabbed Ren by the forearm just as he rose to his feet.
"What is it now, Shinomi?!" Ren snatched his arm back.
"We should let the police do their job first, Ren-kun! Who knows, they may already found witnesses or clues that'll lead to Masa-kun!"
"Tch, the police are hopeless! They're taking far too long! I want Hirijikawa to come home!"
"Ren-kun, we all do. We all need him, although the rest of us don't know the misery you've been going through… Our only wish right now is for Masa-kun to return home safely."
Natsuki watched as Ren struggled to keep his cool like he would normally do. Heartbreak and anger were coursing through his veins and it was written on his face as well. Natsuki saw it for sure.
"S-Shinomi…" Ren muttered.
"What is it, Ren-kun?" Natsuki stood up and placed a hand on Ren's shoulder.
"If there are any more news on Hirijikawa, good or bad ones, you MUST let me know. Got it?"
"Mm. I will, Ren-kun. Calm yourself before you get yourself a headache."
"I wasn't expecting to bump into you here, Ichinose."
Tokiya was surrounded in total darkness. He pulled his phone out from his pants pocket and turned on the flashlight app and activated the flashlight, pointing it towards the mysterious man's direction.
"Your voice…" Tokiya muttered. "…Masato?"
Upon calling out his name, the man took off his fedora hat and revealed himself with a smile plastered on his face. "You called me?"
Tokiya remained glued at his spot, speechless, his face white as though he had seen a ghost. He could feel his heart pounding in his head.
"M-Masato…"
"Don't tell anyone you saw me here, Ichinose."
"But… Why..? Everyone else is worried about you!"
"I know," Masato uttered softly.
"Then why?! Why didn't you return home?!"
"I have my reasons."
"What are they?! Tell me!"
"Now isn't the right time to tell you anything yet."
"Masato. Do you have any idea how much your disappearance took a huge piece of Ren? Do you?!"
Masato did but he kept his mouth shut.
"And it's not just him, you took a huge piece of me too."
"I know, Ichinose."
"Why haven't you returned home yet, Masato? Is there something you're not telling us?" Tears welled up at the corner of Tokiya's eyes as he took one step after another towards Masato.
"Right now, there isn't any explanations I can give you. You will need to be patient—"
The lights were finally on and the elevator started moving downwards again. Masato pressed the button for the second floor quickly and in a few seconds, the doors opened.
Masato put the hat back on, walked past Tokiya and out of the elevator.
"Wait, Masato!"
"Remember, Ichinose, do not tell anyone that you saw me here… especially to Kurosaki-san and Jinguuji. If you value our friendship, do as I say. At least for now. Ja."
"No, wait!" The doors shut just as Masato walked away.
The doors reopened when the elevator finally reached the lobby. Tokiya's head was down and was walking rather slowly. His mind wandered, not noticing that Ren was watching him from afar.
Tokiya weakly pushed the glass door open to exit the building when Ren came running after him.
"Ichi!"
"…huh?" Tokiya snapped back to reality as he turned around when he heard the familiar voice. "Oh… Ren."
"Ichi, are you all right?"
"Yeah, I am, yeah. Sorry…"
Ren placed a palm on his friend's forehead. "You aren't having a fever but you're looking very pale, are you sure everything is okay?"
Tokiya nodded and Ren decided not to question Tokiya any further. Instead, he snaked an arm around Tokiya's back and became his support as they walked out of the area. Unknown to them, Masato was watching them from the second floor.
"Ichi, I have to tell you something."
"Yeah?"
"It's about Hirijikawa."
"Huh?" Tokiya's ears perked up at the very mention of Masato's name. "What about Masato?"
"Shinomi told me this before I came here. He was told by Ringo-chan that Masato had been attending to his projects as per usual after he vanished…"
As Ren continued to explain further into the details, Tokiya's heart raced. Not too long ago, he was in a shared space with Masato and with the way Ren was explaining things, Tokiya found it hard to hold back the secret Masato had told him to keep.
Tokiya was stuck. Either way, he was going to betray one of them. For now, he was betraying Ren. Here Ren was, desperately needing Masato to return back to the agency but there Masato was, hiding himself from everyone.
Although Tokiya knew Masato's face would show up on TV sooner or later, he still had no other choice but to keep Masato's secret. Hurting the people around him wasn't to Tokiya's liking; he would much rather hurt himself.
- End of Chapter Two -
