My crazy dream continues.
Shuichi hadn't slept the night before, but crawled in to work anyhow. They always know, don't they, that Yuki and I had a fight when I don't show up for work. It dawned on him that he knew nothing of their private lives, but everyone in the building knew just how his relationship with Yuki was going. I've seriously got to stop spewing my personal life in everyone's face. I'm not a child anymore.
Did Sakano have a wife? Did he have a boyfriend? Did he have a first name? A surname? Funny that Shu didn't know. No, not funny. Sad.
Sad, sad, sad.
From now on, he'd be different. He'd take an interest in the lives of the people he worked with and cared about. If anything tragic happened to Sakano, or K, Suguru or the others, it would honestly devastate him. They'd become a kind of family.
"Shuichi, get to the rehearsal studio or I'll pull the pin on this grenade."
Okay, a dysfunctional one, but a family nonetheless.
"Yes, sir. I'm on my way." See? It was easy. Fooled K, and he could fool the world. He'd just get to work and do his job, and no one would know he and Yuki were on the skids. Again. For the last time. Seriously. So tired of this. No more emotional roller coaster. No more soaring highs, but no more crushing lows, either. See? He could do this. Really.
Shuichi pushed the button for the lift with his fist and went upstairs. Hiro and Fujisaki were already in the rehearsal room. No surprise there. He was always the last to arrive. "Hey, guys. Hope you haven't waited long."
Yeah, a false show of bravado was a nice touch. They'd never see through that. Not even Hiro.
Thing is, it wasn't completely false. Maybe the full significance of life without Yuki would hit him later, but right now there was simply a numbness where Yuki used to be. Sure; before long he'd forget about the self-absorbed writer completely. What was his name again?
My crazy dream continues. Wish I could wake up now.
After an hour of incompetent singing and even worse composing, K whipped out a pack of smokes and said he'd had enough. "Shuichi, go take a break. Everyone, be back here in ten minutes and we'll try again. This is going nowhere fast."
My crazy glaring dream continues.
K was wrong. Shuichi didn't need a break. He was fine. Just fine. But if the others wanted a break, why should he stop them? Fine. I'll go get some more candy. I'm starving.
He left the room and headed for the lift down the hall, then stopped dead when the elevator doors opened.
"Yuki."