"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop" - Confucius
Masaru looked at the list that Zac had gave him in his house.
"Astriel...Bickerhead...Oliver...Kenneth...Genni...Heather...Madeline."
He looked at the name Madeline, "Why didn't Ms Chen tell me she was part of Hongyang Gang before? That's strange."
Someone then knocked on his door. He opened it and saw Megumi and Tomoya.
"Hello, Masaru-san." Megumi smiled, "We came to visit you."
"Come on in." Masaru opened the door to let the two in, "You're cooking today, Megumi?"
"Yeah." Megumi replied, "The apron's still in the same spot I last placed it in, right?"
"Yeah." Masaru replied. Megumi went into the kitchen and started cooking while Tomoya sat beside Masaru.
"What's this list?" Tomoya asked curiously.
"Oh, it's the people working with me tomorrow." Masaru lied, "These are my colleagues' names."
Tomoya picked the paper up and looked at it.
"You have a colleague named Astriel?"
"Y...yeah." Masaru stuttered. He didn't want Tomoya and Megumi to know about it because he didn't want them to worry.
Aftermath
Episode 9
A few minutes later, Megumi, Tomoya and Masaru started eating.
"Do you know the singer Furuwolf, Masaru-san?" Megumi asked.
"Furuwolf? I think I've heard of her somewhere in the news years ago." Masaru tried to think of the time he heard of Ayako.
"Earlier today, me, Megumi and Michiru took a trip to Osaka and we found her." Tomoya uttered, "Who knew that she was such a bitch. She rejected us before she even heard our proposal."
"Take it easy, Tomoya." Masaru said, "You might have misunderstood her. Maybe she didn't have the energy to talk or something."
"I don't think so." Tomoya replied, "She's obviously trying to avoid us from her actions and tones."
"Why are you looking for her anyways?" Masaru asked.
"Our consumers wanted new voices on the soundtrack and a different kind of feeling to it, hence we decided to find her." Megumi explained, "Michiru was confident she'd help us. But look at it. She didn't."
"Let's stop stressing out about work, shall we?" Masaru asked, "How's life?"
"Life has been going great for the both of us." Megumi replied, "By the way, what time can we visit you tomorrow?"
"Visit me?"
"You're starting work tomorrow, so I want to pay your store a visit." Megumi smiled, "I can't miss my childhood friend's first day of work, can I?"
"And she's pulling me along." Tomoya said. All three of them laughed before Masaru told them the details.
"I'm working in Omotesando Hills in a store named G-Star RAW." He said, "You can visit me after your work, or just before nine in the night."
"Alright. Be sure to catch us in your store tomorrow." Megumi smiled at Masaru. He smiled back at her and at Tomoya.
"By the way, would you come to visit us next Wednesday?" Tomoya asked, "We got an event going on, and we would like you to come and support us."
"Sure, why not?" Masaru nodded his head.
The next morning, he donned a white collared shirt and denim pants with some black sneakers. He then walked out and took the subway to Omotesando Hills.
In Blessing Software's office, Michiru is still trying to call Ayako, but the line could not get through. Megumi and Tomoya came into the office.
"Looks like someone's early today." Tomoya said.
"I still can't reach Ayako." Michiru sighed, "I guess we don't need new music anymore."
"But we got to satisfy the consumers!" Tomoya said. Megumi placed her hand on his shoulder, "Tomoya-kun, we got to take some risks sometimes. If we can't do it, let's not force ourselves. Ayako made it clear to us. She won't help us." She then dragged her feet to the office.
"Guess it's this serious." Tomoya sighed and went into his office too. Michiru slouched on the coach and buried her head in her hands.
In a big house, Ayako is watching people singing live covers of a song. She took out a notepad and a pencil and started jotting things down.
As she was doing so, her maid came to her.
"Madam, you got a visitor."
Ayako turned to the maid and nodded her head. She stood up and went out of the house and to the gate.
There, she saw Liam waiting.
Two minutes later, Ayako poured tea for Liam in the living room and offered him to sit on the sofa.
"I see you've redesigned your living room." Liam commented.
"Yeah. I have." Ayako awkwardly said, "What brings you here today?"
"I...I've heard about you rejecting Blessing Software." Liam replied, "Is it true? If it is, why did you do so?"
"Remember the time I told you...I slept with a married man?" Ayako explained, "He was my cameraman. I drank with him until we were both drunk, and the next thing we knew, we were on the bed together. His wife discovered it out, and then the thing went public. My reputation was ruined, with people calling me a slut and a disgrace. I wouldn't want Blessing Software to receive more complaints because of me. Their coder made their name infamous for a few weeks already just because of stealing funds. Imagine what happens if I join in."
"Do you recall? I told you that time. If you're guilty about something, apologize to the person. You have to clear it up to the public, or they'll keep getting it wrong. I'm guessing you didn't do either one."
Ayako shook her head.
"Well then, get to it. One more thing. I remembered I told you this before too. Forgive yourself. Don't fall back because of one mistake. You've worked hard to be what you are today. Let's not waste that effort. Please, Ayako. It hurts me to see my best friend giving up because of one incident. I really hope you could give yourself one more chance and take this opportunity to save your career. I mean, it's your choice whether you want to help. But I would really appreciate it if you did. I would be grateful, and Blessing Software would be grateful too."
"Alright. I'll see."
"If there's nothing you want to say to me, I'll leave." He then stood up and walked out of the house. Ayako looked at him before sighing.
Back in the Blessing Software office, Megumi, Eriri and Utaha are baking the cakes and cookies in the kitchen while Tomoya is still calling the organizers. Michiru continued to call Ayako but to no avail while Eddy is coding.
Eddy stood up and stretched himself. He looked at his glasses and shook his head. He then walked out of his office and into the kitchen to get a cup of water. When he reached there, he saw Megumi resting at one side, flipping her hair. He stared at her for five minutes straight as she adjusted her shirt and took things out from the refrigerator.
"Hey, coder!" Eriri screamed, "If you're not here to help, then scram off and do your work!"
"That's right." Utaha added on, "If you're here to just take a cup of water or coffee, then just go and do your stuff and stop staring at us."
"C'mon, girls. He's just a new person here." Megumi said, "It's okay if he's interested in what we are doing."
She then turned to Eddy, "Do you want to join us?"
"Me?" Eddy asked, "But..."
"It's okay. We got until next Monday to finish everything. Coding can be done later. If you're really interested in this, you can join in and help us. Get your apron from the side."
Eddy got his apron and went beside Megumi, "Thanks for allowing me to do this. But what would Boss Tomoya say?"
"He wouldn't dare go against me. I'm his girlfriend." Megumi replied, "Besides, we all need a break from all those stressful work."
For the rest of the morning, Eddy helped the three girls in baking. Thus, they were able to finish it before lunch.
"We're finally done!" Utaha said proudly.
"Now, we need to cover the cakes in plastic covering and store them in the refrigerator." Megumi stated, "Then we place the cookies in containers and just place them outside."
"Should we bake one more cake and some cookies for ourselves?" Eriri asked, "I'm feeling kinda hungry."
"No problem." Megumi then turned to Eddy, "Do you mind helping us again, Eddy?"
"Sure." He smiled at her and she smiled back. After a few minutes, they're done with the cake and cookies. Megumi called Tomoya and Michiru out to eat.
The team gathered in the kitchen to try the cake and cookies.
"Holy shit, this is nice." Michiru said, "It feels like all my problems are gone temporarily."
"Must you make it sound exaggerating?" Eriri asked.
"Of course! The cookies so damn nice, no words can describe how great it is!"
"That's why I say Megumi's the best baker." Tomoya said, "But let's give credit to Eriri and Utaha for helping."
"And Eddy." Megumi placed her hand around his shoulders, "He helped us too." The team members clapped their hands. Eddy looked around and then looked at Megumi, who is smiling at him. He smiled back.
In Liam's office, Justin came in with a few files.
"Knock the door before you come in." Liam groaned, "Why do you always forget that?"
"Whatever, Mr Officer." Justin said, "The news really worked. We've found more information from an anonymous source. This person said one of the robbery members is a girl named Cadence Ang. He also said he got the information from a girl named Jennie."
"If so, why did this Jennie tell the anonymous source instead? Why did she not just come straight to us and tell us?"
"That one, I don't know."
"Justin, help me find out about this Cadence girl and give me a photo of her." Liam said, "I'll be finding this bitch soon."
"Yes, Mr Act-Cool." Justin then walked out of the office quickly.
"How dare you call me names!" Liam screamed, "Come back here so that I can kick your ass, Justin Miserfoosh!"
In the evening, Tomoya told Utaha to meet him in his office.
"Utaha-senpai, do you know why I called you here?" He asked. She shook his head.
"I feel that you're stressing out too much." Tomoya said, "The past three days, you've been coming late, and your work is not like your standards last time."
"I'm trying my best, Aki-kun. Can't you see?" Utaha whined.
"I know you are. I can sense it. But you just can't fight against your feelings, can you?"
Utaha kept quiet and looked down.
"Look, I can tell the organizers to cancel Blessing Software's name off the charity event, and you can solve out your thoughts..."
"I'm fine, Aki-kun. I can handle it on my own."
"If this is the first month, I'd agree with you. But it's been six months, Utaha-senpai. In order for you to lead a better life, you got to stop thinking of Masaru Kobayashi. He has already made it clear to you, didn't he? He doesn't want to get back together with you, so drop that idea of patching up your romantic relationship with him. Try to be good friends with him..."
"I already told you I can handle it, Aki-kun." Utaha replied sternly, "Let me just think about him, alright?" She then walked off. Tomoya sighed and shook his head.
Tomoya drove Megumi to Omotesando Hills. They then walked up to the G-Star RAW store and saw Masaru attending to customers.
"You guys are early." George appeared beside them.
"Or are you late?" Megumi teased. The three of them laughed.
"Where's Eriri though?" George asked.
"She didn't want to see Masaru, so we decided not to tell her about this." Tomoya replied, "She wouldn't come either. She hates him to the core."
"She knew about it though." George said, "I told her."
"What?" Megumi and Tomoya were shocked. At that moment, Eriri walked into the store and stopped beside Tomoya.
"What makes you think I'm not coming?" She asked, "Well, if it isn't for George, I wouldn't have come."
Masaru then saw the four of them and went to them, "You guys are here."
"Man, we're here to support your shitty ass." George joked.
"Still want to thank you anyways." Masaru replied, "Anything you guys buy, it's forty percent off. So take your pick." Liam then came in with Lucy.
"Looks like a busy officer came to support me too." Masaru said.
"I wouldn't miss your first day of work here." Liam replied, "You told me like you're in some good shit. That's why I'm here to see if your store's going well."
"Oh well, I got another supporter." Masaru smiled, "Go ahead, guys. Buy the clothes you want. Anything you don't know, come and find me. I'll help you."
In the nightclub, Utaha ordered a cup of red wine. She sat down on a seat and waited for the drink.
As she was sitting and waiting, a song started playing. It was "Rain" by The Script. As the song plays, the bartender poured red wine into a glass and passed it to Utaha, "Here you go, miss."
"Thank you." She muttered as she took it and gulped it down, "One more cup, please."
"'Cause when I'm sitting in the bar
All the lovers with umbrellas always pass me by
It's like I'm living in the dark
And my heart's turned cold since you left my life
And no matter where I go
Girl, I know if I'm alone, there'll be no blue sky
I don't know what I'm doing wrong"
She felt that she could relate to the lyrics. She's been feeling very down since her break up with Masaru. She didn't want it, yet she got it. She has seen lots of couples showing love by holding hands and kissing each other for the past six months. It would remind her of Masaru and her, but then it pains her to know that he has broken up with her, and he is never willing to fix the relationship between the two.
"'Cause baby, when you're gone
All it does is rain, rain, rain down on me
Each drop is pain, pain, pain when you leave
It's such a shame we fucked it up, you and me
'Cause baby, when you're gone
All it does is rain"
By this time, she had drank a few glasses of wine. She decided to stop drinking so that she can get home safely without tripping or falling down. She then continued listening to the music that the nightclub is playing as she thought about the times of her and Masaru together.
At nine in the night, Megumi and Tomoya are still hanging out with Masaru in the store.
"Megumi, Tomoya, you should head home." Masaru said, "It's late already."
"We want to wait for you, Masaru-san." Megumi uttered.
"It's okay. I'm sure you're tired from your work, plus you rushed down all the way after that to see me." Masaru replied, "Besides, I need to clean up the store."
"Alright, good night then." Megumi said. Masaru waved good bye to the two of them and cleaned up the store.
After a few minutes, he locked the store up and went out of the shopping complex. As he was walking to the bus stop, he saw Utaha. She is just opposite of him, a few meters away. Utaha, who was looking down, looked up and saw him too. They both stood rooted to the ground, staring at each other.
To be continued in Episode 10
