"Say, are you free tomorrow? Let's go watch a movie!" Syunpei was surprised to hear this invitation from You, a member of the Procellarum.
There was a moment of silence before the man admonished the inattentive middle schooler to break it. The boy inquired the reason he was chosen instead of the other members, they could have taken his place perfectly. You answered him with the information he did not predicted to hear, he wanted to watch the new horror movie with him as friends. But I'm bad at movies! Not to mention horror! I hate them! The middle schooler refused to go with the red hair man, saying he was busy with clubs even if he did not have one. The man somehow pleaded to him, desperately clinging onto his arm saying he was lonely. Some of the members were busy with recording and the others had their respective soulmate already, were what You claimed but were protest by them. The red hair man also almost leaked their true identities to the clueless boy. Fortunately, it was covered again with Shun and Hajime fast thinking to lie and masked the truth. They had a little bit of an argument before their attention turned to Syunpei again. The boy was reluctant to go, but the man insisted by saying it was an order as an errand boy. He was an 'employee' of the 'staffs', so he needed to listen to his superior. The brown hair boy felt defeated and upset that he lost with just that claim, he started to question his fate working with them.
"It's decided then! Tomorrow at 10, don't be late!" You informed the middle schooler before leaving the room with Koi.
Syunpei felt at lost on what to do, he was not sure he could endure it tomorrow. Kakeru who was watching from afar could see Syunpei's worries through his facade, he started to feel the same as well. Before Kakeru could start his brotherly act towards the boy, Hajime stopped him. His group leader's stated that it best for him to solve it by himself, it was a process of learning and dealing with problems. Hearing this, a bulb light up inside Kakeru's mind.
"Are you testing him?" The blonde man asked.
Hajime nodded and replied that they needed to find a requirement for him to work with them, a reason for him to stay by their side. The manager and the other staffs had started to suspect Syunpei's presence in the broadcasting building, thinking he was here as a spy. People would use various methods to bring others down, and this successful broadcasting company was one of the targeted victims. Because of that, every worker in the building was cautious of their surrounding especially the idols. If their fans found out about their bad images or problems, would they not be upset on them?
"I asked You since he had the most free time. There has to be at least something about him that makes his appearance here remarkable to us." Hajime explained his reasons further as to not confused Kakeru.
The blonde man once again took a glance at the boy with a worried look. He might be smiling while playing with Shun and the others, but was he really letting happiness into him? Kakeru could only sigh and accept this event. He better pass this, or I'll regret for being too late to say it to him.
You and Syunpei went to the movie as he promised the next day. You did not realize that the boy next to him had his face turned white and his body turned ice. The boy scribbled a lot of excuses in his head to run away, to avoid revealing that he actually afraid of ghosts. But as he thought of the reply the redhead man would give, he decided to drop it off. There was no way he could win against their argument. He had gone through it with all of them after all. The boy could only sigh in seeing the man excitingly picking out his favourite popcorn and soda from afar, without realizing a smile carved on his face Syunpei did not care anymore, he just wanted the day to end as quickly as possible. He wanted to make this outing as short as possible. He wanted to make this moment as memorable as ever. He was snapped out of his haze as You pushed the beverages he bought onto his hands for him to hold. You reminded him that he was just an errand boy and nothing more than that, he should not expect that he was more than that. Reality hit Syunpei hard, he was frozen in shock. His mind was shattered of the man's word, he felt nothingness in him now. He thought this was an outing between friends but he was fooled.
They entered the hall they were assigned to watch the movie, sitting side by side in the dark thrilling room. When the movie reached its horrifying part, You turned to the middle schooler to see his reaction. Surprisingly, the boy did not flinch from his seat. His blank stare showed how uninterested he was about the cinema screen in front of him. He could tell from the way the boy ate the popcorn bits by bits. You ruffled the boy's hair to congratulate him for passing the first stage of his examination, where he exclaimed it out loud. This confused Syunpei, what exam? He was a second too late to inquire the man before he was indulge in the movie again. With a stirred mind, the boy watched the movie half-heartedly with a conscious mind. Even so, the movie did not scare him at all. Whether he achieved the trait of bravery or his mind were busy thinking about this 'exam' the man slipped out of his mouth, he just sit there like a living doll.
When the movie ends, they make their ways to the shopping mall they had always hung out at. Syunpei was once again being test by You. He was to choose fashionable clothes for them, a food court that suited their taste, carried the heavy loading bags all by himself. With each task You assigned to him, he was reminded of how low his position was. An errand boy, nothing but an insolent fool following orders from his superior. The boy felt a raging fire lit inside his heart, but he calmed it down by breathing slowly as a form of meditation. The breezy wind he breathed in had put the fire out. He was frustrated by the man's action, but he could felt that he was doing nothing but a teasing.
"So, feeling like giving up yet?" You smirked as he leaned down to Syunpei.
What surprised him was that the boy did not flinch, he was still as a stone. His determined eyes were staring straight into You's soul, shaking his spirit to tease him more. Something about this boy seems interesting, he wondered what it was. Even so, the redhead was impressed of Syunpei's performance in overcoming this test. He almost passed it all, the last trial had awaited for the boy once they stepped to the temple.
"I feel a bit pious right now, why don't we take a stop at the temple?" You suggested, though it was more like an order.
Syunpei followed the man's step without knowing where he was actually going and what he was going to face. Whatever it is, it better be good . Once they arrived at a temple nearby, a man was there to pray for prosperity and health. More like staring into nothingness, what a mysterious man the boy thought. However, something about him made Syunpei felt nervous. The man was wearing a long coat to his feet, something hanging on his ear that implied he was wearing a mask, a straw hat just enough to hide his face. According to the middle schooler's knowledge, this was what a paparazzi would look like. Even though this stereotypical appearance was wrong, but the boy believed it as it often presented in TVs. Is this a bad thing? Should I tell him to go somewhere else? The boy took a glance at You before he could speak out his worries.
"You're here, I know you'd come." The long coat man spoke with a broken deep voice sent chills down Syunpei's spine.
There was an intimidating aura surrounding them, this was not a good sign. Before they could react, the mysterious man turned around with a knife in his hand and rushed towards You. Voluntarily, Syunpei put himself in front the redhead, shielding him from the knife that was about to come right to him. At that moment somehow, the boy wanted to protect this man who kept pushing him down. He was ready to sacrifice himself to protect You, but was what he was doing right now would mean something to him? Was his death would be appreciated and mourned over? Thinking over, Syunpei closed his eyes and could only wait until the knife stabbed through his fragile body.
"Congratulations, you passed the test!" Syunpei opened his eyes in surprise hearing that voice, it was Kai.
He looked the most matured one among the staffs so he respected the man for being so. However, aftee seeing him in this horrible disguise popping a confetti in front of him made him lost it. Kai could see the annoyed expression on the boy's face, and he knew the exact words that was going to speak out by the boy.
"We were researching your qualifications in order to continue working with us. To our surprise, you have a lot that we interested in." Kai put on a smile as he finished those sentences, making Syunpei felt more annoyed than he was.
He excused himself since he could not take all this nonsense play they were putting and walked out of the temple. A hand grabbed and pulled his arm that made him come to a stop, he turned to see You looked at him with a bright face. Even so, only Syunpei could tell that the man was hiding a painful facade from being seen. They said eyes could be a powerful communication mechanism, and they were right. The boy could understand the man's feeling even without hearing him talking first. He was glad yet he was worried, he was happy yet he was upset. Before the middle schooler admonished the redhead You, the man spoke first.
"Let's tell everyone the great news, together." His grip suddenly tighten a bit and it made the boy uncomfortable.
He felt the man's hand was shaking and cold blood running through it.
Syunpei looked up to him and said, "You were scared it wasn't Kai weren't you?"
"Yes... " You's answered with a low tone.
"What a joke, I thought you're better than this." Syunpei shrugged it off.
"I couldn't help it! His acting were too good! I really thought it was someone else!" You's exclaimed as he let out his fear.
"Was that supposed to be a compliment? Thanks." Kai replied as he popped another confetti that made the mood even more immature.
The redhead and matured looking man had a little fight before Syunpei's sudden laugh stop them. The boy could not hold himself how childish these adults were. He could not believe the man who was looking down on him actually worried sick about him. He grabbed You by the arms and pulled him, walking towards the direction that he had became a habit to go.
"Let's go back! Everyone's waiting!" You and Kai who heard this, seeing the wide spread smile on the boy's face mirrored his action. "Yeah, let's go."
As they reached the studio, everyone had prepared to celebrate Syunpei's success of becoming an official employee to them. He was teased and played around by Shun as always but instead of getting angry, he was enjoying it. He was glad he met these wonderful people, he was glad he could put his mind off from that good-for-nothing man for once. He was happy being here around them who understood him. You watched from afar as the other members joked around the middle schooler. Hajime admonished him for being a man who did not know how to have fun.
"It's not that, he was willing to protect me. I'm afraid that one day, we will regret of hiring him. I hate guilt." You said as he looked down looking troubled.
He did not want the boy to hurt because of him, he did not want to regret not being able to protect him. Hajime pat on his back, reassured him that everything would be fine.
"He didn't like it when people worrying about him like this. As long as he still fine in front of us, nothing will go wrong." Koi that was in the mischief group of teasing Syunpei called out to Hajime to join them. With this, Hajime left the redhead man to his own thought and did what he was called out for. It took a long time before You started walking towards the group and continued the teasing everyone was throwing at the boy. While having fun, You found himself oddly happy by staring at the boy's joyful expression. A smile carved on his face, he was certain that this middle schooler was special to them in every way possible. As he held his hand out to brush Syunpei's hair, his heart was ascertained what he thought of him and that he treasured him. I will not let you wither, my sunflower.