Broken Fragments

Chapter 27: Tears and Conscience

Everyone fell silent as they watched Hiroto run away from the set. Immediately, they turned their attention to Yuuhi, who still kept her head down to hide her frustration from everyone. The crew didn't think she was going to be alright anytime soon, but out of nowhere, she looked back up and showed an awkward, yet gorgeous smile on her face.

"It's okay. I get that a lot from him," Yuuhi lied to hide her anger.

"Are you ready to film then, Yuuhi-chan?" Takada Pinau asked.

Determined and ready to forget what happened, Yuuhi nodded with a strong will. Before Yuuhi walked away to her starting position, Cloudy noticed a glimmering tear drop on Yuuhi's cheek.

"I see," he thought, curiosity for an answer in the corner of his head.

Filming began and Yuuhi quickly got into her character. Cloudy, who had been an idol and actor for a longer time, already got into his character without even his knowing. The crew got ready and everyone was concentrated to get the job done right away.

"Action!" Takada Pinau yelled.

The film started rolling and the whole scene was moving the way Pinau wanted it to go. The extras followed the directions they were given and so did Yuuhi and Cloudy. The scene they were filming was when Cloudy's character, Makoto, had to reveal something to Yuuhi's character, Ayuna.

The scene was set a few weeks before Makoto and Ayuna's graduation from junior high school. The previous scenes, where the younger Ayuna and Makoto promised to go to the same senior high school, were filmed with the younger versions of Yuuhi and Cloudy the other day. Since graduation was during the spring, Pinau had to find a sidewalk lined with pink cherry blossoms in the city where they were filming the whole movie. Lucky enough for them, there were still cherry blossoms that haven't turned green, which could be hard to find especially in the first week of June.

"Ayuna, I have to tell you something important," Cloudy seriously said while he and Yuuhi walked along the sidewalk.

"What is it, Makoto? Oh, my! Don't tell me that your parents have found your stash of porn magazines?" Yuuhi playfully joked as Ayuna.

"N-no! They already found them last year," Cloudy blushed in embarrassment.

Yuuhi started laughing, making Cloudy feel more embarrassed. Meanwhile, the staff and audience, especially Pinau, were very impressed at how natural the scene and their conversation flowed and looked.

"A-anyways, that's not what I wanted to tell you," Cloudy continued after Yuuhi stopped laughing.

"It's about our high school applications," he revealed, hesitant.

"Oh! Isn't the last day of submission today? Did you submit yours?" Yuuhi caringly asked, getting a nod from Cloudy as a reply.

"Wow! I'm so excited! Next year, we're going to be high school students! I think we'll look great in our new uniforms, don't you?" Yuuhi cheerfully said as she thought about how they'd look like in their high school uniforms.

"That's the thing…we won't have the same uniforms," Cloudy said, looking gloomier and gloomier.

"Of course, we won't! Don't tell me you want to wear the uniform for girls instead?" Ayuna joked once again.

Takada Pinau's heart started pumping faster after the line that Yuuhi just performed because the next part was something more serious.

"Stop with the jokes, Ayuna! I'm being serious here, okay?! What I'm trying to say is I'm not going to the same high school as you are!

Just like how Pinau wanted it, Yuuhi and Cloudy stopped walking under the biggest cherry blossom tree for the more dramatic scene that was coming. Yuuhi's facial expression was also greater than how Pinau and the crew expected it.

Yuuhi looked like a completely different person because of she had never shown the facial expression she had on for that scene in public before. Her eyes were wide in horror, not calm or cold. Her blue eyes were shimmering as if the stars were present to make them shine. Her lips were also partially apart as if she was in a daze, but she was actually shocked. To make the scene look even better, the wind started blowing, making Yuuhi's wig's tresses elegantly blow in front of her face.

"Wh…what do you mean?" Yuuhi quietly asked, clenching onto the brown school satchel she carried as the wind stop just in time for her to say her lines.

"I'm moving to the city right after graduation. I'm going to a high school there, instead," Cloudy turned away from Yuuhi, his facial appearance showing pain.

One of the cameras zoomed into Yuuhi's hand, which clenched onto her bag tighter, for an extra shot that Pinau might use. Another camera, on the other hand, zoomed into Yuuhi as she tilted her head down a bit to hide her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Cloudy said after a few moments of silence.

He continued walking without looking back until he was out of the cameras' visions. As the wind blew once again, Yuuhi tilted her head back up to say her next lines. Takada Pinau instructed her to keep her head down when saying the scene's final lines, but Yuuhi shocked the director when she looked back up. However, when Pinau watched Yuuhi act out the final parts of the scene, he was very impressed at what she had done.

Yuuhi used the wind to her advantage in making the scene look more dramatic. When she looked up, the wind blew cherry blossom petals away, causing them to rain on Yuuhi. The wind also caused her hair and bangs to sway sideways, revealing her crying, ocean-blue eyes.

"But you promised," Yuuhi softly said as her tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Cut!"

Takada Pinau got off his chair and approached Yuuhi with a pack of tissue.

"That was good improvisation, Yuuhi-chan. You really impressed me with your wits and cleverness in response to what was given to you," Pinau praised the way she took advantage of the natural, unexpected wind as he handed her a tissue.

"Thank you, Pinau-san," Yuuhi smiled while wiping her tears away.

The whole crew watched the shots as Yuuhi and Cloudy's makeup were being retouched. They were all amazed at how the shots were taken, but they were immersed into Yuuhi and Cloudy's acting. Some of the staff members even cried in seeing Yuuhi's tears. Pinau praised the cameraman who was able to take Yuuhi's dramatic part towards the end of the scene, especially with how enchanted it looked.

For the rest of the day, they filmed more extra scenes during Ayuna and Makoto's junior high school days. The scenes were going to be used for flashbacks and other scenes needed in the beginning.

"Great job today, everyone! You all rest up. We have a busy day tomorrow," Takada Pinau announced.

The crew cleaned up while the actors dressed out.

Hiroto also came back just in time to pick up Yuuhi and bring her back to the hotel when he saw the crew returning the equipment they used. When he got out of the car, he was surprised that nobody whispered or gave him a dirty look. In fact, he was actually consoled and given greetings by the people he passed by.

"Tsubasa-san told us that you do it all the time, Kazama-san. We understand that it's hard for you to forget about her. We're here for you if you need any help," one of the staff members said as he patted Hiroto on the shoulder.

Hiroto bowed to give him thanks and walked away to find Yuuhi. He felt a little grateful that Yuuhi saved him, but he felt horrible that she had to lie for him. During his time alone after he ran away from the set, Hiroto was able to clear his mind to come up with a resolution. He decided to quickly apologize to Yuuhi and remind himself never to do it again. It didn't take him a long time to find Yuuhi, who was getting out of the dressing room with her things. With a relieved smile on his face, Hiroto waved his hand to catch Yuuhi's attention.

"Yuu—"

"Let's go, Yuuhi-san," Cloudy interrupted, blocking off Hiroto's call.

"Oh, thank you, Cloudy-san. You're such a gentleman," Yuuhi replied as she gave Cloudy her extra things, who offered to carry it for her.

Hiroto watched the two as they walked to a blue sports car parked by the set. Cloudy opened the door for Yuuhi and closed it for her before he got in the driver's seat. After getting situated, the two drove off and left the set. Hiroto stood in the middle of the filming area, frozen, as the people around him carried equipment back to their vans and cleaned up the area.

"Kazama-san," a girl called out as she approached the dozing Hiroto.

"This is Yuuhi-san's script. She forgot it in the dressing room," the girl handed Hiroto a book.

"Oh! Thank you," Hiroto replied in surprise.

Upset that he didn't catch Yuuhi in time, Hiroto walked back with a downed appearance. He walked back to his car while his head was down in regret. Before he could reach his car, he overheard a few extras walking behind him as they talked about Yuuhi and Cloudy.

"Did you see Yuuhi-san and Cloudy-san?"

"Yeah, yeah! I did! Cloudy-san drove Yuuhi-san away in his car!"

"Those two are definitely going on a date!"

"Wow! I'm so happy for them! I think they'll become a couple as soon as this movie filming is over."

"If they're going on a date, then they're already couple, aren't they?"

"Oh! They're just so cute together!"

Hiroto was getting furious to hear their gossiping, so before he could rage and yell at the girls, he ran to his car and shut himself away from the world. Throwing Yuuhi's book down on the passenger seat, Hiroto rushed out of the filming area and made his way to town to find a bar he could go to. Because of the wind, Yuuhi's script book opened to a random page and stayed there after Hiroto rolled up the windows when he got irritated of the pages' turning sounds.

When he found a decent-looking bar where he could grab a drink, Hiroto parked his car and calmed himself down before going inside the bar. Turning to the passenger seat, the book caught Hiroto's attention when a few words and sentences were highlighted and noted.

"She's working hard, isn't she?" Hiroto asked himself as he found himself smiling to see Yuuhi's handwritten reminder notes on the book's margin.

Hiroto glanced at the bar's sign while he recalled the things that Yuuhi had been telling him.

"I treasure my career. That's all. I'm sorry, Kazama-san, if you think we aren't getting any closer…but we have to be and act professional."

"We're professionals, Kazama-san! I already told you that!"

"Don't worry, Hiroto-san. Cloudy-san is just a friend, just like you're my friend."

Hiroto sighed when his conscience got to him after remembering Yuuhi's words. Driving off and deciding not to go to the bar, Hiroto made his way back to the hotel and got rid of the anger he was feeling.

"If she's always working so hard, then I don't have any right to drink away just to get rid of my anger," Hiroto told himself.

"If she's working hard, then I have to work hard, too."

When he arrived back at the hotel, Hiroto took a bath and directly went to bed. In his mind, he was ready to start a better day when morning comes. His first mission, of course, was to apologize to Yuuhi.