Broken Fragments

Chapter 30: Back to Being Distant

After three weeks of being in a small town to film Takada Pinau's movie, the cast and crew finally returned to the city for the editors to put the movie together under Pinau's orders. The movie festival, which was announced to take place during the Tanabata festival in two weeks.

"Welcome back, Hiroto-kun and Yuu—huh?" Chairman Muranishi greeted when they returned from the movie's filming.

"Where's Yuuhi-chan?" Chairman Muranishi asked in confusion when it was only Hiroto that walked in his office.

"She's with Cloudy," Hiroto answered, irritated.

Hiroto sat down on the couch in Chairman Muranishi's office, making him remember the day he came back from travelling around the world. The only differences were that Hiroto was only gone for three weeks, not four years, and was only out in a small town in Japan, not in foreign countries.

"Did something happen between you two?" Chairman Muranishi asked as he sat down on the couch with Hiroto to give him advices, like a father.

"Or them two?"

Hiroto didn't want to think more about Yuuhi and Cloudy's relationship, but he admitted to himself that he needed and wanted help. He doesn't know why or what he needed help on, but Hiroto was desperate.

"I see," Chairman Muranishi commented after Hiroto told him everything that happened during the filming.

Chairman Muranishi stood up to turn on the flat screen TV in his office. As soon as it turned on, Yuuhi and Cloudy's faces were already on the celebrity news. Shocked, Hiroto stood up to clearly watch the broadcast. The two were surrounded by many reporters and paparazzi and their eyes reflected the camera flashes. Microphones, voice recorders, and video cameras were near the couple's faces. The two idols also held hands to declare their relationship to the public, though they knew that they would only get troubled by many people.

The Chairman and Hiroto continued to watch the news to see what the ruckus was all about. Of course, it was all about their relationship and Hiroto didn't want to hear about it. Somewhere, he was hurting, but he was confused on why. Annoyed and full of it, Hiroto grabbed the remote controller from the Chairman to turn off the TV, but a question from a reporter intrigued Hiroto, making him pause from pressing the power button.

"Why do you proclaim your relationship in public, unlike most idols and celebrities who keep their romantic life secret, when you know that you'll only get troubled?"

"I love Yuuhi and that's all that matters. The two of us we'll handle things together, and we'll be alright since we have each other," Cloudy confidently answered.

Hiroto was quite shocked of Cloudy's answer. He didn't think that Cloudy could be such a serious person when it came to love, especially since he was a bit of a playboy before. Feeling as if he had lost, Hiroto turned off the flat screen with a downed look. He placed the remote controller on the coffee table and sat back down.

"You should greet Yuuhi-chan," Chairman Muranishi encouraged.

"From the surroundings I saw on TV, those two were outside. Cloudy-san probably dropped her off."

Hiroto looked up to find a kind smile on Chairman Muranishi's face. Hiroto was a little confused on what Chairman Muranishi was trying to imply, but Hiroto felt just a bit better.

In a hurry, Hiroto left the room with only a soft smile on his face to thank the Chairman. The Chairman walked to the glass wall behind his desk to look outside. Even though he had a gentle smile on his face, there was still an ache behind it.

"Maybe...it's time," he thought.

Meanwhile, Hiroto made it downstairs to greet Yuuhi, who was only escorted by Cloudy up to the main entrance of the MEC building. Hiroto was a little disappointed, however, to see Yuuhi give Cloudy a see-you-later peck on the cheek. As soon as Cloudy's manager arrived with his car, Cloudy entered the car's backseat after spending only a few seconds with the paparazzi outside. Thanks to the security guards, the reporters couldn't enter the building to bug Yuuhi anymore.

"Yuuhi, I—"

"We have to go, Kazama-san. We'll be late for my recording session," Yuuhi interrupted as she headed to the elevator to go down to the parking lot.

Hiroto was completely surprised of Yuuhi's behavior, especially on how she called him. He followed her to the elevator, where it was only the two of them that used it. On their way down, Hiroto was still thinking about what just happened a few moments ago. Deeply thinking about it, he didn't realize that they'd made it to his car.

"Are you going to unlock it?" Yuuhi asked, interrupting Hiroto's train of thoughts.

"Oh! Right," Hiroto awkwardly replied as he took out his keys in panic.

The two drove out of the parking lot as soon as they settled down. Yuuhi was quiet, like always, and Hiroto was being bugged by the atmosphere that had returned from before. Looking at the clock, Hiroto realized that he had enough time to talk to Yuuhi.

"Why are you doing this to me again?" Hiroto angrily asked, suddenly stepping on the brakes as they stopped by the side of an empty road.

"What?" Yuuhi calmly asked as she tucked her hair behind her ear from lunging forward because of the sudden stop.

"You called me 'Kazama-san' just earlier! I thought you started calling me 'Hiroto?'" he roared.

"You're getting mad over a different way of calling you?"

"No! I'm getting mad because you're growing distant again!"

Yuuhi kept quiet as she waited for Hiroto to continue.

"Was it because of what I asked you back then? Was it because I touched on something personal? What is it? Why? Why are you so far from me again?" Hiroto threw questions at Yuuhi.

"No! They're all wrong! It's because I have Cloudy, alright! I have a boyfriend!"

"Oh, so that bastard told you to be cold to me again? Why? Is he jealous?"

"No! It was all me! I decided that, myself!"

Hiroto's eyes widened to find out that Yuuhi wanted to be distant from him again. A quiet moment lingered around the two, with only deep breaths from Yuuhi audible. She was so angry that she couldn't breathe, and Hiroto understood that because his heart was racing, too.

"Why…why can't you just…just be near me…by my side?" Hiroto painfully and silently asked, leaning back on his seat to stare at his steering wheel.

Yuuhi took off her seatbelt, the click seeming to echo inside the silent car. She took her purse and opened the car's door before answering Hiroto.

"I have Cloudy," Yuuhi said, getting out of the car.

"And what you're asking is too much."

Yuuhi shut the door and walked away from Hiroto's car to find a taxi. Hiroto didn't want to watch her walk away because she had to leave again. The exact thing had happened to the two of them before, and Hiroto couldn't believe that it was happening again.

"Why do I keep messing up?"

The next day, Hiroto stopped by at the lounge before heading to his office. There, he found Yuuhi drinking tea while reading a magazine. He wanted to greet her, but he was scared that he would mess up again. Since they were the only ones there, the TV's volume seemed louder than how it really was. Hiroto also felt as if every action he made irritated Yuuhi.

After Hiroto made his own cup of tea, he cautiously sat down across Yuuhi because it was the only seat he could sit on. He quietly sipped his tea while Yuuhi kept her eyes on the magazine. Upon placing the magazine on the coffee table and finishing her tea, Yuuhi got up to leave the lounge. Hiroto knew that she would be heading to his office, so he quickly drank his tea down, even slightly burning his tongue, to catch up with her. As soon as Yuuhi closed the door, Hiroto placed his teacup down and left, too.

When he got out, Hiroto rushed to the left side of the hall in hopes of finding Yuuhi to catch up with her. However, the hall was empty and nobody passed by.

"Did you burn your tongue?"

Hiroto turned around to find Yuuhi, casually leaning on the wall with her arms crossed.

"Yuuhi!" Hiroto exclaimed, embarrassed and surprised.

"We're going to be late, Hiroto-san," Yuuhi smiled, passing Hiroto.

Again, Hiroto was confused by Yuuhi's actions, but he was a little happy to hear that she was calling him by his first name again. It felt as if nothing had happened between the two of them yesterday.

Before they drove out of the parking lot, Hiroto confidently gathered his courage to talk to Yuuhi about what happened. However, before he could say anything, Yuuhi took a deep breath. Hiroto knew she was going to say something, so he patiently waited.

"You see," Yuuhi started, pausing as she looked at a blank wall in the parking lot.

"That wasn't me earlier," she coldly continued.

Hiroto was shocked and confused again. It wasn't the first, yes, but Yuuhi never failed to surprise and complicate Hiroto. He looked at Yuuhi's eyes and realized that they were cold and empty. He didn't have to look directly into them, but Hiroto was aware that her eyes weren't warm, but were icy blue. Even the silence and the brief moment before Yuuhi started talking again hurt Hiroto.

"I'll tell you again, Kazama-san," Yuuhi continued, turning her head to face Hiroto.

"I have Cloudy," she proclaimed.

"And I'm not her."

Author's note:

Tanabata- a Japanese star festival, originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. It celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented by the stars Vega and Altair respectively). According to legend, the Milky Way separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar.