A few months have passed since the B Komachi concert, as expected by everyone, the group's popularity skyrocketed, if they continue like this they might perform in top places like stadiums. But out of nowhere the group announced some time off for the leading idol, weird timing considering the position of the group right now.
The young man continues to work as the delivery guy of Zenji's restaurant. But now they have become very good friends, even going out to have a drink together sometimes. The business is thriving without issue.
The apartment on the other hand is more empty now, some of the guys had to go back to their lives across the pond. Only four of them remain, Frank, Jay and the young man being three of them. It was to be expected, most of them were there for the experience and to enjoy the place for a while.
...
The young man right now is delivering his last order of the day to a usual customer non less. The restaurant has its own small community it seems.
"Thanks again!" Says the young man as he is leaving the front of the house.
A married couple wave their hands as he drives away.
He drives through the city towards the restaurant to leave the bike and call it a day.
Eventually he reaches his destination, does what he has to do, and prepares to leave. The restaurant is closed at this point, only Zenji and a couple of waiters remain cleaning up.
"Leaving already?" Asks Zenji
"Yeah, I'm going to look for new headphones, my old ones are done for"
"Alright then, see you tomorrow"
"Yep, see you tomorrow guys"
...
The young man walks through the streets with a little smile on his face, as anyone with new headphones should. He is looking all over the place admiring the dark yet so colorful street.
He stops Infront of a tiny establishment, a bar to be more specific, but really small, a perfect place for those who want to drink their sorrows away or to celebrate small victories.
He wonders for a moment before taking a step in, he could use a drink to enjoy how well things are going for him lately.
As expected there is few people in there, and all of them are men, most of them are on the tables. The young man decides to sit by the counter, next to a man with blonde hair and a suit.
"Hey, a shot of Sake please" He says casually.
The bartender nods
The young man takes a glance at the man next to him, he can't see his whole face because of his shades but his body language is clear as day, he is troubled, a finger slightly moving his shot, his other hand on his forehead mimicking the front of a cap while looking down a little... He is looking for a solution to a problem, personal or professional? More likely professional as he is wearing a suit.
The young man takes a sip of his drink as he is wondering if he should even get involved, he Just got here for a quick drink before going home, and unlike everyone here, he is drinking to enjoy... But he can't just leave now that he knows the man needs help right?
...
"Tch..."
So annoying
He hasn't dropped his shot a single time even though he is moving it with one finger so he is not that drunk yet, his shades can mean that he is concerned about his privacy or just by style. He is looking for a solution, but how can I approach to get the problem? His shirt is kinda sloppy so he probably isn't that formal with people.
...
Alright, don't be so intrusive, casual talking, you are in a bar drinking with strangers, it must be as natural as possible.
He lets out a sigh and looks down for a moment.
"Bad day huh?"
The blonde man turns his head to see whoever said that, he sees the young man with his shot on his hand looking forward.
"Bad month" He says as he returns his sight to his glass.
"Damn, those are the worst"
"The damn worse indeed..."
"Alright, who is the asshole?"
Very bold, but he will...
The blonde man breaks into a sudden laugh as he hears those words.
The young man smirks.
"It's a she, but she is most certainly not an asshole" The blonde man says as he finishes his laugh.
"Oh! Haha sorry about that, then who is this troublesome gal?"
The blonde man doesn't respond to that, instead he just frowns a little.
Someone close to him? Then...
"It's alright, you don't have to tell anything you don't want" Says the young man as he finishes his shot and gestures the bartender for a refill.
A couple of minutes go by, silence and the taps of glass on wood are the only things on the air.
Tick...Tack...Tick...Tack...
"Is my daughter"Says the blonde man breaking the silence.
The young man is surprised by that answer.
"She is pregnant"The blonde man continues.
The young man turns to face him, but he is looking at his glass.
"Shouldn't that be... Good news?" Says the young man confused.
The blonde man doesn't respond to that
"She works in this successful company right? And she is about to get a big promotion, but I'm afraid this sudden pregnancy might ruin all her efforts" He explains.
...
"Well... It can't be that bad right? As long as the father supports her, surely-" Says the young man before noticing a serious noticeable frown from the man.
Damn...
He wonders for a moment.
A single mother... Giving up her future for a child... Sadly that is pretty common these days, and this guy makes it sound like the stakes are too high... Maybe that promotion is life changing? A lot of money involved? But is that enough?
...
I just need one more answer
"What is her point of view?" He says with a serious tone
The blonde man takes a moment to gather his words.
"She... Is thinking about it as well, she knows what is going to happen if she goes on with this, but she doesn't seem to be as concerned as I am... It's hard to tell what is on her mind sometimes..."
5 Minutes go by in complete silence... Until.
"She should abort" Says the young man.
The bartender is shocked by such heavy words. The blonde man is surprised, he didn't expect to hear those words from someone else.
"Right?" The blonde man says with some relief.
"But that is just the cold opinion of some cold men, none of us know what will happen or what she is going to choose after all" Says the young man as he gets up, puts some money on his side of the table and walks towards the blonde man.
"But whatever she chooses is going to be the right choice" He continues as he rests his hand on the man's shoulder. "You will support her after all, not all who end up in that situation have that"
The blonde man is speechless, he is just sitting there absorbing each word with a confused expression.
The young man leaves as he speaks one final sentence.
"Don't see it as what it will be, see it as what it could be"
...
As he is walking through the dark street just outside the bar, he stops for a moment and looks up.
"I really hope she can love you..."
-Later that night, at the apartment-
After a acceptable diner the young man locks himself in the bathroom before going to bed, he stands by the door for a couple of minutes before taking his shirt off and resting both his hands on the sink Infront of the mirror.
Cold sweat starts running through his upper body, suddenly he looks like he has been seriously sick for a whole week or something. He slowly raises his head to see his reflection, but he remains surprisingly calm not showing any expression of pain or discomfort, probably because this isn't the first time.
He stares at his reflection, but even if he is not showing any emotion, his mind is a complete chaos. Thoughts fighting thoughts, screams, anger, annoyance, frustration... And the only visible record of any of that is a occasional twich of his left eye.
After a while he stands straight, inhales, exhales, and starts to clean all the sweat around his body. He washes his face with some cold water and leaves the bathroom.
Eventually everyone went to sleep as usual, preparing for another day of work.
-The next morning -
"What? Are you sure?"
"Yeah, sorry for not telling you yesterday, I wasn't able to confirm it until right now"
"Well... I still can help you teach him the ropes and all that, I'm pretty sure that's the way to go"
"It most certainly is but you have already done so much being the only delivery guy for this long, so I want you to take a little vacation, at least while the new kid gets the hang of the business"
"I don't know..."
"Don't worry, I'm not doing this completely out of my gigantic heart hahaha! I want you in top form when you return because we are going to be drowning in work with the plans of expansion I'm putting together"
The young man lets out a sigh surrendering to his friend's order
"Alright then, two whole weeks you say?"
"That's right, you better relax a lot my friend because things are going to be rough when you get back"
"Noted, still call me if anything happens meanwhile"
"Of course! See ya!"
Tap*
Well... That was unexpected... What should I do now?
...
I want something sweet...
-Around one hour later-
The young man walks through the calm streets towards a familiar coffee shop, if things are going to get as busy as his boss says he will need to relax as hard as he can to endure it, whatever that means.
He opens the door and scans the place for a empty table, once he finds one he approaches the counter and places his order, a pumpkin latte and the best looking brownie he can see. It felt a little off, compared to when he was jobless this was a complete waste of money... Which made him smile a little thinking how good things are going.
After receiving his order he sits down and takes a moment to empty his mind of any plans or work related thoughts to just relax. He takes a sip of his latte and a bite of the brownie and lets his mind be filled with the sweet combination.
Hmmm... I think I can make one tastier...
As he is enjoying the sweet ride of flavors, the sudden sound of a chair being dragged and placed right Infront of him makes him open his eyes to see what's happening, to his surprise he is met with the sigh of a blonde kid, much younger than even Jay, sitting infront of him with some dark sunglasses. He looks left and right to see if he can find the parents or someone looking for him but he can't find anyone, in the end he looks at the kid and starts talking.
"Umm... I'm sorry kid but this table is taken..." He says trying to sound as friendly as possible.
The kid just keeps staring at him.
...
"Can I hel-"
"Nice to meet you mister" The kid finally says "Can I speak with you for a moment?"
The politeness of the kid surprises the young man
"Ummm... I don't think so, are you lost or something?" Asks the puzzled young man.
The blonde kid completely ignores the question as he responds with another.
"What are your thoughts on lies?"
Huh? What is he even talking about? Why is he wearing sunglasses? Youth style? Guess I'm outdated. And why is he so polite for his age? He is giving me the creeps.
The young man quickly finishes his latte and grabs what's left of the brownie.
"Im sorry kid but you should contact with the local authorities if you are lost, Il go see if there is any nearby" He says as he stands up and starts walking to the exit. He should find some police or someone to help this weird kid find his parents or whatever to get this over with.
Let's see... If there isn't any police nearby I guess il have to take him to the station... Which is not even close... Man what a dr-
"Don't you think it is pretty damn hot outside to be wearing a sleeve?" The young man hears from behind him, he abruptly stops.
Even though it is a normal question on the outside, the real intention is obvious for the young man, realization as well as confusion start to form in his thoughts. But he quickly and out of nervousness comes out with an excuse.
"You like it? I don't know much about the current style of the young but I think it's pretty neat!" He says as he turns around to face the kid making a funny pose flexing his right arm showing off his sleeve.
The kid just smiles in response, maybe a little amused by the performance.
"Come on, I won't take much of your time, a few minutes at most" Says the kid.
I don't have to do this, just get out of here, just get out of the shop and walk away... This kid...
As the young man stands just a few steps away from the door, doubt and a small fraction of curiosity prevent him from leaving, this kid awakens a sense of familiarity from deep within that he is fighting really hard to ignore.
"You know... Ai spoke of you" The young man hears once again from behind. Now his thoughts are the ones stopping abruptly to process that phrase.
Just a few seconds later he takes a moment to lower his head a bit and whisper something to himself.
"God damnit..."
He then turns around and sits once again in front of the blonde kid, this one having a warm smile on him.
"Thank you, I promise it will be just a moment" Says the kid.
The young man, now with a serious expression, just stares at the kid right through those sunglasses, even though he can't see them, the kid's eyes widen a bit in surprise to the sudden change, but quickly relaxes as if he just confirmed something. He then reaches and pulls a little bit of the young man's sleeve in a playful yet mocking way.
"You know... I do like this style, I was thinking about copying it from you, I think it would look good on me... don't you think?" The kid says with a little smile "Sadly I have an image to maintain"
The young man doesn't respond, he just suddenly moves away his arm from the kid's reach.
Even though he is very wary of the kid, he can obviously tell the true meaning of those words. He can't help but to start to feel something almost instinctively as he continues to listen to him...
"Alright then, let's talk" Says the young man with an abnormal serious tone coming from him
"Perfect" Says the kid."I'll ask again. What are your thoughts on lies?"
"You're gonna need to be more specific with that"
"Hmm... Do you think they are good? Or bad?"
"Neither"
The kid is a bit surprised by his answer.
"A lie is a lie, it doesn't become bad or good until someone decides to use it with one of those inclinations"
The kid is eagerly listening to the young man.
"And even if it's true that not saying the truth is morally bad, that's just too simplistic and not always the case. If the only way to save someone's life is to lie about something would it still be bad in that case? People tend to just see black and white just by the raw meaning of the word..." The young man continues. "That's what I think at least "
The blonde kid takes a brief moment to process all of what he just said, he lowers his head a little to think. The young man takes this brief silence to talk.
"My turn, what did you mean when you said Ai told you about me?"
The question pulls the kid out of his thoughts.
"Exactly what you heard, Ai herself told me about you, not much I must admit but some interesting things nonetheless" He says with a warm smile on his face.
"Like what?"
"Like the fact that she bumped into you in this very establishment"The kid says maintaining his smile.
The young man's eyes go wide as he listens to the kid, there's no way he could have known that unless Ai told him...
So it's true that he knows her...
The kid continues to talk as he sees the young man expression
"I gotta say, pretty sad that you didn't even told her your name"
"What are you to her?" The young man asks.
The blonde kid doesn't respond, instead he slowly reaches for his sunglasses and takes them off, revealing his blue eyes. The young man is shocked, his eyes are very similar in a strange way to Ai's... Yet his are gloomier.
A sense of familiarity harasses the young man.
Eyes aside, now that he has the full view of the kid's face he can tell he is very good looking, something you could expect from someone in a dating show or in a teen romance movie.
Is he her...? No, it can't be
"We... Are pretty close, that's all I'll say" The blonde kid says. "Sorry I can't be more specific, gotta protect her social bubble, famous people stuff, you know"
With such lazy answer the young man can tell he expects him to seek the answer himself. That or revealing that information could expose something about him that he wants to keep unknown.
"Are you... An actor?" The young man says. The question got out without thinking.
The kid looks a bit surprised by the question, he then starts to chuckle. The young man just waits for the answer.
"Very perceptive" He says with the last of his chuckles. "I guess it takes one to know one"
The young man is genuinely confused by what the kid just said, he was just expecting a yes or no.
The blonde kid notices his confusion and tries to elaborate.
"I mean... You are one too" He says, but the young man still has a confused expression.
"Right?"
"I'm not" The young man responds, and for the first time since they started talking, the kid is sincerely shocked.
A brief moment of tense silence passes through the two of them as they process what just happened.
"Why did you th-"
"Hahaha!" The kid laughs interrupting the young man, making him even more confused.
"Man... You are truly scary..." He says recovering from the sudden laugh.
"Are you telling me that this" He continues as he makes the movement of putting on an imaginary mask. "Comes naturally to you?"
The young man remains silent.
"Amazing... I can only shudder at the thought of what is behind that..."
"What do you want from me exactly?" The young man finally asks. The kid returns to his usual smile.
"I guess I wanted to satisfy the curiosity Ai transferred to me at first, but now..." The kid leans a bit forward. "Now that I see that we are more similar than I thought, I want us to be... Partners"
The young man's eyes narrow as he processes the words of the kid, he doesn't feel surprised or even anxious... He feels disappointment.
This kid... Is broken... I don't know his circumstances nor his exact pain but...
The kid Infront of him slowly gets more and more blurred, until he transforms into another kid, one a bit younger, one that the young man knows very well even if his face remains blurred.
I know that kind of pain very well...
...
But even if that is the case, even if deep within a part of me wants to help him... I won't throw away everything that I have achieved here for this kid...
If he wants to fall into the abyss...
He can do it alone.
"No thanks" Says the young man with a serious tone.
The kid seems legitimately surprised that he declined, but quickly changes his expression to one of disappointment with annoyance.
The young man notices it and is surprised by the change of emotion, but he remains silent, even if he is more mature than the rest, he is still a kid.
"I guess that's fair" Says the kid.
The young man remains silent for one more moment.
"Well... As promised, I won't take more of your time" the kid continues as he stands up
"One last thing" The young man says.
The blonde kid looks at him still a bit annoyed.
"It only takes but a moment to think, don't let regret take over the rest of your life for not taking such a brief moment"
The kid seems to ignore what the young man says and leaves the shop saying one last phrase.
"Enjoy your sweet and peaceful life..."
...
After a little while the young man exits the building and looks up at the sky before letting out a long sigh.
He eventually starts walking, leaving the coffee shop behind, the only thing remaining in it's entrance is a black feather slowly falling down from the sky, landing softly where the young man was standing.
--
Author's Notes
Don't you hate when this happens?
So there I was, so anxious that the next season of Oshi No Ko was about to drop and I still hadn't finished the firsts chapters of my story, I really wanted to at least have the first 4 chapters out before the season started. But then the date came by and my list didn't show any new Oshi No Ko season, all the new animes got added except for Oshi No Ko, so I just thought "Damn, could it be that I got the dates wrong or something and the new episodes are coming next season instead? Heck yeah! Now I can take it reaaaal easy with the chapters"
...
Yeah... I realized a looong while later that instead of making a new season with all the new episodes, my list just started adding the new episodes with the old ones and of course I didn't find out until 8 episodes where already out...
This isn't the first time this happens but this one really hurt, now I'm far behind with my plans... At least I'm still kinda unknown so it's not a big deal hehe.
I won't even see the new season yet, I first want to re watch the first one so I am fresh on the story and details for my future chapters.
After all, the beginning of the story is reaching it's end, so it's time for the blood to start dripping, the wheels to keep turning, and the masks to start falling down.
Next Chapter: The Thin Line