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As Sho was heading to his dressing room, he met Erika on the way.

"Hi."
Erika noticed him first.

"Oh, hey."

For few secounds, there was an awkward slience between the two.

"Gotta go change. See ya."
Sho had a wry smile on his face. He broke the silence and walked away from her.

"Sho-kun!"
Erika shouted after they were quite a distance.

"I'm sorry.."

Sho stopped without turning back and soon he started to walk away.

Few month back, there was a new model arriving at Diamonds. It was Toda Erika.
She wasn't the top model in the beggining so not many approached to her. She was shy at everything even when she was infront of the camera thus she had limited poses.
Sometimes the camera man gets annoyed with her and others talked behind her back. Seeing all that, that is when Sho went over to her.

"You are the new model, Toda Erika-san. Right?"
Being the top model, it was unsual for Sho to be talking to Erika but he somehow wanted to help.

"Erm, yes. Oh! Saurai-san?!"
Erika looked up and found that one of the top model is talking to her.

"Don't think too much about the camera man. I believe you have some hidden talents."
Sho sat next to her and comforted her.

From that day on, their relationship became from strangers to friends and Sho helped her by advicing what she could improve.
He introduced his childhood friend, Mao to her and Mao helped Erika as much as possible.

"You got styles so you should feel more confident. Be brave infront of the camera."
Mao adviced and showed her some poses she could copy.

"Thank you so much Mao-chan and Sho-kun."
Erika smiled. Her smile made Sho happy and he realised he has fallen for Erika.

Erika rapidly improved as a model and soon she was accepted by loads of people. Soon, she became famous and entered to be the 5 top model.
Both Mao and Sho were happy for her and Erika thanked them as much as she could.

One day, not long after Erika became the top model, Sho decided to confess his feeling to Erika. He decided to ask her out.
He had a feeling that she likes him back since he was the only guy that Erika was close to.
However, his thoughts were wrong.

"I can't.."

That was her answer. He was shocked and was blanked but he didn't want to ruin their friendship they had.

"Can we still be friends?"
That was all he could ask.

"I'm sorry.. After all this, I don't think I can..."
Erika's eyes were tearly and she wiped with her hands but hands were not enough to wipe her heavy tears.

Sho had nothing else to say but to say goodbye and leave. From that day on, they both didn't talk to eachother and they made different friends.
Mao found out about it soon and she's the only key person that is friend with both of them.
For first few weeks, Sho was depressed but then on, he became tough and he came back as the usual Sho.

It was a long time since Erika and Sho talked to eachother until now.
After a short talk, Sho started to remember all the memories and smiles of Erika. It all came into his head like a flashback.

"Sakurai-san...?"

Sho looked up and saw Aya and Satoshi infront of him.

"Are you okay..?"
Aya looked worried and so did Satoshi.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What's up with you two! I'm totally fine!"

"But, but you are crying.."
Aya took out her mirror and placed it infront of Sho's face.

"I am...? Oh. It's just dust in my eyes. Nothing to worry about."
Sho realised he had tears on his cheek and made random excuses.

"If you're done with your job today, do you want to join us for dinner?"
Satoshi knew Sho was making up a story about the dust. He guessed it must be Erika. He knew about their relationship since he was working in Diamonds for long. Rumours get around everywhere.

"Yeah, join us! It's more fun when there's more people around."
Aya smiled and agreed with Satoshi's idea.

"Thanks, Ohno-san. But I need go and get changed first. So I guess next time I will join you two."

"We can wait. Right, Aya?"
Satoshi asked Aya before Sho gets away.

"Absolutely."
Aya answered delightedly.

"Thanks again. I'll be quick."
Sho quickly went in his dressing room to change.

"Where's Mao-chan? We should invite her too!"
Aya realised if Sho's job is done then so is Mao's. She asked Satoshi knowing he was thinking the same thing as her.

"I guess you can try calling her?"

"Good idea."

Aya took out her cellphone from her bag and diled Mao's number.

She waited for Mao to answer her call.

"Hello? Hey, Aya-chan."
Mao answered, picking up her cellphone from her pocket on the other side of the line.

She was still with Masaki, walking down the hill to the main road. Masaki was surprised at this coincidence since he didn't yet know about their friendship.

"Oh, dinner? Mm. I see. Okay. I'll be there in few minutes. Okay, yeap. See ya."

"That was Aya-chan inviting me to dinner along with Ohno-san and Sho."
Mao hung up and looked up to Masaki.

"You should come too!"
Mao added.

"No, I'm not invited plus I don't know them well."
Masaki only met Aya for few minutes and he wasn't close with Satoshi nor Sho.

"Aya-chan won't mind, she's my best friend. I know she's good at getting along with people. I'll keep your promise and I'll just say I met you on the way."
Mao knew Aya's personalities and she had a feeling that Sho might invite Jun.

"I don't know if I should..."
Masaki couldn't decide yet and he was scared if he gets unwelcomed or won't fit in the group.

"Just come! It'll be fun."

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