“What’s wrong with you today, Yamada?!”

The voice of Hey! Say! JUMP’s choreographer hollered around the practice room, halting the moves of everyone presented. Ryosuke realized the trouble: he had wrongly counted his steps that he almost bumped onto Yuri.

Ryosuke bowed his head slightly, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s the nth times you make mistakes today.” The instructor sighed, “Fine. Guys, take a break for half an hour.” And while focusing on Ryosuke, he added, “And I expect you’ll have returned to your usual self when we resume the practice later, Yamada.”

Ryosuke nodded. Once their dance teacher had walked out, the rest members immediately surrounded him. Yuri was the first one coming to him.

“Ryosuke, are you unwell?” Yuri asked worriedly.

He smiled, “No. I’m fine, Chii.”

Someone tapped his shoulder. It was Yuto. “Yama-chan, if you have problem you can always count on us, you know.”

He maintained his smile for them as they all were looking at him, “Everyone, I’m really sorry for today. I just have something I should be thinking about. Better I use the break to do it, ne. So, I’m gonna get out for a while. See you in half an hour.”

He dashed out even before anyone could respond him, then got on the elevator and chose the top floor. He was not fond of high places, yet the roof top was the best place to contemplate.

He indeed needed time to be alone. His thoughts were messed up. It had been a week since he brought Mirai to the beach. The truth he found out about her feeling surprisingly did not hurt him too much, instead increasing his will to win her heart. He did not want to lose to Kanata. In fact, he hated losing  to anyone in anything. Thus, he decided he would not back out from the ‘battle’ against Kanata. After all, she was his first love. She was worth to be fought on.

However...

His confidence dropped quickly and significantly by the things going on lately. His rival was not an easy guy to be defeated. Kanata had made moves, and it seemed had resulted in better progress than his as well.

He was pulled from the daze when his phone buzzed. A new message came. He smiled as the sender name appeared. Mirai. He had sent a message to her before going to work. Akira would be released from the hospital tomorrow, and he had offered to pick them up.

The smile vanished immediately once he finished reading the message. He stared at his phone screen, smiling bitterly to himself.

Thank you, Yamada-kun, but Kanata has promised to drive us. Also, you must be so busy as your next tour concert is coming up, right? Don’t worry about Akira. Good luck for your works.

“What a day,” he muttered while staring wistfully at the sky.

It was the nth time he lost from Kanata just in a week. The other day, he visited Akira, but Kanata was already there. Once Kanata left, he bravely enough to invite Mirai to a friendly dinner only to be asnwered that she had already had an appointment to dine with Kanata and his family to celebrate his parents’ wedding anniversary. More, he saw from his window yesterday morning Kanata drove her home from the hospital.

His phone buzzed again. Another message came. A small frown was formed immediately as he read the sender’s name and the content. It was an invitation to hang out after he finished working.

“What is he up to for wanting to talk with me?” he wondered while typing his reply. He had nothing in his schedule after working, so he agreed to accept the invitation.

Heaving a sigh, he slipped his phone to his pant pocket. All his stressful occurences flashed in his mind one after the other. He realized that just as the teacher said, he was not his usual self. He used to be strict with his own rule that he would always be professional, never letting any personal problem ruined his works. Yet, lately he had been unable to keep the rule, and it had caused troubles for his bandmates. He often made mistakes in practices, and spaced out when they were in the meeting. Those were awful and so unaccepted.

He drew a deep breath, promising himself to shove his personal problem behind for the time being. Another message came alerting him. This time was Keito, reminding him the break time was almost over. Inhaling another deep breath, he composed himself and immediately returned to the practice room.

After the break, he managed to concentrate on their practices and made no more mistakes. They practiced the new dance moves for their upcoming concert tour, and then got vocal training for hours. They called it a day when the night fell.

They were dropped at the usual point. After they bid good night to each other, they usually went to their respectives ways, and he would usually directly go home if he did not have any appointment. Yet, that night everyone waved him good bye, except one.

He turned to his side, asking to the member stayed behind, “Where and what do you want to talk, Yabu-kun?”