“Good-bye, Yamada-san”

Ryosuke heard Rio’s voice ringing continually inside his head like a broken recorder. He watched her figure slowly fade away and for some good reason, his whole body decided to stay frozen. The poor boy looked at his hand and closed it tight – the same hand that held Rio’s arm only a few minutes ago. All at once, he felt his body drained out – empty.

He dragged both of his feet back to the dressing room with his mind completely blank.

“Ah, you’re finally back”, Satoko greeted, keeping her legs crossed as if she had waited for a very long time. She immediately noticed the boy’s expressionless face and smirked at her victory, “Believe me, it’s better that she saw us together. She shouldn’t push for something impossible. You’re way out of her league. Besides, going out with a commoner will just jeopardize your career”, she scoffed and immediately regretted her words when she met Ryosuke’s piercing looks.

“I rather lose my career than lose Rio”, Satoko was unable to reply back to what he said. She looked at him and saw a side of Ryosuke she had not seen before. He was like he was about to murder someone. “Just go”, he scowled, leaving Satoko with not much choice but to leave the room.

Upon hearing the door close, Ryosuke felt his bottom half collapse on the cold hard floor. He slid his body down the wall and rested his head on the concrete behind. The image of Rio walking away kept flashing on his mind. This is when he finally decided to find console from the one guy which he knows will understand his worries – Daiki Arioka.

“Hey”, he greeted softly as soon as he heard the final ring on his mobile, “Do you still want to drink?”.

“Huh? What changed your mind? Did something happen?”, Daiki curiously asked and noticed his best friend’s sullen voice over his earpiece, “How did it go with Satoko?”.

“You tell me… I couldn’t convince Satoko to break off the engagement and Rio-chan just broke up with me. What do you think?”

“Wow… all of that happened within 20 minutes?”, Daiki crossed his brows and was amazed on the events from the last time he had spoken with Ryosuke. Him getting in such deep trouble within the past 20 minutes must be a record.

“I’ll tell you when you get here. Just come and join me in being miserable”, the younger one requested.

After hearing nothing but silence from Daiki for almost a minute, Ryosuke started to wonder, “Instead of drinking, I have a better idea”, he heard his best friend say, “I’ll see you in front of Mayu’s apartment in 10minutes. Let’s finish this once and for all”.

--

“This better work, Arioka. I’m sick of your silly plans”, Ryosuke gulped while processing the older boy’s instructions. They stood in front of Mayu’s apartment like criminals, whispering silently while recapping their ‘genius plan’.

“Your job is simple… get the laptop while I distract her”

“Remind me why you can’t do this by yourself? Can’t you just wait for her to fall asleep or something?”

“Dude, if I stay in there by myself, she’s gonna want to do some unspeakable stuff. I can’t cheat on Amu!”, Daiki hushed and imaged all the times Mayu invited him to climb with her in bed. With this, he heard Ryosuke sigh in disbelief as if left with no other choice but to be dragged to Daiki’s schemes.

-

Using Mayu’s spare key, Daiki turned the knob open which allowed them to go in. Both tiptoed their way inside the corridor leading to Mayu’s bedroom.

“Shh, she might be in the living room”, Daiki whispered and pulled Ryosuke down to duck.

The two finally reached the master’s bedroom and immediately noticed the sound of water hitting the porcelain tub inside the bathroom.

“She’s in the shower”, both sighed in relief and soon, found themselves rampaging Mayu’s room.

Like a lightning bolt hitting them at the same time, their faces lit up as soon as their eyes laid on a pink laptop sitting peacefully inside a bag underneath her nightstand, “Bingo”, Ryosuke mumbled and soon began turning the machine on.

“Password?”

“Here”, Daiki passed a scruffy piece of paper in front of Ryosuke while minding the sound of the shower from the adjacent room.

“Did you use this as a toilet paper?”, Ryosuke playfully asked, referring to the messy paper with at least 30 random words he thought may be Mayu’s password on her laptop. With this, the older boy clicked his tongue and prompted Ryosuke to keep typing.

However, after only a few tries, the sound of the water flowing stopped. Both heard Mayu’s humming gradually becoming louder and it appears that she had finished washing up. Quickly, Daiki dragged Ryosuke inside Mayu’s closet and pushed him inside, “Do.Not.Make.A.Sound.”, he emphasised while placing his index finger against his lips. He then closed the wardrobe door and fixed his attire to avoid any suspicions from the young maiden.

“Dai-chan?”, Mayu raised one of her brows and was surprised at the sight of her fiancé inside her chambers in this late hour, “What are you doing here?”.

“I-Uhm”, Daiki had to make up a quick excuse and just uttered the first thing that came up inside his head, “I thought about what you said and… I think I’m ready to forget about Amu”, he lied. His words are the complete opposite of how he feels. At the back of his mind, he was wishing for Ryosuke to hurry up.

“Please Lord, let one of them be the password!”, he mentally prayed that out of the 30+ random words he came up with, that one will grant access to Mayu’s computer before the girl do anything irrational to him.

“I’m glad you finally came to your senses”, Mayu walked closer to him and Daiki could not help but mind the single towel covering her body. Her pale chest was completely exposed, and he tried his utmost best not to look down.

Inside the closet, Ryosuke felt cold sweat running down the back of his neck. He’s almost halfway through Daiki’s list but half of his attention is within the conversation of his best friend and his fiancé just opposite the door. He felt like an intruder for eavesdropping but found himself puking at how Mayu keeps trying to seduce Daiki in joining him in bed.

“I just took a shower, but I don’t mind going in again with you”, Ryosuke heard Mayu’s voice through the wooden door.

“Ugh, I think I’m gonna be sick”, he shivered while shaking his head, “Why does it feel off when it’s not Amu?”, Ryosuke pondered after entering the 20th password on the list. He impatiently clicked his tongue with another failed attempt.

--

“What do you think? Wanna shower with me?”, Mayu repeated her invitation while pressing her chest on Daiki. The boy held his breath and was unable to move when the girl s her arms around him, determined to make him stay this time.

“I-I…”, he stuttered, not knowing what to say. He had never been intimate with anyone in his life apart from Amu and the thought of anyone else touching him so closely somehow made his stomach churn so aggressively.

This was when he was saved by Mayu’s phone. The loud chime echoed throughout the room, making the girl roll her eyes in disappointment.

“Are you not going to get that?”, Daiki asked and mentally thanked the caller for giving him a chance to breathe.

“Tsk, just when it’s about to get interesting”, she told herself before leading herself back in the bathroom where she left her phone, “Wait for me, ne?”.

Daiki let his shoulders drop when he heard Mayu answering the caller. With hands shaking, he quickly opened the wardrobe where he dumped his best friend, hoping that he had already cracked the actress’ computer.

“I think that’s the most painful 5 minutes of my life!”, Ryosuke complained while looking at his best friend in disbelief. It seemed like whenever he’s with Daiki, trouble always follows.

“Sorry you had to hear that”, he replied while assisting him to stand up.

“Yeah, my ears nearly bled”

“Urusai!”, the older one bantered with his eyes looking at the screen. “So?”, he felt his heart drop when Ryosuke shook his head.

“Nothing matched”, as much as it pains him to say, he cannot do anything but to declare the bad news, “What now?”.

“We have no choice but to bring the whole thing and ask someone at the Jimusho to crack it”

“We won’t have enough time. The Press Conference is already tomorrow morning!”

“Then we have to convince Johnny to give us more time”, Daiki grunted and soon pulled Ryosuke out of Mayu’s room, “But for now, we have to get out of here before I get eaten by Mayu”, while minding the girl’s muffled voice on the shower room, Ryosuke and Daiki thanked heavens of their success in escaping her apartment.

“Go! Go! Go!”, Daiki prompted after hearing Mayu’s footsteps stepping out of the bathroom.

--

“Sorry for waiting. That was Satok—“, Mayu’s voice faded when he noticed that his fiancé is nowhere to be found. With the same towel she wrapped her body with, she went around her apartment to look for any signs of her boyfriend.

“Dai-chan?”, she called out, but felt her anger when she didn’t see any sign of the boy. She put a tight clutch on her phone and angrily dialled Satoko’s number.

--

“Hey! It’s me again”, she started as soon as the line opened. “I think Daiki and Ryosuke are up to something”, Mayu grunted before storming back to her bedroom. Tomorrow morning is Daiki and Ryosuke’s press-conference and she is determined to get rid of anyone who can potentially ruin her engagement.

“What are you planning to do?”, her best friend replied.

Mayu smirked with only one thing inside her head, “The press conference starts at ten. I’ll give Johnny Kitagawa a little surprise just before then”.

--

*Next Day – Day of the Press Conference*

“Are you all packed?”, Amu heard her best friend’s voice over the speaker of her phone currently lying peacefully on her bed. She continued to place random pieces of her belongings inside her carry-on case before finally putting her phone near to show her face on video.

“Nearly”, she responded. Rio pouted and faked a cry. They spent the whole night together talking about their own misfortunes, but most of the evening was spent with Rio persuading Amu to stay in Japan for a couple more days. However, the girl did not change her mind, knowing well of her mistake of coming here in the first place, “Mou Rio-chan, we already talked about this until 4am”.

“Not even my begging face could make you stay! Maybe I should learn more from Chii’s puppy-dog eyes”, the older girl tried to imitate Chinen Yuri’s signature move but failed miserably, “Can you at least take me with you? I already told Yabu-kun of my intention to quit but he said ‘no’, I really can’t face Ryosuke anymore. I’m lucky he hasn’t been around all morning”.

“I guess Ryosuke and Daiki are both busy for the press-conference later. Good for them”, with sullen face, Amu titled her head down alongside the landslide of emotions going inside her in circles. She didn’t have to say what’s on her head, but Rio already knows what she’s feeling. The older girl did not have the chance to speak when a knock on the door was heard from Amu’s side of the call.

“Are you expecting someone?”, the two girls exchanged concern glances before Amu decided to go towards the door.

“It’s probably just room service. I’ll be right back”, Amu replied before going towards her hotel room’s door. She placed her phone on the table and did not realise that she forgot to end the call with Rio on the line the entire time.

Amu cluelessly shuffled her way to open the door and was greeted by the one person she recently decided to cut off from her life – Matsuoka Mayu. The poor girl felt her heart pounding by her mere presence, “Wh-What are you doing here?”, she said while struggling to stay composed.

“And hello to you too, Amu-chan”, Mayu said sarcastically, “Are you not going to invite me in?”.

“Do I have to?”, Amu replied, this time with a firm voice. She had no intention of giving Mayu a chance to manipulate her again.

“Fine, then I’ll go straight to the point”, she expelled a sharp exhale and flipped her hair back to try and intimidate the latter, “I want you to go to the Jimusho and tell Johnny-san that you’re the one who leaked the photos”.

Amu felt her skin crawl by this appalling request, “Why would I do that? I already gave you what you want. I’m even going back to New York”.

“Why does everyone think I’m stupid?”, Mayu rolled her eyes and was obvious that she is unsatisfied with Amu’s response, “No matter how much you move away, Daiki’s heart will still follow you. So, I want to ruin your reputation in front of Johnny himself, so they’ll be no chance of you ever getting back together”.

“You’re crazy!”

“I know…”, Mayu grinned at herself and shot a psychotic smile.

Amu scrunched her forehead and suddenly felt cold sweat running at the back of her neck, knowing well that Mayu has something in store for her if she does not agree to her terms, “And what if I don’t cooperate?”.

“I’ll make sure to ruin not only Ryosuke’s career… but also Rio’s”, her voice pierced inside Amu’s ears to a point of total silence, “The company is already doing damage control over those photos I leaked. I even paid my share to ask the media to report that you two are just Daiki and Ryosuke’s close friends… But if you don’t do what I say, with one call, I can publish any story I want about your friend. She won’t get the chance to enjoy her licence as a doctor for very long”, Mayu threatened, aware of her victory. With the Japanese media running at her fingertips, she definitely has the upper hand against Amu.

“Don’t you dare involve Rio into this!”, Amu almost shouted. She curled her hand into a ball and fought the urge to push Mayu away.

“Then do what I say”, the older girl replied and gave Amu at least 2 seconds to think about her blackmail. The two stayed there with utter silence until Amu expelled a huge sigh. Knowing her far too well, Mayu smiled. She knew that this is a sign to her favour, “Good. I’ll see you at Johnny’s Jimusho at 9”.

--

“You arranged a meeting with me only an hour before your Press Conference to tell me that that laptop contains evidence on who leaked your photos?”, Johnny tapped his fingers impatiently while the two boys fidgeted with their fingers in nervousness.

“Yes, sir. But we’re still yet to open this. We’re hoping to get someone in the technical team to hack into it, but we’ll need time. So, we are hoping to postpone the conference for now”, Ryosuke almost begged but soon noticed his boss’ unamused expression.

“What makes you think that the laptop has the evidence you need when you haven’t even opened it yet?”

“We just know”, Daiki stood up from his seat, determined to convince the old man. Johnny looked over his glasses and was somehow amused at the young boy’s dedicated tone.

“And are we waiting for Matsuoka-san?”, he continued and earned confused expressions from both boys.

“What do you mean, sir?”

“She also asked to meet me around this time. She said it’s about the leaked photos”, with this, Daiki and Ryosuke exchanged concerned glances. Mayu must’ve learned their plan and wanted to poison Johnny’s head with lies before them. The two sighed in relief, knowing that they are the first ones to catch Johnny.

However, before one can even speak, the door to the offic