Ryosuke had just arrived—again after leaving the photo-shoot site for a last-minute meeting—and was already on the search for Mirai. During his search, he overheard plenty of staff grumbled about how long the photo-shoot was taking, making him worried about what his friend would say about overworking her son. After asking anyone about the whereabouts of his friend—because Natsu was currently getting his pictures professionally taken—and receiving no answer, he stopped the search and sat on the Director’s chair.

Sho saw this, and he immediately halted the shoot and asked for another fifteen-minute break.

Ryosuke figured he’d take this chance to follow or ask Natsu about his mother, but Sho demanded Ryosuke to stay for a talk outside the building. The men took an exit from the back, and after Sho scoured the area for possible listeners and then announced the coast was clear, Sho gave Ryosuke a twitching brow glare as he decreased the gap between them.

“What?” Ryosuke disgustedly asked, backing away to the side and touching his face in case something on his face was the cause of his friend’s weird expression.

“I’ve got two things I want to discuss with you, Ryosuke.”

“What?”

“First, you know that my chair belongs to me, and only Sho the Great can sit on it.”

Ryosuke rolled his eyes. This wasn’t the first time he had heard it nor the first time it had happened. Throughout their partnership, he had witnessed multiple times where Sho had gone crazy at someone for mishandling the chair, and mishandling in Sakurai’s terms was nothing near the actual definition of mishandling. And when he had accidentally sat down on the chair last time, Sho flipped and pulled Ryosuke away for a personal talk and explained that the chair may be old and looked like any other chair, but to him, the chair was an important vintage object from a professional photographer he admired.

However, Ryosuke had accidentally sat down again on his chair today due to his mind focusing on something—Mirai. But he couldn’t possibly say that to him.

“You know I’m very protective of that seat,” Sho continued.

“Well, I’m—”

“On to number two. What’s up between you and your brother’s wife?”

Ryosuke raised a brow, pretending to be confused.

Sho sighed and took another good look around the area. Calming himself down, he explained to Ryosuke that although he knew it was none of his business to poke his nose in other people’s business, he couldn’t keep quiet after a thoughtful security guard had shown him a video the other day out of worry.

The video had caught Ryosuke and Mirai discussing something in front of the girl’s bathroom on the day Sho’s wife went into labor. Although their discussion was inaudible, there were dissatisfaction and intimate expressions. As if that wasn’t enough to trigger further curiosity about Ryosuke’s and Mirai’s relationship, there were unanswered questions about why Mirai and Ryosuke were in a closed fitting room together and how that had happened.

Sho finished explaining and re-emphasized the disclaimer that it was none of his business, but he warned that the interest in their relationship from the staff could indirectly cause some harm or damage to the project. Thus, he demanded an explanation.

Ryosuke couldn’t believe what he would say next but knew it was a worthy sacrifice. He too re-emphasized that his relationship with her was pure familial—she was his brother’s wife and their relationship was different from other brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law because they had been friends since high school.

“Good grief. You had me scared there,” said Sho, taking a breather. He rested a hand on top of Ryosuke’s shoulder. “I know you aren’t one to cross your brother, and she also doesn’t seem like a cheater too.” He pulled his hand back. “Well, guess I had worried for no reason. I’ll try to cease the talk about you guys. Don’t worry about it.”

Ryosuke wanted to frown and hoped it didn’t show it or else it’d contradict what he was supposed to protect. “Thanks, Sho.”

“I’ll head in first,” Sho said and left, leaving Ryosuke outside, alone.

Ryosuke watched the door closed before turning around to exhale with despair. He had thought of this project to bring him, Mirai, and Natsu close together, but it had backfired. With the staff knowing of Mirai’s “relationship” with Kota, there was no way he and Mirai could get together without any kind of scandal. He shook his thoughts away and walked to the door and unexpectedly heard another door open from the side, so he checked where the noise was from and saw Mirai and Takeru come out from the door. To hide from getting seen, he immediately glued himself to the wall and pushed his ears out to the edge of the wall to listen.

“I know this isn’t the best place or time to talk,” said Mirai, standing a few inches away from Takeru. “But it seems that I have no choice…especially when you’re avoiding me.”

Ryosuke covered his mouth in utter shock. Did Mirai and Takeru have something more that he didn’t know about? He thought she was his tutor and nothing else. Tutor? He took a few steps away from the edge of the wall and thought to himself. Didn’t she use to tutor someone back when she was a teen, way before she was a mother to Natsu?

“Haruma!” Ryosuke immediately realized that he had said it out loud, so he scurried to the other wall opposite of the wall Mirai and Takeru were having their discussion. After confirming that they hadn’t heard him—otherwise, he’d be caught by now—he removed his hand away from his mouth and tried to think clearly about Haruma and the possibility of him knowing Takeru. He thought back to when it was a few weeks after Mirai had “moved” and he had desperately searched everywhere for her and had asked anyone who had had contact with her, and it included Haruma and his friends. So, he caught them one day after school and asked about her whereabouts, but Haruma was also clueless and volunteered to help look around, and one of the contacts he had asked was a mutual friend he and Mirai knew named Takeru, the friend Mirai had been trying to speak to but had never gotten to do so.

Until now.

Ryosuke slammed a hand against his head for forgetting such a trivial—but now important—piece of information. So, not only was the lie that she and Kota were together would be an obstacle between him and her, but Takeru’s re-entrance into her life would be another he’d possibly have to climb over. And he didn’t want to fight another man for her. His brother was already a challenge, and now, this guy was probably a first crush or a first love. And he? A guy she wanted nothing to do with.

“How am I going to win her heart?”

*

Sitting on the cement ledge in front of Mirai’s house’s entrance was Kota, waiting for a special guest to help him move things from the U-Haul trailer. He patiently tapped his foot while his arms draped over his knees. It had been thirty minutes, and his guest should be here at any moment. While waiting, he became more nerve-wracked about what he planned to say.

He had already expected some kind of lecture but had a feeling there’d be more than what he usually got. He also wondered if the decision he had chosen was any good at all. Sure, at the time, he was in the mood and had gathered the strength to go along with it, and nothing stopped his path and nothing scared him. His friend, on the other hand, and the logic his friend carried were probably the only obstacles he’d have to inevitably face, and he’d rather confront it than get busted.

The sound of a car’s roaring engine was heard from the corner, and with no doubt, Kota knew his friend had arrived. He gulped and mentally prepared himself for what would happen. Standing up, he went to the end of the driveway and waved at his friend driving his way over.

“Thanks, Kei,” Kota said as Kei got out of his car and curiously looked at the U-Haul.

“I may be wrong, but I’ve noticed that every time you call me, it’s helping you move stuff.”

They laughed, and Kota explained that Kei was nowhere near wrong.

“But aren’t you leaving too soon? Summer’s yet to end.” Kei patted the U-Haul. “Usually, we don’t do this big of a packing too.” He rolled up his sleeves. “I see that it’s going to be a long day for us.” He noticed he was the only one laughing when he saw a disheartened Kota. “Something wrong?”

*

Although Sho had spent most of the time calling his wife and cooing over his newborn, the photo-shoot managed to be finished before the sun set, so all that was left in the project was editing.

Because Mirai, Natsu, and Takeru had come with Ryosuke, they went back with him too. Ryosuke, on the other hand, had never felt this uncomfortable in the car with anyone, and the ride back to Mirai’s place—because Ryosuke and Takeru still had work to do—had a different atmosphere in comparison to the ride from this morning, and it was all because of the conversation he had overheard. When he was hiding from Mirai and Takeru, he was lost in his thoughts about who Takeru was that by the time he went back to listen to their conversation, they had left, so he had no clue what their talk was about.

But one thing was for sure: she believed Takeru was avoiding her.

And Ryosuke wanted to know why.

The whole ride was quiet until Ryosuke saw the U-Haul on Mirai’s driveway, and Mirai quietly gasped. He hastily parked his car and glanced behind him to look at her. “Are you leaving me again?”

Takeru almost turned his head in confusion regarding Ryosuke’s question, but he saw Kota and another man exit out of her house, so he informed Ryosuke about them, and everyone alighted the car.

“Kota, what are—” Before Ryosuke could ask his brother anything, a not-so-happy-looking Kei strode past Kota and everyone until he stopped in front of Mirai.

“Kei, uh, hi,” said Mirai, not glancing at him.

“How could you do this?” Kei said.

“Kei.” Kota attempted to pull his friend away from Mirai and Natsu. “We’ll talk about it later.”

Kei sarcastically smiled and mocked him, “Oh, when? After your wedding?”

“Wedding?” Ryosuke knew that if there would be any wedding in the future, the highest probability of the newlywed would be none other than his brother and his friend, so he glanced back and forth between Mirai and Kota with worry.

Takeru would’ve immediately thrown a fist at the lucky guy who had scored the girl he had been in love with since day one, but he stayed calm and waited for answers from the sidelines, knowing it wasn’t his place to question the personal problems of a married couple.

“Wh-what’s this about?” Ryosuke asked, trying to keep a cheerful smile to hide his fear. He went to stand in the middle between Mirai and Natsu on his left and Kei and Kota on his right. He couldn’t look at anyone right now, so he laughed to himself while avoiding eye contact. “Th-this wedding doesn’t involve anyone I know, right?”

“Ryosuke, can we—” Kota would’ve finished his sentence if not for Mirai stepping in.

“I’m going to officially become Mrs. Yamada,” blurted Mirai, hoping it’d ease the tension and curiosity, once and for all. But more importantly, she had to say it loud and clear to persuade herself or else her wavering heart would win.

Ryosuke looked at his friend, who was standing firmly with her son beside her, and looked for any possible clues that may hint that she was lying to him.

But her poise stature, static tone, and unchanging expression showed no ounce of contradiction.

“Mrs. Yamada?” By context, he knew the Yamada she had referred to wasn’t him.

“I’m marrying Kota.”

*

The front desk receptionist asked Mirai to sit on a chair to wait for Ryosuke until he was done with a conference in his office, and she obeyed. She sat on one of the black, cushioned leather seats and rested her bag beside her, and in her hands was a yellow envelope—the invitation to hers and Kota’s wedding.

It had been almost a month since the day Ryosuke had been told of the horrific nightmare. After he had confirmed that the wedding was true, he was so angry that he left without Takeru, so Kota took Takeru home as Kei also left in fury.

But Mirai already knew why Kei was angry at her—and he still was as like Ryosuke. It was because Mirai and Kei had had many discussions between themselves about the matter regarding Natsu, more so than between Kota and Mirai. Because of that, she had already expected Kei to flip about her ultimate solution because he had always been against anything of the sort.

But what could she do?

She could only protect one.

And Natsu needed her.

Half an hour later, the secretary’s phone buzzed, and the secretary answered it, and Mirai overheard the phone call and knew Ryosuke was asking about her. The secretary informed him that Mirai was still patiently waiting for him, then they soon hung up, and the secretary scurried to Mirai, making Mirai stand up.

“Mr. Yamada said he can’t see you today. He said to make an appointment with him.” The secretary glanced down in worry as her fingers fidgeted below her.

“Is there something else too?”

The secretary forced a weak smile, showing that she was uncomfortable with what she was to say. “He prefers the appointment to be on your wedding day.”

Mirai rolled her eyes in annoyance because she knew he was purposely avoiding her and provoking her. “Excuse me.” She hastily grabbed her bag and rushed to his door with the secretary running after her with shock and fear because of her abrupt action. When Mirai opened the door and dashed into the middle of the room, she saw him peek at her from the side of his computer.

Of course, he had expected that she’d barge in after being told of such a thing. He signaled for his secretary to leave, and she complied by exiting and closing the door on her way out. Once he was alone with Mirai, he said to her, “You seem to have missed the message.” He pushed his chair out, stood up from it, took a few steps away from his desk, eyed her, and saw the yellow envelope in her hand. “I’m busy on that day.”

She headed to him and casually placed the invitation on his desk. “I want to properly invite you—”

“You should properly fix this mix-up first.”

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