Ryosuke was glaring hard at his laptop screen. He quickly scrolled down the website pages. He almost threw the laptop in frustation, but Yuto was faster snatching the gadget from him. He growled.

“THIS IS INSANE!” He yelled out. “How could they!”

Yuto who had rushed to his apartment after giving him a call was sitting on the couch across him, trying to relate to his situation.

“I know this is too rude, but we can’t deny that we’re aware of this risk since we decided to be an idol, Yamachan,” Yuto said.

Yuto had showed him a website which claimed as Shida Mirai’s fansite. He said that one of his common friends was fan of Mirai, and that friend had told him about the website which currently garnered much attention in Mirai’s fandom.

He rubbed a hand over his face. “WE are, but she is not, Yuto.”

“She is an actress though,” Yuto rebutted.

“But those things are disgusting!” He could not hold in his emotion.

He glared at the back of his laptop which still in Yuto’s hold. He remembered what he had seen there and his conclusion was rather than a fansite, that site was a stalking and bullying site for Mirai. They published uncountable candid pictures of her in various locations, they even had pictures of her entering her apartment.

How far they could go, he had ever wondered as he scrolled down the screen before, yet he immediately got the answer. He could tolerate it if it was only paparazzi shots they posted on the webpages, but they posted way worse. Mirai’s pictures; some were real papapics, some were edited, some which he could not even bring himself to look at: Mirai’s gravure and edited pictures. They also made up stories about her, about her relationship with him, speculating about how he seduced her or the other way around. He couldn’t believe that kind of place did exist in the virtual world.

He inhaled and exhaled breaths to calm himself down.

“Do you think this may be the reason she called off our wedding?” He asked for Yuto’s opinion after that.

“I’m not sure, but Yamachan, actually the thing I want to show you is...,” Yuto paused while browsing on the page. “This.”

Yuto pushed the laptop across the table with the screen facing him. He leaned forward to look closer. There was a picture of a woman, with long coat and scarf, holding a hand bag.

“Mirai?”

He recognized the figure. It was definitely her. Though she wore a scarf that hide part of her face, he could recognize her eyes anywhere, and moreover the wintercoat she was wearing was the exclusively designed coat he bought in Thailand as souvenir for her. She sew a Mickey badge on the left arm of the coat, the same he saw in the picture. So he couldn’t be wrong. She was definitely Mirai.

“Yes, and it was posted last night. And read where the pictures were taken,” Yuto instructed.

He looked carefully at the text attached on the pictures, widening his eyes,“Sendai?”

“Yes. I saw my friend tweeted Mirai’s pic showing she was in Sendai, but I didn’t notice anything weird. But once you told me that Mirai-chan have been missing since yesterday, I immediately remembered that pic. Then I browsed through her fandom, and found out that more people confirmed that they also saw her in Sendai last night.”

“What was she doing in Sendai? It’s so far,” he couldn’t think of any reason.

“I don’t know, but at least we have a clue to start searching.”

He looked up gratefully at Yuto, “Thank you so much.”

“Nah, it’s not a big deal,” Yuto smiled back. “Anyway, have you heard something from Nagata-san?”

He straightened his back, “Ah, I haven’t checked.” He reached for his phone and found a new message from Nagata-san.

“She said she was called by her agency,” he informed Yuto.

“There is a news?”

He slouched, “She didn’t tell.” But then he decided to do something, “I’ll call her.”

He dialed Nagata-san’s number, and waited until the call was picked up. After the second dial, finally it went through.

“Yamada-kun,” Nagata-san’s voice sounded like a whisper. “I’m in a meeting.”

“Oh, sorry for interupting.”

“No, it should be me to apologize. I haven’t informed you. The agency... we are having a meeting to decide what to do with the missing of Shida-chan.”

He immediately replied, “I may have a clue of where she is, Nagata-san.”

“Eh?”

“She is possibly in Sendai.”

He heard a sigh from Nagata-san before she remarked, “You must be informed about her recent papapic, right?”

“You already knew?”

“We’ve been informed, thus we are having a meeting now.”

“Then what is the agency gonna do?”

“They haven’t reached a conclusion, but more likely we will secretly engage the local authority for a searching. You knew we can’t let her missing be published, right?”

“I understand,” he answered. Before his relationship with Mirai was announced to public, their agency had made an agreement that they would consolidate first to deal with any negative rumor before giving public statement. His agency certainly would never let this case to be published.

“Then, please let me know if you find something,” he eventually said.

“Sure I will.”

That’s how the call was ended.

“So, they already knew?” Yuto asked.

He nodded, then after a moment, decided, “Yuto, I’ll go to Sendai tomorrow after photoshoot. Please, don’t tell anyone about Mirai. I don’t want anyone get worry before I know what actually happens.”

“Eh? But don’t we have schedule the day after tomorrow?”

“It’s a night live show. I’ll return to Tokyo in time,” he look at his phone screen where he displayed the picture of Mirai’s smiling face. “I can’t just sit and do nothing, Yuto.”

Yuto tapped his shoulder and gave him an understanding smile, “I know. But don’t go alone. If only I didn’t have schedule the next two days, I’ll come with you.”

“I have a friend from Miyagi, I think I’ll ask him to go with me.”

Yuto nodded in agreement. Silence stretched between them after that. He kept looking at Mirai’s picture on his phone, wishing with all his might for her to be alright. Her cry when she called him hours ago rang back in his ears, but her smile dangled before his eyes. Such contradicting memories had him wondered, what was happening?

He remembered the last time he visited her apartment. When he came, her eyes were red and swollen from crying. He had been careless to just believe that it was because of the drama she was watching as she told him. He had known that that night Mirai was uncomfortable about something. He should’ve asked further than just let it off.

Suddenly his phone buzzed. A call was coming, but he did’t recognized the number. Reluctantly he picked it up, “Hello?”

“Yamada-kun, this is Tachibana speaking.”

He perked up when knowing that the caller was someone he did not expect. “Tachibana-san, is there something I can help?”

“I just want to know, did something happen to Mirai?”

He was surprised, She knew?

“Yamada-kun?”

“Sorry, Tachibana-san. I was thinking about something.”

He heard a sigh before Tachibana-san spoke, “Did something happen to her, Yamada-kun? Because a few hours ago she mailed me and said that she had done an irreparable mistake. I have been trying to call her, but it never went through. She is alright, isn’t she?”

He looked across him at Yuto who had been paying attention to his conversation with Mirai’s sensei, then honestly answered, “I don’t know, Tachibana-san.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“Mirai...,” he paused. “She also did not pick up my call, and... we’re searching for her whereabout.”

“What does that mean?”

“She have been missing since yesterday.”

“WHAT?”