CHAPTER 7

Every day, Tokiya would learn something new given his tendency to read books or random articles on the internet and today...

It was no different except the fact that he learned from his own experience.

He concluded that not all reunion with a long-lost friend would be dramatic or full of tears. In his case, it was impossible to achieve since he had a nosy but very caring manager. The next 30 minutes were spent with a long lecture from Himura who revolved around his safety as a popular celebrity.

"Luckily Haruka, your own friend was the one who found you. What happened if your crazy fans ended up found you and started doing anything indecent to you!?"

But I hit him, Himura-san. That didn't make me any safer to him, Haruka thought.

Himura also reminisced about a 'pleasant' memory in Osaka whereby a fan pulled his artist into her hotel room when he almost passed out from working before being rescued by a staff.

"Seriously, taking care of this guy is way harder than taking care of my son. At least, my son doesn't get abducted so far, unlike him," Himura's dramatic whine gained giggles from Eichii and Haruka.

While Tokiya was given an earful about his recklessness, Masato still stared at his twin like watching television.

Or to be exact, he did feel like watching television since all this time, he only saw Tokiya via the medium. Unlike his teammates who always visited and took care of him, Tokiya was like an overseas celebrity that he would never get a chance to meet.

The only thing that bothered him the most was Tokiya's lack of response. Masato smiled at him as soon as their eyes locked but the idol quickly avoided him, settling himself on a red sofa at the middle of the room before getting lectures from his manager.

Is it me or... he doesn't like me to be here?

Tokiya's handphone vibrated out of the blue, which he desperately hoped for it to happen just for the sake of escaping Himura's lecture bubble but...

"Hello, president."

"Hello, Mr. Ichinose. Is Mr. Hijirikawa with you?" His not-so-beloved president, Saotome called and usually, it did not give him any better news.

"Yes, he is. Why?"

Nobody realized that Haruka and Himura were smiling at each other, silently celebrating the victory that was just around the corner.

"Well, that's good then. Please make sure that he's ready to attend the same interview with you," Saotome said, nonchalantly.

"Attending what!?" The usually polite Tokiya screamed at the president's ear, sending the others slightly flinched at his high pitch.

Being instantly aware that he just temporarily ruined their hearings, he softly apologized before standing up, moving away from them in order to talk privately with Saotome.

"He's attending what?" Tokiya repeated.

"I am telling you that your twin is also attending the interview," apparently, Saotome was too happy with the twins' instant interview to care about his hearing welfare.

"He's supposed to be on hiatus, Mr. President. Plus, he lost his memory. What do you expect from him?" Tokiya argued.

"Well, that's why I am telling you this instead of his wife. I am expecting you to guide him. Do whatever you want but make sure he'll not mess up the interview. I count on you, Tokiya."

Tokiya almost flung his cell phone at Saotome's big portrait in the room.

"What? Me?"

"Of course. Twins should help each other," the sardonic and teasing remark was something that Tokiya never grew accustomed with. "Maybe this interview will help him with his memory."

In fact, he wanted to destroy the big portrait so much.

"Wait, Mr. President!"

Tut!

"Waaahh, this geezer is so unbelievable!" Tokiya groaned, staring at his phone screen in disgust. That was the most annoyed expression that they had ever seen from him, considering that he always had been calm and collected.

"What geezer?" Himura asked.

Tokiya turned to see the other perplexed faces but the one who immediately became his concern was Masato.

"Well, Masato... I suppose this will be very shocking but..."

"What is it, Tokiya?" Instead of Masato himself, Himura and Haruka asked enthusiastically, which immediately became the biggest clue of the situation for Tokiya. He narrowed his eyes at the duo, staring at them doubtfully. He knew these two too well, including when they were up for pranks.

"Haruka, Himura-san, don't tell me you guys already know..."

"Knowing what?" The duo asked back with a very annoying grin.

"Stop being annoying," Tokiya said, flatly but it did not do a good job to conceal his irritation. "At least please try to sympathize the victim, won't you?"

"What is it, Tokiya? What just happened?" Masato interrupted.

"Masato," the soft voice began with a more suspenseful vibe. "The president just assigned you for an interview with me and Eichii."

"What?" both Masato and Eichii exclaimed in chorus.

So, the victim is me? Masato thought in alarm. His blue eyes met the other pair with the same color, expecting a denial but Tokiya just nodded with a sympathetic expression.

This absolutely will be tough for an amnesiac like him, Tokiya's mind echoed.

While Himura and Haruka was in celebration mode due to the twins' reunion, Eichii smelled a threat for his side right away.

I have a bad feeling about this, Eichii thought in horror. A very bad feeling.

Everyone just left him to comfort the terrified Masato.

Was this supposed to be Haruka's job? She had nursed Masato the Amnesiac for years so she should be the best person to comfort the guy.

Just what do they think they are doing? Since when does the president care about the relationship between his idols?

So far, all Saotome did was exploiting Tokiya like a slave since he had the Stripper title on his head so the idol was surprised that Saotome still had the decencies in his blood.

They knew that Tokiya always valued perfectionism over his work so they were positive that Tokiya would help Masato regardless.

Just do it, Tokiya. Do you want the broadcast ends with a disaster because of Masato's so-called lack of experience? The reporters out there will desperately search for hot news to belittle or eulogize STARISH. It might be a pain if this matter isn't handled well, his perfectionist side coaxed him while he was still standing in the midst of the room.

With a new mindset, Tokiya slowly took a seat, opposite the fidgeting Masato. The scion no longer had a bright smile over his handsome face. Instead, it looked like he would burst into tears in any second.

"Hey, are you okay?" He started with striking up a conversation, no matter how stupid it sounded since Masato was obviously far from being fine.

"Huh? Well, of course I am okay," Masato confirmed. "I am perfectly fine."

His hands held each other for a comfort since they were...

Shaking. He looked like he was about to attend a horror variety show.

"Yeah, I can see that you're perfectly fine," Tokiya said, calmly. His eyes did not leave the sight of the pale-skinned hands which Masato caught him right away. As soon as they met eyes again, Masato blushed. Tokiya obviously knew that that his words did not match his feeling.

"But... I guess, I am slightly nervous because I don't even remember about appearing in TV," Masato said, hiding his hands under his dark blue shirt. "How do you do that, Tokiya? You are always calm every time you attend a show. Not to mention it is in front of the big crowd."

"I have done that since I was 13," Tokiya said, softly.

"Wow, that's such a long time. No wonder..."

"But you have done it since you were 18," Tokiya cut him short so that Masato did not have a room to get amazed with him when the scion himself was not lacking in experience either. What truly served as Masato's stumbling block right now was his memory loss. "They're not too different and you are now 34 years old like me. You have more experience than you think."

"Did you debut earlier? How come you have done it since 13 when mine was 18?" Masato's curiosity was piqued.

"I was a child actor before I debuted as a STARISH member," when Masato showed more sign to ask about him and the group, he continued, "But, first of all, maybe eating some melon bread will calm you down."

"Huh?"

Tokiya stood up before returning with his melon bread bento. Three melon breads were still neatly arranged and for some reason, they looked so appetizing in the eyes of the scion.

"Is this helpful?" Masato asked while his eyes still fixed on the breads.

Wow, he doesn't even have a memory about this bread, huh? Tokiya pondered. He put the bento onto the glass table between them, trying to draw out Masato's appetite.

"I promise, it will. Come on, eat one... If it's possible, eat all of them," Tokiya said, slowly pushing the bento towards Masato's direction.

"But this is yours, right? Don't you mind if I eat it?" The scion asked again even his hand was getting close with the yellow bread.

"It's okay. I already ate mine."

"Okay, then. Thanks for the food," Masato said, eyes still locked on Tokiya questioningly for fear that Tokiya would change his mind.

Silence clouded the room as Masato reluctantly relished the taste of the bread with Tokiya quietly anticipated his reaction.

If the old Masato is still in him, maybe in two seconds he will...

"Hmm... It's so delicious!" Masato's eyes sparkled in delight and for a second, Tokiya thought that he was temporarily blind due to the excessive aura of thrill from his friend. "Is this your favorite food, Tokiya? The taste is so precious!"

"No, it's yours," Tokiya said, hiding his amused grin. It was always soothing for him to see the scion smiled or just enjoyed himself especially when he was eating his favorite food or playing piano.

It felt like he was watching the bubbly version of himself, given how similar they looked.

"Oh, it's mine? But you do like them as well, don't you?" Masato asked back, still munching the bread.

Yes, thanks to you, Tokiya replied in his head. It had become their ritual to eat melon breads every time they worked together. Masato was so persuasive with his obsession anyway.

"I grow to like it because the old you always asked me to eat them together."

"Oh, I see," Masato eyed the bread in his hand in amazed fashion. "Thank you, Tokiya. This is really soothing my nervousness."

Tokiya could not help but smile. It had been too long since the last time he was smiling with one of his friends.

"You're welcome."

It had been too long and as cold as people always perceived him, Tokiya did miss this kind of moment the most; having a light conversation with his friends without the need to feel the pain from their friendship.

Oh, the waterfall, his mind sparkled the sight of a cold waterfall which had become the twins' destination every time Masato wanted to help him with his problem.

This was the right time for him to pay the good deed.

"After this, shall we find a fountain? The old you love waterfall but since we're not in a forest, we can go to a fountain in this building."

"Oh, really? Then, I am counting on you, Tokiya."

The interview went flawlessly.

It was too smooth that the 'amateur', Masato found it hard to believe. The melon bread and the fountain-seeing were certainly helpful to sweep away his nervousness but Masato believed, the major factor was Tokiya's skill and tips in order to make up for Masato's memory loss. He answered all the questions from the cheeky MCs smoothly as if he already memorized the answer scheme. The idol also knew how to make Masato's awkwardness as an adorable gesture. For instance, when the scion nodded anxiously to the MCs, Tokiya would throw random remarks that turned Masato so cute for the audience.

For once, Masato also could see Tokiya's true smile. It was so lively, unlike the serious him before the interview started.

But, Masato never foresaw the impact of his temporary comeback. It was too well-received that his fans had wasted no time to pounce on him for autographs, pictures, and hugs after the interview, thanks to the female MCs who asked for those gifts in the middle of the shooting. Long story short, they just encouraged the fans to do the same.

"Are you ready for this, Masato?" Tokiya mumbled, seeing Masato was back to be the nervous him.

"I... I don't know, Tokiya," Masato laughed awkwardly while his mind was screaming in horror. The scion always found it hard to interact with female fans due to his old-school upbringing. Moreover, he studied in all-boys school for years before enrolling in Saotome Academy. His poor constitution also fixed Haruka as the only woman in his world.

So, to see that there were so many strangers drooled over him was just...

Scary.

Haruka, save me.

"It's okay. If you're nervous, just show it outright. Apparently, everything you do is cute to them," Tokiya said.

Again, Tokiya was very right. Even Masato's hand was visibly shaking when he had to autograph on a girl's arm before he dropped the pen to the floor, all of them squealed due to the supposed cuteness.

"You guys are so handsome! I have been the fan of STARISH's twins for years! Tokiya is so sexy and Masato is still manly!" After hugging Tokiya, a girl in her early 20s pounced on Masato, touching him.

"Me too! I am your fan too!" The others followed suit.

"We hope that you will get back on your feet, Masato!"

"I love you, Masato!"

"Thank you," Masato replied like a shrinking violet. The one that he only received 'I love you' were his wife and children so it felt weird to received sudden love from a stranger.

"I wish I can marry you, Masato," a bold fan remarked all of sudden. "Please marry me!"

"But I am already married, miss. I am sorry," Masato said, politely.

"But I promise I can nurse you better, Masato!"

"Huh?"

Speaking of being married, Tokiya's anxiety grew as he suddenly remembered Haruka. Most probably, the composer was done with her meeting so she might be...

She's here! Tokiya's eyes widened as she could see right in front of the door of the studio, the composer was staring at the fans who touching her husband blankly. However, as soon as her golden eyes met Tokiya's, she quickly formed a stiff smile.

'Is this okay?' was what Tokiya tried so hard to gesture to Haruka, referring to Masato's fans' attitude. At the same time, his other hand gestured his fans to wait for a while as they were expecting more pictures or hugs from him.

The composer nodded, still wearing the fake smile. She mouthed 'it's okay' but of course, being Masato's wife, she meant the vice versa.

As if, Tokiya's protective side to her immediately kicked in. As much as he always felt hurt to see Haruka became Masato's, he hated to see her get hurt.

"Excuse me, girls. I don't mean to interrupt but can you please not touching him too much? Masato's wife is here," Tokiya politely pointed at Haruka who immediately recoiled as she was suddenly brought up as the subject.

To feel frustrated that no staffs bothered enough to control the fans from being too aggressive was one thing but...

For now, it took all for Tokiya to not yell at those faces who glared at Haruka. It reminded him how back then; Haruka received so much hatred for dating Masato. He was positive that until now, she still received the loathing which most probably had become the main reason for her to deactivate her social media account.

"But, we are Masato's fans! He's our idol so he needs to entertain us first!"

"Yeah, his wife doesn't have a right to be jealous! This is his job!"

"It's her fault for marrying Masato in the first place!"

The twins could feel a sudden fury grew in their bodies once the last remark crossed their hearings. These girls were too much!

"Yeah, it's true that he's your idol but don't you feel sad if some girls just touch your husband wherever they please? For example, you..." Tokiya randomly pointed at one of his fans in order to prepare for a self-destruction. "Let's say that I am your husband and somebody just hugs and kisses me out of nowhere, what will you feel?"

"Of course, I will be so jealous! My husband is you anyway, Tokiya! You're so hot!" The excited girl shamelessly hugged Tokiya, which caused uproar from other unlucky girls.

"You guys get the point, right? So, please behave," Tokiya patted her back, praying that she would release him any soon because his lungs felt too suffocated with her tight hug around his neck.

Again, Tokiya rescued me, Masato thought. But, I feel bad now.

Thank you, Tokiya, Haruka's mind whispered. Like her husband, she also prayed that Tokiya could escape from the girls as soon as possible. She knew the man. Unlike his image, he never enjoyed to have a bunch of girls, swooning over his good look.

Even they did not say it verbally to each other, the twins knew they agreed with the same fact.

Today was exhausting.

Call him dramatic but as soon as he saw Haruka, Masato's urge to cry happily was overflowing in him. He kept Haruka's hand in his since he only felt safe when she was around.

"Seriously, Himura-san. When those girls circled around me, I was suddenly reminded of Tokiya's Osaka accident. It's no joke. I desperately needed my wife with me," Masato said after he and Tokiya met Haruka and Himura again outside.

"I know, right?" Himura agreed. His heart was tickled with the way Masato perceived the commotion.

"But seriously, Tokiya, how can you behave so calm when those girls didn't even hold back? I saw some girls touch you here and there. Didn't it feel uncomfortable?"

Unbeknown to everyone, the seemingly harmless question just irked the idol.

Calm? Who's he talking about? Me?

Sure, Tokiya was smiling outside but his inside was torn apart. No matter how many times he tried to mend it, convincing himself that this was just a job, he would find himself trapped in a suicidal hole again and again.

Trust me, Masato. That was nothing. I have faced worse and the worst.

Thanks to his acting and poker-face skill, he could conceal how much he cried inside for their doings.

"He faces this almost every day so somehow he knows how to cope with it," Himura said, patting Tokiya's shoulder.

Also, thanks to Himura because he volunteered himself to answer the sensitive question.

"Hi, guys!"

Tokiya gasped as a long arm suddenly trapped his shoulders, followed by a voice that would be the last thing that he wanted to hear after the busy day.

It was Van, the oldest member of HEAVENS. The guy always had his eyes on Haruka, even after the woman was officially Masato's. He might not go as far as stealing Haruka from her husband but his overfriendly personality seemed to welcome more fury from Masato.

"Oh, hi, Van," Haruka exclaimed, followed by Himura. The guy was so happy to see the woman that he could care less when Tokiya pushed him away from hugging his shoulders.

"Haruka, my love! I miss you!" Van shamelessly reached Haruka's hand before pressing a few kisses on it. "No words can describe how much I want to see you. You look more beautiful each day I see you."

Tokiya felt his fury started to erupt but Masato as her husband was faster to react. She pulled Haruka's hand from Van's, showing their matching rings.

"Married. She's married to me," Masato smiled but everybody knew that Van would be kicked on the spot if the guy could use his legs properly.

"Ops, sorry. I was joking, Masato," Van giggled nervously. The 'happy' memory where Masato scolded him for flirting with Haruka back then suddenly appeared in his mind. "Please don't scowl like that. You scared me."

"Of course he would scare you when you acted so shameless," Himura said. Just like Eichii, he was also chummy with the guy but for some reason, Tokiya never approved their friendship.

"Or rather, what the heck are you doing here? As for Masato, I bet he's thinking who's this shameless guy. He doesn't remember you, you know," Tokiya remarked, arms were folded on his chest.

"That's mean, Tokiya, Himura-san! I am not shameless," his attempt to gain sympathy from the idol was turned down harshly when Tokiya rolled his eyes again. "Nice to meet you, Masato. I am Van from HEAVENS!"

"Yeah, I supposed it's nice to meet you too," Masato said, layered with a burning sarcasm. He did not even bother to shake hands with the guy.

"Hehehe. Where is Eichii by the way? I am supposed to pick him up here," Van said, avoiding Masato's hostile glare. He swore if he spoke more with Masato, the scion would crash him with his wheelchair.

"Didn't he tell you? He left early because of some urgent business," Himura answered.

"Oh, really? That's weird. HEAVENS doesn't have any schedule today so what kind of urgent business is he saying?" Van muttered, rubbing his chin. "Then, I will go first, guys! Masato, please don't glare at me like that. It's scary! Okay, bye, everyone!"

Van quickly left the group but Masato was still glowering at where he came from.

"Why you always seem to dislike that guy every time he's around?" Himura mumbled at Tokiya. "Normally, you don't show your dislike to anybody that obvious."

"Masato will give you the answer," Tokiya said, flatly.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong with that guy? He doesn't have any respect to Haruka. Obviously, she doesn't feel comfortable so why did he keep kissing her hand?" Masato complained, holding Haruka's hand tightly. "And she's my wife on top of that!"

"See?" Tokiya smirked at Himura who went speechless.

These twins...

"He's a bit too friendly, I guess," Haruka said, awkwardly.

"It isn't nice to meet him. At all," Masato bit his lips in anger. "Nevertheless, I would like to say thank you for everything, Tokiya. Thank you for this experience. You have given me a lot of tips and really, I couldn't have done it without you. I always see you on TV but now, when I met you personally, I found more reasons to respect you. You're very professional and admirable. Thanks for the melon breads and fountain-seeing as well. The breads are so delicious."

"No, don't mention it. You should thank our president for this experience. I just followed his order," Tokiya said, shaking hands with the scion.

That's not really correct. You guys should thank Natsuki for this experience, Haruka and Himura said in their minds. Nevertheless, they knew that Tokiya had taken a good care of the scion.

Melon breads and a fountain. He did use them, huh? Haruka whispered in her mind.

"Not only that," Masato tightened his grip around Tokiya's hand. "If it's not because of you, I would never get reconciled with my Harumi. Thank you for convincing her and make her understand my situation."

Tokiya smiled as his mind reached the little girl.

"You're welcome. I just did what I think I should do when she asked about you."

"I see. I wish I can meet you again, Tokiya. But, I bet you're so busy..."

"Oh, it's okay, Masato. I'll make sure that he'll have a free time and then, I will inform Haruka," Himura interrupted, caused Tokiya to immediately shoot a look at him out of disbelief.

My manager...

"Tokiya?"

"Hm?" Tokiya lifted his head from the tablet, meeting eyes with his manager through the rear-view mirror. They were currently heading to another studio for another schedule on that day.

"Can I ask you something?" Himura initiated, eyes were still focusing on the road.

"Why do you suddenly turn cautious? You know you can always ask me..."

"Do you love Haruka?"

It was a silence for a while before Tokiya's gaze fixed on Himura through the rear-view mirror. A serene smile plastered on the beautiful face.

"Why are you asking me that?" He asked, scrolling down his tablet back.

"Hm... let's see..." Himura rubbed his chin. "Maybe it's because I have never seen you being that caring to a woman before. For example, like that Van guy, do you solely dislike him just because he flirts with Haruka all the time?"

There was no way he would let anybody know what he felt about his friend's wife. This forbidden feeling... he should keep it for himself since he still desperately wanted to erased it.

"I don't love her," he answered, staring into the outside of the car. "I just want to see her be happy with the right guy. Masato is the right guy and Van is certainly not."

As he threw the remark, his long fingers touched the tablet screen back, stroking each of his friends' faces in the picture longingly.

His fingers ended on Haruka's face.

That's all for chapter 7! I honestly enjoyed writing this chapter (since Masato met Tokiya and everything) and I hope you guys enjoy your reading too. Feel free to leave a comment ^^