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Sakura finished washing off her makeup from their show in Arpino. It was a huge success! Not only did she gain all of her memories from when she was brought back as a zombie, but she grew closer to her friends and knew that Franchouchou was going to last for a while.
With a towel resting on her shoulders, she smiled to herself of all the support she had gotten from the rest of the girls and their manager. For some reason, him screaming ‘I’ll always be on your side.” had made her heart flutter. It was odd for her dead heart to flutter, but it felt really familiar.
As she was making her way towards the room to sleep, she had seen Kotarou in his office, his door open and his sunglasses off? She carefully walked closer to see what he was up to. Romero had smelled her and barked. He opened his eyes and she gasped. Just as she was about to leave, her wrist was lightly grabbed and she stopped.
“Oh? What’s this? A zombie?” He jokingly questioned.
She looked behind her to see that his had his sunglasses back on, but a cocky eyebrow raised.
“I-um…” She paused. He let go. “I just wanted to thank you for your help, me coming over my worries, and letting me do the show.”
He leaned against the hallway wall and smiled slightly. “It’s what a manager is supposed to do, encourage his talent!”
Sakura had paused. His smile- there it was again! Her heart pounding. A memory flashed in her mind, a boy in school, brown hair, a nervous look- She gripped her head.
“Oi oi! Sakura?”
“It’s just a headache.” She lied. Her heart was going so fast she couldn’t keep up! Why was Kotarou making her feel this way? Why did he look so much like… Him? She backed up a little and ran off to the sleeping room. There was something up with Kotarou and she had to find out what.
Over the next several weeks, after their next show was announced. Sakura worked harder than she ever could. She had to clear her mind of her manager. Every time he entered the room, she would blush, worry the girls, but he seemed not to notice.
“Look, if you’re that caught up in the guy, why not ask him out?” Saki encouraged.
“Wha- no! It’s not that!” She tried to defend herself, obviously failing.
“Sakura-han, you do realize we are dead, and he is alive. It wouldn’t work out.” Yugiri pointed out.
“I know!”
“Look, if Sakura doesn’t want to talk about it, she doesn’t have to. Let her tell us when she’s ready.” Junko stepped up.
The room went into an understandable silence.
“A-anyways, I’m going to take the track to Kotarou.” Sakura said. “I’ll be fine, I promise.”
Making her way towards his office, she knocked on the door, waiting for the manager to answer. Romero was barking up a storm and she could hear annoyed yelling behind the door before it swung open, bumping into Sakura, knocking the CD out of her hand.
“Ah!”
Kotarou had picked it up and held it out for her to take it back. He had his glasses off and Sakura started to tear up. She didn’t know why but then memories flooded her mind. A boy she had seen in middle school who was shy and alone. Her many attempts to become his friend. Her growth of love for the boy, and then finding out that he too had an interest in idol groups just as big as she did.
“I-I-Inui-s-san?” Sakura nervously asked, seeing Kotarou flinch.
“Uh…” He started, trying to look the other way.
“H-how?”
He sighed, dropping his arm, but keeping a firm grip on the CD. His other arm rested nervously on the back of his neck. He nodded.
“It’s a long story.”
“But I died! Why, after all this time? What did you do!? You-”
“Sakura.” He stopped her, his voice full of emotion. “I’m going to be straight forward. So I need you to pay attention.” He gestured to his office.
She followed his inside and took a seat. She’d only been in his office once or twice and she never liked to be inside it, but this had to be serious for him to just invite her like that. He took his seat in his desk chair and leaned back, setting the CD on his desk.
“I had loved you. Back when you were alive. I realized after we shared our interest in idols. I was going to confess when you arrived to school after dropping off your audition. But when you didn't come, I wondered if you’d gotten scared. On my way home, after no text response, I had stopped by your house to see it all taped up. Neighbors were crying, saying you were a sweet girl, innocent, a freak accident. You were gone, no pain suffered.
“I thought you were at the hospital so I ran, I needed to make sure this wasn’t all a stunt, a lie for publicity, but then it hit me that you weren’t like this. Your parents had told me what had happened and I couldn’t accept it. They had asked if I were your boyfriend, but I hid my feelings and told them that I was your first fan. You were so happy on auditioning and you spent countless nights and endless weekends working hard.
“They gave my condolences and the school had a funeral for you in the gymnasium. I couldn’t accept that you were dead. I was going nuts to a point where I was being avoided again. Your partner made new friends, everyone moved on like you were nobody and I didn’t want to accept that.
“Sakura, what I did, was bad. As you can tell you, along with those other girls, are supposed to remain dead. I studied necromancy, hoping that something could bring you back, not for me to love you, but for you to fulfill your dream! You were supposed to be the next star of Saga!”
He threw a fist in the air meaning of pride. But then he sat down and sighed.
“I never wanted you to find out who I really was. It would be wrong of course. What happened was history. All I want to see now is your bright future. That for me is enough.”
Sakura looked into her lap, tears threatening to spill. Her heart had calmed down now that she knew his side of her story. After all she was dead. She wasn’t supposed to even be walking and talking. But she understood. It was 2018 and he was much older than they were back in high school.
“Sakura. I would still appreciate it if you came to me if anything is troubling you. I’m sorry for putting you through so much pain in this second life, just understand why I did it. I would like to remain a friend for you. Being an Idol is a tough job and I’ll be with you every step of the way.” He promised.
Finally she moved to look at him, a smile on her face. “Thank you, Inui-san. For always being there. I guess we both have moved on from a lot of things. I think it’s time to move forward as well.”
Kotarou stood up, walked in front of her and held his arms open. She finally let her tears go and hugged him back. He sacrificed his life for her and her dream. He hugged her back and smiled. He then quickly shoved her away.
“Alright SAKURA! Time for bed! Idols need their b-e-a-u-ty sleep! So shoo!” He winked.
Sakura laughed and left but waved at her old friend one last time. “Good night Kotarou-san.”
The End