Chapter Text
“Hayami-sama, I’m really sorry to say this but something is wrong with that girl. She really doesn’t behave like a normal 18 years old. We’re scared of leaving her alone in the house. At this rate, she’ll kill herself”
From what Masumi could make out of what the positively alarmed guardian had managed to explain, his favorite actress had decided to blindfold herself and put wax in her ears, cutting herself off from the outside world and quite effectively exposing herself to any danger that should befall her without anyone present to keep an eye on her. As if that wasn’t enough, she had also shut all the blinds, probably to make sure no sunlight could ever direct her away from any potential obstacle, and started wrecking the house as she struggled to complete the simple task of feeding herself.
As much as he cared about his summer house, the idea of having Maya surrounded with shards of broken glass and ceramics and encountering the sharp blades of a tin can lid every time she ventured into the kitchen was what had him most distraught. The Yamashita had of course guaranteed that they cleaned the house into a safer state before leaving, but after witnessing the young actresses’ strange behavior, they had felt leaving her alone again was about as reassuring as leaving a crawling toddler on a construction site. Of course, their alarm was justified, Masumi thought, grimacing inwardly, as he was himself finding a recurring pattern in his protegee’s learning method. The more dangerous the better. Her sadistic circus trainer of a teacher had made sure to implement the notion so deep in her mind, that she would eventually come up with it herself. Masumi winced as the memory of him walking in on them rehearsing the role of a doll replayed in his mind. He could still distinctively feel the crack in his hand, as he had pulled her arm to help her up. The resonating sound that had ensued. The blood…
That night, he laid in bed knowing he had little chance of sleeping at all, as various scenarios of Maya hurting herself in his own house came haunting him like so many boogeymen. The irony of having her rehearse in his own estate was surely that he knew the place so well, he would vividly foresee how each piece of furniture and home decor he owned could potentially knock, trip, bruise or cut her.
Struggling with a newfound and unsettling sense of personal responsibility, he argued that the little whimsical girl he had come to know as Chibi-chan was stubborn enough to endanger herself anywhere she would have chosen to rehearse, the only difference being that he would probably have heard nothing of it. Then again, hadn’t he intervened and invited her to a remote house in the countryside (where no one would hear her scream), she would certainly have practiced her extreme version of studio acting in her own apartment, with her friend acting as safety net to at least try to prevent her from breaking her neck, so he figured he was partly to blame for her current peril.
However, the issue of his anonymous persona remained. Naive though Maya may be, there was just no simple way to explain his sudden appearance at lake Shirakaba, stepping through the threshold of this specific house unannounced and unwanted without raising suspicion. The moment she would see him...
Masumi sat up in his bed, the sudden realization leaving him nonplussed and a tiny bit horrified by the direction his thoughts were leading him to. She would not see him. She was blind and deaf at the moment. Were he to casually step through the doorway, her only reaction to their encounter would be...Masumi stopped his train of thoughts, as something dangerously close to hope had snuck in his mind. He focused on planning his next move.
It was 5am, the sun was slowly rising, and Masumi packed his bag, texting Takashi Yamashita to bring breakfast for two, that he'd be there in about 3 hours and was going to stay a couple of days. Before leaving he pinned a Purple Rose to his jacket. Just in case.
You’re a madman, Masumi.