Chapter Text
♫ 'Cause you were, you were my everything 'til we were nothing
And it's taken me a lot to say
And now that you're gone, my heart is missing something
So it's time to push my pride away
You are, you are, you are my everything
You are, you are, you are my everything
You are, you are, you are
You are, you are, you are my everything ♫
"Once again, Ms. Iori Utahime, everyone!" The talk show's host, Tsukumo Yuki, announced enthusiastically as the audience clapped at the singer's live performance. The black-haired lady stood up behind the piano and made a grateful bow before walking to the other side of the stage to take a seat on the loveseat across from the lovely host.
"Thank you for the pain, Utahime." Yuki joked as she wiped away fake tears. "Seriously, your previous album made everyone feel like they are falling in love and even like the main character of a romantic movie. But now I can hear our hearts breaking just from listening to that performance. When your fans listened to the album after its release, everyone panicked if you were in a middle of a breakup."
"Oh, God! Yes, my socials were flooded with questions that day. But just for the record, I am very happy and contented with my relationship right now." The singer replied sweetly with a genuine smile. The hint of sparkle in her brown eyes showed that she was telling no lies.
"If you're so happy with your love life, what made you write this kind of music for your album, Blue?" The blonde leaned in, and her voice was laced with playfulness as she accusingly mocked the singer. "Or did you write them for a certain someone?"
"Actually..." The dark-haired lady sheepishly smiled, earning a lot of interested oohs from the audience. She wanted to play it off as if she was being shy to share it. Honestly, she was already half expecting it to happen, but to her surprise, she was comfortable talking about it. "It was about my ex-boyfriend." A series of amazed and curious exclamations filled the studio.
"Ohhh, this is intruiging. Do we know him? Is he a celebrity too?"
"No, but he does look like one for sure. Now that I think about it, I never complimented him that much about his looks." She laughed behind her loosely closed fist. "He was my first boyfriend, well, first love as you call it. He was really someone I imagined my future with, but we grew up, and there were a lot of things happening around us that were not in our favor."
"This is all news to us! Does your boyfriend know about this?"
"You know, funny story! Kento was actually the one who suggested that I should go ahead and make an album out of the songs I did for him. One day, as I was cleaning my old boxes from my old home, I saw the songs. I was surprised to see that there was plenty of them so I joked around and said that I make an album out of them. Then, Kento told me that maybe I should do it. I was not planning to release any of it since I only wrote them with the purpose of just letting out my feelings back then. I read them and saw that they have the potentials to turn into great break-up songs, which I know a lot would be able to relate to as well. We also talked about how this would be my chance to give a good ending to my greatest heartbreak. "
" Greatest heartbreak? So do you consider him as your greatest love, then? "
" You know, Yuki, the greatest doesn't mean the best. He was surely the greatest one but we were not the best for each other." Utahime's voice has gotten softer and sounded resigned. She immediately took a deep breath and perked up, not wanting to end the interview on a bittersweet note. "Luckily, I found the best for me already. It's Kento."
---
It was almost comedic how that interview was the first thing shown to Satoru as soon as he crashed down on the bed and turned on the television in his hotel room. He does not know whether he would laugh, cry, or scream in frustration. As if the jet lag and body pain from his eighteen-hour flight were not enough to make him dead tired, the image of his ex looking absolutely contented with her life without him decided to add into the mix. He was even stupid enough to go through and watch the interview. If only did she not talk about her best boyfriend, he might have finished the whole thing.
He slumped down against the pillows behind his now stiffer back and flipped through the limited channels of the television. He's hoping to find something unrelated to Utahime or funnier than his current situation. After discovering something that would satisfy his requirements, he decided to order some desserts from room service to treat himself.
His first day back in Japan and he was already hosting a one-man pity party. Maybe the sugar would finally mess up his stomach, and he won't have to go out today.
---
"Oh, Shoko, thank the gods you've picked up!" Utahime's chest finally let out a big sigh of relief. "I'm sorry, I know you're already busy today."
"No problem, Uta. They're just smothering my face with makeup right now." Her best friend's voice on the other end of the line sounded rather sleepy, definitely fell asleep when her stylist started to style her hair. "Do you need something? Are you in Okinawa already?"
"Yes, I am." She has started to pace back and forth now but still deliberately avoiding being seen from any windows on the ground floor of the hotel. "I just have a bit of a situation right now. I don't know when I could come out of the hotel. I think someone might have spotted me when I arrived here a while ago, but I swear, I was careful. I don't know how they knew I was staying here. I was being discreet the whole day. I can't go out now cause somehow they knew the car I was driving as well. I mean, the hotel staff are helping, but I don't know when it would be safe to go out. I— " Her panicked rambling was finally cut short by the other person on the line.
"Utahime, calm down! Deep breaths." The celebrity was good at following the command and continued to do so as her friend spoke. "Is your manager not doing anything? He usually handles that kind of thing well, right?"
"You see.. the thing is... I somehow convinced my manager to let me go alone." Hearing herself hesitate on telling her friend the not-so-good news made her regret her decision. In fairness, it sounded like a well-thought-out plan when she was persuading her manager last week. "I said it was a private event, and I also wanted to have some short time off after the album promotion."
"Well, you're fucked."
"Wow, thank you for that!" She decided that maybe it was wise to go back to her room since it looked like her best friend would not be offering some great advice.
"Look, I may have a suggestion, but I don't know if you're up for it."
"Try me." She pushed the button for the elevator and patiently waited as one of them descended from the twenty-first floor. "I would not want to miss your wedding."
"Actually, I think Satoru is also staying at that hotel." Hearing the name out of the blue, almost made her jump off her feet. She wished that she was able to control her breathing so she wouldn't sound so affected. She knew they would be crossing paths again today but not right now. She was not yet ready. "I can call and ask him to take you with him when he goes here. I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
The elevator in front of Utahime let out a ding and opened its cold silver doors.
"Shoko..." Her words drifted off as the air left her lungs.
"Or I can just ask for his room number if you would rather handle this one on your own."
"There's no need for that. He is here." She muttered under her breath and ignored Shoko's confusion before she dropped the call.
It felt like time has stopped as she took all in the man standing in front of her. His tall height and tousled white hair made him stand out from the sea of people in the small space. His eyes, which finally met hers, caught her quite off-guard. No matter how many times she has seen them before, they would always appear brighter and much more complex than what she had in mind. He looked familiar and foreign at the same time if that was even possible.
She was pulled out of her trance when a stranger bumped accidentally bumped her shoulder. She moved her gaze away to acknowledge the old man that apologized to her and when she turned around he was already there, much closer than before. He had gotten out of the elevator and planted himself right in front of her, just a foot or two away.
"Utahime." He greeted her with his signature annoying grin plastered across his face, looking unaffected with everything as usual.