Work Text:
It was Kurosawa’s favorite night—movie night.
In their household, every Saturday night they’d watch a movie they hadn’t seen before. Sometimes it was an old movie, a cult classic, a musical, and sometimes they even watched new movies in the theater.
Before dinner, the Kurosawa family got into the car and drove to the theater to see a new high school romance movie everyone was talking about. They got their tickets and then all they had to do was pick their seats.
“I’m sorry, but someone will have to sit in a different section of the theater,” the woman at the counter told them. There were three seats in a row and then one farther back.
“Oh, maybe we should see it some other time then…”
Kurosawa interrupted. “It’s alright, dad, I can sit alone.”
Kurosawa’s father thought for a moment, then nodded. “Well, I don’t see why not. You are almost an adult.” He looked towards the woman again. “We’ll take those seats then, and my son will sit in the seat farther back.”
The woman nodded and gave them their food, and Kurosawa and the rest of the family went into the theater.
So there Kurosawa was—sitting by himself in the back of the theater. It was strange and unusual for him since they had always sat together as a family, but it was kind of nice in a way. He didn’t have to worry about his sister teasing him for crying or getting emotional like she usually did.
The movie began to play. It was a pretty typical high school movie; there were jocks, punks, preppy kids, nerds, and there was a weird girl who got made fun of for stupid reasons like having acne and wearing glasses. The twist, supposedly, was that the new guy in school, instead of bullying her, tried to get into her hobbies and have fun with her. Some of it was pretty cringy, but it was an enjoyable movie so far.
About half-way through the movie, a group of grudge skaters taught the new boy how to skateboard so that he could go skating with the girl he likes in the park. They were all older teens, about the same age as Kurosawa, and a few were eighteen. One of the boys, the leader of the pack, stepped aside and motioned towards one of the boys who was about to do a trick. He had just been a side character, but now he was in the spotlight.
And, oh my, Kurosawa thought,
He was absolutely breathtaking.
He had black hair with bangs on one side of his face. His eyes were a gorgeous blue color, and his skin looked so clear and soft. He had on a pair of ripped jeans that were cuffed up and hightop shoes, and he had on some sort of rock band t-shirt that was a bit big on him, but it looked so good.
Now Kurosawa was thankful he was sitting alone, because if his sister saw the blush covering his warm face, she would tease him for months. And his mom—well, he wasn’t sure what she’d think of him falling for a skater-boy in a cheesy early two-thousands movie.
Kurosawa kept looking for him throughout the film. He popped up a few more times, like at lunch and in the background of some classroom scenes. By the end of the film, Kurosawa was fairly sure he had completely missed some crucial dialogue from focusing on the background too much.
As the credits rolled, Kurosawa found the rest of his family and joined them again, walking out of the theater and back into the car. Kurosawa was a bit sad leaving, really.
“I’ve heard there’s a manga this movie’s based off of,” his sister stated as she got buckled.
“I think I'll start collecting it,” Kurosawa said, and his sister looked over at him curiously.
Thirteen years passed.
Between the end of high school and his current life, a lot had happened in Kurosawa’s life; he went to college, got a job as a salesman at Toyokawa, and got a nice apartment. He even had a few girlfriends, but he decided to take a break from dating since his past relationships always felt sort of hollow and loveless for him.
It was ridiculous, but even after all that time, he still thought about that movie sometimes. After seeing it as a teen, he began collecting the volumes and he now owned the whole series, including a DVD of the film. The manga was much better, but the movie felt nostalgic and special to him.
Hmm, It’s been quite a long time since I’ve watched this… he thought to himself as he picked the DVD up from his collection. He had nothing important to do, so he decided to give it a rewatch, just for fun.
As his favorite scene played, he suddenly felt a bit confused as he watched the black-haired boy skate. He listened to his voice as he wondered,
Why does he seem so familiar?
“Kurosawa, can you take these papers to Adachi?”
“Oh, yes. Of course,” Kurosawa answered. He was handed a small stack of documents and got up, beginning to walk towards Adachi’s desk.
He didn’t really see or hear anything from Adachi. From what he had observed and heard from others, he was just an ordinary guy and he was also quite introverted. He never told any of his coworkers much about himself or his personal life, and he wasn’t friends with anyone in the office.
Standing behind the quiet man before him, he admired his hair for a moment. Wow, It looks really soft—despite being a bit messy…
Kurosawa chuckled to himself quietly and Adachi spun around to face him immediately, startling Kurosawa a little.
“Oh, my apologies. I came here to—”
Wait.
No, it couldn’t be.
“Huh…oh, the documents. Thanks, Kurosawa.” Adachi gave him a kind smile before spinning back around. He peeked over his shoulder when he noticed Kurosawa still looming behind him, his face full of shock and confusion. “Um, can I help you?”
Kurosawa’s hands flew up to his face, even more shocked. He probably looked like a mad man.
“Have you, by any chance, been an actor?”
Adachi blushed. “Oh…yeah, only a few times, though,” he answered, keeping his voice low like it was an embarrassing secret or scandal.
Kurosawa gasped and leaned closer to him. “I can’t believe it took me so long to recognize you! I was obsessed with that romance movie you were in! That movie…it meant a lot to me,” Kurosawa said, and that movie still meant so much to him. Kurosawa felt a warm and happy feeling in his heart as he spoke to Adachi, and he felt like he could cry. It was like something he was missing had finally been found.
“Y-You like that one?”
“Of course! I rewatched it the other day, so that must be why it finally clicked.”
Something in Adachi’s expression changed; he looked nervous and embarrassed before, but it softened into something…happier? He still looked surprised, but also thankful. Maybe even proud. “Would you maybe want to eat lunch with me?” he asked.
Kurosawa happily agreed, and they sat together in the cafeteria an hour later. Kurosawa felt like an excited fanboy as he watched every movement the other man made. Just seeing him eat gave him butterflies.
During their lunch, they spoke about movies, acting, movie scenes, and even about each other’s lives. Kurosawa thought he was perfect; his smile, his voice, his attitude and his feelings. And, on top of that, he’s incredibly handsome.
He’s so sweet. How come he’s here working at this office now?
“So, why did you quit acting?”
Adachi’s smile dropped and he looked down at his food, moving pieces of rice with his chopsticks.
“There were a few reasons. Even though I enjoyed trying it out for a while, I realized that I was too timid to ask for and play more important roles. I also barely ever got roles because I wasn’t good enough for them.” He began poking his food harder, clearly frustrated. “After the only real role I got to play when I was just turning eighteen, something I was keeping secret about myself got out somehow. Probably some bully from school or something.”
Kurosawa felt a rush of sadness wash over him. “I’m so sorry, Adachi.”
Adachi weakly smiled at him, trying his best to lift both of their moods. “Oh, no. Don’t worry about it. I’m over it now. A quiet job like this is what suits me best, anyway.”
When Kurosawa was getting ready to leave the office, the only other person there was Adachi. Standing alone by his desk, silently packing his things.
Even after growing older, he’s still the same boy who swept young Yuiichi off his feet those thirteen years ago. He still made him blush and feel butterflies. He’s still beautiful.
As he walked past Kurosawa’s desk, he smiled. “Good night, Kurosawa.”
Kurosawa said goodbye, but he didn’t want it to end just like that.
All it took was one moment together for Kurosawa to realize how he felt. How he had felt that day at the movies—nothing had changed after all those years.
“Adachi,” he began, and Adachi stopped and turned around, listening. “I– …I’m still your biggest fan!”
Adachi blushed and laughed, and it was Kurosawa’s turn to feel embarrassed.
Adachi smiled fondly, a real, gorgeous smile. “That sounds like a line straight out of a movie.” He looked away for a moment shyly. “And thank you, for today and everything. I thought for sure no one would ever recognize me. I think I’ll try and get closer to others now.”
And with that, he walked away, but there were no credits, no The Ends, no fading to black and vanishing forever. Kurosawa would see him the next day, and the next, and the next, and so on.
And hopefully, though Kurosawa could only dream for now, he could see him forever.