The moment Asakura went back inside, just like a summoned spirit, Kota suddenly appeared in front of him. His eyes were narrowed and carried a hint of mischief.
“I hope you didn’t do anything unnecessary. By the looks of it, that young man seemed troubled by you. Should I go around rescuing strangers from you?”
“Were you watching me?”
“Yes, well, I guess your peculiar habit of stalking people has rubbed off on me.” Kota shrugged. “But seriously now, I am curious to know why you are paying so much attention to him.”
“Because he had the same look in his eyes as I used to have all those years ago. He thinks he’s gotten over his pain and lives his days like that. But in reality, the suffering is eating at him from the inside. He’s been putting up a strong front for so long that he ended up believing himself to be cured.”
“Oh? And how are you so sure that you aren’t mistaken? Perhaps he really is alright and you’re just being nosy.”
Asakura closed his eyes and shook his head slowly.
“The look in his eyes tells a different story. He isn’t far from how I used to be. He is still suffering and afraid to move on.”
“Well then, let’s hope he won’t follow in your footsteps and become a stalker like you did.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Qbeiv sbe rabq yglculcu atja eq!” Crjxegj’r fsfr rcjqqfv bqfc jcv tf uijgfv ja Bbaj.
“Rbqf. Cr bo cbk, P jw mbcrlvfglcu atja ab yf sbeg wbra vfolclcu agjla.”
“Tbe’gf mgjhs.”
“Ufgtjqr, yea ja ifjra P jw cba j mgjhs rajixfg.” Bbaj gfqilfv mjrejiis, kjlnlcu j tjcv lc atf jlg yfobgf aegclcu jgbecv ab ifjnf.
“Why do I put up with you, I wonder?” Asakura muttered following behind Kota.
“Because I’m handsome and give you information about Keita-chan.” Kota threw the words over his shoulder, following them up with a teasing wink.
“Haaaa.”Asakura groaned, rubbing his face with both palms. “Let’s just go and find the others before I do something I’ll most surely regret later.”
When the next morning came, Sato and his group left for the city, while Asakura and the rest remained for a couple of days longer to finish their location viewing.
After that fateful encounter, both Asakura and Sato went back to their usual lives. One was busy with managing the company and the movie planning, while the other spent his days doing small jobs and at the same time trying to sort out his thoughts. The last part proved to be rather difficult, though.
Ever since meeting Asakura, Sato’s mind had been filled with the man’s image. Their last conversation caused Sato to keep fretting over that person’s words. It got to the point where he couldn’t even sleep well. A storm was brewing inside his mind, making him unable to rest or think properly.
From time to time, he would pull out Asakura’s business card, pondering so hard about what he should do, that he soon felt his brain was on the verge of combusting. After a while, he simply couldn’t take it anymore and threw the card onto the floor. It landed near the dustbin, looking crumbled and pitiful.
Sato’s instincts told him that he shouldn’t throw it away, that the small piece of paper represented a chance to rebuild his life. However, his mind simply wouldn’t listen. Habits were really hard to break and Sato had been so used to this current state of things that escape just didn’t seem possible to him.
One day, almost two weeks after the trip, Sato and Kyosuke were both called by Director Kyota for a short meeting. They were to come to HoshiAkari Entertainment headquarters and have lunch together afterwards.
Even though they were relatively known actors, neither Sato nor Kyosuke liked to be hassled by people or have someone chasing after them all day long. Therefore, they always preferred to manage things like food and daily activities by themselves. Especially since Sato had been without a steady schedule for a long time, they didn’t need to call on a driver from the company.
Compared to Sato, Kyosuke did have an assigned manager, who sometimes drove him between filming locations, oversaw his schedule and talked to clients. But the lady was currently in the hospital after sustaining an accident. It would take several months before she could return. Therefore, Sato and Kyosuke had to deal with everything on their own for the time being.
“What do you think he wants from us?” Kyosuke asked while driving.
“I don’t know.” Sato replied simply. “It must be something regarding a project, otherwise he wouldn’t have called us in.”
“Hmm. I think so too. And besides, it’s been a while since he asked for you as well. During this past year he only ever talked to you over the phone, right?”
“En.” Sato nodded pensively.
It was true that Director Kyota hadn’t wished to see him face-to-face in quite a while. Thinking about it, Sato immediately began to worry. What if Director Kyota wanted to give him an ultimatum? Like ‘Do your job or leave.’ What if it gets down to that?
That dreadful thought made his heart sink. Having to give up everything he’s worked so hard for made Sato feel out of breath. However, thinking about going back in front of the cameras caused a different kind of panic. It wasn’t that he was afraid of acting poorly or that he cared about what others might think of him. What truly terrified him was having to deal with people’s expectations.
In the beginning, when he had just started acting, he never thought about what others wanted from him or how people saw him. He simply played the roles as he saw fit and did a wonderful job at it. But somewhere along the line everything shattered into pieces. Was it the trust he had in himself or perhaps the trust he harbored in other people that broke?
Ever since Touma left, there has been a void inside his heart; one he hasn’t been able to fill no matter how hard he tried. Without having to wonder, Sato was sure that something broke inside him that night, something that may never be recovered.
When the two finally arrived at the agency, Kyota’s assistant was waiting for them in the lobby, ready to lead them to the top-floor office.
Once in front of Kyota’s office door, Sato began to feel even more nervous than before. He took several deep breaths, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart. But before he could properly settle his nerves, Kyosuke pushed the door open and entered.
A/N: This is the last chapter of the day. It was a shorter one but I hope you enjoyed seeing a bit more of Sato’s perspective. 
See you in tomorrow’s update!
Sato, fighting~~! 🥺
Thank you for the chapter 💜
Yes, fighting 😯
💜💜💜
Thank you for the chapter 😊
🥰🥰🥰
thanks for the chapter <3
<333