At the same time, Kota felt a sudden shiver going down his spine and he sneezed.
“Am I catching a cold?” He muttered to himself, scratching at his nose with a finger.
Not even fifteen minutes later, the door to his office was pushed open and Asakura waltzed inside, followed by Kota’s assistant. The sudden commotion startled Kota into looking up. Luckily, this time, he didn’t ruin any documents.
“Can’t you just appear like a normal person for once?” He scowled at Asakura.
The man was just about to take a seat on the sofa.
“I’ve come through the door. That’s as normal as it can get.” Asakura retorted with a raised eyebrow. Then, he turned to address the beautiful lady assistant. ” Hikari-chan, could you please bring me a coffee? Make it a strong one.”
After the assistant left, Kota finally got up and joined Asakura, sitting across from him on the other side of the sofa.
“How come you’re drinking coffee at this time of day? Don’t you usually have one early in the morning?” Kota inquired, leaning back into his seat and crossing his legs with an elegant movement.
“I need another one.” The other man replied shortly.
“Then, why are you having this extra coffee here, in my office?” Kota narrowed his eyes, then continued to scold. “Aren’t you supposed to be working your butt off at this time? Raising money so you can support the movie making industry isn’t an easy job.”
“I’ve been banished from the office. Apparently, I’m scaring the employees.” Asakura shrugged nonchalantly.
“Hmmm? Now that you mention it… Why is your expression so ugly?”
Asakura kept silent.
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.
“Ct, P xcbk! Pa wera tjnf rbwfatlcu ab vb klat Vjab-mtjc’r jyrfcmf, vbfrc’a la?”
Vlifcmf jujlc. Lbkfnfg, Bbaj kjrc’a bcf ab yf vlrmbegjufv fjrlis. Lf raeyybgcis qgfrrfv bc.
“Ktf batfg ues sbe abiv wf jybea wera tjnf ubcf abb, gluta? Vlcmf atfs jgf oliwlcu abufatfg, P uefrr la mjc’a yf tfiqfv. Ktfc, jgf sbe qfgtjqr kbgglfv atja rbwfatlcu wluta tjqqfc yfakffc atfw?”
Having his reverse scale poked in such a blatant manner, Asakura glared sideways at this so-called friend of his. Even if he didn’t say a word, his eyes spoke volumes. He was indeed pissed off about that matter. But he wouldn’t admit it for the world. Saying that he was jealous of that youngster would be admitting a terrible defeat.
“How come you didn’t do anything about this, Ryuu?” Kota gave up teasing him and instead asked calmly. “It should be a piece of cake for you to stop that brat from getting the part. So why didn’t you?”
When Asakura finally replied, a strong displeasure was dripping from his voice and his expression turned into a scowl.
“It’s not like I didn’t think of doing that. Believe me, I even wanted to make sure that guy will never be able to show his face in public ever again. But Sato-kun told me not to. He said it’s not right for me to intervene in such matters.”
“Oh? I didn’t know you were so noble as to actually listen.” Kota raised an eyebrow.
“I didn’t want to do something against his wishes. This is Sato’s first big project since all that drama happened, and I don’t want to mess it up for him. Besides, he is already very nervous, even though he doesn’t show it. There’s no need for me to go about adding more things for him to worry about, now is there?”
“First noble, now caring. Honestly, Ryuu, I am beginning to not recognize you anymore.” Kota chuckled.
“Shut up.” Asakura growled.
“No, I mean it. You’re beginning to change Ryuu. But if you think about it carefully, it’s not such a bad thing. After all, changes can bring about the means for healing.”
“I am not sick, you know. What is there for me to heal?” Asakura played dumb, pretending not to understand the meaning behind those words.
Kota, on the other hand, saw right through him. Feeling vexed, he picked up a small pillow from the sofa and threw it at his friend, hitting him square in the face.
The soft object was thrown with the strength of a grown man who liked to exercise. Therefore, it wasn’t very surprising that Asakura felt his head lean back slightly from the impact. He pushed the pillow away from his face and rubbed his nose, which was gradually becoming numb.
“Are you in the mood for a pillow fight?” He sneered and a mischievous look flashed through his eyes. “I don’t really mind, but what would your father think if he comes to check up on you and sees the mess?”
“Don’t be stupid!” Kota huffed and refused to play along. “You know perfectly well what I meant by that. I’m talking about healing one’s heart.” He paused, shooting his friend a knowing look. “I just hope you won’t make the same mistake again.”
“And that is?”
“Being a coward and a creep.” Kota threw at him blatantly.
“Thanks for your good opinion.” Asakura responded sarcastically.
“You’re welcome. Now go away and let me work! I’m already behind on several reports.” Kota shooed Asakura, getting up to his feet and returning to his desk.
Seeing how he was yet again being thrown out without mercy, Asakura grumbled in a low tone.
“Why is everybody chasing me away? I feel like I’m being exiled.”
“It’s because we don’t like your disposition. That gloomy air you have around you is just too depressing honestly. No wonder Tachibana made you leave the office.”
“Don’t side with a traitor!”
“Today, he is the savior of Nozomu Financial.”
“Can’t I at least have that coffee?” Asakura asked, almost pleadingly.
He really didn’t want to leave. Being alone with his thoughts scared him and he wanted to cling to every opportunity he had to escape that feeling. Whether it was Kota or someone else, he needed to talk to people in order to forget why he was like that to begin with. But at the same time, having contact with other people bothered and annoyed him until he would eventually wish to be alone.
Indeed, a rather childish and cowardly method of coping with his emotions, proving that Asakura was still growing.
“No.” Kota replied firmly, splashing cold water onto his hopes. “I care about your health and having too much coffee can make you sick.” He paused, then he added with a smirk. “Go and have some tea, Young Master Ryuu.”
“Haaaaaaa! There is simply no chance for me to win today I see. Fine, I’ll take the damn tea if that’s the only thing I get!”
With a triumphant smile, Kota pointed towards the door with his pen.
“You can drink it on the terrace. There might still be people out there you could probably scare off. Just remember to play nicely, otherwise I’ll have to ban you from ever entering this building.” Kota threatened, moving his arm to point the pen at Asakura’s face.
Ignoring his friend’s last sentence, Asakura opened the door.
“Alright, I’m going. Let me know when you’re free to go for a drink.”
“Mhm, sure. Only if you’re buying.” Kota replied without looking up from his papers.
“Tsk. Cheapskate!” Asakura threw over his shoulder before finally closing the door behind him.
A/N: Asakura still has a lot to learn, but he is trying to cope with these new feelings. It’s not easy but he isn’t giving up so let’s cheer for him 
Maybe he should hit the gym and get some of that anger/disappointment out and then go talk to a professional..
Thanks for the chapter <3
😅 He does need help for all that pent up energy huh 😏🤭 No worries, though, he will be able to release it all soon enough 😌
Thank you for the chapter 💜
💜💜💜