...

This was how most of the day went: watching her, making sure to keep threats at bay. He was good at what he did. He got rid of the pests. Lately the shadow had been even impressing himself. Satsuki would get rid of the unfortunate souls in minimal time with minimal effort. Though, that was to be expected. It had been quiet for some time but that was not an invitation for comfort.

Stepping out from the dark, he nodded. “I’ll be there,” he murmured. Part of him didn’t like this job. He didn’t like seeing his boss in danger. Though, this task had to fall on someone and he was relieved it was him. He knew he could trust in his own instincts to keep her safe.

“Don’t cause me too much trouble.”

His sudden appearance used to surprise her—make her jump slightly at having him suddenly at her side—but she had long since gotten used to him doing so. Now she found much comfort in knowing that he was around, keeping an eye on her, and ready to jump in at any second.

Turning her head to glance over at him, she allowed a ghost of a smile to appear on her lips, a gesture filled with a bit of morbid amusement. “Not me that causes trouble for you.” Knowing that he would follow, she continue walking with no worries as she headed for the meeting. Thankfully, it was with a head that she had done business with before, so she was less worried about getting betrayed.

A bit less. She wasn’t stupid enough to lower her guard completely with anyone outside of the blond currently following her.

She had stopped considering it an achievement to survive another night quite a while ago, focusing more on getting work done in the time that she has before a lucky assassin is able to get to her. A very lucky assassin, as reaching her would be quite a task.

“...Satsuki.” Her soft voice called out to the seemingly empty room, no doubt in her mind that her right-hand man—and sort of bodyguard—was not far. With her position as the head of the mafia famiglia, it would be quite unwise of her to walk around without someone around to ensure her safety, and he had proven more than capable of taking care of business should... problems... arise.

Might have spent the last few days listening to ‘Fumetsu no Inferno’ on repeat...

♪ ♫ — “Hmmm.. I guess that would be for the best.” The redhead nodded as he spoke. It had indeed gotten quite crowded, and aside from not going to be able to hear each other well, everyone just staring at them was not something Otoya would enjoy either. Assuming that the general rehearsals with the whole cast wouldn’t start for a while, the guitarist figured there’d be some one on one rehearsal time for the two of them.

The building they had gathered in was quite big, so there had to be a room where the two of them could practice, Otoya assumed, hoping that they wouldn’t get into trouble for doing so. Scanning the room for the nearest exit, the male turned himself toward it.

Looking back over his shoulder one last time, the redhead offered the girl a gentle smile. “Let’s go, Kiku~”

While she didn’t mind speaking properly for when they were filming and rehearsing as a group, having so many people watching them—so many people listening to her talk—for the lack of anything else to do while they waited for the actual rehearsal to start would likely send her into a panic attack. It wasn’t something she wanted, so she was glad that Otoya agreed to go somewhere else.

Seeing the boy start heading towards the exit, she quietly nodded and followed behind him, letting the taller boy clear the path to allow them to reach their destination. 

“Tsukimiya-san is allowed to tease Otoya, but in the end, he’s mine.”

“Get own blog.”

♪ ♫ —  “Ahhhh—!! Otoya is fine though..!!” Otoya rapidly started waving his hands in front of him. Even though it was the proper thing to do, it felt way too formal to hear his name like that from someone probably his age. A soft sigh escaped his lips as he tried to regain his composure.

The girl in front of him did seem more at ease with the situation at hand, perhaps for different reasons than him, but it put the guitarist at ease nonetheless.

Otoya’s cheeks lightly lit up as the brunette talked about his role. “Ahhh.. mhm.” Somehow the redhead still couldn’t believe that he managed to land the lead role. Even though he had practiced his lines extremely hard, somehow the staff was way more amused about his startled reactions. He was certain that he was going to end up playing a tree, if anything.

Hearing about the script, Otoya instantly reached for his back pocket, pulling out a rolled up wrinkled bundle of papers. Scanning through the pages, his eye fell upon a scene with 2 familiar names written next to it. “Ah! so you’re playing the witch~?” Letting his index finger slide over the paper, he stopped right in the middle of the page, tilting it slightly toward the girl. “It seems like we’re both in this scene, feel like rehearsing it?”

“Then Kiku fine too.” If he didn’t want to worry about the formality, then she wouldn’t either. If anything, the friendly aura around him made it feel easy and comfortable to be on first-name basis with the boy.

Waiting as the boy looked through the script, she gave a nod when he finally realized what part belonged to her. She hadn’t really expected much when she auditioned, but to be given a small, yet crucial part was still very nice. Perhaps it was her ‘ability’ to maintain such a straight face that landed her the part? She hadn’t thought to ask, but it didn’t matter anyway.

♪ ♫ —  As excited as he was, the anxious feeling in his stomach was probably evenly matched. Even though the redhead quite liked acting, it wasn’t the kind of job he was given often. Nonetheless, he was obviously going to give it his all.

Though the guitarist wasn’t used to being this.. lonely. With his theater performance he at least had Natsuki to keep him company & practice his lines with, but at the current set.. it seemed like all the other actors and staff members were already really familiar with each other.

As he clenched his fists to psych himself up, he felt a soft tap on his shoulder. The male looked back over his shoulder for a second before making a half turn to face the girl in front of him. Her name didn’t instantly ring a bell, but he really couldn’t care less about that. He was more than relieved that he had someone he could be in the same boat with.

“Nice to meet you, Nakashima-san~!” An excited smile was almost instantly plastered on his features. “..I’m assuming you don’t know anyone else here either.”

The energy that radiated off the other was quite contagious, making Kiku return his smile with a small one of her own. She wasn’t quite used to being greeted with such enthusiasm, but it didn’t feel overwhelming coming from the friendly boy.

“Nice to meet you too, Ittoki-san.” At his comment, she took a moment to glance around at the sea of faces surrounding them. While there were a few that she vaguely recognized—perhaps a crew member that had worked on a different project that she had been a part of—but no one that really stuck out to her.

Turning back to Otoya, she shook her head. “No. Don’t know. Some have seen before, but haven’t spoken to. Not really big on meeting others usually.” She gave a small shrug, not really minding not knowing anyone there.

When she had auditioned for a small part in this movie, she hadn’t realized that she would be working alongside a certain red-haired STARISH member. Noticing him now from across the set, she took a moment to stare at the other. Considering the tension between their agencies, perhaps it would be best for her to keep her distance. However, at the same time, getting along with co-workers meant that things go better overall on stage. 

Ahhhh that’s too cute tho! I’m so sorry that I always fail to stick around orz orz orz