#*fd a3!

“I’ve approached it from every angle I can think of and it just doesn’t feel right.” She pauses in her steps, immediately standing still. “Oh my god, this is it. This is the start of the end of my career. I’m gonna be washed up before I’m even twenty.”

“She can’t be serious,” Tenma mutters under his breath. She ignores him.

“I’m not going to be able to get anymore acting jobs and all my future albums are going to tank and I’m never going to have a song in the charts ever again, and then my record label will drop me and my parents will hate me since I can’t provide anything anymore —”

“Nana.”

At Sakuya’s voice, she stops. His tone is firm, but not unkind, only forceful enough to make her stop spiralling. He stands from his chair and walks over to her, stopping close enough that she has to look up to see him. This isn’t the first time they’ve been this close, but it has her holding her breath each time.

His eyes are so bright that she can’t help but look down, but he stops that in its tracks, gently holding her chin and lifting her head to face his. Her cheeks heat and in the back of her mind she hopes the other two can’t tell.

“You’re one of the most amazing actresses I’ve ever seen, and you just keep getting better and better. You’re nowhere near being washed up. I have to go to practice, but after I’m done, I’ll be back and we’ll brainstorm about your role, okay?” he says in a soft tone that immediately calms her down.

“Okay, yeah. Okay.” She manages a nod.

“Great!” And before she can even register it, he leans over and presses a kiss to her cheek.

The hold on her chin disappears and her cheek tingles as she watches him make a hasty exit through the door. All she can do is gape after him. For the next few moments, the room is so silent you could hear one of Yuki’s pins drop.

Then, “Oi, hack, I think Energy Concentrate broke your friend.”

“She’s not my friend.”

“Fix her.”

Sakyo does manage to shake her off as Taichi starts thanking Sakoda for his help with his character, but she lands on her feet. Catching her balance with one hand on the wall, she rights herself and finds herself looking up at the Autumn Troupe leader himself. Banri isn’t laughing at her outright, but she can see the light dance behind his eyes.

“You, um,” she clears her throat, “you did really good out there.” She internally cringes at the compliment. As much as she means it, it sounds so generic.

“Thanks, Euna,” Banri says, then goes to say something else when they are interrupted by Sakyo’s voice cutting through any other conversation in the room.

“Don’t you dare!”

‘Ah,’ Euna thinks, ‘he told him.’

“But the guys all wanna see you perform!” Sakoda says, defending his big-brained idea of giving the Big Boss and the family tickets to the show. “They wanna see Ichiro, too!”

“Damn, I didn’t expect actual Yakuza to watch our play,” Banri says.

Euna looks at him again, hands on her hips this time. “Are Sakoda and I not Yakuza enough for you?”

Banri blinks. “Well, that’s different. You’re… You’re Euna. That’s different.”

She squints at him because what the hell is that supposed to mean? She’s about to ask as much when something catches his eye from across the small dressing room and his attention is successfully stolen, however unwittingly, by Juza, who is doing goodness-knows-what to offend him. She watches him go, expression still the same, and it doesn’t let up even as she and Sakoda leave so the cast members can get changed.

As they’re exiting the theatre and heading towards Sakoda’s beaten down car, her shoulder is shoved. She glares at Sakoda as he swings his keys around on his finger, giving her a grin and raising an eyebrow.

“What’s got you all grumpy?”

She crosses her arms as he unlocks the door. “I’m not grumpy.”

“Uh-huh, sure, and you’re also not pouting.”

Pressing her lips together (she isn’t pouting, okay, she’s just covering all her bases), she says, “I just don’t get it.”

“Don’t get what?”

“What Banri said. I asked him if you and I aren’t Yakuza enough for him — cause of that thing he said about actual Yakuza watching them and stuff — and he just goes,” she changes her voice in an attempt to imitate Banri, “‘You’re Euna, that’s different.’ What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Sakoda stares at her as the engine revs, and she watches the cogs begin to turn in his brain. She stares at him in turn. They both stare at each other, searching for the answer with the one brain cell they have between them.

In the end, Sakoda only shrugs and says, “No idea. Ask Ena, she usually knows this stuff.”

Euna groans and leans back in her seat.

“Why can’t people just say what they mean?”

juza: "she doesn't really seem like the yakuza type. i also don't get what she sees in settsu."

taichi: "euna's cool! she hangs out with us and comes to all our shows."

omi: "she's as attached to sakyo as sakoda is, but i guess it's kind of sweet."

izumi: "she worries me sometimes, getting herself into danger. i know it's for her job, but it can be stressful, especially for sakyo, even if he'd deny it."

sakuya: "she's a good friend! she always pulls through when we need her, too."

masumi: "she's okay."

tsuzuru: "she seems so, well, normal that it's easy to forget she's part of the yakuza."

itaru: "she's actually not half bad at games, even if she's never beaten me. i wish she and banri would get their shit together, though."

citron: "the yakuza lady-in-waiting!"

chikage: "she sort of reminds me of... nevermind."

tenma: "i still don't understand how someone like that is part of the yakuza, but i've given up on asking at this point."

yuki: "clown queen."

muku: "she's nice to me, but she's kind of intimidating even though she's nice, but that's my fault because i'm a wilting piece of cabbage melting in the -"

misumi: "euna always takes photos of triangles she finds and texts them to me!"

kazunari: "eunie's cool, she's always complimenting my drawings."

kumon: "euna's nice! juza says she likes banri, though, so i'm sort of wondering about her tastes..."

tsumugi: "she helps the troupes out even without sakyo asking her to first, which is really appreciated, though sometimes i wonder if she needs to stop and rest."

tasuku: "i was surprised that she was so athletic, though i guess i shouldn't be since she's part of the yakuza. maybe she'll join the soccer club..."

hisoka: "she feeds me marshmallows."

homare: "i have penned a poem just for miss euna! ahem... stars sparkle bright! moon's shining light! musical, magical, marvelous! the yakuza girl's dream..."

azuma: "euna is a diligent girl, always ready to help, but i've noticed she never divulges anything about herself. i suppose we're alike in that way. i'll never push her, but i hope she finds someone to share her burdens with."

guy: "citronia says that she is a helpful girl. i can definitely appreciate the amount of effort she puts into her work."