Chapter 7

……

Hey, Yuuki-kun.

…!

… Mm… n… Thank you for always doing so much for me.

Don’t sound so disappointed. I know I’m not wanted here, either.

But I’ve heard people are forcing you to be in movies you don’t want to be in, right?

If that’s the case, then it really is no wonder you look so down in the dumps.

Uh? Movies?

I don’t really get it.

I’m sure you don’t. You’re the modeling industry’s wonder kid, so they’re just springing this casting for their new movie onto you because you’re popular…

It’s glaringly obvious they just want you for the publicity.

I heard they even changed the whole script right before the shoot, making it Kleiner Faust instead of just Faust.¹

The staff, including the script writer, must all be stuck in overdrive right about now. That’s why we took advantage of the opportunity presented to us.

…? …?

I don’t really get it.

But I have to do my best.

Dad isn’t here—

And Mom’s doing bad. So I have to do my best.

That’s a mature way of looking at it, but it must be hard for you too, if it’s just you and your mom left on your own.

You’re still at the age where playing games with all your friends is what’s most fun for you, right?

Games…?

Huh? You don’t know what games are?

My friend recommended them to me. I’ve only played a few times, but it’s actually pretty fun.

At the very least, it’s a good escape from reality.

Ummm…?

—Yuu-kun!

Oh! Onii-chan…!

Whoa! Don’t just pop out of nowhere, Sena-kun! If you make too much noise, you’ll get kicked out, you know?

Yuu-kun Yuu-kun Yuu-kun~!

Onii-chan Onii-chan Onii-chaaan… ♪

(Ahaha, it’s like they got lost in their own little world when they hugged each other. They really are good friends.)

(Everything around them, and fate too, have put so much physical distance between them, though.)

(But despite all that, the friendship between them hasn’t gone away at all.)

(Of course, that’s exactly why this is so hard to deal with.)

(I guess Sena-kun’s overbearing parents told him never to get near Yuuki-kun ever again.)

(At his previous agency, he was always forced to take care of Yuuki-kun, which made it harder for him to concentrate on getting good results in his own work—)

(Or at least, that’s the excuse his parents gave.)

(I doubt he was forced to do all that by anyone in particular.)

Yuu-kun, are you doing okay? Are you getting skinnier? You’ve been eating okay, right?

Yeah. I’m okay.

You don’t look okay. Here, I brought lots of candy and stuff so we can eat it together.

Yaaay ♪

Munch munch… ♪

Hehe, eat up, Yuu-kun.

(Mm… Is it okay to give him candy? Especially since he’s in the middle of filming the movie? I guess they’re taking a break for now?)

(I just hope no one gets mad at him later. He looks so happy, it’s hard for me to break them up…)

(But anyway—from the perspective of Yuuki-kun’s agency and his parents, Sena-kun, or rather his parents are just a nuisance who ruin everything they touch.)

(They find someone to blame no matter what happens, they pick fights, they spread baseless rumors over and over… Obviously no one wants them around.)

(Which is why Yuuki-kun’s agency has told him not to get too close to Sena-kun.)

(Just the other day, after Yuuki-kun came to visit our agency, there was so much uproar over it… Even I got a stern talking-to by the president, like they were taking out their frustrations on me.)

(“If you care about your future, you’ll stay away from those kids”—or so they said.)

(And yeah, I’m well aware of that, President. I have no doubts that you’re right. It’d be stupid of me to go stepping on landmines like that.)

… ♪

(But at the same time, what right do we have to tear apart two kids who are so completely in love with each other?)

(This morning, that brat Sena-kun pleaded with me, tears in his eyes and everything. And he still had this pompous attitude, like he’d never relied on anyone before in his life.)

(He went on and on, saying all sorts of, well, unpleasant things he really didn’t have to say… but I think I understand what he really wanted to convey.)

(—“Help me.” I’m sure he wanted me to help him.)

(If the “adult” thing to do is to ignore the teary-eyed pleas of a little kid and watch them die, then I don’t want to be an adult.)