Chapter 14

"I can do this." Misaki took a deep breath and clenched her fists, hyping herself up in the mirror on the day of her next meet-up for work. "Just go over and work on music like you want to. Everything will be fine, since a few days have passed."

She put on her disguise and headed out, ready to take the bus.

An old car parked in front of her apartment building caught her eye. Tinted windows obstructed her view of the inside, but she was sure he had come for her.

I told him I'd take a bus; it's safer that way. But it's not like I can ignore him and take the bus; I don't think that'd go too well. She looked around to see if anyone was watching and got in the passenger seat, a faint scent of cologne filling the car.

"I told you I'd take the bus," Misa said as soon as she closed her door.

"Yeah, Ren told me as much while he sulked."

"Shun!" Misaki's eyes widened. "What? How? I mean, I'm sorry I didn't notice."

He chuckled and patted her head. "It's okay, Misa; not like you can tell from the outside. They did a good job with the tint."

A faint blush crept up her cheeks, making her glad she had kept her mask on.

"S-so, how did you end up picking me up?"

"I was worried, since that picture came out and some people are super sleuths, so you never know if they've figured it out."

"I still think it's better I just use the bus."

"Well, I wasn't busy, and I never get to drive."

I know the feeling.

He ran his hands along the leather steering wheel. "She may not look like much, but she's been decked out on the inside and runs smooth."

"Isn't it a bit much to buy a car to pick me up in?"

"To some, maybe, but to Ren? No, not so much. Just shows how much he wants to work with you."

"I see." She clutched her hands in her lap. Is that the only reason?

Buckled up, they drove off.

"So, how have you been holding up these past few days?" Shun asked, glancing at her as they stopped at a corner.

"Fine." She swallowed hard.

"Is that true? You don't have to hold back with me. If things are getting to you, I'd rather you let it out than let it fester. Wouldn't want to explode later."

"I'm just an unknown in a blurry picture right now; I've been through way worse. Just working on keeping my head down and staying holed up in my apartment most of the time."

"Not sure that last part is good for you, either."

Misaki shrugged, thinking back to the days after the scandal. "At least I can still go outside when I want to."

"Right... I guess it got that bad back then. Sorry."

"You guys need to stop apologizing to me for everything." The ones who need to apologize are Aki and Eclipse.

"Well, that's how we feel; sorry, because we should've done something. If people looked out for each other more, life would be better."

On that, I can agree.

Shun stopped on the street headed to his house and turned to her. "Okay, I have to ask, to know from your side, but was it a date?"

"Well, I..." She stared into Shun's familiar dark brown eyes and froze.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

"I'm not sure," she admitted. Do I want to talk to Shun, of all people, about this?

"He definitely talked like it was, but I couldn't help but wonder if he was pushing what he wanted onto you. Ren can steamroll people a bit, but he is well-intentioned."

Misaki nodded. "I think it's best we just focus on work, though. The three of us have an entire album to write."

"Agreed. By the way, Ren might be mad right now. He doesn't know I went to pick you up, though he might figure it out when he notices his car key missing."

Her jaw dropped, eyes widening. "You stole his car?"

Shun shrugged. "We borrow each other's things all the time; it's not a big deal."

"Is that so?" Emi did that with me, too, but I can't say I was always okay with it.

"If anything, shouldn't he be glad I picked you up, since he was worried, but Daichi didn't want him doing it?"

Doubt it. Misaki glanced away at the massive trees lining the road.

"Oh well, it is what it is." Shun drove up toward his house, the gates opening automatically, and parked in their garage. "Let's hope your presence is enough to keep him from blowing a fuse."

Great... just great... She followed him in and came face-to-face with Ren in the hallway, arms crossed, mouth set in a thin line.

"You stole my car!" Ren complained, his voice hitching when he saw Misaki. "Misa, you're here. How are you? Have any trouble?"

"I'm fine, Ren, thanks."

Shun smirked and gripped Ren's shoulder. "You wanted her here safe, so she is."

"But I wanted to go..." Ren took a deep breath, calming himself.

"Yes, but Daichi said no, so I went. And here she is." Shun patted Ren on the back heavily, forcing him to step towards her as he headed to the kitchen.

"Ready to work?" Misaki asked, hoping to skip any more awkward talks. "And do I smell cookies?" The warm scent of baked goods welcomed her.

"I made chocolate chip cookies before coming to get you, so they should have cooled already if you want some," Shun called out from the kitchen.

"Maybe just one." She hurried past Ren, who had his hand out, his mouth open as he wanted to say something.

"What am I doing?" he muttered, his hand falling through the air. "I'll have some too!" He chased after her.

This time, I won't do extra exercise for one single cookie! Misaki bit into the gooey goodness and melted alongside the chocolate. So good, it's dangerous. She backed away from the tray and gave Shun a thumbs-up. "Thank you. Time for work?"

"Yup, I'm just bringing out some snacks and drinks in case we get hungry. Here." Shun handed Ren a tray of green tea.

Ren set the tray down on the table in the living room and sat on the couch facing the TV with space on either side of him.

Misaki sat on the couch off to the side with her purse tucked beside her.

"What are you doing way over—"

Shun cut Ren off, setting a plate of rice crackers and cheese on the table, and sat beside Ren, on the side closer to Misaki.

"What are you doing?" Ren nudged him with his elbow.

"I should be asking you that."

"Something wrong?" Misaki asked. I caused trouble already, didn't I?

"No, nothing's wrong." Shun smiled at her. "Let's get started. I may not excel at songwriting as much as you two, but organizing is my forte, so I started working on our story. Starting with our childhood dream." He opened the folder sitting on the coffee table in front of them.

"Geez, you have a theme for each song already." Ren picked up the paper. "Wait, what's this one in the middle, 'Breakdown'? We didn't have a breakdown."

"We kinda did. It may have stayed private, but both of us almost quit. Don't you remember? Also, that's the only reason we gained a bit of freedom from the company."

Misaki's eyes widened. "Wait, what? You two almost quit? When did that happen? Why did that happen?"

Never thought I'd hear they even thought about quitting. Ren used to say he wanted to dance and sing until the end of time.

"It wasn't just one thing. It was a slew of things building up over time, but the one that pushed us too far was trying to replace our writing with a ghostwriter, so they'd have more 'radio-friendly' hits."

"Ugh." Ren rubbed his face. "I didn't want to think about that. There was nothing wrong with our songs then! How dare they?" he growled, clenching his fists.

"They changed their tune when Ren walked out, with me alongside him. Though I'm not sure how much they learned, since they've been trying to push songs onto us again lately. Luckily, Daichi helped smooth things over on both sides."

"Is it okay that you guys bought one of my songs then?" Misaki fiddled with her fingers in her lap.

"Different situations, and Ren fell in love with the song right away. It's one thing for us to choose one; it's another for them to force what they want. Worse, back then, we had music, but they wanted something different."

"Do you really call it a breakdown, though?" Ren asked, reading through the titles again.

"It seems I remember more about back then than you do, because it definitely was." Shun snatched the paper back. "Let's get started."