Chapter 26 : the star who faded

The wheels of Toma Nijima’s chair made a soft, regular sound against the hospital floor.Click.Click.Click.He hated that sound almost as much as he hated the place itself.He hated hospitals.The smell, the silence, the fake cheerfulness of the posters on the walls—everything reminded him of the day his career had stopped.So when he wheeled himself into the small private rehabilitation center that morning, he wasn’t expecting to see Ren Ichinose.“—Ah!”The chair slid.Ren slid.The famous actor went down like a fallen tree.Toma froze.There was a long, painful second of silence.“…Are you alive?” Toma asked.Ren lifted a hand from the floor.“I think… yes.”His hair was a mess, his glasses slightly crooked, and his bag had spilled its contents everywhere—scripts, a water bottle, and a bright blue towel with cartoon cats on it.Toma stared.That’s the man who makes millions cry on screen?Ren tried to stand up, slipped again, and almost hit Toma this time.Toma caught him by reflex.Their faces were suddenly very close.“Oh—! S-sorry! I’m really sorry!” Ren panicked, trying to step back but nearly losing balance again.“Stop moving,” Toma sighed. “You’re going to break your neck before your next movie.”Ren flushed.“I swear I’m not usually this bad…you know that”“You just fell twice in ten seconds.”“…I’m nervous.”That made Toma pause.“Why?”Ren hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck.“Because you’re Sakurai Toma.”Toma’s jaw tightened.“Was.”“No— I mean, you are. You’re the reason I'm still an actor.”The words hit harder than expected.Toma looked away.“…You chose a strange role model.”Ren smiled awkwardly.“Maybe. But you were brilliant. And I heard you’re doing physical therapy here now, so I thought… maybe we could train together?”Toma laughed dryly.“You don’t need rehab. You need balance lessons.”Ren laughed too, too loudly.“Probably.”Ren helped him reach the hallway then managed to bump into the wall.Twice.Toma shook his head.“This is going to be a disaster.”Ren smiled, hopeful and clumsy.“Then… let’s make it a good one.”And for the first time in years, Toma felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time.Not pain.But the beginning of something new.~The set was already being dismantled.Cameras were turned off, lights lowered, voices fading into tired murmurs.Eclipse is coming soon.Ren remained seated, still in costume, staring at nothing while Tachibana and Hayama were talking joyfully.Ayase noticed it immediately.He was colder than usual.He didn't bark at any of Takeshi's weird joke .He didn't talk to her more than necessary.That alone was strange.She approached quietly.“Ren… are you okay?”He blinked, as if coming back from far away.“…Yeah. I'm just tired.”She didn’t believe him.They walked to a corner of the studio, away from the noise.“You weren’t like this during the take,” Ayase said softly. “You looked… lost.”Ren hesitated.He isn't the type to share his emotions.But he feels like he can do that with Ayase.Then, slowly:“Do you remember my debut drama?”Ayase nodded. “Of course. You were a child actor back then.”He gave a small smile.“I was fourteen. It was a school series. I played the younger brother who was always in trouble.”He exhaled.“Toma Sakurai was the older brother, he was already famous,” Ren continued. “Kind. Strict. Always correcting my lines. Always staying after shooting.”His voice lowered.“When I forgot my text, he covered for me. When I cried, he told me actors weren’t allowed to disappear.”Ayase listened, heart tight.“That role… made me who I am.”Silence.“And now,” Ren whispered, “people only see what he lost. Not what he gave.”Ayase stepped closer.“You’re not wrong for remembering him.”Ren finally looked at her.“For the world, he’s a tragedy. For me, he’s my...brother.”Ayase’s hand closed gently around his .Ren’s eyes softened, his heart started beating faster.Takeshi was looking at them from his chair with concern in his eyes.~Nijima's house was quiet, except for the soft sound of rain against the window.Toma sat in his wheelchair, hands resting on his knees.Mikito was reading a book nearby.He broke the silence first.“…Ren came yesterday.”Mikito looked up.“where ? at the rehabilitation center ?”He nodded.“he was gently forced to leave since he has no mobility issues.”She paused surprised that someone will go so far just to talk to his husband.“how are you feeling ?”Toma smiled faintly.“we talked a little, he's grown.”There was something gentle in his voice.“He’s taller. Calmer. Stronger.”His eyes lowered.“But when he looked at me… he was still the same kid.”Mikito came closer.“You were important to him.”Toma’s fingers tightened.“He was never just a colleague. He was my little brother.”His voice trembled slightly.“I taught him how to stand in front of the camera… but he is the only one who was really persistent to meet me after the car crash.”Mikito knelt beside him.“Toma...”He looked at her.“I lost my body,” he whispered, tears pouring down with the same intensity as the rain outside.Mikito's heart breaks as she holds him in silence.Nothing was the same since that event, people start abandoning him, the fans stopped waiting for him.His existence stopped that night.But Ren Ichinose was the only actor who kept sending him flowers, and birthday gifts.Toma thought he did that out of duty, but when he finally talked to him yesterday he learned that it wasn't the case, and that realization broke him.He spends 3 years thinking that nobody truly cares about him other than his family. While Ren was still seeing him as his big brother despite the fact that their series ended a long time ago.End of chapter 26