Chapter 5

Kana jolted up at the sound of her alarm, her splayed white hair falling in front of her face like a snowy curtain as she did. It took a few seconds for her to snap out of the daze of slumber. Moments before, her mind had been wrapped in velvety darkness, dreaming of her wonderful night at Yakazai. Of the cozy atmosphere and the dated music. Of the cold drinks and warm conversation. Of Naoya.

It had been four days since that mystical night. The two of them had been messaging back and forth since then, though Kana wished he would message her more often than he already was. Something about him made her feel like no one else had ever made her feel before. It was a strange, almost floaty sensation that left her with butterflies in her stomach. She wasn’t quite sure what that feeling was just yet, but she was determined to find out. She wanted to see Naoya again and—if their schedules aligned—she planned to do just that, tonight.

Kana blew her hair out of her face with a huff of air and checked her phone for new messages. One from her manager, Aoi Yamaguchi, reminding her about their lunch meeting to discuss something she claimed was ‘a very special surprise’ and… nothing from Naoya. She checked the time: 11:06am. She needed to hurry if she was going to make it to their planned meeting place—a family diner called ‘Tabe Table’—in time. She quickly sent a text asking Naoya if he was free that night and then started to get ready.

Twenty-five minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom, her make-up done and her white hair up in a comfortable, yet stylish ponytail. Kana quickly threw on a white skirt, a pale blue overshirt that matched her eyes, and a teal blouse that complimented the overshirt. She did a quick twirl in front of the full-length mirror near her bedroom door and, satisfied with what she saw, slipped on some sneakers and left her apartment.

It was 12:17pm when Kana finally arrived at Tabe Table. The smell of freshly cooked fried foods and boiling udon noodles drifted through the air as she approached. Aoi stood near the door, texting someone with increasing fervor. As Kana’s footsteps grew closer, her fingers came to a halt over the send button and then quickly moved to the delete button. With a loud sigh she turned towards Kana and frowned.

“You’re late.” she said tersely, pushing up her glasses. “Come on, they’ve been waiting for us for nearly twenty minutes.”

Kana grimaced at the mention of ‘they’. She didn’t have to ask who ‘they’ was, she already knew who it was: her co-star and his manager. Any ‘surprise’ that the ever-dutiful Aoi Yamaguchi could have planned would almost certainly involve them. Kana disliked those two very much. Junichiro bore the brunt of her hatred for a multitude of reasons she couldn’t quite put into words, and Renji was mostly disliked by proxy, though he had his own issues that didn’t help her opinion of him. Regardless of her own reservations, Kana trusted Aoi’s judgement. No matter what this ‘surprise’ was, Kana was confident she could stomach it.

Kana’s suspicions were confirmed when the two of them stepped into the family restaurant. Junichiro Kurotaki and his manager, Renji Amano, sat across from the door in a booth by a window. Renji glanced over at the sound of the door opening and, upon spotting them, waved them over with a wide smile. The two of them moved to sit down at the booth with Junichiro and Renji, Kana making sure to sit in the spot diagonally across the table from Junichiro—as far away from him as she could possibly be while still sitting at the same table. Before Aoi could be seated however, Renji stood up and scooted past Junichiro.

“Just a minute, folks.” he began with a sly grin, “Before we get to the meat of why we’re here, please allow Aoi-chan and I to go speak privately for just a few moments.”

Kana cringed as the words ‘Aoi-chan’ left his mouth. This was one of Renji’s aforementioned issues: being overly familiar with people without their permission, especially those of the female persuasion. The Aoi Yamaguchi from a year and a half ago when the two of them first began working with Junichiro and Renji would never have taken something like that from Renji. A year and a half ago, she would have kicked him in the groin for even insinuating that they were close. Things seemed to have changed somewhat since then. Whether it was simply because she had grown more used to his antics or because they had grown closer from working together, Kana couldn’t tell. Though, she refused to even entertain the thought of the latter option, out of respect for Aoi. That isn’t to say that she thought Renji was all bad, however. After all, despite his flippancy, he had scored a little over double the amount of sponsorships and brand deals for Junichiro that Aoi had gotten for Kana. The two of them couldn’t really help but begrudgingly admire his skill as a manager. Regardless, the two actors simply nodded and their managers stepped towards the back of the diner to discuss something in private.

Kana and Junichiro scarcely acknowledged each other’s presence. Kana idly glanced around the restaurant at the clientele. Unsurprisingly, a number of the customers had taken notice of her and Junichiro—they were fairly famous, after all. People whispered to one another, some stood to get a better look, and others still took pictures. If there was one part of her job that she hated (besides constantly having to be around Junichiro), it was this. Kana hated being watched while simply trying to go about her business, it made her feel like some kind of zoo animal for tourists to gawk at. Situations like this were the main reason she created Kanae Kageyama in the first place.

It didn’t help that her and Junichiro being seen together like this would only add fuel to the everpresent dating rumors that permeated their daily lives. She suspected that their managers had planned this and that stepping away to speak privately carried the double purpose of allowing the people and the media to see Kana and Junichiro together in public. Even if Aoi and Renji were their friends and confidants, they were also pawns of the agency, and the agency reveled in using the rumors to market Junichiro and Kana. They were typically marketed together due to their amazing on-screen chemistry, after all.

Kana offered her observers a quick wave and an insincere smile, then turned to the window to try to ignore them by focusing on something else. She watched the cars on the street pass by outside, counting how many of each color she saw like she had done with her grandmother when she was little. Out of the corner of his eye, she watched Junichiro take out his phone and begin typing something. Kana actively tried to pay as little attention to it as possible. A few moments passed, and Kana felt her own phone vibrate in her pocket.

In a swift motion, she slipped her phone out of her pocket, the sleek pale pink case fitting comfortably in her hand. As the screen lit up, Kana’s heart nearly leapt into her throat when she saw a message notification from Naoya.

Sure, I should be available tonight. Wanna meet at Yakazai around 7? the message read.

Kana’s thumbs flew over the letters on her phone’s keyboard as she hastily typed out a reply. Yes! Tat sounds grate to mw! See yuo there! In her excited haste, Kana sent her message before correcting her spelling errors. She considered deleting the message and trying again to avoid any undue embarrassment, but soon became more interested in waiting for Naoya’s response when the bubble that indicated he was typing popped up.

Kana watched the bubble intently, waiting for Naoya’s next message to take its place. Junichiro’s fingers pattered on his own phone’s keyboard across the table as she waited for Naoya’s response. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, but was actually only a few seconds, Naoya’s message came through.

Looking forward to it. See you there!

Kana did a small victorious fist pump underneath the table where no one could see and smiled at her phone screen. She realized she had been a bit too careless with her reaction however when she heard Junichiro scoff. She looked over to see him smirking at her, thumbs idly resting on the sides of his phone.

“What’s that smile about? Does the ‘Ice Queen of the Silver Screen’ have a secret boyfriend or something?”

Kana scowled at him as she let her hands drop to her lap to straighten her skirt—a bit of a nervous tic of hers. She despised that nickname, mostly because it reminded her of the qualities of herself that she hated. It was something people in the industry called her behind her back when they thought she wasn’t listening. It was demeaning, even if it was accurate.

“Mind your own business, jackass.” she fired back, “But if you must know, I was talking to my mother.

Junichiro gave her a hearty sneer and looked away, but didn’t push it any further. Kana took that as a call for a temporary truce and didn’t say anything else either. It was for the best, since she had the sudden need to use her brainpower for something more productive: thinking of cleverly hurtful nicknames she could use as ammunition the next time he called her an ‘Ice Queen’.

Around that time, Renji and Aoi finally returned to the table, both of them noticeably more upbeat than they had been before they left. Renji’s grin was wider than usual and even the stoic Aoi had the suggestion of a smile playing at the corners of her lips. As they sat down, Renji clasped his hands together in front of him—something Kana had noticed he typically did when he had an announcement to make, or when he was planning something mischievous. It was kind of hard to tell sometimes.

“So, Aoi-chan and I have been secretly hard at work for a few months now planning something big for you two.” he revealed with a nod towards Aoi. “Something really big. In fact, since she did a lot of the work, I think I’ll let her do the honors.”

Aoi tucked a stray strand of her deep blue hair behind her ear as a small, yet smug smile curved her lips upward. “We managed to get you two contracts for the starring roles of Ginzo Hoshina’s newest project.”