fic for pierrot (1/2)

[nino_mod]

For: pierrot
From: :3.

Title: Celebrity Crush
Pairing/Focus: Aimiya, Matsumiya, Sakumiya
Rating: PG-15 – R for mild language
Warnings: mention of a minor character's death, maybe a little angst-ish
Summary: Ninomiya Kazunari - gossip journalist and paparazzo - is known and feared for sneaking into celebrities' private lives and uncover their dirty little secrets before they even notice. Sometimes, he does not even back off from using flirting or – should the occasion arise – more to reach his goals. One day, he takes up the challenge to expose the past of contemporary popular actor Sakurai Sho, who seems to hide his private life from the public. Will Nino be able to find something out?
Notes:
Dear pierrot, your assignment gave me the chance to try out some new things, which is always an interesting and fun challenge. I hope I managed to create something to your taste and that you like the outcome. Please enjoy!
Huge huge thanks to those awesome people who helped me brainstorming for the plot and betaed for me, especially for your endurance and for bearing with my insecurities without killing me, and of course to our dear ninomod for your patience with me!
Further, I added some more notes at the end of the story for those who are interested in some background information (although some things might be known already).


The sudden sound of paper rustling irrupted the peaceful silence in Nino's head. The young man frowned slightly, but he didn't move. Not yet.

He wasn't sleeping, but he was still floating in the comfortable feeling of an afterglow, positively exhausted, calm, and completely relaxed. He had been stressed like hell today, his boss being an asshole, but after meeting with his best friend, he felt like Buddha himself. Well, Buddha probably would not use sex to reach this state of mind, but besides that, the young man felt pretty close to nirvana.

Nino grinned, taking a deep breath and let a small, satisfied sigh escape from his lips. That's why he loved sex with his best friend so much. It was the best way he could imagine venting his anger with the world, it literally made him climb down from any stress mountain his daily life hunted him up to. And the best thing, compared to when he was sleeping with other people – at least most of them, since they often used to be one-night-stands – he didn't need to jump up and rush out after finishing a steaming hot round, to get away, before they actually found out who he was and wanted to kill him. With his best friend, he was safe. Yeah, Nino considered himself very lucky that the man was willingly available for some pluses in their friendship, whenever they needed it.

"Tsuchiya Tao (22) secretly dating Drama Director – Age Difference 25 Years," a voice besides him stated thoughtfully.

Nino turned his head and slightly opened his eyes, just to find his best friend, Aiba Masaki, reading aloud the headline on the front page of the tabloid he has opened in front of him. He was frowning and shaking his head in disbelief, his brown hair swaying slightly. The man was lying on his stomach, on top of a crinkled blanket, supporting his upper body with his elbows, and he was completely naked. Flipping through the magazine, he quickly found the respective article, skimming it with a mixture of curiosity and displeasure painting his face. He sighed, before he turned around to lie on his back, holding up the magazine with one hand, the pages showing a barely of age actress holding hands with a significantly older man, still opened.

"I never thought Tao-chan likes older men... I mean so much older men," he murmured to himself.

"You sound disappointed," Nino, said, raising his tired voice.

"Oh, you're awake? I thought I lost you to dreamland," Aiba asked, quickly looking at his friend to take notice, before he focused on the magazine again. "… She can do what she wants," he continued, although he sounded a bit sulky. "But just like the article says, this smells a bit like wanting to sleep herself up to the top… and I don't like that... Why, Tao-chan, why? You don't need this…"

"Why are you even reading this, Aiba? You're a fan of her, better stay away from gossip, then," Nino suggested, after sighing, feeling slightly frustrated.

For a moment, he even felt sorry for his friend, having ruined his image of the actress. Aiba often said that Tsuchiya was his ideal little sister, and so it was no surprise that now his protective instinct was coming through. Nino reached for the magazine, stretching his arm a little more, since he was a bit smaller than the other man, and tried to snatch it away, unsuccessfully.

"Because it's you who wrote the article and I read everything that my best friend writes," Aiba stated as a matter of fact, pointing at the small initials "N. K." written at the end of the article. "Even if it's shit like that," Aiba added in a low voice.

After another failed attempt of Nino to get hold of the magazine, Aiba shifted his position so that he was now lying on his side, the gossip magazine out of Nino's reach. The man continued looking at the full-page paparazzi picture with the young actress together with that man almost twice of her age. Nino could only imagine the pout on his friend's face when he heard a huffed noise.

"As much as I appreciate your loyalty, really, you don't need to read it," Nino said.

Aiba didn't listen to his friend and continued rambling, still examining the pictures of the odd couple. "It's really impressive though, how you could catch them in such a situation... They didn't notice you?"

"Nope, not at all, but that's my job after all, it would be bad if I sucked at it," Nino confirmed.

The young journalist turned towards Aiba to snuggle closer from behind. He lifted his hand to place it on Aiba's bare side and let it run over his warm skin, causing him to wriggle a bit under the touch.

Aiba took Nino's hand, guiding it to his front and pressed it against his warm stomach, to make him stop tickling him. He intertwined their fingers and if they were in love, Nino's heart would have melted. For a moment, memories washed over him. Warm, precious memories. He thought back at the time during high school, when he indeed had a crush on his best friend – just a little - and Aiba was nice enough not to dump him right away when Nino worked up the courage to confessed his confused feelings to his friend.

Things with Aiba were easy. Maybe it was because they have been best friends since childhood and walked through a lot of shit together. The loss of Aiba's first pet, the divorce of Nino's parents. No matter what happened, they had been in it together. They trusted each other unconditionally, and at that time, it just seemed to be the right thing to do, to be honest to each other and try. They hadn't become a real couple, but they accepted their curiosity and just tried. A lot of things. Made new experiences, discovered intimacy together, but first and foremost, they deepened their friendship. With time, things changed. Partners for each of them entered their lives and walked away again, but whatever happened, no matter what hardship they had to face when growing up, what stayed was their bond of friendship and trust, with their heart, souls and sometimes even their bodies. As long as they were both single, everything was possible.

Keeping all this in mind, the feeling Nino experienced right now, was rather a comfortable than exciting feeling. The radiating heat coming from his friend's body, made Nino almost sleepy again. The young man allowed his eyes to fall shut again. Just for a moment...

Finally, he continued, "Our magazine received an angry call by their managers after the publishing of the article, since they fell out of the clouds, when they saw it. That...," he wondered how to voice it, searching for the right word, "was… fun..."

OK well, fun was probably not the right choice of words, but it was always a strange feeling that Nino experienced when he was on celebrity hunt. It was exciting, for sure, it was thrilling, sometimes even scary. But was it fun?

Aiba shifted a little in Nino's embrace, so that he could finally throw him a critical look an eyebrow raised.

"Is it really fun, Nino?"

Of course, his best friend saw through him immediately, but Nino didn't want to admit.

"What?" he asked instead, cuddling even closer against his friend's back.

"Your job," Aiba continued. "Is it fun?"

Nino didn't answer for a while, thinking what would be the best reply. He could only assume where Aiba was coming from, what he wanted to hear from him, but he couldn't say it. Neither could he argue to the contrary and so, in the end, he just slightly shrugged against Aiba's back and dropped a simple, "Well, it's a job."

"But do you like it?" Aiba didn't stop, and Nino sighed. Of course, he had caught on to the unvoiced insecurity lying beneath Nino's words. He just knew him too well, for too long already, probably.

"Sure thing, it pays my rent," Nino decided to add. It wasn't even a lie, after all.

Aiba grumbled frustrated. "You're avoiding my question, Nino."

Of course, Nino was. Because he didn't want to think too much about this whole thing right now. He didn't want to go back to all those dark places in his mind that made him doubt his choices, regret his past decisions, and wish for alternative futures. Not as long as he knew exactly that with things staying the way they were, nothing would change.

"Masaki, let's stop talking about work," Nino said, calmly. Instead of jumping further into the conversation, he found it much more alluring to start caressing his friend's back, so he started placing little kisses all over him.

"Stop that!" the taller man giggled underneath the feather like touches of Nino's lips, and finally tossed away the magazine in his hands to fully turn around and focus his attention completely on the man in his bed again.

"Let's get back to the important things in life, then," Nino added with a grin, looking up into Aiba's eyes, who mirrored his facial expression.

"You're not too sore for another round?" the man asked challenging, raising another critical eyebrow.

"Never," Nino shook his head, his eyes darkened. "You know I can take a lot."

Aiba smiled, as he crawled a bit closer, pressing their still naked bodies together again. When Nino started rubbing his member against Aiba's, they both sighed, comfortably.

"Comfort sex is the best," Aiba murmured, letting his hand wander onto Nino's small and firm butt.

"You need to be comforted that your ideal little sister is growing up?" Nino smirked cheekily, teasing his friend.

"Exactly!" Aiba confirmed, an adorable pout on his lips.

"Well, then it's the least I can do to cheer up my best friend," the other man replied, his voice turning slightly hoarse, as he continued his kissing from before against Aiba's chest and neck, trailing up to his face.

"What's in for you?" the slightly taller man asked, suddenly, causing his friend to chuckle against his chin.

"Good sex?" Nino offered as reply.

Aiba laughed. "You've really become dirty, Nino."

The young man arched a challenging eyebrow. "Says the one who took my virginity..."

"I would do it again, you know? Just because you were so cute and innocent back then, that it must be everyone's ideal virgin-fantasy," Aiba chuckled cheekily, causing Nino to roll his eyes.

"Shut up now and let's get us some peace of mind," Nino said before he covered Aiba's lips.

- - -

The next morning, Nino found himself back in his crazy daily life, surrounded by the nerve-wracking ringing of telephones, yelling of his colleagues and stressful paper rustling. Back in the office of the "Un[der]cover", a small but not so unknown, upcoming tabloid, specialized on – as the title made easy to guess – uncovering things, namely the private life and holy secrets of today's top celebrities.

Whether it was a dating rumour about a female idol, a scandal surrounding a seemingly incorruptible politician or a story about a club selling drugs to minors, the journalists of the "Un[der]cover" would know where to find their material. They would be there, and they would for sure take pictures and write an article about every dirty little secret they could dig up.

These people were good in their job, very good, and the best of them was one of Tokyo's most feared paparazzi, Ninomiya Kazunari. Ever since the young man started writing for the magazine a few years ago, fresh out of university, he had his eyes and ears (and hands) literally everywhere. For him, it was peanuts to find out the latest meeting place of a rock star with his affair, to sneak into private celebrity parties to spy on top actors or models, and he was responsible for about almost every cover story the magazine had published recently. But even if people knew how dangerous of a tab journalist Nino was, in most cases they failed to discover him until it was too late. By then, Nino would usually already have snapped an ominous picture or taken some fatal notes. Often, they even told him the information themselves. Yeah, somehow, he always found a way to be at the right place at the right time – or the wrong one, considering his victim's point of view.

Nino's secret method? Well, besides excellent research skills and the talent for disguise (Nino had already mimicked managers, drivers, make-up artists and other staff members, just to get close to his targets, and he had done pretty well, mostly), Nino was also a charming man with a good understanding of humans. This made it easy for him to quickly find out about people's likings as well as their weak points and sometimes, acting understanding, coupled with just the right amount of charming flirting was enough to not only get himself into a celebrity's bed, but also into some very interesting conversations...

Sure, there had been times in which Nino had wanted to quit and search for something else. Sure, there had been times when he sincerely considered Aiba's suggestion to start working for a more prestigious magazine and to not waste his talent at a gossip magazine. The work for a tabloid was anything else but prestigious and reputable, it was dirty, it was mean, it was nothing to be proud of and the longer you stay in it, the more it eats your soul.

Nino knew that. Experienced that. However, he had his reasons to stay where he was. And if he was completely honest to himself, it wasn't only the – admittedly good – money, no, it was also some kind of deep fascination that Nino had started to develop towards the show business and the people inhabiting it. It was almost as if he had become addicted after tasting just a tiny bit from their glitter-sparkling lives and with Nino's developed status, he literally had a certain amount of power.

"Ninomiya!"

The young journalist was working on the last edit of a new article, when his boss, Nagase Tomoya, coming back from lunch, suddenly stormed into the 8-man office that Nino shared with his co-workers, and stood right next to his employee's desk.

"Yes?" Nino asked, alerted, as he immediately turned to face his superior.

Suddenly, a stack of notes that was sitting on top of a folder at the edge of the table, slipped and the paper was spread all over Nagase's feet. The man grumped, rolled his eyes and darted an evil look at Nino, whose eyes had followed the escaping papers and now were looking back into his boss' eyes, innocently.

"Pick that shit up and then get your ass into my office!" the man ordered in his usual grumpy voice, when he lifted his thumb and pointed behind him, accompanying the gesture with a quick nod towards a door at the other side of the room.

"Sure. Give me a second," Nino replied.

He quickly turned to face the monitor of his computer and pressing the shortcut key to save his current work, before he got up to collect the mess from the floor and shortly after, followed his boss to his private office.

Following a murmured command by his boss, Nino closed the door behind him, the frosted glass shaking slightly as he used a little too much force, but they both ignored it. The young man took place in the seat Nagase pointed at, and now looked at the man, curiously. Since it was always a bit difficult to read his boss' mood – basically, his moods seemingly consisted only of "grumpy", "annoyed", "stressed" and "super grumpy" – the summon into the boss' office could mean everything. It could be getting told off due to trouble with one of the magazine's articles, or there was another call by the lawyer (both happening quite often), Nagase could also invite one to drinks after work, or...

"I have a new job for you," the man, towering in front of Nino, said.

That was Nino's favourite option. "I'm all ears."

Nagase sniffed his nose, grimacing, before he folded his hands and leaned back in his chair. "Surely, you know Sakurai Sho, right?" he asked, causing Nino to chuckle.

"The directors' new favourite puppy?" the young journalist raised an eyebrow, a knowing smirk forming on his lips. "Popular since a surprisingly strong acting debut in a getsu9 drama series two years ago, award winner of best leading actor in a TV-series and probably best paid in-his-30's actor of the year, but an enigma when it comes to private life. Of course, I know Sakurai Sho... or... don't know him, in view of the situation," Nino finished his statement, following his reasoning.

"Exactly what I'm talking about," Nagase replied, snapping his fingers and pointing them at Nino. "No scandals, no matter how deep people dig, rumours dying before they become public, the world knows basically nothing about that man, except his ridiculous love for food and that he's a horrible cook. He's very cautious. He either has a white vest, a beast as manager, or at least enough money to mute the whole show biz and tab journalists," he listed and Nino nodded. Nagase grinned, and his eyes darkened. Nino knew that look just too well. "We didn't have much to tell about that guy until now, but his new movie is coming out soon, there will be a lot of publicity and I want us to have something interesting about him. That will be your new challenge."

"To uncover Sakurai Sho's dirty little secrets?"

"Exactly," Nagase nodded.

"I would not be the first one attempting to find something fishy about that man," the young journalist dared to point out. Definitely not the first one. But until now, as far as they knew, nobody had managed to succeed in terms of Sakurai Sho. "What makes you think I could?"

"You're my best man," Nino's boss continued, and he sounded very serious and the young man would be lying if he said it didn't make him feel a tiny little bit proud. "If someone in our line can do it, it's you. So I trust this to you. I want you to go deep. Deeper than anyone tried before. I want you to pull out the shit from his past and to throw it into his face, to see if his career will survive. Do whatever it needs to reach that goal!"

Nino hummed, tilting his head slightly. "As always, you're the devil, boss," he smirked.

"And you are my hell hound! If you manage to find something useful, your work will cover the front page and there will be an at least 5 pages special article. Plus a fat bonus, of course," the boss summarized, excitedly, slamming his hands on top of his desk with so much force that the penholder next to his computer was shaking. "You're in?"

"Of course, challenge accepted," Nino confirmed.

Nagase grinned, satisfied. "And don't forget – no pictures, no proof."

"Sure thing," the young journalist replied, before he jumped up to return to the office and his desk in order to finish his article so that he could start his new challenge.

This could actually become something interesting, this time, Nino thought, excitedly. The chance to write a full feature about the almost unknown private life of Japan's contemporary most popular young actor, was definitely more tempting than uncovering the 10th idol's affair with an older man, or finding out the name of the dog breeder where talent xy got their new Siamese kitten from. The true face behind the all so perfect, all so mysterious Sakurai Sho, writing a revelation about this man would bring light into something that thousands of people couldn't decipher but were dying to learn more about.

Everyone would talk about it. The "Un[der]cover" would be the gossip paper people would buy like crazy and indeed, Nino could already smell the nice bonus deriving from the probably immense monetary income. But it was not just that. What was making Nino even more excited was that this would actually be something that would not only demand a nosy attitude and the right timing to snap an ominous picture of someone, but also actually require real investigative journalist skills.

Nino couldn't wait to get started.

- - -

Nino's research on his new target was as fruitless as never before. Usually, he was quite skilled in obtaining the information he needed, either via the internet – especially social media being a great source of knowledge recently, even if it had to be enjoyed with caution –, getting first-hand confirmation through contacts, of which the journalist had quite a few. However, none of these people seemed to know any more about Sakurai Sho than what was already known, or at least, they didn't want to talk about the actor to Nino.

His last hope was now Matsumoto Jun, another member of the show business' actor family and – handy as it was at times like this – a friend of Nino, who even happened to co-star with Sakurai Sho in his recent movie.

The two men had arranged a meeting, like they did from time to time, but before Nino went down to business talk, they used their encounter to create some sweet time and while Matsumoto was off to take a shower after their act, Nino used the time to give his research another shot.

As expected, the internet was being useless. Very useless. It made Nino ruffle his hair and groan in frustration, and the annoying laughter of an American sitcom, horribly dubbed in Japanese, in the background didn't help.

Why did Matsumoto even choose this channel before he went off to shower? Admittedly, Nino could have joined him – the offer was probably still standing – but the young man had some work to do, especially, since he had not progressed with his new project at all for the last few days. But enough was enough and for tonight, Nino was ready to give up.

With a last sigh, he slapped his laptop shut and pushed the device towards the edge of the king-sized hotel bed he was currently lying on. The room wasn't anything too luxurious, but higher class than anything that Nino would ever be able to afford. The bedsheets were made from satin, the night view outside over Tokyo through the full length windows was breath-taking and the scent of fresh flowers placed next to a bottle of champagne on a coffee table near the windows was filling the room nicely. Yeah, it definitely had its nice moments to have an affair with an actor, Nino thought.

Matsumoto Jun was about two and a half months younger than Nino, but he was a veteran in show biz already. He had started out as a model in his early teens, then founded a pop duo with a colleague and together they were topping the Oricon charts for about four years until the duo broke up due to artistic differences. While his ex-partner followed his dream to become a rock star, Matsumoto decided to focus on an acting career, which he already had the chance to taste during his idol years. And he was good. Good enough to build a well-perceived image that brought him – even if not always main roles – a large number of roles and a broad fan base.

Throughout all these years, besides acting, the man had continued to model and thus had managed to build a network within almost all branches of the show business. His natural charm and his nice personality made it easy for him to connect with people and his knowledge of how to handle people helped him to maintain these relationships. Sometimes though, he even used these connections for some more specific goals... No, it wasn't like he was betraying his colleagues or blackmailing anyone or something mean as that. However, Matsumoto might drop a little hint sometimes, here and there, for Nino and then laid back and watched what happened.

He and the journalist had met in a celebrity bar at the beginning of Nino's journalist career, and for some reason, the two of them clicked immediately and somehow became friends and occasional lovers. While Nino found it very convenient to have a "friend" in show business, Matsumoto also decided to make use of his connection to the gossip papers. A little rumour here, a small leaked news there, and things were much more interesting and thrilling, than what they would be anyway.

The show business could be tough, Matsumoto had told Nino once, but it could also be boring, especially, when good contacts and dirty methods were the ones deciding on who got which job. And so, while Nino mixed up the celebrities a bit, Matsumoto made use of the chaos behind the cameras, made new connections, filled holes, and established an even more permanent presence in the show biz than before. If people worked with unfair methods, why should he play fair all the time?

First, Nino was a bit critical about the man's attitude, but in the end, he learnt that with telling him such things, Matsumoto was being and living a more honest way in this dirty business than most other people.

The fact that the two men shared a bed once in a while was just a bonus, but one that Nino appreciated. It worked. It was hot. There were no strings attached, but they could just meet up and enjoy some time together and it was awesome. It was similar to what he shared with Aiba, and still different. It was fascinating. Like it was always fascinating which connections would arise when people met...

Of course, Nino had always played with open cards. Matsumoto was the last to expect that what they had was something exclusive, and he used Nino as much as Nino used him. Both, he and Aiba were aware that sex was one of Nino's methods to reach his goals. Like this, Matsumoto was not the only celebrity, Nino had shared his bed with, even if most of them had only been a one-night stand. Aiba even once said that he envied Nino for that fact, to which the younger man jokingly invited Aiba for a threesome, which had never happened, yet.

Matsumoto was taking quite some time with his shower, and so, Nino had no choice but to stand up and go search for the TV remote. When the young man got up, feeling a bit sore, the thin blanket that had covered him slipping from his naked butt, and with some – in his opinion too much – effort, he took a few steps towards the drawer near the bathroom door where Matsumoto had obviously left the remote. Finally, holding control over the device, Nino went back to bed, laid down on top of the silky sheets and started to zap through the channels.

There was the news – Nino zapped. There was nothing more depressing in the world than news. A cooking show with an idol duo of which one had no idea about cooking and the other came from a family of bakers was up on the next channel – could be fun if someone was actually interested in stuff like food. A baseball game – that was more to Nino's liking, so he kept watching it, but just for a few minutes, until it was over. Bad timing, obviously. Nino continued zapping further through the night programme, skipping the re-run of an anime he watched only recently together with Aiba and another sports programme that didn't interest him. He was ready to skip the next channel as well, since the running series seemed to be just another trailer for one of the too many crime movies that were showing in theatres recently, but then, a familiar face walked into the frame, and Nino let the remote in his hand sink.

It was the face he had looked at just too often on his computer for the last two days. Sakurai Sho.

Switching from a close up to a full body shot, Nino could immediately figure out that Sakurai was portraying a character working for the police, most likely, a detective. The man was dressed in a nice suit, which complimented his well-built figure, and wearing white gloves as well as a badge around his upper arm. His hair was black and short, the signs of an undercut at the left side of his scalp made him look cool, but the warmth in his eyes spoke of friendliness.

The journalist swallowed. He would be lying if he said he couldn't understand why people were hyping about that actor so much. He had a good aura, a good feeling for what he was doing in front of the camera. He wasn't overacting but also not too subtle, he was just... fascinating. And his looks, well yes, Nino was smitten, he wouldn't be able to hide that fact.

The detective had just exited from a car, and was walking towards a house cordoned off by barrier tape. When there was only his back to the camera, another silhouette joined him, the one of a short woman dressed in a fine female designed suit and her black long hair tied up in a ponytail. From the profile that showed when she turned to face the detective, Nino could recognize Aoi Yu.

Nino concluded that this must be promotional material for the new film that was coming up soon. He remembered to have read about it and indeed, in the preview text, more information was given away. The main character of the movie, which was supposed to be in the criminal and thriller genre, a police detective, was being portrayed by Sakurai Sho. At the latest, when Matsumoto – who was playing the role of a suspect, as he had told his friend proudly some time ago already – joined on screen, it was proof enough for Nino.

The scene cut to another crime scene, showing Sakurai and Aoi finding some hints to the possible solution of their case. A short sequence showing Matsumoto's character being put in prison, the look on his face innocent and desperate. A false accuse, perhaps? Blood. Another cut - a devastating look on the police detective's face, as this time, he seemed not only to recognise the crime pattern, but also the victim himself. More blood. Screams, bone-shaking screams and a painful grimace on the detective's face made Nino shiver.

Again, the scene was cut but this time, there was no more trailer material, but a studio. Only now, the journalist realised that he was holding his breath. He blinked, his mind still occupied with the horrid images from the movie trailer he just watched, but then, Nino immediately realised what was happening. He recognised the studio shown on screen as no other than the studio of charming talk show host Koyama Keiichiro with his popular night show "Talk is the Key" and as it seemed, tonight's guest was nobody else other than Sakurai Sho. What a coincidence...

"Ladies and gentlemen, this was our exclusive prolonged trailer for upcoming psycho thriller "Blue High", opening in theatres next month," Koyama said, covering the studio audience's applause. He then turned to his guest, who was sitting across him in a comfortable chair. "Sakurai-san, again, thanks for coming to my show tonight."

Sakurai bowed, flashing the host and then the audience a friendly smile, causing clapping and excited squealing from the female audience.

"I dare saying this was hell of a trailer, seriously, that looked amazing, right, everyone?"

More cheering before the actor could even reply.

"Thank you very much, I believe that this movie turned out very interesting and I would be happy if everyone will go watch it," the actor said in the usual polite matter. "It's all thanks to the amazing script, the director and all the staff and my amazing co-stars."

Koyama shifted a little in his chair, darting his full attention to his guest. "So as far as we know, this time you are portraying a handsome police detective who gets involved in a series of strange cases, that seem to be oddly linked to each other."

Sakurai nodded, leaning back and folding his hands leisurely in his lap. "That's basically the plot; however, of course there's more behind it."

"But I guess you are not allowed to tell us about any plot twists, am I right?" Koyama concluded.

"You are right."

The host released an obviously feigned sigh, facing the audience. "Such a tease, our Sakurai-san here." Reluctant laughter. "Anyway, it was worth a try. So unfortunately, we cannot discuss too much about this movie and your role, in order not to leak any spoilers."

"That's the nature of such movies, I fear. I'm sorry."

Koyama lifted his hand, waving off. "That's no problem at all. For the time being, it's sufficient to know that you are showing us a – I may add and I'm surely not the only one of this opinion - very handsome performance."

The audience cheered.

"Don't flatter me too much, please," Sakurai chuckled, his lips curling up into a genuinely slightly embarrassed smile. He looked damned cute, Nino couldn't help but notice. "My co-stars are even more handsome."

"I suppose you are referring to co-star Matsumoto Jun-san, model and ex-idol, who managed to establish his image as a very talented actor, as well as actress Aoi Yu-san, who is playing your female detective partner? And not to forget - Sasaki Kuranosuke-san, who is acting as your senior detective," Koyama suggested, cheering from the audience in the back. "I assume we have fans here," he threw a look, wiggling his eyebrows, into the audience, causing them to laugh and Sakurai joined.

"In my opinion, I was surrounded by pretty faces all the time," the actor summarized. "It was a little bit overwhelming sometimes."

"Did someone specific catch your interest?" Koyama offered, challenging arching an eyebrow at Sakurai.

"No-one specific," the man replied, as expected. "Everyone had a pretty face there."

"You are one of those pretty faces, Sakurai-san."

Again, that cute embarrassed smirk on the actor's gorgeous lips. "Oh please, stop that." The audience awed.

"Alright," Koyama interrupted the fangirling. "Since we cannot talk about the movie, please allow me to ask you a few questions, then."

"Give it a try," Sakurai said and this time it was him, who arched his eyebrow and threw the host a challenging look.

The show's host crossed his legs and lifted his hand to his chin, mimicking a thinking gesture. "Something my audience and I are dying to know is whether this handsome face is solely for us, or if anyone has the privilege to see it in a more... private way."

"You are asking if I am currently dating someone?"

Koyama nodded, determined. "Basically."

"I fear I cannot answer that question," Sakurai replied, shaking his head, a cute smile on his lips.

"You're not even going to give us a hint?" Koyama wanted to confirm.

"I'm sorry."

"There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, as always it is up to our fantasy," the host moved on, not changing his position. "What about recent interests then?"

"Testing new restaurants and trying to come up with boring answers for snoopy people."

"I take this as subtle critique, then," Koyama chuckled alongside the audience. "Political opinions?"

"Everyone is allowed to have one, and it is up to the individual to share them," the actor replied all correct and polite.

Koyama slightly tilted his head. "Are you going to share yours with us?"

"I'm afraid, no."

"Well, my dear audience," the host loosened his posture, turning to face the studio audience, "I present you a collection of Sakurai Sho's typical answers to the questions we are all dying to get answered... I fear though that we are going to die before I can extract an answer from our enigma."

Disappointed noises from the listeners.

"I tried," Koyama added, pressing his hand against his chest in a dramatic gesture. Applause and cheering for the host followed.

"I am sorry for being such a boring guest," Sakurai said, shrugging, his smile turning a bit cheeky. Koyama chuckled.

"Not at all, Sakurai-san, not at all. You are highly fascinating as always and it's not that I expected to be able to unlock the mystery tonight, but it's my job to ask such questions, I hope you forgive me."

"Of course."

"So it's really true that you are not giving away any personal information at all," the host confirmed one last time.

"Except if you ask me what I had for lunch," Sakurai offered. "I'd gladly share some restaurant recommendations with you guys."

The audience laughed, and even Nino caught himself smirking. Of course, he knew this running gag already. Sakurai was known to be secretive about all his private life, but he was an open foody and had no problems delving into this topic whenever people allowed him.

"You should start a food blog or even better, a food tasting programme! "Sakurai Sho ni meshiyagare" or something like that," Koyama pointed out, excitedly.

Again, laughter.

"That will be a good one," Sakurai said, smirking. "I may think about it."

"Give me credits in case you choose my suggested title," the host winked.

Just when the two men were finishing their talk, Nino could hear Matsumoto entering the room. He turned his head, just to find the young actor standing in the doorway to the bathroom, in his completely naked gorgeousness and only a towel on top of his head to rub his hair dry. Nino smirked and Matsumoto grinned back.

"You done?" Nino asked, letting his eyes run over the man's body once more, unabashed and not hiding his enjoyment.

"You really should have joined me," Matsumoto said as he let the damp towel fall around his neck. He obviously enjoyed Nino's look over his appearance and even shifted his position a little just to encourage the man to look again. "Sho-san is on TV?" the man then noted, drawing the journalist's attention back to the big TV screen.

Sakurai was now facing the camera placed in the audience to advertise his new movie, the trailer and basic information about its start date in theatres showing in the bottom of the screen. The host thanked his guest for coming, assured him that he would go watch the movie when it was out, and sent off his audience and viewers with his trademark sentence.

"Thank you very much for tuning in tonight, folks, and don't miss next week, when it's again time to unlock some interesting celebrities – maybe next time a bit more successfully-," Koyama threw a played annoyed look at Sakurai, who playfully arched his eyebrow and the studio audience broke into a last flash of laughter. "That's it for tonight's "Talk is the Key," good night and good bye!"

"You call him Sho-san?" Nino asked, a frown adorning his face. "Does that mean you know him a bit better? Are you close?"

Matsumoto came closer, sitting back down on the bed and laughed over Nino's sudden journalist mood. "No, not really... Everybody on set called him with his given name. He insisted on it."

"How nice..."

"He really is. But... I think... he's really hard to decipher, isn't he?" the actor added, thoughtfully.

Nino nodded, understanding. He sighed. Like this, he doubted that Matsumoto could be of any help in this situation. He pouted slightly. "Maybe I should just bribe him with a gift card to an expensive all-you-can-eat."

"Sho-san?"

"Hm. He's my new target."

"Heh... I see. So, it's your turn trying to solve the enigma now. You're not the first one attempting this," Matsumoto pointed out.

"I know. But I hope I will be the first one to successfully attempt this," Nino replied while he reached for his laptop, opening it again. A Sakurai Sho fan forum was displayed on the monitor now. "But it's tough. He only tweets foodies and the internet tells you literally nothing, if you don't count all these shitty fan theories about him that smell to high heaven. A group of fans seems to be profoundly convinced that – listen, I quote: Sakurai Sho is the first of an immensely intellectual humanoid lifeform from the Andromeda galaxy, who came down to earth to study human food. I mean, what?!"

Jun burst out laughing. "Who knows, they might be right. Sometimes he really seems to be from another planet and you should see him eating... as if he was starving to death... every time."

"Can't you really tell me anything about him?" Nino asked making puppy eyes towards the young actor. "You co-starred with him, after all."

"Yeah but we didn't even have that many scenes together... when we were both on the set, he was either filming or preparing to be filmed," Matsumoto explained.

But Nino didn't give up. Just because Matsumoto didn't notice anything, it didn't mean he didn't see anything, and perhaps, he would be able to tickle out some information from the man that he himself didn't even know he was holding. The journalist sat up, not minding his own nudity, as he looked at the other man, determined to get a step forward on his mission.

"Did you see him together with other people? Something strange? Anyone who stood out?" he bombarded Matsumoto with questions.

The actor frowned, and tilted his head, obviously trying to remember. "The only people I saw him with were his co-stars, staff members and his manager," he then summarized. "But there was nothing suspicious, not at all..."

"So there was nothing interesting," Nino concluded in disappointment.

"Nothing interesting," Matsumoto shook his head. "I think, his private life is either boring as hell or he is really taking very good care of who he's talking to about what."

"But isn't that strange?" Nino continued. "I mean I know and understand that even you actors prefer to have an amount of privacy, but come on... at the end of the day you want to be in the spotlight, you want journalists to ask you about hobbies and certain opinions, don't you?" If the journalist learned anything during his work at the "Un[der]cover", it was exactly that. Most celebrities wanted to show off, at least to some extent.

"I agree, most people want to share their private lives to a certain amount but of course, there are limits."

"Sakurai's limit is extremely low then, if you ask me," the journalist murmured.

"Which makes him even more interesting, right?" Matsumoto arched his eyebrows. "At least, that's what people say. That they are fascinated by him. They want to know more about him, they are almost obsessed."

"Sakurai is lucky that he's not a movie star in the US," Nino added. "Here in Japan, fans are usually much more moderate and respectful towards their stars' privacy. Sure, they are curious, but they wouldn't go to extremes to molest the celebrities in order to satisfy their curiosity. That's only, when people like me get into the game..."

"You professional molester," Matsumoto joked, amused. Nino ignored him. Then, after a few moments of silence, during which Nino tried his luck again on the internet forum to find anything interesting about Sakurai Sho, Matsumoto spoke up again. "Listen, since the new movie's premiere is coming up soon, do you want to join me?"

Nino frowned, but didn't look away from his laptop screen. "What? You mean, on the red carpet? And watch the premiere with you?"

"Yes, and attend the after party, of course," the actor added, his excitement growing. "I mean, my management told me I can bring along whoever I want, even a friend, but I have not invited anyone yet. I know you probably won't even need an invitation to sneak into such an event, but like this, you'll officially get the chance to come closer to Sakurai..."

Nino finally turned his look to face Matsumoto again. "And what's in it for you?"

"I just want to help a friend, that's all," the actor grinned.

Nino placed his chin on top of his hand, his gaze critical. "Come on, Matsumoto, our relationship is a one hand washes the other sort of relationship. What's in it for you?"

"Fine, you caught me...," the actor rolled his eyes. He hesitated for a moment, until he finally started again, "You know that Ikuta Toma is starring in the movie too, right?"

"Heard about it," the journalist confirmed.

"My manager told me, he'll be coming with Ueno Juri -"

"- his inevitable girlfriend, if we can believe the tabs."

"Well, my manager hinted, that Ueno is actually in a relationship with another actress -," Matsumoto said and Nino made his "I'm all ears"-face, his fingers ready to type any relevant information into his keyboard that might leave the actor's mouth, but the man had to disappoint him. "– I don't know the name, don't look at me like that – However, rumour has it that she and Ikuta are actually only faking their relationship."

"An alibi-relationship...," Nino murmured, interested.

"Exactly."

"Why didn't I hear about that yet," the journalist murmured. Usually, many rumours found their way to his ears pretty quickly. "So you assume them both being gay?"

"That's exactly what I think," Matsumoto nodded, obviously excited. Even his cheeks had turned red.

"Let me guess further, you hope that Ikuta is actually available and you want me to act as your partner, to see how he might react...," the journalist concluded with a sigh, one eyebrow critically lifted.

"Bingo!"

"You think he'll get jealous? Sorry, I don't know what happened backstage with you guys but did he ever show a tiny little bit of that kind of interest in you?"

"At least, we got along very well...," Matsumoto pursed his lips, slightly. "Ah, and don't worry, you don't have to do much. You don't need to act as my boyfriend or anything, we can't be too showy anyway. Officially, you'll be just my friend, that's all. I just thought, I could probably mention something like you as my partner in front of Ikuta and see what happens..."

Nino smirked at the actor's cute pout. "Well, as I said. One hand washes the other."

Matsumoto grinned, taking the journalist's words as a Yes. "I'll get my manager to send you an official invitation to the premiere."

"That's really something," Nino added, catching up on the other man's excitement. "You know that my fellow journalists are going to hate me when they find out that I'm actually on the guest list and not just going as the media."

Matsumoto waved his hand, dismissing Nino's worries. "Just do what you always do and nobody will find out."

"So... what kind of person shall I disguise as?" the journalist grinned.

"Maybe a Korean upcoming pop idol?"

"Stop joking," Nino chuckled. "People might start watching out for me in that case."

"Well, you have the looks," Matsumoto winked at him, before he leaned down and kissed Nino, who closed his eyes in order to fully enjoy the gesture.

- - -

It was the evening of the premiere of his new movie and like always, Sho was a bundle of nerves. Even if it wasn't his first movie premiere, it was still strange to go, walk over the red carpet and stand there in the spotlights, being stared at by fans, photographed by reporters and interviewed by journalists.

Sho was bad with such stuff. If he could choose, he would want to spend his whole day with reading and learning scripts, practicing and acting, that's what he was good at, after all, but being a celebrity and successful actor demanded more from him, including all kinds of promotion work his manager could come up with. This work was completely different from his main job, however, it was part of the package and he had to go through it, like everybody else. Lucky for Sho that even in these uncomfortable situations, nobody could see how he really felt. That was another advantage of being a good actor. Still, underneath the confident and friendly mask, Sho was scared. Whenever he was put out there into the world, he was always a little scared, questioning the choice of his career path not only once. He was scared, that sooner or later, people would find out what kind of man he really was…

"Look at you, Sho, you're above 30 and can't even properly tie your fly," a woman with long dark brown wavy hair and dressed in a breath-taking red dress sighed besides him, before she reached out for the man's fly, plucking it into place.

"Thanks, Keiko," Sho replied with an embarrassed smile.

Sho's personal manager, who was accompanying him to the premiere, patted the, now in her opinion, perfectly fixed piece of fabric and smiled back. They were still seated in the back of Sho's car, as it was slowly rolling towards the beginning of the red carpet. Still, there were a couple of cars in front of them, holding Sho's co-stars, other people connected to the production of the film, and prestigious guests. From the car in front of them, which had just stopped right in front of the carpet, a familiar man exited – Matsumoto Jun. He was accompanied by another, smaller, but not less handsome man, which Sho surprisingly did not recognise. He frowned, curiously.

"Look, it's Matsumoto-kun," Sho said, pointing to the front. "I wonder who's he with…"

"Hmmm," Keiko hummed, as she stretched her neck to catch a look at the people Sho was talking about. She then looked at the man besides her, smirking. "For someone who doesn't share anything of his own private life, you're quite snoopy about others, aren't you?"

"I was just wondering… I never saw him before," Sho replied to the woman's teasing. The man was quite small, had black hair and was wearing a well-fitted dark suit and a matching top hat of which many people would be envious to see how well it suited that man.

"He's your type, isn't he?" Keiko grinned.

Sho playfully rolled his eyes. "Don't be silly," he waved off. "He's Matsumoto's date, obviously. Other people's dates are not my type."

Keiko shrugged. "You would never make a move anyway, does not matter if the other party was single or not, since you're always only looking… But as much as I have observed the people you have been looking at, I conclude that this man falls under your type, doesn't hurt to admit it."

Sho hoped that his acting skills wouldn't leave him high and dry now, as he felt embarrassment built up his chest. "It doesn't matter. I can't afford to let strangers into my life anyway, you know that."

"I know what you think, Sho, and you know I disagree," Keiko said, determined. "In fact, I think it would be a very good thing if you had a partner with whom you could talk about everything. Who you can trust, and share your life with. It really has its advantages, you know? It makes life a bit easier and much more comfortable."

"It's easier to hide your private life if you don't share it with anyone," the actor disagreed. "The less people involved the better."

"One day, you'll be a lonely man, Sho…," his manager replied in a low voice. She threw him a critical look. "I'm not pressuring you to go and flirt with your co-star's date or anything, I’m just saying that you probably should be a bit more open and once in a while let yourself get carried away when you meet somebody you might like. I'm just worried."

Sho smiled and put his hand on top of Keiko's, pressing it slightly. "I know. Thank you. But I won't be lonely. I still have you, Daigo-kun and Satoshi."

Keiko chuckled, a slightly bitter undertone to be heard in her voice. "Your only three friends in the world..."

"It's enough for me, you're the best friends I could wish for, more than I deserve," the man replied and Keiko leaned closer, placing a small kiss on Sho's cheek.

"Well then, my dear friend, it's our turn to walk out there now," she said, nodding out of the tinted car window to indicate that they should get out.

They somehow made it through walking along the carpet as well as answering the journalists' questions. Sho gave a few standard comments about the movie, its director and left some praise for his fellow actors, while Keiko besides him smiled into a camera and greeted her husband and little daughter, telling her not to go to bed too late. Sho smiled. The two of them went on to greet a bunch of other celebrities and guests, shook hands and exchanged smiles, until everyone was asked to take their seats in order to watch the movie.

After the movie, which seemed to set the audience in sheer ecstasy, there was a short Q&A corner on stage, featuring the scriptwriter of the movie, its director, as well as the main actors, namely Sho himself, Matsumoto, Aoi and Sasaki. They first answered a few questions by a host, before it was the audience's turn, and after that, it was time to clink some glasses at the after party.

Sho was standing a bit aside from the main happening at the buffet, as he preferred, to keep an eye over the whole situation. He was sipping on a glass of champagne, his stomach contributing small growling noises. As always, the nervousness before the premiere had kept him for eating proper lunch that day and of course, now, hunger was hitting him full force. Keiko had offered to go and get them something to eat. Apparently, a woman, who Sho recognized as another actor's manager, held her back for a chat though. Sho sighed quietly, his eyes glued to a couple of exceptionally delicious looking salmon-avocado sandwiches on top of Keiko's plate, which he started craving for immediately, of course.

He was about to start off and go get his food by himself, when suddenly, a familiar young man entered his field of vision, flashing him his bright smile, and accompanied by another, smaller man.

While Matsumoto immediately reached out his hand to shake Sho's, the smaller man, glancing through his long black bangs, that covered half of his face, only threw him a short but piercing look, which made the hairs in Sho's neck stand on edge for a second, and then lowered his head in a greeting. Keiko was right. That man was his type indeed, as he was not only handsome but also held an amount of cuteness, that couldn’t be overlooked, but that was not all about it. For a short moment, Sho wondered, if he had been mistaken before and if he actually knew that man. Something about him tickled a feeling of familiarity, but the actor just couldn't pinpoint where it came from… In the end, Sho simply mirrored the young man's gesture, before focusing on Matsumoto.

"Sho-san, congratulations on your great performance," the man exclaimed in high spirit, the enthusiasm running through his body almost jumping over to Sho through their linked hands.

The actor smiled, trying to hide his slight irritation. "Same to you, Jun-kun, you were splendid!" the actor gave back the compliment. Of course, he meant it; the younger actor's performance had been admirable.

"Thank you, I'm glad they didn't cut out all my scenes," Jun chuckled as they separated their hands and he offered his own glass of champagne for a small toast.

"It would have been a crime," Sho replied with a smirk as he clinked glasses with the other actor and his date, earning laughter by the two men.

"Sakurai-san, I am really impressed," Matsumoto's companion suddenly chimed in, immediately drawing Sho's attention towards him. His voice sounding deeper than expected and it was something strangely calming, Sho ridiculously noted. "Seriously, that was hell of a movie, it's been a while since I've been so thrilled."

"Thank you uhm…," Sho started, wanting to ask the man for his name, but the smaller one just continued talking without bothering to introduce himself.

"I am a complete newcomer and I do not know much about business yet, but I assure you that I sincerely admire your skills, Sakurai-san. You are a master of emotions, really!" the stranger suddenly started babbling.

Sho chuckled, slightly embarrassed but definitely flattered by the flood of adoration. "You're exaggerating…"

"No, I really mean it. You're my big idol and I wished I could become an actor of your class one day," the black-haired man shook his head, a charming smile on his lips, before he stepped a bit closer, to continue talking to Sho in a low voice, as if he was holding a secret conversation with him. "Would you mind telling me where you learned acting? I do not remember seeing any arts university or such on your resume… Ah-," an adorable chuckle escaped from the man's lips and he backed off a little, biting his lower lip and glancing at Sho apologetically. "I'm sorry, I hope you don't think I'm a stalker or anything but… you literally popped out of nowhere two years ago and I feel like we know nothing about you!"

"Thank you for the compliment," the actor replied, flashing a polite smile. "I have to admit that I am a more or less self-taught actor, so I fear I cannot really give you any recommendation other than finding your own style and give your best."

"A natural talent then? Does it lie in the family, maybe?" the newcomer asked again, silently.

Whenever Sho met new people and they happened to know about his profession, which was mostly the case, people would ask him questions. He was used to that. People were being curious. And for some reasons, some people's inhibition level about private questions was quite low when it came to celebrities, even if most of them managed to stay polite, just like this young man right now. The actor had learned how to deal with them, but still, it always made him feel uncomfortable and wanting to bolt out of the room.

"I am sorry but for the sake of keeping my family matters confidential, I cannot reply to this," Sho just stated his standard reply and faked a smile.

"Oh, I am sorry," the man chuckled again, as if he just realized what he was doing. "Sometimes I just can't hold back my curiosity."

"It's OK," Sho waved it off.

"That beautiful lady in red, I heard she is your manager?" the young man then suddenly asked, pointing into the direction of the buffet, as if trying to keep the conversation going.

"Yes, indeed," Sho nodded, taken aback a little by the sudden question, combined with another piercing look of those dark, beautiful eyes.

"You two are not… I mean…"

"Together?" Sho finished the newcomer's question before he chuckled. "No, no! Definitely not. She is married, you know?"

"You're very close friends, aren't you, Sho-san?" Matsumoto added, but his companion ignored him and zeroed back onto Sho, an irresistible smile on his well-formed lips.

"Maybe it's rude for me to assume this, but I guess, you've been mistaken for a couple, right?" the man said, offering a sympathetic frown.

"It happened, but luckily, we could set things right very quickly and there are no strange rumours any longer," Sho confirmed, internally rolling his eyes. He tried to sound as normal as possible, even if he felt more like throwing a "Not that it concerns you." at the man. It was the hardest part of his job. Keeping his composure and not snapping at snoopy people…

"I see… Well, it would be a shame if Kitagawa-san and her family would have to suffer from that, right?" the stranger concluded, nodding understandingly.

"Exactly," the actor agreed.

The handsome stranger focused onto his champagne and took a big sip before continuing. "It's uncommon though to bring one's manager as company, aren't managers invited to the premieres anyway?"

"She would have participated in the event anyway, that's why it just made sense to come here together, right?"

"Wouldn't you prefer to come here with… I don't know… a real date?" the man inquired further, a playful smirk adorning his lips.

"Well, I would probably prefer that," the actor said, with a shy smile.

"Eh?" the stranger surprised arched an eyebrow. "Are you hinting that a popular and handsome man like you is still alone?"

Sho simply shrugged, leaving it to Nino to interpret his reaction to his liking, as he usually did when people came up with questions about his relationship status.

"In case you're really still alone... Don't you miss it? Meeting someone? You know what I mean…," the stranger continued asking low-key.

When his hand accidentally brushed against Sho's, as he even came a step closer, Sho's heartbeat sped up. He swallowed, as he thought to recognize a slight flicker in the man's piercing eyes. If he didn't know that he was actually Matsumoto's date, Sho would be under the impression, that the man was trying to flirt with him… But that couldn't be, could it? His boyfriend was literally standing right next to them, after all. The accidental touch was gone as quick as it happened, but Sho's sudden nervousness stayed.

When the actor glanced at Matsumoto, slightly concerned about the development of the conversation and not wanting his acquaintance to misunderstand, the man seemed completely distracted from the scene though, as he was observing a couple of colleagues that was about to pass their table. Sho immediately grabbed the chance to escape from the conversation that was slowly but surely drifting off into a rather uncomfortable direction, and so he did something, he usually avoided. He called out to attract other people's attention.

"Toma-kun!"

The called man stopped short, a young beautiful woman at his arm, did the same, and the two looked into their direction, surprised.

"Oh, Sho-san, Jun-kun," the man, Ikuta Toma, immediately flashed them a friendly smile, and together with his date, he turned on his heel and approached the three men. "Congratulations to this successful premiere!"

"Same to you," Sho smiled, relieved over the distraction. He nodded slightly towards the young woman next to Ikuta. "Good evening, Ueno-san."

"Sakurai-san, it's a pleasure to meet you!" She smiled in return and repeated the most heard statement of the evening. "Your performance in the movie is splendid!"

"Thank you very much. Not more splendid than my co-actors'," Sho gave back, still being sincerely grateful and they chatted a bit about some certain scenes.

It was true that the immensely positive reaction onto the movie literally caused a weight to fall off Sho's chest. It was always a risk to take a new project and no matter how well-known the director, how good the script, how popular the actors and how clever the publicity, in the end, the audience was the only power that decided if a movie would be a flop or a success at the box offices. With the amazing feedback the premiere had caused, people could speculate that the movie would do its job and bring in the money, hopefully even make some profit. Also, not to forget – it would be one more decent job the participating actors would be able to add onto their list, ensuring their value and future on the market.

"Who's your company, Jun-kun?" Ikuta suddenly asked as he turned to the other actor, his eyes curiously browsing over the young stranger who fell silent since the abrupt end of his and Sho's conversation. He frowned a little, tilting his head. "I feel like I saw his face already but... I'm sorry, I can't really recall where this might have been."

Sho frowned. Wasn't that the same thought he had just a few minutes ago? Secretly burning to find out more about the attractive stranger, the actor's attention got distracted from his conversation with Ueno and he couldn't help but glance at the young man again, who just offered his killer smile. In the end, he still didn't introduce himself, instead, Matsumoto took over the job as he gestured at his companion.

"Ah, this is Nino, my... well...," he looked a bit embarrassed as he didn't manage to pronounce the "date" lying in the air. Sho couldn't help but smirk at his suddenly shy and cute colleague.

"I'm nobody, don't bother, just a newcomer with no achievements worth mentioning," the young man – Nino – replied jokingly, waving his hand in dismissal.

"Nino? Just NINO?" Ueno asked, curiously.

"It's a stage name, of course...," the Nino-guy replied.

"Like the guys from EXILE use to have? Are you one of them?" the actress added, holding her hand in front of her mouth in awe.

"Maybe?" the man replied, throwing her a wink.

Ueno chuckled and reached out her hand to slightly slap Nino's shoulder. "Stop flirting with me in front of your boyfriend," she said, before she stopped abruptly, looking between Matsumoto and Nino. "I mean... sorry, maybe I'm saying too much." Yeah right, as if anyone could ignore that elephant in a room.

"No, no, it's OK, isn't it? We're among us," Nino shook his head, flashing a smile and letting his hand wander to Matsumoto's.

When the smaller man entwined their fingers and offered him a cute smile, Matsumoto blushed slightly, a very rare view, as Sho couldn't help but notice. So they really were a couple, he made a mental note to his brain, and sending a copy to his heart. Thus, he probably wasn’t trying to flirt with Sho, but only expressed his admiration and offered a bit small talk. Sho could slap himself, internally. There he was talking big about not trusting anyone and not letting strangers into his life, and then he felt slightly hurt over some faked interest, he was pathetic…

"Hm...," Ikuta hummed, eyeing the couple, his lips slightly pressed together. Sho immediately got an inkling that the actor didn't really approve of what he saw in front of his eyes, either. "I think I heard my name somewhere, let's go, Juri-chan," the man then suddenly said, still not letting his eyes go off Matsumoto and that Nino-guy but offering his arm to his date. "It was nice to meet you, guys, enjoy the rest of the evening!"

"Good bye," Nino cooed.

Sho waved after the couple, staying behind with Matsumoto and Nino for another few seconds, but then quickly made use of the circumstances and excused himself too, to the buffet, to finally get away from the irritating situation once and for all, leaving them behind (and to claim his avocado-salmon-sandwich). The actor had reached the buffet, catching up with Keiko, and then dared to throw a short curious look back at the two men. He could see that Nino's hand was separated from Matsumoto's now and the two men were now obviously holding a slightly heated discussion. Something with these two was off, Sho thought, wondering if this meant trouble in paradise.

After Sho finally caught up to Keiko, though, who immediately handed him a plate filled with the delicious sandwiches she had collected for him, Matsumoto and his date were almost forgotten. He ate, chatted a bit with Keiko and her friend, and ate some more.

A few hours later, Keiko left the party in order to come back home to her family. She had advised Sho to stay for a little longer, making a bit small talk with some people, maybe even make some connections for future projects , and to simply enjoy the evening and celebrate.

The last part she emphasized, however, Sho just sighed. He wasn't the celebrating type. If it was up to him to decide, he would just have joined Keiko. He would have loved to pay her little girl a visit before heading home, instead of staying here and acting as if he actually enjoyed this. He tried, and in the end, he actually managed to talk to a famous producer about a possible project, making him promise to send him a script once it was done, and to exchange a few nice words with the editor of "Blue High" as well as the head of the visual effects department, both of which had done a great job on the feature.

In the end, at around 2 am, Sho decided that he had worked hard enough for today and that he deserved to go home. He said good bye to a few other guests, among others Matsumoto, who was still hanging around with that strange Nino-guy, who – again – threw him one of those looks. On his way out, he stopped shortly at the bar to check on Ikuta if he was OK. The young man seemed to be downing one drink after another, apparently holding a conversation with his cocktail umbrella whether he was more handsome than Matsumoto's date or not. Sho smilingly patted his colleague’s shoulder, ensuring him that he was indeed very handsome and that Matsumoto would most likely think so too, before he finally left, leaving Ikuta behind with a sudden glint of hope in his eyes.

His car pulled up in front of the location, his driver on time as always, just shortly after Sho's call, and Sho was almost able to breathe properly again, when he opened the back door and let himself sink into the soft leather seats. But that was just to stiffen up once more, when suddenly, just before the car took off, the opposite door of the car was pulled open and someone slid into Sho's car, as if he owned the place!

Sho couldn't believe his eyes, and he was about to protest, when he finally recognized the face of the intruder. Now, he was dumbfounded, just staring at the man, stunned.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the man said in his already too familiar sounding voice, "I must have made a mistake about the cars." He looked at Sho with an apologetic, almost angelic smile, just to turn it into a cheeky smirk shortly after, as he locked eyes with him again. "No, wait... this is exactly where I wanted to be. Good to see you again, Sakurai Sho-san."

Finally, Sho seemed to find his voice, as he cleared his throat and somehow managed to start talking, trying to calm down his raised heartbeat as much as possible.

"Nino...san..., right?" he asked with a friendly smile. "You surprised me. Shouldn't you be with Matsumoto-kun? You're his date after all, aren't you?"

"Oh, oh no, you must have mistaken about something," Nino chuckled, waving his hand. "I'm not his date. We're friends, that's all. Let's be honest, he's got the hots for Ikuta Toma, isn't it obvious?" he arched an eyebrow.

Now that the smaller man had mentioned it, it was like a missing puzzle clicked in Sho's mind. The way Matsumoto reacted when he met the other actor tonight, how he introduced Nino to Ikuta, how Nino acted and how he brought some distance between them as soon as Ikuta left the scene... And coming to think of it, didn’t Matsumoto spend a lot of time together with Ikuta on set? The signs were there, Sho just didn't interpret them correctly, apparently.

"You were meant to make Ikuta jealous," he concluded out loud. "And I think, you succeeded with your performance," he added, remembering in which state he had found the actor at the bar, just a few minutes ago.

"As expected, you're smart," Nino smirked, before he came a bit closer, leaning towards the actor, just to whisper something into his ear, sending an exciting shiver to run over Sho's skin. "That wasn't the only reason for my presence there today, though..."

Sho took a deep breath, before he locked eyes with the young man again, who had now retreated again, as if he hadn't just intruded into Sho's personal space. The actor swallowed. He was confused, his heart was pounding and his brain was working on over-drive. He couldn't be right, could he? Or was Nino actually interested in him? It would be dangerous though, Sho thought, he couldn't afford to get his hopes up and develop an interest in an almost stranger, so the sooner he got him out of his car, the better. However, for some reason Sho just couldn't help but feel...

"Now you're curious, aren't you?" Nino interrupted his thoughts, his delicious lips curling up into another smirk and this time, he came closer, he even reached up his hand and playfully brushed a strand of Sho's hair behind his ear, before his whispering voice invaded Sho's senses again. "I really wanted to meet you."

Sho snapped, and tried to push the man away, determined but not harshly. He didn't want to be impolite or cause any ruckus but he definitely needed to get some distance between them or he wouldn't be able to guarantee anything after. What irritated the actor the most though, wasn't even that this man, who he had met only today and was confusing him like nobody else, had the nerves to invade his personal space, but rather that Sho felt so excited about it!

No, Sho, no, stop thinking like that. This man is a stranger, strangers are dangerous and you are not going to feel attracted to a dangerous stranger, Sho's inner voice insisted, trying to keep him grounded.

"Thank you...," the actor said, after finding back his composure.

"So, where are you going now?" Nino continued his now much more obvious flirting attempts. "Another bar? Home?"

Sho was still confused. It wouldn't be the first time that a man was hitting on him. However, even if Sho might maybe feel a tiny little bit attracted to the man, he had his principles. Which included, no too personal contact with colleagues nor fans, and especially not bringing anyone home, as the other might be hinting.

"I'm sorry but I think this is not of your concern," the actor decided on a diplomatic answer, but Nino didn't seem to be satisfied with that. The man was still close, but again, he slid a bit closer to Sho, until their shoulders slightly bumped each other.

"Don't be so cold, Sakurai-san...," another whisper reached Sho's ear, and then, suddenly, there was Nino's hand on top of Sho's thigh, slowly but surely starting to move in a caressing gesture.

"Uhm...," Sho wanted to say something, to do something, to push the other man away, but his heartbeat has gone crazy and his body had frozen.

"I'd love to accompany you, you know?" Nino continued to purr besides Sho's ear, the movement of his hand becoming a bit more daring. "Won't you like to take me home? I promise you won't regret it."

Then, Sho exploded. He slapped away the man's hand, panicking, this time, not as gentle as before. He tried to sound composed and determined, but he doubted that he had managed to do that when he exclaimed, "Nino-san, please... what are you doing?!"

The young man didn't look too shocked about Sho's reaction, but lifted his eyebrows in question, almost looking disappointed, "Oh, you don't like it? And I was so sure..."

"Please, don't assume things, Nino-sa-," Sho started, but then, when the young man took off his hat and ruffled through his hair and the motion caused the actor to take in the facial features of his conversation partner once more, the thought that he looked kind of familiar hit Sho once more.

He wasn't a fellow celebrity, no matter how he introduced himself before with a stage name or not, that had most likely been as fake as his role as Matsumoto's date but... that name, "Nino", "Nino-"... could it be? Then, Sho remembered their talk at the party and took in account the man's importunate behaviour just now, a completely different thought crossed his mind. He remembered a file that Keiko showed him at the beginning of his career, when she told him that there were people out there, mean people, who received their fucking paychecks by causing celebrities trouble... It clicked. Yes, he had seen that face before, even if it had not been among his fellow colleagues, but rather in a completely different connection. It had been disguised with a baseball cap in the picture Keiko showed him. Sho had been warned of that man!

"Wait… I know who you are!" Sho said but Nino didn't sound surprised...

"Hm... Of course, we just met at the party," he just replied in his calm voice.

"No, no that's not what I mean!" the actor shook his head. "I already thought you looked familiar, but I didn't recognize you, but now that I see you closer... you are Ninomiya Kazunari, paparazzo and gossip rag journalist."

A sweet chuckle left the man's lips. "Who? You must have confused me with someone else."

"No, I definitely recognise your face," Sho insisted. "My manager warned me of you."

"Hah... is that so?" Nino asked, locking eyes with Sho again.

Suddenly, the teasing sparkle in the man's eyes vanished, making way for a much colder, calculating look. Suddenly, it was like there was a completely different man sitting next to Sho and when Nino smirked and slowly started clapping. the actor flinched.

"I know, some managers have me blacklisted but even so, most people don't recognize me. I was wondering if you might... and how long it would take you. So I challenged you a little bit," the man stopped clapping and brushed his hand through his hair before he leaned a bit towards Sho again, who held his breath. "So, shall I maybe feel flattered that you obviously recalled my features so precisely? Maybe... I am your type? You know, we definitely could... arrange something if you want."

Sho felt hot anger bubbling up his chest. That man had nerves... as if it wasn’t enough that he had been completely confused by that man, now he even turned out to be a fucking paparazzo?! So that flirting behaviour from before had had nothing to do with interest in him, but a mean for getting closer to him for a story? Because that was everything these people wanted – a story, a dirty story, stripping a celebrity's private life in front of thousands of people's eyes. Sho tried not to panic.

He took a few deep breaths, before he was finally able to speak again. "Don't you have any sense of shame?" he asked, glaring at Ninomiya. "Don't think too much of it just because I'm well informed about dirty workers like you."

"Dirty workers?" the journalist released that significant chuckle again, which made Sho feel unbalanced and still, oddly attracted, and that made him feel mad at himself. "Oh, well, you have no idea how dirty I really can be."

"And I prefer not to find out, thank you very much," Sho said through clenched teeth. He was disgusted by that person now, for playing with such open cards about his bad intentions, and even more disgusted at himself for the fact that probably, just a few minutes before, he had even enjoyed that man's flirtatious gestures. "If you could be so nice and leave my car now?"

"You should watch out who you make enemies with, Sakurai-san," Ninomiya then said after a few seconds of just staring into Sho's eyes. "Just a well-intended warning."

"Good evening, Ninomiya-san!" Sho insisted. "Please do not try to contact me ever again."

Ninomiya didn't say anything more, but flashed Sho another grin, put his hat back on and bowed slightly, probably the most sarcastic bow Sho had ever received, before he opened the car's door and stepped out. He pushed the door shut and kept standing there, even when Sho ordered his driver to start driving, and he could see him from the rear view, standing there and waving after him.

Frustrated by the whole situation, and even more frustrated at himself, Sho fisted his hands, pressing them down on the leather seat and forcing himself to avert his eyes from the figure of Ninomiya becoming smaller in the mirror.

- - -

If Nino said that he wasn't surprised about the outcome of his first meeting with Sakurai Sho, he would be a liar. Even if he had acted nonchalantly, even as if he had expected to be found out, of course, that wasn't true. He did not expect at all to be exposed, at least, not so early.

Sakurai was right, there were some managers and celebrities, who knew about his existence and warned their artists, to keep an eye open and watch out for him, so that they wouldn't wake up one day just to find an unexpected revelation about themselves in the tabs. However, despite this warning, usually - just as Nino had told Sakurai - people didn't recognize him.

Nino didn't know if it was his unspectacular face, or if he really was that good in disguising, but he always tried his best not to be spotted, even if he was close to his respective targets. Nino had played stylists, staff members, even pretended to be a friend of a friend or a nearly forgotten colleague. He usually managed to get pretty close to his target, close enough to tease out a little secret in a supposed confidential conversation, close enough in reach for their wallets or cell phones to obtain some secret, exclusive information, or even, close enough to end up in their apartment. And Nino knew places that told more about people than they would expect, boxes underneath beds, the medicine collection hidden in the mirrored bathroom cabinet, or the stack of mail lying on the breakfast table.

Some celebrities were less cautious than people might expect, so it was often an easy game. They were human beings, just like everybody else, with needs and dreams, sometimes with too few friends or social contacts, and Nino filled in those spaces for a few, even if just for a short amount of time and with an admittedly low goal.

However, Sakurai was much more cautious than the average. Nino probably shouldn't be too surprised about it, after all, there must be a reason, why nobody else had managed to extract something interesting and private from that man yet... Not even Nino's flirting worked, and usually, it always worked, even for people who weren't known to be attracted to the same sex. Perhaps, Sakurai was secretly married for real? And more than that, a devoted husband, resistant to any temptation...

In addition, if Nino was completely honest, he wasn't even primarily frustrated about not getting close to extract any kind of interesting information from Sakurai during the evening of the premiere of his movie. In fact, he was even more frustrated over his unsuccessful flirting attempts, as he definitely wouldn't push that man out of bed, if they landed in one, together. Honestly, Sakurai was an extremely attractive and charismatic man. Nino had expected it; however, he didn't expect it to exceed his expectations that much.

Close up, in real life, Sakurai was even more handsome than on TV or in magazines. He was a bit taller than Nino, and although he had sloping shoulders, he looked manly and strong. His secretive attitude, made him appear mysterious and composed, which was extremely attractive to Nino. His eyes were just beautiful and deep, his lips plum and red and Nino definitely wanted to kiss them when they were in the back seat of Sho's car, with Nino trying to get as physically close to Sakurai as possible. The actor's very unique scent was alluring and had made Nino want to get even closer and bury his face at the man's neck, before pressing his lips against that incredibly soft looking skin, letting his tongue taste it...

"Ninomiya!"

Nino startled, as the voice of his boss pulled him out of his – admittedly inappropriate and at the moment very unproductive - thoughts. He shot up straight from his slumping position in the chair in front of his computer, and quickly turned his head to face the man, who looked at him, strict as usual, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Yes, boss?" the young journalist asked after clearing his throat, putting his fingers on the keyboard in front of him, to make it look like he had been actually working and not dreaming about actually seducing Sakurai Sho on the back seat of his car.

Nagase clicked his tongue unappreciatively before he continued ranting. "My office! Now!"

"There in a second," Nino murmured, saving the document he had been pretending to work on and getting up.

"Why is there no draft article about Sakurai Sho's secrets in my e-mail inbox yet?" Nagase came straight to the point as soon as Nino had closed his office door behind him.

"Because there is no draft ready yet," Nino replied, matter-of-factly.

Nagase arched a critical eyebrow at his employee. "What's wrong? That's not like you, you always send the draft right away but it's been days!"

"We still have time...," Nino tried, suppressing a sigh.

"It's true, the movie doesn't officially hit cinemas until the middle of next month," his boss admitted, unnerved. "But I'm waiting for a draft!"

Nino flinched. "I'll try my best to get something to you as soon as I can..."

"I thought you had a chance to approach Sakurai during the premiere?!"

"Uhm, I met him, indeed -"

Nagase sighed, like a bull, ready to attack and then, he continued talking, calmly and slowly, making it sound even more dangerous. "So, let me repeat my question. Why is there no draft article in my inbox yet?"

The young journalist ruffled his hair. It was rare that he had to explain himself to his boss in such a situation, but he wasn't a magician. He couldn't provide what he didn't have. "I fear, he's harder to crack than the usual celebrity. I don't really have anything interesting to write about yet..."

"Do I hear surrender in your comment?" Nagase challenges the young man.

"Of course not!" Nino immediately chimed in. "I just got started! All I say is that my first approach wasn't as successful as expected but I just need to change my strategy and try at the next occasion."

"So there will be a draft coming soon?"

"As soon as possible, Boss," the journalist repeated.

The chief editor hummed, satisfied. "Good then, don't let me wait for too long. You're dismissed, so back to work with you. I also expect the revised version of your article about that idol's affair by tomorrow morning."

"Working on it," Nino nodded. "You should receive it within the next hour."

"Very good. Now shoo!"

Nagase gestured one last time with his hand and Nino just turned around and went out of the office, closing the door behind him and pausing for a moment to take a deep breath.

Yes, this case might be a bit more challenging than usual, but it didn't mean that he gave up. He was far from giving up!

- - -

Not giving up meant for Nino to give even more of his energy to his mission of uncovering Sakurai Sho's past. This might include a change of strategy, however, as expected but not less frustratingly, the journalist didn't have any success with any of his strategies so far and soon, he felt kind of lost.

In the meantime, Nino – having forced Aiba to accompany him - had watched every single movie, drama series and cm collection starring Sakurai that he could lay his hands on (yes, even re-watching those he happened to know already). Sure, Sakurai had been active as an actor for the few years, and there should be a reasonable amount to watch through within a few evenings. However, the number of Sakurai's works was remarkable, considering that he was only in the business for a couple of years, Nino had to admit. And he also had to admit, that the actor was really as good as people said, at least, the more Nino watched Sakurai acting, the more he started craving to seeing more of him. Aiba even started teasing him pretty badly, saying that for the first time in quite a while, Nino seemed to have developed a celebrity crush.

Of course, Nino brushed Aiba's accusation away with the argument that he was only doing his job. This was simply research, nothing more. Still, Aiba continued teasing him, which went so far that he even told Nino it would be fine if he imagined that he was Sakurai, when they were having sex the previous night. Nino had felt the urge to punch his friend, but then he was distracted by other things…

Trying to trace more information about his target, Nino quickly realized that his contacts in show business were sadly proven to be useless in this case. His investigation skills seemed to abandon him completely, too. When he tried to find out more about Sakurai's past acting career, when he tried to find anything about him acting in the past, he wasn't able to dig up any useful information at all. No small role in any late night drama series before his actual "debut", no stage play acting, he couldn't even find out from which college or school the man graduated, where he actually learned acting, nothing. It really was like the actor Sakurai Sho had popped out of nowhere a few years ago, storming the acting world overnight as a complete newcomer, with no previous records at all. As if he wasn't existent before.

Nino's natural conclusion was, that "Sakurai Sho" was actually an alias. It wasn't too unusual for celebrities to use a different name as stage name, however, usually, they at least provided some kind of biography, some milestones of their life, in order to say a few things about their lives prior their acting career. Not so, Sakurai. The only information about him on this Wikipedia page as well as the page of his agency, was his birthday, a list of the works he had appeared in since his fabulous debut, and the link to his twitter account on which – as Nino had already checked carefully – he only used to tweet pictures of food. The only thing, Nino was able to conclude from those pictures was that he recognized a few of the restaurants Sakurai had been a customer, but since they were spread throughout everywhere, he couldn't even draw a link to his possible residence.

Shadowing the actor to get some private information was also an impossible task. Nobody seemed to know where he lived. Sakurai's schedule was not known to anybody, apparently, which spoke for a very good and confidential crew and his manager's good organizational skills. There was only a single occasion, when a woman magazine's photographer leaked some information about Sakurai being in their studio to Nino. The journalist had been on another celebrity hunt at that time though and even if he interrupted it immediately and left to catch Sakurai leaving the building, as soon as he arrived , Sakurai had already left.

At some point, two weeks and two more dressing downs from his boss for the still missing draft later, Nino was close to throwing his computer out of his office's window. Of course, he didn't do that, since his boss would make him pay for it and probably even fire him. But seriously, he was stumped.

That was, until one evening, Matsumoto rang him up around 10 pm and slipped some highly confidential information, that he had spotted Sakurai at the celebrity bar that Matsumoto frequented. A very unexpected and rare view, as he added, since Sakurai was never seen in any bar or club if it wasn't the location of an after party to a movie screening or an awards show, but apparently, Sakurai was meeting up with a movie director, probably talking about the possibilities to act in a new movie.

"If you come here quickly, you might catch him after Miike left," Matsumoto suggested through the phone, "Or at least you might catch a few details about that new movie he's on..."

Nino, who still had been working overtime to finish another feature for the "Un[der]cover" next to racking his brain over the Sakurai-problem, immediately slapped close his laptop and rushed home to ransack his closet for the hottest outfit he could possibly find. He pulled out some old black leather pants that he had almost forgotten, and a simple but also pretty tight black V-neck shirt which he hoped would flatter his slim figure. Posing in front of his bedroom mirror, Nino counted his choice of clothes a hit, even surprised by himself how well those tight pants complimented his small but firm butt. Yeah, this could work into his plan...

Although he was trying to hurry, Nino had to spend an extra minute in his bathroom finishing off his styling. He probably used a bit too much wax when ruffling through his mob of black hair, trying to form some curls, and then, off he went, hoping that Sakurai would still be at the bar, when he arrived.

About half an hour later, Nino handed one of his fake names to the doorman, telling him that he was one of Matsumoto Jun's close friends. He earned a critical look by the tall man in black clothes, but since Matsumoto remembered to put him on the guest list, he had no trouble getting into the bar.

The "Matsuoka's" was hidden in a side road in the middle of the city, but it was well known among celebrities of all ages. The bar keeper and owner of the place used to be a celebrity himself, drummer of a rock band until they decided to quit and lead a more casual life some years ago. He still held pride about his past, as the framed gold records, spread all over the place's walls indicated.

The comfortable main room was usually filled by small groups or even couples from all corners of the show biz, the small stage in the back occupied by musicians taking turns in entertaining the audience in an easy way. In addition, there was another, separated room, more disco-like, in which usually idols were rocking the dance floor. The bar in the middle of the main room was modern and stylish, large parts made of blue tinted glass, but several small, low hanging lamps were giving off a warm feeling.

And there he was. Sakurai, sitting at the bar, his handsome face lit by one of the small lamps, facing well-known director Miike Takashi, of which Nino could only see his back right now. Nino's heart tumbled a little, when he saw the actor flashing his partner in conversation a sincere smile, something he had failed to draw out of him yet, he noticed with a slightly bitter feeling.

The journalist took a deep breath, trying to calm down his throbbing heartbeat and make his suddenly heavy feet move. Why was he suddenly so nervous?! He was used to situations like these, he was a fucking tab journalist! He was a pro in eavesdropping, however, when his eyes focused onto Sakurai, nervousness overwhelmed him again.

Nino tried not to stand out too much, when he progressed into the room, knowing that if people recognized him, he would get into trouble. In fact, he could even be banned from the bar, since it was known to be confidential. He had been lucky the past few times when he came with Matsumoto, that people didn't know him or simply didn't care, but he couldn't risk too much.

Although a few people near the entrance noticed his appearance, they didn't seem to recognize him. His styling as well as the dim light must be working in his favour, the journalist assumed. He decided to quickly pass by Matsumoto's table, who seemed to have a meet up with some fellow young actors and almost didn't recognize him either, with his new hairstyle. He didn't introduce Nino to the other people sitting around the table, but simply exchanged a greeting with him and gave him a thumbs up as he nodded towards the bar. Nino swallowed, and then – still nervous – finally approached the bar.

Sakurai and Miike still seemed to be deeply engaged in their conversation and so, they didn't even realize the journalist's presence, when he settled at the bar, two places away from the actor, who in his current position had his back facing Nino. He ordered a drink, and then concentrated on listening to the conversation between the two men.

Nino quickly figured, that if they weren't just casually exchanging opinions about a certain book by the popular mystery writer Higashino Keigo, they must indeed be talking about a new movie project. If he wasn't mistaken, Nino even recognized the story from the plot they were currently talking about. Sakurai seemed to be under discussion for the male lead, a geochemist, whose job it was to determine deaths as either accidents or murders and who ended up running into a very exceptional case.

Admittedly, considering the audience's reactions at the premiere of "High Blue", Nino could completely understand why director Miike had set his eyes on Sakurai for such a role, and if he was completely honest, hearing about the possibility of the actor being part of the movie, made Nino feel very excited.

Wait, the journalist frowned, was he just about to fangirl over Sakurai Sho?! He darted his look into his drink, twirling the slightly foamy surface with his straw. He could already hear Aiba's teasing, if his friend ever found out his thoughts. But no, this was not because he was looking forward to seeing Sakurai's acting skills again, this was solely a professional interest. After all, he could use every information and leak it, if he wanted. That was everything behind it, right?

It took about another 20 minutes before the two men's conversation ended. Miike downed the rest of his drink, releasing a sigh of satisfaction, and then, handed some bills at the bar keeper, seemingly wanting to pay for his and Sakurai's drinks. The actor tried to prevent the older man from paying, but the director insisted on it, ending up receiving a polite and thankful bow from Sakurai, before he offered his hand for a handshake and left after promising to send the actor more material soon. Sakurai bowed again, offering words of gratitude, and then, as soon as the director was out of sight, turned to face the bar again, focusing onto his still half-filled drink.

This was it, Nino thought, this was his chance! He cleared his throat, paying attention so that no one would hear him, and then, he took his own drink and got up from the high stool he was sitting on, just to settle down on the one next to Sakurai. The actor simply sent a side-glance at the newcomer as he noticed his presence, before taking another sip from his drink. But then, he frowned, and turned his head again, to check the man right next to him again with more attention.

Sakurai's eyes turned bigger for a second, and Nino smirked, excited, when he realized, that only now, the actor seemed to recognize him. He took one last deep breath, and within a second, he set himself into the right mind-set, the one of the man he had came here as, the one of a professional journalist getting his fucking job done.

"Who would have thought we would run into each other again so soon?" Nino sing-sang, lifting the edge of his glass to his lips.

"Ninomiya-san...," Sakurai murmured, obviously not pleased to see him.

"You didn't recognize me, did you?" Nino asked, glancing at the actor and arching an eyebrow. "Shall I be disappointed?"

"Your hair looks different." The man next to him sighed discernibly, facing away from Nino. "I thought I expressed myself clearly when I asked you to not get in contact with me again. If you are stalking me, I ask you to leave."

Nino shifted a little closer and placed an elbow on the bar counter, bedding his chin in his palm. "Why so cold, Sakurai-san, I just ended up being in the same bar with you... In fact, I'm even a regular here," he lied. "So shouldn't rather I assume that you were trying to get in contact with me, when you chose this place to spend you evening?"

"It's pure coincidence," Sakurai replied, trying to avoid looking at him. "I was asked to come here. It's the first time I set my foot on this ground."

"So you were meeting someone?" Nino cooed, pretending to be oblivious to the situation. "Let me guess, for business?"

"I may note that this is none of your concern, Ninomiya-san," Sakurai answered, just as expected.

"Then you're here for a private meeting?" the journalist asked instead, continuing to play all of the annoying paparazzo cards he could come up with.

"Please refrain from assuming things, Ninomiya-san," Sakurai said, drily before he flashed Nino a – fake - smile. "Just leave me alone so that I can finish my drink in peace, would you be so kind?"

Still, Sakurai didn't look away, so Nino made use of the situation and tried something else. He pursed his lips, knowing that he would look cute doing so, and sent the actor one of his best puppy-eye looks.

"It's sad to see you drinking alone, drinking alone is sad and lonely," Nino said in his sweetest voice, while he allowed his hand to slowly but surely reach out until he could touch Sakurai's arm. He let his fingers slide over the jacket's fabric, until his fingers slipped onto the warm skin of Sakurai's hand. Nino tried to ignore the small jolt his heart made at the touch.

"You should be grateful that I'm blessing you with my company, don't you think so?" he then said, smirking at the actor, seductively, but all that he earned was a freezing gaze from the other man.

"I would be very grateful if you would bless me with your absence," the actor stated, and for a moment, Nino felt a small stab in his chest.

"So cold...," he pouted, letting his fingers start drawing circles on the back of Sakurai's hand. Then, he stopped. "Are you scared?"

"Scared of what?" the actor asked with an arched eyebrow.

Nino came closer. "Scared that I may find out about... your secrets?"

Sakurai made a, just slightly longer than necessary but definitely noticeable, pause before he finally replied. "I don't have secrets."

Nino snorted. "Come on, Sakurai-san, we all do have secrets, don't we?"

"No comment," the actor said, taking another sip of his drink.

However, Nino noticed that Sakurai didn't gulp down the rest of the liquid yet, neither did he move his arm away from his hand, so at least, he didn't seem to be intending to flee right away. Maybe, this was a good sign. His heartbeat sped up a little more. Nino tried to ignore it, but when he broke their eye contact and leaned over to reach Sakurai's ear for a whisper, he could literally feel the nervousness in his throat.

"Isn't it hard to be a celebrity, having to hide everything?" he asked in a low voice.

Sakurai finally retreated a little, just to be able to lock eyes with the journalist again. "If people like you don’t go poking into things that don't concern you, we won't have it so hard."

"Touché," Nino giggled shortly, before he turned earnest again. If Sakurai was piercing him with his look, he could do the same to him. "But that means, there are indeed secrets, right?"

Sakurai snorted, unnerved, but didn't reply.

"Seriously, how do you cope with that?" Nino asked. "Do you have any special techniques?"

"I don't have anything to cope with. As I said, I have nothing to hide," the actor insisted. Slowly but surely, Nino became a little irritated.

"And you think, I believe that shit?" he slipped.

"Try and prove me wrong," Sakurai snapped.

"You're paying people to keep yourself in a white vest," the journalist offered, challenging. "But I know people like you. You are popular, your management tells you to not share anything of your possibly dark past... but one day, someone will find something, that is if you don't collapse beforehand and spill the beans yourself."

"Why would anyone be so stupid to do so?"

"Sometimes, people need publicity," the journalist replied, and he knew that he was right. There were indeed cases where pathetic c-ranked celebrities had to shove information down a reporter's throat, just to attract a bit of attention from the public.

"I don't need negative publicity," Sakurai answered.

"Or they need money," Nino continued, causing the other man to chuckle. He couldn't help but notice how cute that sounded. He swallowed but he didn't give up yet. There must be something. There’s always something. "Maybe shares? Or they like to gamble? Or to unleash some stress with... someone's company?"

Sakurai cleared his throat and then, for the first time, he leaned a bit closer to the journalist by himself, their noses almost touching and Nino could feel the heat radiating from the other man's body. He lowered his voice and a second later, Nino was able to hear the sexiest whisper, he ever heard.

"I don't want to sound level-headed but... well, you're a smart man, Ninomiya, aren't you?"

Nino swallowed, trying to ignore the pleasant shiver that was running down his spine at that moment. He had to keep it together, he couldn't lose it now. Therefore, he tried to keep calm.

"Well... I like to think so, yes," he replied, trying to sound as cocky as possible.

"Then you are certainly smart enough to realise that with my current popularity I certainly do not need to pay if I wanted to sleep with someone, right?" Sakurai continued whispering and oh yes, Nino would believe everything that man was saying right now.

The journalist forced himself out of his little trance. There was no time to melt away at the man's sexy voice and his piercing look, or the thought of how delicious his mouth might taste, Nino was still on a job. "So you have a partner? Or just once in a while flings?"

Sakurai turned away and Nino immediately missed his closeness. "Sorry, but no comment."

"Come on, tell me!" the journalist didn't stop. Instead, he abandoned his drink as well as Sakurai's arm and decided to circle his hands around Sakurai's elbow instead, pulling himself closer. "At least... tell me one thing that everyone wants to know about you."

The actor sighed, unnerved. "Which would be?"

"Do you prefer women, or men?"

Nino's heart stopped beating for a moment, in expectancy.

"No comment."

"So you like men?" Nino's heart started beating again, faster than usual.

"What makes you think so?" This wasn't a denial, was it?

"I'm simply observing," the journalist explained. "As you said, I'm a smart man. So it was easy to realise that people of your kind – celebrities, I mean - tend to immediately clarify that they are into women if they are accused of being gay. After all, the majority of Japan – although I don't include myself in this - still thinks it would be preferable for a celebrity, to be straight so at least officially, most of them are."

"People are still narrow minded, aren't they?" Still there was no denial.

"And you are not?"

"Not as narrow-minded as you are with your quick assumptions based on my reactions," Sakurai shot back.

Nino pouted. "I told you, I'm just observing."

"You are interpreting. That's a difference," Sakurai remarked.

"Now look, who's the smart one...," the journalist chuckled and then, something unexpected happened. Sakurai turned the tables.

"Let me ask you now... are you into men, Ninomiya-san?"

Nino's heart jumped. He took a deep breath, trying to stay as calm as possible.

"Will that influence your answer to my question?"

"No," Sakurai replied, dryly, and finally, he shook off Nino's hands. "You're assuming things from no basis and you have neither words nor pictures that speak against my neutral statement. And even if I told you something, I know how the business works, Ninomiya-san. I know how people think. No pictures, no proof, right? Don't underestimate me."

"Sometimes you people have weak moments too and there will be other people to catch you in that exact moment. We could make a deal, you know? You tell me one secret and I promise to keep another secret for myself."

"That does not sound like an attractive deal, you know?"

"Of course, I cannot promise that no one else will find out and try to expose you...," Nino shrugged. "However, you shouldn't underestimate me. My influence in our gossip business isn't small. You might need people who protect you. People you can trust..."

Sakurai released another of those cute, dangerous chuckles. "Are you trying the nice guy card now? Want to talk me into selling something interesting from my past in order to protect… what, that you think I could be gay?" the actor laughed before he finally emptied his glass, put it back on the bar counter and then slipped off his stool, implying that he was about to leave. "Come on. I did not confirm that, you have nothing against me in your hands. And you can't really think that I'm actually foolish enough to trust someone like you, do you?"

Not willing to let the other man get away just like that, Nino also jumped from his stool, just to place himself in front of Sakurai. He decided to take a different approach, even if it might be more desperate than elaborate.

"Fine, maybe you don't want to trust me but maybe you want to take the chance and vent your stress a little bit?"

"Are you trying to lure me out to admit that I am interested in men – which, again, I did not confirm - or are you actually flirting with me right now?" Sakurai asked, locking eyes with Nino.

"Would you like that?" the journalist asked with a smirk, taking a step closer to shorten the distance between them. "If I'd be serious about you?"

Sakurai didn't react and just kept staring at the young man. Nino kept his tail up and even went a step further by letting his hands wander to settle on Sakurai's hips. For a second, he expected the man to slap his hands away, but he didn't, he just kept standing there, staring at him.

"Don't be so shy, Sakurai-san. Despite being a gossip journalist, I can actually be very discrete," Nino purred. "That's part of my job. To obtain and contain information and to selectively make smart choices over when to share which pieces of information with whom. It could be to both our advantages."

"What is your real goal, Ninomiya-san? You know, if I didn't know better, I would think you like me," Sakurai said, only arched a critical eyebrow, seemingly not moved at all.

He let one of his hands wander up, trailing the bottom line of Sakurai's shirt, slowly. "Maybe? You want to find out?"

"So, what exactly do you have in mind, Ninomiya-san?"

Nino smirked. Did he finally receive some interested vibes from his target? "Do I really need to tell you?"

"I dare you," Sakurai challenged him.

"Well," he whispered, taking one more step forward, his hand sliding up to the nape of the actor's neck. "Maybe, in the end, I just want to get laid by an attractive man…"

And then, Nino went the whole hog. He knew he was risking being pushed away, or to even getting hit, if the other man really didn't want to comply his actions, but he decided that it was worth a try. He pressed his whole body against Sakurai's, the warmth making him feel slightly dizzy, and having to lift his chin just a little bit, he brushed his lips against Sakurai's in a long, slow movement. He had not closed his eyes yet, neither had Sakurai, who hadn't moved an inch in response. Still, the man didn't push him away. Nino wondered if he could go further, thus, he tried. He broke their kiss, parted his lips, just to let his tongue slip out between them and then, he slightly licked over Sakurai's plum, red, delicious lips.

Finally showing some reaction, Sakurai let a small gasp escape, before Nino crushed their lips together again, this time with more force, with more passion, his eyes closed and his body nestling even closer, if that was possible, and abandoning himself completely in the kiss. They almost fell over, when Sakurai stumbled a bit backwards. The actor bumped against another empty high stool, reaching back with one hand to find some hold on the seat, while his other hand slipped up Nino's side, causing the young journalist to shiver pleasantly. He smirked against Sakurai's lips. He won!

They deepened the kiss, mouths hovering over each other, their tongues meeting in an intimate dance, and it was amazing, but then, just when Nino thought that he would never get enough of this, Sakurai eventually pushed him away.

Panting, with a racing heart and brushing the back of his hand against his swollen, wet lips, Nino glanced at the other man, whose lips didn't look much different. If it was Nino to decide, he would have jumped the other man with another kiss right away, however, the young man realized that the desire welling up his own chest, was not mirrored in the actor's eyes. For a moment, he felt hurt.

"You can't fool me," Sakurai finally spoke up. "I knew it… So that's the type of journalist you are...," he chuckled, tauntingly. "You really go that far for information. Try to get people fall for you, aren't you?"

Nino swallowed, taken aback, but just for a second, before he found his voice. "It's not my fault that I'm an attractive man," he offered with a smirk.

"I despise you," Sakurai spit, throwing Nino a hateful glance.

"Didn't feel like it," Nino huffed, letting the tip of his tongue run over his upper lip. "You kissed me back, remember? Even with tongue."

"I took advantage of you to confirm some rumours," the actor simply replied. "You're really something... So, are you happy now? What will you write about then, how I kissed you? About a secret affair between Sakurai Sho and the blacklisted paparazzo Ninomiya Kazunari?" The actor chuckled. Of course, Nino knew how ridiculous all this was.

"I am a journalist," Nino countered, though. Somehow, he felt like he had to defend his – little – pride. For some reason, he didn't like being looked down on by that man. Not at all…

"You are not more than a dirty gossip paparazzo," the actor concluded.

"Fine. I will find out your secrets even without your cooperation. And then, I will publish an article that will make you either love or hate me, depending on how I decide to make things look like and on how people accept it. Your popularity might skyrocket or fall to zero overnight," the journalist hissed, even if he knew he was probably going too far.

He knew that it was a harder task to reach that goal without Sakurai's help, much harder than it had ever been for him when it had come to any other celebrity. Sakurai wasn't called an enigma for nothing, that much Nino had learned already.

"Was this a threat now or… I don't get you. We can take a short cut. I think I rather hate you than love you, Ninomiya-san, and I am pretty sure that this won't change."

"You should better not make me hate you though," Nino spat back. "I shall say that my way of writing this article may influence the readers' opinions greatly. That is the type of journalist I am. My choice of words can decide over a person's destiny."

Unexpectedly, what followed, wasn't a continuing rant by Sakurai, but silence. Crushing silence. It made Nino nervous, awaiting another reply by the actor, which took a few more couple of seconds, before Nino finally received it. But it wasn't what he expected. No badmouthing, no calling him names, it was a simple statement.

"You are wasting your talents."

Nino frowned. "Excuse me?"

"You are using your talents for the wrong things," Sakurai continued after letting out a huge sigh, giving Nino a serious look. He didn't look angry any longer or disgusted, rather he looked like he was pitying Nino now, making the journalist feel even more offended than before. "Does it make you proud to work for such a tab, to hurt people, and whore around? Is this how you expected your career to go?"

"What do you know about my expectations, Sakurai-san?" Nino hissed, hoping that his bitterness wouldn't show.

"I'm just observing," Sakurai said, repeating Nino's own words. "I did my homework too. As I said, you shouldn't underestimate me. I know who you are, where you come from and how you work. And I have eyes. I can see a man with various talents, who either is too stupid to realize them by himself or too cowardice to use them in the right way."

The young journalist's eyes widened and he parted his lips, wanting to protest. He couldn't believe what Sakurai was saying right now. Did the actor do some research on him?! Was he using his own weapons against him?! Before Nino even could say a single word in defence, Sakurai continued.

"If I could like you, I'd feel sorry for you," the actor said, raising a sarcastically compassionate eyebrow. "Wait, maybe I do feel sorry?" Sakurai came closer, placing his hand underneath Nino's chin and pushing it up slightly, bringing their faces closer again. He started to whisper. "Oh, what was that? Was that a flirt?" he retreated, glaring at the journalist, who only could stare at the actor in disbelief. "No, it was not. So you can write in your article that Sakurai Sho is not interested in sleeping with gossip paparazzi. Greetings to your boss."

And with that, Sakurai Sho turned on his heel, walking away, calmly, composed, the complete opposite of what Nino was feeling like right now. The journalist was still standing there, gaping, not able to raise his voice and shoot something back, a first for him. Usually, he was quick-witted and had answers ready, where other people were just… yeah, gaping with their mouths open like goldfish – just like he was that very moment. But this time, he was just unable to react.

Shortly after, Nino heard a thunk next to him and when he turned around, his eyes fell on Matsuoka, the bar keeper, who had put another drink onto the bar, nodding at Nino with a grumpy gaze.

"You look like you need it," Matsuoka said. "It's on the house. But after you finished, I want you to leave my bar, Ninomiya-san. Journalists are not welcome here, I hope you understand."

Nino cursed, silently, brushing his hand over his face. Of course, the bar keeper had been listening to their conversation, and of course, his cover was blown. Nino had failed completely tonight and so, he just sighed, defeated, nodded at the bar keeper and reached for the drink to down it before wishing a good night and leaving the establishment.

- - -

Once he was sitting on the backseat of a taxi, sending a message to Aiba to announce that he would be spending the night at his place, he received a message from Matsumoto.

"How was it? Kissing those lips? ;) Lucky man!"

Frustrated, Nino smashed his phone against the empty seat next to him, ignoring the sceptical look of the taxi driver that he could see from the rear-view mirror. He reached out to push his phone back inside his trousers' pocket and focused on staring out of the window into Tokyo's night view as it rushed by.

He didn't want to think about it now, the kiss, about how breath-taking it was and about how much he had wished for it to never end, and neither did he want to think about his following defeat, including his ban from the "Matsuoka's" which would make his work quite a bit harder. Even if he wasn’t there too often, the bar had always been a good source of information, and taking this away from him hurt. Not as much though, as his defeat against Sakurai. Remembering the scene, Nino simply felt humiliated. And what was that about Sakurai knowing who he was? Did he really check on him or was it just a bluff?

However, the worst thing was that Sakurai was right. The same way as Aiba was right. Nino was wasting his talent at that fucking tabloid, he knew it better than anyone else. He could have done so much more with his writing, he was convinced about it. He had graduated from university with awesome grades, he had wanted to do so much more with his potential, but circumstances led to the current situation and then… he simply got stuck.

Nino had never really been a lucky man, despite Matsumoto's reference. Instead, he had led a hard life and everything he reached was the result of extra hard work. His family life had been a pile of shards as far as he could remember, his parents fighting over every little shit they could find, venting their anger on their children when things became too much to handle for them, which happened just too often. Nino had tried his best to make his parents happy, or at least a little proud. To make them not regret that they decided to get married and give birth to their children.

Of course, he had been naïve. Having the best marks in his school was good, but it wasn't enough to keep his parents together. After his parents got divorced and he stayed with his father while his sister went with their mother, Nino decided that he didn't want his efforts to go to waste. Furthermore, studying was distracting. Distracting from all the depressing thoughts that would invade his teenage mind otherwise, and thus, Nino gave it his all. His father didn't have the money to invest in further education for his son, but Nino did so well that he even managed to grab a scholarship for one of the most prestige universities in Japan. He decided to study communication science and media studies, focusing on writing and he was good at it, convinced that after graduation he would be able to find a good job and pay back the scholarship, as well as supporting his father as best as he could. But then, things started to go downhill.

"Sakurai Sho's only secret is that he's actually a giant jerk!" Nino vented, first thing when Aiba opened his door for him.

"I thought he's known to be a very nice and polite man?" his friend asked between two yawns. It was late already, definitely bedtime for normal people, but as the good friend Aiba was, Nino knew he would listen to every rant, he might want to get off his chest, no matter what time it was. Nino made a mental note to return the favour in the future, when given the chance to.

"He wasn't nice to me," he sulked, slumping down on Aiba's living room couch that the other tiredly gestured him to.

"So like most actors, he doesn't like gossip journalists," his friend concluded. "What a surprise. Want a glass of water?"

Nino frowned, thinking about his friend's words until the latter came back from the kitchen with the offered drink. "So you mean, Sakurai being a jerk is a personal thing rather than a weakness of character?"

Aiba settled down next to his friend, handing him the glass of water. "Well, it's not directly personal maybe, it's rather something against your... species?"

"Species?!" Nino snorted. "As if journalists were aliens... Not helpful, Masaki! Seriously, you won't believe how he behaved… After telling me that he "rather hates me than likes me", he said that I'm wasting my talents and that he feels sorry for me, can you imagine?! That man has nerves; I tell you... he will regret to have talked to a journalist like that."

"You're angry at him because he's right," Aiba stated bluntly.

"What's that supposed to mean, now?" the journalist groaned, frustrated.

"You know exactly that I think too, that you are wasting your talent at this tabloid," Aiba started, warming up a topic that Nino was sick of talking about and nevertheless, they always ended up on it somehow. "I mean, come on, if you're honest, you are not even interested in gossip about other people. You pretend to be because it's your job, and people believe it because you're a good actor, but you can't care less, right?"

Nino pouted. "Stupid... I'm very interested in this, it's my job after all and one's job is one's life!"

"And you hate it. I see the dark circles around your eyes. I see the frustration in them when you're working on an article. Of course, you're providing good work, because you have the skills, but you don't enjoy it."

"I-I'm doing this because I want to!" the young journalist exploded, still in denial.

Aiba just hummed, taking a sip from his own glass of water and then, he took a different approach. "Did you just admit that you are genuinely interested in Sakurai Sho?"

Immediately, Nino blushed. "You're twisting my every word, aren't you?" he pouted, crossing his arms in front of his chest, huffing.

"I'm just wondering," his friend continued. "It's the first time I see you worked up that much about a fucking article. And your whole behaviour… It's like you're obsessed with him."

"I just want to save my reputation!" Nino started defending himself. "I got scolded by my boss three times already because I can't get this stupid article done."

"I'm sorry if this sounds mean now," Aiba interrupted his friend. "But I am your best friend and it's my duty to be honest with you," he locked eyes with Nino, who just glanced back, waiting for the next blow. "So let me ask - what reputation? The one of a gossip journalist? Don't act as if you're proud of that Nino, I know better! I know you since our childhood, after all, you can't fool me. Sakurai either stepped onto the last bit of pride you really have or you're simply, plainly obsessed with him!"

"Bullshit!" Nino snorted. He didn't get it, what was Aiba talking about right now, the wrong choices Nino made in the past, or his apparently obsessive behaviour when it came to Sakurai Sho?

"Did you kiss him?" Aiba asked after a few minutes of silence, arching an eyebrow.

The question didn't even take Nino by surprise, so the young man simply groaned, defeated, letting his head drop against the backrest of the couch. Aiba smirked, interpreting his best friend's reaction just too well.

"So you did kiss him... which means you at least find him attractive," the man concluded before he continued babbling. "You might say that you're just using one of your talents when flirting with celebrities but I know exactly that you only do so with people that at least attract you."

"It's enough now, Aiba, I mean it," Nino turned his head, glaring at his friend, and when he showed signs of wanting to get up from the couch, Aiba reached his hand to grab Nino's arm and pull him close to him. Still, he was smirking at him, superiorly.

"I attract you too, after all, or you wouldn't sleep with me, best friends or not...," he said, as he threw his arms around Nino to tuck him in a tight embrace.

Well, Nino couldn't fight that, and like the magic Aiba was always doing, Nino's bad mood started melting away when his friend started kissing his neck, caringly.

- - -

"You are lucky, that you already signed the contracts and there's going to be an official press statement tomorrow anyway, or Miike might kill you," Keiko sighed, when she pushed the new issue of the "Un[der]cover" into Sho's hands when Sho's driver stopped to pick up the manager to bring them to Sho's job for the day – a new CM filming.

On page 5, among the "New Ups", a small selection of short news and rumours, there was it, a small notice about Sho's new acting deal in Miike Takashi's upcoming movie, pushed in a corner and signed with the initials N.K. Sho did not even need to read them to know that this must be Ninomiya's little revenge on him, for what he did at their meeting in the "Matsuoka's". It wasn't too surprising, more surprising was that it took about a full week until the "news" leaked, but still, Sho couldn't hold back a frustrated groan.

"What's wrong?" his manager asked. "That's not like you..."

Indeed, it was the first time that the information about an upcoming job leaked before the official statement, Sho had to admit. Usually, he was more cautious and such information either did not slip at all, or he managed to bribe journalists with a small sum of money to resist publishing it. But this time, Sho had been surprised by Ninomiya's presence and after the heated conversation with the other man, the thought that the journalist might have eavesdropped on his and Miike's conversation didn't even cross his mind. His thoughts had been occupied with other things, namely rather how he would be able to resist Ninomiya, if the man would try to get to him again, like he did on that evening. He was too careless.

"I'm sorry, I'll pay more attention, next time," the actor simply replied, not going deeper on an explanation for his excuse.

"Is everything OK?" Keiko asked further, a bit worried, frowning at Sho, who then quickly averted his eyes.

"Everything fine," Sho said but judging from his friend's following sigh and her critically arched eyebrow, he knew that she didn't believe him.

"Are you going to meet Ohno-kun tonight like scheduled?" she asked, letting the topic slip and Sho just hummed in return. "Tell him Daigo and I say hello."

"I will. It's sad you can't come with me, Ohno would have been delighted too, I'm sure," Sho said, offering her a small smile.

"Don't try to be nice, Sho, I think you can need some face to face talk with your best friend and I don't want to be the third wheel," Keiko smiled, patting Sho's thigh.

It had indeed been a while since Sho had the chance to meet his friend, Ohno Satoshi, being too busy with work these recent weeks, no, months, so it was really high time to meet him again. He had arranged the meeting already a few weeks ago and was looking forward to it since then, but now, his tension was comparably low.

Honestly, Sho hadn’t been sleeping well, recently. He was lying awake at night, he was waking up from nightmares, sweating, and then he had trouble to fall asleep again. With his job, sleep was an essential part of the necessary self-care in order not to burn out, however, the past few days had been draining.

Sho had not told Keiko yet about his problems, hoping that they would just go away by themselves. It wasn't the first time that after a big project, when the actor actually hit some down-time for himself, his brain started waking up thoughts and sorrows that laid dormant during the time he was working his ass off, which then kept him awake. Probably, he just needed another project to keep himself busy, and then things would become normal again.

At least, the actor tried to fight the suspicion, that this time, it wasn't just a simple problem of being "underworked", as Sho used to call it, but that probably, just maybe, the appearance of a certain someone in his life could be part of it.

- - -

Sho smiled when he entered the usual restaurant, hours later, in which he had made a reservation for him and his friend. Since the shooting for the CM had taken a little longer than expected due to surprising weather changes, Ohno must be there already, waiting for him, and that was exactly how it was.

"Sho, how good to finally see you in real again, man," Ohno greeted his friend with a beaming face, standing up as soon as the other reached their table in the back of the restaurant.

"Satoshi, it's been a while," the actor replied joyfully.

Sho was still wearing a facial mask and a cap to hide his face, as he usually did when he went out by himself, but of course, his friend recognised him immediately. They exchanged a brief but tight hug, Sho commenting on how good Ohno looked and Ohno giving back the compliment after Sho removed his disguise, although he couldn't help but point out the slightly dark circles around Sho's eyes.

"How are things going?" Ohno asked after they settled down and he quickly ordered a beer for Sho. "I saw you a lot on TV recently. That movie of yours seems to become a hype already although it's not even showing in the cinema yet."

"Indeed, it received pretty good reviews at the premiere," Sho stated, satisfied.

"I'm looking forward to seeing it," his friend said with a smile.

They ordered a bowl of ramen each and while waiting for their food, they talked about recent events in Ohno's life, how work was going and how his wife was doing – Sho congratulating them again on the pregnancy which Ohno had recently texted him about, proudly - before they switched the topic to Sho's recent projects and achievements. It wasn't like Sho wanted to brag or anything, but when it came to Ohno, acting would always be a topic since in fact, Sho's acting career was connected to Ohno deeper than anyone would ever expect.

To keep it short, it was Ohno who – just a few years ago – did not only discover Sho's exceptional talent for acting and wakened Sho's wish to become a professional, but also changed his life. It had been a coincidence like no one would expect it to happen in real life, but when Sho said that Ohno saved him, he wasn't even exaggerating.

It was during a very dark time of his life, when Sho had the luck to randomly run into Ohno, in this very restaurant. He had just packed up and left his home town after quitting his job, driven by a life changing event, and was wandering through Tokyo aimlessly. His bank account wasn't looking bad, not at all, since he managed to save up quite an amount of money over the past years. However, all the money couldn't buy him a peace of mind. Helpless about where to go and what to do, his only goal was to start anew somewhere, where people didn't know about his past, Sho was trying to find a job, but even more, trying to find himself.

At that time, Ohno, who apparently had collected some experience years ago as a stage actor before deciding to study psychology, had been leading a group of people in an – as he later explained to Sho - so-called "acting therapy", which was supposed to help them to express their feelings and confront themselves with their traumatic experiences and emotional dilemmas. It wasn't a usual kind of therapy, as you imagine someone sitting in front of a therapist trying to decipher your weird dreams, but it was a much more free and self-focused alternative, with the goal of not only facing your demons, but also finding solutions, alone or with the support of other people, that laid hidden by acting out unconscious approaches based on a deep understanding of oneself.

This was something, Sho had never heard about before, so when Ohno first spoke to him when he found him slouching at the bar, not even wanting to touch his delicious looking ramen, the man seriously thought, Ohno had gone crazy.

However, Ohno was deadly serious when he offered the stranger, with a smile, to come along and watch his group. He didn't push him to talk when Sho actually showed up in the room next door, which was apparently kept reserved for private circles like these, after deciding that he had nothing better to do with his evening anyway. Ohno simply allowed him to sit there at the back and watch and afterwards invited him to come join them again, which Sho surprisingly did.

In the beginning, Sho really did not plan to join the group for real or participate in their small skits, but he had to admit that it was fascinating to observe what was happening. He quickly learned that the participants in this group were just people like him, every one of them trying to cope with their own problems. The difference was, through acting out their situations, they were trying to do something. One the other hand he was just waiting for better times to come, which he knew wouldn't just do so by themselves. His guilt was too deep, his problems too big for himself to face them properly, but still, he refused to let others help him.

It started with Ohno asking Sho in his typical calm voice to jump in and help out with a few small skits with his group attendants, and Sho didn't really see a reason why he should refuse to help. It turned out to be quite interesting, sometimes even fun, sometimes very emotional, but it always felt good, being able to help, and after a while, Sho thought that he might become better, that one day, he might become able to restart his life for real.

Still, it wasn't before another major break-down hit, that Sho finally realized what he wanted to do. Then, one evening, a few weeks after he first started helping out Ohno with his group, he had to play the role of a "ghost".

The young woman who was facing him during that play, had lost a friend after said friend committed suicide because she was bullied by a group of people at university and couldn't bear it any longer. The young woman, who wasn't part of that group, but also didn't jump in to help her friend, was eaten by the feelings of guilt, by the thought of being responsible for her friend's death, since she did not do everything in her power to help.

Ohno's specifications, which he sometimes told Sho in advance, was to face the woman from the perspective of her dead friend, and tell her that whatever happened was not her fault. That no matter what happened - it was solely her friend's very own and personal decision to end her life, and that it was not the woman's responsibility.

When Sho voiced these words, the woman clenched her hands in front of her face, catching tears of relief which were spilling from her eyes. So it worked. This simple statement helped to sooth her mind, Sho realised, and he should feel good about it. However, for him, things were different and thus, in the end it was Sho, whose knees became weak and who slumped onto the floor, his mind fogged with dreadful memories and his eyes clouded from tears, as he started screaming to his heart's content, to get rid of the suddenly overwhelming emotional pain.

His own situation had been similar to the skit, at parts, at least, even if his own actions worthed much more regrets and much more responsibility, compared to the woman's, and it made Sho re-experience everything he did, everything he went through and everything he ran away from.

Sho suffered from an emotional melt-down that very evening, staying behind long after everyone else of the group had gone home, until Ohno finally spoke to him, offering to listen if Sho needed someone to talk. And that was what he did.

After knowing the man for several weeks and keeping his secrets for himself throughout the whole time, Sho finally told Ohno everything, pouring his heart out. He told him about his sorrows, about his nightmares, about the guilt that was eating him, and Ohno just listened calmly. He did not judge him and only listened until the man in front of him finished his story, in tears. Then, he placed his hand on Sho's shoulder and said the exact same words to him that Sho said to the woman during their skit. It made the man tear up once more, but at the same time, jolted some kind of healing process, which eventually made Sho feel better.

While challenging the demons of his past and continuing being part of Ohno's group, Sho soon realised that what he was doing the whole time – acting – might be his purpose. To be exact, to make other people and himself feel better through his acting. And with that, he suddenly had a life goal again. He might not be able to atone his sins, but he would be able to live his duty and live to the best he possibly could.

- - -

"So you're still having those dreams," Ohno sighed after listening to Sho, who was about to take a snapshot from his ramen with his phone, to tweet about his awesome dinner.

"Sometimes," the actor admitted, while hitting the tweet button. He put his phone away, and focused on Ohno again, even before he tasted his food. "You know you did a great deal to help me overcome my most critical phase, Satoshi," he said, sincerely. "But yeah, sometimes I still have those dreams. I can't fully escape from them. But I learned to accept them. It's part of my atonement."

Ohno looked up after taking a long slurp from his ramen bowl, his eyebrows knitted as he darted a look at his friend, to dig deeper. "I think it's normal, something like this can't be forgotten so easily, but – sorry if I am wrong – I feel like there is something else, isn't it?"

Sho bit his lower lip, averting his look from Ohno, to focus onto the delicious looking soup in front of him, his chopsticks in the one hand and the spoon in the other, ready. Still, he didn't touch his food.

"Is there more to the nightmares this time?" Ohno added questioningly.

Sho tilted his head, wondering how to put things, before he finally spilled the beans, telling his friend about the recent addition to his dream – a man called Ninomiya Kazunari (he spared Ohno the sexy part of those dreams, though, still trying to forget that he really had them), who – at least in his dreams – managed to find out everything about Sho and used that knowledge to expose Sho's crimes to the whole world, looking down on him, pointing at him, accusing him. These dreams ended with Sho being dragged to a stake by a thong of fans and acting colleagues, pushing him on top of it, and Ninomiya setting fire, which would burn his whole body and cause Sho to wake up, yelling and covered in sweat.

Ohno frowned and after another slurp, he placed his chopsticks and spoon on the table, so that he was able to fully focus on Sho. He cleared his throat.

"It appears to me as if your subconscious still fears of being punished, Sho" he started analysing his friend's dream. "But things are settled, as best as they could be, you told me back then."

"I know."

"Which means, you cannot be punished any more, right?"

"I know," Sho replied in a low voice. Ohno was right. Things were settled, but that didn’t mean that he could stop nibbling on his guilty feelings. Probably always will.

"OK, so that means, what you are scared of the most at this moment is that the truth will come out and as a consequence, it will be the end of your acting career," the other man finished his reasoning.

"I'm not Freud but yes, I guess that's what the dreams mean, yeah," Sho admitted.

Ohno hummed, resuming to eat in order not to let his soup turn cold.

"That Ninomiya-guy, you know, the one who's... setting fire in your dream," the man jumped in his thoughts. "It sounds like you see him specifically as a threat. Can you tell me more about him?"

Sho took a deep breath, but did not even hesitate for a moment, before he started telling his friend the whole story. Of how he met Ninomiya Kazunari, from the moment he saw him exiting Matsumoto's car in front of the red carpet, until he threatened him in the "Matsuoka's". OK, correction, he didn't tell the whole story, he left out the kiss, for now.

"Why aren't you calling the police or threaten to sue him?" Ohno asked concerned when Sho finished. "If he's really harassing you, they should be able to do something against his behaviour."

"…I don't know, isn't that a bit too much?" the actor asked, tilting his head and furrowing his eyebrows. "Also, he's not a stalker at least, not yet..."

Ohno slightly rolled his eyes. "That's probably because you're so discrete that it's almost impossible to actually stalk you, but if you ask me, it sounds like he would if he could. He sounds dangerous..."

"I know...," Sho sighed again, rubbing his forehead.

He knew, better than anybody else, and still he couldn't help but feel his heart beat a little faster when his thoughts drifted off to the journalist, remembering the softness of his lips, the taste of their kiss... He shouldn't have allowed him to kiss him, really, that messed up everything.

"Still, you don’t want to report him," his friend summarized before he fell silent for a few seconds, the noisy background from the restaurant filling the pause in their conversation. He then locked eyes with his friend again. "Sho, is it that you rather want him to find out about your past?"

"Are you crazy?" Sho blanked. "Of course not! I can't risk him to tell the whole world about everything!"

"Of course not, but maybe you want him to know," his friend offered carefully. "Your life as an actor is a very stressful one. You live away from your family, and you don't have a partner who you can fully trust with everything. This is just me guessing, but maybe you're unconsciously searching for a confidant."

Sho chuckled, incredulously. "I don't need a confidant, I have you, you know and I can talk to my parents over the phone whenever I feel like it and Keiko and Daigo know too, that's more than enough confidants, if you ask me."

"But you don't have a life partner, Sho," Ohno repeated, emphasising the last word. "Don't get me wrong, I am not judging you or telling you what to do with your life, I'm trying to look through what your brain and your heart may be wishing for. Believe me, it's absolutely fine if you are single and can handle everything and it's also fine to have only a few close friends, if that is what makes you happy. But – and this is just my guess – maybe you sometimes still feel a bit lonely."

Sho stared at his friend in disbelief. He wasn't surprised that Ohno looked through him completely, he indeed happened to feel lonely at times. Of course it would be nice to have someone by your side, someone he could trust completely, talk about everything and just share your life with, but Sho had long given up on that dream, knowing that with his past it would probably be hard to find someone who would stay with him once the truth was out, not that he deserved it... However, the fact that Ohno brought this topic up in connection with Ninomiya and how Sho treated him so far, surprised him. It was true that he felt kind of attracted by the man, and it was true that he didn't want to asperse him, but this had nothing to do with the possibility of -

"You are trying to say that I unconsciously consider him as my life partner?!" Sho tried to comprehend.

"At least, it's the first time that someone has such an impact on you, it's a possibility, as I said, I'm just guessing," Ohno explained.

Again, Sho released a nervous chuckle, his heartbeat almost choking him. "Why should I... I mean, why him out of all people."

"That's probably something only you know, even if you still can't figure it out," his friend said. "For some reason, he seems to fascinate you. It's either something he did or something he is. Or... he's simply your type and your heart is of the opinion that your loneliness should come to an end." Ohno grinned.

"Could you please stop now?" Sho simply said, not even daring to mention that Keiko had said almost the exact same thing.

"Stop what?"

"I know you just want to help but I seriously just wanted to meet you as my friend to chat and... maybe vent my stress about a little irritating paparazzo, not be psychologically analysed," the actor said, flashing Ohno a pitiful smile.

"Sorry, professional habit, I guess," his friend smirked.

Sho seriously did not feel like talking about that whole thing anymore. His mind was spinning, showing him pictures that he had memorized just too well. Ninomiya on the evening of the premiere with that well-fitting suit and the handsome top hat, Ninomiya in those incredible tight leather pants and that sexy black shirt at the bar, his hair tousled and wild, the man's lustful eyes after they parted from their kiss... A lust that Sho needed to fight so hard not to show himself. But he couldn't. And his friend's assumptions were not helpful at all in getting that Ninomiya guy out of his head, either.

He couldn't allow this to happen. He wasn't supposed to live in a relationship. You never knew if it worked out. You could risk not only losing a confidant and partner, when things didn't work out, but you basically sold your soul to that person for the time of the relationship. Sho couldn't afford that. It was too risky. The world could find out about his sins. Especially, when it was someone like Ninomiya, and to begin with that journalist might not even be serious about him at all anyway, and would probably sell Sho's secrets as soon as he decided to trust him with them. No, he seriously couldn't afford that, Sho thought.

Although, if he was completely honest with himself, there was this tiny little bit of hope within Sho, that told him that maybe, Ninomiya wasn't as bad as he tried to make others believe he was. Sho had found out things about the young man that made him think – hope – that even if the man ended up in the place in which he was right now, he had good reasons and if there was a chance, he would maybe leave everything behind and start anew. Similar to Sho. Hopefully, before it was too late, like in Sho's case...

"So… I did some research on him, you see?" he suddenly said out loud, allowing Ohno to hop onto his trail of thoughts, who lifted his eyebrows, curiously. Sho sighed when he realized how this must sound right now. "Not because of… Look, I did some research because I wanted to know how dangerous he really can be, that's all."

"Hmmmmm," the other man pursed his lips.

"However," Sho continued after a quick roll with his eyes. "It's just that... he… reminds me a bit of myself. You know, how I was…"

"Hm… so maybe that's what keeps you thinking about him," Ohno concluded. "Are you worried he'll commit similar mistakes as you?"

Sho hesitated for a moment, thinking, but then nodded slightly. As expected, his friend understood him better than he did himself.

"Anyway, I have no intention of letting this man into my life, and least of all, into my past," the actor stated, determined. "He's dangerous and if he finds out the wrong things and tells them to the wrong people, my career would be over. Just because he's my type it doesn't meant that –"

"So he is your type," Ohno grinned cheekily.

"Stop now, Satoshi, I mean it," his friend stated bluntly.

"I know, sorry. You don't have to consider him for a relationship. Just, don't feel guilty for finding someone interesting or attractive, that's just natural, OK?" The other man gestured at the bowl in front of his blushed friend. "Eat your ramen, finally, it must be cold already."

Sho reached for his chopsticks and spoon and when he dipped it into the soup to try it, he found out that it had indeed turned cold. Still, it was delicious.

- - -

When Nino opened his eyes, staring up to the ceiling of his living room, the deep voice of the singer he had just listened to still resonated in his head. He could listen to the song again and again, right now, but nature was calling, so he ripped of his headphones, placing them on the couch and got up, planning to go to the bathroom, when he saw the screen of his phone turning on due to an incoming call. Recognizing his best friend's ID, Nino decided that nature could wait for another minute and snatched the device to pick up the call.

"Masaki?" he asks into the cell phone speaker, just to be greeted by a – not really positive – rant by his friend.

"Nino? Nino! Finally you pick up! Where the heck are you?!"

"I'm home, why?" the man frowned before turning his head as the doorbell rang. "Wait for a second, have to open the door -"

"I BEG you!" the journalist heard his friend's annoyed voice through the phone, no actually... the closer he came to his apartment door, the stranger the noises sounded.

When he opened the door, he realised that he could drop his phone, as Aiba was standing in front of it, his arms crossed, one hand to his ear against which he was pressing his phone, and a plastic bag hanging from the wrist of his other hand.

"High time, I'm already annoying the hell out of your neighbours," the man said, ending the call and pushing his phone into his trousers' pockets before letting himself in without waiting for his friend to invite him inside. "Didn't you hear me?"

"Oh, hey," Nino smiled at him, not bothering the way Aiba intruded into his apartment and pushed the door close. His friend could almost be counted as part of the inventory, anyway. "Sorry, no I didn't hear you."

"Don't hey me! I was worried about you!" his friend exclaimed as he turned at him after brushing off his shoes.

"Why?" Nino asked, completely oblivious.

"We didn't see each other in a week! I tried to reach you but you didn't pick up the phone and ignored my messages for the past three days, so I assumed you need some space or are on a busy project or whatever, which is fine, but when I dropped by at your working place during lunch time to check on you, they told me you are working from home but couldn't reach you either and now I arrive here and you let me ring the bell for minutes, like I'm nuts," Aiba rambled.

Nino quickly lifted his hand, gesturing his friend to stop for a moment. "I'm sorry to interrupt you but... just for a second, I really need to...," he nodded into the bathroom's direction and Aiba immediately stopped his rant.

"Oh sure, go ahead, please."

Nino excused himself again, rushing to the toilet, and was back in record time, just to find his friend in the living room, with two plates from the kitchen in one hand, and trying to find some empty space on the over-filled coffee table to put his bag.

"I brought some snacks and beer and some cake," Aiba started listing when he saw Nino coming back, who just arched a questioning eyebrow at him.

"Cake?" he asked slightly confused. "Do we have something to celebrate?"

Aiba almost dropped one of the beer cans he was just pulling out of the plastic bag, staring at his friend. "Are you kidding me?"

But Nino just stood there, looking cute, innocent and completely unknowing, the only thing missing in this scene would be the comical question marks popping out of his head. Aiba sighed and looking around, he probably shouldn't be surprised at the other man's reaction. His living room looked like a bomb had exploded, working material (which included tons of magazines, internet prints and what else Nino could find with at least half of them having Sakurai Sho on their covers) spread everywhere, empty cups of coffee lining the table, note pads and pens placed next to the opened laptop.

"You didn't expect visitors at all today, did you?" Aiba assumed.

Nino in the meantime had started cleaning up a few things to make space for his friend. "No? Why should I?"

"Do you even know what day it is?"

The journalist frowned. He should know what day it was, as he used to be up to date with internet news and stuff due to his job and he was sure that his eyes had crossed the date at least a few times already today, however, he somehow managed to lose the essence of it, if there was something special to it.

"It's possible that I kind of lost track...," he finally admitted, looking at his friend, slowly but surely getting a bit worried. "Did I miss something important?"

Aiba looked at his friend with worry in his eyes. "Did something happen? Is everything OK? What have you been up to that it made you completely forgot your own birthday?!"

Nino's face slipped. "My what?!"

The young man reached for his phone, to finally properly check it, and indeed, the date showed his birthday and further, as he scrolled through his notifications, he had to notice at least 5 unanswered calls from his family and a ton of messages from friends and colleagues on LINE, congratulating him (and his boss virtually barking at him to show his ass in the office at least once a day). He sighed. Even if he was not the type to throw big celebrations on his birthday – preferring to spend a nice evening with his best friend over partying – it was the first time that he actually totally forgot about the event. Aiba squinted his eyes and then, he whirled around and gave Nino a bear hug, pressing him close.

"I don't even know if I should feel sorry or upset now, Nino," he murmured. "Your birthday is an important day, you should not forget about it, seriously!"

"Uhm... I'm sorry?" the smaller man offered hesitantly, accepting the embrace.

"So how did you spend your birthday, so far?" Aiba continued with a crooked smile as he let go of Nino and finally started to unpack some orange-lemon cake from Nino's favourite bakery, not too sweet, with just the right amount of freshness.

"Well, I... was listening to music with my headphones," Nino finally admitted, snatching his mp3 player from the couch, looking at the title flashing on the display. "Maybe I turned the volume on too high... Besides, I've been working, of course, you know?" he added.

"Nino, you don't need to justify your working habits to me," Aiba explained. "I'm just surprised that... Did the music make you forget about the real world?"

"Well, you know, that song...," the younger man started, reaching one hand back to rub his neck, slightly embarrassed.

Aiba couldn't help but follow his natural curiosity and stepped closer to take a look, his eyes widening when he recognised the track.

"Isn't that the single Sakurai released for his debut drama series back then?!" he asked. Nino bit his lips. "It's even on repeat...," his friend continued. "Wow, you really must love that song."

"I think he should release another one, to be honest," Nino murmured, averting his eyes sheepishly, when he caught sight of a smirk forming on Aiba's lips.

"Isn't it unlikely, since he decided to focus on acting?" his friend asked, repeating the information Nino himself had already shared with him a few days ago.

"I know," Nino replied, sounding a bit worked up, and unable to hold himself back. "But it's a pity, his voice is so beautiful, his range is great, but especially when he's rapping or singing low key, it's just..."

Aiba reached his hand out to touch Nino's arm, causing him to stop fangirling. "Are you... are you having goosebumps? From that song?"

"It's a good song!" Nino defended himself, pulling back his arm.

His friend chuckled, shrugging. "I thought it's average but good for you if you like it."

"And it's really rare and hard to find a physical copy nowadays," the young journalist continued. "They didn't expect it to run out of print so quickly. But I found a signed version of the limited edition of the CD on ebay -"

"Nino... we need to talk," his friend then interrupted him, sitting down on the couch, pushing the two plates with cake in the right position and patting the empty place beside him.

Nino took place. "About what?"

"Don't get me wrong, I think it's... nice that you found something... someone... you like so much," the other man said, worry painting his face. "But... don't you think you're getting overly obsessive with him?"

"Hm? No, no, it's not like that, Aiba, you know this is for my job, I jus-," the younger man immediately slipped into denial mode.

"You are obsessed with him," Aiba kept on, gesturing to the mess in Nino's living room. "I mean, just look around you, there's a pile of movies featuring him that you are re-watching although they don't help you at all to continue with your article, your room is literally covered in Sakurai Sho's face!"

"I told you, that's because of my job, how often do I need to remind you that I need to write a several pages long feature about that man? There must be at least something I can write about... This is called research, nothing else."

"Fine, reading some magazines and hanging out on the internet might be research, but being addicted to his song and searching for signed copies of the CD online, is being obsessed!" Aiba argued.

"It's not!" Nino still insisted, maybe more to make himself believe in it than his friend.

Suddenly, Aiba reached for Nino's arms, slightly pulling him towards himself, looking at him, strictly. "Kiss me, Nino."

"What?" the other stared at him, confused.

"Just do it. Like always, come on!" his friend encouraged him and not even a second later, they were sharing a kiss, sweet and nice, like always, just like Aiba had said. When they parted lips and Nino opened his eyes again, he was just as confused as before.

"How was it?" Aiba interrogated, his eyebrows still furrowed.

"It was... nice?" Nino replied.

"And now, kiss me again but this time imagine that I am Sakurai Sho," his friend demanded, leaning forward again, just to be held back by his friend, who backed off a little while stopping his friend with upheld arms.

"What?!" he asked, irritated. "Are you crazy?"

"Just do it!"

Pushing forward, Aiba covered Nino's lips with another kiss, and even if Nino wanted to resist, it was like his friend's words had bewitched him, making him indeed fantasizing about how it would be to kiss Sakurai right now.

The young man was suddenly thrown back to the evening in the "Matsuoka's", where he had the heated discussion with the other man, until he ended up kissing him. His heartbeat immediately raised to high speed, the memories of said evening mixing with the presence of Aiba's kiss, and Nino couldn't help but sigh into their kiss, voicelessly, parting his lips willingly, going with the flow, and was soon melting into the imagination of Sakurai's arms, completely abandoning all the denial he had tried to put up for Aiba so that he would not find out how bad the situation about him and Sakurai had actually become...

Nino panted, when he broke the kiss with his friend, pressing him away with slightly trembling arms. His mouth felt hot and wet and he knew that his face must be flushing in deep red. His heart was still pounding like crazy in his chest, as if it was ready to spring out, and for a moment, he felt like he wanted to cry over the realisation that this was not real and that he had used his friend to fulfil his desires... he felt horribly guilty.

"I – I'm sorry, Masaki, I didn't mean-," he stuttered at his friend, who was looking at him, surprised.

"OK wow, that was hell of a kiss," Aiba said, obviously trying to collect his thoughts. "I may say, that was much more passionate than we kissed in a long while, Nino..." He didn't sound bitter or anything, he was simply stating an observation but still, it made the other man feel extremely unease.

"Could you please stop analysing our kisses?!" The younger man blushed even more, covering his face with one hand. This was so embarrassing, he was completely exposed of what he didn't even want to admit to himself...

His friend grinned, looking at his friend, teasingly, as he had obviously recovered his composure, to the contrary of Nino. "Are you freaking out now because I helped you to realise your crush?"

"My crush?!" Nino's voice made a weird noise. He cleared his throat. "Oh come on! Now, cake, thanks for the treat!" the man decided, in order to distract his friend from further analysis, reaching for his plate and tearing a huge first bite from his piece of cake.

Aiba looked at his friend but then reached for his own plate and started eating too, until he couldn't suppress his thoughts any longer and picked up the topic again. "You know... if you really like him that much, I think you should talk to him again."

"I told you how hard it is to meet him," Nino said after a few seconds of pause, munching on the delicious cake.

"Did you really try everything?" Aiba asked. "You're a celebrity hunter, Nino. Don't tell me you're done?"

The younger man stopped eating, holding the half empty plate in mid-air before he placed it down on the table in front of him, carefully finishing chewing his bite. He sighed, before he turned to his friend, throwing him a surprisingly devastated look.

"What if I meet him again and he really hates me as much as I think he does?"

Aiba hummed. "Then you may just want to make him like you."

"But how?!" Nino inquired, convinced that this sounded like a mission impossible with the current state of the situation.

"Tell him you can be a nice guy if you want," Aiba smiled. "It's not even a lie. Or tell him you won't write about him."

Nino groaned, frustrated. "That's not possible, I have to, it's my job!"

His friend frowned. "Maybe you should reconsider. You can tell your boss the project is dead and tell Sakurai that he doesn't have to fear you anymore."

"The hell...," Nino mumbled.

In fact, it wasn't like his friend's idea was completely new to him. He indeed had played with the thought of backing out from this project, but considering how his boss might react to this choice and fearing the consequences, it was something Nino didn't want to face just yet. He could lose his job. And without a job, he'd be in trouble. He still needed to finish paying back the fees of his scholarship after all... But if he was completely honest, his writing file for the feature about Sakurai Sho was not only still empty because there wasn't much to tell, but also because Nino had long lost his enthusiasm to expose to the world whatever that man was hiding. He was still convinced that there was something... but even if he would be clever enough to find out anything, Nino might probably really want to keep those secrets to himself and protect the other man...

"I know, if this job really meant so much to you, this would be a stupid suggestion, but I know what you're thinking right now," his friend said. "You'd rather lose your job than write about Sakurai, don't you?"

"Masaki..."

"That's why you're not showing up at work," the man concluded. "Basically, you almost quit already, didn't you?"

"You're being too smart, stop that," Nino said, reaching for the rest of his cake. Maybe he had started mentally preparing - a little bit - but he had not run through any job advertisements or anything yet...

"Really, tell Sakurai. Tell him that his secrets are safe with you."

"He won't believe me... and first, I would need to find him."

"Maybe we can find a way!" Aiba smiled, trying to fuel some of his optimism into his friend's mood, the latter who had finally finished his cake and was now browsing on his phone. Then, suddenly, the young man froze and Aiba already thought, the miracle happened and Nino had found the clue he needed. "What's the matter?"

"He tweeted something, just now!" Nino exclaimed, causing his friend to frown.

Was this another fangirl attack? Sakurai probably did not tweet his location just now, he wasn't that risky of a person, that much Nino had told Aiba a dozen times already. But Nino seemed truly excited over whatever that the actor posted, so Aiba couldn't just brush it off, leaning a bit closer to his friend to have a better look at his phone's screen.

"Look!" Nino pointed at the picture Sakurai had just tweeted.

"It's... a foodie," Aiba stated, anticlimactically. "Like his whole twitter, if I remember your information correctly."

Nino rolled his eyes, as if Aiba was just acting being oblivious. "That's not what I mean, look closely!"

"It's ramen?" his friend tried guessing again while stating the obvious.

"Well, yes, it is, but what's special about it is that it's not the first time he tweeted this particular ramen!" Nino replied, enthusiastically.

"Maybe it's from his favourite restaurant?" Aiba concluded.

"Which means, he's currently there!" Nino continued, cheering, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "He seems to be a regular in that shop. I'm so stupid, why didn't I think about this before?" the young man slapped his forehead. "If I can just find out where they serve this ramen, then I know where he is."

"And how exactly do you plan to find out which restaurant he is at the moment?" Aiba seriously wondered.

Nino was already at it, apparently, having pulled his laptop closer and his fingers flying over the keyboard when he searched through the internet, commenting on his actions.

"I'll search for similar pictures and if I'm lucky I can trace back to the restaurant -"

"Really, that sounds like an impossible task, this could be from everywhere!" Aiba noted.

"Don't underestimate me," Nino smirked. "I'm still a journalist, I have my tactics."

Aiba furrowed his eyebrows. "Well then... do you think you can find it fast enough so that he's still there when -"

"OK," Nino interrupted his friend, smashing one last key on his laptop before turning the screen towards his friend and tapping on it, excitedly. "He's most likely in the "Kujira Shokudou" in Higashi-Kanogei, Tokyo!"

"What?!" Aiba gasped at the younger man and then onto the laptop screen which showed the menu of a ramen shop website with a very similar photograph of the, probably exact same, ramen dish Sakurai had posted on his twitter a minute before. "How the hell did you even find that so quickly?!"

"That's not too far away...," Nino murmured, not really paying attention to his friend's question.

Aiba sighed, giving up, and instead tried a different approach. "So... what are you planning to do now? Go there and spy on him? Catch him for a talk?"

"What?! Are you crazy!?" Nino immediately panicked, looking at his friend as if he just suggested for him to jump off a cliff. But Aiba just kept looking at him, arching an eyebrow. "You're not even kidding, are you?" Nino then added, insecure.

Aiba shook his head, deadly serious. "I'm not."

"But how do you imagine this to turn out?" Nino frowned. "Do you think he's willing to talk to me? He may just kick my ass and run away when he sees me... Besides, after our last encounter, it's just too embarrassing to meet him..."

Aiba rubbed his forehead, releasing a frustrated groan before he turned to Nino, putting his hands on top of the man's shoulders and locked eyes with him, determined.

"Just before you whined about how hard it is to meet him. You showed me that in fact for you it seems to be peanuts to find him after all – and I still can't believe that all it needed was a foodie tweet but whatever – and now you tell me you're too scared to meet him? I tell you what you are, Nino, you are head over heels for that man, and believe me, if you don't even try to set things right, this will haunt you for the rest of your life and you'll end up like a bitter virgin regretting that you didn't even try to confess to that one man who turned your world upside down!"

Nino blushed deeply, a cute pout forming on his lips as he started defending himself. "First, I'm not head over heels for Sakurai."

"Sure," Aiba chuckled, earning a death glare.

"Second, I will never confess anything to him, and third, I think you know best that I am not a virgin!"

"Well, definitely not but you get my point," Aiba replied, rolling his eyes. "No matter whether you admit it or not, I know you really have a problem with this whole situation but I'm here to support you. So I suggest you get your pretty butt up and go on Sakurai-hunt now, for god's sake!"

And there they were again, the sparkles in Nino's eyes and when the young man asked his friend, if he'd come along with him, a slight but cute nervous hint to be heard in his voice, of course, Aiba couldn't deny his friend's wish.

- - -

Nino was a mess when they finally arrived at the ramen restaurant. Traffic played some tricks on them, so it had taken them a little longer than expected, but now they were here, walking through the door, their eyes carefully scanning the surroundings, and then, Nino grabbed Aiba's arm, digging his fingers into his skin almost painfully, while staring into a certain corner of the shop. There he was, Sakurai Sho, slurping his ramen, accompanied by another person that Nino only glanced for a split second before focusing his eyes back onto his target.

"He's here, he's really here!" he whispered almost hysterically while Aiba tried to get rid of his painful grip.

"Keep it low, would you," the taller man hissed, pulling Nino, who apparently froze in his movements, to the bar in the middle of the room, pushing him to take a seat, facing away from Sakurai and his company. "Or they are going to throw us out before we can order a drink."

"Who is he with?!" Nino asked, keeping the volume down, as requested by his friend, who was right of course. He had to pull himself together, he couldn't afford sticking out too much.

"I have no idea," Aiba stated the obvious.

Nino frowned, craning his neck a little, trying to catch more of the man who was sitting opposite of Sakurai, before Aiba pulled him back again so that they didn't draw too much attention.

"I thought you're scared to meet him?" the man asked. "Like this, you're sticking out too much. First, we need a plan on how to approach him," he suggested, but Nino didn't seem to listen to him, his thoughts occupied with something completely else.

"It's not a celebrity, at least I don't know him..." the journalist noted.

"Maybe a friend?"

As if he still had not heard Aiba speaking, the journalist frowned again, throwing his friend a concerned look. "Do you think, he's on a date?!"

"That's what you're troubled about now?" the other man rolled his eyes. "Oh my gosh, you're so totally in love..."

"I'm not..."

They kept silent, watching the two men having their conversation for a couple of minutes, but they were too far away to catch anything they said. While Aiba took care of ordering them something to eat, Nino just continued throwing eagle eyes at Sakurai, as if he was trying to read his lips. However, even if he was a man of many talents, that was not one of them. But suddenly, he clamped around Aiba's elbow again, almost panicking.

"Oh, fuck, they are leaving already!"

"Then what are you waiting for!" Aiba reacted quickly. "Go and catch him, talk to him before he's gone!"

But instead of jumping up and heading after the man who was just about to leave the restaurant together with that other guy, Nino felt his face turning pale and his knees becoming weak like pudding while his heart was doing things in his chest that made his stomach feel weird. Just the thought of having to confront that man now was turning Nino into a complete mess.

"No, I can't...," he heard himself saying in a broken voice. Damned... didn't he want to set things straight with Sakurai? Why on earth then was he chickening out like a scared child?

"Nino, come on, isn't this why we came here in the first place?" Aiba asked the exact same question the young man was asking himself at the moment.

"It was your idea," the younger man protested and Aiba rolled his eyes.

"Come on now, don't tell me we just came here to stalk on him. Now don't be a coward, where's your freaking confidence?!"

"But, I... I'm not ready," the journalist decided to listen to his body and better stay where he was before he risked collapsing, or puking on the floor in the middle of the restaurant. Not knowing which would be actually worse, unfortunately, Nino considered both as very probable possibilities right now. "I thought I could do it but I'm sure he'll kill me if he sees me here..."

Finally, Aiba accepted Nino's condition, however, he surprised him when he said, "OK... then wait here, let me do this," before he jumped up and follow them.

"Masaki?!" Nino stared at him, shocked, holding him back by his arm. "What the hell are you doing, are you crazy?!"

"Just stay, I'll handle this!" Aiba repeated, making a soothing gesture towards his panicking friend, before he was gone.

When the order Aiba made arrived a second later, Nino couldn't help but eye his ramen sceptically, not sure if his stomach would be happy to eat anything at that very moment. It probably would not mix well with the cake and that huge bundle of nervousness inside him... He decided to ignore the food for now and craned his neck towards the exit, trying to catch something with his eyes, but he could neither see Sakurai nor Aiba from his position, too many things blocking the way.

- - -

Outside, Aiba was lucky to be able to catch Sakurai, apparently, he and his companion were just about to get into a car, and usually, Aiba would just let them get on and drive away, since he didn't like to bother other people, especially not celebrities when he was lucky enough to see them. However, he was doing this for Nino, even if he did not have an exact plan yet, what exactly he should do now, and time was running through his hands. Even before his brain decided on some kind of strategy, Aiba leaped forward, just in time to be able to talk to the man before he was gone.

"Excuse me but... are you Sakurai Sho-san?" he asked, acting nonchalantly, catching the other man in surprise, who turned around, sunglasses and a face mask that he had put on when leaving the restaurant, staring back at Aiba, who swallowed.

"Uhm...," Sakurai didn't reply immediately, so Aiba took advantage of the surprise effect.

"I'm really sorry to disturb you and please don't worry, I won't tell anybody, it's just... I can't believe I'm so lucky to run into you here, what a coincidence!" the man said, flashing his most friendly smile at the actor and trying to keep things low and discrete. "I really respect your work, you know? I'm looking forward to seeing your new movie!"

"Thank you very much," Sakurai replied.

In the meantime, he had pulled down the face mask and lifted the sunglasses in politeness, to be able to make eye contact with that man who suddenly addressed him out of the blue. Well, it was probably not the first time that some apparently fan recognised him on the street, Aiba thought, still, the man looked surprised. So, Aiba continued babbling.

"Ah, if it's not too much of a bother, can I possibly ask you for an autograph?" he asked, following a sudden inspiration, as sweetly as possible. "You know, coincidentally, today is my best friend's birthday and he has become a huge fan of yours recently, so I'm convinced, he will be delighted if I can give him something that you signed," actually, considering how much Nino had transformed over the past few days, Aiba was convinced that this was not even a lie.

To the man's surprise, Sakurai didn't seem to mind, and instead flashed Aiba a slightly amused and hundred percent attractive smile. Aiba noted, that maybe, he could understand a bit better now, why Nino was so completely out of it, when it came to this man.

"You're very considerate of your friend," Sakurai said, causing Aiba to chuckle at the unexpected compliment.

"He's just too cute with his little crush on you...," the man said, smiling.

"Well, do you have something to sign on on hand, then?" the actor in front of him then asked, and Aiba almost couldn't believe, that the man actually seemed to be willing to grant his request.

"Actually, I do!" Aiba replied, when he remembered something in his pocket. "I bought this acting magazine today with you on the cover and that feature on the inside, please wait a second...," he reached for his bag, searching for the said item and a second later, he fished out the latest volume of "+act", quickly flipping through the pages until he found a series of photos featuring the actor. He beamed at Sakurai when he showed him the magazine. "Here it is! Ah... I don't have a pen though..."

Suddenly, Sakurai's companion jumped into the conversation, offering to go back inside to ask the shop owner for a pen, and it didn't even take a full minute before he was back again.

"Thank you, Satoshi," Sakurai smiled when he took the pen and uncapped it, while placing the magazine against the car's window so that he could write on it, properly. He turned to face Aiba again. "So, what's your friend's name?"

"Kazu!" the man replied without hesitation.

"OK, so...," the actor focused onto the glossy page in front of him, letting the pen brush over it in a smooth movement before he leaned over to blow slightly against the colour to dry, and then turned back to Aiba, holding the still open magazine at him. "This is it, here you go."

"Oh gosh, that's so awesome, he'll freak out, I swear!" Aiba murmured, carefully taking the magazine into his hands and beamed at the actor, gratitude shining from his face. "Thank you so much, really!"

"It's been my pleasure," Sakurai giggled. "Forward my greetings to your friend."

The other man nodded, excitedly, and then, when he noticed that Sakurai was finally about to get into the car, he suddenly had another idea and decided to go a step further, trying his luck. He took another step forward and cleared his throat, to attract the actor's attention again.

"Ah... I'm sorry if I bother you again," Aiba started. "In fact, I have a question... or rather, I need some advice." Sakurai arched a questioning eyebrow, obviously surprised over the other man's words, who then continued speaking. "Since you are such a friendly person and I'm sure you know how to handle such situations, I wonder, if you can help me with it?"

Even if Aiba almost expected the actor's patience to have reached its end, surprisingly, Sakurai didn't seem annoyed by the second request, and instead asked in a surprised but friendly voice, "What can that be?"

Aiba tilted his head to make his worries appear real, when he started to explain a more or less fictional problem.

"To be honest, I recently had a pretty bad fight with someone that I barely know. We only happen to meet casually and I don't even know when I'll be able to see him again. However, that person offended me quite badly but... I wonder, just assuming we meet again and that person apologizes... should I give him a second chance?"

"Hm...," Sakurai frowned, as if he really considered the man's question, and then, he offered a reply. "That's a tough question and it surely depends on the situation, but in general I'd say that every person deserves a second chance. So my advice is, that you should probably consider it."

"I see!" Aiba couldn't help but let a broad smile wash over his face. He bowed slightly. "That really helped a lot, Sakurai-san, thank you so much!"

"I'm glad if I can be of help," the actor replied and finally followed the other man into his car. "Good evening," he said to Aiba before closing the door.

"Good evening!"

Aiba bowed once more and when the car started, he turned on his heel and went back inside the restaurant, immediately rushing towards the bar.

- - -

Nino was sitting on his stool, clasping the bar in front of him, steaming hot ramen placed in front of him, still untouched. The young journalist just stared at his friend, having no clue about what had happened outside, since he was unable to witness the scene.

"You know, he's totally lived up to his image, he's really nice," Aiba said, first thing when he reached his own seat again, smiling widely. "And charming. And so handsome! I can totally see why you like him..."

"What the hell did you even do out there?!" Nino asked in disbelief. "What did you say? What did he say?"

"Chill, Nino," his friend reached to pat his shoulder. "I didn't say that I'm here with you, I just... tried to sound him out on the situation..."

Nino frowned, uncomprehending. "What do you mean?"

"I think, he might listen to you if you speak to him, apologize for your behaviour and tell him that you won't be a threat for him anymore," his friend explained, smiling.

Nino's heart stopped beating for a moment. "What makes you think so? What did you two talk about?"

Aiba shrugged. "Nothing in particular, I just happened to ask him for an opinion and he ended up saying that every person deserves a second chance," he said, grinning at the amazed face Nino was making at that very moment. "Oh, and by the way, I got something for you. Actually, I bought it because of Tao-chan's feature but... it's your day so, here you go!"

The man pushed the magazine from before towards his friend, who looked at the cover of the magazine, and then back to his friend, obviously not getting at all what this was about. Aiba reached out and opened the magazine, presenting Nino the first double page of Sakurai Sho's photo feature based on his upcoming movie. Nino's chin dropped when he read what was written on the right page, covering a dark, sexy suit that Sakurai was wearing on that page.

Right underneath Sakurai's face, which was looking at Nino with cute crescent shaped eyes and an alluring soft smile on his lips, were the words, "Happy Birthday to Kazu from Sho"

"What – WHAT?!" Nino exclaimed, unable to believe his eyes. He picked up the magazine, holding it closer to his eyes, as if he expected the writing to disappear if he didn't look closer.

"You're welcome," Aiba chuckled, amused over his friend's reaction. "Happy Birthday, Nino!"

Nino found himself at a loss of words again – for the second time when it came to Sakurai Sho. After slowly but surely recovering from the surprise, he was unable to hide his embarrassed excitement over Sakurai Sho's personal dedication with his signature (totally ignoring the fact that Sakurai didn’t even know who "Kazu" was) and he would be lying if he said that this day – against all odds – had not turned into one of his most exciting birthdays ever, thanks to his best friend.

Aiba finished his ramen – Nino was still too out of it to be able to intake anything food related so they asked for his order to change to a take away for him to bring home.

When they arrived back at Nino's place, Nino pulled his own "+act" feature (without signature) out of a staple of magazines and gave it to Aiba ("Since you wanted to have it because of Tao-chan's feature...") who beamed at him, happily, before he put his own (with signature) carefully into a shelf to store his new treasure away safely. The two friends then cuddled up on the couch and re-watched the journalist's favourite Sakurai-movies together for the nth time before they shared Nino's take away ramen as a midnight snack.

- - -

When Sho reached his apartment that night, he felt extremely tired. After having dinner and the very long but much needed conversation with his best friend Ohno, the two of them decided to make use of the opportunity and catch another (for Sho still non-alcoholic) drink at a nearby bar, before they called it a night and Sho offered Ohno to give him a ride home. Ohno's wife was already in bed, so Sho couldn't congratulate her on the baby himself, but he again told Ohno to tell her how happy he was for them and that he wished them the best for the pregnancy.

Finally at home, Sho would be ready for bed, if he didn't crave for a shower, like always after a long day. So, his path guided him into the bathroom first.

"You look like crap," Sho told the image in the large mirror in front of him, when he turned the light on, before quickly washing his face.

He then started to undress, pulling his shirt over his head and throwing it into the laundry basket in the corner. He then reached to empty his trousers' pockets, intending to do the same with them afterwards. When he suddenly spotted an unfamiliar note among a chewing gum package, some coins and a tissue, he frowned. He didn’t remember taking any notes like this, since he usually used his planner to note down whatever came to his mind. Curiously, he picked up the small paper and unfolded it, just to be surprised by some handwriting - that surely didn't belong to himself – which showed a number and a short message.

"I am Ninomiya Kazunari's friend. Please contact me. Aiba Masaki," Sho read out the message written over the following telephone number, frowning even more before he exchanged a confused look with his mirror image.

He let his eyes drop back to the message, reading it again in disbelief. He did not know anyone with the name Aiba Masaki, and he did not know any friends of Ninomiya, so what the hell was this all about? Who and how and when did that person put this note into his pocket? Could it be someone from the staff when his clothes were in the dressing room during the CM shooting? But the room was locked...

Or could it have been during that encounter with that one fan, shortly after he and Satoshi left the "Kujira Shokudou"? Sho was distracted while signing the magazine, so maybe, during that time, the man sneaked the note into his pockets. It would be a possibility... Thinking about it, that guy who wanted him to sign the magazine had even told him his friend's name - "Kazu" – probably short for "Kazunari", who apparently was celebrating his birthday today. Did that mean, it was Ninomiya's birthday? Or was this just a farce to get close to him?

Sho ruffled his hair in frustration. Couldn't he forget about Ninomiya for just a couple of hours?! That man was haunting his thoughts ever since they met, and it seriously irritated Sho. He usually wasn't the type to be intrigued by someone, always maintaining the emotional wall he had built around him to protect himself. Only his close family and closest friends were allowed to enter this zone, however, it was like Ninomiya was knocking against that wall over and over, slowly but surely starting to thin it out, and if Sho did not pay close attention, his wall might start to crumble soon, and danger would be able to sneak inside...

The actor had told Ohno that Ninomiya "reminded" him on himself. Probably, that was the problem. Probably, that was why that man bothered him so much.

Of course, he didn't know Ninomiya very well yet, and even if he had acted in front of Ninomiya as if he had snooped around in his past, reality was that Sho wasn't a private detective or anything. His research included asking a few acquaintances from show business about the man, which did not really lead to any usable result, and searching up Ninomiya's name on the internet. It took a while, but eventually, Sho actually managed to get some information. Via google search, he stumbled over a short article on a high school's website from a couple of years ago, in which Ninomiya's name was briefly honourably mentioned for writing an essay, dealing with a social topic, which seemed to have won a national school writing award. The article even proudly indicated that their graduate had managed to get a scholarship from a prestigious university, and deepening his research a little bit more, Sho found out that Ninomiya also wrote a couple of articles worth mentioning for respective university paper.

Sho could only assume that it had been this interest and talent that made Ninomiya go into journalism after graduation. However, he was surprised to see that the man ended up with a tab, a place where he was obviously wasting the talent he was gifted with, instead of using it for something more honourable and serious. However, for some reason, the man apparently chose the path he was walking on right now. Sho just couldn't understand why. But he wanted to, and the thought couldn’t leave him.

If this message from that Aiba-guy was real, and the man was indeed a friend of Ninomiya, maybe Sho would be able to find out more, to find out the truth. He didn't like to admit it, but he was incredibly curious about Ninomiya. Though, a meeting with one of his friends could also be risky. What if Ninomiya was trying to fool him? He was still trying to get to him, wasn't he? Maybe, this note was just part of a big evil plan...

Rubbing his forehead, Sho could feel a headache approaching, a clear sign that he was one, racking his brain too much and two, in urgent need of sleep.

To be honest, he didn't have the energy nor brain at the moment to deal with this shit, and if he'd let himself get carried away, giving in to his curiosity and try to contact the number on that note right now, he would probably just mess up everything. Thus, the man considered it a much better option to hurry and finish up in the bathroom, get some proper sleep as soon as possible, and deal with that problem tomorrow.

He forced himself to put aside the note he was holding in his hand. First, he put it beside the washing basin, but since it was still in sight and distracting him immensely (and he feared, it could get wet and the writing could blur out), he decided to carry the piece of paper into the kitchen and thoughtfully put it on the breakfast table. Yes, like this, he would be able to take care of this matter and think through a proper strategy first thing in the morning.

Back in the bathroom, Sho finished undressing in record time and shortly after stepped underneath the shower, trying to let the water flowing over him not only wash his body, but also to clear his mind.

Sho groaned in frustration, when his tired brain suddenly thought it would be a good idea though, to recall the image of Ninomiya, wearing those hot tight pants and that tight black low v-neck shirt from that evening in the bar, right in front of him under the shower. The man's fantasy already started running, giving Ninomiya not only a longing look at Sho, but also letting the water play with the young man, wetting his hair, sticking it against his fair skin, making his lips look even more kissable, dripping from his chin and running over his neck until it was absorbed by his shirt's collar...

It was an incredible sexy image, causing Sho to swallow, but it was definitely not what he needed at that very moment, and so he shook his head and tried to think about something unpleasant while putting shampoo onto his hair (and clumsily also into his eye) and did his best to finish his shower in record time.

He was exhausted and worked up at the same time, when he finally got into bed. Why did he fantasize about Ninomiya out of all people in the world? Just why?! Because he looked so cute and hot at the same time? He wasn't the only good-looking man in this world, and further, that person had a wicked personality! He was after celebrities, he wanted to crush them – at least that was what he did apparently and wanted others to believe - no matter how much Sho might wish that deep inside Ninomiya would be a nice guy. That was probably still rather unlikely and so all that remained was the image of this peeved, handsome man, turning him on like no one ever did in a long time. Crap!

About fifteen minutes later, Sho grabbed some sleeping pills from his emergency stock hidden in the drawer of his bedside table and gulped it down with a glass of water. It was only when Sho remembered Ohno's words about not having to feel guilty about finding someone hot, and he allowed himself to believe his friend's words, when he finally managed to sooth his mind. With the promise to himself to not freak out the next morning, in case he ended up dreaming about the man again that night, Sho finally slipped into a deep sleep.

- - -

The actor indeed dreamed of Ninomiya at night, but for once, it wasn't a dream of Ninomiya setting him on fire, at least. That was basically everything that Sho could remember, as his brain was quick in erasing the last traces of his dreams when he got up and started his daily routine. He went to the bathroom, dressed, and then went into the kitchen to make coffee, eat a small breakfast and read the newspaper for a couple of minutes before he had to go out for whatever job might be waiting for him on that particular day.

Today, Keiko would be picking Sho up herself and then they would drive to a meeting with the team of producers to talk about a possible cooperation for a new drama series. Before that, Sho would take part in the filming of a gaming TV show, to which he was looking forward to ever since he got invited to it.

Sho had just finished brewing his coffee and reached for the newspaper on his kitchen table, when his eyes fell onto the cell phone he used for work, where he had placed the newspapers next to it just a few minutes ago. Underneath, there was a folded piece of paper, the one he had found in his trousers' pockets the previous night before showering.

Sho unfolded the note and let his eyes run over the handwritten words again and before he was even realising what he was doing, he had entered and saved the number from the note into his contacts and was about to type a short message.

His screen showed, "Good morning, Aiba-san, this is Sakurai. I am sorry, but may I ask who exactly you are?" but still, he was hesitant to send the message.

What was he even expecting? And what was that Aiba guy expecting from him, in the first place? Why should he get in contact with him just because he was a friend of Ninomiya? Because he was curious about him? Because he wanted to meet him again? No, he didn’t -

He hit the send button, his heart pounding a little faster than it should, and after staring at his phone's screen and the sent message, Sho decided to put the device away and focus on his newspaper, like always. Aiba probably would not reply so soon anyway. If there was really an Aiba behind that number. If that number was even an existing number. Or maybe he wasn't even a friend of Ninomiya, and this was just a fan's desperate attempt to get in contact with a celebrity. But which random fan would know about the connection between Sho and Ninomiya? It didn't make sense... Whoever it could be, Sho decided that it was probably a wise decision that he did not used his private cell phone to text that person. Just in case it really was a trap.

The actor did not even manage to finish the headline of the article he had decided on reading, when his phone vibrated. The actor snapped his head to stare at the device, a sudden rush of nervousness overwhelming him. Shit, did Aiba already reply?!

His heart was beating faster, as if he was a teenage boy, waiting for his crush to reply. He rolled his eyes despite himself. This was so ridiculous... It probably wasn't even a message from Aiba, but rather from Keiko, to tell him that she would arrive soon. In the end, though, Sho wasn't able to ignore his phone and focus on the newspaper in his hands and after taking a quick sip of his coffee, he snatched his phone to check the message.

Indeed, it was a message from Aiba.

"Sakurai-san, good to hear from you, so you found my message? :D" Well, obviously.

It took Sho a few minutes to calculate, where this might be going and how he should react, but in the end, he only managed to repeat parts of his first message, sending another, "Please tell me, who you are."

"Sorry, my fault. My name is Aiba Masaki. We met in front of that ramen restaurant yesterday. Again, thanks for the autograph for my friend, that was a really friendly gesture!" No more information. But it was enough to at least connect some loose dots.

"Did your friend like your present?" Sho typed, a bit lost on how to keep the conversation going (why was he the one trying to do so now?), sending it faster than he could think, just to regret it as soon as the sent message popped up on his phone's screen. As if it was important now if Ninomiya – if Kazu was really him - liked his signature...

Aiba's response followed promptly. "He was delighted, you should have seen him, he was speechless! That was really cute! ^.^"

Involuntarily, Sho blushed and his heart skipped a beat when he read the reply. So Ninomiya was happy to receive his signature. But why?! Did that mean, that he actually was a fan of Sho, maybe even really liked him? Sho's mind trailed off, thinking about what it would mean if the journalist's interest maybe wasn't solely based on his job, but if he really...

He shook his head, forcing his brain to keep focused and not to start day dreaming. So, summing things up - first, the man who had passed Sho the message seemed to be the man Sho assumed indeed and second, Ninomiya apparently liked his autograph... Sho wasn't sure if he should feel embarrassed or happy or amused upon that image and Aiba was probably just making fun of him anyway, but for some reason, Sho hoped that there was at least a tiny little bit truth to that man's statement.

"Your message, it reads you are a friend of Ninomiya," he typed, nervously, deciding that he just had to make sure. "We are talking about the journalist Ninomiya Kazunari, aren't we? Is there an actual reason why you wanted me to contact you?"

It took a bit longer this time before Sho's phone vibrated again, but respectively, Aiba's reply was longer than his previous messages.

"First, I want to thank you again for contacting me. I feared you would just throw my note away! Yes, I'm talking about that exact Ninomiya Kazunari. He's my best friend. Sorry for this sneaky way of doing things, but I am worried about him recently, so I want to talk to you about him."

The actor frowned at the words on his phone screen, starting to feel a bit unease and wondering about why Ninomiya's friend should be worrying about the other man. Was he in trouble? Was he being sick?

"Is he in trouble? And what does this have to do with me?" he eventually replied.

"He thinks you hate him, and feels miserable about it."

Sho looked at the answer, dumbfounded. Well, he didn't exactly expect this.

"We did not exactly have a good start, I admit. But as a tab journalist, he's probably used to being disliked by celebrities," Sho typed away, his heart beating a bit faster.

He didn't really know how to capture what he was feeling for Ninomiya. He once said to him, that he "despised" him and that he rather "hated than loved" him, however, somehow that sounded wrong to Sho now. Sure, there had been moments where he had seen Ninomiya as a threat and he surely was not fond of snoopy journalists in general. He was quite negatively surprised by Ninomiya's aggressive style of working, too, so it was just normal that he didn't really approve of the man – or at least not his methods.

At the same time though, hadn't he felt drawn by Ninomiya? Even if still, he couldn't quite name the reason. Was it really because the man somehow reminded him of himself? Was he pitying him? Or was it plain physical attraction, even if he wished he could deny that? "Also, I wouldn't say that I hate him, hate is a much too strong word that people often use too quickly..." Yeah, that should do the job but not sound too suspicious, hopefully.

"You are the first one confronting him so directly on a personal level. And the first one he cannot see through from the beginning."

Aiba's reply read like a compliment in some way, because it sounded like he was special, however, Sho was not sure, if this was actually the intention and if it bore a positive meaning. Slowly but surely, he started thinking that something was off. He should not trust any stranger too quickly, he reminded himself, strictly. Thus, his next text message turned out maybe a little more edgy than he initially intended.

"If you are trying to get information out of me on his behalf, I beg you to stop. I still don't plan to sell any information to tab journalists."

When Sho read the reply, which followed just a second later, he felt his heart jolt.

"I did not intend any of that, I am just really worried about my friend. He seems to like you a lot more than you might imagine. It's driving him crazy. He's a good guy, you know?"

Again, this was not exactly what Sho expected to read. His heartbeat was speeding up a little again, as his brain processed the meaning of this message. Still, Sho didn't know what exactly Aiba was referring to when he said that Ninomiya liked him, but "liking" was a positive word, right? Again, a flashback brought Sho back to the scene at the bar, where he and Ninomiya were, well, you could almost call it "aggressively flirting", honestly, and just the thought of Ninomiya actually having meant parts of what he said to Sho in order to get close to him, made the man extremely nervous and excited at the same time.

"What do you mean, he likes me?" he decided to type, his hand slightly shaking.

"Would you be available for dinner? I promise, I will show up alone. I just really want to talk to you about Nino but I think, that would be easier than texting... also, I have to go to work soon."

Why couldn't Aiba just tell him, what he meant?! Why did he need to make it so fucking thrilling right now, Sho wondered, holding his phone against his forehead, frustrated, but he tried to calm down quickly, so that he was able to think straight again.

A meeting for dinner? To talk about Ninomiya? One part of Sho wanted to agree right away, but another part of Sho hesitated, bringing him back to earth. Of course, he did. He had already been tricked by that man once, what if this was only a trap? What if in reality, he was not even exchanging messages with any "Aiba" right now but with Ninomiya himself who was trying to lure him out and was now sitting at home laughing his ass off at the whole situation? Or if that person at the other end of the conversation was simply a crazy fan, eager to meet him?

But no, again, Sho reminded himself that the fact that he met Ninomiya recently was unknown to people other than Ohno, Keiko, Matsumoto, Matsuoka and whoever Ninomiya told, and the thing with the magazine was not known to anyone but the involved people. He was being paranoid. This was definitely either Ninomiya pretending to be Aiba, or Aiba himself for real. Those were the only options.

"How can I trust that you are not trying to trick me into one of Ninomiya's traps?" Sho typed, convinced, that it was legitimate to at least ask this question.

Aiba's reply was short and disarming. "You have to trust me."

Again, it took Sho a few minutes to reply. He was weighing his options. He could ignore this message and pretend that this conversation never happened. He could – which would be very dumb and dangerous – suggest a meeting place and go there, and risk falling right into, possibly, Ninomiya's trap, if he was the brain behind this whole thing. Or, there was another option, one that might sooth his curiosity but would not be as risky as the aforementioned alternative...

"Give me your address and I will send someone to pick you up for dinner tonight at 7. Don't tell anybody."

"Understood! Thank you!" Aiba replied immediately, before sending his address.

Sho sighed deeply. What was he getting himself into now?

- - -

It was hard for Sho to focus on work that day, he had to admit and so he was happy when dinnertime finally approached Honestly, Sho's mind was constantly distracted by his thoughts about Ninomiya, as well as the upcoming meeting with Aiba in the evening. He still didn't know what to expect from the meeting with that Aiba guy, and thinking about Ninomiya and his possible involvement with the whole situation, didn't really help either.

Sho had expected Ninomiya to resort to more drastic measures than lurking for him in a bar, after their little "fight" in the "Matsuoka's", so he was extra cautious since then, taking small detours with his car on his way home, putting some extra effort in disguising himself when going to public spaces and trying to take in his surroundings carefully, to make sure he wasn't being fooled by Ninomiya in the disguise of a make-up artist, a camera man, an AD or whatsoever. But now, he was probably literally walking right into the lion's den.

"Did you ever consider the thought that you like living in danger?" Ohno had asked Sho about an hour ago on the phone during lunch break, causing his friend to frown. "When choosing to become an actor, you actively decided to live the life of a public person, despite all risks."

Probably, his friend was right, Sho thought. Even if he was nervous of being found out, even if he was cautious, it wasn't like he was living a life of constant fear about his exposure. To the contrary, sometimes, he even found it… thrilling. Maybe, that was, why he was so excited around Ninomiya. Maybe, deep inside, he wanted the challenge. At least, this sounded definitely much more plausible than Ohno's theory about Sho considering the journalist as a life partner.

However, wrecking his brain wouldn't bring Sho further and so he reached the conclusion, that he should better wait and see what the evening would bring.

As announced, Sho sent his driver to pick up Aiba at 7 at the address the man sent him in the morning, to bring him to a meeting place Sho had chosen. It was a discreet and hidden but chic restaurant in one of Tokyo's side streets, of which Keiko had told him about after he asked for a recommendation of a nice place to meet and chat with a friend. He did not talk to the woman about the whole thing yet and didn't want to draw too much attention on it, fearing that his manager would try to persuade him not to take any risks, but Sho was just too curious to let things go now.

Sho, who was already waiting for his guest and sipping on a glass of water, frowning, when his driver, accompanied by a man wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, hiding half of his face, entered the location. The latter looked a bit lost, and obviously couldn't hide his astonishment about the place he was brought to. As soon as the two men reached the table, the stranger took off his baseball cap and glasses, bowing slightly to the actor. Yes, indeed, it was the exact same man, whom he met in front of the "Kujira Shokudou" the previous evening. Taking in once more the appearance of the man standing next to his table, his eyes falling onto the items the other man was wearing, Sho chuckled slightly.

"Is it him?" the driver asked, just to make sure he had picked up the right person and Sho confirmed with a nod.

"It's him, yes. Thanks for picking him up. You may leave now, I'll go home by myself later and send him off with a taxi," the actor said and after wishing him a nice evening, the driver excused himself.

"Good evening, my name is Aiba Masaki," the man – Aiba – said, before he took place, as Sho gestured him to do. "Thank you for having me here tonight. I know you must be busy and it's a lot for me to ask -"

"It's OK, Aiba-san," Sho offered his guest a smile. "Just… may I ask why you are in disguise?" the actor couldn't help but ask, still smiling amused, pointing at his cap and the sunglasses. Maybe it was just his usual clothing style, but remembering the man's appearance from the previous day, Sho doubted it.

The man sitting at the opposite side of the table laughed. "Ah, I'm sorry... I was just... getting a little too excited, maybe. Not that I'm one of those crazy fans, please don't worry about that. I mean, it's not like I don't like you as an actor or anything -"

"It's OK, don't worry, Aiba-san."

Sho decided to let it slip, keeping his amusement for himself, and instead asked Aiba what he would like to drink. They ordered two beers and the menu to pick something to eat, and since it felt just too awkward to start some small talk with a man he barely knew, Sho decided to get straight to the point.

"So... we're meeting here tonight because you wanted to talk to me," the actor started, locking eyes with the man in front of him. He tried to find any hints of mischief or whatever he was expecting to be confronted with during this awkward dinner, but Aiba's eyes showed no traces of such emotions, but rather radiated a warm sincerity.

He nodded, determined. "It's about my friend..."

"…Ninomiya," Sho finished the sentence, feeling his heartbeat involuntarily rising a little.

Aiba nodded again. "He told me about your encounter at the "Matsuoka's" and… everything, you know."

Sho wasn't completely sure what everything would mean… That he and Ninomiya had a dispute? That they had kissed? Sho bit his lips, slightly nervous.

"So?" he asked, carefully.

"As I texted you already," Aiba started, "He thinks you hate him..."

"And I told you, hate is such a strong word…," the actor replied, pausing for a little while before he continued, "I don't think, it captures the complexity of what I am feeling for that man. This is… a little complicated." Or rather, a lot complicated…

"According to him you said you despise him," the other man concluded.

Sho sighed, wondering how he should put things into perspective. He tilted his head and crossed his arms on the table in front of him. "I think, what I despise are his methods," he then said, thoughtfully, searching for eye contact with Aiba again. "I might have articulated it a bit meaner than intended. I was... worked up a little, you see?"

""So you don't hate him, right?" Aiba's eyes immediately lighted up in excitement, before he continued babbling. "That's good! Because you see... I know, Nino is not exactly doing a very honourable work these days, and he surely made some mistakes on the way, but... he has not always been like that. In fact, he didn't want to become like that at all. And he's a good guy, really!"

"Aiba-san…," frowning, Sho lifted his hand to make the man in front of him stop for a second. This situation was still kind of confusing and absurd, and he still didn't really understand, why the hell he was sitting here with a stranger he only got to know the night before, talking about a man he only met twice and who apparently meant no good for him. "Just to clarify things… you are not here to just confirm if I like or hate him because… I don't know, I'm a little confused, to be honest… And you also don't give the impression that you're trying to sneak around in place of your friend. So what exactly is it, that you are trying to achieve and how exactly do you think that I can help you with that? I mean, I don't even really know Ninomiya, and our meetings had been a bit strange. To be honest, I have no idea what you really want from me."

Aiba nodded heavily, to show he understood, before he took a deep breath. "Would you help me to help him find himself?"

"Find himself?" Sho repeated, furrowing his eyebrows in incomprehension.

"Yes. Because… You know, I agree with you about the fact that Nino is wasting his talent at that tabloid – yes, he also told me about that -," the other man spoke. "I want him to quit. He can do better, and I want him to change paths before it is too late but I need your help."

Sho was surprised. He really had no idea where this would lead to and what the man wanted from him, but he could definitely say that he did not expect something like this - a man on the mission to guide his friend back onto the right tracks in life. Honestly, he was impressed. It was seldom that people would voluntarily go to such lengths for the sake of others. And there were not many people, who had others who were willing to do that for them, either.

"OK and why should it be me, out of all people?" Sho wanted to confirm, even if he had to admit that he was getting a bit excited after hearing Aiba's words. So he wasn’t alone being disillusioned by or fantasizing about the situation with Ninomiya, he was actually right and he was not the only one who thought that it was a pity for a talented person to waste his talents.

"I feel like if it's you, you might be able to get through to him," Aiba replied with a slightly bitter smile on his face.

The actor swallowed, feeling his heart beating in his throat. "I'm nobody to him, only an annoying target for an article…," he then said, more to convince himself and his heart to calm down, than to the other man, who was now shaking his head.

"I don't think so. I think, you really triggered something in him."

"But… you are his friend, doesn't he listen to you?"

"No, he stopped listening to me long ago!" Aiba groaned, not even trying to hide his frustration over that fact. "But if it's you... You know how that works with critique sometimes?" the man tried a different approach.

"What do you mean?"

"When - let's say - you created a painting for your mom's birthday – just an example – and she goes like "Aw, that's so beautiful, you're the greatest painter in the world" you would feel it's just average, if even it was good... and even if you're happy she likes it, you can't help but wonder, deep inside, if she really likes it or just says so because she's your mother and meant well?" Aiba asked before pausing to let what he was trying to convey sink in, before he continued. "But what you really crave for is not a compliment from her but something more like... a compliment from a neutral person who is not emotionally involved with you since your birth?"

"Because sometimes, people stupidly value the appreciation of strangers more than of people close to them?" Sho concluded, getting an inkling of what Aiba was trying to say.

"Exactly!" the other man cheered. "Sure, it's not like a compliment from a friend or family does not count but… I have been telling him that he's wasting his talent at this tab for years now, but it just does not have any effect on him. I think, when I tell him that he's good and that he can do better, he thinks I'm saying this just to make him feel better, not because I actually think so, which I obviously do, though. Human minds can be so twisted...," the man sighed and Sho had to agree. "But when you told him the same thing, he got so worked up! It made him think again and I concluded that it means something to him. You are his neutral person... just that now you're not neutral at all to him anymore since he's completely aware of you as a person now and he just wants you to recognise him...," Aiba babbled along, frowning, as if he was confusing himself a little with his talking. He paused, before he said, "Human feelings are complicated, aren't they?"

"Indeed...," Sho confirmed, arching an eyebrow and nodding slightly.

"Anyway, what I want to say is that you made him rethink about his choices again, and the fact that you seem to see through him shook him and now he's caught in this state of not knowing what to do anymore," Aiba kept on and on, before he took a deep breath to finish his little speech. "And I want you to help me push him back into the right direction."

Again, Sho didn't really know what to say, so he just looked at the man in front of him, whose eyes slowly but surely turned from a determined look into a pleading one. Sho chuckled, feeling unarmed by Aiba's words.

"You know, coming to think of it...," he started. "Seeing a friend of him taking such action upon himself just to help him, makes me think that Ninomiya probably really isn't a bad person."

"He isn't!" Aiba exclaimed. "He made mistakes, yes, but he was also unlucky..."

"What happened to him?"

The story that followed was the story of a young man who had to face family struggles during childhood and teenage days and had been bullied because he didn't have much money after his father and mother divorced. It was the story about a man, who compensated his frustration by working his ass off in high school and university, to make something out of his life, and then had the possibility to fulfil his dream snatched away. In fact, Ninomiya wanted to become a respected journalist at one of Japan’s most prestigious newspapers and he even had managed to pass several steps of the job interview and made it into the final round, together with one of his colleagues from university. That young man had always been competing against Ninomiya, although he did not graduate with marks as good as Ninomiya's.

Nevertheless, in the end, the other guy got the job, and as it turned out, not based on his skills, but based on his family background. The young man was hired on the spot as soon as his father offered a sizable sum of money to support the newspaper, and Ninomiya was off the list faster than he could protest. For him it must have been like a world crumbling before his eyes. He had been working so hard, for so long, and everything was gone in a second, being taken from him by a rich person. As if that switched something in his brain, that was the point at which Ninomiya seemed to have started disliking rich people.

There were exceptions, of course, but his disliking made it easier for the man to slip into the world of gossip journalism. The frustration he experienced, was like the last drop in the bucket, making every bad feeling that he had locked up inside of him over the years, bubbling to the top. It was just one more time of being unlucky or unfairly treated, and eventually, it made him bitter.

Bitter enough at least, that at some point, Ninomiya stopped caring about where he would be working, and just picked a magazine to apply, where he would be able to earn good money to pay back the scholarship from studying at university. And that was how he ended up with the “Un[der]cover", where soon after he became one of the top journalists. He had the skills. He was tough. And he needed the money. But, according to Aiba, Ninomiya was never truly happy like this, and it was breaking his heart, again and again.

"You sound very affectionate towards Ninomiya," Sho noted, after Aiba told him once more how much he wanted to help Nino get out from where he was trapped. "People could think, you two are…"

"Together?" Aiba lifted his eyebrows.

"Well…"

"Ah, no, we're not like that," the man quickly set clear. "Well, I do of course love him as my best friend. We went through a lot together. That's why I care about him a lot. I only want the best for him."

"So you're even going to such lengths as meeting up with me now…," the actor summed up. He frowned. "I understand your way of thinking and that you hope that as a stranger I would have a different effect on Ninomiya. But I don't believe I have the power to make him change his mind."

"As I told you, somehow you managed to get through to him," Aiba repeated, before he smirked and added, "I joked about him having a celebrity crush on you, but to be honest, I think it's more than that. I've never seen him like that… Actually, he might kill me if I told you this, but I only have his best interests in mind. I think he likes you. Now that I actually told you, it's up to you what you're doing with that piece of information."

Sho really hoped, that his acting skills weren't leaving him at that very moment, when he was trying hard to pretend not to be moved by the other man's words. However, he didn't really know what he should think about the situation. Was it true? Could he really trust Aiba and his words? And what would that actually mean for him and Ninomiya?

"I'm not the type to… you know… Ninomiya and I, we're almost perfect strangers and... I am not the type for relationships and such," Sho finally managed to say, hoping he wouldn't sound too babbly.

Aiba chuckled. "It's OK, don't worry, I'm not telling you to date him or anything, I just wanted you to know that you have the power to change him."

"You know that Ninomiya can still be dangerous for me, right? You tell me that all this is about helping him, but what if it doesn't work and if he still wants to write something bad about me?" Sho added. "Don't get me wrong, I don't want to sound selfish or anything, but I have a reputation to protect, and as much as I want to believe in the good of your friend, like you said, I have to be cautious."

"I completely understand your doubts," Aiba said, nodding. "But I feel like you don't need to worry so much. I feel like he has become much less dangerous to you than you would expect. I know I’m asking a lot, but I beg you to believe in him. To trust him. Just like I do."

Sho paused for a while, considering the possibilities. He tried to mute his annoyingly fast heartbeat, which had been teasing him ever since Aiba said that Ninomiya might have "more than a celebrity crush" on him. And according to Aiba, there was something Sho could do to help Ninomiya, as he had the power to do so, as the other had said. And if Ninomiya really would mean less danger to him than he thought? What if he decided to quit his project? It would explain why Sho had not seen him sneaking around close to him, and why still, after a couple of weeks, there had been no more leaks about his work or private life, than that one information about his upcoming movie, which not even had done any harm to anybody, to be honest.

Of course – like Aiba said – that was asking a lot to trust an almost stranger, but how would things change if they didn't start with a bit of trust? Maybe it wouldn't be easy, but Sho could try. Maybe, he even wanted to trust the other man.

In the end, he didn't see any argument against that. Why shouldn't he try making use of that power Aiba believed he was holding, and help someone get back on track?

"Would you mind giving me Ninomiya's phone number?" Sho finally said, before quickly adding, "Don't tell him though! But maybe, I really can help."

"Really?!" Aiba gaped at him, his face lighting up in excitement.

Sho nodded. "When the time is right, I will contact him."

"What's your plan?" the other man asked curiously, leaning a bit closer.

"I'm not completely sure yet," Sho tilted his head. "But probably there will be something I can do."

"Thank you! Thank you so much! You're really a nice person," Aiba cheered, and Sho was convinced, if there wasn’t a table filled with food between them, the other man would have surely jumped up and hugged him.

"I want to believe in the good of people," the actor started to explain his reasoning, determined. "I know best that people make mistakes, but I also believe we should be given the chance to atone for them. And if I can do something to prevent Ninomiya from committing even more mistakes and to find back to his true self, I want to try and help!"


Part 2