Haru blinked slowly and stared blankly at his drunk friend, who grabbed his arm and swung it in return.
"Don't think about it and just say yes!"
"Are you even hearing yourself?" Haru knitted his brows in disbelief.
"What? It's common in the entertainment industry, and we'll just play pretend. Come on-"
He slowly shook his head sideways.
Kyoko gasped, "Oh my... oh my. Are you secretly in a relationship with Sakura that's why you don't want to do it?
"I told you we're not together-"
"Then why not just agree?" she whined.
"If you're doing this just to take revenge on Yosuke and to make him jealous, then I'm not doing it.
"Even if you're not dating Sakura?" she tilted her head to the side.
"Even if I'm not dating her, I'm still not going to do it," he answered.
"Couldn't you just help me?" she rolled her eyes; her voice was brittle, and her tears were welling up. "Fine, you're right. I just want to take revenge on my ex and make him jealous."
Kyoko suddenly burst into tears while chugging down the wine from the bottle, with some liquor spilling out of her mouth. It was expected, and Haru was no longer surprised by his friend's sudden breakdown since he had already witnessed this in college a plenty of times already. He stood up and took the tissue holder on the counter and grabbed some of it to wipe the wine off of her chin. He then seized hold of Kyoko's phone from her hand and dialed a familiar number.
"What do you want? I'm busy, I'm hanging up-"
"Come over. Kyoko needs you to lecture her," Haru glanced at the crying woman, who was now hugging the wine bottle close to her chest.
The person on the other line recognized Haru's voice instantly and didn't seem to be taken aback when he was asked to come over for help. "Is she drunk crying?"
"I know you're not busy, so just get your ass over here," and Haru ended the call.
And just a few moments later, someone rang the doorbell. They heard the gate open until there was a knock on the front door. Haru headed there, revealing Kiyoshi who was dressed in black graphic tee, ripped low waisted jeans, and black low top sneakers. Kyoko threw her head towards them, and when she saw Kiyoshi removing his shoes at the genkan, she quickly stood up and dashed to their guest while still hugging the wine bottle. She hugged his neck with her free arm when he finally stepped in the living area.
"What a crybaby you are when you're drunk, Kyoko," Kiyoshi sighed, patting her shoulder gently. "Man, it's like the old days. You just cry about almost everything."
"Whatre you… talking 'bout? I don't cry…. about everthing," she blubbered.
"Says someone who cries about almost everything when she gets drunk," Haru smirked as he closed the front door, and he headed to the kitchen afterwards.
"Do you remember back in college that whenever you cry, I drag the unconscious Haru into his room?" Kiyoshi recalled, placing his arm around Kyoko's shoulder, as they walked towards the modern styled engawa where they could view the side yard and enjoy the night sky.
Haru followed them to where they were seated and placed a plate of surume in between Kiyoshi, who received two cans of beer from him, and Kyoko, who was still hugging the bottle of wine. He sat next to her and munched on some surume strips while they waited for Kyoko to open up. Kiyoshi and Haru exchanged looks, and without saying anything, Kiyoshi already knew what had happened.
After some time, Kyoko finally started narrating her story about how they met and what occurred a month before their break up. There was less communication between them during that time until Yosuke broke up with her last weekend because he was not feeling their relationship anymore.
"And he…. he broke up with me through chat," she bawled her eyes out. "Didn't even check my chats nor reply to my texts and calls."
"Is that common? Men breaking up with their girlfriends via text?" Haru cocked a brow.
Kyoko's half-lidded eyes widened and she pulled the collar of his shirt, "U know someone who also had the same experience?! Lemme talk to her!!"
"Go ahead and embarrass yourself," Kiyoshi smirked, and he lifted the tab of his second can of beer and drank from it.
"Right!! I don't really care!! Lezzgo to her place now!!" she shook Haru.
"What's the hurry?" Haru asked, his voice wobbly from the continuous shaking of Kyoko. "You'll meet her on Fri-"
Kyoko groaned and shook him even more, "But I want to talk to her-"
Kiyoshi pulled her shoulder to face him and to also stop her from pestering Haru, "Stop being so silly! Enough of your crying and whining, and go f*cking sleep!"
"But I gave him my erything!" she exclaimed, stomping her feet on the ground.
Haru lowered his face onto his palm and murmured, "She's not yet done….oh, she's not yet done."
Kiyoshi was about to speak, but Kyoko interrupted him, "I even bought him a new phone!", making both men choke from their own saliva.
"It's okay!! Call me stuuuuuupid!! Like what I've said, I don't really care!!" she playfully hit both of their shoulders.
"Stupid," her two friends said in unison.
"Why the f*ck would you give that asshole a phone? Are you sure he treated you as his girlfriend and not his sugar mommy?" Kiyoshi scoffed and lit the cigarette stick placed in between the corner of his lips.
While Kiyoshi was giving Kyoko a lecture, Haru was there, patting her back comfortingly while also asking the other man to tone it down.
"He knows you're rich and popular as fuck, so that bastard really used you to his advantage, huh?" but Kiyoshi continued. "He made you his sugar- I mean girlfriend in order to become famous in the modeling industry. Little fame really got into his head."
"I'm sure Kyoko has learned her lessons," Haru said in an assuring manner.
"Yeah, I know. She just loved him too much despite being together for a short span of time," Kiyoshi glanced at her, who was now crying with her hands covering her face. "Haru, why not slash that bastard into two?" he suggested.
Kyoko wiped the tears off of her and looked at him with curiosity, "You… would?"
Since Kiyoshi and Kyoko are Haru's closest friends, they already know about his cruel past. He opened up about it in college and since he didn't like his early childhood to be talked about, they never asked him about it. Though Kiyoshi mentioned it very seldomly, he never dared to dig deeper into this matter.
"You know I won't waste my time and taint my hands on someone like him," Haru commented.
Kiyoshi and Kyoko's brows rose as they heard him speak. They were surprised to hear him comment about it since he never entertains such a question.
"Of course, you won't," Kiyoshi nodded and glanced at the man with the blood of a samurai. "I was just f*cking around."
After much more crying and drinking, Kyoko finally felt heavy-eyed and worn out, so Haru scooped her into his arms and brought her to her room while Kiyoshi put away the plate, the wine bottle, and cans of beer in the kitchen sink. Junichi had also woken up and went downstairs to drink water. He was surprised to see their guest but was also glad to see that the trio's now complete. The two then conversed as Haru attended to their broken-hearted friend.
Kyoko tugged the sleeve of Haru's shirt after he carefully laid her down on the bed. "Sorry for being annoying…. and for asking you a stupid question," she said, almost inaudible.
Haru pulled the covers up to her shoulders, "Don't worry about it. Do you know why I didn't agree with your so-called 'marketing strategy'?
"Tell me about it," she murmured, turning her body to the side.
"You're already hurt, and I don't want to see you get hurt even more by other people's bullshit and what others have to say about you."
"You're really the best, Haru," a subtle smile formed on Kyoko's lips until she finally dozed off.
Author's Notes:
1. 'Genkan' is an entryway where one leaves their footwear before entering the house.
2. 'Engawa' is a type of veranda in Japanese traditional homes.
3. 'Surume' is a popular Japanese snack. It's dried shredded squid usually eaten while drinking alcoholic beverages.