Everyone is helping that male model and one of the crew is sending him to the hospital. The producer is taking Aiko to a quiet place where nobody can see her with Erii. People that were watching the whole thing are talking with each other. Fortunately, none of them are talking bad about Aiko, everyone is busy talking about how rude that male model was towards me.
Ryo is tapping on my back and he's signaling me to go with him. I follow him to the bench away from the crowd. He leans and sighs.
"So, do you want to tell me what's going on between you and Hime-chan, Aze? I know that guy was bad-mouthing your parents, but Hime-chan was overreacting about it. She was legit furious about it."
I explained to Ryo about my mother's relationship with Aiko and the reason why she was so furious about it. Ryo was surprised and immediately understand the situation.
"So that's why. Well, Hime-chan's mother passed away when she was still 10 years old. I understand that your mother is like a mother figure for her as well."
I tilt my head because I don't know that her mother has passed away.
"Her mother passed away?"
Ryo nods.
"Yeah, when she debuted. Her mother died from a heart attack. The reason behind it is unknown. I'm pretty sure nobody knows either except her own family."
Ryo is rubbing his face and looks at me.
"Did you see her expression back then? Earlier, I said that they looked at other people like trash. I couldn't believe she made the same expression... I know... she was furious for a reason. But still, what would happen if nobody stopping her from beating that guy?"
I look at Ryo.
"I would do something worse than what she did if you both didn't hold me back. Ryo, I'm not saying that you are wrong, but you have no idea how it feels when you lose someone precious to you, especially your parents. You shouldn't judge someone until you are in the same spot as them."
Ryo went silent.
Erii is sitting beside Aiko inside the beauty store. Aiko is staring at nothing. Erii clears her throats.
"Hime-chan?"
Aiko turns her head and looks at Erii with a serious expression.
"Yes?"
Erii is rubbing her neck nervously.
"How are you feeling? Have you calmed down?"
Aiko smiles.
"Yes. I'm just thinking about something else."
Aiko lifts her head.
"Erii, if you were me, what would you do? Would you do the same? I want your honest opinion on this."
Erii is playing with the water bottle.
"No, I wouldn't do that. I would do nothing since I knew what that guy did is wrong and there were so many witnesses watching us. I would let the other handle this and maybe just report it to his manager or something like that. I wouldn't dare to do something like what you did because I'm afraid that it would backfire on me someday. I heard about it from Aze that his mother was your teacher and she's someone precious to you, Hime-chan. But still, it's..."
Aiko stands up and looks at Erii with smiles.
"Okay, I understand what do you mean."
Erii is startled and feels like she says too much. Aiko grabs Erii's hand.
"Don't worry! I'm not mad at you whatsoever. Let's meet with Aze and Inoue-Kun."
Aiko smiles convinced Erii and they both go outside of the store.
Ryo stands up and looks to my right. I turn my head and I see Erii and Aiko are approaching us. I look at Aiko and she smiles at me. The same smiles that she showed me when we first met. Erii sits beside me and wraps her arm around me.
"How are you feeling?"
I smile.
"I'm good."
I look at Aiko and whisper to Erii.
"How is she?"
Erii shakes her head. It seems that Aiko is still furious about it. Ryo looks at Aiko and she just smiles at him. Aiko claps her hands.
"Shall we go somewhere else? This place is making our moods bad."
I stand up.
"Yeah, let's go. I also feel the same. Where should we go?"
Ryo's stomach is growling and he's grinning.
"I think we know where are we going."
The three of us chuckles and so we go to find a restaurant in the mall.
We agreed to eat at JFC and we sat down at our table while waiting for our food. Aiko was looking at her phone and she chuckled. Erii took a peek at her phone and the news about the male model is already on social media. Erii rests her head on the table.
"That was fast. I wonder what will happen to him."
Ryo raises his eyebrows.
"Well, his modeling career is done. I mean, even if it's not because of this incident, his personality and attitude are going to make him lose his job anyway. How can people like that be a model? He's a public figure. He should have act like one."
I scoff.
"Some people can't change no matter how hard they tried. Unless you beat the hell out of them. If can't, let's just hope he's traumatized enough to stop behaving like that."
The three of them chuckles. Then the waitress comes with our food. Ryo is rubbing his hands.
"Let's just stop talking about that jerk and eat our food first! I'm starving."
The four of us are enjoying our food. We are talking about other stuff while eating out food, but then Erii's phone is ringing. She takes out her phone to see who's calling her and turns out it's her mother.
"Okay, I see. I'll be going home now."
The three of us are tilting our heads and staring at Erii. Erii puts her phone in her bag.
"I have to go home. My mother needs me to help her with something important."
Ryo looks at me and I look at Aiko. I don't think Ryo and Aiko are comfortable enough to be left alone. I look at Ryo and nod. Ryo nods and stands up.
"Alright, I'll go with you, Erii-chan. I also need to buy vegetables for dinner before it runs out in the grocery store."
Both of them left after said goodbye to us.
Aiko is sitting in front of me in silence. It feels awkward suddenly. I clear my throat.
"Can I go outside for a few minutes? I want to smoke."
Aiko looks at me and nods. She stands up and waiting for me.
"Let's go, I'm coming with you."
Aiko puts on a mask and wears a heat then we both go outside and sit on the bench. I light my cigarette and staring at the distance. Aiko is still quiet and hasn't said anything since then. I look at her.
"What are you thinking right now, Aiko?"
Aiko looks at me and shakes her head.
"Something that I shouldn't."
I exhale deeply and keep smoking. Aiko put her hand on my arm. I look at her and she straightens her seating.
"Am I the same?"
I raise my eyebrow and tilt my head.
"The same as what?"
Aiko sighs.
"I heard your conversation with Inoue-Kun back then. I honestly agreed with him, but I don't like that he put both of my brothers in the same boat as them. How can he bad-mouthing my brothers behind my back! Don't he thinks that it won't hurt my feelings?!"
I stand up and sit on my knees in front of her. I can see her hands are trembling. I hold both of her hands and look at her in the eyes. She's starting to cry and then sobbing. I grab her hands and pull her up. I hug her and I can feel her whole body is trembling. She wraps her arms so tightly on my back. She hides her face on my chest and her sobbing becomes worse. I'm holding her so tightly to calm her down. I can feel her pain by hearing her sobbing. I don't know what happened, but I know for sure that something happened to her yesterday and she endured it until she can no longer hold it.
I'm rubbing her back and head. She's slowly calming down. I help her sit and I sit close beside her. She's sniffing and I give my handkerchief to her.
"I don't know what happened to you, Aiko. But what I do know is that you've been suffering."
I sit in front of her again and hold her hands.
"Aiko, please don't endure it yourself. I'm here and I want you to rely on me from now on."
I stand up and grab her face.
"You're not the same. You are who you are, and I want you to know, I will make sure that you're going to live your life the way you want to be and live without having to suffer like this. I promise you that."
Aiko pulls me in and kisses me on the lips. She holds me so tightly and she won't let go.