The snow storm cleared up the following day and the six of them were finally able to return to Tokyo. Daiki hitched a ride in Ryosuke's car while the other four took Yuto’s. The conversation during the entire ride back focused primarily on one major question: Where should Rio and Amu stay? After all- their previous apartment units did burn down.

Since they were also previously targeted, staying alone together in a hotel wasn’t such a great idea. In the end, they decided that Amu would stay with Chinen while Rio would stay at Yuto's place. Amu had already spent plenty of time at Chinen's apartment back when they hanged out more often and Yuto's apartment was much closer to Rio's hospital. In other words, if Rio needed to be called in for an emergency, she wouldn't have to travel too far. 

The four arrived back in Tokyo around 3 in the afternoon and they took advantage of the rest of the time they had left to enjoy a lunch together. Following that, they shopped around for a couple of essentials before stopping once again for desserts. 

It was now 7:30 in the evening and time seemed to have snuck up on them- Chinen and Yuto were already late for their rehearsal. It was New Year's Eve which meant that it was time for the yearly tradition of the Johnny’s New Year Countdown. It was only the biggest concert for the company- especially performing with all of the other bands. They needed to make a good impression.

Rio suggested to stay with Amu in the meantime so they could watch the countdown performance together. Afterall, they didn't have time to drop Rio off at Yuto's apartment and they definitely didn't want to take the chance on her going by herself. Instead, the two agreed that they would head over once Yuto returns from the performance. “Let us know if anything happens!" He insisted. "Our performance isn’t that long anyways and we’ll have our phones backstage too.” 

“Don’t worry about us! It’s your time to shine! Go show the other groups what JUMP is made of!” Rio assured him, pushing him out of Chinen’s apartment. 

“We’ll be back late so if you want to sleep first, there are futons in the closet over there!” Chinen insisted and Amu nodded. “Hai, hai. Go! You two are already late! We’ll see you on tv! Have fun!” She exclaimed, pushing the latter out as well. As soon as they were shoved into the halls, Amu locked the doors on them and gave Rio a thumbs up from behind it. 

“Did I just get kicked out of my own apartment?” Chinen asked and Yuto smiled, trying his best to hold in a laugh.

“Who knows, maybe by the time we get back you won’t even have one anymore.” 

“Speaking of time...” the latter began, taking a glimpse at his watch. 

“CRAP!” 

Within the next minute, the two flew in Yuto's car on the expressway. “We’re thirty minutes late. That’s not too bad right?” Yuto asked, pushing down on the gas pedal further. 

"I'm sure we'll be fine. Besides, usually Ryosuke and Daiki are the ones that are late." Chinen assured him. "Maybe we'll still arrive before they do."

Within the next ten minutes, Chinen and Yuto parked the car in the private lot of the arena and dashed towards the back entrance. The two passed along their ID cards for security to analyze and used this opportunity to catch their breaths. After their cards were finally approved, they rushed into JUMP's lounge room and to their dissapointment, everyone were already in their stage outfits with their hair and makeup completely done. 

"Ryosuke and Daiki are usually the ones that are late you say?" Yuto whispered to Chinen. The latter glanced around the room nervously for their manager and sighed in relief when he realized that only JUMP was present.

“Welcome back!” Kei exclaimed, placing his arm around Yuto’s back. “It’s so unusual for the two of you to be late. Don’t tell me....” He paused before quickly narrowing his eyes. “Did you bring a girl back?” 

“O-Of course not!" Yuto exclaimed, taking a step away from the two. His gaze immediately landed on Ryosuke who sat next to Daiki at the far end of the room. Ryosuke glanced up and raised an eyebrow at the loud commotion before redirecting his attention back to his phone.

“Geez. I was just kidding.” Kei replied, patting him on the shoulder. "You're jumpier than that AriYama couple over there."

“What’s up with those two by the way? Did something happen during the trip?” Kota asked. “They’re stuck together like glue.”

Yuya also made his way over to the group and folded his arms. “It’s like they married each other over the weekend and we weren’t invited.” 

“I don’t know if they told you this but... um..” Chinen began. He hated keeping things from the rest of his friends. “You see, they-“

“We have a company meeting in ten minutes.” Daiki interrupted, walking over to them with Ryosuke. “I think the both of you should really get changed now.” 

“Hold up.” Keito butted in, raising both of his hands. "What did you and Ryo not tell us?" 

“He was going to say that we just ate a lot of good food and didn’t want to make the rest of you jealous.” Ryosuke answered, flashing his signature smile. 

“Geez, you should've just told us to begin with!" Hikaru chuckled, wiping the imaginary sweat from his forehead. "I was under the impression that the two of you broke up with Rio and Amu again!” 

Upon hearing Hikaru's bold statement, Ryosuke, Daiki, Yuto, and Chinen quickly exchanged stunned glances.

Ryosuke's smile immediately vanished and he coughed, trying his best to buy some time for a reply. “O-of course not!” Daiki replied in turn. He chuckled nervously and patted the latter's shoulder. "We're just exhausted."

“So uh... Chinen and I are going to get changed...” Yuto began, needing to find a way to get away from the rest of his friends. He turned around and catched Ryosuke's gaze in the process. “Ryo, Dai-chan, do you two mind helping us find out which outfit are ours?” 

“Uhh- Your outfits should have your names on it. You know... as usual... for the past 15 years?” Ryosuke answered in confusion before being suddenly yanked by him.

“Show us!” Chinen insisted, pulling Daiki along as well. As soon as the four broke off from the rest of JUMP, Ryosuke immediately rolled his eyes and sighed. “Are the both of you deliberately trying to make this obvious or what?"

“Both of us?” The youngest one asked defensively. “Why are you even trying to hide this from everyone?" 

"We're just not ready to tell the public." Daiki answered. 

"For heaven's sake, JUMP isn't the 'public'. They're our friends." Chinen replied and Yuto pushed on. "What is it exactly that the both of you are hiding? You've ignored us since yesterday." 

“It’s better not to get involved in this.” Daiki protested. “You’ll create a mess.” 

“Sorry, I’m not sure if I heard that correctly.” Yuto scoffed. “If you had forgotten, the both of us are currently watching over the women you two vowed to protect."

"You don't really have to, you know?" Daiki repliedcompletely unfazed. 

"I really shouldn't be saying this but the two of you should know that someone intentionally tried to harm the girls the night you two were out." Chinen replied, beginning to lose his temper. "Someone locked Amu in the sauna and when Rio went to search for her, Mariya told her that Amu was outside in the snow storm. When Rio went out, she got pushed down a hill."

"We know." Ryosuke nodded. “Are we done here?”

“You knew but did nothing about it?” Yuto sighed angrily. He turned around to take another deep breath and began to shuffle through the uniform rack for his name. He forcefully pushed each uniform against each other and the metal on the hangers clanged loudly against each other. “You know what, whatever the both of you are up to, I hope you think it through because I really don’t feel like planning a funeral right now for you, the girls, or anyone else you might end up dragging into this mess.”

“Yeah" was all Daiki said to assure him before he walked away with Ryosuke. As soon as the two were far from the others, the younger one began first, this time running his fingers in his hair from frustration. “I didn't know they were attacked that nig