Daiki tapped his fingers impatiently while focusing his eyes on the short alleyway leading to his front entrance. “What the hell, Ryo. Where are you?”, he whispered to himself, worried that his best friend and his girlfriend are caught by the paparazzi on the way to his place. He hissed at the thought and turned to his left where Amu also gave off a dazed expression. He softly placed his hand over hers, squeezing it tightly with an attempt to calm her down. Both were finally able to release a breath of relief when they heard the doorbell ring.

“Yo,” Ryosuke greeted as soon as Daiki opened his front door. The older one quickly pulled Ryosuke and Rio inside his apartment before peeking his head out to check for anyone trailing their way.

“You’re late!”, Amu scolded, glaring at Ryosuke before giving Rio a hug, “I was so worried about you guys”.

“It’s nice to see you too, Amu-chan”, Ryosuke responded. His friendship with Amu had always been ‘tough-love’ since the girl is very protective of Rio. “You know I won’t let anything happen to your best friend”, Ryosuke rolled his eyes before slumping his bottom half on Daiki’s sofa. He soon realised that it was already 6pm when they arrived at the older boy’s apartment evident by the darkened skies outside his windows.

“We had to wait awhile before we could sneak out. Chinen warned us not to go anywhere until it’s dark”, Rio explained, taking a seat next to Amu, “What’s the situation at the Jimusho?”.

“We had to suspend all activities today. The Jimusho is swarming with reporters so our manager instructed us not to go anywhere near. JUMP also told us to stay together, just in case”, Daiki explained with anxiousness on his tone, “Johnny-san scheduled a meeting with me and Ryo in the next two days”, just talking about it made Ryosuke and Daiki feel cold sweat. The idea of being interrogated by the head of Johnny’s Entertainment terrified the two, to a point of thinking of the worst-case scenario.

Daiki looked at Amu and feared for the worst. What if Johnny forces him to break up with her again like two years ago? He felt his heart sink and the thought of going back to Mayu’s arms suffocated him.

Total silence filled the room until Rio decided to ask for everyone’s forgiveness, “I shouldn’t have suggested to go that restaurant”, the girl said, “It’s because of that, they were able to take pictures of us together. I’m sorry”.

“You’re right. Going to that restaurant was a bad idea”, Rio held her breath after seeing Ryosuke face her fully as if ready for another round of lectures. She spent the whole night trying to calm Ryosuke down from the incident the night before, but having Rio d by a strange man is not something Ryosuke is willing to let go any time soon. Rio expected to be scolded but the boy just took her hand and kissed the back of her palm, “… but I rather be seen in public with you than to put you in danger”, Ryosuke smiled and somehow lifted Rio’s worries.

“I don’t think this is Rio-chan’s fault any way”, Amu spoke next. Her mind overflowed with the information she received from Mayu the previous day. She started to massage her temples and decided to finally confess to her friends, “I know who did this”.

“What do you mean?”, what Amu said instantly gathered Rio, Ryosuke and Daiki’s attention. They waited patiently until the young girl expelled the remaining air in her lungs, obvious that she’s hesitating to tell the group.

“Mayu admitted that she planned everything from 2 years ago. She sent the photos to Johnny-san and was able to convince the company to set her up to an arrange marriage with Dai-chan”, Amu started, “I overheard her talking to someone on the phone and she told her everything. When I confronted her, she threatened to leak the photos of us together when we were dating and tell the media that you cheated on her”.

Daiki’s felt an overwhelming wave of mixed emotions coming in at once. Anger, sadness and confusion fired, making him unable to process what the girl just said, “Why would she do that?”.

“Because she hated me”, Amu confessed, “She told me that if I ever do anything to stop your wedding or even tell anyone what I know, then she’ll leak the photos – not only of us, but of Yama and Rio too”. The girl watched as the two boys sat forward, leaning down to think.

“But you didn’t do anything. You didn’t even tell me until now,” Rio pondered while trying to understand Mayu’s frame of thoughts.

“That what’s puzzling me too. Something must’ve triggered her to leak the photos and announce Yama-chan’s engagement”, Amu did not have to look at her friends to know that they all share the same feeling of uneasiness. All at once, the two couples shared utter silence in the room until their fast beating heartbeats were the only thing they heard.

“We need a plan”, Ryosuke mused.

“I’ll talk to Mayu again. Maybe I can get evidence against her we can show Johnny-san”, Amu proposed which taunted Daiki’s thoughts.

“I won’t let you go there alone. Not after what she did to you”

“Then I’ll go with her. It’s time I let Mayu get a piece of my mind”, Rio grinded her teeth in annoyance, pissed at the girl for messing with her best friend, “While Amu is talking with her, I can sneak around to get some evidence”.

Their expressions lit up at the idea. After a long day worth of thinking, they finally got a viable plan. However, the thought of getting close to the ‘evil princess’ almost made their skin crawl.

“Ah, I know the password of her phone”, Daiki remembered. Something useful actually came by being in a relationship with Mayu these past few weeks that may be helpful in resting their case. However, despite this silver lining, the thought of sending the two girls for this mission makes him more uneasy, “I’ll go instead”.

“It’s not safe for you to go near Mayu, especially when the public think you’re cheating on her”, Ryosuke said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Then it’s settled, it’ll be me and Amu-chan”, Rio nervously gulped while staring blankly at her friend. Her gaze then landed on Ryosuke who was already shaking his head, indicating that he is indeed against the idea. Yet, Rio and Amu’s dedication were much stronger which left the two boys with no choice.

--

Only a couple of minutes passed, all of them exhausted of worrying about Johnny’s decision for the two boys and their planned mission against Mayu. Daiki and Ryosuke felt more flustered that even their band members are unable to predict what the old man’s decision will be. Their manager confirmed that this may either be a suspension or complete disbandment of the group – but it is  still too early to tell.

“Should we get something to eat?”, Daiki suggested. He knew that not even one of his friends had anything to eat after their scandal broke out. Worried about Amu’s wellbeing, he quickly took his phone out to order something for the group to share.

“I can just cook”, Ryosuke suggested while on his way to Daiki’s fridge but soon, his hopes went down the dumps after seeing nothing but water and a random apple inside, “Never mind”, he said and gave Daiki judging looks for letting his girlfriend stay in an apartment with no food.

“What? There’s at least an apple in there. That’s healthy”, the boy retorted and tried to lessen the tension in between his friends. He was successful when both Amu and Rio chuckled at the two boys’ usual banters. After a few rounds of teasing, the boys finally agreed on ordering takeout food.

--

Over dinner, Amu, Rio, Daiki and Ryosuke talked about random topics just to forget about what tomorrow has in store for them. The two couples tried their best to drown the overwhelming feeling of anxiety brewing over their nerves. They only managed to eat a little of what they ordered as for some good reason, none of them had any appetite.

“I’ll clear up”, Amu volunteered before taking everyone’s plates from the table. With an instant, Rio stood up to help but Daiki pulled her back.

“I’ll help Amu-chan. You and Ryo can just relax”, he said aiming to hit two birds in one stone: getting some alone time with Amu while giving Ryosuke and Rio some time together fearing that this may be the last night they’ll have for each other.

With no hesitation, Ryosuke thanked the two before pulling Rio inside Daiki’s living room.

--

Daiki carefully placed the used plates and cups on the sink before placing the rubber gloves on his hands. He never wanted to burden his girlfriend to do all the dirty work, so he volunteered to do everything by himself. However, the girl stood beside him and eyed him like a hawk.

“Dai-chan, I know you’re trying to help but you’re wasting so much water”, Amu pointed out the amount of water rising on the sink. He also accidentally put too much dishwashing soap on his sponge that bubbles randomly came out everywhere.

“Eh? This is how I always wash my dishes”

“Then humanity is doomed”, the girl joked before taking