Sleepless Nights

Epilogue (Part One)

My fingers pressed against the peeling gold star on the door to the VIP room, smoothing out the stickers Noel and I had plastered all over it the other day when the room plaque fell off. I made sure the rest were still glued down before I finally opened the door, smiling to the couple on the couch. "Good evening, you two," I greeted, waving to the friendly pair. I watched as Aoi and Satsuki stood up at the same time. They were always in perfect sync with each other like that.

"Silly!" Mrs. Kitaoji swept me up in a tight hug before I could even register her running towards me, her hands pushing the back of my head into her large chest in a suffocating manner. "Oh, Sats was just telling me about what happened last week! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," my smothered voice replied. She held me back at an arms length to examine my body to see if I was telling the truth. I placed my hands on her shoulders. "Everything ended pretty smoothly for the most part. I didn't mean to worry you."

To the side I saw Satsuki shake his head, his smile completely understanding. "No, it's fine. It sounds like you've had a lot on your plate since then. Mirai filled us in on what happened at the awards ceremony."

Yeah, he's right that I've been busy. Since the big contest came to an end a week ago, things had been extra busy for us at Cinderella. While our phones weren't blowing up to the insane degree it had been anymore, we were still big news for sponsoring the event to begin with. Almost everyday at work I was scampering around like a mad person because there weren't enough people to answer the phones, all the while trying to work on my current projects. To say the least, I was glad Chief gave me a couple days off. I deserved it if nothing else.

"Use this time to relax and unwind," Satsuki offered, placing a hand on my shoulder in a caring manner. Aoi nodded in agreement and I smiled.

"Thank you. By the way, have you seen-"

I couldn't finish my sentence before I was pulled backwards from an elbow coming out of nowhere, hooking around my neck. I squealed as a closed fist started furiously rubbing the top of my head. "Hey, Editor!" a lighthearted voice laughed. I wriggled my way out of Yuzuki's grasp and spun around to glare at him, both playfully and scornfully.

"A simple handshake or a hello works as a greeting too, you know. You didn't have to jack up my hair," I chastised.

He shrugged. "It was already a little unkempt to begin with."

"It was not!"

Satsuki chuckled. "What were you saying, Silvia?"

"I was trying to ask if either of you had seen Hirose today."

"I saw him just a bit ago, back there," Aoi answered, pointing to a closed door in the distance. "He was taking a call, but should be done any second now."

I nodded just as Yuzuki slung his arm over my shoulders, leading me off with a giddy grin. I so rarely saw him a good mood like this. "Open up the champagne, bro!" Yuzuki whooped, taking us to a trolley and picking up a bottle of alcohol by the neck. We crashed down on the sofa as he popped the cork off.

"What are you so happy for? This is the first time I've ever seen you smile," I joked.

Unfazed by my sarcasm, Yuzuki filled a glass to the brim. "If you must know, I've got a date. A real one, not another crappy one like ours." We stuck our tongues out at each other, but his arm that wasn't holding his drink came to rest on the couch behind my head, and I leaned on it as I stared at him with a bemused look. Aoi also seemed confused as she spoke up.

"Really? I thought you planned to focus on acting more."

He took a long sip, the smile on his face never leaving for too long. "That was the plan, but we just got to talking and, I don't know, stuff happened. Anyway, we're going out tomorrow for drinks."