The Shards of War: Balancing Power

Chapter 42

The next day, Matsu woke up feeling considerably better, the fatigue from the previous day's stress slowly dissipating. As he was sipping his morning coffee, his phone buzzed with a call from Calie and Marie.

"Hey, Matsu!" Calie's cheerful voice greeted him through the phone.

Marie chimed in, "Good morning. Yuki wants to see you. It's about the 'Venomous Attraction' interview. Can you meet us at the idol company?"

Matsu, feeling more like his usual self, replied, "Sure, I'll head over. What time should I be there?"

Calie checked her schedule, "Yuki said she's available in the early afternoon. How about 1 PM?"

Matsu agreed, "Sounds good. I'll see you both at 1 PM at the idol company."

As they ended the call, Matsu couldn't help but feel a mix of excitement and curiosity about what Yuki had in store for them regarding the interview. He quickly finished his coffee, grabbed his keys, and headed out to meet Calie and Marie.

Later that morning, as Matsu immersed himself in his work at Kagayaki Industries, Blaze couldn't help but notice the change in his demeanor. His cheerful mood and humming of one of Out of the Blue's songs were quite a departure from the exhaustion of the previous day. Blaze looked up from her own work since Dr. Nakamura told her that Matsu has something for her to do, and asked with a playful grin, "Feeling better, Captain?"

Matsu glanced over with a smile, "Oh, definitely! Kenzo really worked some magic on the paperwork situation. And, well, I'm meeting Calie and Marie later to talk about the interview. Can't wait to see them."

Blaze raised an eyebrow teasingly, "You're making it incredibly difficult to keep your relationship with them under wraps, you know? All this cheerfulness and excitement."

Matsu chuckled, "I can't help it. They bring out the best in me. Besides, it's not like anyone here, besides those I trust, know the full story. We've managed to keep it a secret so far."

Blaze nodded, "True, but the way you're acting, someone might start putting the pieces together. Just be careful, Captain. Secrets have a way of getting out."

Matsu sighed playfully, "I'll do my best, Blaze. But for now, let me enjoy the anticipation of seeing them again. It's been too long."

Blaze shook her head in amusement, "You haven't seen them in, let me calculate... 12 hours? That's hardly an eternity, Captain."

Matsu feigned a pained expression, placing a hand over his heart, "Twelve hours too many, Blaze! A man can only go so long without the company of his favorite idols."

They both shared a laugh before Matsu playfully shooed her away, "Alright, alright. Get back to work, Blaze. I'll manage to survive until our rendezvous."

As Blaze returned to her tasks, Matsu continued with his paperwork, the hum of an Out of the Blue song escaping his lips. The melody seemed to fill the office, a subtle reminder of the unique balance he maintained between his roles at Kagayaki Industries and his secret life with Calie and Marie.

After a while, Matsu finishing his tasks and looking at the clock to see that it's 11:34. He still had about an hour and a half before he meets with Calie and Marie for the interview discussion, and he decides to go to his father's old overnight room.

He went inside and began to look through the professional clothes he had in the closet, he believed his white dress shirt and black dress pants weren't good enough for meeting with Calie and Marie to discuss the interview.

As Matsu browsed through his father's old overnight room, he couldn't shake the feeling that the attire he had wasn't suitable for the upcoming meeting with Calie and Marie. His current attire were perfectly acceptable for a typical workday, seemed lacking for this particular occasion.