YNoMH? (BL)

7

Chapter 7: Yes, No, or Maybe Half? (7)

Kei felt someone lightly shaking his shoulder.

"Kuniedsan, it's 6 am."

"What?"

Kei's blood pressure shot up in an instant, and he sat up startled and disoriented, shifting off a blanket that had somehow covered him up to his chin.

"Oh..." Kei recalled the events from last night when he saw Tsuzuki's face in front of him. He must have fallen asleep while he was talking about himself. It was a deep and dreamless sleep for a change.

"I am very sorry to have imposed—"

"No, don't worry about it. I was the one who left you alone. Do you want any coffee?"

"No, thank you. I should be heading home."

"Alright, but wait here while I go grab something." Tsuzuki headed upstairs and returned with a ceramic vase. "A friend of mine who dabbles in pottery gave me this vase. If you don't mind, please feel free to use it."

"Thank you very much."

The pale sunlight slowly brightened the cityscape as Kei walked through the early morning streets carrying a giant flower vase. He didn't know if the vase was well-made or not, but it was deep and had a thick rim. His flowers had withered some more while he was away, but after he had placed them in the vase with some water, Kei was relieved to see that they had recovered a little.

Kei knew that he had done everything in his power to prepare for tonight. He was sure that if it were anyone else in his position, they wouldn't have put in anywhere near the amount of work that he had put into his preparations. He tried to reassure himself of this detail as he reviewed the rundown for tonight's show. It was 9 pm. One hour until air time.

An AD called out, "The guests are at the front lobby!"

Kei started to get up, but Shitara stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Um, to receive the guests at the—"

"You don't need to go."

"But..."

"This is where the president and everyone below him come in. They're here for this exact reason, so you should focus on your own preparations. I'm not telling you that you need to be arrogant, but this is your show, in other words, it's the Kunieda Kei show—you're the host. Keep your head high and show everyone who is exactly in control."

Kei felt like he finally understood the reason why Shitara had been farmed out to the local affiliate stations for so long. It was a hard personality for superiors to like and want to groom for future positions. Kei had no intentions to follow Shitara's example, but Kei did respect his fearlessness.

"Kuniedsan, it's time for hair and makeup..."

"I'll be right there."

The entire building had been filled with a nervous energy since morning. People had been frantically coming and going; security had been sharply increased; even the trash cans around the news floor were inspected for suspicious-looking objects. There would be very important visitors coming, and it fueled the tense atmosphere all day.

After Kei's hair and makeup were done, he went into the studio and found the president of the network and all the upper-level executives already gathered and waiting. The technical staff were whispering quietly to one another.