Mitsunari's thumb hovered over the glowing "Accept" button while a knot tightened in his stomach. Mizuha's friend request had arrived after her openly honest question. "Do you think we could be friends?", the timing felt almost rehearsed, as if an unseen countdown had ended the moment he opened his phone. A part of him warmed at the possibility that her invitation was sincere as it felt like a fragile olive branch extended across the digital world. However, another part replayed as the moments of the leaked video and the fact that she didn't stand up for him. As getting labeled things like a monster and tweets going around the internet. Since then that one mistake has turned him into a walking punching bag for all the netizens. He weighed the silent gravity of that single choice: acceptance might open a door to genuine companionship, or it might spring a trap he wouldn't see until the notifications exploded. Mitsunari sat motionless, listening to his own pulse while the request pulsed back as it was waiting for him to decide to accept or decline.
...… As Mitsunari hits accept after much thought a text exchange starts
Mizuha
(19:42) Mitsunari‑kun! Congrats on the magazine interview today. I saw the clip just now. Going solo really suits you!
Mitsunari
(19:44) Thanks… I'm still getting used to the idea.
(typing… stops… typing…)
(19:48) Hey, can I ask something blunt? When you said you wanted to be friends and sent that request so fast… are you actually serious? Or is this… I don't know, a performance?
Mizuha
(19:50) I get why you'd wonder. I am serious. I really do want to be friends.
(19:51) And about before when people were talking behind your back…. I had my own reasons for not stepping in. They're… personal, but not because I don't care.
Mitsunari
(19:53) Personal how?
(19:54) Sorry I'm just trying to understand what's real right now.
Mizuha
(19:55) I can't explain everything yet. It's complicated…
Mitsunari
(19:57) …I see.
(19:58) Look, I need to clear my head. Thanks for the congrats. Talk later.
Mizuha
(19:58) No Problem…
(Mitsunari locks his phone and walks past Mizuha in the hallway, glancing back in thought once before disappearing through the door)
The afternoon drifts by in its usual rhythm of lectures, locker door clangs, and the low murmur of classmates swapping notes, yet Mitsunari feels strangely awake. Ever since he quit napping during class the fluorescent lights no longer blur into a dream like state instead every chalk scrape and bell chime land sharp, like syncopated beats he might sample. Still, between each math formula and question, his eyes flick to his phone screen whenever the teacher turns to the board. No new notification yet just the stale grey chat bubble that marks the last words he sent Mizuha before retreating into silence.
When final period ends, hope has thinned into resignation. He steps into the hallway's fast afternoon traffic, mentally rehearsing lyrics for a demo he started to work on when a sudden vibration rattles through his pocket. Mitsunari freezes; could it be her? But the caller ID shows an unfamiliar number, no profile picture, just "Unknown." The buzz persists like an impatient metronome, and curiosity finally overrules caution. He thumbs "Answer."
"Yo, Mitsunari, this is Tao," a confident baritone crackles through the tiny speaker. The name hits like a spotlight—Tao, the idol who shattered records before vanishing to start his own label, Stax Entertainment. "I've been following your moves. You've got raw velocity, kid. I'm putting together a single called 'On Air' for my first release in years and I want your rap on the track with me. Sign with Stax and we'll rocket you back to the top of the charts. You in, or you out?" Tao's words feel like a hand extended as he didn't think it was possible for someone to want to work with him. He has previously decided to do it completely by himself, but this opportunity doesn't come any day. Mitsunari's heartbeat syncing to an unheard drum loop and realizes the next verse of his life is hanging in the pause before his reply.
Tao..... are you sure....
Tao replies again, are you in or are you out?
Mitsunari finally replies after a pause to think it over once more and replies... I'm in!
Tao replies good I'll send you the address get here in 20.
Tao hangs up.