the idols race for love, are you ready? | book one | utapri

chapter two

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『 your p.o.v 』

          "Do you think you'll be able to come Rei-chan?"

          The other end of the call had plenty of voices coming through from the background. Reiji is at yet another interview and he's currently in the noisy backstage dressing room, getting ready for the camera and his fans. "I'll try just for you, but I can't make any promises right now ___. I'm not sure when I'll have my next free day and it's not like I can just cancel a concert or a fansigning out of the blue. That's not professional of me." He then chuckled. "Though I might make an exception if it's you I'll be ditching work for."

          I smiled some at that, pacing back and forth down one of the orphanages countless, empty hallways. "It would mean a lot if you could come."

          "I know it would, I know it would... I'll talk to my manager and see what I can do." Reiji said, someone off in the distance calling for him. "Oh, that's my cue. I gotta run but I'll talk to you later my girl!"

          Before I could even say goodbye, the line went dead. Sighing, I placed my phone back in my pocket. Reiji is going to work himself to the bone if he keeps up like this. That man needs to think about his health sometime and I don't care how many vitamins he takes to stay healthy, he's going to collapse sooner or later eventually... Maybe I should ask mom to convince him to not stretch himself out so thin like this. Surely she'd be on my side? Reiji's health always come first, even before his work! Just as every idols should. I'm sure his fans would understand if he took a break every now and again to regather himself and come back stronger than ever. They couldn't possibly complain considering just how much Reiji does for them- honestly, he's closer to his fans than myself and mom and we're family.

          As I made my way back down the hallway from which I previously came, the sound of the children laughing and playing around grew louder. I couldn't help but smile as I stopped to lean against the door frame, seeing the small orphans running around, all trying to make their ideas for the summer bazaar come to life.

          "Onii-chan!" One of the young girls called out to Otoya as she plopped down beside him on the floor. "Onii-chan, we should sell flowers from the garden!" She said excitedly, insistently wrapping her small arms around the red heads and tugging some at his sleeve to grab his attention from the poster he's currently helping some of the boys make.

          Otoya laughed as he gave the little girl all of his undivided attention. "That sounds like a great idea Kora, but how are we going to put them all in pots?"

          The young girl with striking blonde hair frowned some. "I don't know..." She murmured dejectedly.

          "How about I go see if we can find any in storage?" He offered, already beginning to stand up before his eyes flicked over to the doorway only to find myself still watching the scene play out before me with a warm smile. "Oh ___! Wanna come see if we can find some flower pots for Kora?"

          "Of course. I think there's some out back near the old play toys?" I said, already leaving with Otoya to find the much needed flower pots, plenty of the children behind us calling out a mixture of "good lucks" and "don't get lost!" behind us.

          Neither Otoya nor myself spoke much to any as we headed down a couple hallways before coming across the doors that would lead outside. Some of the orphanages staff asked what we were doing before promising to let us back in when we knocked since these back doors are typically almost always locked. Thanking them, Otoya and I made our ways out behind the building and began our search.