While Kana was doing her best to cool down the scorching heat—
At the table right beside them, Shigeru, completely taken with draft beer, had pressed himself right up against Kaoru and was sniffling as he confessed the precious feelings (?) he had been holding in all this time.
"Senpai.... I still can’t believe I got to work on a project together with Kamiki-senpai, who gave me the courage to become an actor! Hic, thank you so much. I even framed the fan you signed for me and hung it up in the living room like this!"
Kaoru looked at the photo of Shigeru’s wife wearing a headband printed with the child’s picture, hanging the framed fan on the living-room wall, and let out an awkward smile heavy with pressure.
"...Haha."
"Tonight, after the dinner party, my wife said if I couldn’t bring back Ai-senpai’s autograph, she wouldn’t let me in the house..."
At Shigeru’s shocking (?) statement, Kaoru broke into a cold sweat and, in order to preserve domestic peace, said,
"Don’t worry. I’ll take responsibility and make sure you get back inside."
"Ah, thank you so much! Senpai! You saved my life!"
Shigeru’s dazzling speech, with the limits removed by alcohol, made Director Gotanda and the other actors burst out laughing as well.
Before long, Director Gotanda emptied his beer glass in one go and said in a loud, boisterous voice, drunk on alcohol.
"Kaoru, you remember, right? The conversation we had when we first met at the cafe. I told you I was asking you for [Cooking]. I haven’t forgotten that promise."
"Yes. I haven’t forgotten either."
"W-What kind of promise did you make...?"
"A promise?"
Ignoring everyone else’s curious interest, Director Gotanda pointed at his long, elastin-like hair and said,
"I’ll bring it back even if I have to train under a waterfall. [The Bird in the Cage] is only the appetizer. I’m going to surprise you!"
"I’m looking forward to it, Director."
Kaoru accepted Director Gotanda’s manly promise with a smile.
And a little while later....
"Kaoru-san!"
"...Yes, Yuriko-san?"
At Yuriko’s cheerful shout, her extroversion gauge seemingly maxed out like Ai’s—
The introvert Kaoru, whose own extroversion gauge was starting to run dry, forced an awkward smile.
Instead of blushing from alcohol, she rose to her feet with her usual bright smile, the one she rarely wore in everyday life, and sat down beside Kaoru.
"Ah, th-that’s my seat..."
"Huh? Then sit in the seat I was sitting in. It’s empty, isn’t it?"
"Yes...."
Shigeru, whose seat had been stolen while he was away in the restroom, sat down in the empty spot with a dejected face.
Even amid the noisy dinner-party atmosphere—
Yuriko stared at Kaoru with sparkling eyes.
It was a scene that, to anyone watching, might easily have been misunderstood because of the strange feeling in her gaze.
Kaoru quietly turned his head and looked at his wife, who was chatting happily with Kana.
'...If Ai misunderstands, it might be pretty hard to calm her down.'
He had become fairly close with Yuriko during filming, but this was this and that was that.
His wife would not allow any woman other than the four siblings and a very small number of close people to stand by his side.
'She really adores Kana.'
Still, seeing how affectionately she took care of Kana, who was one year younger than Ruby so she wouldn’t get bored or feel left out—
She really was... cute.
"Ah, honestly... your eyes are dripping honey, Kaoru-san. Could you spare a thought for the people suffering beside you?"
"......"
Yuriko, unable to watch any longer, frowned and shook her head as if she were fed up.
Every time they filmed, he showed off that tender affection so openly that Yuriko had nearly worn herself out during the shooting period trying to soothe her lonely heart.
Drunk and far more emotionally charged than usual, Yuriko looked at Kaoru with obvious dissatisfaction and said,
"If your fellow actor is sitting right next to you and you don’t even make eye contact because you’re busy looking at your wife, that’s rude. You really are completely helpless in front of Ai-san."
"...Haha."
"Hmph... Kaoru-san. Excuse me, but! May I read your palm? Refusal is- no! re-fu-sal!"
"My palm...?"
At Yuriko’s sudden offer to read his palm, Kaoru tilted his head and asked back.
But regardless, Yuriko glanced at the neighboring table, then poked Kaoru’s shoulder and said,
"Yes. I know a little about palm reading. I’ll go ask your wife for permission, so wait here."
The bold Yuriko slipped over to the next table and sat down beside Ai.
By now she must have gotten quite close to Ai, because she was perfectly comfortable looping her arm through hers and rubbing their heads together in a spoiled, affectionate way.
Ai, perhaps also buoyed by the alcohol, seemed to be in a good mood too—
- Mm-hm, sure. Ai’s curious about palm reading too!
- Got it~ I’ll read yours too in a bit, A-chan!
She readily agreed and gave Kaoru a starry wink full of love.
Yuriko came back over and sat beside Kaoru again, then shot him a playful glare and said,
"Hurry up and give me your left hand."
"...Yes."
Kaoru reluctantly lifted his left hand and offered it to Yuriko.
A left hand much larger than her own.
On that warm left hand, with its long white fingers and veins standing out on the back of the hand...
"Hehe."
Yuriko unconsciously extended both hands and kneaded the palm and the back of his hand with obvious private intent.
It had been a very long time since he had accepted a woman’s touch privately other than his wife’s, but Kaoru could feel that it was nowhere near as soft as Ai’s. With his usual indifferent smile, he said,
"I am curious about my palm, though."
"Ah, hehe... understood. I’ll read it right away. Hmm! The left hand represents your inborn fate. If you’re wondering how I know how to read palms— it’s a secret, but... anyway, that’s how it is."
Studying Kaoru’s palm carefully, Yuriko continued talking on her own, even though no one had asked.
"My mom never told me to get married. You know, what do you call it? Uh... she had a bit of spiritual energy? So she said she could feel from the moment I was born that I’d become either an artist or an entertainer."
"...I see."
Kaoru’s unexpectedly serious response made Yuriko look up. After blinking for a moment, she smiled softly and nodded.
"Yes. Anyway, my family is a little complicated. Back when I was young and living alone with my mom, if I said I was bored, she’d even teach me how to read palms."
"If your mother taught you, then your interpretation must be right, Yuriko-san."
"Hmm~ Maybe~ It’s been a while since I looked at one... okay, this is the fate line..."
Yuriko traced the lines on Kaoru’s left palm with her right index finger, tilting her head as she studied them closely.
The expression that had seemed cheerful from the alcohol gradually began to stiffen.
"Your right hand."
"?"
Before he could offer it, she took his right hand first and checked the palm.
Yuriko studied the lines on his right palm carefully, then looked between both hands and said,
"The right hand represents the ‘present.’ The left hand is your inborn ‘fate’... and this scar on your right hand— from an incident ten years ago...?"
When Yuriko pointed to the faint scar left in the center of his right palm and asked, Kaoru nodded.
"Yes."
"Ahh... that’s amazing. I’ve read palms for a lot of people besides you, Kaoru-san. But... I’ve never seen a palm like yours before."
"...Is that good news?"
At Kaoru’s question, Yuriko lifted her head, her eyes sparkling as she answered firmly,
"No! Kaoru-san! Look at this. The life line on your right hand, this goes on and then— snap!— it’s cut off, right? Same with the left hand. Normally, that would mean Kaoru-san shouldn’t even be in this world right now. Wow, that’s incredible. Because of this scar on your right hand— ah! Did you have an accident when you were little?"
"......"
At Yuriko’s question, Kaoru’s blue eyes flashed coldly for an instant.
But he erased that expression in a heartbeat, smiled, and nodded.
"Around first year of middle school, I fell down the stairs, hit my head, and was hospitalized for a while. It wasn’t a serious accident."
"Eee... I see! Well, that can happen. According to my mom! Palm-reading accuracy is either right if it’s right, or wrong if it’s wrong!
Since the scar on your right hand strangely makes the life line look longer, it’s an auspicious scar if anything!
Though if my mom saw it, she’d probably say something different."
Was it that he had originally been fated to die, but because of the scar on his right hand, a new life line had been drawn over it?
Or, put another way... had the scar on his right hand somehow become equivalent to the fate of death?
A secret that no one else in the world could ever know, Kaoru’s alone.
Because of that secret, Yuriko’s palm reading came to Kaoru like a prophecy of fate, weighing heavily on him.
"...Is that so?"
"Yes. Mm... your fortune with money is also absolutely perfect, and your marriage luck, your children luck— there isn’t a single thing missing, it’s all perfect! Your sibling luck is... ah, sorry. It says it’s just average..."
"Haha.... That was a long time ago. It’s fine."
"Hehe, I’m glad. Anyone... the pain of losing family is something you never forget for the rest of your life, but the ones left behind have to keep living, right? We have to do our best for the sake of the ones who went first."
"......"
"A-anyway, Kaoru-san’s palm is amazing! Kaoru-san’s face reading is perfect too! Mine is no good in either face reading or palm reading! I’m destined to live my whole life as an old maid... fufuh...."
As Yuriko gloomily toyed with her empty glass, Kaoru waved a hand and said,
"I’m sure someone wonderful will appear. A fortune is just a fortune, isn’t it? Yuriko-san, you’re beautiful, you’re overflowing with charm, and you’re truly a wonderful person."
"......Eeeh?"
At Kaoru’s sincere and gentle encouragement, Yuriko’s eyes went wide.
Maybe because of the alcohol, or maybe because of something else, her face turned even redder than before as she looked at Kaoru.
But as befit a top actress, she quickly gathered herself, frowned, and slapped the table with her palm as she said,
"Kaoru-san, this kind of thing— a-married man, flirting with another actress— is a warning! Being too kind is cheating. It’s bad! You deserve punishment! There was a reason A-chan was stomping her feet!"
"Ah... I was just..."
Kaoru, flustered by Yuriko’s sharp warning (?), scratched his forehead with a slightly wronged expression—
"......I agree."
At the familiar voice that suddenly came from beside him, his body stiffened as if he were looking into Medusa’s eyes.
Slowly, still scratching his forehead, he turned his head to look beside him—
"......Fufu-★"
With eyes dark as a bottomless abyss, with not a single star of light in them, Ai had wedged herself between her husband and Yuriko and sat down.
She was definitely smiling, but only her mouth was smiling. A terrifyingly cold expression had appeared on his wife’s face.
At his wife’s coldly shining smile, Kaoru quietly lowered the hand scratching his forehead and sent a pleading look to Shigeru across the table, but—
"That’s right, Director, hahah! Ha, hahahah!"
Shigeru, who had been trying to find a way to join the conversation just moments before, suddenly slipped away and inserted himself into Director Gotanda and Kunimura’s discussion like a ghost.
As expected... a married man whose crisis detection was second to none!
Swallowing dryly, Kaoru was thinking about how to get out of this situation when...
"Waaah!"
Yuriko, who had somehow already started reading Ai’s palm, let out an exclamation and rubbed both of Ai’s palms with her thumbs.
Yuriko looked at Kaoru with a startled little laugh and shook her head.
"The best popular couple really are different from everyone else.
If your palm was the first one I’d ever seen on a man, Ai-chan’s palm is the first one I’ve ever seen on a woman."
"Eeeh? Explain that more, Rico-chan!"
"Hmm~! One thing that’s similar to Kaoru-san is... Ai-chan’s life line is also a short-lived line.
But here— this vertical line called the ‘fate line’ on the left hand is extremely thick and strong, and it’s going down while blocking it.
In other words, this line is being drawn in place of the life line!"
"......"
Kaoru’s blue eyes flashed coldly for an instant as he searched through his memories of the past.
The face of the college student who had been Hikaru’s accomplice in murdering Goro, and who had been Ai’s fan, came vividly to mind.
If he hadn’t dealt with him, it might have only been a matter of time before the man, who had murdered Goro and learned of the twins’ birth, held a grudge, went after Ai, and committed some cruel act in one way or another.
Didn’t he realize, after the stabbing incident, that love and hate were two sides of the same coin?
It was already a settled part of the past, but if he thought that the horrific future he had imagined might have come to pass, his chest sank on its own and the back of his neck tingled.
But whether her husband was like that or not, Ai listened to Yuriko and, not quite understanding, tilted her head and said,
"Eh? But I’m healthy now, with no painful places. I’ve hardly ever even been to the hospital, you know?"
"Exactly! That’s why palm reading can have all kinds of interpretations. That’s the interpretation I saw. My mom might see it differently, though."
"Mm.... fate line.... Ah!"
Ai, who had been thoughtfully stroking her chin like a detective piecing together a case, clapped her hands together and then looped her arm through the husband sitting beside her, smiling with starlight in her eyes.
"Hehe, Rico-chan! If it’s Ai’s fate, it’s right here!"
"Huh?"
"If it’s Kaoru, then I’m sure he must have protected me at least once without me even knowing. I want to believe that!"
Ai, her brilliant starlit eyes shining, hugged Kaoru’s arm tightly.
She wasn’t the type to believe in fortunes like palm reading or face reading, but as the only person in this world who knew Kaoru’s secret and as his wife—
she had no doubt whatsoever that her husband had protected her at least once.
The fate line Yuriko had interpreted from her palm, and the powerful counterpart to fate strong enough to replace the life line.
If the husband who had met her as if by destiny, taught her what [Love] was when she had been all alone, and brought her together with the four siblings who were the most precious [Treasure] in the world—
if that wasn’t a “fate line,” then what on earth was it?
"...Uu, I’m jealous... hnnn— I want to get married like you two and live happily, fighting and making up forever too..."
Yuriko, who had been staring blankly at Ai and Kaoru’s sugary-sweet display, ended up tearing up at the feeling that her long-worn lonely heart had dropped to absolute zero.
She had even read their palms, so why was this happening again?
Like a ship sunk by a torpedo, like a balloon with all the air let out.
To Yuriko, who was swaying and hanging her head as she sniffled—
"Aah! S-sorry, Rico-chan. I didn’t mean it! Uu, what should I do? Rico-chan, you’ll definitely meet someone wonderful like Kaoru too! For sure!"
"Kkhuhh... no matter how I hear it, that’s not comforting!"
"Hee? I-is it a little like that?"
No matter how much her personality had softened, her my-pace nature was still the same.
For Ai, choosing words to comfort someone who wasn’t family was still... a little (?) difficult.
She may have missed the mark a little, but in any case, Ai did her best to comfort Yuriko and patted her shoulder.
"......Those two seem pretty drunk."
That was Director Gotanda, watching the scene from the head seat.
"Let’s wrap it up."
Kaoru, checking the time, said this as he saw the people beginning to shift into a winding-down mood.
Director Gotanda nodded silently, apparently agreeing.
They had started the dinner party in earnest around 7:00 p.m., and the current time was 8:45 p.m. About two hours was a reasonable length.
Everyone was already tired from the filming, and it was also time for Kana, who was still a minor, to head home, so Director Gotanda took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, stood up, and said,
"All right. Let’s call it a day!"
-
At Kaoru’s call, he summoned the manager named Kimura, who had been waiting on standby under Rentarou’s instructions, and he and his wife exchanged farewells with the actors, the key department directors, and Director Gotanda.
Some of the people who were still reluctant headed off in groups for a second round, but many others had no energy left to go on after filming in the summer heat.
Even after the hiccups, Kana never showed any sign of strain and went around properly greeting the senior actors and the major staff members with impeccable manners.
Director Gotanda, who had coolly paid the dinner bill with the corporate card provided by the production committee, slipped the receipt into his inner pocket and ordered the remaining people to disperse.
Several actors, including Yuriko, shook their heads as if they were sick of the relentless cameras of the reporters, paparazzi, and fans still waiting near the restaurant.
After the final goodbyes, Kaoru, Ai, and Kana got into the car Kimura had driven over from the parking lot.
Ai wrinkled her nose at the smell of meat clinging to her clothes.
"Wow. Hm— the smell of meat... I don’t think air freshener will be enough... sorry, Kimura-san~"
"Hahaha. Not at all. Thanks to you, I had a delicious dinner too. Personally, I’d be happy if there were a dinner party every day."
As expected of a man who made sure to collect proper compensation for his work, President Rentarou had given Kimura a corporate card for dinner and even generous overtime pay.
Because he valued the privacy and safety of the agency’s actors above all else, he trusted the manager team he had worked with for a long time more than an unfamiliar designated driver.
At Kimura’s cheerful joke, the Kaoru-Ai couple both burst out laughing.
Kaoru, seated in the passenger seat, looked at his wife and Kana in the back through the rearview mirror and said,
"Kana-chan, did you enjoy the food?"
"Yes. Thanks to you, I ate until I was completely full. Thank you, senpai."
"Haha, thank you. It must have been a difficult seat, with only adults there."
"Ah, no. This was my first time at such a fun dinner party... and I got to talk with the other seniors too, so it was a great experience."
"I see. I’m glad."
Kaoru, proud of Kana’s composed and admirable answer, smiled and gave a small nod.
Ai, her starlit eyes sparkling, seemed to remember something and quickly took out her smartphone, saying to Kana,
"Kana-chan. I’ll send you the photos we took earlier!"
"Ah! Yes, yes, senpai! Please do."
"Mm— just a moment~"
She sent over the photos the two of them had taken at the dinner party, and then all the commemorative photos taken with the other actors, including Yuriko.
Thanks to Ai’s insight that the easiest, fastest, and most convenient way to preserve memories while raising four children was simply through photographs—
Kana looked at the stream of messages popping up on her screen and smiled with satisfaction.
Her bright smile and peace sign in the photos with senpai. And the photos taken with another amazing senior, Yoshikawa Yuriko, and so on.
For Kana, getting to take photos and build connections with the very best actors in the industry was an invaluable experience and asset beyond compare.
On the way home, just like on the way to the restaurant, Kana spent the time chatting happily with Ai and talking with Kaoru, not noticing time passing at all.
"According to the navigation, this is it."
"Ah, thank you. Yes, this is the place. Thank you."
"Take care going in, Kana-chan. You worked hard today."
"I’ll contact you, Kana-chan! Get home safely!"
After getting out of the car, Kana carefully closed the door and bowed deeply again to Kaoru and Ai, who were seeing her off through the window.
"Thank you for helping me. Please get home safely, senpai!"
"Next time you have time, let’s go eat something delicious! Kana-chan~"
"Yes!"
After saying their goodbyes, Kana trotted into the building, and the stopped car soon moved forward again.
The car driven by Kimura arrived not long after in the underground parking lot of the mansion where Kaoru and Ai lived.
Kaoru, who insisted on giving Kimura taxi fare and told him to take a cab home for driving them safely, exchanged farewells with him and then boarded the elevator with his wife.
"Hwaa.... uu, my eyes are closing..."
"You’re tired, huh? You seemed to drink a lot more than usual today."
"Mm. The meat was tasty too... and I got swept up in the mood... and the nihonshu was delicious. I kind of wanted to drink it with Kana-chan too, so that was a little disappointing..."
"Hahaha."
At his wife’s murmur, Kaoru let out a hearty laugh.
Ai leaned her head against her husband’s body as he laughed and rubbed her face against his chest.
The smell of meat was strong, but it wasn’t hard to find her husband’s scent underneath it.
The dizzy, tipsy feeling from the alcohol grew even stronger once her tension eased.
Just as her husband had said, she had drunk a little too much today.
"......"
Instead of her left hand, which was holding her handbag, Ai lifted her right hand and gently took her husband’s right hand, stroking his palm.
Had he noticed the emotion in his wife’s silent touch?
Kaoru, confirming that they were getting closer to the floor number shown on the display, said in a quiet voice,
"How is it? The hand of a husband with a perfect palm."
"...Pffuhihi. Dummy-Oru. Yuriko-chan said not to trust her too much either."
"Still, it’s true that it’s perfect, isn’t it?"
"Hm~ Then she said Ai’s palm was perfect too, didn’t she?"
"Well, of course. Whose wife are you?"
"Eeh~?? That—"
"You were the one who looped your arm through mine and told Yuriko-san, weren’t you? ‘My fate line’ is me. Hmm... it made me happy. I almost jumped up and shouted, ‘Hooray!!!’"
"Puhuhut- pffhahahat-!"
At her husband’s teasing joke, Ai ended up bursting into a huge laugh.
At the brightest, most radiant smile his wife had shown all day, Kaoru also let a faint smile settle at the corner of his mouth.
'...'
He knew it.
There was no way he couldn’t know.
That his wife had been tracing the faint scar left on his right palm.
That in the palm reading Yuriko had given, she had picked out only the heavy story about her husband’s fate, not her own, and had kept it in her heart all this time.
That was why Kaoru felt relieved.
Because you were more beautiful when you smiled happily and joyfully instead of with sorrow and worry.
So he promised to protect that happiness no matter what. He swore it, and resolved it again and again.
No matter what future might come that the fortune-telling had failed to predict.
He would.
"Ai, let’s brush our teeth before giving the babies their goodnight kiss."
"Eeh? Of course~! Dummy-Oru. Don’t you think that’s too cruel to the babies?"
"Hmm. We should floss properly too, right?"
"Tch, obviously! Don’t look down on Ai!"
"Hahaha! Got it, Ai. Aah—! That hurts~"
The couple’s bickering in the elevator soon came to a neat end when they arrived at their floor and the doors opened.
And finally, when they reached home and opened the front door—
"Welcome home?"
"Mama-!!!"
"Mommyyyyy!"
"Mamaaah!"
"Kyahhh-♥ We missed our babies so muchhh-♥"
The beloved babies ran up and welcomed the couple.
As always, it was the same peaceful daily life repeated over and over.
And Kaoru took in every bit of that precious, happy everyday life without missing a single thing.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register