Carefully laid trap

Hearing this startling invitation, Kyosuke appeared to be quite taken aback. His face was painted in a mixture of happiness and incredulity.

"Eh?! Is that really alright? Aren't you here with your friends, Asakura-san?"

"Yes, but unfortunately I've been abandoned by them." Asakura replied with an affected sigh.

He brushed a hand through his hair, continuing to speak in a strained voice.

"You see, one is a completely useless and unreliable person, who is probably flirting somewhere with a bunch of women, and the other two... Well let's just say they might be busy doing something else at this time of night." He finished with a grimace.

It's not difficult to imagine who those people Asakura spoke of were.

The useless flirt was indeed Kota Subaru, who was now too busy entertaining a group of ladies in the resting area. The man spoke animatedly, causing all the women there to giggle and sigh over his good looks and great fortune.

Meanwhile, Keita and Rintarou were holed up in their room, doing heaven knows what. Asakura for certain wasn't interested in knowing the details. As such, he tried to keep his mind from straying in that direction by focusing on the current conversation.

Young Kyosuke, who had no idea what Asakura meant by those strange words, gaped at him in confusion.

Nevertheless, he was a sociable person. He liked parties and talking to people. He also didn't like letting his friends drink by themselves if he could help it. Consequently, Kyosuke soon accepted Asakura's invitation without any further hesitation.

"Sure, why not! Let's go and drink ourselves silly!" the young man cried out excitedly.

"Let's not go that far... Kyosuke-kun." Asakura mumbled in an undertone.

For a second, he actually doubted whether his decision to launch the invitation had been a good one. He had acted mostly on instinct, but was it really a good idea?

Despite all of Asakura's worries, though, not even five minutes later, the two men were standing at the bar. They were each holding a glass, leaning into their chairs comfortably.

"Why are you here in this place, Asakura-san? You don't really look like the type to enjoy this kind of remote inn."

"Hmm, then what kind of person do you see me as?" Asakura asked, suddenly feeling curious.

"Well..."

Kyosuke hummed, pondering for a moment, before opening his mouth to reply.

"You seem more like a classy person. One who could easily fit in with those highborn people, you know? Living in large mansions and staying at five star hotels… that kind of person."

"Oh, is that so?" Asakura drawled, hiding a smile behind the glass.

He was actually very impressed with the correct assessment Kyosuke had given him. But he wasn't going to admit that to the young man. Some things weren't necessary to be shared between strangers who only recently became friendly with each other.

"Mhm." Kyosuke nodded, feeling very proud of himself. "So, why are you in this part of the country?"

"Sightseeing." Asakura replied vaguely, swirling the glass slowly between his index finger and thumb.

He remained silent, watching the golden liquid as it climbed and swayed like the sea waves during the tide.

"Sightseeing?" Kyosuke repeated incredulously.

"Yes. I'm here with some friends to enjoy the beautiful mountainside and relax in the onsen." Asakura paused, then continued to speak in what he meant to be a casual tone. "What about you? Aren't you here with a large group yourself?"

"How do you know that?"

"I've seen you and Sato-san in front of the inn. You were surrounded by several other young men."

"Ah, yes." Kyosuke smiled and scratched the back of his head. "We're here with a few other actors."

"So, you're an actor? Sato-san is one too?"

"Yes. We're actually here to celebrate one of our friends for winning the main role in a drama."

"Oh, congratulations! Then this should be a happy occasion, right?" Asakura asked as if by chance.

"Yes, of course it is! That guy has tried so hard to get a role in that drama. He was so happy when he finally landed it that he downed a beer in one go." Kyosuke laughed heartily.

"I see." Asakura smiled.

At this moment, he could finally throw the conversation in the direction he wanted from the very beginning.

Concealing a wolfish grin, Asakura cleared his throat and continued to prob.

"If this is meant to be a happy event, then why is Sato-san looking so dispirited? Even when his friends are so hyped up about all this, he appears to be unhappy. Could it be..." He paused for a second, appearing to pick his words carefully. "Could it be that he wanted the role for himself and now he's feeling upset because he lost to his friend?"

"What?!" Kyosuke exploded, almost jumping from his seat. "No! No, not at all! What do you take Sato for?!"

Kyosuke paused. He then frowned, his expression slowly twisting from shock to indignation.

"No, he has another... Reason for being like that."

After saying this much, Kyosuke eventually stopped talking. He clenched his fists and stared straight ahead with a look of resentment in his eyes.

"Oh? Another reason you say?"

Asakura was now really curious to find out what happened to that person. For Sato to look so sad and depressed, it must have been something serious.

Asakura had a hunch it might be a breakup or something of that sort, but he was never fond of guessing. Thus, in order to get the conversation to this point, he had employed every roundabout way he could think of. Now, he could only hope that Kyosuke would be willing to talk openly.

To Asakura's relief, after several moments of hesitation, he once again heard the young man speak. His words came out slowly, as though even the sheer recollection of that matter was painful.

"Sato, he... He suffered a great injustice. The two of us, together with another guy, Touma, were very close friends. You could say we grew up together. We stuck close while in school, and when Sato decided to audition for his first role, we followed him. Even after we had our own debut as young actors, we still maintained a very close relationship. But things changed three years ago when Sato and Touma began going out together."