"Miss Kurokawa, I believe you know why we felt the need to have this meeting on such short notice."
Akane was in a warm room; luxurious decorations and expensive-looking furniture sprinkled throughout the entire office, placed with the utmost precision. Nothing looked out of place or unintended — except for her chair. The chair was stiff and unyielding, the kind you just can't sink into — a reminder she was not here to be comfortable. She sat at the back end of an expensive mahogany desk. In front of her, on the other end of the desk, were two men who looked to be in their mid-40s, age already stealing away their hair. Right behind them was a large glass front.
"Yes, and I'm sorry to cause an inconvenience, especially today." Akane shifted around on the wooden chair; small droplets of sweat formed on her hanging forehead.
"Well, it is whatever. Your personal manager told us you wanted to terminate your contract." The other man spoke; the tone of his voice made Akane shiver. He sounded more stern, and there was something else in it.
"That's correct." Akane still looked down, her fingertips turning cold as she realized that two of her superiors had to come into work just because of her.
"Well, may I begin by asking why you would want to get out of our contract?" one man said.
Akane looked up from her lap for the first time as the first man spoke again — she had already seen him a few times before, unlike the other man, who was a total stranger to her.
"Like I already said on the phone, I have a lot on my mind right now, and won't be able to work for the foreseeable future. Therefore, I wouldn't want to have the company still planning with me in mind when I could eventually decide to not return at all."
The room dropped dead silent for a moment as the two men looked at each other, their expressions unreadable. Then they whispered something to each other; it was too quiet for Akane to understand, though.
"We fully understand your circumstances, but to us, you appear somewhat undecided. Therefore, we could offer you a temporary pause on all work-related activities, so you can return when you change your mind."
Akane thought hard about the proposal made by the first man. It would have probably been the most reasonable thing to do, yet it felt just as wrong as doing nothing at all. Why should she have been the one to get an option to back out when she changes her mind, when Kana was the one who had to live with the consequences of her actions, no matter what she did? "No," Her voice was firm, "I am sorry, and as I said, I would obviously pay for all caused damages, but this option feels wrong to me. I want to cut all ties with this industry for the time being."
The expression of the first guy turned to resignation as he sank into his chair. The second man, on the other hand, leaned forward, his tone of voice gentle. "We already had you scheduled for one leading and two supporting roles within the next year. Apart from that, you are one of our most promising talents, and your contract still lasts for another 5 years."
Akane nervously looked around the room before facing forward again. "I know that, and I am deeply sorry that I'm being difficult right now."
The first guy remained completely silent and let the second guy, whose gentle expression slowly began to fade away, do his thing.
"Being sorry is not nearly enough, this is a financial disaster for us. Do you really want to do this to us and to your production members? All the money we spent on PR and training for you would just be gone," he said.
Akane reached into her pocket. With shaky hands, she pulled her credit card out. "My decision is final; just tell me how much I owe you," she said.
Sudden loud laughter filled the room, which earned the man who was so eager to keep Akane at the agency a stern gaze from his colleague.
"A credit card?" he blurted out, "How much do you think this is, 20.000 yen? I don't know the exact number, but I would say your total settlement would come out to be around 10 million yen."
Akane's face turned a few shades paler.
"That's more than I expected," she stammered out, a hint of uncertainty crept up in her voice.
"Well." The smile of the second guy shifted. "You did ask for a complete settlement... But don't panic just yet. You can pay with something other than money... If you understand what I mean."
Akane, alongside the first man, stared in disbelief at the other guy, whose face displayed a knowing smirk. Akane's cheeks began to turn pink at the mere thought of what he meant.
"Excuse me? I will certainly not do that. I have enough money to pay, send me whatever you need to send me and let's get this over with," Akane said as she stood up from her chair.
"If you would excuse me now," She said as she already turned her back towards the two men, unwilling to spend even a single more second with them.
"Wait," the first guy tried to interfere, yet Akane had already stormed out of the room, doors loudly shut behind her.
31st of December, 4:00 pm, Akane's house
"God damn it," Akane murmured, her throat still felt dry, and the walls of her room were much closer than she had remembered. "10 million yen... That's everything I worked for last year... would my mom even allow it?" She rolled over on her bed as a lone tear escaped one of her eyes and glided down the side of her face, before it landed on her pillow. "Why did that one guy have to be so disgusting... As if anyone would actually do that. He only did that to throw me off, so unfair."
Akane raised her right hand to her face, gently feeling her smooth skin — Smooth skin which Kana also once had. "I need to do this... Out of solidarity with Kana." A quiet and plain laugh escaped Akane's lips as she lowered her hand again. Ironic, back then I hurt Yuki in a similar way... I wonder if something like fate exists..." Akane stayed silent for a long moment before she slowly got up from her bed and put her slippers on.
…
Akane's dad was still out like every day, probably working. At first, Akane had tried to involve herself more in his life, yet they've never been that close in recent years. Akane's family was pretty well off, even before she herself struck gold with her acting career; however, about 2 years ago, her father suddenly began to work again. Akane thought about this as she headed down the stairs. There, she found her mom, who sat alone at the dining table.
"Mom, I need to talk to you," Akane said to her mom, who didn't react when she walked in.
Akane's mom, who had just read, lowered her newspaper enough for her to look over it. "What is it my baby?" she said as she lay the newspaper to the side and turned a bit to the left so she could fully face Akane.
"You know how I am signed with Lala Lai... You know my production company," Akane began while she fidgeted with her index fingers.
"But..." Akane's mom prompted her to keep going.
"I want to leave…" As the words left her mouth, it felt like a heavy burden was lifted from her heart alongside them, "Don't get me wrong, the people there are great... But I can't act anymore... It feels wrong."
Akane's mom placed her hand on Akane's shoulder. "That's okay. You being comfortable is the most important thing…" She smiled, "So how is this done, you just put in your two weeks like it's done for any normal job?"
Akane laughed a cold, emotionless laugh as her head fell slightly. "No... Not at all... I am signed with them, if I just decide to up and leave they will make my life even more miserable." Minuscule droplets of sweat had begun to form on Akane's palms. "So I need to pay them for the damages I caused."
Akane's mom squeezed her daughter's hand a bit. "So how much is it?" Her voice sounded dry all of a sudden.
"10 Million Yen..." Akane said.
…
"10 Million Yen..." her mom repeated.
A knot formed inside Akane's stomach.
"That's the price of a decent house..." her mom said.
"I-I'm sorry... Alternatively, one of them offered that I could sleep-" Akane threw her hands up and waved them around as she tried to diffuse the situation.
Akane was interrupted by her mother, her voice sounding fiery. "You could do what?!" Akane's mom said with an intensity that overshadowed her former hesitation by a billion times. "Hell will freeze before I let that happen. No daughter of mine sells her body."
Akane's cheeks flushed in a deep shade of red. "I-I know, I didn't mean it like that, I don't want that either but-"
Both looked at each other in silence for a moment, then her mother's lips parted, wanting to object to her idea, telling her she should just toughen up, but she stopped herself as she looked at Akane's face. It was the same kind of expression she'd seen two years prior — The days before she almost lost Akane forever. But this time was different, Akane actually invited her in instead of keeping quiet, something worth more than any amount of money.
"It's okay…" she sighed, "10 million is a hefty sum... Don't get me wrong... But we'll manage." She took a short break before she continued. "How much do you need from me anyway?"
Akane's head shot up; her cheeks, which began to lose color again, became bright red once more. "No, no, no," Akane said as she shook her head, "I don't need anything. You know me, I live a simple life, so everything I ever earned went into the savings... I have about 16 million Yen saved up from all my gigs. I just wanted your okay."
The facial expression on Akane's mom turned from shock into one of surprise. She always knew her daughter was earning some money, but she never grasped the true extent of it. "16 million?" she repeated, "We should've talked about finances a lot sooner." Her voice was calmer now that she had realized she wouldn't have to burn through her own savings because of Akane's change of heart. "10 million Yen is a lot of money-" She reached her hand out to gently touch Akane's burning cheek. "But it pales in comparison to you... I believe you should do whatever makes you happy... Our family got enough money to live comfortably regardless."
Akane leaned into her mother's hand, closing her eyes and fully embracing the warmth which radiated from her mother's hand — Warmth she desperately needed. Every remaining piece of doubt melted alongside her heart as she saw her daughter cherish her gentle touch.
"Mom, thanks for always supporting me... It means the world to me," said Akane with her eyes still shut.
A few moments of silence had followed before Akane pulled back again, clearing her throat before she spoke. "I need to visit a friend... I wanna tell him about this."
"Stay safe out there." Akane's mom replied as she picked her newspaper back up, while Akane took a few steps.
"Mom..." Akane turned around once more, "I love you..."
Akane's mom lowered her newspaper, her heart skipping a beat as she heard Akane's voice. "... I know baby."
With that, Akane swiftly exited the room, leaving her mom all alone with the silence. Hidden behind the newspaper, unbeknownst to the world, was the terrified expression of Akane's mom. The memories of two years ago, which she tried to bury deep inside her mind, slowly clawed their way back up, stronger than ever before.