A PATH, A LAWYER

Chiyoda, Tokyo – At the Shimizu Restaurant, Yuuma is still trying to reach Hisao but no one to pick up the phone.

"Yuuma! Look at this! I made a Pikachu! Is it adorable?" Alisha tries to get Yuuma's attention with her adorable smile and the Pikachu. Yuuma was so stunned when he saw the cute smile on Alisha's face. He felt so in love with that smile.

"What? Is it something on my face?" Alisha feels weird and wonders why he staring at her. She felt so embarrassed because of Yuuma's stairs and her face turned red like a red pau with red beans.

"Errm… Nothing. I was startled by that Pikachu. I wonder why it's so cute." Yuuma feels so awkward and embarrassed when Alisha is curious about why he is staring at her, he tries to change the topic and his face also turns red. He puts his hand behind his head and looks the other way when he feels awkward in that situation.

"I told you so. My talent is no doubt. Hehehe." She feels proud of herself when receiving his compliments about her work. She is like a spoiled cat getting praise from her owner for her wisdom. Yuuma just looked at her with a smile and nodded as he agreed with Alisha.

Chuo, Tokyo – On that night, Hisao and all his colleagues go to Yamada Bar to celebrate Hisao's achievement that month.

"Welcome back, Hisao! I thought you would take the time to come back after that incident. I heard you want a karaoke set tonight. Don't worry I'll give you and all your colleagues special services tonight." Youta celebrated Hisao and his colleague's welcome by hugging his best friend.

"Thank you, Youta. It's very kind of you, but you shouldn't have to." Hisao doesn't want to burden his best friend to do everything for him and his colleague.

"Don't worry. It's not a big deal. Besides, I heard they want to celebrate your achievements. So, I should celebrate with you too. Come on, I'll take all of you to the room." Youta persuaded Hisao not to worry when he led them to the VIP room with the karaoke set.

"Here we are. Please suit yourself. I'll call my staff to serve all of you." Youta led them into the VIP room. A large room with a large and comfortable sofa that can accommodate 20 of them.

"Wow! We get the VIP room! It's a very huge and nice room." People were mesmerized by the beauty of the expensive-looking room, and one of Hisao's colleagues expressed his admiration for the place. Suddenly, the door opened, and Youta entered with five men and five women from his staff.

"Good day everyone! All my staff will serve all of you today. Hope your day will be better." Youta introduces all his prostitutes to Hisao colleagues.

"Mr. Watanabe!" Asuka saw Hisao and wanted to approach him but one of Hisao's male colleagues blocked her way to Hisao out of sudden.

"Hey, beautiful! You must be the one who serves Hisao, right? How about today you serve me? Oh, come. Don't worry about him. He comes here every day. So, you can serve him next time." A male colleague Hisao attempts to persuade Asuka by grabbing her hand and urging her to follow him. Asuka looks at Hisao pleadingly, hoping he will defend her, but obviously, he avoids eye contact with her and refuses to intervene. Asuka feels disappointed by Hisao's reaction and wonders if he only thinks of her as a prostitute. She had no choice but to follow the male colleague when she saw Hisao silently turn away. During that celebration, Hisao just sat on the couch and watched all his colleagues have fun and get drunk. They had sex in that room while they drank without shame.

"Mr.… Mr. Watanabe…" Asuka unexpectedly lay on the table near Hisao's seat and kissed one of Hisao's male colleagues. She turned herself towards him and called his name so passionately. Hisao saw that situation happen, he felt shocked and uneasy because it reminded him of the nightmare he had the previous night, in which Asuka transformed into a terrifying creature.

"Hisao, are you okay?" Hana suddenly greets Hisao when she sees Hisao feel uncomfortable with that situation.

"What? Oh, yes. I'm okay. Nothing to worry about." Hisao tries to act normal in front of Hana.

"You want to go out from here? Take some fresh air out there." Hana asked Hisao out of that room.

"Y… Ya, sure." Hisao agreed to follow her out of the room. They went out to the corridor of that bar to get some fresh air.

"Fuuh… It's so freaky out in there. I feel awkward." Hana started to make conversation with Hisao.

"Yaa…" Hisao just answered it shortly.

"It seems like the mistress attached to you, ha? I saw her never turn her head from looking at you even when she had made out with others." Hana is curious and starts to question him about his relationship with his mistress.

"Really? I don't realize that. Do you… Do you have a cigarette?" Hisao wanted to avoid the question and try to the subject.

"Errmm… You seem different. This is not like you. I had never seen smoking before. It is that mistress change you?" Hana still wants to stick with the subject of the mistress.

"Naahh… She not. I only want to get some fresh air. Do you, have it?" Hisao also still wants to avoid that subject.

"But it seems you are not interested in her? Did something happen between you both? Why? Are you already bored with her? Did you just think she was just a whore?" Hana gets suspicious of why Hisao wants to avoid that question and she keeps questioning him more and more.

"Hhhmm… No. I never think of her that way and it's not like I am getting bored. It just… I had a nightmare about her and right now every time I see her it makes me feel scared of her." After being pushed by many questions from Hana, Hisao explained what he felt between him and Asuka.

"Really? How about me? Are you scared of me too?" Hana suddenly kisses Hisao on the lips and she keeps questioning Hisao's feelings towards Asuka. Hisao did not refuse the kiss, he also accepted the kiss by holding her face and continuing to kiss her back.

"Yuuma… Did I take the right path? Did I make the right choice? Or am I drowning in the darkness? Do I right now only follow my lust? Am I only full of my lust? Can I see her smile one more time?" Hisao questions Yuuma in his mind while he keeps kissing Hana greedily on the lips. His mind keeps imagining Alisha's smile.

Sometimes,

Darkness is not just limited to the absence of light,

 It can also be found amid brightness,

Without us even realizing it,

It is like the sun hiding the moon in the morning,

Concealing the darkness that surrounds us,

Wherever there is light,

There is always a shadow,

Day by day,

We are gradually consumed by the darkness, feeling lonely and isolated,

Slowly but surely,

People start leaving us behind,

And we are left alone in the shadows,

Without even realizing how much the darkness has already taken over our lives.

 Chuo, Tokyo - Hisao awake from his sleep. He realized it was already morning. However, he was surprised to find himself in an unfamiliar place and not in his room. Upon looking around, he noticed a woman lying beside him. The sight did not shock him as he had already gotten used to it. He recognized the woman as Hana and remembered they had hooked up the night before. He had willingly gone to Hana's house with her. As he tried to get up, Hana suddenly hugged him from behind.

 "Where do you want to go, Hisao?" Hana grabbed and hugged him from behind.

 "Nowhere. I want to take a bath." Hisao suddenly kisses Hana on the forehead and gets up from the bed.

 "How about we take a bath and go to work together? I'll make you some breakfast before we go." Hana suggests that she and Hisao do things together as a couple while taking his hand.

 "Hhmm… Okay." Hisao just agreed without questioning Hana.

 Chiyoda, Tokyo – When Hisao and Hana arrived at the office together, their colleagues were surprised to see Hana holding Hisao's arm tightly.

 "Ha… Hana… I think you can go to your seat now. I want to start my work now." Hisao asks Hana to leave as he feels awkward when people look at them.

 "Oh, okay! Hey Hisao. How about we go to lunch together?" Before Hana left, she invited Hisao to lunch.

 "Okay." Hisao agreed with a nod of his head. Mr. Hiroshi watched his assistant, and the rest of the staff interact. As time went by, Hisao and Hana's relationship grew closer. They had spent time together at the office and after work, like a real couple. Eventually, a few months pass, Hisao moves into Hana's house, and they begin to have an intimate relationship. Despite spending time together, she the only one felt the love when he only thinks their relationship advantage colleague. In addition, he commutes to Yamada Bar on business and maintains a relationship with Asuka. He succumbed to his lust and chose to let go of his fears about Asuka.

 One day, Hisao and Hana arrived at their workplace as usual but noticed a woman waiting in the reception area wearing a long red dress and maroon cardigan who could only speak in English. They assumed she was a foreigner. Hisao was curious about what she had been doing here as it was rare to see foreigners in their association. Hana approached the woman and asked why she was there. The woman replied that she was looking for Mr. Hiroshi. Hana asked the woman to wait while she went to find Mr. Hiroshi. A few minutes later, Hana returned and guided the woman into Mr. Hiroshi's room.

 "Hisao, Mr. Hiroshi calling you." Hana told Hisao to get in after a few hours Mr. Hiroshi had been discussing with that woman. Without saying a word, he nodded and followed Hana to the room.

 "Hisao! Please come and sit. Let me introduce you to our new big client from Malaysia, Ms. Jessica." Mr. Hiroshi introduced Jess to Hisao and took a seat next to Jess. Hana gasped when Hisao suddenly sat next to Jess.

 "Ms. Jessica. This is Mr. Watanabe. From now on, he'll serve you. He is the best attorney in this association." Mr. Hiroshi attempted to convey the most favorable impression of Hisao to Jess.

 "Nice to know you, Mr. Watanabe. First, let me clarify something. I'm not your real client. I'd only come here on her behalf when she refuses to out of her room." Jess bowed her head in respect to Hisao as she tried to explain her situation about his real client who couldn't come. Hisao suddenly becomes suspicious about it. Jess passed a file to Hisao but when he opened the file, he was so shocked when he saw the picture on that profile.

 "Wait! Who is she?" Hisao cut Jess's talk and questioned her about the woman in the profile picture.

 "Oh, she is my manager. My lady Ms. She is…" Jess tries to introduce her manager to the people in that room.

 "… it used to be her assistant to pick up the food… Jess said her beautiful Ms. loves my food." He remembered what Yuuma told him about the lady he had been looking for all this time.

 "Wh… what is your lady Ms. Name?" Hisao suddenly asked about the woman's name in that profile.

 "A… Alisha Baharudin. Yo… You can see her name on that profile." Jess awkwardly answered and wondered about Hisao's reaction. Hisao checked her profile and then his phone, noticing the same name as Yuuma's message.

 "It's you! It is you! You are her assistant as Yuuma told me before." Hisao was so excited when he realized the person, he had been looking for was in front of him now.

 "Wha… what are you talking about?" Jess felt awkward and wondered what Hisao was talking about.

 "Can I meet her?" Hisao becomes more excited and asks if he can meet Alisha.

 "I'm sorry, but unfortunately, it's not within my ability to fulfill that request. It's not because I don't want to help, but as I previously mentioned, she has been unwilling to leave her room for several weeks now. The only time she is out of her room is when she feels hungry, go take a walk in the evening before locking herself back in her room." Jess explained how annoyed she felt when she remembered how stubborn her lady Ms. was.

 "Is she okay?" Hisao wondering about Alisha's state. Hana suddenly feels triggered by it.

 "Haaa… Naahh… She's fine. It is just how her way of focusing on her work. Anyway, can we go back to our business?" Jess sighed as she thought about Alisha's condition and changed the subject to out of her worries about Alisha

 "So, may I make a little introduction about my lady Ms. Her name is Alisha Baharudin, 28 years old. She is a fashion designer. Plus, she is still single." Jess gives a little introduction to Alisha's personal life.

 "Our company is a big company and popular in Malaysia, is quite famous and trending in Malaysia, with Lady Ms. as the manager of the fashion department. Recently, the president has directed us to expand our brand outside of Malaysia, with Japan being the chosen location. To ensure we don't run into any legal issues, we need a lawyer in Japan to help us to open a business here. The president is concerned about the possibility of any carelessness on our part leading to damage to the company's reputation in the future. We are open to cooperating with you and providing any details you may need about our business. Please don't hesitate to contact me, if you have any questions or concerns about our business." Jess clearly explained their business in Japan to everyone in the room. However, the discussion was abruptly stopped when Jess received a text message from Alisha.

 "Sorry guys. I need to go now. I have a little kitten that I need to feed her at home now. She has been nagging about hungriness because she has not eaten since yesterday" Jess felt annoyed after getting the second text from Alisha.

 "Oh, okay. Let me know after she read the draft." After Jess stood up, Hisao followed her to stand and handed some drafts of the agreement to Alisha for review.

 "Don't worry! I'll make her suffer until our job is done." Jess replied with the evil on her face. Hisao felt scared and thought about how scary women are when they are angry.