Subaru スバル

"SUBARU! SUBARU!" Sora burst into the music practice room, stopping only when her heart pounded uncomfortably in her chest in protest. She looked up and grinned when her eyes fell upon her twin brother. She held up the pamphlet in her hand, triumphantly brandishing it in front of him.

Subaru rolled his eyes, reaching out to steady her hand so that he could actually read said thing that she'd risked her health to show him. His eyes widened as he read the embossed script.

SAOTOME ACADEMY

INFORMATION PACKET

FOR

NEW ENTRANTS

She can't be serious, he thought, dumbstruck. Saotome Academy was an entertainment school that trained some of the best idols and composers in Japan; its entrance exam was infamous for being next to impossible - and that was the easy part. It was no secret that only ten percent of new entrants that passed that exam didn't drop out after the first few months, and fewer than that even had a chance at making it in the entertainment industry.

Not to mention the school fees.

Their aunt might have been well-off, but she wasn't that rich.

Sora was watching him expectantly, "Wha'dya think, Nii-chan?"

He winced at how excited she seemed. Added to the fact that she only called him Nii-chan (which was wrong, as she was the oldest twin) when she was tremendously excited, it now made sense why she had begun asking if he knew anything about composing original songs for their performances. She wanted to enter the school under the Idol Program while he did the same under the Composer Program; probably thinking it was the better option since he had made the decision not to sing again.

If he was a good brother, he'd try to let her down gently, try to explain how small their odds were of ever being accepted in the first place. But he recognised the look in his sister's eyes. There would be no point in even trying to dissuade her from this course of action.

He sighed, "When are the entrance exams?"

Sora's silver eyes shined, "Next week - Nii-chan does this mean…?" Her hands trembled and Subaru gave her a small smile. "I suppose we did make a promise, didn't we?"

She squealed in delight and smothered him with a big hug. "Thank you," she whispered.

When she pulled away, Subaru could have sworn she was trying to hide tears behind a curtain of silvery blonde hair.

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Sora 天

~Day of the entrance exam ~

Sora clapped her hands and kicked the snow playfully before bouncing into her finishing pose as HAYATO's latest song faded in her ears. She sighed happily, her breath appearing as white puffs, before sliding her fingers over the glossy screen of her iPod to select another song.

She loved HAYATO's music more than anyone else; for the long years she had spent hospitalised for having an incredibly weak body, she'd never forget the day the wind carried a magical sound through her window, encouraging her not to resign herself to laying in bed forever.

After that, she'd listened to his songs everyday, which dramatically improved her mood. A year later she had been discharged and allowed to go home for the first time since she was just six years old; just in time for the last year of junior high. The school setting was incredibly refreshing compared to her days being taught by a private tutor, paid for by the aunt that never visited her.

Her thoughts drifted away when a new song floated into her head, exciting her with each note. She smiled at the empty street and jumped right back into her dance routines that she'd memorised from watching HAYATO on the television.

Halfway through her routine, she accidentally kicked a large clump of snow that burst, spraying herself with cold sludge.

She turned around apologetically, "Sorry Ni-cha- HUH?" Panic bubbled in her stomach the moment she realised that Subaru was nowhere to be seen.

The cold seemed to cling to her tighter, chest tightening as she scanned the snow strewn street for her brother. Her heart pulsing with anxiety as she realised that not only had she lost her brother, but she didn't recognise where she was at all - why would she? She hadn't had the opportunity to wander the streets of Tokyo freely yet.

The stress piled up the longer she spent standing alone, scanning her surroundings for a hint that would lead her back to Subaru. Her feet started going backwards until her back was pressed up against a rough wall behind her and a small whimper escaped her lips. She slowly let herself slide to the ground, not caring as the snow bit into her clothes even more, a numbing cold devouring her body. In her ears HAYATO continued to sing, but for the first time she couldn't listen.

And that frightened her.

It was 7:50 and she was supposed to be lined up outside Saotome Academy by 8:00. She hugged her knees and clenched her eyes shut, too consumed by her panic to think about anything else. The only other time she'd been this upset was when she'd been told her parents had been in a car accident; it had been Subaru who had hugged her while she cried.

Where is here? She cried out in her mind. Subaru! Please find me!

As if on cue, a kind hand gently brushed her shoulder and her eyes sprang open with relief.

"Subaru!" But then she stopped.

It wasn't Subaru, and just that realisation alone made her shrink away from this stranger's touch, knocking her earbuds out in her surprise. The stranger noticed this and quickly retracted his hand, blushing a little.

"G-Gomen!" He looked to be about the same age as her, with kind eyes and a smile almost as bright as his scarlet hair. Sora relaxed upon seeing he meant no harm.

"Are you alright?" His eyes were worried and his sudden concern warmed her down to her toes. She hadn't met many people, but she got the feeling that this boy was very sweet and caring at his centre - much like her brother.

She hiccuped as she remembered Subaru and another tear leaked down her cheek.

'I'm... lost," she forced out. "And I lost my brother and I don't know where to go and if I don't get their really, really soon then I'm gonna miss the entrance exam and then I won't be able to be part of a duet with him like we'd always promised we would be and then I'll have to go back to the hospital and-"

"It'll be okay!" He smiled at her again and she fell silent. She nodded slowly and then watched as his ruby eyes widened.

"You're taking an entrance exam near here?"

Sora nodded again, "At Saotome Academy."

His smile widened, "Me too! I want to be an idol! Oh-" The boy gave her a sheepish grin, "I'm sorry! I haven't introduced myself - my name is Ittoki Otoya." Ittoki-san offered her a hand up and she took it gratefully.

"Thank you, Ittoki-san."

He wrinkled his nose at her formal way of addressing him, "You can just call me Otoya - we're friends now, right?"

Otoya's energy was contagious and despite her situation she found herself feeling better, "Right."

Mentally, she was jumping up and down - her first friend!

"I'm Shimono Sora."

His eyes brightened, "Sora-chan! That's a cute name!"

She blushed, "Thank you." On instinct she checked her iPod for the time. 7:58. She had two minutes to arrive registration before she was late.

Otoya seemed to pick up on this. "We'd better get you there quickly!"

Sora nodded but then stopped, "What about you?"

"I've already signed in - I was just taking a walk to calm my nerves." He grabbed her hand and led her down the street. They took so many twists and turns that eventually Sora just closed her eyes and let herself get pulled along, too overwhelmed to do anything else.

Finally, Otoya came to a halt and Sora allowed herself to open her eyes. She gasped as she recognised the same gates that she'd seen in the school's booklet last week. The thing that really got both their attention however, was the shy looking girl who was pleading with the security guards.

As they drew closer, they were able to hear what she was saying.

"Please! I… I want to apply, no matter what!" In her desperation she grabbed at the security guard's vest to plead further with him, "I want to study music at Saotome Academy!"

He pushed her away and she slipped, falling down into the snow. She looked so desperate and small in that moment, that Sora couldn't stop herself from intervening, despite her own lateness. Pushing aside her previous meekness, she hurried to join the scene.

"It's only 8:02!" She interjected, while beside her Otoya helped the girl to her feet, "That's barely late - and the exam doesn't start until 8:30!"

The guard's eyes bored into hers. "No! Late is late! She isn't suited to become a student of Saotome Academy if she can't even be on time."

Both Otoya and the girl sighed dejectedly, until another voice called out to the small gathering.

"Wouldn't that depend on her reason for being late?" The three of them followed the voice and found a good-looking young man - being closely followed by two others clad in black suits - regarding them with an amused twinkle in his eyes. He didn't seem to notice the looks of awe that were being thrown in his direction.

"That lady was late…" he walked towards them lazily, "Because she was helping a lost child." He looked at the shy girl contentedly, "I would have given you a ride in my car if I had known you were an applicant of Saotome Academy."

Sora sheepishly began to wonder what was going to happen about her own lateness, and she found herself slipping away from the current conversation. The good-looking man offered the girl the umbrella she had lent to a lost child and she shyly accepted it. Sora tried to get a glimpse of any students who might be lingering about the school's courtyard, behind the guards, hoping that Subaru might be among them.

Apparently satisfied that the other girl could take the entrance exam, their attention turned to Sora.

"This one might have been given an exception," one of the guards said, nodding towards the girl, "But the same courtesy wasn't extended to the other latecomer here." He glared at Sora tiredly and she could feel her anxiety return.

Otoya sensed her skittishness and stepped in, "But she's new to the area and got lost!" Already the guard was shaking his head, "Applicants from all over Japan come here, so how come they still got here before her?"

The other girl opened her mouth to say something but before she could, Sora heard a familiar voice cry out to her:

"SORA!"

She barely had time to look for Subaru before he'd thrown his arms around her, "You idiot! Do you have any idea how worried I've been?" She relaxed and he removed himself, but didn't let go of her hand, "Luckily for you, I already registered us both," he handed her a ticket which she clasped carefully with her numb fingers.

It seemed to satisfy the guard, "All of you'd best go to the hall then." Sora nodded, her energy renewed now that she'd found her brother and wasn't about to get reprimanded for being late. To celebrate, she gave the guard a big hug in her excitement - while he sputtered and gawked in response. The sight of the stern man now as red as a tomato made her burst out laughing; her cheerfulness not deterred even though the others stared at her in disbelief - Subaru especially.

"Thank you!" She bowed before him again, and then turned back to her twin, not sure whether hugging him again would really make everyone think she was queer or not.

She decided she didn't care; hugging her brother tightly she squealed, "We're going to Saotome Academy!"

He grumbled at her behaviour in front of so many onlookers, "We're going to an entrance exam that we're going to be late for if you don't stop hugging people!"

She laughed, "Of course, Nii-chan."

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