It was April, which meant the beginning of the school year at Saotome Academy. There were around a thousand students this year, all aiming to be an idol or a composer. The courtyard was full of excited students, waiting for the entrance ceremony to begin.
Someone tapped on the microphone, "Testing. One, two, three. Can everyone hear me?"
"Yes!" all students said in unison.
"Excellent!" came back the response. "Hello, students! I'm Ittoki Otoya!"
Screams sounded from every part of the crowd.
"Okay, okay," Otoya laughed, "I welcome you to the…most fun, greatest music academy in this whole universe!"
"Ittoki, you're doing it wrong," came the second voice, causing a second chorus of cheers and swooning girls. "Hello, and welcome to Saotome Academy! I'm Ichinose Tokiya! Is everyone excited?"
"Yeah!" the response resonated against the walls.
Tokiya smiled, "Excellent! Now, a word from our, ever so humble headmaster. Shining Saotome!"
Tokiya stepped back from the microphone, pulling Otoya back with him. The crowd filled with anticipation and silence, waiting for their headmaster to come from the riser. Otoya cleared his throat and glanced over at the teachers who all looked around.
There was a loud bang. "Hello, ladies and gentlemen!"
"In the bell tower," Tokiya whispered glancing over just as the shadowy form emerged into the sunlight.
"And welcome, as Mr. Ichinose had said, to Saotome Academy! A world of music and beauty, and most importantly, shining stars!"
The man at the top of the building jumped, causing the students to gasp, but was instantly caught by a bounce house, catapulting him to the stage, where he landed perfectly with precision.
"I hope you enjoy your time here at Saotome Academy, wonderful students!" Shining Saotome said as a helicopter came to pick him up, "I hope to see your faces at the agency one day!"
"Now if you'll kindly head straight for you class, it would be greatly appreciate it," Otoya announced.
"If you want to meet STARISH, we'll be in the cafeteria during lunch!" Tokiya said and the two filed off stage.
"That was…"
"Special," Otoya finished.
"Any idea where the others scurried off to?" Tokiya asked.
"Yeah," Otoya nodded, "Cecil said he'd be in a tree-"
"Besides Cecil," Tokiya said, though he kept his eyes on each tree they past.
"Ren said he'd be in the usual place," Otoya looked over at Tokiya to see if he knew what that meant.
"Maybe…" Tokiya thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I don't know."
"Masa?" Otoya asked.
"They don't tell me these things," Tokiya said with a roll of his eyes and a frustrated growl.
The two rushed around the corner and bumped into a student.
"Oh, sorry," Otoya held out his hand for the boy.
He had dark, ebony hair and startling violet eyes. His hair was slightly long and somewhat spiked, a lock of it reaching his nose, curving to the left. He wore fingerless gloves, both black. His uniform had been prim and neat, until he hit the ground. He looked at Otoya, then his gaze shifted to Tokiya. He pushed away Otoya's hand and stood up himself, dusting the dust off of his uniform.
"Sorry about that," Otoya said.
The boy bowed, "No, it should be me who's sorry, sempai. I wasn't looking where I was going."
"S-sempai?" Otoya stared at him, wide-eyed.
"Pardon me," the boy wove his way around Otoya and Tokiya.
"Wait," Tokiya called out.
The boy halted, but didn't turn, waiting to hear whatever Tokiya said.
"What's your name?" Tokiya asked.
"Suzuki Katsuo," he replied, the began his stride to his dorm or classroom.
"Who was he? Did you know him?" Otoya asked.
"I thought I did," Tokiya mumbled, "Come on, let's try and find-"
"They're at the practice room," Cecil dropped down next to them.
Tokiya ignored Otoya's stuttering protests about how Cecil shouldn't do that, and instead went into the building. They walked past the A class room where Ringo-sensei was energetically telling everyone the rules.
"Man, I miss Ringo-sensei," Otoya said with a sigh.
"I miss being in Saotome in general," Tokiya admitted quietly.
"Here," Cecil pulled open the door, the room filled with music.
Masato was on piano, playing a fast tune that Haruka had written for them earlier and Ren was thinking up some fast lyrics. They were playing a game that the seven of them had made up one day when they had nothing better to do.
"Who's winning?" Otoya asked, walking over to where Syo and Natsuki sat.
"So far," Syo looked the timer he had, "Ren is winning. He hasn't stumbled, but Masato only lasted two minutes into the song making up random lyrics."
"This game is too complicated," Cecil mumbled, sitting down on the floor.
"And my heart feels for you," Ren sang, glaring at Masato as his playing sped up.
"Oh, Masato sped up," Natsuki giggled.
"Was that in the rules?" Otoya asked.
"We made rules?" Tokiya glanced over with a small smile.
"The rules were, play piano and make up random lyrics," Syo said.
"So speeding up isn't illegal," Otoya cleared up.
"Masato!" Ren said, slamming his hand on the piano.
"The piano is a delicate instrument, I'd like to ask that you don't try and break it," Masato said.
"You're not aloud to speed up," Ren snapped.
"It's not in the rules," Masato pointed out.
"But it's not fair," Ren said, his voice smooth and even.
There was a light knock on the door.
"I'll get it," Syo stood up, handing the timer to Natsuki.
Syo opened the door to find a girl, around his height, standing behind the door. She had long, silky black hair that was tied up in a high ponytail, a little past her neck. She had large, bright blue eyes, wore the school's uniform and had a slightly annoyed look on her face.
"Uh…you're a student," Syo said.
"Yeah. S class," she said with a small smile, "Uh…do you perhaps know where the dorms are?"
Syo walked back into the room and rummaged through his bag, the girl standing by the door, waiting patiently.
"Here," Syo handed her the brochure, "The maps in there."
"Thank you," she leaned up and gave him a small peck on the cheek, "I'm Sasaki Atsuko . I hope to see you around, Kurusu-kun."
Syo closed the door and sat down, "That girl was weird."
"She was an adorable little lamb," Ren nodded. "I can't believe you got a kiss."
Haruka came in with the largest of smiles on her face, "I got the kids that you will be specially mentoring!"
"The list?" Natsuki perked up.
"Yeah!" Haruka held out the list, "Though, some of you won't be mentoring anyone…"
"I'm fine with that," Syo said, then looked at the list and groaned, "Man!"
"Who'd you get?" Natsuki asked excitedly.
"A kid named Endo Tsubasa ," Syo said. "He looks like…"
"Mikaze-sempai," Otoya finished.
"Except he's smiling," Natsuki said. "He's so cute! Ah, Syo, you're so lucky!"
"We'll see," Syo mumbled, "He's in the A class."
"I got…two students," Tokiya said.
"Ooh! Can you give one to me?" Natsuki begged.
"Uh, I don't think Saotome would alow that," Tokiya said.
"What're their names?" Ren asked.
"Suzuki Katsuo," Tokiya said.
"Wasn't that the guy that we ran into earlier?" Otoya recalled.
"What about you two?" Haruka asked Ren and Masato excitedly.
"Miyajima Jun ," Masato said.
"Masato Aoi," Ren read. "He has your name?"
"It's his surname," Masato shot back.
"This is going to be fun!" Haruka said happily.
"Haruka, did you get someone too?" Otoya asked.
"Yup! A girl named…Sasaki Atsuko," Haruka read.
"Seriously?" Syo gaped, "I just saw her!"
"Well, what are we going to do while you guys work?" Cecil asked.
"We can hang out!" Otoya said, beaming.
"Not so fast, Otoya," Tokiya handed Otoya the list, "You have one yourself."
"Yoshida Ryouta?" Otoya read, "Wait. Okay, this is starting to get to me. Why do we have to mentor kids who haven't even finished the year yet?"
"Doesn't matter. It's work," Tokiya said and walked out of the room.
"As cool as always," Syo said with a roll of his eyes, "I'm gonna see if I can find my kid before lunch."
"Tell us if he's any taller," Natsuki said with a smile.
"Shut up!" Syo growled, slamming the door.
"Well…I'll go find this Aoi kid," Ren said, giving them a casual wave as he left.
"What about you, Masa?" Natsuki asked.
"I'll wait," Masato replied, turning back to his piano.
"I'm gonna go find Sasaki-chan!" Haruka exclaimed excitedly, leaving the four boys to whatever they want to do.
"Hello, is Sasaki-chan here?" Haruka peeked in.
Sasaki Atsuko sat up from where she was unpacking and gasped, "Y-you're Nanami Haruka!"
"Are you Sasaki-chan?" Haruka asked.
"Just Atsuko is fine! You don't know how much I look up to you, Nanami-sempai! You write such great melodies for STARISH! It's so amazing!" Atsuko bounced up and skipped over, "But why are you looking for me? I'm practically nobody…"
"Well, Shining-san told me to be your mentor-"
"Are you serious? Is that why the rest of STARISH is here as well?" Atsuko squealed, taking Haruka's hands into her own, "Oh, now I'm getting excited! When do we start?"
"When you get your first assignment," Haruka said, startled by Atsuko's enthusiasm.
"Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" Atsuko said, with the largest grin on her face.
Haruka smiled, wondering what type of composer Atsuko would be when she grew up.
Atsuko sighed, holding onto her student card, waiting in line. It was such a drag, waiting for the next day to come. Her heart was racing, as she couldn't help but anticipate what it would be like to be taught from the best of her generation, but her thoughts were snapped when someone bumped into her. She yelped, closed her eyes and braced for the fall, knowing she wouldn't he able to catch herself in time.
That was when two arms wrapped around her waist. She opened her eyes and peered into the two pairs of eyes, one of them clear blue and the other a beautiful green.
"Are you okay, little kitten?" asked the guy with the green eyes.
"F-fine," she blushed.
"That's good," he said with a smile, letting her go.
The other guy, with the bright blue eyes, handed her the student ID, "Don't want to lose this, do you?"
"Th-thank you," she gaped at the two of them, both were very handsome and very princely.
"Don't worry about it, little kitten. I'm Jun Miyajima," he took Atsuko's hand into his and gave her a quick peck on the back of her hand, "You are, my princess?"
"Sasaki," Atsuko said, "Atsuko. Sasaki Atsuko."
"Ah. What a harmonious name," Jun sighed, "You're a composer?"
"Yes," Atsuko nodded.
"How I'd love for you to be mine," Jun smiled.
The other boy cleared his throat.
"Sorry! May I ask what your name is?" Atsuko said awkwardly.
"Masato Aoi," he said, "Pleasure to meet you."
"R-right," Atsuko nodded.
"What's with all the ruckus?" came a deep voice.
Followed by a smooth one, "I think we've found our students."
"OH MY GOSH! It's Hijirikawa Masato and Jinguji Ren!" came the girl's squeals.
"Sorry, my little lambs," Ren said, gently pushing past them, "next time, maybe? We'll be here for the year, after all."
"Okay!" they squeaked.
Ren and Masato stood by the other two princes.
"And what might the kings want with us?" Jun said with a small smile.
"We're your mentors," Masato said.
"Oh, so the famous Hijirikawa Masato is our mentor?" Aoi said.
"Sorry, kid, I am," Ren responded. "Hijirikawa here is…Jun's mentor."
Aoi seemed to refuse to acknowledge Jun's existence. As soon as Jun's name was mentioned, Aoi turned back into line, got his food, and went to sit at a nearby table that was empty.
Jun let out a heavy sigh through his nose, "Sorry, he's always like that."
"You…what's up with you two?" Ren asked.
"Well, I suppose you wouldn't know smaller companies, would you, Jinguji-sempai," Jun said with a small smile, then turned towards Atsuko, "I'll see you around, little kitten."
Atsuko nodded, watching as Jun trailed off. She looked at Masato and Ren, bowed, and then walked off to get her lunch.
She sat down at an empty table and sighed, hoping that her grandma was eating well.
"Excuse me," Atsuko looked up into a pair of crystal blue eyes, "Mind if I sit here?"
"Sure, of course," Atsuko moved her books and music away.
He sat down and picked up her music, "You're a composer?"
"Well, I'm learning to be," Atsuko smiled. "Which class are you in?"
"Class A," he replied, "I'm Endo Tsubasa, you are?"
"I'm Sasaki Atsuko," she held out her hand and Tsubasa shook it.
He had icy blue colored hair, styled similarly to Syo from STARISH. He wore a fedora with a blue ribbon going around and a black vest with the school's emblem, over his collared shirt, with the first two buttons undone.
"You're already composing, how…nice," Tsubasa smiled.
"Well, practice makes perfect. I'm nowhere near that but, I'm-"
Tsubasa picked up the score of music and scanned through it, "Wow! I'm jealous."
"Jealous?"
"You're so good at writing music," Tsubasa smiled, "I wish I was this good!"
"Are you a composer?" Atsuko asked.
"Nope! I'm an idol, or going to be," Tsubasa laughed. "Though, I want to be an idol that can write his own songs. Or at least pitch in to the composer's ideas, you know?"
Atsuko smiled.
A hand settled on Tsubasa's shoulder, causing him to jump.
"There you are you little twerp," came the growl of Syo's voice.
"Kurusu-sempai," Tsubasa let out a nervous laugh, "What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you that," Syo said. "Hyuga-sensei told you to go talk to him, didn't he?"
"Yeah," Tsubasa nodded.
"That means you might get transferred to the S class, right?" Syo said, his grip tightening.
"That's correct," Tsubasa nodded again.
"Then why did you run away?!" Syo shouted.
"Because I don't think I'm good enough to be in S class," Tsubasa said. "I mean, I know at first it was a mix up I was put in A class, but-"
"Tsubasa," Syo had a stern look on his face, "As your mentor, I advise you to take this opportunity."
"Kurusu-sempai just wants to spend some time with Hyuga-sensei," Tsubasa smiled.
"Why you little-Don't insult me or else I won't help you, okay?" Syo said, glaring at him.
"Hehe!" Tsubasa stuck out his tongue.
"Hey!" Syo growled.
"Syo-chan! Is this Endo-kun?" Natsuki floated over. "He's so cute! He's shorter than you by an inch right?"
"Shinomiya-sempai!" Tsubasa gasped. "Just call me Tsu."
"Tsu," Syo and Atsuko repeated, though Syo sounded more disturbed."
"Tsu-kun sounds cute!" Natsuki said, grinning.
"Oh, god," Syo sighed, "He's the "cute" boy. You play the cute card, don't you?"
"I've got the face and I've got the height," Tsubasa laughed, "Why not?"
"Because it's creepy!" Syo said.
"The girls love it," Tsubasa winked at a group of girls who were watching them.
"I just want to dress you up like a girl!" Natsuki sighed blissfully.
"Oh, that's actually happened once," Tsubasa said, "I have an older sister that really wanted a little sister, so when I was little she always made me dress up like a princess."
Atsuko and Syo stared at him. "And…and you let her?" Syo asked.
"Well, I was three or four," Tsubasa shrugged. "When I was around ten, my parents told my sister to stop or else I'd turn out "retarded". And then when I was…twelve, I got offered an audition and I had dress up like a girl again."
"So…you cross dress?" Atsuko stared at him, wide-eyed.
"I don't mind it," Tsubasa shrugged, "but I'd rather not."
"That's…ridiculous," Syo sighed.
Tsubasa stood up, spotting someone he knew. He waved and shouted, "Katsuo! Katsuo, over here!"
The boy, supposedly Katsuo, walked over, a tray with a bowl of salad and a slice of pie in hand, "What do you want?"
"This is my childhood friend, Suzuki Katsuo!" Tsubasa smiled, punching Katsuo playfully on the arm. "We were in the youth orchestra together. You should hear this guy play the cello, it's like-"
"Is that all?" Katsuo asked. "If it is then I'll be-"
"And he used to play dress up with me too," Tsubasa said.
"…what do you want?" Katsuo asked, his gaze piercing through Tsubasa's seemingly innocent one.
"Oh, well, you know," Tsubasa looked down at the empty chair beside him.
Katsuo let out a sigh and sat down, looking angry. He didn't looked ecstatic at all to be sitting with Tsubasa or two members of STARISH. He looked up to find Atsuko staring at him. "Yes?"
"Sorry, it's just…you look like someone that I think I know," Atsuko said. "Sorry."
"No, it's fine. I get that a lot," Katsuo shook his head.
"Did you know that when he was younger, he was a really-"
"Shut up, Tsu-kun," Katsuo said, adding a mocking tone at the end.
Tsubasa rolled his eyes, then turned back to his food. He cleared his throat and his voice returned back to normal when he spoke next, "Did you get a mentor?"
"Don't see why I would," Katsuo said.
"Your name is Katsuo, right?" Syo asked, leaning against his arm.
"Yeah," Katsuo nodded.
"Unless there's another Suzuki Katsuo, you've got Ichinose Tokiya," Natsuki said with a smile.
"That clown?" Katsuo mumbled.
"Clown?"
"HAYATO," Katsuo said, spelling it out in the air, "The clown."
"But Ichii is different!" Natsuki protested.
"Well, I know that," Katsuo said, "but whenever I look at him, I think of a clown. It just won't leave my-"
"Katsu-kun!" someone came from behind and gave him a big hug. "Guess what?"
"Get off me," Katsuo said, shrugging off the newcomer.
"Yoshida," Tsubasa looked at him.
Yoshida Ryouta was a charming young man. He had reddish-brown hair, and the same colored eyes. His hair was spiked up and well-layered.
"Guess what?" Ryouta asked excitedly.
When Katsuo didn't answer, Ryouta continued, "Ichinose-sempai came to our dorm."
"Oh," Katsuo acknowledged.
"He was asking for you," Ryouta continued.
"Really?" Katsuo mumbled.
"He asked you to meet him outside veranda in the garden near the lake," Ryouta said.
Katsuo didn't respond.
"Well?" Syo looked at him.
"He gets like this," Tsubasa rolled his eyes, "Just ignore him. He'll come around eventually."
"Syo, Natsuki," Ren walked up to them. He glanced over at Katsuo, "Hey, aren't you-?"
"Stop," Katsuo said, his face grim.
"But I didn't even-"
"I'm not TAIKI," Katsuo growled, standing up and stalking off.
"TAIKI!" Natsuki exclaimed, "That's it! TAIKI."
"TAIKI…who's that?" Syo glanced over.
"TAIKI was an up and rising idol," Natsuki explained, "He was everywhere for a couple of months. He's younger than us by a couple of years. He was…thirteen, when were in Saotome."
"Wow, and then what happened?" Ren asked.
"He…the media said he had family problems so he stopped," Natsuki said. "Now that I think about it, he looks a little like TAIKI."
"Doesn't he?" Tsubasa chuckled, "They're twins."
"Twins?" Syo arched his eyebrows. "Like how Tokiya and HAYATO were twins?"
"Nope. They're twins," Tsubasa tugged out his wallet and showed them a picture. "See, that one right there is TAIKI and this kid over here is Katsuo. Katsuo was the classical one in the family and Taiki was the pop and rock."
"Why doesn't Katsuo look happy?" Atsuko asked, looking at the picture.
"When does he ever? I've never seen him smile before," Tsubasa said. He stood up, "Well, I'd better find out where Katsuo ran off to. See you guys later."
"Right…hey, Tsubasa, I'm not done with you!" Syo called, but Tsubasa had already ran off.
"Leave it Syo. You have most of tomorrow to convince him," Ren said. "Come on."
Atsuko watched as everyone left, except Ryouta, "Yoshida Ryouta, nice to meet you."
"Sasaki-"
"I know who you are," Ryouta smiled, "At-chan."
"At-chan?"
"You can call me Ryouta," he said, grinning, "I'll see you in class tomorrow then, At-chan."
Atsuko sat alone again, this time though, she had another subject on her mind. Katsuo was TAIKI's twin brother? Atsuko practically grew up hearing TAIKI's songs and had fallen in love with his voice long ago. If they were twins, they're extremely identical. Atsuko sighed. First she was told that Nanami Haruka was going to be her mentor and now a classmate was the twin brother of an idol that she loved. She wondered if the day could get any better.
She rounded the corner and bumped into someone, falling on her butt.
"Sorry," he said, reaching down to help her.
Atsuko gasped, "Y-you're…Ichinose-sempai."
"Are you hurt anywhere?" Tokiya asked, helping her up.
"No, I'm fine," Atsuko said, pushing Tokiya's hand off of hers. "Are you looking for Suzuki-san?"
"Yes, have you seen him around?" Tokiya asked.
"Uh…he might be in his dorm room. You should go check there," Atsuko suggested.
"Thank you," Tokiya smiled slightly, then walked off towards the direction of the boy's dorms.