It was a peaceful morning when Otoya woke up.
There was a slight breeze, and Otoya couldn't figure out why. He tried pulling his blankets on over his shoulders, but the cold still bothered him. He sighed deeply, sat up, and stretched his arms, looking with tired eyes to the early morning sky. Evidently, he would be waking now.
It was still purple at the top of the sky, but there was orange peeking out over the horizon. Given the winter weather, there was snow that fell yesterday still out in the meadows, and dark trees with their leaves lost to the throes of Autumn. The color contrast was very striking. Otoya shivered again, and noticed that the glass doors were open. Sighing again, he slid out of bed and shut the doors quietly, so as to not disturb the early morning silence. It was all beautiful, but there were times when he missed the winters in Japan.
(and the memories that came along with them)
Feeling the sudden urge to lay back in bed and fall asleep, he made to do that, but his phone on the bedside table began to buzz.
He picked it up, squinting at the especially bright screen. It was five o'clock in the morning. The one calling him was Haruka.
Haruka?
(but they hadn't talked since STARISH split...)
He pressed "talk," albeit being somewhat nervous.
"Bonjou - ah, hello, this is Otoya speaking..." He mumbled, voice groggy from sleep. He rubbed his eye, then sat down on the hotel room bed, marveling at its comfort. If only he could fall asleep again... but, of course, it would be very rude to fall asleep while on the phone, he reasoned with himself.
"Otoya-kun?" Nanami's sweet, innocent voice hadn't changed, even after all these years.
Otoya smiled in spite of himself.
"Yes?"
"Um, um well. Remember the principal? Shining Saotome, well, he wants. No, he requested that STARISH do a reunion concert?"
Otoya's mind blanked for a moment, his mind filling with memories of being with STARISH.
(and a delicate faced man with a silly half-smile)
Otoya shook his head, feeling a slight blush fade away with the action.
"I don't know, Nanami-san. Our split was pretty dramatic, would anyone even come to the concert?"
"I'm taking that as a yes." Nanami said, point-blank, then hung up.
"H-hey!" Otoya redialed her, and she picked up.
"Yes, Otoya-kun?" She asked, sweet, innocent voice almost mocking Otoya. How the industry could change someone so naive as Haruka was a mystery to Otoya.
"Okay, I'll do it, but only if all the other members agree." Otoya said, flustered. He could hear Haruka softly giggle on the other end. Possibly, being Tomochika's songwriter had been the thing to change her. Tomo had always had an influence over others.
"Thank you, Otoya-kun." She said sincerely. Otoya heard the line go silent after that, so he hung up as well. He put his cell-phone back down on the side table and sighed, falling back into the bed's warm embrace.
He heard the silence of the room. It seemed...rather lonely. Otoya withheld the urge to call Haruka again, and settled for going outside and getting a breath of fresh air.
It was silent outside. Winters always had a serene quietness about them, which Otoya usually admired, but it made him feel even more lonely now. He found himself wishing for the mornings back at the academy
(with a certain beautiful man rooming with him)
and his time in the master course
(in which he had more friends than he could have ever imagined as a child)
and his time being in STARISH.
(when everything began to change)
He closed his eyes. He took a deep breath of the brisk winter air, hoping it would bring some sense back into him. This concert wouldn't change anything between Tokiya and he. No matter how much he wished it would.
