Prologue
"Syunpei, please just this once helps your dear sister!" The feverish girl's voice echoed throughout the house. Luckily, no one was around at the moment other than the two siblings. Or perhaps it was the worst thing ever... The teenage girl would not stop begging and shaking his little brother desperately, hoping to hear an answer not other than a yes. Syunpei, the middle schooler felt annoyed and shrugged off his sister's arm from him. "Tell me again why I should do this for you?" He asked while continue on his adventure in the virtual game. At the last breath of that sentence, the boy knew he regretted asking that question. And he was right, his sister dragged on telling everything about his favorite idol Shiwasu Kakeru who held a shake hand event around town today. Not only him, but the whole group of Six Gravity and Procellarum. They decided to celebrate their first debut anniversary by doing so, quite troublesome I would say. He was the popular talk around his school, saying he had a beautiful voice that could make an angel cry. The ability to dance swiftly and wonderfully on the stage, an appealing appearance of a blonde hair orange eyed figure that could melt any girl's heart, a kind-hearted man who would volunteer to help those in need. Syunpei had enough of this golden idol's info in his head that he was confident, if been given a quiz about him, he could pass like taking a breathing around the park. Even though one of his committed fans here had the ticket for the event, she could not go due to her terrible fever. "I worked hard to get this ticket and I'm not going to waste it, even if it's not me who's going!" A sneeze ended that sentence too perfect of a timing. However, Syunpei refused to go in her stead even if he was promised to the Moon Rabbit sweets that he craved dearly. The sweets were recently sold in town, a popular cookie from the civilized city. No one would like to miss the sweet, tender taste of the cookies melt inside their mouth. But Syunpei did, not wanting to be an oddball at the shake hand event. He bet to himself that no man or even boys would be there to see some pop idol, they rather played some sports or the arcades. Plus, why would a man adore another man? That was just weird and comical. Guilt and sympathy built up inside his heart when he heard his sister's nonstop coughing. It seems like it would not get better soon, and he would not like it if they started to fight again. He still remembered the time where he accidentally broke one of her CDs and never talked to him for months. He even had to cook for himself, it was hell for him. He had to choose whether to eat some burned egg with uncooked rice or instant noodle for life. It was troublesome. After losing a few times in his gaming world, with a sigh, Syunpei agreed to his sister's request with one condition. "I'll go to the event for you, but you have to buy me the new game that I wanted." Without any hesitation, the ill girl agreed to it in a split second. And with that, Syunpei leave the house for the event with a reluctant heart.
Wearing a simple shirt with short jeans and a hat, Syunpei was on his way to check out the place of the event. It was summer around the time, and his head was filled with heat over the roughly, sketched map. Since Syunpei did not venture the town that much, he was tend to get lost. "With a map like this, anyone would be lost. What am I going to do?" Syunpei let out a sigh of frustration. His slim body had started to weaken walking around aimlessly, so he decided to visit his place of comfort. The mall, a place for everyone to find almost everything they needed. For this boy who loved gaming, planning his time to search and arrive at the shake hand event, he decided to take a stop at the arcade. "I'll search for it again later. I can always ask around, so I should cherish this once in a lifetime moment." And so he began to play all of the games prepared there all by himself. As expected of a gamer boy, he played well. Not only did he have fun, he also obtained the highest score in all of the games record. He felt reluctant on going to the pop idol's event, but the thought of his deal with his sister forced him to walk away from the arcade. With a heavy heart, Syunpei once again continued his quest for his ill sister and hoped his luck was on his side. Syunpei looked around for any clues where the shake hand event was. While looking at the confusing drawn map, he misstep the stairs and almost fall to the ground. It was a gruesome moment since he was still high up the stairs. Luckily, someone behind him able to catch him safely. Even so, the way he held Syunpei was a little awkward. The way he held one of his arm and torso sent heat all over his body. No one had ever touched him like this, not even his mother. His muscular hand that hold him near his flat-chest body made it clear that he was a male, an airhead man that was. He turned to look at the man who helped him, but it made the situation worst. His face was too close to him that he almost kissed him. Both of their faces were an inch away that their lips touched slightly. It made Syunpei lost his mind and his body filled with heat of embarassment. Without any thought blooming inside his head, he apologised and ran without looking at the man's face. His face was red of awkwardness and embarrassment of the incident just now. The way he held gently around his waist, the loose grip he had in his thin arm. His skin was too soft to say it was a man, but his voice was clearly one. "Are you okay?" Those short phrases kept repeating inside Syunpei's mind like a spell. He could not forget about it. He decided to cool himself off by stopping at a smoothie kiosk, even if it was just a little, he wanted to calm himself down. I wonder what that guy was thinking in that thick skull of his. That was absurd!
"Kakeru, is everything okay?" The blonde hair boy startled by that admonished from his friend. "No, everything's fine. Don't worry." Kakeru replied with a reassuring voice. He looked again at the direction of the boy who ran away from him, the boy he had just saved. His brown hair that brushed against his face, the brown eyes that locked into his eyes in a split second had made him felt nervous, and the soft lip that accidentally touched with his sent blood rushing to his face. What made it worst was that it made his heart skipped a beat. It was throbbing faster than normal, more than when he was tired from his dance practice. He felt this feeling before, he knew it very well. Yet he wanted to deny it, refused to accept it into his heart. He gave out a sigh and leave to prepare for his shake hand event. Even so, he felt disheartened to leave the boy be. He must be lost, he needed direction, and he needed help. But he could not leave his fans be, so he had to swallow up this uneasiness to himself. "What's the matter? Nervous?" One of his friends, Koi, talked to him, trying to lift the heavy mood Kakeru set in. The pink haired boy had been friends with Kakeru since they were a child, every expression and thought that Kakeru made was easily read by him. This made the orange eyed boy felt envious since he could never do the same. Kakeru tried to avert his attention about how late they were for the event, but he could not fool anyone other than himself. None of them moved from their stop, knowing their friends were troubled and that he refused to confide to them. They never saw Kakeru acted like that before, they were worried. "You know, if something's troubling you, you can always tell us." Surprised, Kakeru did not know how to answer to that statement. His heart said yes, but his mind said no. Sighing, he told them. "I... Just worried about him... That boy..." The others suddenly burst laughing at the top of their lung. Koi put his arm around Kakeru, reassuring him.
"That's it right? Let's go find him and help him. Sounds good?"
"But, the event-"
"I think we'll have time. It's our event after all."
Hearing this, Kakeru's heart was relieved and calmed. Even though that was not nearly the truth, he was glad that the subject was dropped. And so, they began to search for the brown hair boy, Syunpei.
"Hello, is anybody there?" Sticking his head inside the authorised personnel door, Syunpei tried to call out any staff in there for help. Anyone from here would know about the event, right? Only the hauling wind replied back to the stand alone boy who desperate for answer. His nerve was disrupted by how annoying this had become that a muscle grew on his head. "Ah! Whatever!" He entered the room with bravery step. A tiny part of his heart was hoping that he would not get in trouble. This might made him not able to attend his sister idol's event, it would be a pain. While walking through the hallway, he looked around for any presence of a human being. But what he found was what it seems some recording set, posters around and boxes stacked among the corners. Am I in the wrong place? While he looked at the confusing map again, another attempt to understand it, he accidentally bumped into someone and dropped it. He tried to apologise while picking the map up, but that someone was faster than him. The map was in his hand, Syunpei was on one of his knees down the floor. He was reluctant to get up, he was too afraid of the next consequence. What will be of me? Will I get scolded? Will I get kicked out? The man was whispering to his partner before pulling Syunpei up, having his eyes had direct contact with his. The silver eyes that went beyond Syunpei's mind, talked to him with a deep voice. "You're the one we're looking for. Come with us." Eeeehhhhh?! Syunpei was confused, his head had enough of these ridicules. The man pulled him to a certain place, walking through the crowded hallway. "W-wait a minute!" He tried to have his arm free from the man's grip, but he was too weak to go against him. Knowing it would be a lot more problematic if he fought back, he accepted his fate as it was. Am I going to be punish? But the event... He remained silence throughout their walk.
In the end, we didn't find him... Kakeru and his friends walked back to their dressing room to prepare for the event with depressed look. They had searched for Syunpei all over the mall, they even avoided their manager in order to find him. But their efforts were in vain. They did not meet up with him, not even seeing his image. Koi tried to cheer Kakeru up, but nothing could turn his frown upside down. He might be smiling, but his heart still not in peace. When they walked into their preparation room, they saw everyone waiting for them. The members of Six Gravity and Procellarum, along with a boy? It's him! What is he doing here?! Kakeru was shocked to see him here, the least expected place for them to meet up. The others greet them upon their arrival, even mocking them in the moment. Koi spoke up first, wanting to know what were their leaders planning to do. "So, Shun, what's all this? You even brought a kid." The gray eyed man just smiled softly and put both his hands on Syunpei, giving a slight impact that surprised him. "I want to introduce to you our new housekeeper. Here!" Everyone except the two leaders was so shocked that the whole room echoed with their voices. They started to wonder and looked at each other. Not to mention for Syunpei, he was the most shocked out of them all. He did not sign up for this, he did not ask for any of this, he did not want this! "W-wait! Isn't he a bit too young? Won't it be against the law?" Everyone agreed to Yoru statement, the brown hair kid was still around middle school. If he was caught working by the school, he would be kicked out forever. That also meant he would be scolded by his parents. His life was on the line here! "Well, he did trespass the border. He also wandered around like his own the place. And..." Shun took a glance at the boy before continue speaking. There was something about him that piqued his interest somehow, and he would not let him go without knowing what it was. "He was looking for us, that mean he's ok." Shun stated.
"How is that okay?! I don't understand!" Iku shouted for answer. He was already confused as he was. Syunpei thought by himself what had happened. Stepping into the door was a huge mistake for him, he was digging his own grave. His heart was heavy from knowing what would happen to him. "Let's just say it's his punishment for trespassing, how about that? It's until we've found a proper maid that is." Hajime backed Shun up so that their intention stayed firm. Everyone became quiet, leaving to their own thought. They were given some time to think about their decision, but not for Syunpei. When he looked up to Shun to beg him to let him go, he only got a smile from him. This made the brown eyed kid felt more uneasy by the atmosphere he let out. It left him a bad impression that he could puke. After a few moments, the members all said their heart out. "Alright, I guess it's fine. But how about him?" Kakeru volunteered to speak for all of them. "I'm sure he would agree, right?" Hajime said. Syunpei could only glance back at those yellow eyes that stared him down. Something about the way he looked into his soul made him shiver, warning himself not to say no. Is there really a choice here, you bully! Giving up, the middle schooler could only nod to the statement. He tried to hide his painful expression under his hat in pain of these guys' attitude. The others could only sigh and agreed with the leaders' decision. They were the leader after all, they would know what to do.
As for poor Syunpei, his head was filled with the future that waited for him with these troublesome people. What am I going to do? What am I going to tell my family? What do I really need to do? He reached the ticket in his pocket, looking at it with regret eyes. And there's still this to deal with. He clenched the ticket in his hands with force of anger and sadness. Hajime saw and took the ticket out of Syunpei's hand. "What's this? A ticket?" Syunpei's face turned pale, he met his doom. These guys would definitely hold onto him more if he did not give a proper excuse. "W-wait! Th-that's-" The ticket was ripped before his very eyes, he could not speak a word at all. It was unbelievable for him to do that. He did not do anything wrong. He did not even have the chance to explain and protest. He had enough of being a goody two shoes, his patience had reached its limit. "What's with you guys?! I was just lost and try to go to the event peacefully and then go home! What did I do wrong to deserve this?! You... Bully!"
"Wow, you raised your voice to us? You got nerves." Coming out of You, the member of Procellarum, Syunpei was triggered by his words. Ever since he got out, nothing good ever happened to him. He had enough misfortune for one day. Along with the heat of summer, he let out his anger. "I don't even know who you are! Even if I'm supposed to know, I won't! I won't acknowledge all of you! Never!"
"But, that's too bad." Shun raised Syunpei's chin so that he could read his expression clearly. The fire in his eyes was enough to explain his emotion right now. What an interesting kid. "We never go back on our words, no man does. You, too, are a man right? Do you even know who we are?" The gray eyed leader of Procellarum teased the boy even more, putting oil to the raging fire. The middle schooler pushed Shun's hand away from him as rough as he could, he needed to show him that he was not afraid of anything. He was not afraid of him. "A man would fight to stand for his pride. Also, I don't know you. I don't know any of you and I don't plan on wanting to!" He crossed his arms in confidence of his answers, which also prevent himself from punching this white hair devil. However, some of Syunpei's anger was subsided when almost everyone in the room gasped in shocked on his words. Whispers could be heard in the room, a whole lot of them. Among all of them, the brown hair boy notice that a person looked at him with a light expression. A blonde hair, orange eye boy about the tall of a high school student. It was calming to see, a face of amused that made him flustered a bit. What's up with that face? The sound of the door opened made the room fell to silence. Everyone turned to look who entered the heated room, it was a man in a suit. He looked pretty solemn compare to the rest in that room, and slightly angry too. "It's about time. Stop goofing around and prepare." The man said in a monotonous, cold voice. The room was reenacted by their voice of agreement. The manager left the room with all the members of Six Gravity and Procellarum. Before Hajime left with the rest, leaving Syunpei in the room alone, he took a glance back at him with a grin. "Be a good boy and don't run away, okay?" He closed the door, locked it and left the brown hair kid alone like a caged dog. Unbelievable! Syunpei frantically tried to open door with all his might, but alas it was no use. He then tried looking around to find an alternative exit, but only his reflection appeared before his eyes. He could only whimper by himself in the empty room, nothing but mirror sets and a couch. He decided to lie on the couch until he was freed. The couch was comdy enough to qualm his anger, he could even fall asleep on it. If I had the chance that is... Syunpei sighed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about what would happen to him next. Going out of his comfort zone seems to be the worst decision he had ever made. Why am I so unlucky?
