The Weight of Adoration
Chapter 2
Summer of Music
(Ongaku-sai no Natsu)

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It was unsettlingly quiet in the common room, all members of ST RISH as well as their composer, Haruka had gathered around a table after they had finished their lunches. The entire day had been 'off' in a sense. Even Natsuki wasn't able to muster enough energy to make everyone else forget about the incident last night. It didn't help that the carefree blonde was caught humming that damned song while getting ready. Their assigned senpai; Ai was nowhere to be found when they woke up but Ai being Ai, he still set an alarm to go off at 6am on the dot; three to be exact, all closing in on the top bunk where Syo slept. When they had arrived at the common room, Ichinose and Hijirikawa were already sitting in the cafeteria eating their breakfast in a comfortable silence, then it was a given that slowly, all of ST RISH came together, including Haruka of course; resulting in their current predicament; sitting around the table, half sulking and half thinking through the events.

Cecil pursed his lips into a thin line as his eyes scanned his new band-mates; the tension was the same when Shining Saotome and Raging Otori announced their battle with HE VENS. Neither was a good feeling. Yet, the same question was at the tip of his tongue; the problem was that he couldn't bring himself to voice it. He was afraid of what any further mention of this Ongaku-sai no… Whatever. The basic information was a given, it was a competition between idols. At least that was what he had taken from the President's speech. "Transcending the barriers of gender in a single concert…"

All eyes were on Tokiya who had his hand underneath his chin, he hummed in thought seconds before his blue eyes flickered from the surface of the table up to his friends. "A-ah, please, do not mind me. I was just thinking about last night—Ongaku-sai no Natsu, was it not?"

Almost in sync, they all nodded leaving Cecil to chew onto his bottom lip. This nervous movement did not go unnoticed by Haruka; her bright eyes scanned the foreigner. This was now or never, they were already on the topic, so why not ask about it now? The words weren't coming out; he hadn't felt this way in a long, long time. "Uhm…" The voice was meek but in the silence it was deafening, Cecil's heart was racing against his chest.

"Ongaku-sai no Natsu… What is it exactly? Does anyone know?" Haruka voiced Cecil's question, her voice quivering with every word. "It couldn't be another competition, right?"

Thank the muses for this girl, Cecil smiled and tapped her calf from across the table with the tip of his shoe, her eyes went from him to the others. "… Good question!" Natsuki beamed, it was nice to see he was beginning to at least try to get rid of the negative vibes. "Ichinose-kun, you once mentioned the Girls Award."

"Yes, I… Hayato had once been an MC for the Girls Award in 2010. However, it is only an award show for female Idols."

"That part was obvious…" Syo mumbled; Tokiya took no notice of his remark and continued talking.

"I was amazed by the talent, they were all able to shine so brightly. Of course, under such pressure to impress what was thousands upon thousands of fans, anti-fans, onlookers and producers, some Idols made small mistakes. Some made fatal mistakes that even I could not ignore. No matter how small the mistake was, all of them were treated as if it was life threatening, a lot of girls never made it, it was a tough year for idols."

"Lemme guess the rest of the story," Syo cleared his throat and began speaking in a manner Tokiya would. "Okay, 'Except for one group… Who shone brighter than the others, that group was Palette. I knew I recognized them from somewhere but I had never put the pieces together… I am sorry for my incompetence.' Something like that, right?" The short blonde was met with silence and blank stares, that was until Otoya snorted, his hands shot up to his mouth to keep his giggles quiet but he was betrayed by the perturbed look on his roommate's face and broke down into a fit of laughter.

"I-I'm sorry, I mean… Hah, it sounds just like him...!" Just like that both Haruka and Otoya became giggling buddies, laughing at the poor dark haired male while Ren mumbled something under his breath with a small smirk gracing his lips. Hijirikawa watched them, his eyes softening ever so slightly at the sight and Natsuki openly chuckled at them.

"This is much better..." Haruka said after she calmed down, she wiped a stray tear threatening to run down her cheeks. She smiled at her friends, they always knew how to make her happy, not only that but each other. It was until she caught a glimpse of Tokiya from her peripheral vision that she turned red, she stuttered out an apology. "Ah, Tokiya-san, we didn't mean to—please continue!"

Said male kept quiet for a few moments, trying to remember the events. "One group did perform perfectly, their singing was flawless, the dance was impeccable and their presence on stage was ideal. It was not Palette; it was instead an eight-member group called THEATRE RYTHMN. It was made up of girls ranging between 10 and 12 year olds."

"That young!?" Otoya blurted, they started out so young. Since they had started out so young, they'd be real professionals now, better than QUARTET NIGHT, HEAVENS and Palette. "That means they're like… 13 and 15, right?"

"Child idols… What about their parents- education? They would not be able to grow in a stable environment." Hijirikawa interjected, his index finger drumming upwards against his chin with his eyebrows almost knitted together. "Hitting… puberty under the surveillance of the nation… Even the world…" Silence once again draped over them, it wasn't something that crossed their minds and it certainly didn't sit right with them. Why would they start out so young? Of course, they couldn't tell them off for following their dreams so eagerly.

"So, did THEATRE RYTHMN win the Girls Award?"

Tokiya hesitated and nodded in conformation. "Yes…"

"Then why is this the first time we've ever heard of them?" Ren folded his arms over his chest and cocked an eyebrow, immediately seeing the flaw in Tokiya's story. "Surely if they won two years ago and have had their debut, we would have heard something about them. It would make news since they're so young."

"Yes… Well-"

"They never got their debut."

ST RISH and Haruka turned to the left side of the table where Ai was standing, a thin, white laptop in hand. He gently placed his laptop on the table and pushed the lid up calmly and quietly. He immediately went to work; he was typing at an inhuman speed yet the keys barely even made a sound. Syo blinked and Natsuki cleared his throat, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Mikaze-senpai, you're back!"

His eyes never left the screen. "I don't remember telling you I ever left."

"Ah, so, Mikaze-senpai knows THEATRE RYTHMN?" Not knowing how to read the atmosphere, Natsuki continued to prod his mentor with questions, all concerning where he went, how he knew of the group, if he knew of Palette and if he would be able to try his Piyo-chan shaped brownies later on that day. All questions were answered with either an uninterested 'yes' or 'no' and a hum. Syo was surprised Ai was able to keep his composure for so long, the same concentrated expression as the taller male talked animatedly at him. "What are you doing?"

The golden question was asked, Syo scooted closer to the laptop, his arm leaned on Cecil's, the closer he tried to get the more weight he put on him until he almost stumbled to the side if he hadn't caught himself with his hand against the empty seat next to him. Syo mumbled an apology and picked himself up, readjusting his stylish pink and black hat as Cecil awkwardly straightened himself up. When they both focused their attention to Ai, they caught him openly scanning them with an unreadable expression. Of course, they must have looked stupid to him. Ai made a sound akin to a sigh and turned his computer, showing the group a video of the girls' performance at the Girls Award 2011. They were very small, thin, smiling girls, eight of them waving at the crowd as they performed their song to the crowd. Seeing such young girls made Hijirikawa feel… Slightly sick, they seemed so fragile; the smallest of movements to some of the girls' arms could snap them in half. Yet they were able to perform so fluidly, fast movements that made his heart jump at the thought of just one of them injuring themselves. They still made it to the end of the performance, not a single hitch on their path to victory. They accepted their victory with bright smiles upon sweaty faces; then strolled in the infamous Raging Ootori, the video however ended straight after he entered the stage.

"As you can see, they won and soon after they lost their rights to debut." Ai closed the window and then snapped the lid shut. "Raging Ootori gave them a challenge, if they could defeat another idol group, they would debut. The other group was Palette, Shining Saotome's third all female group, and they also had the same conditions, plus one. They were given the exact same song, exact same arrangement and a similar choreography. The rest was up to their creativity."

"You mean… Palette beat them, Mikaze-san?" He nodded at Haruka and continued with a look akin to boredom.

"Once again, THEATRE RYTHMN's performance was incredible."

"How did they lose?" Natsuki frowned.

"They weren't good enough. In the simplest of terms, THEATRE RYTHMN were just a cluster of little girls singing about 'love' and if my data is correct; the song was called "I can't live without you". Children singing about a relationship they most likely have never experienced was slightly controversial, which lost them a lot of votes from the audience. On top of that, they were just singing the song. It didn't interest the audience, it didn't suit them." His piercing blue eyes flickered to Haruka briefly; she jumped slightly under his gaze as he continued. "They were lacking something. Palette however, was merciless to say the least. Being older than them, they had more appeal, they made the song fit their style and the choreography looked like it was made for them… and they won the rights to debut and a quarter of the audience and THEATRE RYTHMN's fans over for their vocals, complex choreography and sexual appeal. I'm sure you know that they have two main singers, adding the leader as well. The top dancer in the group stayed in the centre and the rapper took over the lines that were supposed to be supplied by Saotome.

"All in all, if you lose… What was the saying…? Ah, 'don't beat yourselves up about it'." Ai picked up his laptop and slid it just underneath his armpit. "I must go now, the photo shoot starts in an hour. Until then." He bowed his head slightly at them before he walked on towards the main hall. Ren leaned his elbow on the table and looked around to take in the reactions of the other members, of course they were shocked but this was too much. Otoya, Syo and Cecil looked afraid, Hijirikawa had a small flicker of disgust in his eyes and as for Natsuki and Tokiya, well, and at least they were more skilled at hiding their feelings.

"Now now, don't tell me you're all afraid of a few little ladies after we won the Uta Pri Awards."

This comment grabbed Syo's attention; he stood from his chair with a light bead of sweat forming on his left temple. "I-I ain't scared of them! We'll win Ongaku-sai no Natsu and we'll win over that early debut!"

"Syo-kun is right, no opponent is impossible to defeat!" Haruka fought the urge to stand up from her chair as Syo had done earlier, she saw him flinch and then sit down from her peripheral vision. She smiled at her friends, a warm glow almost emitting from her bright eyes. "I'll compose a song for you and you will win for sure! You… we have made it so far. I can't sit aside and watch you sulk about one competition! Both ST RISH and Palette have won one competition and both have had some kind of debut, they may have more years on us but that doesn't matter, you all shine brightly. All of ST RISH are unique, just as unique as the colours of a rainbow and stars. I don't know much about how it feels to perform but... You're all so happy when you do, so much that you spread that happiness to the audience last time. A-ah, did I ramble? I-I'm sorry it was the heat of the moment and I… Couldn't stop…"

"That's what I love about you, Nanami-san, you make me feel like I could win any battle with you behind me." Cecil smiled and extended his hand to touch Haruka's, only to be blocked off by Ren, who in turn took hold of the girl's hand and brought them up to his lips to kiss.

"What the hell do you think you're doing to her?" Syo screeched, he grabbed hold of her shoulders and pulled the flushed composer away from his smirking band-mate. Giving him an earful was his first priority, until he noticed something was strange about how he held her. He looked down at her, her head was leaned back, her face was beet red and her eyes were staring into nothing.

She fainted.

"Nanami? Nanami!"

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Holy shit, chapter 2 took a while to do. Thank you for reading this chapter and please, look forward to the next! Don't worry, things will pick up in the next chapter! So, what did you guys think about this chapter? Was it filled with Bishie sparkles and reverse harem goodness? Oh, and THEATRE RYTHMN! They aren't just a one-time band. ;o

If you haven't noticed, I don't ship anyone in this story, there are hints of the original ships but just like in the anime, there are no solid relationships or 'routes', just little teasing snippets. I'm planning on making one-shots of different pairings but I'll know when I know!

As for the songs… Hm, if you want the song "I can't live without you", I can send you the edited (shortened) version I've made to help me with the story. It's originally by Berryz Koubou and the name of it is Anata Nashi de wa Yukenai! THEATRE RYTHMN's version is the original, which was made back in 2004; Palette's version was made in 2013! Both are by the same artist. Again, if you'd like the edited version which holds the voices of my babies, please just ask and I'll PM them to you! :DD

Thanks for reading,

Cherubic Whale.