"URGH!" He groaned into his pillow the moment he collapsed on his newly made bed. His prior encounter with the principal was still making his head spin, and he wanted more than anything to make it stop.

"HA! Shimono-san: I have been waiting for this moment!"

That had been the turning point for his evening.

Subaru didn't want to know why Shining Saotome just so happened to be lurking about by the dock at such a random time of day; just that his sudden appearance had given him the biggest fright of his life - and that wasn't including the conversation that was to follow.

"Tell me Mister Shimono, why you are not part of my Idol Course." Subaru almost didn't understand him when he suddenly crossed into another language.

"I don't sing," he'd told Shining Saotome, with crossed arms. "Not anymore."
"Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no!" Saotome pointed a large finger directly at him. "You are what Japan needs! You are what I need!"

Subaru blinked, "I'm sorry?"

"You will transfer into the Idol Course starting tomorrow!" The former idol declared, "And you shall be moved into S Class!"

He let out another loud groan; thankful that his roommate had gone to help a friend move into their room. It was then that he heard a loud THUMP from just outside his door, followed by a few seconds of silence. Finally, something tapped his door, almost timidly.

"Subaru? Are you in there?" It was Sora - of course she'd come and visit hi- HUH?

Bolting up, he sped across the room and yanked the door open to see his lovely older sister beaming at him.

"So this is your room!" She said brightly, seemingly oblivious that she was out-of-bounds. "Is your roommate here? Can I say hi?"

She leaned forward and poked her head inside. He tried not to be annoyed that she seemed disappointed that he was alone.

"Did you get a room by yourself too then?" She asked. "I didn't get a roommate either." Her silver eyes flashed with an emotion he recognised from her days in hospital: loneliness.

It was obvious how she felt about having a room to herself, and he felt a twinge of guilt tug at his heart for not helping her settle in.

"No, I… uh - my roommate is just out at the moment," he said. "But he'll be back soon so you should probably go before we get into trouble. You know girls aren't allowed in here." His voice returned to his usual parental nag. She grinned.

"But I'm your sister! And your twin! Why can't I visit my darling younger brother?" His eyes widened when he noticed the figure standing in the hall behind her.

It was Jinguji Ren - the other man from the day of the entrance exam. The only reason he knew his name was because the people in A Class hadn't shut up about the rivalry between Hijirikawa Masato and the famous Jinguji Ren, both sons of major conglomerate presidents.

He was smirking; his eyes amused as they watched Sora ramble on, completely oblivious to her audience.

She kept going, clearly annoyed that her brother wasn't listening to her.

"Oi, Subaru! Listen to me! Why can't I visit you? Would it just be an annoyance?" Subaru opened his mouth to correct her, but she wouldn't let him. She stood on her tiptoes so that she was the same height as him and winked.

"Or is the reason I can't visit because you think that we'd end up doing what we did last time?"

He felt himself go very red - even more so when he saw Jinguji raise his eyebrow. He couldn't take it any longer, and held his sister at arms length, "That was an accident! And I said I was sorry!"

She smiled even wider at his flustered face, "I know, but it's fun to tease you - otherwise you're just too perfect."

Slowly, his rapid heartbeat calmed itself, "Sheesh - can you at least be considerate of the things you say - even as jokes? People might get the wrong impression." His eyes wandered back over to Jinguji, and this time Sora followed them. When she realised who had been watching them that entire time, her pale cheeks tinged with pink.

"Oh." She twirled one of her silver bunches around her finger, averting her gaze.

Subaru stepped forward and bowed apologetically, "Please forgive my sister and I, Jinguji-san. I'll be escorting her out of the boys dorm immediately." He reached out to grab his sister's hand but Jinguji just chuckled, "Now, now. I'm hardly going to complain about seeing such a cute girl wandering around, although," he added with a wink at Sora, "You're probably lucky you were with your brother, or I might have whisked you away." Her blush deepened to scarlet.

Subaru instinctively tightened his grip around her hand, "Excuse me, Jinguji-san, but I really should make sure she makes it back to her dorm safely."

The other man laughed, "By all means."

Satisfied, Subaru lead Sora away. "By the way," Jinguji called out to them, "You can call me Ren." But his echo was met with an empty hallway.

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"You sure are a pain sometimes," Subaru complained, stopping outside the girl dorm. Behind him he heard Sora scoff, probably still flustered from their run in with Ren.

"If you'd have told me he was standing right behind me then I never would have mentioned something like that."

"I thought we'd originally promised never to mention it again!" He pointed out. In truth, the time he'd accidentally bumped lips with her was only embarrassing when mentioned in front of other people. It wasn't like he saw his sister as anything other than a sister - but to even think that someone might get the wrong impression made him very wary, and he was totally self-conscious about how his over-protectiveness would appear to an outsider. They were twins, and people could be very creative about that type of relationship.

"Anyway," he said, yawning, "You should get some rest for tomorrow." He didn't mention what Shining Saotome had told him earlier, nor did he plan to.

He can't have been serious, he decided, watching Sora head inside. I could never really be an idol.

For some reason, his heart ached.

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Sora 天

The moment class started that morning, Sora knew this was where she belonged. She sat, totally entranced by what Ringo-sensei was saying; barely noticing when Subaru was called out of class by a messenger.

"Here, we have both people who want to be idols and people who want to compose music for idols. You'll be studying together, so you can get to know each other better." Her heart skipped a beat as he looked to them all expectantly, "So, at the end of the first semester, idol course and composer course students will form pairs."

A ripple of surprise made its way across the room, but avoided Sora. The smile on her face was contagious and the excited feeling within her threatened to explode in her chest. This was where she and Subaru would become idols together - her childhood dream, the dream she'd clung to for all those days in hospital; it was finally going to come true, one class at a time.

She turned to share that smile with her brother, only to remember the way he'd left so suddenly. She shrugged off the anxiety that tried to crawl onto her shoulders. It wasn't as if she was alone here anymore - she'd met so many of her classmates, that she was sure everyone else would be nice too.

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Subaru スバル

Before he'd had time to protest, Shining Saotome had been true to his word. The messenger had led him into an ambush that ended with his introduction into S Class - all within the span of 3 minutes. As a result, he'd been dazed and zoned out until Hyūga -sensei - his new teacher, and another of Sora's idols - had begun talking about the formation of pairs for the year. After he'd got over his own starstruckness, Subaru managed to tune into reality.

"Your partners are not limited to students in S Class. You are free to partner with anyone of your choosing from any class." He breathed a sigh of relief from where he sat at the back of the class. At least he could still pair up with Sora - one of the conditions that he'd managed to mention in those 3 minutes was that he continued the composer course.

Hyūga-sensei continued, "You will participate in the graduation audition with your partner. The path to your professional debut will be open for the winning pair."

The competitive tension in the room was incredible; electric staticity that had everyone on edge. Everyone in the school wanted a professional debut, but the people in this class were arguably the ones most likely to achieve that.

Why am I here? He buried his face in his hands, focusing on how he was going to explain his class transfer to his sister.

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Sora 天

She was ready to burst, and she wanted more than anything to jump out of her seat and hug something, or cry with joy. It didn't happen very often, but the reality had set in. She had 6 months to find a partner by the end of the semester, but she already knew exactly who it would be. More than anything, that meant that they'd have an advantage over everyone else if they used it properly. Sora knew that the dynamic between an idol and their composer was of the utmost importance in order to create music that lived and breathed. She thanked God silently that Subaru had chosen the composer course.

I wonder if he knew this would happen and that's why he chose it over the idol course.

"One more thing! There's one very important rule," Ringo-sensei announced. Silence fell over the room.

Sora could hear the breathing of Shinomiya from where he sat behind her. Like her, he'd been tapping his desk with excitement as class had gone on. What was this rule?

"No love allowed! Male and female relations are strictly forbidden! Violators of this rule will be forced to leave the school immediately. This is the Academy's rule."

Sora didn't miss a beat, "What about female and female relations? Or male and male relations?"

The moment of horror-inspired silence soon passed, and her classmates laughed - but she noted down the faces of those who sniggered and made a note to steer clear of them.

Ringo-sensei shook his head in disapproval, but he was smiling, "Of course, the same principle applies to all relationships." He bounced on his toes. "Now," he shot his winning idol smile at everyone."We'll do a recording test to check your skill levels. You'll form pairs just for this one time."

Sora's hands quivered with anticipation.

"A student from the idol course will write lyrics, and a student from the composer course will compose a song."

Her first assignment with Subaru!

Until she heard the dreaded words: "I selected your partners for you totally randomly."

Students strained their eyes to catch a glimpse of the large list that had been pinned to the board. All around her, Sora could hear the different reactions - disgruntled boys; girls who were cooing after being paired with a cute boy; Otoya's cry of relief when he saw he had been paired with Nanami. Yet she couldn't bring herself to look.

"Oh," Ringo-sensei said. "Sora-chan? There was a shortage of people so I asked Hyūga-sensei to provide you with a partner, seeing as they're also doing a recording test." He frowned when he saw Sora with her head on her desk, eyes tightened.

"Now, Sora-chan - if you want to be a professional you need to act like one; even if you are asked to work with someone you don't know."

She reluctantly lifted her head to see him nodding matter-of-factly, "However, you don't need to be worry - you've been put in a group of three with your brother and another S Class student."

Sora perked up a bit, "Really?" She craned her neck, and sighed with relief when she saw her name.

Shimono Sora: 下野 天 Shimono Subaru: 下野 スバル Kurusu Syo 来栖 翔

So she and Subaru would be working with Syo-kun. But wait a minute…

"Doesn't this mean that Syo-kun and I will be writing lyrics together?"

Ringo-sensei nodded. "Writing lyrics together into a song that carries meaning for both of you will be a challenge - but that's what it means to be a professional! Ganbatte ne, Sora-chan!"

He headed back to the front of the class, leaving Sora in her thoughts. This was a considerable obstacle. She'd never thought she would need to work with someone other than her brother, but she supposed that it was naive of her to assume she'd have that luxury as she was starting out. Still, it wasn't all bad. At least Syo-kun seemed a pretty nice person - and he seemed to understand her situation.

Come to think of it, he does seem a tiny bit familiar.

She became aware that Nanami had sat down behind the piano with sheet music ready to play. The shy girl seemed beyond nervous.

Maybe the piece is really hard to play straight off the bat.

At least a minute went by, but to Sora it seemed much longer, so she could only guess how long it felt to Nanami. All around her, students had begun to whisper, not bothering to lower their voices - which Nanami could very obviously hear.

Like the times the doctors at the hospitals would whisper about her chances of living past 16 when she was laying only a few feet away in bed.

"Don't tell me she can't read music," a girl sniggered.

"You're kidding?"

"I don't believe it."

"Don't tell me she can't even play the piano."

"I can play the piano!" Nanami insisted."My grandmother taught me how to play!"

But her words only made things worse.

"Her grandmother?"

"She didn't have a professional teacher?"

"How did she even get in here?" Someone asked.

"She must be well-connected."

Otoya stood, "Nanami - don't listen to them!"

They didn't give up.

"Ittoki-kun, you're the worst off. You're partnered with this girl."

"Enough!" Sora was surprised by the voice, only to realise that it was hers, and her entire body shook with the seething anger that she felt. All her excitement had boiled into rage - rage directed at such apathetic classmates.

Despite herself, she stood and continued to glare daggers at the people who had said such spiteful things.

"She's not the only one here who didn't have a professional teacher, or come from a family with connections in the entertainment industry!" Sora directed her voice to Nanami, trying to sound reassuring as she saw that she was on the verge of crying. "Be proud of yourself Nanami! You beat who knows how many other applicants into the school - and again by getting into A Class! These baka, they've had everything handed to them on a silver plate, but that doesn't prove their love for music like getting into this school does for us and others like us!"

Her voice shook as the last sentence left her lips.

The class fell silent, and Otoya flashed her a grateful smile and gave her a thumbs up.

Hiding behind the piano, Sora could barely make out the tears flowing down Nanami's face. She looked so pitiful, and delicate.

How can I not help her? Sora made her way over to the piano and sat beside her.

"May I?"

Nanami nodded, and made room so that Sora could slide into the right place, her feet placed tentatively on the pedals. She glanced at the sheet music she was to play and took a deep breath.

She'd never actually played the piano in front of an audience - mostly because being her teacher, Subaru was much better at it than her; who'd only managed to pick it back up when a piano had been brought to the rec room in the hospital - and she'd been feeling well enough to practise.

"What a freak," someone whispered.

"How can someone like that seriously be in the idol course?"

"It was her twin that left class earlier, right?"

"I saw her coming out of the boys dorm yesterday with him."

"Really? Do you they're doi-"

"This isn't a shoujo manga, thank you very much!" Sora declared, placing her fingers on the keys.

With another reassuring glance at Nanami, she began to play.

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Sora thought she had played well, if a little clumsily - only missing a few notes here and there. Those select classmates still made remarks about it, but she tried not to let it bother her. The main thing was that the attention had been drawn away from Nanami, and onto someone who was better equipped to deal with the scrutiny of privileged people.

Still, that didn't mean that she wasn't relieved when the bell rang for lunch. There was some melon bread waiting with her name on it.

She'd have to find out where Subaru went, and then find Syo-kun to discuss as a group how they wanted to make their song work. Just as she was about to enter the cafeteria, someone stopped her.

"Ano… Shimono-san?" Sora turned to see Nanami nervously standing behind her, with another, more confident looking girl.

"Oh, Nanami-chan - are you alright?"

Nanami nodded, "I just… well I.. wanted to…" She made a frustrated noise and bowed deeply.

"Hontonni arigatou gozaimashita!" She straightened up, "Your words were very kind and I am truly grateful for them - even though we don't know each other very well."

Sora laughed, "It was nothing - friends look out for each other, right?"

Nanami paused, and after processing those words, gave a small smile, Un! Thank you, Shimono-san!"

"You mean, 'Thank you, Sora-chan!'" Sora teased, but Nanami went pink. "Thank you, Sora-chan."

The two girls - the other who had been called Tomo-chan - waved goodbye and disappeared into the busy cafeteria. Sora clapped her hands, having cheered up a bit.

Two new friends!

Even the thought that she'd made at least eight enemies in her class from her outburst wasn't enough to put a damper on her spirits. She spotted Subaru and Syo-kun sitting at a table together along with Shinomiya and she went to join them, but then cried out in alarm. Something jutted out in front of her and she stumbled, losing her balance and falling to the floor. Pain shot up her arm as she tried to break her fall.

Cursing inwardly, she saw the face of one of the classmates she had spoken out against, smirking as he looked down on her.

"We didn't appreciate what you said back in class, Shimono-sama," he said. Snorting, she tried to get up but with one foot he pinned her hand to the ground. It didn't hurt, but the skin on the top of her hand ached from the pressure.

She scanned the cafeteria for her brother or someone else to help her, but the boy's friends had formed a wall between her and Subaru's table; everyone else either hadn't noticed or was too busy lining up for food - or simply didn't want to get involved.

"You realise how immature this is?" Sora told them. "And the fact that I'm the one saying that means a lot."

He ignored her, "You called us idiots."

Well, no duh. She had to bite her lip to refrain from saying it outright.

Why can't we be happy students studying alongside each other? She begged to know, Why is there always that one person who had to take things further?

"It was honest criticism," she pointed out. "The same kind of thing your manager would tell you if you wrote a terrible song."

His eyes flared, "You little-"

"You seem to need lessons concerning the proper way to treat a lady." The wall of people dispersed as they were interrupted, making way for her rescuer who happened to be no other than Jinguji Ren.

The boy who stood on her hand backed away quickly, shoe snagging on her hand and making her cry out - barely, but Ren seemed to hear.

"I suggest you apologise," he advised the boy with a curt nod, his expression neutral.

The boy bowed frantically, "Please forgive me!" He repeated the gesture until Ren gave him a look, and he made his escape.

Ren turned his attention to her, "Are you alright?" She nodded, and got up quickly, swaying from the effort. Her hand was sore and red, but otherwise unharmed.

"Thank you, Ren…-san."

He gave her an amused wink, "You're welcome. But I'd prefer to be thanked by knowing the name of the cute damsel I rescued."

She blushed at his flirtations, "I'm.. Sh-Shimono Sora."

"Sora-chan," he repeated, "It suits you."

"Sora - over here!" Over Ren's shoulder she saw Subaru wave her over, but when he saw who she was speaking with, his face darkened.

"I'd better go!" She said hurriedly, "Thank you again!"

"Ja mata," he winked.

Shinomiya patted the space between himself and Subaru, "Sora-chan! Sit next to me!"

Subaru made a face but didn't say anything as Sora seated herself down, opposite Syo-kun.

"Why were you talking to him?" Subaru wanted to know. She shrugged, "We just bumped into each when I was coming over."

She stifled a yawn and regretted the moment she covered her mouth.

"Your hand!" Subaru grabbed it and tried to steal a look, almost pulling her with him.

"It's really red - and is that a shoe print…?"

She reclaimed herself and hid away her hand. "It's really nothing."

On her other side, Shinomiya gave her a reassuring smile, "It's probably for the best to tell him what happened in class today, Sora-chan."

Subaru snapped up the new information and even Syo-kun leaned forward and stopped eating.

"What happened?" Subaru demanded."Sora!" He pleaded when she didn't answer straight away.

She clapped her hands and gave him her trademark smile - which was lacking her usual energy.

"It's really not that bad - I just stood up for Nanami-chan and… made a bit of a scene while I did it. I mean, if I call someone an idiot in front of everyone, it really isn't that much of a surprise that they'd trip me over and try and stop me from getting up again - right?"

"THEY DID WHAT!"

"Calm down, Nii-chan! It's okay - Ren-san helped me and everything's fine; so we'd better start working on our song."

Sora looked pleadingly to Shinomiya and Syo-kun for assistance and they seemed torn.

"Someone hurt Sora-chan," Shinomiya said sadly. "And all she did was an act of kindness."

"Ne Sora-chan," she met Syo-kun's gaze and was a little taken back at how neutral they seemed, compared to how energetic and warm he had been yesterday. She regarded him curiously, "Hai?"

"If something like that happens again…"

She grinned, "Daijoubu! I've watched more than enough Prince of Fighting in hospital to know how to use his signature move… PURINSU NO TEKKEN!"

Subaru and Shinomiya both jumped when she suddenly shouted out her favourite quote, but Syo-kun couldn't have been more animated at the reference.

"Maji de? You watch Prince of Fighting too?"

Subaru shook his head, ruffling her hair fondly. "She watches it so much I've had to stop her from doing the stupidest of things ever since she was released from hospital - like when she attempted to jump into a tree from her bedroom window to try and save the neighbour's cat."

"I could have done it!" She protested.

"If I hadn't have grabbed you at the last minute, you almost certainly would have been put on the ambulance in a body bag."

Syo-kun laughed, "That sounds like something my brother would say to me!"

The tension from before had melted away entirely, leaving Sora and Syo-kun to eagerly discuss everything they loved about their role model. Shinomiya smiled happily, but Subaru just sighed.

"I can't believe that Hyūga Ryūya is really my sensei." Syo-kun said happily, resting his hands behind his head.

Sora's eyes widened and her hands slammed the table, "No way! He's here?"

He paused, "Didn't Subaru tell you?"

It was her turn to be puzzled, "Should he have?"

With a sheepish look thrown her way from her twin, she soon got the picture.

"When you left class earlier… Was that to go to S Class?"

He nodded.

"Then, you've been transferred there?"

Another nod.

"That's GREAT news, Nii-chan!" She threw her arms around him, "Your talent has been recognised! Aren't you exci- OOMPH!"

She stopped when he shoved melon bread in her mouth - effectively shutting her up.

Sora didn't mind though - her body was buzzing and she'd almost completely forgotten about the events that had happened in class.

The four of them spent the rest of the lunch hour chatting freely amongst each other; Syo-kun and herself kept throwing references at each other with cheeky smiles, and by the time lunch rang, her heart was singing with the connections she'd made.

She bowed to her brother and Syo-kun, "I look forward to working with you both!" With a smile, she skipped back to the class, humming the theme tune of the Prince of Fighting.

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