Since the day he was born, Cecil's life revolved around music. In his country, music was a way of life, not just expression. Then he met Haruka.

He had always watched over Haruka. That's why he believed he deserved her more than anybody else. Yet she was like a microscope for him, not a muse. Everything he thought he knew Haruka showed him again in detail. She offered him a new insight on life each time. Then she offered him Starish – the first place he felt he truly belonged.

It made him feel so insignificant that Haruka didn't share her problems with him. Was he the only one that felt bonded when he sang their music? It just felt like a perfect fit. Then was he just not trustworthy?

All these emotions bubbled up inside him and he had barged into Shining's office without thinking.

"Can't you tell me where she is?" Cecil pleaded helplessly, "You saw her last. She must have at least told you where she was going."

Shining looked unimpressed, crossing his hands on the table like a businessman.

"And if you knew that she felt that way, couldn't you have told us? You didn't have to pressure her and threaten to fire her. We could have done something instead of –"

"Why do you think you are the only one here?"

Cecil frowned.

He didn't understand, really. He thought Tokiya was too heartless and Masato too rational. They weren't listening to their hearts. And although Natsuki and Otoya seemed thoroughly shocked, they weren't acting on it. Ren had kept silent the entire time and Syo just went with it.

Cecil had begun to think he was the only one that cared for Haruka.

"Because you don't understand," Shining answered for him, "Miss Nanami wants time away from you all. She wants to find a way out and compose music she loves again. And if you can't accept it…"

"I can," he shouted, perhaps a little too loudly.

"So you would disrupt her from recovery?" Shining leaned forward, leering at him. It was then that Cecil realised how menacing he was. No wonder Shining made it this far in the entertainment industry. He could be a rock whenever he wanted, completely unshakable.

"No."

Cecil felt like a scolded school kid, foolish and embarrassed.

"Then you should not search for her, unless you want her to quit music for good. If you truly believed in her then you would wait, just like the others. It's a way of showing support."

Like that, Cecil was kicked out of the office. All the bravado from before vanished instantly. He had to rethink his decisions. Was he thinking about Haruka at all? Was he being selfish again?

But he knew that he didn't want Haruka to stop writing, ever.

It was their destiny to meet here and create music together. It was written in the stars. It was the bridge between their worlds.

"Over there is Sagitta. It's quite small so you might not see it. It's actually surrounded by larger constellations but Sagitta is quite pretty," Cecil pointed out the other complex stars in the night sky. They glittered like his eyes – the colour of the meadows.

"Its name is Latin for 'Arrow'. There's a lot of mythology surrounding it that I hardly remember anymore. Something about Hercules or Poseidon. But I liked the one about it being Cupid's arrow the most. It's quite romantic, isn't it?"

Haruka pulled her knees towards her. She wanted to make herself smaller. She seemed so much smaller when she looked up at the sky anyway. But Cecil looked so comfortable and knowledgeable about the constellations. It seemed like he was born to be among them.

"It's beautiful," she could only say.

Cecil nodded, staring at Haruka. He could never stop looking at her. He was so glad he managed to catch her as she was heading to her room. They rarely spent any quality time together now that their careers were setting off. Sitting together on the grass, stargazing… It felt like a dream.

Haruka was strangely beautiful and inhumanely kind. She was everything wrapped into one. She was everything Cecil could dream of and more.

"Haruka, are you feeling alright?"

She lifted her head.

"Yes. Yes, I am. I'm just a little tired. But I'm glad I got to see the stars. It's been a while."

Cecil smiled back at her, "The stars are always there to guide you."

Haruka stretched her hand out, as if measuring the distance between her and Sagitta. Then she dropped it, like her desperate act had failed.

"I would like to see a shooting star."

"It would be unusual to see one during this time. But Starish is like a shooting star," Cecil mused, "It's a brilliant flash that grants wishes. Hm… Now that I think about it. You would be the shooting star, Haruka. You inspire so many people. You grant their wishes."

He didn't notice how Haruka was staring at a single blade of grass, deep in thought.

"I read somewhere that shooting stars are already dead by the time you look at them. They're actually just burning themselves out."

Cecil frowned.

That took an odd turn. It was true but he hadn't anticipated it. Was he perhaps misreading the atmosphere?

"But they're stunning. They give themselves up but they're so beautiful. Isn't that how they can grant you a wish?" Cecil turned to her. "Do you have something you want to wish for?"

Haruka smiled sadly at him. "If I told you, it wouldn't come true."

Cecil sensed that he shouldn't pry so he nodded and stared back at the twinkling stars. It was such a peaceful scene but it didn't have the therapeutic effect it should have on Haruka.

Soon after, Haruka brushed off the grass on her skirt and said goodnight.

"Thank you, I actually managed to relax a little."

Both of them knew it was a lie but Cecil still smiled. He hoped he was at least a little help.

"And you're right."

"About what?"

"I think I am a shooting star."

It bothered Cecil to no end that he didn't act when he spotted Haruka's discomfort. He ought to have been there, like he always was. It made him feel like a failure.

He grunted in frustration.

All the others must feel like this too. The urge to punch something – punch himself in the face, even. Call it egotistical or whatever but all he wanted to do was prove himself. He wanted to prove to Haruka that he was worth trusting and confiding in. More so than anyone else.

He was different. He always had been, from the beginning.

He was sure of his feelings. He wasn't afraid to confront them.

Even if they were doomed to a life devoid of music, Cecil was prepared to love Haruka. He dared to use the word while the others didn't.

"I love her," he stammered.

It made his heart pound in a way it hadn't before, not even for his first concert or when he first said it to her. He had never felt this adrenaline rush before and it was a drug gone straight to his brain. It burnt out all those illogical thoughts he had before.

His feet were already speeding up. He didn't know where he was running to but he wanted to go.

"I love her," he repeated, this time more sure.

And he couldn't help but burst into a radiant smile. He had to see her now – to tell her. If Shining wasn't going to spill then he would find someone that would. And if nobody else knew then he'd search everywhere, until he found her.

And maybe (just maybe), he would earn the right to be her muse. Her one and only muse.

Even though it was selfish, Cecil was determined. This is what he wanted form the beginning. This is why he left Agnapolis: to love Haruka.