A/N: All rights go to ShinP
To that special person who probably freaked when they saw I updated... THIS ONE IS BETTER, I SWEAR.
With warmer weather arriving due to it finally being summer, the Saotome Academy students could switch from their spring uniforms into their summer uniforms. It is hard to believe that 2 months have flown by since coming to study music here.
Late one evening, Seiko walks down a hallway to head to Hyuga-sensei's office to drop something off for him. Once she brings it to him, she goes to meet everyone for dinner. About halfway there, she spots Tokiya Ichinose coming from the opposite direction. Perhaps he finished dinner alone. "G-good evening, Ichinose-san..." the azalea-eyed, light copper-haired girl shyly greets.
Tokiya just coldly brushes past her without a word or even a second glance.
"D-did... did I say something?" Seiko ponders to herself as she watches him briskly stride away. She shakes her head in disagreement. He isn't much of a talker anyway, so she probably shouldn't take it personally. He probably just has something on his mind. She did happen to overhear him complain to Hyuga-sensei about his recent score on a lyric assignment. Realizing her friends must be patiently waiting for her; she snaps back to her senses and jogs off to the cafeteria.
The next day is a Saturday, so that meant no classes for Saotome Academy. Seiko, growing bored of sitting in her dorm room chirps, "I'm gonna go sit outside and enjoy the weather!"
"Okay. I'm off to meet Masato-kun for sight-reading lessons," her roommate and best friend responds.
"Good luck!" Seiko calls before Mana shuts the door. Smiling, she grabs her light blue, cute owl print, canvas bag with her songbook/diary inside. She flicks off the lights before exiting and locks the door. Seiko takes a seat underneath a tree just outside the small woods on campus. She hums a melody to a song she heard Mana play after composing a few phrases. Suddenly, she's hit with an idea.
"Ah!" she gasps, excitedly, "I just thought of some lyrics!" Eagerly, she digs out her book and a pen. "I better jot them down before I forget!" Seiko giggles, neatly scribbling down the lyrics that popped up in her head.
Then, she hears a sort of eerie groaning that makes her heart just about stop dead in its tracks. Seiko pales since she knows she's all by herself. Now, she's not one to believe in ghosts, but even this, in broad daylight, is making her nervous. A loud snap comes from directly behind her and having the absolute crap scared out of her, she rips out a scream, "EEEEK!"
The startled girl scrambles up and whirls around to find Syo hanging off a tree limb much like a sloth with his eyes squeezed shut. His trembling is so bad; it's even shaking the branch. He's also makes strange whimpering noises which Seiko recognizes as the moaning she heard just seconds ago.
"Ah! Syo-kun!" Seiko calls out, relieved that it is only him.
Startled by the sudden voice, Syo accidentally loses his grip on the tree branch with a yelp, "WAAAAH!" The platinum blonde flails as he plummets to the ground. He lands painfully on his back.
Seiko bolts up; worried that he may have injured himself badly. "Syo-kun! Are you okay?! I'm so sorry!" she babbles.
"Ow... ow ow ow..." Syo grunts, holding the back of his fedora while small pains fade away from where he hit the ground.
"Are you alright?!" Seiko repeats, taking another step forward. Syo then takes notice of his best friend. So, she was the one who startled him. "Are you hurt?! Do we need to go to the infirm-"
Syo sits up abruptly and angrily shouts, cutting her off, "Shut up!" Silently, he picks himself up and brushes the dirt off his clothes.
"W-what?" his best friend gasps, not sure why he just snapped at her the way he did.
Syo strides a little bit past her but then stops. He doesn't look at her, grumbling, "Don't tell anyone you saw me here." Then, shooting her a glare, the 16-year-old boy snaps, "Got it?!"
Seiko flinches at the harshness in his voice and the glare he's sporting. She averts her eyes to the ground, feeling saddened. Her sadness is quickly replaced by anger as she doesn't understand why he's so mad at her and feels the need to yell at her. Her azalea eyes brim with tears and she clenches and unclenches her fists. In one swift movement, Seiko pitches her book at him, hitting Syo square in the chest, shrieking, "SYO-KUN, YOU IDIOT!" She snatches her bag off the ground and storms off.
Syo guiltily watches her leave. He didn't mean to yell at her like that. He was just so embarrassed to have her of all people find him like that. Picking up the fallen book off the ground, the blonde idol course student looks back up to see it's too late to catch her and apologize. He murmurs quietly to himself, "S-Seiko-chan..."
And when class rolls around again, Seiko still seems pretty steamed about the whole incident. She pouts at her desk, grumbling, "Stupid Syo! What was he even doing up that tree?! He certainly didn't have to yell! Stupid, stupid, stupid!"
Mana comes in with Ren following close behind. She chuckles as she sees the annoyed expression written on her friend's face. "What's with the sour face?" the redhead giggles.
"Stupid Syo," she responds with a scoff, "It's not like I give a damn..."
"Your tsundere is showing, Seiko-chan," Mana teases with a laugh. She's been watching Seiko interact with Syo Kurusu for a while. Seiko definitely was a tsundere when it came to him.
Seiko stammers, "W-what?! Y-you're crazy!"
"Well, wipe that frown off your face! I've got exciting news!" Mana announces, planting an open magazine on Seiko's desk, "Hyuga-sensei is going to be in a movie! Look at this!" She points to the article. The page is filled with shots of Ryuya Hyuga on set and during takes of the movie.
"Ryuya-san is lead actor?" Ren questions, scoping out the article for himself.
"Precipes Prince?" Seiko then gasps, beaming, "It's the Prince of Fights!"
Mana scrunches her nose, "Sounds like an action movie..."
"He's getting a little old to be a prince, though," Ren comments.
Seiko shoots him a dirty look, scolding, "Hush! That's not true at all!" Her glare causes Ren to nod an apology.
"It says they're holding amateur auditions!" Mana gasps, pointing lower down the page.
"Co-starring with Hyuga-sensei?" Seiko ponders aloud. She knows for a fact Syo is a fan, just like her. They used to watch The Prince of Fights marathons together all the time when they were kids. She wonders if she should tell him about this. If he even wanted to speak to her after what happened on Saturday.
Heading to the cafeteria for lunch time, it is just Mana and Seiko. Syo had slipped out of class before the two could catch him and Ren had been preoccupied by a swarm of his fangirls that met him outside the classroom.
"So, what do you want to do for lunch? I'm starving," Mana asks.
"Not sure yet," Seiko answers, "I'll have to see what they're serving today." Seiko is a picky eater. Well, not completely. She ate a relatively wide variety of food, however, there are also other foods she'd refuse to eat or even try. If she didn't like how it looked, chances were she wasn't going to eat it. Mana has a big issue with trying to get her to eat some of the food on campus sometimes.
"Just make sure you eat something that will last you until dinner..." the ginger-haired, brown-eyed, freckled girl sighs.
Seiko stops as she sees Syo sauntering towards them, a hand in his pocket and his eyes lowered. A small, brown book is tucked under his arm. She decides it's best to talk to him and tell him about the auditions for Hyuga-sensei's movie. "Syo-kuuuun!" she calls out, getting his attention before jogging up to him. "Did you know about the auditions?!"
"You mean Hyuga-sensei's?" Syo mutters quietly. Something's bothering him.
Before Seiko can ask what's wrong, Mana jumps in the conversation, teasing, "So you do already know! You must really be a huge fan!"
Syo looks over the two girls' heads as he spots Natsuki walking along one of the corridors. "Natsuki..." he says and immediately regrets it when Seiko beams happily.
"Where?!" Seiko chimes. She follows his gaze and sees Natsuki walking away. She grins and waves while shouting, "Na-chaaaan!"
Hearing his childhood friend's voice call his name, Natsuki looks up and in the direction of Seiko's call. Sure enough, he sees her waving to him. He grins as he spots Syo next to her as well. He has been looking for him! "So-chan! Wonderful news!" the honey-blonde boy shouts, happily.
"Crap!" Syo curses, latching onto Seiko's wrist before motoring out of there. He doesn't stop until he believes the coast is clear. He's dragged her all the way out into one of the courtyards. The two pant, trying to catch their breaths after running for so long.
"S-sorry," Syo sighs, "Things always get complicated when Natsuki's around. Besides, there's something I need to do before the audition."
Seiko happily shouts, "So you are going to do it!"
Syo grins, "I couldn't let a chance like this pass me by! After all, he's the Prince of Fighting!"
"Mhmm!" she smiles and blushes.
"Ah! I almost forgot!" he gasps before handing her the book under his arm, "Here."
Seiko realizes it's her songbook. She remembers throwing it at him. She must not have picked it up. "My songbook! I didn't even know I didn't have it with me!" Seiko exhales, taking the book from Syo.
"Yeah... sorry for yelling at you..." Syo apologizes, rubbing the ball of his foot on the ground.
Seiko shakes her head, disagreeing, "Mh-mh... I shouldn't have thrown my book either." The two childhood playmates smile at each other, resolving the petty argument.
"I... I want you to hear something..." Syo says, blushing.
"Eh?" Seiko murmurs, cocking her head slightly to the side.
The platinum blonde motions for her to take a seat on a nearby bench. Syo has a song for her. He came up with it the other day.
The dream you are dreaming is bursting slightly
A drop of tears flows from your down casted eyes
Countless pains have left their marks on these wings
Unable to even flap them
You walk on slowly
Even though the sky we have looked upon together has not changed,
And still continues to shrine even now
But facing the blurry distant sunset,
There is just me now
To continuing on the lonely journey without even a goal
The sword of truth, may it slice open the deep darkness
To show the path towards tomorrow
Even if this body of mine were to break into tiny pieces
I will keep on challenging it fearlessly
Now, in order to fulfill our promise
In my faint memory, you are smiling at me
As if telling me something with your backward glance
The blank page had been turned without my noticing
Unable to even write anything on it, everything are being forgotten
Although the seed we planted had grew into a flower
And is waving in the wind now
Hiding the pain of my empty heart
Now I am alone speaking to a broken gravestone
The fist of passion, may it break apart the thick walls
To open up the locked door to the new future
Even if this body of mine were to burnout and become unmovable
I will push forward with no hesitation
Now, in order to bring about a miracle
I did not realize the fortune
I had in meeting you
Although you are no longer here
The promise I made to you on that day
I will make it come true someday
The sword of truth, may it slice open the deep darkness
To show the path towards tomorrow
Even if this body of mine were to break into tiny pieces
I will keep on challenging it fearlessly
Now, in order to live tomorrow
Seiko beams as Syo finishes his song, clapping rapidly. "That was amazing, Syo-kun!" she compliments. "You're singing... always gets me... right here..." The azalea-eyed girl lays a hand on her heart, closing her eyes with a small blush rising to her cheeks. She looks back at him and laughs with that pretty laugh of hers.
Syo feels his cheeks flush and somewhat avoids her gaze. "I-s that so?" The 16-year-old boy sneaks a glance back her way.
"Yep!" she giggles in a fashion that Syo can't help but chuckle at as well, blaming it on how cute she can be.
Syo looks at his best friend with a gentle, nostalgic smile. He murmurs, "Remember how we always used to watch Sensei on TV?" He missed the days they'd spend all day holed up inside, curled up in blankets next to one another, watching reruns and new episodes of Ryuya Hyuga on television. Sharing popcorn and other snacks with her, even how her shoulder-length hair occasional brushed against his skin whenever Seiko clung to him when something on-screen scared her. He can still remember what if felt like to have her all to himself and not have to share her with Natsuki. The Prince of Fights was their thing; Natsuki wasn't interested in spending all day in front of a screen like those two were.
"We sure had poor constitutions back then..." Seiko adds, "He always made us so happy..."
The blonde-haired boy puts his hands in his pockets. He says with much conviction, "I owe Ryuya Hyuga a lot. He's my hero."
"I see," Seiko smiles, looking at her best friend with such longing for the good old days. Just like you're mine... It wasn't just watching Hyuga-sensei on TV that made Seiko so happy and cheerful as a child. Being able to be with Syo like that, it meant everything to her. She guesses that she owes Hyuga-sensei a thing or two since it was because of him that Seiko was able to spend so much alone time with Syo.
"When I learned he was my homeroom teacher, I was so happy!" the boy chimes before gasping in shock, "AHH!"
Seiko bolts up from her seat, shouting, "What?! What?!" She looks past his gaze and sees Hyuga-sensei jogging in a tracksuit. She watches in awe as he speedily and fiercely practices his punches and kicks while still moving. Even moving so, he looks so graceful.
"He's so cool! I wish I could co-star with him..." the two fans mumble together in fascination as they watch him jog away. Looking back at each other as the words left their mouths, Seiko and Syo begin laughing. They are such dorks, still speaking in unison even after 6 years of separation.
"SYO-CHAN, FOOOOUND YOOOOU!" Natsuki's shrill call rings out just before a huge net flies out at the two. However, it only scopes up Syo, hoisting him high into a nearby tree.
Seiko shrieks, jumping back, "Eeeek!" Seeing Natsuki walk up with a pleased expression on his face, she storms up to him. She angrily demands, "Na-chan! What the heck are you doing?!"
Ignoring her, Natsuki turns to the poor boy he's trapped, "Syo-chan, you still haven't gotten over your fear of heights."
"Fear of- oh my gosh, I almost forgot!" Seiko gasps, smacking a hand to her mouth. Syo never liked playing on anything higher than a slide and even that was tough to get him on as kids. He'd even freaked out when Natsuki pushed him too high in the swing.
"Seriously, stop! It's so high! Let me down!" Syo panics, yowling while wildly swinging the net back and forth from his desperate efforts to get out, "Stop it! Stop it! What's going on?!"
After his female childhood companion shoots him a deadly enough glare, Natsuki climbs the tree himself to free Syo. The traumatized blonde literally has to lean on Seiko while the trio heads to the library to meet up with everyone else.
"A fear of heights?" Otoya repeats after Natsuki explains the situation.
Syo grumbles with his back turned to everyone since he's still trembling like a leaf in the wind, "O-of course n-not..." He sits between Seiko and Natsuki, feeling embarrassed that everyone has to see him like this. It is bad enough Seiko saw him freak out like a middle school girl when Natsuki trapped him in the net.
Tomochika smirks, leaning on her elbows, "Looks like a serious phobia."
"That can't be good, though. The movie's called The Precipes Prince," Mana adds.
"There are going to be lots of high places," the red-haired girl teases again. Tomochika stops once the light copper-haired, azalea-eyed girl to Syo's right sends her a glare.
"Sh-shut up!" the platinum blonde, acrophobe stutters, "I'm doing my best to get over it."
Seiko flinches at the memory of Syo in the tree of few days earlier. So that's why he was hanging in that tree! He'd been trying to get over his fear of heights and Seiko disturbed him. She realizes he might have snapped at her due to embarrassment of being caught like that.
Natsuki whines, leaning closer to his roommate, "Don't be so secretive, Syo-chan. Why didn't you come talk to me about it?"
"Because it'd be dangerous," Syo concludes bitterly.
"There's nothing dangerous about me," Natsuki grins.
Syo furiously rubs the back of his head, shouting, "That smile's plenty dangerous!"
"Hey," Otoya suggests, "Let's all help him get over it."
"Huh?" Syo stops.
Seiko happily agrees, "Yeah! Then you'll be able to audition!" The 16-year-old, S Class idol course student beams at Syo, hoping he'd go for the idea. Friends are meant to help one another overcome hurdles.
"She's right," Haruka nods.
Tomochika shrugs her shoulders with a light smile, "I guess I'll help too."
"Count me in too!" Mana chirps.
"Your conversation sounds interesting," Ren says, coming up from behind Syo. The platinum blonde is shocked to see Ren leaning so close in with a devious grin on his lips. "Would it be alright if I joined you? It sounds like a good way to pass the time," he asks. And by that, he meant it will be entertaining to watch his classmate freak out.
Otoya questions, "What about you, Masa?"
The blue-haired boy is sitting a little further down, sipping on a cup of tea. Masato puts the cup down and sighs, "Knowing what is right and not doing it is want of courage." Meaning he's in too.
"It's decided, then," Otoya concludes, nodding.
Syo murmurs, "If you'll all help me, I guess I can give it a shot."
Of course, when he agreed to let them help him, he didn't expect much. He apparently underestimated them. And by them... he means Natsuki.
For the first level at trying to conquer his acrophobia, they forced him out onto a plank off one of the tallest clock towers on campus with a bungee cord secured round his waist. Syo pales greatly as the distance between him and the ground makes his vision fade in and out. Oh, he really shouldn't have looked down. "We're starting with this?!" Syo howls absolutely petrified to the point where he might just wet himself, "No way, no way! Absolutely not!" He flails his arms in order to keep his balance on the beam.
"Shock therapy is the best way to cure it!" Natsuki calls out to his friend who continues to panic.
Haruka asks, concerned for Syo's well-being, "Is this alright?"
Mana just shrugs her shoulders, "Probably."
Seiko starts to think that it's a little dangerous once Natsuki moves onto the ledge to give Syo a helpful shove off. Annoyed, she barks, "Natsuki! Get back here!" She glowers as the honey-blonde looks back as if he isn't going to turn back. However, the look on her face causes Natsuki to obey and saunter back. "This isn't going to help him; we're making it worse..." Seiko sighs, moving on the ledge herself to lead her best friend back to safety. She gently tells him, "Syo-kun, I'm coming out to bring you back."
"Don't you push me!" Syo's fear has driven him into full-panic mode, "Don't you push me!" He's not thinking rationally.
"You're being ridiculous," Seiko grumbles, standing directly behind him.
Syo shrieks, "I swear to God, Seiko, if you push me!" The blonde flails even more, nudging his friend a little bit from him. His rapid arm movements are also flying in Seiko's face causing her to wobble and unbalance herself.
As a few blind swings hit her, Seiko angrily spits, "H-hey! Knock it off, doofus! You're gonna make us-!" She sucks in her breath quickly and her heartbeat hitches as her foot slips when one of Syo's smacks makes her stumble. Reflexively, she latches onto Syo's shirt in an attempt to stay on the ledge, but the force of gravity proves to be greater than the two idol course students can possibly handle. She feels Syo pull her to him as they fall from the ledge.
"YAAAAAAAAAAH!" the duo scream as they plummet to the X painted in the dirt below them. The bungee cord was just short enough that Syo hung a few feet off the ground. Startled, Syo accidentally releases his grip on Seiko, dropping her to the unforgiving ground where she lands uncomfortably on her behind. Oh, Seiko's going to have both Natsuki and Syo's heads once this is all done and over as he can clearly tell from the scowl on her face and the unladylike profanities that are being quietly released from her mouth.
After a multitude of other tests, Syo's acrophobia still is not cured. In fact, as they tired more and more crazed ideas from Natsuki, his condition seems to get worse and worse and worse. The very last thing they tried caused Syo to faint from exhaustion.
Seiko runs off to the school store in order to grab some water for him. On her way out, she runs into Tokiya. "I-Ichinose-san," she exhales.
Tokiya eyes her bag before returning his attention back to his peer and classmate. He utters, "You seem busy."
"Syo-kun is going to audition for a role... so we're all helping him," Seiko replies shyly. This is one of the first conversations she's actually had with Tokiya Ichinose. Usually their conversations are a brief greeting if he even returns a "hello" in the first place. Most often, he would just walk past her or just nod.
Tokiya comments, "You must have a lot of free time..."
It's the way he says it, Seiko doesn't like it. She growls, "What?!"
"If you can afford to help others," he concludes coldly.
Seiko bristles and comes to her own defense, "I'm not doing it because I have 'free time!' I'm doing it because Syo-kun is working so hard and he's my best friend!" She sends him a glare that she notices makes him flinch for a second. Still, she's not backing off just yet. Continuing, the 16-year-old scolds, "You may not understand, but it's a very important dream to Syo-kun, so it's important to me! If you'll excuse me!" She briskly nudges past him in much of the same manner that he had done earlier in the week. The azalea-eyed girl can't storm away fast enough for her own liking.
When she gets back, Syo seems to now be running a fever. He's lying on a school bench, his face beet red and shaking. Tomochika and Mana are desperately fanning him with their handkerchiefs in an attempt to get him to cool off.
"It's so high... I'm scared... I'm gonna die... So high... so scared... gonna die..." Syo moans, completely frazzled by the events today.
"Hey, hasn't his phobia gotten worse?" Tomochika asks.
Otoya suggests, "We may have pushed him too far."
"It's time to quit," Ren concludes quickly.
Mana nods in agreement. "I think so too."
Seiko looks down at Syo sadly, gripping the plastic bag in her hands. She failed him. She couldn't help him overcome his acrophobia. She bites down on her bottom lip. Syo-kun...
"We're not done yet!" Natsuki announces.
"You're joking, right?" Seiko mutters, "Look at him, he's totally out of it."
Natsuki says candidly, "If anything, we've been too easy on him!"
Seiko has to disagree with that. We practically threw him out of a plane in the last test. Maybe Syo is right, Natsuki is dangerous. Or at least the schemes he comes up with.
"I actually happen to have a friend inventing a rocket. He told me if he goes up about ten thousand meters, he might not be scared anymore," Natsuki announces.
"WHAT?!" Syo yelps, bolting upright from the bench and his face turns green at the idea of being tied to a rocket and then shot up ten thousand meters. Then his fever rockets and his whole face grows red.
Haruka shrieks, "The water!"
Tomochika snatches the water out of the plastic bag and dumps its contents in its entirety over Syo's head, drenching him.
It seems to have worked for a few seconds as his complexion returns to normal before his face turns blue with exhaustion. "I'm beat..." he manages to utter before passing out on the bench again.
"Syo-chan, are you alright?" Natsuki asks.
Seiko grumbles, answering for him, "Na-chan, does he look alright?! I don't want to give up... but we may not have any other choice..."
"Syo-chan works so hard. I want to see him overcome his fear," Natsuki sighs sadly.
"Me too, Na-chan..." Seiko exhales, "me too..."
Haruka steps up to the two childhood friends. She questions, "Shinomiya-san, Morishige-san... do you know Kurusu-kun very well?"
"Yes, we're childhood friends," the two in question answer at the same time/
Natsuki explains, "Syo-chan and I've met each other quite a lot over the years at violin contests as well."
"And you guys used to come watch me play my clarinet in my symphonic wind ensemble's concerts as well as watch my dance recitals a lot!" Seiko adds, hugging him.
"I didn't think all three of us would come here, though. Especially since you went abroad to study dance," Natsuki nods.
Otoya interrupts their conversation, "I wonder why he's afraid of heights."
Even Seiko didn't know the answer and he is her best friend. She practically knows him inside and out. But this is one thing she couldn't grasp at what made him so afraid of heights. "Come to think of it, I can't pinpoint when the behavior started..." she sighs.
"Perhaps he had a terrifying experience in the past," Masato suggests. The blue-haired boy looks at Seiko who shrugs her shoulders. Again, she can't remember just exactly when he became an acrophobe.
Mana cocks her head, "What do you mean a terrifying experience?"
The whole group freezes when they hear the echoes of creepy laughter around them. It's Shining Saotome who peeks out from behind the bench causing Otoya, Mana, Seiko, Haruka, and Tomochika to scream in absolute terror. They had not been expecting that.
"P-Principal, when did you get here?!" Tomochika stammers.
"Eavesdropping again?" Haruka squeaks.
Otoya demands, "Were you?"
Ignoring his students at first, Shining flips himself over the bench. He then proclaims, "Listening to the concerns of devoted students is one of my responsibilities."
Seiko tries to hide her frown on her face. Yes... but this could almost count as stalking...
"Mister Kurusu!" Saotome Academy's principal shouts, shaking Syo by his shoulders, stirring him.
"What?" Syo yelps, snapping out of it, "What do you want?!"
Saotome soothes, "It's alright. Don't worry."
Soon enough, he ushers all the kids into his office which he then preps for a hypnosis session. The room is darkened and is only illuminated by a single candle placed in the center of a coffee table. The room is silent other than the ticking of the metronome also on said table.
"Close your eyes and slowly take deep breaths," Shining instructs.
Even though he is thoroughly unamused by all this, Syo closes his eyes and inhales and exhales. Without any real thought, he also takes a hold of Seiko's right hand with his left.
Their principal drawls, "Slowly, slow and slow, slowly. Slowly..."
Seiko raises an eyebrow as she watches her principal wiggle his fingers as he tries to put Syo in a trance. If this didn't look so ridiculous, I'd be having trouble staying awake. She has to admit, the darkened room only lit by one candle paired with Shining Saotome's lulling tone and the ticking of the metronome is relaxing, but seriously, wiggling his fingers like that and wearing sunglasses in a barely lit room is enough to make her suspicious of this whole hypnosis deal.
"You will calm down and begin to feel warm. And you are becoming sleepy..." Shining Saotome continue. He waits for a few moments as Syo's head droops before stopping the metronome. "Ok, you are asleep."
"No, I'm not," Syo answers, snapping his head up. He didn't even drift off during that whole thing. He scoffs, "How was that supposed to put me to sleep? Come on, don't be ridiculous. Besides, I-" Suddenly, he stops talking and he falls asleep, snoring slightly.
Seiko rolls her eyes, muttering, "Aaand he's out..."
"There, there, there. You are asleep," the red-haired, glasses wearing principal says, wiggling his fingers again, "Your memories will travel further and further back in time. You are three years old. You are riding a Ferris wheel. Are you super afraid of height?"
Syo quietly mumbles, "It's not scary... it's fun..."
Shining continues, moving up his age by one year, "Okay, you are four years old now."
"Nope, it's fun..." the platinum blonde murmurs.
"Okay," Shining Saotome proceeds, "you are five years old..."
As soon as he said the word five, Syo begins to tremble. His eyes squeeze tighter shut and he whimpers every now and then. He unconsciously squeezes Seiko's hand, alerting her that they may have found a breakthrough.
"S-Syo-kun... what's the matter?" she asks softly as if he will answer.
"Is the Ferris wheel scary?" Shining interrogates, coaxing out the answer.
To answer the question, Syo abruptly scrambles off the seat, howling, "YAAAAAAHH!" He releases Seiko's hand and pants wildly, still out of it.
"What's wrong?" the principal asks.
"I'm scared! Stop!" the poor boy continues yowling and twitching.
Shining Saotome questions, "What happened?"
"I told you! Stop chasing me!" Syo screams.
Then, it all floods back to Seiko. She gasps as the memory forms in her mind. Wait! I remember now!
Syo tugs 5-year-old Seiko up the tower steps while trying to escape 7-year-old Natsuki. The latter is chasing after them, laughing maniacally while swinging around a huge fishing net in order to catch them.
"Stay back!" Syo cries, running as fast as his legs could carry him. He trips on one of the steps, stumbling. This causes Seiko to painfully hit her knee on a step as she stumbles as well. He pulls her along, not stopping for anything.
Seiko begins crying because of said injury to her knee. "S-Syo-kun! My kneeee! I don't wanna run anymoooore!" she sobs as he continues to drag her higher and higher up the steps. Her pretty, aqua plaid dress is ruined from scraping against the dirt on the stone stairs when she fell.
Natsuki giggles, continuing to swing the net, "Small and cute, Syo-chan and Seiko-chan, wait!"
Syo shouts, "Stop! Don't chase us!" He feels bad that he's making Seiko upset, but he certainly did not want to be caught in a fishing net today.
"I don't wanna play anymooooore!" Seiko whines. She's tired of running. All this running from Natsuki is making her hungry and thirsty too. She starts to cry louder.
"Syo-chan! Seiko-chan!" Natsuki calls, completely oblivious to his female playmates obvious distress.
And Syo, fearing for his life, unintentionally speeds up, much to Seiko's displeasure which she makes know by becoming almost hysterical in her crying. "Ah!" the shorter boy gasps, just barely stopping in time to avoid leading Seiko right out of the tower window at the top. He lets her go, flailing his arms to try and get back inside.
"Syo-kun!" the azalea-eyed girl squeals, tugging him back inside just as Natsuki corners them upstairs.
"Syo-chan, you're surprisingly energetic," the 7-year-old, honey-blonde comments, "Why don't we stop here?"
Panicking and not wanting to be caught, Syo takes a misfortunate step backwards. "Aah!" he cries out as his foot slips out from under him.
"Watch out, Syo!" Seiko and Natsuki shout as they helplessly watch their friend fall backwards out the window.
Luckily, he catches the edge of the windowsill with his hand. He makes the mistake of glancing down. He's so high up, the ground actually looks blurry. "EEEEEEEEK!" the small boy screams. Unintentionally and with no warning, his grip loosens and lets out on him since he cannot support his own weight with one hand.
"SYO-KUN!" Seiko shrieks, catching him by his wrist just in the nick of time. Natsuki holds her by the waist as she practically dangles herself halfway out the window. Both children wince as gravity tries to pull Syo from them.
Syo hesitantly opens his eyes again and is absolutely petrified. He yells, trying to run up the building, "So high! So scared! I'm gonna die!" His playmates succeed in pulling him back up. They end their playmate as Seiko begins to cry even worse after that scary experience.
Snapping back to reality himself, Syo bristles at the memory. "Natsuki... it was you!" he yowls, grabbing at his roommate's collar, "Why you!"
Natsuki chuckles, "Now that you mention it... I had a feeling something like that happened."
"It did happen," Syo retorts angrily.
"I remember it too..." Seiko laughs nervously. That day had been one trauma after another; she must have forced it into her subconscious.
And then the next day, Syo gives them the news...
"What?!" Haruka gasps in disbelief, "You're not going to audition?!"
Tomochika stammers, "Wh-why not? I thought you were over your fear of heights.
Syo refuses to even look at him. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. All that work for nothing. He shakes in disappointment and anger, "Why? Look at this! Right here!" The platinum blonde points to fine print on the article about Hyuga-sensei's upcoming motion picture.
"'We are currently recruiting someone to play the protagonist's younger sister,'" Otoya reads before everyone's jaws drop.
Tomochika and Mana shout, "A girl?!"
"It's in such small print too..." Haruka mumbles.
Syo sighs, "I really wanted to co-star with Hyuga-sensei..." He looks at his best friend and lightly smiles, "Looks like you can audition, though."
"Mh-mh," Seiko disagrees, shaking her head, "I can't go for a role you wanted."
Then, Natsuki's voice echoes, "It's alright, Syo-chan! Leave it to me" They all witness him running up with a pink, frilly, monstrosity of a dress and a long, blonde wig. Where he seems to get this stuff, no one knows.
Seiko raises an eyebrow. She mutters, "He's not serious..."
No sooner had she said it that Natsuki wrestled Syo into the dress with lightning fast speed that no one even really understood what the heck just happened. "Syo-chan, you're so cute!" he gushes, snapping multiple pictures of his friend and roommate with his cell phone camera.
"You really are cute!" Haruka compliments, missing the whole point that this isn't really what Syo would want to do in order to star with Hyuga-sensei. If anything, the blonde looks as if he'd rather burst into flames.
Tomochika and Mana nod, "You know, this isn't bad."
Seiko, on the other hand, fidgets uncomfortably. She can feel a blush rising to her cheeks, staring at Syo in that dress. "I don't think this is a good idea..." she mumbles.
"Enough already!" Syo screams, finally having enough of Natsuki swirling around him, snapping pictures left and right. This is just outright damn embarrassing to be forced into a girly, pink dress such as this.
"Amazing!" a deeper male voice whistles. It's Hyuga-sensei who is in the middle of a training jog. He happened to notice the group of students and came over to investigate.
Syo pales, "Hyuga-sensei..."
Ryuya Hyuga comments, "You look exactly like what I had in mind for my younger sister! What's your name?" Does he not recognize him or something?
"It's Syo..." Syo answers, hoping to remind his homeroom teacher just exactly who he is.
"Come audition, Syoko-chan," Hyuga-sensei says, shooting him a wink and a thumbs up before continuing his jog.
Syo looks absolutely mortified. Hyuga-sensei just called him... "Syoko-chan?!" he repeats, falling to his knees, devastated.
"Oooh dear..." Seiko sighs, hanging her head.
Mana giggles a bit, "Do you think we traumatized him again?"
"You think?" Natsuki asks, clueless that it is his fault that Hyuga-sensei made a mistake in identity.
Seiko pats her depressed friend's back. She encourages, "Don't worry about it, Syo-kun... there's always another chance..." Yet, somehow, she knows he's going to be moping about this for weeks. Guess she better start preparing some pep-talks to boost his spirits...
A/N: OMG I love this chapter/episode Mostly because I love Syo. And because I got to see baby Syo. (Shorty is still taller than me, WTF?!)
I am up way too late. I have a 8:30 class... and it's a test. Oh well.
I updated this as soon as possible since the last chapter was... questionable...
Note to self: Don't do your own fillers if you can't do a good job with it...