I am sooooooooooo soooo sorry it has taken me this long to update. It took me forever to find the right lyrics that I wanted .""" SOOOOO SORRYYY ABOUT THE RIDICULOUSLY LONG HITAUS THAT THIS WAS ON DDD:. (Credit to silvermoon249 from livejournal for the English translations to the song. Which, btw is Masato's character song, "Knocking on the Mind") Enjoy :).
Chapter 8
Early the next morning Nanami stepped into the music room to make some final corrections to her part of the composition. She let out a soft gasp of surprise to see a figure already there, slumped over the piano. Recognizing the dark blue head, she walked to the figure and gently shook him by the shoulder to wake him.
"Hijirikawa-san, wake up" she murmured softly.
"Nnnn..what?" The blue haired boy groaned sleepily, his eyes blinking slowly against the early morning light. Grimacing as he stretched, "Ughh, I must've fallen asleep last night. Oh, Nanami, I finished my part so can we work on it today? I really need to have it perfect in time for tomorrow."
"EHH?! Already? I-I'll do my best!" The girl stuttered in surprise. They had just started the song yesterday, and to have a joint arrangement perfected in two days was nearly impossible. But as she looked up, she saw the willful set of the boy's lips, as well as the fiery gleam of determination in his deep blue eyes. She pulled out her phone and sent a message to Natsuki, telling him to lead rehearsal without her and Masato today. He replied back immediately to affirm her request. "Okay," she said then, looking back towards the boy, "let's get to work." He nodded in agreement.
Side by side, they worked furiously, a little crease forming between his brows as he concentrated on the piece.
In the meantime, the rest of the boys had gathered for rehearsal in one of the empty practice rooms. After hearing Natsuki's announcement about Nanami's and Masato's absence, Ren couldn't think straight. His mind was cluttered, thoughts about what the pair was doing together crowded in his brain; he felt sick. There was a distinct buzzing sound in his ears that grew louder and louder, and when he couldn't stand it anymore he stood up abruptly causing his chair to topple backwards.
But it barely registered in his mind; all he could think of was his love together with the girl he claimed to love. The world swirled before his eyes and he stumbled out the door, choking down the sickening urge to throw up. "I can't...it hurts..."
Suddenly the blond's lips twisted into a derisive smirk, "What was I even expecting. That he would return my feelings, just like back then? Hah, good thinking Ren. Because he would totally drop the Lady for your sorry, useless third son ass. What a dumbass." His fists thumped weakly against the wall before he slumped to the ground, unable withstand the pain in his chest. "I already tried giving him up once; and almost succeeded. But then he had to tempt me, with those damn dark blues, those slender fingers, that husky voice..." A tormented groan fell from his lips as his mind automatically recalled every aspect of his love, and his body yearned to feel the other's again.
Using the wall for support, the blond shakily got back on his feet and started walking back to his room. Still lost in a haze of pain, he simply let his feet guide him back to his room on their own. But when they stopped him in front of a door he realized that he was not in front of the room he shared with Cecil; he was facing the door to the room he shared with Masa. Biting back a curse at the realization, he spun around angrily and quickly strode away, back towards his new quarters. "Goddammit."
On the way, he heard the melodious strains of the piano, and his feet once again proved to have a mind of their own as they steered him towards the sound instead of to his room. He stopped yet again, in front of a door that led to an unwanted place. The door was slightly ajar, and his hand mindlessly reached out to widen the opening. A shock rippled through his body at the sight that met his eyes; yet he was rooted in place, like a deer caught in the headlights.
The sight that met his eyes was almost an exact replica of the one he had witnessed yesterday and pain dug its icy, merciless talons into his chest once again. He couldn't even force a single sound past the lump of pain lodged in his throat; he was powerless against the lilting voice that reached his ears.
"No matter when, I don't want to forget it.
That smile is my sun.
Because the flood of love won't stop,
I'm being filled with these feelings.
I want you to let me stay by your side.
Let's share what we 'believe'…"
The meaning of the lyrics sunk in, and Ren felt the pain intensify, making it nearly impossible to breathe. "He loves her. There is no greater proof than that. He wrote a song for and just confessed to her through it. There is no room for me here. I need to leave. I need…" Ren's thoughts became a jumbled mess, and his vision became hazy. By some miracle he was able to turn around and walk away from the room.
As he walked through the open hallways his usual fanclub crowded around him squealing. "Ren-sama! We don't see you anymore!" "We miss you Ren-sama!" "Ren-sama why have you been neglecting us?"
But their requests fell on deaf ears, for the blond playboy was unable to hear their voices over the roaring in his own ears. He stumbled blindly along and luckily managed to avoid the rest of the STARISH members, as well as his fan club who had abandoned him when their pleas had met only silence.
Finding his way back to his room he collapsed face down on his bed, drained. "Well played Hijirikawa. Who would have guessed that your acting skills were THIS good..." Groaning miserably, the blond pounded his pillow, but there was no force behind it. He simply didn't have much strength to do anything. His playboy demeanor was simply a façade created in an attempt to fill the emptiness in his heart due to his inability to be together with his blue haired love.
In the meantime, the boy in question was ecstatic. With Nanami's help, he had been able to finish the piece in time. Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was already 8pm. Standing up abruptly he gathered the precious papers to his chest and rushed out of the room shouting a harried thanks to Nanami as he ran. "I need to go to call the florist again to make sure they deliver the flowers on time tomorrow. And I need to talk to the rest of the STARISH members so that they can help me surprise Ren." He frantically dialed the florist's number and outlined what he needed for the next day as he ran through the halls to the room Natsuki and Syo shared. Pounding on the door loudly, he shouted "Open up Natsuki! Syo! Hurry, I need to talk to you both!"
After a few more moments of his banging on the door, it opened revealing the blond roommates in a very disheveled fashion; Syo was frantically tugging his shirt down and Natsuki's was barely buttoned. After spotting an angry red mark at the juncture of Syo's neck and shoulder Masa flushed slightly. "O-oh...sorry for the intrusion." But then he remembered the papers he had in his hands and remembered what he had come for. "I need your guys' help..."
10 minutes later all the members, with the exception of Ren were once again crowded in in the blond pair's room.
"Ren's really hurting right now you know" Cecil commented as soon as he walked in and spotted Masato. His green eyes narrowed as he studied the blue haired boy, "why would you hurt him like that?"
"I...I dont even know what is it that I did? It...it could be that I spent a considerable amount of time with Nanami? But that was only because we were working on, this" and with that he set the sheet music down on the table to show them. "Speaking of which, I need all of you to help me. Nanami worked with me to compose this song; it's for Ren's birthday tomorrow. As well as for Valentine's day." A slight blush crept up his cheeks, but his expression remained serious.
They all nodded and for the next few hours they worked together to figure out a plan to get Ren to the music room without him figuring out that there was something amiss, as well definitely keeping it a secret that that he would be meeting Masa in there.
Around 10pm they all finally went back to their respective rooms, prepared to set the plan in motion the next day. Masa went back to his now empty room, and fell into a restless sleep with the music sheets still clutched tightly to his chest.
*sobs* I finally finished this chapter. Lol I realize that certain STARISH members are doing a lot of Cupid planning things, sorry ^^". Once again, credit to silvermoon249 from livejournal for the translations to the song. Which, btw you should all listen to it, Masato's voice is beautiful :3. SUPER UBER SORRY FOR THE DELAY *BOWS REPEATEDLY* THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH ME, I LOVE YOU ALL :D
