Utau allowed herself to fall back into the big purple recliner, pulling the switch to allow her feet to be propped up. With everything that was going on, she was finally glad to have some downtime to herself. She only had a few days to spend in Italy before returning home before another gig. However, because no performer could leave until the after-party began, she was stuck reclining in her dressing room.

Before she could pick up a magazine, there was a knock at the door. "Come in."

It was Rima and Nagihiko. They were probably the only two smart and daring enough to attempt sneaking backstage. "Do you guys need something?"

"We need to talk…"

Utau sighed, "It seems everyone needs to talk with me nowadays. What's on your mind?"

Rima sat on the armrest on the left side of her, feet barely touching the floor. Nagihiko leaned against a wall, twirling Rima's golden locks once again. "It's Yaya."

"She's in love with Kukai?" Utau guessed.

"Not exactly in love," Rima corrected, eyes almost glued to the floor, "But she does like him in a romantic type way."

Nagihiko released her hair, regripped it, and began to braid it, "Souma-kun and Yaya-chan have known each other for a while, so it's not exactly unexpected for Yaya-chan to have harbored a crush on Souma-kun. We'd be happy for her if they got together, but we also considered Souma-kun's feelings." There was a silence before he resumed, "We thought that if you and Souma-kun were really, really close, that you should talk to Yaya-chan. She's not used to being rejected."

The idol stood up, reaching for a bag of ice for her ankles. "I already promised Amu I'd talk to Yaya." She grumbled, carefully propping her feet back up, trying not to drop the bags of ice, "But if it makes you feel better, then I will promise you two as well." The two nodded and smiled, heading for the door. "Where are you going?"

Nagihiko cocked his head, "Back to the audience."

"You can't." Utau stated simply, "They've tightened security by now. You might as well just stay here and keep me company. Although…" She turned her gaze to Nagihiko, "You might get in trouble if you're caught in here."

Rima smirked, loving where this was going. "So then Nadeshiko, maybe Utau will have something for you to borrow."

"Somehow, I knew this was coming." The boy muttered. He was handed a frilly blue dress, and he headed behind Utau's bamboo changing screen. When he came out, his hair was pulled back into Nadeshiko's ponytail. "I'm finished," he singsonged sweetly, "What do you two think?"

"It looks really good on you, Nadeshiko!" Rima beamed, squeezing the poor 'girl.'

"Not bad," Utau commented. "Just don't slip up the act."

"I won't Utau-chan."

It was long, dull three hours, but it finally paid off. Yukari came by to check on Utau time to time, asking what Rima and Nagihiko were doing there. Utau replied by saying that they were there to help entertain her for the rest of the show, to which Yukari agreed. Nagihiko was finally able to change back and sneak into Ikuto's room as to avoid getting into bigger trouble. (Which lead Yukari to be incredibly confused, but she didn't ask any questions.) It was finally time for the after party, and Utau had to drag Rima out of the room. "Come on, don't you want to meet some of the actors? I heard they were interested in meeting some aspiring comedians."

Rima pouted, "I bet you're just saying that so you can get revenge on me for sneaking into your room."

Utau snickered, "Quite possibly." She led to girl into a huge dining room with a buffet and a small crowd of waiters. "Seems like no one else is here yet, so let's find our table."

"Already found it." Ikuto and Nagihiko were sitting side by side at the table closest to the dance floor. Rima took her seat next to Nagihiko, and Utau took the seat next to Rima. The four were then occupied with looking at their menus, and didn't even realize the others come in. When she looked up, Utau saw Kukai sitting next to her, followed by Kairi, Yaya and Amu.

"Great job, Utau!" Kukai gave her the thumbs up to which she smiled, before looking at the menu again. Before she could decide, someone was making an announcement to which she had to listen to.

"Greetings everyone!" He was an older guy, his dark brown hair graying, his skin looking a little wrinkly and bulgy, "I'd like to thank all of our performers tonight. They were fabulous!" The crowd of people applauded as sophistically as before. Yaya was tempted to let out a cheer, but decided against it. "We'd also like to thank their family and friend for making this event so spectacular. And so to congratulate everyone, we hope you enjoy yourselves at this very special dinner party." There was more applause, followed by a comment the man said to his wife, "And yes honey, you can take home leftovers." There was some small laughter before he put the mike down.

"Okay then. Would you guys like something to drink?" Utau was startled to see the waitress at their table already. She was too busy noticing the man on stage to see her.

"Just some water."

The boys all ended up ordering water, while Amu, Yaya, and Rima all ordered sodas. Utau glued her eyes back to the menu before she felt a slight tap on her shoulder. "What is it, Ikuto?"

"Don't panic but…" His eyes shifted towards the corner of the room. "You see that man over there?" The man he was referring to looked shockingly like Ikuto. Dark clothing, blue hair… Utau's eyes widened in surprise.

"Dad…?"

~TheSky'sCharm~

I'm back from my last vacation. Very tired… But I'm back and ready to resume finishing this project. :D

Hopefully I can get it done before I go back to school. TT_TT

:)Emi-tan:)