CHAPTER 14

Mitsuki POV:

The highly anticipated karaoke night with Takuto and his friends had finally arrived. I wore a casual red A-line dress and my favorite black bootie-heels. My hair was down except for a tiny braid that I pinned around the side of my head. I worried I might be a bit under-dressed since it turned out that it was one of those high-end venues with private rooms, unlike the last time I had gone out to karaoke with Takuto… Oh, how I wished we could go back to that time… But I couldn't dwell on the past, things were different now. If I wanted any chance of staying friends with him, I thought I'd better set those feelings aside. The guys showed up outside of the building at the same time that I did.

"Hey, Mitsuki!" I heard Takuto call out a little ways down the sidewalk.

"Takuto!" I said with an instant smile as I walked towards him. He was wearing a gray button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled-up and dark leather pants with trendy leather boots to match. His hair was in his signature pony tail.

"Did you have any trouble finding the place?" He smiled at me. My heart raced.

"It was no trouble! It's good to see you," I said feeling a little shy.

"It's good to see you too-" he started but suddenly, two guys popped up from behind him and got between us; one was a pretty-boy type, dark-haired, and serious looking with a sparkle in his eye as he scrutinized my face. The other was more athletic-built and had bleached blonde hair and a wide, toothy grin across his face.

"Oh my gosh, it's you! I can't believe we are actually meeting!" the blonde one said as he leapt forward and grabbed me in a bear hug that lifted me off of the ground.

"W-wah! I-It's nice to meet you, too… Uh… I can't really breathe though…" I wheezed. Takuto and the dark haired guy quickly pulled him away from me.

"Geez, what's the matter with you, idiot!" Takuto scolded the blonde.

"Yeah, idiot, that's no way to greet a lady!" the dark haired one added. "Forgive him, Lady Stardust-chan, this is Rey. He's our drummer and a big fan of yours."

"Oh! That's alright, I'm so honored that you are a fan of my music!" I said with a quick little bow.

"Ah! You are too cuuute!" Rey squealed.

"Quit being so hyper…" Takuto said between his teeth as he held Rey back before he could pounce again. The embarrassed expression on Takuto's face was adorable, but I quickly looked away so as not to get caught staring at him.

"I'm Sasuke, by the way. It's nice to meet you." The dark haired guy said as he stuck out a hand for me to shake.

"It's nice to meet you, too!" I said as I shook his hand.

"Well then, shall we head in?" Takuto asked as he walked towards the entrance on the building. We followed after him.

Our Karaoke room was glamorous! There was a fancy red leather couch that went all along the walls of the space with a modern, shiny, black table in the middle. There was a huge wide-screen TV mounted on the wall where the lyrics for the music would show up which was controlled by a small touch-screen on the table. There was also mood lighting and a disco ball on the ceiling.

"Waah! This place is amazing!" I gawked.

"Yeah, we've been coming here since it's become difficult to go out where a lot of fans might be…" Sasuke explained.

"Oh! Yeah, that makes sense…" I thought to myself out loud.

"Anyway, let's take a seat!" Rey said as he and Sasuke pushed me and Takuto into the booth, forcing us to sit together. Each of them sat at either side of us.

Takuto POV:

"You know, I think Takuto is an even bigger fan of you than me." Rey said with a giggle.

"Yeah, he asked us to play your CD every day on the tour bus." Sasuke said nonchalant.

"N-no I didn't! I mean," I stammered helplessly as I tried to save face. I thought I had told them not to embarrass me! I was worried Mitsuki would think I was lame, but when I looked at her, she seemed happy.

"I'm so glad to hear that! I hoped that Takuto- Um, and all of you, would listen to it…" she said bashfully.

"So tell us Lady Stardust," Sasuke started.

"How did you meet our Takuto?" Rey finished with glee.

"W-well, we met through uh..." She looked at me with a bit of a worried expression. She seemed to recognize that our story was too fantastical for the guys to believe.

"We met through our mutual friend, Wakaoji sensei, some years ago." I finished for her.

"Oh? A sensei? Is that a teacher?" Rey asked..

"No, he's a doctor. He's a family friend of mine and Takuto's, too." Mitsuki clarified.

"Wow, what a small world we live in, huh?" Sasuke said with a kind smile.

"Hey, let's get to ordering some food and drinks!" Rey decided as he grabbed the touch screen pad.

"Yeah, I think a round of that bubble tea with the star shaped gummies and some sushi rolls would hit the spot!" Sasuke added. I rolled my eyes and smirked. Of course they wouldn't ask what anyone else would like.

"Um… Takuto?" I heard Mitsuki say next to me. I turned to look at her and realized just how close we were sitting; our legs and arms were touching. She blushed lightly as if realizing it as well and quickly averted her eyes from my gaze. Shoot, I hadn't meant to make her uncomfortable!

"Sorry, I can move over-" I started saying as I made space between us.

"Oh no, that's ok! I just wanted to ask what song we should sing first!" she said with a grin.

"You guys should do that song, 'We'll Be a Dream' by the group K-LO." Sasuke suggested.

"YES! That would be so good! You guys gotta do it!" Rey decided.

"Sure, I love that song! What do you say, Takuto?" Mitsuki cheered. And so we stepped up to the mics and readied ourselves to sing in front of the screen. Then it hit me that she and I would be singing together again for the first time in years. I'd imagined things between us would be better by now; that we would be together. I felt frustrated, nervous and excited all at once. I didn't understand why she had chosen the other guy, but I was determined to win her back. The music started playing so I focused my energy on the song.

Takuto:

Do you remember the nights
We'd stay up just laughing
Smiling for hours
At anything

Mitsuki on harmony, Takuto on Melody:

Remember the nights
We drove around crazy in love

(^Sasuke and Rey cheer at the cool sound of this in the background^)

Together:

When the lights go out
We'll be safe and sound
We'll take control of the world
Like it's all we have to hold on to
And we'll be a dream
(I look over at Mitsuki as we sing the refrain, she giggles and looks away from my gaze.)

Mitsuki:

Do you remember the nights
We made our way dreaming
Hoping of being
Someone big
We were so young then
We were too crazy
In love

Together:

When the lights go out
We'll be safe and sound
We'll take control of the world
Like it's all we have to hold on to
And we'll be a dream…

[Author's note: the actual song is by the band We The Kings feat. Demi Lovato]

We finished the song just as a waitress knocked at the door with the food and drinks we'd ordered. The guys cracked some dumb jokes as we ate and drank. We were all having a good time. And Mitsuki and I were interacting rather well… Except for those moments when she would continue to look away from me like she was uncomfortable. It bothered me; how was I supposed to get closer to her if she still had this awkward distance with me? She was probably thinking of her damned boyfriend…

"Hey, you guys should sing something, too!" Mitsuki said to Rey and Sasuke.

"Yeah, what gives? Could it be that you guys are scared to look bad in front of Mitsuki?" I teased.

"HA! No way, it's just that I sing so well that Lady-chan might end up falling for me," Rey said with a snort.

"Yeah, that's why you're our lead singer." Sasuke said sarcastically.

"Why you- hey, do a duet with me and we'll see who's the better singer!" Rey challenged.

"You're on!" Sasuke said. The two ran up and picked some sappy love song.

"Geez, these goofs…" I sighed. Mitsuki laughed.

"You all get along so well! I keep thinking, 'so this is the kind of friends Takuto has all this time'. I feel like I've seen a new side of you." She said this with a far off look and a warm smile. I blushed a little realizing that she had been thinking of me in our time apart. Maybe there was still something in her heart that could pull her back to what we had before… Without thinking about it, I placed my hand on one of hers that was sitting on the booth space between us. She jolted in her seat and blushed bright red. I thought she would pull her hand out of my grasp or say some objection, but she didn't do either. Instead she looked away from me AGAIN.

"Mitsuki, what's-" I started to speak when all of a sudden I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. Apparently so did Mitsuki because she quickly pulled out her own phone. I looked at mine and saw that it was a group text from Wakaoji.

"OH MY GOSH!" Mitsuki exclaimed as we both stared wide-eyed at the messages on our screens.

"Huh? Am I that impressive at singing? Am I winning?!" Rey asked in the middle of his verse.

"You clown, not everything is about you, ya know?" Sasuke said.

"Well, what's the hoopla about?" Rey pouted.

"Well, you know that mutual friend of ours we mentioned before? His wife is in labor…" I explained.

"I'm sorry but, I have to go, I promised Ooshige I'd be there!" Mitsuki said as she stood up from her seat.

"Wait, do you have a ride? I want to go, too, so I can take you?" I offered.

"Oh! That's right, Ooshige was my ride… Then we'll go together." Mitsuki said with a nod.

"Wait, so you're both leaving? What a bummer…" Rey sighed.

"It's ok, we can always get together again another day." Sasuke said with a pity pat on Rey's back.

I covered the bill for everyone and we left the venue in a hurry. After saying our goodbyes, Mitsuki and I headed to the parking lot where I'd stationed my motorcycle.