Squirming around in my sleep, I tried my best to stay unconscious, but I was having a hard time. Growling in frustration, I moved from position to position that the last position I ended up in resulted in me falling on the ground with a muffled thump. Wincing, I looked at Syo and Natsuki to make sure they were still asleep and luckily, they were. Something was nagging me. No, SOMEONE was nagging me. God damn, Ichinose, making me and everyone else worried... and I never do sleep properly when it rains, not to mention that it was still pouring non-stop outside. Throwing my blanket back in bed and fixing it, I sighed softly and flopped back into bed, my back facing the ceiling.
"God damn that Ichinose..." I grumbled angrily but was muffled since my face was in my pillow. "God damn it!"
Brushing my teeth over the bathroom sink, I had my portable radio on the edge of the sink. Leaving my toothbrush in my mouth, I blinked heavily a few times and turned the radio on, hoping to get a distraction. After a song played, the news segment came on.
"Some service roads connecting to the freeway are closed due to traffic, so please be careful when going out."
Nodding at how obvious that was, I spitted the toothpaste out of my mouth with some other grimy stuff and raised my cup to my mouth, and silently gurgled the water.
"And in todays' entertainment news, superstar idol HAYATO retires...?"
I immediately spitted out the water into the sink forcefully, and reached for my towel, wiping my face clean and grabbed the mini radio into my hands and lowered the volume of it but placed it close to my ears with wide eyes.
"Well, it's not so much retiring as apparently becoming a student at Saotome Academy..."
A million of swear words were repeating in my mind violently right now as I came out of the bathroom and looked at Syo who was starting to wake up. Grabbing my cap, I put it on and walk out of the room and into the halls, all my attention focused on the radio.
"The story is in the weekly magazines that just came out today. According to the articles, it seems a change of talent agencies is involved. As we know, the Saotome Academy is a vocational school affiliated with a talent agency. In other words, he's switching to the Saotome Agency. Actually, I don't think there's any chance he's retiring. Well, I'm sure his current agency will issue some kind of statement.
Not good. This is the worst thing that can happen right now. Right when we're on a roll with the graduation audition closing in something like this comes in. Of course. What I get for getting my hopes up that something finally goes my way.
"Ne, ne, did you see it on TV this morning?"
"About HAYATO?! I was shocked!"
At the mention of HAYATO, my pace quickened as I passed by the students who were all scattered around in their groups.
"I don't believe it! He goes to this school?!"
"It's Ichinose Tokiya, from S class!"
At the mention of Ichinose, the corner of my left eye and mouth twitched. The lesson room isn't far from here but why does it feel that as I walk towards it the farther away it seems to get?
"I thought they were twins!"
"It's supposed to be the guy himself!"
"I'm gonna get his autograph!"
"Me, too!"
"If he's HAYATO..." Masato said, sitting down on a chair with his arms crossed in front of his chest and his eyes closed. "... him being absent for practice multiple times makes sense."
Fidgeting on my spot next to Haruka, the atmosphere in the room was as intense as it can get. Because of the HAYATO and Ichinose news, even Tomo was with us. At first, I was relatively surprised that she was in the room and especially since I still wasn't sure if she thought I was in her and her roommate's room because of something weird. I just really hope she didn't think of it like that. I mean, it's Tomo, she wouldn't think of something like that... I hope.
"'Change of agencies'! 'Retirement'!" Syo quoted from what he heard from the news. He had his fists clenched and was leaning on the piano slightly. "He can go to hell!"
"Syo, don't be so harsh," I said in a quiet tone but he was so blinded by his anger, he shut off what I said as if he didn't hear.
"But... why would he even come to the academy when he's already made his debut?" Natsuki asked.
Otoya looked down at the ground. "Good question... What's Tokiya thinking?!"
"Dammit!" Syo yelled out in anger. "Is he making fools out of us?!"
"No! That's not how he thinks!" Haruka defended, gathering the attention of the group.
"Haru-Chan... Did you know?" Natsuki interrogated. I was right: he had a hunch that Haruka knew something but he was looking at me when he asked that as if the question was actually targeted to the both of us.
"Ano..." The girl didn't say anything for a moment. I fidgeted my fingers around. They were cold.
"Yeah. Haruka knows," I said in one breath. I can't let her take all the weight on her own and pretend that I didn't know any of this. Biting the bottom of my lip, I then added, "... along with me."
"Daiki... Nanami..." Syo called as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing, his anger gone for the moment.
"We're sorry. I..."
"Why didn't you tell us?!"
That, I couldn't answer right away. It would probably take me a few minutes to explain which wouldn't be too confusing for them to understand. All I could do was swallow down a lump in my throat but it seems to come back.
"The fact that he would come here after finishing his work as HAYATO... shows he didn't do it on a whim," Masato inferred. "They couldn't tell anyone. Try to understand how they both feel."
Silence fell as I closed my eyes and silently gave Masato a pat on the back for being so calm and observant. Opening my eyes after that, I saw Tomo holding both of Haruka's arms from behind as if to comfort her and looked at me with sad eyes. Seeing them, I looked quickly away.
"Have you gotten a hold of Ichinose since then?" Masato asked Otoya.
"He called once in the middle of the night. When I asked him where he was, we got disconnected."
"What the hell?! For cryin' out loud! Where the hell is that guy?!" Syo yelled, but he had a bit of a worried tone.
I sat on the veranda of my room, wanting to get a bit of alone time. Looking back into the room, I see Natsuki and Syo having a seemingly deep conversation. Before they could notice me looking, I studied the design of the railings. They were probably talking about Ichinose or why Haruka and I would keep it a secret from them, especially when I was those two roommates. Hugging my knees close to my chest, I laid my head on them. The veranda floor was still a bit wet but I had some newspaper laid down. Closing my eyes, I can sometimes feel the two of them taking little glances at me behind the transparent doors.
What will become of the graduation audition now? None of them trust Ichinose anymore. Are we all just going to call it quits right now? Right when we can practically touch the start of our career together?
Maybe dreams are just meant to remain dreams and nothing more.
"Sha la la laaa~ Da da daaaa daa~ mmhmm mmm~ mmm...~," I hummed, playing with a leave that fell on my lap.
Now sitting on a fairly high branch in a tree near the small bridge, I swung one of my legs back and forth dangling in the air, the other brought close to me chest. My back was leaned against the trunk for support. Letting out a little burp, I said 'excuse me' under my breath and continued to play with the leaf. The sun had already set and the school night lights were on. Grey clouds still filled the sky.
As I kept playing with it, after a while, the leave slipped out of my hands and fell down to the ground. I looked at the floating leaf and then heard a familiar feminine voice.
"Ichinose-San!"
Tilting my head to the side a bit I looked around and saw a running Haruka running towards the bridge. As my eyes kept following her, she suddenly made a stop in front of the man who she was calling out to. Ichinose stopped and turned back, almost at the end of the bridge.
"Are you okay?" Haruka asked after a second.
"I'm sorry to make you worry about me."
"I thought maybe you weren't coming back..."
"I've returned to see everyone..."
"I'm sure they'll all understand!"
Those two were at the end of the bridge closest to where the tree I was in. Almost ready to jump off of the branch to greet the two, I changed my mind when I heard another familiar voice. But this time, it was a male's.
"That's pretty optimistic."
Grabbing a thin branch full of leaves quietly, I used it to hide myself, seeing how EVERYONE was there. Ren was at the front, being the one to say that sentence.
After a long silence that built up the tension even more, the orange head spoke.
"So you finally show up, but it was just to whine to the little lamb?
"N-No, that's not it! I found Ichinose-San..." Haruka instantly tried to clear things up but was shut up by Ren.
"Lady, kindly zip it. Tokiya, I want to hear it from you!"
"Why didn't you tell us, Tokiya?!" the red head yelled.
All the man could do was apologize. "I'm sorry."
"Don't give us that crap!" Syo rejected. "Unlike you, we're seriously trying to make our debuts here! Everything is riding on Nanami and Daiki's song! We put everything we've got into it! Can you understand that?!" he then pointed a finger at the teen angrily.
"Syo..." I said but none of them could hear me from this distance.
"I've hidden the fact that I was HAYATO, come to this academy, lied to all of you, and caused you problems. Please forgive me," he then bowed in a forty-five degree angle. "My agency wasn't pushing my singing career, so I intended to give it all up and start over here. But... ultimately, I didn't follow through completely... which has made trouble for Nanami-San and the rest of you."
"Ichinose-Kun, you're such a baka," I grumbled, clutching the branch which was hiding me even tighter.
"One thing's for sure. I should sing the songs, just as they are. Their words... Those words saved me!" he said with all his emotion poured out right now. He's an open book. "Please let me sing together, with all of you! There's nothing false about the way I feel... Please!" he then bowed once more.
"Together? Can we trust you? You say this to us now, after all this time..." after a few seconds he then quoted Ichinose's exact words. "'Each of us thinks we can sing their songs best.' Your words. Was that a lie? Well?!"
"Certainly, that's the way I felt before," he admitted. "But I've changed! Their idea has touched me!"
I slowly began to climb down the tree, still not being noticed.
"They always... wished for us to sing! Whether it's just one person... O-Or who the best singer is... That doesn't matte one bit! For the first time, I understand... I'll never meet anyone like you guys again! I've... finally found a place where I can sing!"
Walking silently towards the pair the rest of them noticed me but the two didn't.
Ichinose turned around to face Haruka. "Nanami-San... There's something I've wanted to tell you for the longest time. I love..."
Wait wait wait wait wait. PAUSE. What does he mean by 'I love'?
Quickening my speed a bit, I was now a few feet from the two/
"... the music you make. Please let me sing your song!"
I breathed a sigh of relief. Guess I shouldn't have jumped into conclusions so fast. There is that no romance rule here and he's not one to break the rules.
Nanami now had streams of tears down her cheek then tried to strongly say, "Hai!"
"Arigatou," Ichinose said with a gentle smile. Ah, that smile. That rare smile. Should have brought my phone with me.
I placed a hand on the taller one's shoulder which made him turn his head to me in surprise. "Ichinose... Good job."
He blinked when he realized that I didn't call him as 'Ichinose-Kun' but as just 'Ichinose'. I rarely called him by that.
"So are we finally at the starting line?" Ren asked rhetorically.
I looked at everyone's expression and their facial expressions all relaxed with a small smile except for Syo.
"And so it's wrapped up, just like that?!"
I was about to ask him if he was alright when I remembered I still had my hand on Ichinose's shoulder.
Pulling away, I said with a smile, "Hey, where's my confession on the music I make?"
Ichinose smiled gently and started to say, "Aroe-Kun, I lo-"
Before he could finish, he was suddenly in a head lock by Syo. "Damn you, Tokiya! I won't forgive you!"
"Syo, down boy!" I instructed but bursted out in a laugh afterwards seeing Ichinose struggling with the shorter one.
"All right! Let's rehearse for the audition, Nanami! Daiki!" Otoya called out in his usual happy tone which made me grin.
"Sure!" Haruka replied, her eyes still filled with a bit of tears. "Now I'll be able to hear our song again, sung by the people I love! I don't need anything else!" and the streams of tears returned when she closed her eyes briefly.
"All right! Let's do it!" Syo said after letting go of Ichinose.
"Yeah!"
We were gathered together on the grass area now, with me lingering back, just taking in such a joyful scene.
"Ichinose-San, I was worried that you'd be beaten up!" Tomo admitted.
"It probably could've turned out that way, right?" Syo said, thinking what he would do if Ichinose answered differently.
"I probably would probably react the same as Syo would if Ichinose did say the wrong thing," I said with a hand on my hip, shrugging as that was the truth."
"Huh...?! No way!" the magenta haired girl exclaimed.
That's when it happened: beams of light started to shoot from the ground. No kidding. Dozens of them sprouted out from the ground, reaching as high as they can past the clouds all over the academy. The beams then widened and moved around as those spotlights you see in fairs. An all too familiar laugh then boomed over the P.A system.
"That voice..." Tomo said.
"Could it be..." Otoya said, having the same thought as I do.
"No doubt about it," I concluded.
"Hey, everybody. Good evening," Shining's voice boomed. "Tonight, I have some... big wonderful news for you!"
Rays of light, as if on cue, now went horizontally in the sky, creating a combination of pink and green grid.
"So, come on, get in the spotlight... you great princes!"
The grid of light then disappeared, gathered back into one vertical beam. That beam then dispersed once more, but into a holographic screen... with OUR FACES ON THEM?
Ittoki Otoya...
Aroe Daiki...
Hijirikawa Masato...
Shinomiya Natsuki...
Kurusu Syo...
"My Shining Agency brings you..."
Jinguji Ren...
Ichinose Tokiya...
Then we were all grouped together in different poses.
"... a brand-new idol with one thousand percent love. This name is... STARISH!" he announced as the name STARISH with a star to replace the letter of the 'A'. Other words then came saying 'First live coming soon'.
Our mouths gaped open as I saw what was happening and the group was shocked also. We're going to... debut? All of us were now as happy as we were but also confused too. Looking up at the holographic screen once more, I grinned. A thought then recurred to me. We needed trust. Meaning we couldn't lie to each other. If it was time to reveal it, the right time is now.
"E-eto, minna-San!" I called out to get them to snap out of it. "I-I have something to tell you! I-I'm tr-"
Before I could finish, my phone rang and they looked at me with confused looks.
"Sumen," I apologized and flipped my phone out and placed it on my ear. "Moshi Moshi?"
"Daiki-San, please check. I just sent a photo to you," Seiran requested.
Nodding, I did as I was told, and looked through my inbox. Seeing the 'one new message' notification, I clicked on it and a photo was then revealed to me. In a flash, before I could even take another breath, my mind went blank and I fell to my knees, my eyes as dull as they could get as if I was just a lifeless doll. I could hear echoey voices that seemed to belong to people I know but it felt like they were miles away. My phone dropped from my hand and landed on the grass before a wave of shock was sent into my head.
After what seemed like hours, the pain subsided but was replaced with an even bigger pain as I instantly gripped my head form the sides. Information was then forced into my memory, making me remember all of what happened since the entrance exam was fake. My life since then has all been a fake.
Screaming in pain as I squeeze my eyes shut, I staggered to get up, moving around like crazy.
"Daiki/Daiki-Kun/Aroe-Kun!" all mixed voices shouted, coming towards me.
I fling an arm out, preventing them from coming any closer to me. "I'm not Aroe Daiki! I-I'm SASAKI SOMIKO!"
My vision let me see as everyone had unspeakable expressions at the fact that I said that and that I said it in a higher pitch.
"I'm Sasaki Somiko! No..." my voice's pitch then suddenly dropped down. "I'm Aroe Daiki!"
Tears of pain were now streaming down my cheeks as I was down to my knees once more, head curled close to my body. My head hurts like it was being filled up with thoughts and memories to the max, replacing fakes with new ones. Real ones.
"I'm Aroe D- SOMIKO!" I kept on fighting with myself, changing pitches as I did. My voice was uncontrollable right then as I kept arguing back and forth until nothing came out anymore, a lump in my throat completely taking over. A squeak was let out instead.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" I cried out in pain.
I have no idea who I am anymore. Which is the real me?
Katie Horror here! I do not own Utapri or the characters except for my OCs.
Whoo hoo. That was one tough chapter to write. I already had it progressed in my brain but actually typing it out was harder than I thought it would be and SORRY FOR THE CLIFF HANGER. Any who... Anyone excited for Maji Love Revolutions on April 7th? I KNOW I AM! I even saw the new vids. :3
Horror, signing out.