IceCReaMloVeRx: Hello! We meet again my fellow readers! /dodges everything thrown at me/ I know from the last chapter I said that I'd update and such but…I fell into a slump with school. I figured the rest of the quarter would be easy sailing but I jinxed myself and struggled in all of my classes. I apologize to everyone who has been patiently waiting for a chapter update! /on knees, bowing forehead to floor/ I would also like to thank the people who continue to click the favorite/follow button for this story! And also to those who send in reviews!
On with some other news, I finally bought the K otome game LOL After I said that I would get it when it came out (which was in October), I finally bought it and it arrived last week and I've been playing it since XD There's not that many people doing reviews on it so maybe I might do that on my tumblr…though my tumblr blog doesn't really stick to anything (like those imagines blogs or photo blogs or review blogs), it's just me reblogging tons of random stuff /shot/ Tell me what you guys think! If you want me to do a review on the K otome game, let me know with a message or along with the review to this new chapter!
Oh yeah! Did you guys here? K season two is coming out in October! /victory dances/ Oh man I can't wait! A lot of good things are happening in October this year, and having the second season of K air that month is the perfect birthday present for me v Also the K otome game is getting ported over to PS Vita sometime in 2015 – if it comes out in October as well, sweeeeeet~ (Though some of you guys might be wondering why I would be the PS Vita port when I already got the PSP version…well maybe they might put some new stuff? Though I kind of doubt it but I can still hope! If it's anything K related, I'll get it XD /waves support flag/)
Now then, on with some review responses!
Mizuhara Yukie—Munakata is like…kind of stalker-ish? Well Scepter 4 is kind of the police (special police lol) and he is in charge so I'm not surprised that he would dig up anyone's phone numbers. Huehue. Thank you for being patient with me and the story! Please continue to support it~
ElaizaElric—I'm so sorry for not updating faster! TAT /cries in corner/ Munakata can be a little bit stalker-ish huh? Well, in chapter 12 Munakata brought up the subject of her being a music student. And Scepter 4 were the ones that brought her home (even though she was unconscious), they found her student ID, called the university in order to get her address. From all that, you can assume that he did some snooping around at the school to discover the music recital. But it's never right to assume so that's my bad for not directly writing that down /sweats/ But nevertheless, thanks for being patient with me and the story! Please continue to support it!
KisaragiMaru—Once you get sucked in the K fandom/mania, you can't get out! Mwuahahahaha! /coughs/ ….Oh dude, you met Kaname, Reika, and Yugene….YOU LUCKY DUCKY YOU! OAO /wails/ I could have met Kaname at Anime Expo 2013 when he cosplayed as Fushimi but I didn't know at the time! So many regrets…so many…. TAT Those three are beautiful, I'm jealous. Mikoto cosplayer is most likely Kaname, Munakata = Reika, and Mishakuji Yukari = Yugene. Damn, you met those three. I'm so jelly of you right, so jelly….But thank you for reading the story and reviewing! Please continue to support this story as well as read it! v
Minawa-chan—Yep, yep. I guess I didn't make it vague enough LOL But yes, it's Munakata XD And it's fine! Your English is perfectly fine If anything, I'm the one who's derping up in English because of my horrendous grammar and typos lol. Thank you for reviewing and reading my story! Please continue to support it and read it~
o—OAO Oh gosh, thank you! I apologize for responding back so late as well as updating . But thank you for reading! Yeah I know, them 3 hour long classes. And guess what? I've got another one in fall quarter! /forever cries/ Curse you upper division classes! Curse you! /weeps/ But thanks for reading the story! Please continue to read and support it~
karma—Munakata is surprisingly really hard to type…so is Fushimi….everyone in the Blue Clan is hard to type LOL But yes! There's definitely going to be more interaction between the two of them! Stay tuned! Thanks for reading and be sure to continue to read and support the story! v
—Thanks for reading! I'm glad that you're enjoying the story! I apologize for the typos and grammatical errors you've countered lol I keep telling myself that I need to go back and review and edit all the chapters but in the end, I end up typing a new chapter with more typos and grammatical errors than go back to fix the errors on the previous chapters LOL /shot/ Yes! Join the reverse harems, all of them! XD There's definitely going to be more interaction between Mikoto and Miyuki, that's for sure! Stay tuned for that! In the meantime, keep an eye out for updates! Be sure to continue to read and support this story~
Diclonious57—Yep, there's a game. It came out in October of 2014 and I told myself that I would get it when it came out but here am I, playing it down since I just bought it 2 weeks ago and it arrived last week /shot/ If you love K, reverse harems/otome games, and own a PSP, go for it, buy the game v (Well, also if you have the money for it. That too) Lol everyone seems to know who sent that message to Miyuki, guess I didn't type it vague enough XD But thanks for reading and please continue to read and support it~
Gogeta327—Aww thank you! I also got your private message! It makes me uber happy that you think this is the best story you've ever read! I'm glad that you like it! Sorry to have kept you waiting this long for an update! . I tried to update and will always try to update frequently, but university is just…ugh. But thank you for reading this story! Please continue to read and support it from now on~
LaughterLover98—Aww~ Thank you~ I'm glad that you like this story! And it makes me happy that you like Miyuki too v Haha! Fushimi and Miyuki together? Hmm~ We shall see~ I have a feeling that if anything, Fushimi and Miyuki would just annoy the crap out of each other. Kind of like elementary kids where they pick on the person they like because they don't know how else to treat them. LOL But it makes me super happy to know that the interactions between Miyuki and Fushimi make you laugh and grin like a teen girl~ Thank you for reading and please continue to read and support this story! Stay tuned for updates!
Once again, I apologize to those of you who are waiting patiently for me to update! I try to update as much as I can, but university is just sucking the life out of me. It's now summer which gives me much more time to update. But I am taking summer classes so we'll see how it goes…
Without further ado, here's the new chapter! Be sure to review afterwards!
Disclaimer: I do not own K (K Project). K belongs to GoRA. I only own the OC.
-Story Start-
With the recital coming closer and closer, Miyuki had never felt the urge to throw up so much. She hadn't felt this nervous and anxious since enter middle school. The last time she threw up was during the sixth grade when she had to sing with her choir. Poor little sixth grader Miyuki croaked on the spot and with the spotlight on her, she threw up – on stage. The pressure and the embarrassment was too much for her so the end result, she collapsed and passed out. Thus the beginning of her stage fright.
"Ugh…I think I'm going to puke…" she muttered under her breath.
"Well don't do that here, Kusanagi-san will get mad~" Totsuka laughed. Although it was clearly a joke, Miyuki shot him a dirty look that immediately made him stop laughing. "Oh come on Miyuki-chan! You're going to do just fine!"
"Have some faith in yourself," Izumo chuckled softly as he wiped the wine glasses clean. "Give yourself some credit. You'll do just fine. The recital's in, what, four more days?"
"Ugh…"
"Wah! Don't puke here or else Kusanagi-san will make you clean~"
"Totsuka, leave her be," Izumo sighed and shook his head as he set the glass down on the bar. "And I won't make her clean it up, stop depicting me like I'm some cruel person."
"Eeeh? But if the others threw up, you'd make them clean it up," Totsuka huffed before giving the bartender a sly look. "Unless…you're playing favorites with Miyuki-chan~?"
"Ha? Playing favorites? As if, quit thinking about weird things aho," Izumo rolled his eyes at Totsuka. "She's anxious and has stage fright trauma; if she threw up, it can't be helped. She can't control that after all. The boys on the other hand…" his eyes trailed over to the group boys lounging around the couch, "drinking was their own choice so if they throw up, they have to clean it up. Therefore you reap what you sow."
"Ah…maybe this recital thing was a bad idea after all…" Miyuki groaned and dropped her head in her arms.
"Now, now, don't say that!" Totsuka turned his attention back to her and smiled. "You've made it this far, it would be a waste if you quit now, don't you think?"
"He's right, all your efforts would be wasted if you abandon ship now," Izumo hummed and gave her a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine. Believe in yourself."
"Yeah!"
"And if it helps, I'll make sure that Totsuka doesn't come to record you."
"Yeah—wait, what?"
Miyuki closed her eyes as the two bantered back and forth with each other. Other than those two, the others were also pretty noisy. Yata was beating the crap out of Kamamoto and Bandou for whatever stupid reason, Shohei tried to diffuse Yata's anger while Fujishima and Eric only watched. Dewa and Chitose were nowhere to be seen, probably out (Chitose chasing after girls while Dewa following Chitose to restrain him). Anna and Mikoto were also gone, though they were most likely upstairs. Anna doing her own thing and Mikoto sleeping. While resting her head in her arms, she didn't hear footsteps coming down and walking towards the bar.
"Hn…" the person sat down on the barstool next to her and rested an elbow on the bar. Miyuki could feel the person staring at her. "What? Not feeling well?" He grunted and raised an eyebrow at the bartender.
"Morning King~"
"How is it morning anymore, aho?" Izumo sighed and shook his head. "You can say that. Call it anxiety or just the typical nervousness of a big event."
"Ah."
"It's more than anxiety…" Miyuki muttered and lifted her head up to look at them. "It's much more than that…"
"Oh yeah, and trauma," Izumo added. He placed a drink in front of Mikoto as he washed his hands. "Anxiety, nervousness, and trauma."
"Trauma?" Mikoto blinked and raised an eyebrow at her. "What'd you do? Throw up?"
"…"
"Ah…"
"Crap…"
Immediately Miyuki's stomach churned at the thought of throwing up and felt cold sweat. She could feel the droplets rolling down her temples and her body felt weak. Suddenly the memory of the sixth grade choir came up. Her stomach churned even more. The room blurred and instead of seeing the bar, she saw the stage. Instead of the guys' faces, she saw blank faces with eyes just looking at her. Everything started to become blurry and her stomach churned even more.
"Hnnrrggkk…."
"B-Bucket! Someone get the bucket!" Izumo yelled and searched frantically around the bar for a bucket. "Yata-chan! Get the bucket!"
"Hey! You said that you wouldn't get mad at her if she threw up! Ah! Miyuki-chan! Hold it in! We'll get the bucket or trash can for you!" Totsuka hopped out of the bar stool and rushed over to the girl's side, rubbing her back in hopes that it would ease the poor trauma stricken teen. "King!"
"What? How the hell was I supposed to know that was the key word?" Mikoto sighed in annoyance and only watched the chaos happen around him.
"Never mind that, bucket! Where's the bucket?!" Izumo shouted and searched frantically around the bar area.
"Just let her hurl in the sink Kusanagi," Mikoto grunted. Izumo stopped and shot him a dirty glare.
"I've got the bucket Kusanagi-san!" Kamamoto shouted and stumbled over. Originally Yata was supposed to bring the bucket but because bringing it over would mean coming close to Miyuki, Yata dropped the job on Kamamoto instead. Kamamoto stumbled over to the bar but tripped over his own two feet, causing the bucket to fly up in the air and land elsewhere.
"Hnggkkk….!"
"Miyuki-chan, fight!"
"Don't say something so pointless…!"
"Haa…." Mikoto only watched the scene play out in front of him. Had he known that it was going to be this noisy, he would have stayed upstairs and continued to sleep.
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"Eugh…yesterday was horrible…" Miyuki muttered under her breath as she stood behind the register. It was her shift at work and even though she didn't feel up to it, money was money and it wasn't going to fly into her bank account no matter how much she wished that could happen. As long as she was able to stand and move, she was going to go to work. "I can't believe that happened…thank god I didn't actually throw up…"
Yesterday was another thing to add to her list of embarrassing accomplishments. Luckily, she didn't throw up. Though she did make quite a scene at the bar. After Kamamoto tripped and dropped the bucket, everyone panicked that Miyuki would actually throw up. Izumo even half considered letting Miyuki puke in his sink – though he didn't want to since there were still glasses in there. The rest of the guys were worried with the idea of cleaning up the mess that Miyuki may leave. Knowing the owner of the bar, they knew that he wouldn't make Miyuki clean up the mess even though she made it. Everyone just stared and watched while Totsuka tried to ease the girl and Izumo freak out. This continued for about a good minute or two until Mikoto finally got up, found the bucket and placed it on the girl's lap as she keeled over.
"Relax will you? You're not on stage right now, you're at the bar…No one's staring at you," Mikoto glanced over to Shohei and the others before looking back at her. The others immediately looked away and continued on with "talking." "Take a deep breath already, you're fine."
"Can't believe that actually worked…" she mumbled to herself and sighed. Maybe it had something to do with his voice? His commanding stature? She didn't know. All she knew was that after Mikoto spoke to her, she didn't see the choir stage anymore and everyone's faces were recognizable. Though she still felt a bit nauseous, she didn't throw up.
"Oh? What worked?" the person on the other side of the counter asked, voice brimmed with curiosity and what also sounded like mockery. Miyuki immediately snapped her head up and then immediately deadpanned. Much to her displeasure, the Blue King stood on the other side with a small smile on his face. "Did something happen?"
"Erm…you could say that," she answered back quickly. She already knew what he was going to ask for. "The usual order?"
"Of course," he smiled at her and nodded. Miyuki only stared for a brief second before turning her back towards him to work on the order. What was with him smiling so much? Didn't his face hurt?
While she made his usual mocha latte, Miyuki couldn't help but feel self-conscious. She was pretty sure that he was watching her. It was as if he were drilling holes into her head and back with his stare. And why was he even watching her anyways?! She never messed up his drink before so why was he watching her? As she dealt with working under his stare, Miyuki almost tripped and spilled the drink. Damn, jinxed it. Today just might be the day where she messed up his drink.
"Is everything alright, Takamiya-san?" Munakata asked with a warm smile, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
"E-Everything is fine!" she stammered and placed the lid on the cup before bringing it over to the counter. "Here, mocha latte."
"Thank you very much," the smiling man nodded his head in thanks and took the cup. Miyuki was sure he was doing this to spite her because he stayed instead of leaving the café. "How have you been?"
'Why is he staying…?' Miyuki sighed inwardly. She shuffled awkwardly in place behind the register and reached up to scratch her cheek. "Erm…I guess I've been okay…"
Munakata watched the teen shuffle and scratch her cheek as he took a careful sip of his hot drink. He felt somewhat bad for making her squirm under his gaze, but at the same time, it was amusing to him. Judging by her uneasiness, she either felt really uncomfortable around him—which won't really surprise him—or…
"Ah…is something big coming up?" He asked. Almost immediately, the color of her complexion began to drain. Ah, got her. "Seems like there is. Would you like to talk about it? That way some of your worries are relieved?"
"Erm…it's really okay…" Miyuki began, but Munakata leaned in close to get a better look at her face. Seeing him lean in close, Miyuki stiffened up and felt the heat rise up to her cheeks.
"Are you sure? You look really unwell," His violet eyes stared into hers and the smile that was once on his face turned into a slight frown. His calm and relaxed expression also changed into one of concern. "Perhaps you should take a break? Or have a cup of herbal tea?"
'Too close…too close…His face is too close…!' Miyuki felt the blood rush up to her face and she quickly shook her head, taking a step back. 'Argh…it seriously doesn't help that he has a pretty face too…' Realizing what she just thought, she felt her face burst into flames. 'Aahhh! I just didn't think that! I can't believe I thought of that!'
"Takamiya-san, your face is red," Munakata's eyes knitted together as he frowned in concern. "You should really take a break. It wouldn't be good if you got sick." He motioned to the side door where the employees could walk in and out of the barista station. "I'll explain things to your manager if he questions you."
Not wanting to cause anymore unnecessary attention, she gave in and sighed. She walked out from behind the counter and gave the Blue King a tired look. Munakata knew that look very well. Fushimi often gave him that look. He chuckled softly and nodded at her, motioning to a small table so that they could sit. As soon as she sat down at the table, he sat down across from her, setting his mocha latte down.
"What's on your mind?" He smiled softly and motioned his hand at her to speak.
"…" Miyuki couldn't bring herself to talk when he asked her that question. Should she really tell him the reason why she's so nervous? Or should she just bullshit something on the spot so that he would leave her alone? But if she were to lie to him, would he catch it? He is the Blue King after all, the one in charge of Scepter 4. Surely he would be able to pick up a lie once he hears one. The last thing she wanted was the spectacled man to follow her around and keep bugging her. Or rather, she didn't want to land herself into an interrogation room or in his office for consultation. "Erm…I…I have a recital coming up…"
"Oh? A music recital?" Munakata raised an eyebrow at her and smiled. "That sounds exciting." Of course, he already knew that she had a piano recital. After all, he did wish her luck for her auditions.
It probably wasn't any of his business anyways, but he was intrigued by the music student. Ever since the kidnapping incident, to the Basashi incident, to the strain encounter, Munakata became curious. It also made him even more curious when he would see her run into the Red Clan every now and then. She wasn't part of the clan, but she was at least from what he had seen, on friendly or acquainted terms with the Red Clan members. Actually, he noticed that she had a few run-ins with his clan as well. Including the strain encounter she had with him, he discovered that she had bumped into Fushimi not too long ago. When Fushimi came into his office to turn in a report, he dropped a handkerchief. When he pointed it out to the third in command, he immediately picked it up and shoved it into his coat pocket. When questioned about it, Fushimi told him that it was something that was dropped and that he was going to return it. Of course, he dropped the subject but just as Fushimi turned to leave his office, he heard him mutter, "troublesome kidnap victim." From that, he knew that he was talking about Takamiya Miyuki.
Despite how "stalker-ish" it was, Munakata remembered the university they called when they asked for her address and decided to look on the university's website. From there, he remembered pointing out to the girl her major and looked around the website for any upcoming music events around the university. That was when he found out about the music recital and the auditions. He thought it would be interesting to mess with her so he looked up her residency files in the system for her phone number and sent her a text message.
"I guess…" Miyuki sighed and closed her eyes. She slowly massaged her temple and groaned. "It's exciting, it should be exciting but…."
"But?" the Blue King prompted.
"But I have an intense case of stage fright and trauma…" she admitted quietly. She felt her face flush once again though she wasn't sure why since usually talking to strangers, you would think that it's less embarrassing since they don't know you. (But of course, Munakata does "know" her.) Maybe it as the pretty face making her feel this way?
"Oh? Is that so?" Munakata hummed quietly and took a sip of his mocha latte. He was tempted to ask her what the trauma was, but seeing how anxious and somewhat sleep deprived she looked, he figured that it was best not to ask. "This is something new…"
"Eh? What is?" Miyuki lifted her head up and blinked at him. What was so new about stage fright?
"Well…" the man hummed to himself before trailing his eyes over to her. "It's not every day where you hear a music student, who will someday perform on stage assuming the student is going into the performance path, have stage fright trauma."
"…Huh?" Was he insulting her?!
"I mean, stage fright is inevitable. But to be this nervous…perhaps it's just me where this is the first time I've heard of this," Munakata chuckled softly while sipping his now lukewarm latte. "I apologize if I have offended you in any way Takamiya-san."
"No…you haven't…" she shook her head but she knew what he was getting at. She's a music student and if she were to go into the performance path, recitals and performances on stage are inevitable. And it's better to get as much practice as she can now in the case where if she were to really perform on a big concert hall, it would be excruciatingly humiliating if she were to pass out. "You have a point…erm…"
Come to think of it, Miyuki wasn't even sure if she knew his name. All she knew was that he's the Blue King, is in charge of Scepter 4, comes to the café to order his usual mocha latte, is kind of weird, knows where she lives, what her major is, and where she goes to school, and she knew that he was there when she was kidnapped by the group of thugs. Actually, thinking back on it now, the time when she encountered the strain, the strain did say his name but she couldn't remember it.
"Munakata Reisi," he chuckled softly and gave her a small smile. "I apologize for not introducing myself early on when we first met."
"I-It's okay…" she shook her head and waved her hands at his apology. "We never really had a conversation, leisurely I mean." There was the time when he saved her from the strain, but they only had a brief conversation. Then were the other times he came by the café for coffee, but it was just small talk. "I'm Takamiya Miyuki—well, you already knew that huh?"
Miyuki felt heat rise up to her face again when she watched the man sitting across from her laugh softly. On the inside, she wanted to crawl under a rock and hide. It seriously did not help that the man in front of her was in charge of a powerful clan thus it was obvious that he held great influence in the city. Or at least she thought so. And on top of that, even though he's kind of weird, she couldn't deny that he was attractive. Great, she's spewing out pointless things.
"You never cease to amuse me Takamiya-san," he chuckled softly and smiled at her.
"Eh?"
"No, it's nothing," he shook his head and finished drinking the rest of his mocha latte. When he was done, he set the empty cup down and rested his chin in his palm while his arm rested on the table. "Going back to your recital…I think t's alright to be afraid, nervous, whatever you may be feeling right now. But right now, I think you're afraid of messing up. Of course the stage fright and your trauma factors into that, but I think you're mainly afraid of slipping up on your performance." He watched her eyes widen before giving her a small smile. "Or am I wrong?"
She blinked and furrowed her brow as she listened. As she thought about it, he had a point. Of course she was nervous, of course she was scared of being up on stage, but nothing scared her more than messing up. Her fists clenched together, nails digging into her skin as she bit down on her lip. She glanced down at her lap and stared down at her lap as if looking up at him would confirm his assumption. Thinking back to her sixth grade choir accident, she threw up only because she sang the wrong words and her classmates got lost from that, and thus stared at her with confusion. Their staring prompted the audience to stare and then she threw up. Miyuki felt her throat go dry. She couldn't bring herself to talk.
After what felt like five minutes of silence, Miyuki heard a chair scoot back. The noise caused her to look up. She didn't see Munakata sitting in front of her anymore. She's not surprised if he left; he's a busy person after all. Blue King and captain of Scepter 4, who wouldn't be busy? She's surprised that he actually had time to get coffee and sit down to talk with her. Sighing softly, Miyuki was about to get up to get back to work until she felt a presence behind her. Before she could turn around to check, he bent down and murmured in her ear, his voice soothing and soft, "It's alright to make mistakes. We're only human. That's why for your recital, do the best of your ability. If you mess up, it's alright. Mistakes only make you realize what you can do to be better."
Before Miyuki could respond, he straightened up and left the café, leaving the bell attached to the door to chime and ring for a few seconds as the door closed. Not realizing how hot her face had gotten, Miyuki only stared out the window to see the blue coat on the tall man flutter lightly as he walked back to what she assumed was headquarters. Her hand trailed up to her ear as she continued to stare out the window.
"He's such a mystery…" she trailed off before realizing how close he was to her. "Argh!"
'What is with me these past few days?!'
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After yesterday, she decided to swallow her doubts and use the rest of the days to rehearse. She was done with her classes and quickly went home to retrieve her sheet music. When she had everything in her bag, she rushed out of her apartment and made her way back to the university. Her destination: the music room. Her usual place. Wanting to use as much time as she could, she hurried to the bus stop. Along the way there, she bumped shoulders with someone, causing the person to drop their things.
"Ah crap!" Miyuki gasped and rushed back to help the person collect their things. "I'm so sorry about that!"
"Ah no…it's fine…"
"Here you go!" she quickly gathered the person's things and handed them back to the person before turning back to run to the bus stop. "Once again, sorry about that!"
The person only watched the girl run straight forward. While she was picking up his things, he had a good whiff of her. A slow grin slowly creeped up on his face as he watched her slowly disappear further and further into the distance. She smelled like them.
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Two days later, it was finally the day of the recital. Though the recital was at night, Miyuki couldn't help but feel the urge to throw up come again. It was only morning and she just wanted the day to be over already, including the recital. She groaned and flopped over in bed, slapping around her night stand for her phone. It was only 10:30. As much as she wanted to go back to sleep, she couldn't. The anxiety was eating her up. The queasiness and the urges to puke would arise every now and then, there was no way that she could go back to sleep. Not while feeling like this.
"Nghn…" she groaned softly and rolled over on her side, checking her phone for the usual social media updates. While aimlessly scrolling through the newsfeed, her ringtone blared and echoed throughout the room. The phone vibrated in her hand as the song played. Not bothering to check the caller ID, she answered, "…Hello….?"
"Oh? Did I wake you?" the person on the other end asked, his Kansai dialect loud and clear.
"Ngh…Kusanagi-san…?" she mumbled quietly and rubbed her eye sleepily. She was starting to wake up slowly.
"Ohayou~" he chuckled to hear the sleepiness in her voice. "Did I wake the sleeping beauty up?"
"No…I was already awake, just tired," Miyuki sighed softly and sat up in bed. Izumo could hear the sheets shuffle and the pillows move as she situated herself better in her bed. "Is there something you need? It must be pretty important if you're calling me in the morning…" She trailed off with a yawn.
"What? Don't tell me you've been so anxious that you haven't slept for days?" Izumo chuckled softly. "Anyways, the reason why I called was because—"
"Miyuki-chan~! Tonight's the night right? Ganbatte!"
"Oi! Kora Totsuka! Don't yell in my ear!"
'Of course…' Miyuki sighed inwardly to hear Totsuka on the phone, or rather, shout into the phone. She slowly pulled her phone away from her ear as she could hear a loud smack and a cry in pain on the other end. As she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, she heard Izumo mutter darkly before speaking again.
"Sorry about that," Izumo apologized and sighed softly, "I wasn't expecting him to be a pain, but guess that didn't work out." He shot a glare at the camera man who in turn just smiled sheepishly and rubbed his head. "Anyways, the reason why I'm calling is just to check up on you. Feeling better? Since that day, I just wanted to make sure everything was fine since well, today is the day."
"Ah…" He was talking about the day she nearly puked at his bar. She felt pretty bad for causing him to panic and worry about her. "I've been…okay I guess." She yawned and stretched while holding the phone to her ear. "I've just been practicing and rehearsing, but now I just want the day to be done and over with."
"You'll pull through," the blond hummed, "anyways, just letting you know that we wish you the best of luck and that we're not coming to spare you the looks and assumptions."
"Alright, thanks Kusanagi-san," a sigh of relief escaped past her lips and the bartender couldn't help but laugh.
"Best of luck Takamiya-san," he said before he hung up.
After he hung up, Miyuki sighed softly and leaned back in bed to try and fall back asleep. Instead of her pillow, her head made contact with the headboard and instantly she cried out in pain. As if that wasn't enough, she jostled in bed from the impact and the jostling caused her to fall out of her bed. Now it wasn't her head that it was pain, but also her back. Sprawled out on the floor, she groaned loudly in frustration. Why today, why?!
"The day of the recital, my morning starts off crappy like this," she groaned and rolled over on the floor. "It can't get any better than this…"
As much as she wanted to lie on the floor and watch time pass, she eventually got up to start her morning routine. Wash up, get dressed, eat, and immediately head off to rehearsal. She got an email last night from the recital group that they would be rehearsing from the morning to the afternoon. From then, she has free time for herself until 8 pm. She could eat dinner but the fear of puking came into mind again. Well, she figured that she might as well eat something light rather eating something heavy in the case where she really does throw up, it shouldn't be as big of a mess or embarrassment.
Slipping on a pair of jeans and a plain T-shirt, she made her way to her kitchen and made herself a bowl of cereal. As she ate, she glanced at her sheet music that was sprawled over on the table. Munching on a spoonful of cereal, she reached over and picked up one of the sheets and stared at it. B note, C notes, whole notes, half notes, 8th note, 16th note, first measure, G major, A major, all the music notes and symbols danced across the staff. A small smile crept up as she placed the sheet back down on the table. Sighing softly, she checked the time only to realize that she only had thirty minutes to get to the auditorium.
"Aw crap!" She gasped and downed her bowl of cereal before scrambling around her apartment to grab her bag and things. Right before she could dash out of her apartment, she ran back to the table and picked up her sheet music and stuffed it into her bag. After double checking that she had everything, she grabbed her keys and left her apartment, locking the door behind her as she ran to the bus stop. "Why this morning?!"
Why indeed.
By the time she made it to the auditorium, the recital group was just about to start. Though she had to deal with the stares she got from the fellow performers, Miyuki only dreaded why her morning has been stressful so far. She sat down in a chair and chugged her water bottle down as the music instructors explained the game plan. Once they explained everything, it was time to rehearse. The tired out music student only sighed and sat still for a brief moment before getting up and walking over to the piano group.
'Alright, let's do this.'
[K Project] [K Project] [K Project] [K Project] [K Project] [K Project] [K Project] [K Project] [K Project] [K Project] [K Project] [K Project] [K Project] [K Project] [K Project]
"Ne~ Why can't we go to Miyuki-chan's recital?" Totsuka whined and pouted at the bartender. "We want to cheer her on and the best way to do that is to be there! Right, King?"
"Ah?"
"She specifically told us that she didn't want us to be there, remember aho?" Izumo rolled his eyes as he wiped the bar clean. Honestly, what was with Totsuka's persistence? He remembered clearly on the day that they discovered the recital, Miyuki specifically told them not to come. "Besides, you'd only embarrass her."
"Eeeh~?" Totsuka sat up straight on the bar stool and pouted even more. "No I won't!"
"Totsuka-san, you were insistent on filming her," Kamamoto added.
"Exactly" Izumo rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "Haa…" He was starting to get tired and it was only the morning. "Besides, you do know that we have an image right? The entire city knows us as violent or a group of thugs and if any of her classmates or teachers caught her seen with us, she could get in trouble."
"Eeh~?" Totsuka frowned and looked at the rest of the HOMRA members. The others only blinked at him as they caught the sandy-haired man staring at them. "Hmm…"
"What is it Totsuka-san?" Yata piped up and blinked. "Why are you looking at us like that? It's kind of creepy…"
"Maybe if we looked less scary, it'll work!" Totsuka snapped his fingers and smiled brightly. Immediately Izumo deadpanned at Totsuka's suggestion.
"Ha? Scary? For your information, the only scary looking ones here are probably Yata-chan and Mikoto," Izumo rolled his eyes and gave Mikoto a droll look.
"…What?" Mikoto grunted with an eyebrow raised at his friend.
"K-Kusanagi-san! I-I don't look—" Yata tried to defend himself but as soon as he tried to, practically everyone gave him a look that said "yeah right." "Urk…."
"Mm…." Totsuka frowned and tried to think of other reasons to go to the recital. Once his eyes landed on the princess of the Red Clan, he smiled and clapped his hands. "Anna! You want to go to Miyuki-chan's recital right?"
"…Un…" the white-haired strain nodded. But before Totsuka could use her answer as an excuse, she interrupted, "…But if Miyuki doesn't want us there, then it cannot be helped…"
"Mou…Anna too?" Totsuka sighed and hung his head in defeat.
"Face it Totsuka, she doesn't want us there," Izumo dried his hands and folded his arms as he looked at the camera man with a small smile. "Just respect her wishes."
Totsuka only sighed and sulked as he slumped forward on the bar. He only wanted to cheer his friend on. That, and he wanted to do something different than usual tonight. It's always chilling at the bar (much to Izumo's displeasure), helping out at the bar, going out with King and the guys, or solving some problem or issue that involves HOMRA. He wanted a change in scenery for once.
He perked up when he heard the chime to the door ring as the door opened and he heard footsteps. He turned around, thinking that it was the piano performer herself coming to visit them, but instead Shouhei and Dewa walked inside. A part of him deflated at the sight of them. Don't get him wrong, he's happy to see them, but because they're always together, Totsuka wanted to see someone new for once. He was about to greet them with a smile and wave as usual until he saw the grim looks on their faces.
"Eh? What's the matter you two?" asked the camera man, tilting his head and blinking at the two that just walked in. Shouhei was about to speak until Yata spoke up before he could.
"What is it? Is someone talking shit about HOMRA again?!" the vanguard hopped off the couch and growled. His fists clenched tightly as he reached for his signature baseball bat. Totsuka only laughed quietly at this. Typical Yata, always the first one to jump and decide on actions. Izumo only sighed and shook his head at Yata's accusation.
"Eh? Ah, no, no! No one talked about per se…" Shouhei laughed sheepishly whereas Yata only raised an eyebrow at him.
"Ha? Then it's still talking shit anyways!" Yata shook his fist and glared at Shouhei.
"Yata-chan, calm down for a moment and let them finish," Izumo sighed. The vanguard grumbled at the second-in-command, but complied. "Go on Shouhei."
"We were just going around the streets checking up on some things until we heard something pretty unsettling…" Shouhei rubbed the back of his neck and bit down on his lip. He glanced over to Dewa who in turn nodded at him to finish. "The strain we took down days ago? The one that has the weird ability of smell? We heard him talking on the phone."
"So he's talking shit about us!" Yata jumped to his feet.
"Yata-chan!" the bartender barked and narrowed his eyes at the young teen. Yata immediately clamped up and sat back down.
"Go on. What's so 'unsettling' about this?" asked Totsuka as he tilted his head to the side in confusion. It was normal for rival gangs, groups, or individuals—strains included—to talk about HOMRA. What was so different about this case compared to the rest?
"Erm…" Shouhei shifted the weight on one leg to the other as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Basically, he was talking about he bumped into someone that smelled like us," Dewa finished for Shouhei and sighed.
"Okay…? So he bumped into one of us, that's pretty normal too," Kamamoto shrugged.
"But the thing is, none of us bumped into him, at least not me or San-chan—" Shouhei began, but of course, his childhood friend could not stand the stupid nickname so…
"Oi! It's not San-chan! It's senpai to you!"
"Shut up!" Yata snapped and growled at Bandou. "That's too insignificant!"
"Chitose and I didn't bump into him either," Dewa finished once again, glancing at his friend who nodded in agreement.
"Oh? Totsuka, did you go out?" Izumo raised an eyebrow at the camera man.
"Nope, I was here with Anna and King these past few days," Totsuka hummed and rubbed his chin. "King slept while I was teaching Anna how to bake."
"Yata-chan and Kamamoto?" Izumo turned his attention towards the two of them. He wouldn't be surprised if Yata bumped into the strain. It would make sense after all, considering Yata was usually the first start fights.
"He would have been able to recognize Yata-san and I if that were the case but…" Kamamoto glanced over to Yata before looking back over to Izumo. "That depends if the strain was in the area that we were in…"
"From what we heard, he was in the busy part of Shizume City," Shouhei added. Kamamoto frowned and looked over to Yata who closed his eyes and shook his head. Just from that, Yata and Kamamoto were off the list of who could have possibly bumped into the strain.
"Eric and I were just chilling at my place the past few days," Fujishima shrugged while Eric stared blankly at the rest of them.
"Well I went shopping a few days ago, but even so I would have been able to recognize the strain if I bumped into him," Izumo sighed and rubbed his forehead. Deciding not to worry about who the strain bumped into, he turned his attention back to Dewa and Shouhei. "Anything else?"
"Wait a minute, I still don't understand why this situation is 'unsettling,'" Totsuka interrupted and furrowed his brow. "Because to me, this sounds typical even though we try to avoid trouble as much as we can."
Dewa and Shouhei looked at each other before looking back at the others with a grim expression. "Because he plans to go to some university."
The room went silent. Even Mikoto tuned into the conversation as soon as he heard the word, "university." Everyone grew tense. Though it was hard to tell since Bandou and Kamamoto were wearing sunglasses, they narrowed their eyes at the information. Eric and Fujishima stiffened up their shoulders whereas Yata gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly. Totsuka immediately looked at Izumo with a frown and a look of concern. Izumo knew what Totsuka was getting at. He heaved a heavy sigh and took off his purple shades to pinch the bridge of his nose. After a few seconds, he took a deep breath and looked at Shouhei and Dewa.
"…When?"
"Tonight."
-Chapter End-
IceCReaMloVeRx: Hey guys~ Haha! Probably the worst (and most cliché/typical) place to end the chapter huh? I actually spent some time debating whether or not to type the next part all in one chapter, but then I thought that it might be too long. Plus it needs a break somewhere right? Another part of me also just wants to put this chapter up because it's just been too long (about 5 months man…) and I've already kept you guys waiting. Once again, I'd like to apologize to all of you whom have been patiently waiting for an update. I know some of you guys put this story on your alert list and I'm sorry that it's been this long! I keep getting emails every now and then that so-and-so favorited this story, or followed it, or favorited me as one of their favorite authors, etc. It really means a lot of me that you guys care about this story!
Thank you and at the same time, I'm sorry for the hiatus!
With that being said, I hoped you guys enjoyed the chapter and please stay tuned for the next chapter! With summer break already here, I definitely have time to sit down and write.
Be sure to review! v See you soon~