All my LOVELY READERS,

I'm so so SOOO sorry I've been on a kind of break there. A lot has happened. I got four teeth pulled, just recently. I've met some new people, and got to know some others, who have inspired me once again.

Also, I had to get my grades under control. It wasn't anything my parents required... It was just a personal thing. I had promised myself when I joined FanFiction that my grades would come first. I was having trouble in my Advanced Spanish 2 class, so i spent a lot of time studying. I wasn't failing, but I wasn't doing as well as I should have been. We got our progress reports today, and I brought my grade all the way up to a B+! Considering my class is full of upperclassmen, I'm proud of myself.

Now, I'm back and I hope to stay for a while. :)

Oh! And I'm also beta reading for a story called the Kidnapper by Jemstone6259. It's my first.

Also, JadiexGurl is an AWESOME writer! I was beta reading for one of her stories, but I couldn't make the time. I feel so bad. I could only find little 10-minute periods of free time to work on it, and her chapters are just way too long for me to effectively correct any mistakes. She deserves better than that, and I hope she finds someone who can do that for her. (Geez, I sound like I broke up with her, don't I?! Well, I guess I kinda did! Except, it was a business-relationship, not a romantic one.)

What did I get myself into? I said I'd sing. Sing! That's crossing the line. I was a little flexible when I started dancing, but singing is just plain too far. I AM A MAN, DANGIT!

Also, Tadase has magic powers.

He can easily make Amu go from her spicy-self to a blushing, stuttering, mess with a flip of his blonde hair. But hey, the girl has two weeks to turn us into a star performance, so I'll cut her some slack.

As it turns out, some of the guys have played instruments before, so that really helps. Amu will be on guitar, of course, so no need for her to teach us anything complicated. It wasn't hard to teach Hachiro the few chords required on bass, and Ichiro (his cousin) has been a percussionist in band throughout middle school and a few years afterwards. So, he's drumming obviously. Amu's planning on doing the back-up vocals too, just to make sure I don't forget the lyrics.

Tonight, the interviews are taking place, so all of the contestants are going to the Easter building. Then, some dudes with cameras get to stalk us for few days.

The interview questions were simple. They were general questions about our home lives, social lives, and school lives. The guys and I were interviewed as a group. I told them I lived with my brother, and that I had three others, but not much else regarding my home life.

"So, what are your views on your competitors who also attend Seiyo with you?" was the final question we were asked. The guys and I were kind of taken aback by this, but then I smiled.

"We may be rivals, but does that mean we can't be friends? Ikuto and the girls are really cool people."

We were packing up our personal belongings, and getting ready to leave. Everybody had just finished their interviews, when suddenly, I heard someone shriek.

"GAH! GET OFF ME SOUMA, YOU IDIOT!" Confused, I whirled around.

There, I spotted that... guy - the guy from the picture. He had wrapped his arms around her waist from behind her, in a death-hug. Her annoyed expression told me she thought he was me. She tried to twist around in his grasp, but he simply scooped her up and threw her upper-half over his shoulder, so her face was buried in his back.

"WHAT THE HECK?!" She was about to aim a kick to his face, when he chuckled.

"Is that really how you greet me after all this time, Utau-chan?" he smirked. Her expression immediately brightened as he put her down, and she wrapped her arms around him in an embrace.

"I thought you weren't coming in until tonight!"

"We caught an earlier flight! We went to Madoka's house, but she said we should come here to pick you up. Surprise!"

Just then, a little girl, about four years old, ran up and tugged the end of one of her pigtails. Smiling, Utau picked her up and sat her on her hip. "Hi, Ryoko! Have you been a good girl?" The child simply wrapped her small arms around Utau's neck.

"Mommy!"

...

WH-WHAT?!

Next chapter will be longer, I promise! And, I'm writing it SOON because I'm REALLY EXCITED about it! In the mean-time, maybe read my little side-project, the Underdogs?

Also, I looked at the traffic-graph for my story today. Some of you readers without FF accounts have been checking EVERY DAY! EVEN THROUGH MY BIG LONG HATIUS! You guys seriously deserve more than I can give you. Thank you so much for your loyalty. YOU GUYS MAKE ME SO HAPPY!

sOnG sUgGeStIoNs?

I need some for the guys and Amu.