*gasp* A new chapter? So fast? Yep. Before you read (if you wanna know this) I'm gonna write a little thingie to orientate you more on how time passes in my fic 'cuz i have it written and it's actually very important to the plot. (And again: thanks everyone for reading and being awesome)

A/N: Chapters 1 to 3 consist on the first day of the fic, a tuesday. Chapters 4 to 9 are day 2. Chapters 9 to 15 are day 3. Chapters 15 to 21 are day 4... And this is where it gets complicated XD There's a timeskip in chapter 21 which makes it so that chapter 21 to 23 consist of 4 different days. That said, there's another timeskip in chapter 23 (this time it's a whole week instead of three days) sooo... If you're still lost just let me tell you that the day that started in chapter 27 (the one still happening as of now) is day 16. Of which month? March.

With that out of the way, i hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Uta no Prince-same or any of its characters.


What happened next threw Tomochika off. She was aware that her friends were spending much more time together now that they dated, but the fact that without even sharing a glance Otoya knew that Haruka wanted to speak to her alone was mind blowing. True, he perhaps remembered the phone conversation that had occurred earlier in the day, but she and Haruka could've had that discussion at any given time… And how did he know he wasn't invited? How did he know he couldn't take part on it? Had he replaced her in her friend's mind already? That would mean that she had failed to fulfill her role as the BFF… yet another mistake in her ever growing pile.

"Tomo-chan" Haruka started the moment her boyfriend was far enough not to hear, interrupting the redhead's train of thought.

"Yes?" she said, making eye contact.

"Can I sit with you?"

Tomochika hummed in agreement, shifted her gaze to her intertwined fingers and waited.

"Tomo-chan… I know we haven't been hanging out that much lately, but I can see you're upset. Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Do I really have a choice? You're the one that told me I had to talk to you"

"I know, but-"

"No, it's okay… I get it. Your relationship with your boyfriend is still not as solid as you'd want and me running into him must've been a little painful for you, but I can guarantee you I'm not into him"

Haruka listened to her friend in silence, taking in every gesture, every choice of word until the other finished. When she did so, Haruka mulled over a reply, and having decided which way she wanted the conversation to go: she went for it. "That's not why I wanted to talk to you. I trust you"

Tomochika stared, unable to figure out what other reason she could have for asking her there. "… Then, what…?"

"I… I know you have been spending time with Hijirikawa-san and Jinguji-san as well… Or rather, ever since your date with Jinguji-san you have been acting really weird. I know it's none of my business, but I'd like to help if you let me" she said, reaching for her friend's hand and holding it.

"Haruka…" She could tell her friend was worried, it got through by how tightly she was squeezing her hand, but she honestly couldn't understand how they got to this. Wasn't Haruka as packed up with work as she was? Wasn't she spending the entirety of her free time with her boyfriend, songwriting? How could she notice something off about her when she hadn't had any time for it? Hell, she had barely been paying attention to Haruka's mood until she talked to her over the phone. But she couldn't worry her. "It's okay. I got myself into this… I can handle it on my own"

"But, Tomo-chan-"

"No, I'm serious. I'm really sorry for worrying you, but I got myself into this mess, this boy-trouble deal, and it's something that I have to fix on my own. It's the only way"

Silence filled the room once more as Haruka stared at the stern expression of her friend. She didn't like how she was rejecting her help, but then again perhaps she was asking for too much… Maybe Tomochika had her own personal reasons behind the whole ordeal. So she agreed to stay at bay, let her friend go and went back to her room.

~h~o~~h~o~~h~o~~h~o~~h~o~~h~o~~h~o~~h~o~~h~o~~h~o~~h~o~

After taking deep breaths, trying to calm down before heading back to her own dorms, Tomochika finally stood up from the comfy couch and made her way towards the main entrance. She then put on the coat she had left by the door and got ready to face the chilly afternoon.

Outside she could see a glimpse of the sun and of the clouds obscuring it from her view, tinted a bright pink color. She sighed and started walking down the snowy path. 'It's almost spring! How is it so damn cold?' she thought, rubbing her hands together. She cursed having forgotten her gloves, but at least she had a scarf to cover her red nose, 'it could be worse…'

She had honestly forgotten how long was the path between the door of the dormitories and the main entrance of the facilities… no wonder Haruka got lost so many times… 'Although there's actually only one way to go, but… I guess it makes sense given that she's such a klutz'

As she turned around the next corner, she swore she could hear heavy breathing. She stopped her own just in case: and sure enough there must've been someone there. She looked towards every possible direction, but concluded that there was no way someone would walk through that awful mix of mud and ice that surrounded the path she was walking on. And surely enough, as the vegetation around her decreased, she was able to see ahead the next curve and spotted it: there was someone jogging. Or at least it looked like the person was jogging. It was getting pretty late so it really could be anyone… but by the silluete of the person she could see it was a very tall one… They were dressed in a black outfit, complete with a woolen hat and at that distance she couldn't really make any sense of their features. Curiosity took over and she started walking faster. 'They're even wearing sunglasses?! What the hell? It's almost 6 pm. And it's winter why would you wear sunglasses?!' she thought to herself as she got closer.

Now that there weren't anymore curves between them, just one straight path separated the two and she was just so entertained by the whole mystery that she could barely contain herself from yelling at them. It was just so enfuriating that she couldn't even see their hair! Who puts their hair inside a hat anyways? Only children, that's who… Well, at least it looked like that… Maybe the person had a ponytail behind…

Halfway throught the path, the other person stopped in their tracks. Without realizing what was happening, she just kept moving towards them. 'Why did you stop?' she asked in her mind. And that's when she saw it. No more than five short steps separated them when he took of his sunglasses. His blue eyes locked in with hers and she froze in place.

"Jinguji?"

He took a deep breath, and then replied: "Yes?"

"What are you-? No, why in the world are you jogging right now? It's minus 1 celcius outside, like what the hell, you'll get sick!"

"Hmmm? Don't worry about me, darling, I never get sick. And I'm not planning on starting now" he said, a smug smile covering his features.

Completely taken aback by the way he responded, she just stared back at him in confusion. And as luck would have it, he took that as a compliment.

"Are you okay, dear? Is my greatness paralyzing you? If you need to feel a little warmer, you can get close to me, you know?" he asked.

She wanted to punch herself, but seeing him stupidly flirt with her again was making her emotional. Tears were forming in her eyes and as she tried to cover her whole face with her scarf, she felt his arms wrap around her. She wanted to push him away, but it was too cold outside to stand on her own… Because that is what it was, right? She hugged him back and bit her bottom lip, choking down the tears and stopping herself before any further embarrassment.

The next thing she knew, he had pulled away and was cupping her face with his warm hands. "Did something happen?" he asked, staring right at her eyes.

He was legitimately worried about her, she could tell by the tone in his voice, by the tenderness with which he held her, and… she felt like crying again.

'Calm down, you crazy! Why the hell am I so emotional?! Okay okay, deep breaths… deeeeeep breaths. Ugh his eyes are so blue ugh, disgusting. No, stop looking at me like that… I need to pull myself together' she thought.

"No, I'm okay… Sorry… It's just a girl thing. I'll be fine"

"Are you sure? I really have no trouble staying with you until you're able to leave, you know? The male dorms are just down this path, it's not a long way" he argued.

"That's really nice of you, but I was actually just about to leave…"

"Is there a car coming for you? I can accompany you until then"

"Yes, it's okay. I can do it on my own. I don't want you to go out of your way for me, you should go inside: it's getting colder here"

He moved his thumb to dry a single rebellious tear falling down her cheek and that's when she realized he was still holding her. She took a step behind to pull away from his touch and mentally prepared herself for what she was about to say.

"Why are you being so nice to me, now? The last time we saw each other you were extremely rude for no good reason, and now you're super sweet? What are you doing? Are you trying to drive me insane?" She expected an angry response, a witty comeback, but what she got instead was…

"You're right, I mistreated you. I hope you're able to forgive my improper behavior, it's a little difficult for me to handle emotions very well as of late…"

"What? But you… you're not making any sense! That literally happened yesterday! How are you acting so different in such a short space of time?"

"I believe a whole day is the perfect amount of time to cool down and come to a better understanding of a situation, don't you?"

"No, I don't!"

"Well, we'll have to agree to disagree, then"

"… I'm serious here: why in the world are you so mellow, now?"

At her inquiery, his warm demanour disappeared. She could see the ice-cold man that ran out of her house the night before. Then what was he doing? Was he faking cordiality for the sake of rutine? Was he seriously trying to be the better man at the moment?

"Listen, Shibuya-san: I wasn't aware that I had upset you so much with my outburst last night. I don't like seeing any lady cry because of me. Now I'm giving you a choice: I can stay with you until you get to your car or I can go my merry way right now and not bother you anymore. I would rather like it if you picked the former because you're freezing cold and I don't think I could rest easy with you here on your own, but… it's ultimately your decision" he replied, calmly.

Once again, the way he talked to her made Tomochika think he was looking down on her, that he was somehow believing himself superior and that only strengthed her previous resolve: she wasn't going to give in to him.

"No, you're not doing this. I'm not letting you act like you're the more mature one in this situation 'cuz truth be told: you're not"

"Am I not, now? Then explain to me why you're the only one instigating arguments when I'm the one trying to help?"

She pointed at him and said: "There it is! That's it again: you're just seeing this as some sort of competition!"

"I am not" he said, sighed and then continued. "What happened yesterday was unfortunate and perhaps I could've handled it better, yes, but my actions were justified, I wasn't acting upon nothing"

"Oh, really? We're back at this again? You literally got mad at me 'cuz you were jealous of Masato!" she retorted.

He crossed his arms, and then replied: "Okay, fine. You know what? I refrained from saying this yesterday because I knew where you would've taken it, but now?" he cleared his throat and continued: "I am not jealous of your friendship with Hijirikawa"

"You honestly expect me to believe that?" she said, exasperated. She had to give it to him: he was incredibly capable of influencing her emotions with just a couple of words. It was extremely infuriating. Tomochika ran her hands through her hair and then she continued: "You know what? Let's say I do believe it: tell me why you were upset, then"

Ren considered bailing at that moment. He didn't want to give her any more insight into his mind than he had already. But the problem was that he didn't want to leave her there in the cold to fend on her own as she waited for a car to arrive… He was a gentleman after all, he couldn't do that. But he also couldn't tell her the truth. That would've only made matters worse. So, then: what else could he tell her?

She raised her eyebrow expectantly and he realized he was running out of time. 'Fine' he thought. 'There's no going back now'

"Because you're a beautiful woman and, unfortunately: I can't accept your feelings"

The red that covered her nose and cheeks extended significantly at his statement, she wasn't prepared for him to say something like that. She was speechless, her vision was blurry again, but she could feel her blood boiling up again with frustration 'How dare you, bastard!?'

Ren, on the other hand, stood there and patiently waited for her to say something in response.

"I don't have any feelings for you apart from hatred! You-you dumbass!" she yelled, unable to contain her emotions, tears falling down her cheeks.

At the sight, he walked closer to her. And despite her difficulty seeing him clearly, she took as many steps behind as he did forward to keep away from him. But he wasn't going to let her escape, with very quick steps he was able to catch up on her and grab her arm right as she turned around to run. He hugged her from behind and whispered in her hair: "I wish I could" Hearing those words, she stopped fighting. She was overwhelmed by the whole thing. She obviously didn't have any feelings for him! Not romantic, anyways… He was just… 'Ah! He's kissing my hair! No, Jinguji, stop! I don't want this, you pervert!'

After a moment in that position, she was finally able to pull herself together. She got her hand off his grip, his lips off of her hair and pushed him away. "I don't like you, okay?! Get that through your thick skull. I don't know how you handle relationships or emotions or whatever the hell it is that is making you act like this, but I don't want you near me again, you got that?!" she yelled.

He took a step forward, raising his hands in an attempt to calm her down, but all he accomplished was getting her even more riled up. She walked towards him and pushed him at full force again. It still stinged a little, but he tried not to let it show and barely winced at her aggressiveness.

"Hey hey, relax, okay? The fact that you got this upset is completely proving what I said, actually and-" he tried to level with her, but had to stop as she punched him in the arm.

"I thought I had hurt you, douchebag! I was upset because I thought I had gone too far! You get the worst out of me, and I don't like being rude to other people not even if they deserve it… But no, I worried about nothing 'cuz you were just playing your shitty Casanova games. Go to hell, Jinguji" she said, before finally walking away from him.