I do not own any of the songs. They belong to their respective artist(s).
Boys sing in BOLD
Girls sing in ITALICS
Both genders sing in BOTH
Hikari stretched her arms as she got out of bed. Moving to change into running clothes, she pondered the events from the previous day. After Otoya had carried her to the dorm (she owed him an apology, she knew she acted like a brat when she was tired), Tomochika had taken her from him, forcing the shorter girl to eat, bath and go to bed. Tomochika was rather pushy when it came to her friends. Hikari owed both of them a lot.
Her run would be short, she wouldn't push herself after stressing herself out so much.
^V^
She gathered her stuff for a shower hurried. During her run, a melody come to her mind once more for the boys and while she recorded it on her phone, she wanted to get it on paper before she met them. There was at least one perk to getting up early.
Rushing around a corner, she skidded to a stop, freezing beneath an unimpressed gray gaze. "Sayumi-shishou!" She squeaked.
The lovely actress looked her up and down. "Nanami," Sayumi Kishimura said. "How many times do I have to tell you not to run in the halls?"
Slumping, Hikari kicked at the grund. "I lost count over forty," she admitted, and peeked at the older woman through her bangs. "I can make you bribes?"
Sayumi stared hard at her. "I want a double-batch and nothing more, nothing less."
Kicking her heels together, Hikari saluted. "Yes, ma'am!"
"Be gone with you, you're stinking up the hallway." The raven-haired woman motioned her away.
Hikari bolted.
"No running!"
"Think of the bribes!" She called back.
"Laundry duty!" Sayumi barked back and Hikari stumbled.
"Hmm… maybe a little more bass here?" Hikari tapped the sheet.
"I agree," Natsuki said before trying to hum it.
Otoya chuckled. "Why don't you let the console do that, Na-chan?"
A noise from Syo made them look at the blond. He sighed as he spun his hat.
"What's up, Syo?" Hikari asked.
His eyes darted to hers before he drooped against the back of the chair he was straddling. "Somehow, it's not right today…"
"Of course, we're short one member," Ren said and her eyes flicked between the two, wary.
"Tokiya was late yesterday, too," Syo recalled.
"He said he was busy at his part time job, but…" Otoya trailed off.
"I'm sure he'll be here," Hikari said confidently. Tilting her head back, she glanced at Natsuki and Otoya. "Shall we continue?"
"What is Ichinose's job?" Masato instead asked Otoya.
The redhead shrugged. "I don't really know. He leaves after class is over and comes back late at night. A lot of times he doesn't make it back till morning. I'm surprised he doesn't collapse from exhaustion." Hikari frowned and lowered her eyes to the piano keys. She really didn't like the sound of that.
"As always, he does things at his own pace," Ren mused. "Like he's the only special one…"
Her hand slipped and banged the piano keys hard, making them jump. A pained noise left her as she pressed her face against the keys, holding her hurt fingers tightly. "Oww…"
Otoya pressed his hand against her shoulder and she could hear the slight amusement. "You okay?"
She growled, but didn't reply as she heard the door open. Waving her hand out, Hikari nodded to Ichinose. "Yo, Ichinose."
He offered her an apologetic look as he panted. His breathing took too long to regulate and her brows furrowed. "I-I apologize for my lateness…"
"Icchi," Ren drawled and making the other teen look at him. "Are you almost done with your part-time job? I was getting tired of waiting for you… I thought you weren't coming today."
"Ren," she said softly and he glanced at her. "That's enough. Take your anger out on something else." He blinked, slightly surprised. "Anyway, I've got something for you lot."
Standing, Hikari moved to her bag, kneeling. Flipping through a binder, she tugged out seven sheets. She removed them and stood, shuffling them and passing them to their respective person. Moving back to the piano, she sat back down and smiled slightly at them. "So, wanna start on that since 1000% is practically done?"
Natsuki glomped her, rubbing their cheeks together as he said cheerfully, "Of course!"
She pinched his cheek. "I can't do anything if you're clinging to me!" Hikari scolded and Otoya chuckled, earning a face from the composer.
As they spread out on the grass near the lake, Hikari fixed her leggings, the air cool with an upcoming summer storm. Eyeing Masato's sweater absently, she flailed when he tossed it to her. Smiling sheepishly at getting caught, she tugged it on before he could take it back. Hikari looped the white sash around her neck like a scarf.
"This song is fantastic!" Otoya cheered as he plopped down beside the lake, closer to the edge than she was. He had a wild grin on his face.
Natsuki was already leaning back on his arms, soaking up whatever sunlight was available. "When everyone's voices blended together, it warmed my heart."
"With this melody and our lyrics, we can ace the graduation audition!" Syo exclaimed, smacking fist into a palm.
"We'll come out winners and make our debut!" Natsuki added, smiling brightly. His eyes moved around the others. "It's not just a dream, right?"
"Nope!" Otoya rejected with glee. "We're gonna come in at first place! Right?"
Hikari nodded when he glanced at her. "Hai!"
"All that's left is the dance," Masato noted before glancing at Ren. "I noticed your steps are loose, Jinguji."
The strawberry blond hummed, his eyes languid as they landed on Hikari, who squinted warily at him. "If little flower would wink at me, I wouldn't mind putting im serious effort."
Shifting the sash up a bit, she raised a brow and hooked an ankle around a snickering redhead's wrist, pulling it out from beneath him. "Wouldn't that be more of an award? I don't want to make you faint before a dance routine, after all," she teased, giggling as Otoya childishly snagged a shoe from her and began playing hot potato with Syo.
"What about a thrown kiss?" Ren wheedled.
"Reward," Hikari singsonged. "Hey! If my shoe lands in the water, you two will join it! Now give it back, my toes are cold!"
The guys laughed and chuckled as Otoya made a big show of giving back her shoe.
V^V
Tokiya blinked. One second, Nanami's pouting face was clear then it wasn't. Closing his eyes, the sounds of his friends seemed like they were coming through a tube or underwater. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to gather himself.
"Are you okay, Tokiya?" Blinking, he tilted his head up at the redhead, Nanami and Syo on either side. The other three were behind them, waiting. "Same time tomorrow?
The darker haired teen nodded and offered a reassuring smile. "Yes. Got it."
Waiting until at least the guys left, he placed a hand against the tree trunk and pushed himself up. For a moment, he leaned against the tree, slumping down slightly before stepping away towards Nanami, who was staring at him.
The grass rustled as she came closer. "Ichinose, are you okay?"
Everything wavered and flickered after she spoke and he pitched forward. Tokiya expected to hit the ground, yet thin, but strong arms wound their way around his waist, steadying him. His head dropped onto Nanami's shoulder and he felt silk-like cotton press against his face, smelling of a strange, but pleasing flower fragrance. He blinked slowly, gathering his bearings once more.
Her hands lightly and gently pushed him up by the arms and one touched his forehead, cool and soothing. "Hot!" She breathed and he jolted back, ignoring the slight dizziness that resulted from the sudden movement.
"Sorry," he said quietly, internally mortified at his lack of composure. "I'm just a little tired."
Her green-yellow eyes narrowed. "You can't really think I'll believe that, do you?"
Dipping his head, he stepped past her then looked back at her. "I can take care of it," he replied and decided to go for broke at her scowl. "Really, Hikari, I can. It's like you said after all. Meeting people like this only happens once in a lifetime."
Hikari's face softened in surprise and she bit her lip. "Just be careful, Tokiya," she said at last. He nodded at her and began making his way back to his dorm, knowing he had another thing to look over for 'Hayato'. Because of this, Tokiya didn't focus as much as he usually did on his surroundings as he usually did and he ended up missing two things.
The first was behind him. Hikari's face had filled with grim determination and she had her phone out, dialling someone.
The second a flash to his left. If he'd glanced over he would have noticed a gleam of a camera lens.
^V^
Back in her dorm, Hikari stood in the middle of the commons as she tried to think of what to do next. It would only take Setsuna, one of the analysts at Nami Agency an hour or two to figure out Hayato's schedule, but if Hikari needed to stalk Tokiya to make sure he didn't do anything stupid, she'd need to figure out what to do about her classes.
Her face drained of blood as she realized what she had to do. "I have to speak with Sayumi-shishou," she breathed out in horror. The woman was still most likely angry about this morning. 'I'll triple the batch. Ichiro owes me for letting him off his shift from that one time… I think the paper for that is in my drawers somewhere, maybe my desk.'
Nodding to herself, Hikari set off for the woman's room. Afterwards, she'd ask Tomochika if she could take over for her tomorrow. 'So many bribes. At least Tokiya would get the tongue-lashing instead of me.'
The next day, Tokiya exited the after a commercial recording. Himura was speaking, something about dinner as they approached the car and he went around to the back seat. A slight gasp escaped him as his leg suddenly went out from beneath, the umbrella sliding from his hand and splashing into a puddle. In front of him, he could hear the sound of feet running through puddles and making loud splashes over the rain hitting the pavement. Tokiya nearly joined it as he almost collapsed near the car after failing to grab onto it. His arms and knees felt numb. Once again thin arms wound around him, holding him up. The white hit his eyes before the scent hit his nose.
"H-Hikari?" He breathed, trying to get his feet under him again.
"Doki-babo," she murmured into his hair. "It's okay, I've got you."
"Wha- Hayato!" Himura sounded so far away…
Tokiya listened to Hikari, letting the dark claim him as his eyes fluttered shut and body went weightless.
V^V
The first thing he noticed was that his face was pressed against a pillow. More specifically, the one at his penthouse as he could smell the cologne seeped into the pillow as the one he used for Hayato. The second was that his shirt was missing and he could feel the goosebumps appearing on his bare shoulders.
Scrunching his face, he lifted himself up and blinked, squinting into the light. He stilled at seeing Hikari leaning halfway onto the bed, one of his chairs pulled up to the bedside. Slowly and carefully, he slid out on the other side and went around, carefully scooping up the slim girl to place on the bed after smoothing out the covers. She didn't even twitch as he accidentally thumped the chair loudly. Tugging his shirts back on, he opened his phone and winced at the missed calls, making an attempt to call Otoya, who didn't answer. Tokiya spotted Hikari's and turned it on, wincing again at seeing his bandmates having called the both of them a lot. He did wonder at how she figured out where he was at, but set it aside as a Nanami thing. The sound of the door opening made him turn.
His eyes widened at seeing Asari, the president of Ember Agency, the agency that started him as 'Hayato'. Bowing slightly, he greeted the man quietly. "President Asari.
The man looked at him before glancing at Hikari, his expression strange. "Are you leaving?" Asary asked quietly, focusing on Tokiya.
Glancing at the sleeping composer, he shrugged, unsure on whether or not to wake her up.
"I brought a doctor over," Asari continued, walking over to the pitcher and pouring a cup silently. "You still have a fever and should be in bed. IF you're looking for Himura, he's in a meeting. He's worried about you, says it's his fault."
Tokiya swallowed and tried to speak. "President… uhm…"
Swallowing a pill, Asari cut him off. "It seems you're a student at Saotome Academy." He looked at him in shock. "I found out. And I trusted you."
"I'm sorry!" Tokiya blurted out, lowering his voice as Hikari shifted. "I should've talked to you about it."
"Your contract expires soon," Asari noted casually, voice lowering in anger as he continued, turning to stare hard at the boy. "Are we to be finished then?"
"Just because Tokiya doesn't want to be Hayato anymore doesn't mean he'll stop talking to you and Himura-san." The males jumped and looked at Hikari, who was on her back and frowning at Asari. She rubbed an eye as she continued, sitting up to fully face the older man. "I don't know anything about your guys' relationship nor anything about Tokiya's homelife, but from what I can tell, after speaking with others, Hayato isn't going any further than where he is now. At Saotome, he can refresh without overdoing it like you guys are making him. He wants to sing…"
She fell silent, staring at Asari. Tokiya silently moved closer. "Hikari?" He called quietly. The girl ignored him as she climbed off the bed, reaching for Asari's face. Said man was sweating for some reason, face flushed and trembling.
"Cold sweat," she muttered and Tokiya felt something like dread build up in his stomach as he moved beside her, putting her phone in his pocket. "Is there discomfort in your chest?" A nod. "Any other limbs?" A weak gesture to his face and Tokiya could see her face draining of color. "Nausea, feeling light-headed?" Asari nodded a third time and Hikari quickly made him lie on the bed. "Tokiya, call for an ambulance. Now."
"Hikari…?"
Her fearful eyes locked with his as she made Asari stay still, her fingers resting along the man's pulse. "He need to get to the hospital. Go open the doors for easy access!"
He rushed, dialling as he went. When someone picked up, he had the door to his penthouse open and ringing for security. The words spilled from him, panic at what was happening making him stutter, something he hadn't done in a long time.
'Is this my fault?' Tokiya wondered as he spoke to the guard who answered.
Tomochika frowned as she listened to the guys speak, complaining about Tokiya again. Sharing a look with Daiki, who'd offer to help her with the boys' composition, she opened a message from Hikari.
From: Baby Animal
'Tomo-chan, Tokiya and I will be late, something's come up. You can tell the guys if you think it'll help you. Don't know when we'll be back. Sorry'
It seemed rushed. Tugging on her small braid, she looked up. "Hey!" She called, getting their attention. "Hikari's with Tokiya and she said they'll be late coming back."
"Eh?" Otoya mumbled and looked back at the teens with a slightly sheepish expression. "Tokiya called a while ago, too."
"What's the point if we're missing a person and our composer?" Masato glanced at Daiki. "No offense."
The shy teen simply shrugged, offering a tentative smile which swiftly fell at Syo's angry outburst. Daiki promptly tried to blend in with the piano and Tomochika shared an exasperated look with Natsuki, lightly smoothing the brunet's hair.
"Dammit! What the hell's with that guy?!" Syo scowled as he sat down, arms crossing.
Tomochika thought of how grim Hikari and Sayumi had been when she'd been called to the actress's office. How Hikari explained that she was worried about Tokiya, but he wouldn't let her help. How she, with Sayumi's approval, would act on the information from one of Nami's workers and follow Tokiya, makes sure he didn't end up in the hospital. Eyes lowering to her phone, she spoke almost absently, "Something must've happened."
"What do you mean, Tomo-chan?" Looking up, she noticed they were all staring at her.
Lifting her phone up, she motioned to it. "The message Hikari sent, it seems panicked. I mean, the way she typed it, it's stilted. In bursts, if that makes sense."
"What could make her like that?" Syo wondered.
"There… is one thing. Rather, someone," Ren said slowly, frowning. They stared at him in confusion. His eyes flicked up to Tomochika's. "Haruka."
Her eyes widened. "That would explain why she and Sayumi-shishou were so grim yesterday."
"Otoya mentioned it, too," Natsuki noted.
"Eh?" The redhead looked at him in confusion.
"You said you were surprised he didn't collapse in exhaustion," Masato reminded the group and clarified for the two who weren't there. Silence fell among the group, worry and guilt filling them.
"But…" Daiki faltered at the glanced but continued. "Why would it be if he fainted from exhaustion? I mean, Hikari-san doesn't seem like she'd really panic over someone fainting."
Ren stood and walked out of the room and Daiki looked at Tomochika confused.
Tomochika could only shrug at his worried frown and looked back at her phone. 'Hikari… hurry back…'
Hikari walked away from the doctor to Tokiya, who appeared to be going through the music sheets. "Hey," she said softly and sat down. "He came out of the surgery alright. Nakamura-sensei said he was asking for you."
He glanced up at her and nodded, a strange look on his face. "Thank you." Tokiya put away the sheets and stood up. "Can I leave my bag with you?"
Head tilting, she nodded and hugged him. "Not your fault, you know. Smokers sometimes have bad health." Tension left him, something he probably hadn't noticed. Lifting his arms, Tokiya hugged her back, thanking her once more before they separated and he entered the room.
She sat down, kicking her shoes off and curled up in a chair, hugging her legs. It was unbidden, but not unexpected as her fingers trembled before she locked her hands together, eyes closing, and remembered.
Fourteen-year-old Hikari let out a cheer, pushing back the chair onto it's back legs. "Finally, we get the house to ourselves!" Tossing a wicked grin at her cousin, Hikari wiggled her brows. "Wanna go stash hunting?"
Haruka shook her head as she put the last glass away. "Ri-chan," she began in a scolding way, "You know we can't do that while watching over Tori."
Making a face, Hikari snickered as she lowered her chair. "I still can't believe they named a dog 'bird', how goofy."
"Hai, hai," Haruka said absently as she moved around the kitchen. "Could you get the bowls from the den?"
"Sure!" Hikari hopped up and bounced to the doorway, freezing and spinning to point at the Tosa puppy. "Tori! Be a good puppet and love Ruka-chan while I'm gone!"
The puppy cocked his head before letting out a small bark. Haruka wiped at her face, smiling slightly.
"I'm taking that as a yes!" Hikari cooed before quickly disappearing down the hall, jogging on sock covered feet to the den. Sliding, she laughed and caught the door frame, spinning her way inside. Swooping she picked up the plastic bowls and danced back to the hallway, thinking it'd cheer her cousin up. Haruka seemed to be getting more… not quite distraught, but something and Hikari hated seeing her sweet cousin frowning.
Thump
Hikari frowned at the noise and when Tori began barking, she placed the bowls on a hall table and hurried, nearly slipping as she rounded into the kitchen. "Ruka?"
Following Tori's barking, Hikari dropped beside her cousin, rolling the abnormally pale girl onto her back. She patted Haruka's face. "Ruka?" She felt for a pulse and it was racing beneath her fingers.
Shifting to her haunches, Hikari scrabbled blindly at the table, fingers brushing the home phone and she pressed in 1-1-9 and called.
Not letting the person speak after answering, Hikari rushed out, "My cousin just fainted and her pulse is really high."
"Alright, miss," the woman who answered said soothingly and continued asking questions.
Everything after was like watching a silent movie.
The neighbor next door came in after the responder had someone call the older woman after getting her number from Hikari. She'd open the door for the EMTs and called the girls' family. Hikari had hugged Tori to her, the dog abnormally calm as he pressed against her chest. The EMTs asked for Haruka's medical history and she'd pointed at a folder near the cookbooks, as the kitchen was the closest room to the front door. Vaguely, she recalled answering questions for the man who'd taken Haruka into the ambulance, her going in Yona-ajumma's car, Tori still with her. The puppy had been her rock and the nurses didn't have the heart to kick the puppy out, despite all the rules being broken. When her family got to the hospital, Yona-ajumma had taken Tori so Hikari could latch onto her Umma and Appa.
Haruka's too pale face and slowing pulse would stick with Hikari for weeks afterwards...
"Hikari?" Blinking, Hikari was snapped out of the memory and she lifted her head up to lock eyes with Tokiya.
Smiling weakly, she asked quietly as she unfolded her arms and legs, tugging her shoes back on. "You ready to go back?"
He nodded, holding her arm steady as she got up. "What's wrong?" Tokiya asked, seeing her scowl.
"My feet are asleep," she answered, picking a foot up to rub at it.
"Hayato!" A masculine voice called out just as she finished tying her shoe. They looked up to see Himura. He slowed, seeing her and swallowed warily.
Looking between them, Hikari patted Tokiya's arm and said, "I'm going to go wash my hands. Let's meet at the reception desk." At his nod, she moved away.
Not needing to look up for signs, she hurried to the girls' bathroom and headed to a sink, her phone back in her pocket and baseball cap on her head. Her hoodie sleeves were pushed up and soap covering her hands just as two girls walked in, one in a hospital scrubs (a patient, judging by the bandages wrapped on her arm), and the other in school clothes. They were giggling as they headed to the farthest sink.
"I can't believe it!" The patient exclaimed as her friend helped her wash her hands, being careful with the bandaged wrist. "Hayato-sama's really at Saotome?!"
Hikari almost fell over, slowing down her hand washing and eyes resting on her nails. 'No way…'
"Yep!" The other girl nodded enthusiastically. "It was posted online, I think there's going to be a radio announcement."
Making sure to not make it obvious she was in a rush, Hikari rinsed her hands off and dried them. Tossing the paper towels away, she bolted as fast as she could in a hospital hallway (nurses were terrifying people) and nearly smacked Tokiya to the ground if Himura hadn't of grabbed them.
"We need to go." Hikari removed her cap, placing it on Tokiya's and making sure to at least cover his eyes. "Like, three minutes ago. Himura-san, if you ever wanna talk, ask Setsuna at Nami Agency for me." Grabbing Tokiya's wrist, she rushed them to the back stairways.
"Hi-Hikari, what's going on?" Tokiya was rushed to keep her pace and she slowed.
"It's out that you're at Saotome," she answered.
He nearly tripped. "What?"
"Two girls in the bathroom said it's out online and there's supposed to be a radio announcement." Hikari raised a sardonic eyebrow at him as they reached the first floor, Hikari pulling her phone out and calling a taxi. "We need to get back quickly."
"You think the paparazzi is going to be at the Academy?" He asked warily.
She shrugged and murmured into the phone. "Come on." Hikari let his hand go and lead the way to the taxi driver who waved out at them. She could only just see the man's white glove.
Dashing through the rain, she forced him inside first and followed after. "Saotome Academy, please, sir." The man nodded and pulled out of the lot as the teens buckled in.
"Should I try calling Otoya, again?" Tokiya asked as he adjusted the hat.
Glancing at the dashboard, she nodded. "I'm going to send a message to Tomo-chan."
She typed into the box that they were on the way back and she wasn't sure if they'd be there before tomorrow due to the storm. Hikari jumped at Otoya's voice.
"Tokiya!" The redheaded male exclaimed. "What's going on?! Are you and Hikari okay? We've been waiting!"
Sharing looks, she motioned for him to answer. "I'm sorry," Tokiya said with a grimace. "We're on our way now."
"Where are you?!"
Tugging the phone between them, Hikari said, "We're nearing the 38th block now. Breathe, Otoya, it'll-"
Beeeeeeeeeep
They blinked at the words on the screen. "No signal?" They chorused, sharing looks and Hikari glanced at hers quickly.
A sigh of relief escaped her. "At least Tomo-chan got my message. Lines must've been messed up by the wind."
The driver cleared his throat and she glanced at him. "Sir, miss, the weather reports mentioned that this late summer storm may end up messing with the electricity towers, what with all the lightning. And, if I'm not mistaken, we may not get there till morning."
Following his finger with her eyes, she groaned and slumped against the seat. Tokiya sighed and copied her. "Let's just hope no one was hurt by the falling debris."
Looking out at the cars, she muttered. "Well, at least I won't have to do laundry duty just yet. I hope Ichiro got the cookies to Sayumi-shishou."
"Sayumi?" Tokiya repeated. "As in Sayumi Kishimura?"
"Mhmm."
"And she's… nice?"
Hikari looked at him strangely. "What's your actual question, Doki-Doki?"
He twitched at the name, but answered. "Hyuga-sensei and Tsukimiya-sensei indicated that she wasn't a nice person."
A snicker escaped her. "That's only them two. She's nice to us girls and any other students under her care."
"Then why doesn't she like them?" He was really curious.
She grinned. "Sayumi-shishou is jealous of how much attention they get." Seeing his lost expression (Tokiya was rather open when he was tired, she noted), Hikari clarified the situation for him. "Ringo-sensei is a feminine male and catches the eye of both men and women. Ryuya-sensei catches the attention of women and men envy him. Sayumi-shishou doesn't catch the people's eye like they do and so she's jealous." Another giggle escaped and he eyed her strangely.
"That's not all." It wasn't a question and her shoulders shook with amusement.
"Sayumi-shishou is annoyed with how much trust Saotome-san gives her. She's been a fan of his and rose to the top in the acting industry, yet he's practically attached to the idol industry," she stopped and took a deep breath in, grinning wider at his interested expression. "There's also a theory in the girls' dorm saying that she likes them."
"You think it's wrong," Tokiya noted.
She nodded, trembling with hiding her laughter. "I'm pretty sure she's interested in the fairer sex."
His face went blank and she cracked up as his eyes practically screamed 'System-Shut-Down'. Hikari tried covering her face as she turned away from him. Even the driver seemed stunned, despite trying not to listen.
'Gossip!' Hikari thought in glee. 'The one thing that can make or break a person!'
Mirai Chizu was this song's chapter, despite not featuring. Accept a gossip session with Tokiya instead! And I tried with the flashback, I really did. But as I've never seen someone have a heart attack (and I hope to never), I had to wing it. Same with Tokiya's near collapse and fainting.
And Yajima Daiki made an appearance and not just a cameo! I kinda feel he's underrated since we saw him once, yet for the whole first season, he worked with Tomochika as partners. Plus, they debuted together, why wasn't he shown at least aside from the island? Not cool. Anyway, before I start ranting...
Happy birthday, Cecil! And Happy Halloween, guys!