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
'Princess?' Hikari wondered, a faint blush forming despite her fighting it. "How'd you get on the grounds?" She asked instead as he stood straight.
"Who said I'm on the grounds?" He asked in turn and she squinted up at him in confusion.
"What? That doesn't - what?"
Cecil simply smiled. "I have to thank you," Cecil murmured, linking their hands and swinging them. "The songs you've spun saved me."
"From being a cat?" Hikari asked, eyeing their hands. "You made a cute cat."
A slight chuckle left him and he tugged her a bit closer, hands releasing to cup her face. His eyes saddened. "I'm sorry about your cousin."
"Thank you," she said quietly. "I know she's in a better place."
"She is. The Muses had looked upon her as favorably as they had you." Cecil paused, brows furrowing in consideration. "This will be the last time we meet like this."
Hikari's eyes flew up to his, her chest tightening in panic. "What?" Her voice cracked. 'Please, Muse, no. I can't lose someone else!'
"You'll understand soon," Cecil promised, eyes warming with reassurance as he pressed their foreheads together. Her breath caught as he shifted, verdant eyes fluttering shut as he moved his face closer…
-AA-
Hikari shot upright in her bed, nearly toppling off. Her face felt like it was burning and her everything (except her vocal cords, which refused to work) screamed at what just happened.
Burying her face in her hands, she wondered, 'Was that only a dream?' A strangled noise left her and she curled into a ball, just knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep again. 'Damn Cecil and his nice features! Aaaugh!'
She was… sort of better in the morning, but still dressed down with her outfit consisting of a grey tank top beneath a white STARISH hoodie (she'd taken Saotome's words as a challenge and showed the world her STARISH fangirlness) and dark blue basketball shorts, plain black sneakers on her feet over purple bat covered socks. Her hair was up in a messy bun, headphones around her neck and her portable console in a messenger bag.
Knocking on the door, Hikari stepped into Saotome's office. She squinted at the bright room. "Morning," she said after catching her bearings, nodding to Ringo and holding her hands out to prevent Saotome from popping her bubble.
"Miiiiss Nanami, I know it's soon but I'd like you to start composing a new song for STARISH," he said, looming close, but respecting her gesture.
Glancing at her bag, she looked up at him with a frown. "You don't mean right now, right? I don't have my composing stuff."
A booming laugh left the president. "Not without your stuff," he agreed, but then grinned at her brightly. "Write me a song that makes me want to repeat over and over again!"
A smile formed. "Of course! I want to make music to make people smile, after all."
Ringo stood and walked over. "Work hard, Kari-chan. You wrangled those boys into a single group. I'm sure it'll be amazing."
"If I do less than my best, assume I'm sick," Hikari replied, looking around the room curiously, seeing papers on the furniture and figuring it was for something later on. "Admittedly, I had help for Maji ."
"What do you mean?" Ringo asked.
"A little princely cat helped me figure out where to put the notes." She said after thinking on how to word it.
Ringo seemed puzzled as Saotome said, "I look forward to your next song, Miss Nanami."
"Un… I'm glad you haven't ran into any glitter bombs, oyabun," Hikari said as she moved to head out. Saotome froze up, Ringo copying him with a wary look. "I wouldn't want your work ruined."
Moving quickly, she left before he could ask her about the bombs and rushed to the nearest stairwell, giggling hysterically as she held the railing.
"What did you do?" A voice from below asked warily and she lifted her head up to see Ryuya with Quartet Night right behind him, all staring at her.
Leaning over the railing, she held back her laughter ask, "What makes you think I did anything, senpai?"
Ryuya rolled his eyes as he paused on the steps, now eye level with her. "You have that look on your face," he said dryly. "Spill it so I know what I'm about to walk into."
"Nothing bad. After all, I'm better with mind games. You seen my boys?" She asked moving to continue down the steps, bypassing the five males (she wiggled her fingers in greeting at the Senior).
"They should be done with practice," Ryuya said, looking towards Saotome's office. "When are you going to stop?"
"When he learns to stop messing with a Nanami. See you later!" Hikari hurried off, heading outside.
-AA-
The wind tousled her hair lightly as she walked along the main path, looking for her boys. Ahum left her throat, her eyes moving from side to side. The dream(?) from before came to mind and she sighed, feeling her cheeks warm slightly. 'Stupid Cecil and his weird, gushy, sweet ways… ugh…'
It was the foreign lyrics that caught her attention first.
"Listor lu jineil los Agna (The song of Agna is a song of love)
Ohroizz wellt mollvait… (Please convey this love…)
Vi kizz el muse feilis wiltz Agna (The song of Agna is the song of Muse)
Enne fel colfin reijistar… (The notes it plays will show the way…)"
Her steps stopped, eyes narrowing as she concentrated on the voice before the voice hit her. "Oh…!" She moved back into a fast walk.
"The warmth of his day remains within my heart
The magic spell upon me is lifting."
Hikari switched to a jog, following Cecil's voice. She didn't notice her friends in the courtyard.
As the flames of the sun kiss the earth,
The endless cycle of eternity, under the name of love,
Will bind us together
Even though I travel hundreds of billions of times to meet you,
I'll always find you through this love's reincarnation
I swear to the stars we'll never part
As I kiss your hand."
Reaching the small clearing, Hikari stopped and looked around, head tilting as she searched for her friend.
"I'm sorry, Hikari. I didn't realize I made you worry so much."
Her eyes widened in surprise as she took in the language change. 'Gran really knows a lot of foreign people. Guess it's a good thing I agreed to learn more languages.'
"Stupid Cecil," Hikari chided back in Kazakh (1!), blinking rapidly. "Don't you know it's rude to leave a girl in distress?"
Cecil flew through the trees before landing on the ground near her, accepting her body slam of a hug. "I didn't meant to," he said, switching to Japanese. "I thought you'd understand my meaning."
"I don't pay attention to words, only music and actions, Cecil-babo," she muttered, pressing her face into his shoulder as she hugged him tightly.
He laughed into her hair. "I'll remember that." Cecil pulled away, arms lightly resting on her shoulders before sliding to catch her hands, voice softening. "I really am sorry for worrying you."
Hikari smiled helplessly, understanding he was rather affectionate as he cupped her hands in his, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. "Just give a warning or something next time. We can make up a code word, maybe."
"Code word?" His head tilted, clearly considering the idea as he straightened and played with her hands. "Akuma."
"Akuma," she repeated, flat.
Green eyes blinked at her, innocently puzzled. "What? Isn't it a good one?"
"You're so basic it hurts," she grumbled and looked to the side where her boys were. "Hey, meet Aijima Cecil, prince of the desert country Agnapolis, which is also the land of music." Hikari swiftly rattled off their names for the prince.
"It's nice to meet all of you," he said, releasing her hands and bowing slightly, smiling brilliantly. "Saotome scouted me-" he looked at Hikari, who nodded "- and I'm a member of the Master Course now… why are you looking at me like that?"
Stepping away, she waved a hand. "No special reason. Let's move this inside, ne?"
-AA-
Hikari set the tea tray down, eyeing the desserts from the kitchen Syo had made sure Natsuki hadn't made. She snatched a cookie and a cup of sencha tea before leaning against Cecil's chair. STARISH, except for the wonderfully accepting Natsuki, was quiet.
She didn't really pay attention as the boys began talking, all of them rather grumpy compared to Cecil and Natsuki's attitudes. As long as they didn't start fighting (and knowing how much of a hothead some of them acted like. She did pay attention to what Cecil said about them, understanding he had some kind of precognition and/or empathetic thing thanks to the Muses. The reactions were a bit interesting, Hikari noted as she hid a smile behind her teacup.
"I did," she interjected after Syo's outburst. "I still do believe him, especially after he helped me create STARISH with you guys."
"Eh?" Syo stilled, finger still pointing even as he blinked at her.
"You didn't make the decision yourself?" Natsuki questioned. She nodded as she bit into her cookie.
"Then without Aijima, STARISH would never have been formed…" Tokiya muttered.
Hikari blinked as she realized she had finished off her cookie and eyed the plate, internally grumbling about how far away it was.
"I am not interested in becoming an Idol." She looked down at Cecil in confusion.
"Huh…?" The boys and lone girl stared.
"I simply want to sign Hikari's song," he answered.
She gazed at him suspiciously "Is this about the Muses?"
"Something like that," Cecil confirmed holding up his cup again.
Her boys stared at them in confusion as she groaned. "Am I getting a reverse harem?" She asked aloud, mildly horrified.
Cecil choked on his tea, covering his mouth as he coughed, face turning red.
A light eyebrow twitched. "That wasn't in Korean… was it...?" He shook his head, turned away. Glancing at her cup, she sighed. "I'm leaving before I make myself into an idiot."
Alas, she was deterred by a miniature… snowstorm? 'We're inside?!' Hikari stared wordlessly at the fourth member of Quartet Night as he made his appearance. She continued to stare wordlessly as Cecil bickered with his Senior, feeling a headache coming on when Camus dragged her into it. Her brow twitched at Cecil's arrogant and confessing words. Hikari followed them grumpily outside.
-AA-
Hikari felt a little annoyed as she called the lines, watching as the boys ran around for the corresponding cards. She was really irritated she didn't have any sunglasses for protection against the cloudless sky. A scream nearly escaped as they realized that Cecil had gotten the wrong cards. A bout of laughter did escape after Cecil rushed out of the pond, wheezing helplessly as he panicked over a fish.
"Kari-chan, you okay?" Natsuki asked, hand on her back.
"C-can't breathe…" she managed to get out and he carefully picked her, tossing her like a potato sack over his shoulder. The thought made her laugh harder.
"Weirdo," Masato muttered as he stepped up beside Natsuki, walking along back into the dorms. A wheeze left her and she buried her face into Natsuki's back, unsure as to why she was still laughing.
-AA-
That night, Hikari was back in her room after Camus had scolded Cecil. A half note was written down just as a soft knock sounded from the balcony door. Lifting her head, she stood and walked over, twirling her pencil absently. "Cecil?" She leaned against her open door, blinking curiously at the prince. "What's up?"
"Because I lost the contest, I will obey Camus," he said, not quite answering her. His eyes shifted up to the moon. "He also said romantic relationships are forbidden here. Not to mention I allowed you to see an embarrassing side of me. I'm sorry."
Furrowing her brows, she asked quietly, "What's really goin' on in that head of yours? Cecil, why aren't you interested in being an Idol?"
His fingers tapped a melody on her railing. "Singing is just like breathing to me," Cecil said after a moment. "It differs from the songs of an Idol… and I simply desire to sing your songs that you write for me. That's all." He smiled softly, nervously at her.
Humming slightly, Hikari let her eyes move to his fingers, absently adding notes to a mind music sheet. "STARISH is my first and foremost priority, Cecil. When I write you a song, it'll be sometime after their next big hit. Will you wait patiently?"
Emerald eyes went wide and he nodded quickly, beaming. "Of course! If I'm able to sing a song of yours, I'll be patient. Just don't make me wait forever, please."
An amused smile formed on her lips. "I don't think it'll be that long."
-AA-
Squinting at Saotome later that night, she said, "What."
The man spun in his chair. "I want you to have your own debut concert, with a lot of songs of your own creation~!"
"Why?" Hikari asked suspiciously.
"You did half the Idol course, remember?" He rolled out. "I will give you a reprieve and you can have two others perform with you. It will be your last task for the Academy."
"When?" She asked, going through the people she knew personally to drag with her into performing. "And would I have to dance? Because I should tell you now, bones will break. Probably mine."
"Sometime next year," the man answered. "You'll be busy the rest of this year with STARISH and so you will debut a bit later!"
She nodded, tapping her chin in thought. "Otoya and Tomo-chan," she said after a moment. "We can make the Redhead Trio a thing."
The man chuckled at her reasoning. "Will you have a theme?" Saotome questioned.
Her eyes lowered for a moment. "Life. That's all." Hikari looked back up at him. "Have you done it yet?"
At his grimace, she knew he hadn't. "No, it has gotten… complicated."
"Need an ear?" Hikari offered, leaning forward in her chair.
Saotome hesitated, but slowly the words came out. "I have no idea what to do," he admitted.
Grimacing herself, Hikari tapped her knee. "I could ask Aunt Rin to help you. She's always been the best with explanations… there's something more isn't there?"
"Ah…"
"Saotome…"
-AA-
Hikari leaned back in her desk chair, legs crossed on top of her table as she stared thoughtfully at her tablet, fully focusing on her concert. She was talking to herself while writing out a list. "I can't dance, so I may need back up dancers. That's one thing I'll need. Another thing is a bunch of songs if I want a long concert so I won't have to do another one, no matter what Saotome says. Maybe I can ask Daiki-kun for help… I also need to make sure Tomo-chan and Otoya know about it as well. Need a location - maybe where STARISH debutted…"
Trailing off, she stared at the Lunaria flower.
"This is going to drive me nuts," she realized.
She swore the petals glowed rainbow and her brow twitched.
"Dammit."
Way shorter than usual, but that seemed like a good stopping place. The concert has been in the planning stages since early S1 and let me tell you, it's hard to find concert stuff (admittedly, that may just be because I hate researching).
1! = Kazakh seems to be the language of Agnapolis. I mean, I tried looking up some of the lyrics in random languages via Google Translate and Kazakh seemed to be the closest. Also the song is clearly Cecil's "Ai no REINCARNATION."
See you next time!