Summer vacation was just around the corner, everyone would be ecstatic when the date was nearing. The relaxing beaches, the refreshing ice cream, the summer wind that could make anyone gave in to leisure. However, it was the opposite for Syunpei. These things stressed him even more, especially when he got his quiz paper back with a big, red F on it.
"Wow, F again? I'm not surprise." His friend, Riku, admonished the boy who seemed to be in a slump.
The blue eyes, blonde hair boy was furious of his friends condition. This is because Syunpei only had 1 F, the others were As. Riku knew that the only bad ones he could get was in history. The boy made a sarcastic comment on his brown hair friend and his words stabbed through Syunpei's motivation. However, this cruel treatment would not break off their friendship that easily. These two had been friends ever since primary school, they were neighbour's to each other after all. They knew everything about each other, but somehow the blonde hair boy Riku was curious about one thing that had been stirring in his mind.
"Where have you been all this while? I see you came home late at night. This is not like you at all."
Syunpei could feel that his friend was worried about him, his upset face was enough to tell. They had been distant from each other since he worked as an errand boy. They usually walked home together, dragged on about school, playing video games and help each other with their homework. Syunpei had almost forgotten that his friend Riku was there for him, he was sure to think of him before the idols enter his life. The adults changed everything about his life and he did not like it, especially when he made a friend feel miserable.
"I'll make up for it. I pro-"
"That's not it!"
Riku sudden shout of anger and smashed on the table not only halt Syunpei to silence, the whole class were surprised as well. The brown hair boy could see that his friend was trying to hold in his tears. What did he said to make him this sad? What did he do to make him shed tears like this? Was his words not arranged properly that it offended him? But he only being able to say mid-sentence, he stayed quiet to figure out the problem here.
"You really don't understand it, do you? Some friends."
With his word, Riku left the classroom, leaving the tense aura he birthed behind. Syunpei looked down on his desk, it felt as if the scattered paper were mocking him. Riku had never been this upset before, he had never spoken in such an anger tone as long as they had been together. He clutched the papers in frustration, feeling that he was in the wrong here. The negative feeling of guilt engulfed him amidst the cheerful classroom he was in. This does not feel right.
The idols were worried, more like confused to see their favourite errand boy was quiet and daydreaming an awful lot today. He frequently stared into space that they felt a little uncomfortable by this. Koi, the cheerful one out of them admonished the boy, putting him out of his gaze.
"Are you okay? You don't look too well. If you have any problem, you can share it with us."
The pink haired man told in such a soft, calm voice that it made the boy surrendered to his kindness. He told them about his fight with Riku, the closest of friend he once had. Riku was patient enough to endure his childish,immature behaviour but when the boy became too secretive, that was where his limit was reached. Syunpei's father put his trust on Riku to watch over his son, he wanted him to be influenced by well-behaved people like Riku. Even though the middle schooler was tired to hear his name being said all over again, he still respect the boy. He still wanted to be friends with Riku, he still like Riku.
"If this continue, I don't know what to do." Syunpei sighed.
The idols looked at each other, not knowing what to do. They did know this kind of thing would happened but they did not thought it would be sooner. Before Kakeru could broke the silence, Yoru cut him off.
"This studio seems too gloomy, why don't you go and buy some snacks?" Yoru put some money into the boy's hand, shoving him out of the room.
Syunpei was confused, but his obligation to that order made him move his foot away from the room. This left the others completely speechless, thinking what he wanted to do.
"You sent him out to discuss huh? Very clever." Shun made a remark on Yoru's action sarcastically.
"So that our discussion can go smoother, no worries on exposing. Now, where should we begin?"
Syunpei kept thinking of his argument with Riku over and over again in his head. He did not even look where he was walking, who he stumbled upon. He did not even replied back to his sister admonishing him on the street. The girl wanted to follow her lovely brother, investigating what he had been doing after school that he came back late at night. It worried her, especially when he was growing in a rebellion phase. However, the group of friends she was surrounded with prevented her from moving another step towards Syunpei. She reluctantly continued to walk with her friends.
As Syunpei entered the store he had always went, he was surprised to find Riku there. This made him glued to his foot at the entrance, froze up on what to say. Riku saw him too, having the same reaction but he walked pass him like every day strangers on the street. Not uttering a word nor give a glance, this left a large scale of guilt in Syunpei's heart.
If I feel like this everytime I see him, it's going to be difficult to keep a straight face. Especially around them. I don't want to worry the staffs, I don't want them to fail because of me.
The brunette boy could only take it in for now and obey the 'staffs'' command. Once he had done shopping and came back with the requested snacks, another surprise made him shocked and panicked. The 'staffs' had gone through his stuff in his school bag, what worst was that they found his history's quiz paper. While Shun made a taunting comment on his quiz, the boy tried to quiet him down with all his might. Whether with an argument, trying to take the paper away, or made an impactful comeback, he was giving it his all to hide his embarrassment regarding his bad score. Kai stopped his fighting with Shun by patting him on the head, giving him reassuring words.
"It's okay, you can turn this around. All you got to do is ask for help." The man finished his sentence with a wink, hoping it will work on the boy.
Haru took the paper from Shun's hand while his head was above the clouds and examined it thoroughly. After a few seconds, he finally spoke up while locking his eyes to the young brunette.
"I think I know your problem, and I can help you if you want. Perhaps your labour will lessen as you study, no?" Haru turned his attention to Hajime with eyes telling him to agree on this.
Being a worrywart towards the boy himself, Hajime nodded in agreement to Haru's statement. Syunpei also agreed without hesitation because Haru was one of the few people that treat him as nicely as Kakeru. Why Kakeru became an example was out of the question, the young man was the most comfortable he could be with. During break of their practices, Haru would sacrifice his time to teach Syunpei what he was weak at. This made the boy felt sorry towards the intelligent man, the so-called 'Harupedia'. He must be stressful and tired for wasting his time teaching the brunette. He gave up his free, resting time just to help him without receiving a reward in return.
He must have seen me as a burden. But it's not entirely my fault. He volunteered to help me, I could have found someone else to replace him but...The boy took a quick glance at Haru, his current history lecturer. The way his hair was hanging across his face, the serious expression he gave out, the clear captivated voice travelled across his ears made him wished Haru could teach him for life. The thought made the brown hair boy flustered and shake off his head to rid off the heat that spread on his face. This weird thoughts again... This is all Shun's fault!Then, Syunpei spoke out of the blue to Haru while they were in their studying session.
"Sorry for bothering you. I'm such a nuisance, am I?" Haru who was shocked by Syunpei's word took a moment to reply back to him, with a giggle.
Now I know why they say he is special.This confused the boy furthermore other than the history questions Haru had given to him for practice. The light blonde hair man patted the boy's head with a calm smile across his face, silently telling him it was fine and he did not mind it. I'll help you reach the top, no matter what. The brunette's face turned slightly red out of relieve for his answer. They proceed to study until the night comes.
"This is bad!" Syunpei informed loudly to all of the 'staffs' as he entered their practice room, his voice was in a scared and panicked tone.
Aoi approached him and inquired of what he actually meant by it. All the idol members were worried of his condition, whether it was a small or big problem he was facing. The brunette told them that Riku, his sulking friend had challenged him in order to win his heart back. He needed to get an A in his upcoming quiz history to show that he was worthy of being his friend again. Hearing this, the idols felt what the boy was feeling at the moment. It was intense for a rivalry between friends, especially on his weak point. They turned to Haru for suggestion to overcome this tension.
"The only thing we can do is study harder. Are you ready for 5th gear?" Haru said as he fixed the eyewear on his head to stabilize its position.
Kakeru who was worried the most fixed his eyes on Syunpei to see his reaction. To his surprise, Syunpei was determined and prepared to pull an all nighter just to defeat his F on history. He told them that whether it was for Riku or for himself, he needed to do his best so that Haru's effort would not be in vain. Shocked by his words, Haru had no words to utter back instead he felt grateful and proud of what the brunette had become. Kept to his words, Syunpei and Haru went through their study session all night long at a hotel nearby the studio. Luckily tomorrow was the weekend so it was the best time to do so. With an excuse of studying at his friend's house, the boy succeed in getting his sister's permission to stay over. However, this made a curiosity float around in Syunpei's mind.
He questioned Haru while he was checking on his practice paper, "Why do you guys never bring me to your dorms? Are outsiders prohibited from entering the area?"
Haru as intelligent as he was had a believable reason on his head. He was prepared to answer anything the boy was curious about, especially inquiries regarding them. He replied in a stable tone to hide his nervousness of the boy finding out their secrets.
"This is because some of the idols were living in the same building as us. It would be troublesome if commoners were to find out where they live, don't you think so?" They continued to chat while Haru found the boy's mistakes within the practice he had done.
"Well, I thought you don't like me coming to your place. I mean, having a child hanging out with adults seemed a bit disturbing right?" Syunpei told Haru what was stirring in his heart.
With this, Haru could only laughed it off before replying seriously in a reassuring tone.
"Syunpei, we like you. Never in a second do we doubt on having you as our errand boy. Moreover you're a friend. We don't want any rumors to pop up that it could disturb our relationship. We want to be able to see you again, Syunpei."
The silence came after that gave an awkward atmosphere to the brunette, his words made him flustered a bit. No one had said something significant like that about him, no one had seen him as an important person, not even his father.
These guys are weird, and here I thought Haru would be normal.
The boy turned to his books, trying to hide his red face.
I guess I'm wrong.
They continued revising again after Haru had completed marking the boy's practice paper.
Hours had pass by faster than sound, Haru went out to buy some coffee for both him and Syunpei as a fuel to stay up late. It was already midnight when he left, the brunette seemed hazy as he stepped out of the door. He walked through the street in his disguise while thinking about Syunpei back at the hotel. How he said that he would do this for him, how he was worried the idols would hate him. It was somewhat amusing in his head, he smiled in solitude as he felt the warmth over Syunpei's word.
He care about us that much, I will not let him fall.
He obliged on his own promise as he stepped into the cafe he trusted his taste bud to and bought what he came there for. Once Haru reached back at their room in the hotel, he found Syunpei fell asleep on the bed surrounded by history's notes. The scene before him as if the boy was sleeping in a garden among the wild growing flowers. Haru could only sigh and smiled as he tidied the notes and covered Syunpei's body with the blanket. The man sat beside the brunette, staring at him as he caressed his hair. He started to notice how smooth the boy's skin was, how soft his hair was, how glossy his lips glow within the night lamp, how tempting his heart was to go in for a kiss.
But I don't want to harm him, I'll betray his trust.
It was weird how he came to be so important in the idols' lives, he was everything to them. Someone ordinary like him had become an extraordinary part of their lives, this fact had been proven with the rest of the members during their private consultation.
If the others feel the same, then it's going to be a problem.
Seeing the boy fast asleep made him fell into slumber land not too long after that. He ended up hugging the boy in his sleep, cuddling up against each other to warm themselves from the cold air-conditioner. Both of them felt bliss and slept soundly as the night passed by to excuse itself for the awakening day.