Chapter 6
Disclaimer:
I own nothing but the story line.
All charters from Uta No Prince Sama and Skip Beat are all owned by their various creators. BTS is owned by themselves and Big Hit.
Nor do I own YouTube, Spotify, or any media presented and owned by either.
I only use them for entertainment purposes.
Just a note to anyone confused by the Natsuki/Satsuki references. In the anime, Uta Pri they explain that the normally cheerful Natsuki has a darker side that comes out when his glasses are removed. That persona is known as Satsuki. Satsuki has been known to be extremely short tempered and violent.
Also in this chapter there will be a lot of references made to the story line of the Skip Beat Manga. For anyone curious about it, the best thing to do would be to google Hizuri Kuon, under Skip Beat.
———-6————
(Haruka's room)
Once the other two girls returned after clarifying the hallway situation, they found Haruka and Tomo sitting together in silence.
"Welcome back girls. I figured we can all get changed now. I've already set something out for each of us. We'll just change in here." Tomo said while glancing at Haruka to her side. She figured having the all the girls wear something similar to Haruka would make the situation easier.
Luckily both girls understood the need to ease Haruka about what just occurred, so neither protested at the similar nightwear provided.
Kyoko's was a light peach color, Kanae's a deep violet, and Tomo's was a pale ivory.
Luckily for everyone's peace of mind there were high cut shorts to go with the outfits.
"Haruka you must have dropped these on your way. Here, put them on." Tomo said gently as she handed the shorts to her friend.
Haruka reached out silently, stood up, slid the shorts on, and then quietly sat back down. She was starting to come back to herself enough to blush. She couldn't help remembering what Ichinose-San had said to her in the hallway, or the way he had looked at her.
She was pulled from her thoughts by a question from Kyoko. "Haruka, do you want to talk about what happened? Ichinose-San didn't hurt you did he? Should we make a curse doll and punish him?"
Haruka looked at Kyoko's face, thinking perhaps she was joking. She realized her friend was dead serious.
"No, he doesn't need to be punished, and he didn't hurt me. I don't know how to explain it, but I felt strange. His words caught me off guard."
All the girls looked interested to hear what the man could have said to her.
"And what..exactly did he say?" Tomo and Kanae both asked. Both were dying to know.
Haruka had a minor flash back to the moment as she quoted him word for word. She honestly would never forget those words for the rest of her life.
"Ano, he said : Haruka, we really must stop meeting like this. Although, I'm not adverse to just staying in this position, wouldn't it be better if we were alone. I must say what your wearing is quite fetching." She finished with a blush.
All girls froze at the words.
'What the hell? I expected something like that out of Jinguji, but not Ichinose. Ho, ho, ho still waters run deep indeed.' Tomo thought.
'They're all going to turn into smooth talking playboys at this point.' Kanae thought with a sweatdrop.
Kyoko couldn't think of anything at all. She could only blush for her friend.
"I'm sorry Haruka that must have been horrible!" Tomo said.
Haruka blushed before she spoke up. "It's not your fault Tomo-chan. I know with the 'No-Love' rule out of the way, something like this might eventually happen. Honestly though, I didn't expect Ichinose-san to say something like that. I'm embarrassed to say that it didn't scare me, I felt strange inside at his words."
'Is she already in love with him then?' They all thought.
Kanae asked a question that was difficult even for her. "Haruka, I know this may sound a bit rude, but... have you ever perhaps thought of any of the men...well...in a sexual manner?" She couldn't help the blush as she finished her question.
Kyoko was becoming more and more shocked at the turn of this conversation.
Tomo just nodded her head at the question that she knew must have been hard to ask.
"I never gave those thoughts a chance at all. 'No-Love' rule remember? I didn't want my heart to pine away after someone I could never have, let alone thought of being with any of them like that!" Haruka answered with her head tucked between her knees, that at some point she had drawn to her chest.
Kyoko, still not to comfortable with the situation, decided to point out something. "Haruka after today, you do realize you're actually allowed to pursue a relationship with any of them, if not...all... of them. In fact, they encouraged you to pursue more than one earlier. Actually, Haruka...um..." Kyoko paused, grasping at how to word the question she knew needed to be asked. "How much experience do you have with men?"
"None... I was always with my grandmother as a child. I had to live out in the country side because of my health. So I was always home schooled. Plus, the only males I had any contact with, before coming to the academy, were my uncle and cousin. I only saw them twice, when they would come to Kyoto to visit us. Uncle was always busy with work, and my cousin only ever visited with him. Plus one other. He was a friend of a girl I met a couple of times when I was little. I can't quite remember him though." Haruka said, while still tucked into her knees.
"Wait! Haruka you're from Kyoto? I grew up there too! With Shotaro's family, in their Inn." Kyoko said, she completely forgot the topic at hand.
"Shotaro? As in your old childhood friend Sho Fuwa? As in the Fuwa family that runs that Inn, the one in the Kyoto country side?" Haruka replied back excitedly, while finally extracting herself from ball she had tucked herself into. "Wait, does that make you the girl I met a few times by the creek. Yoko-chan?"
Kyoko's eyes widened in excitement. "YES!! That would make you Hana-chan. I only saw you once or twice, and thought you were as pretty as a flower, so I nicknamed you Hana Hime, because I was sure you were a magical flower princess!"
"Yoko-chan!" Exclaimed Haruka.
"Hime!" Answered Kyoko.
The other two girls just facepalmed at having never realized these two may have grown up together. They were just too similar in someways.
"I can't believe it's you!" Both girls exclaimed.
"So Sho Fuwa, is the Shotaro that always came to get you from the creek?" Haruka said sadly, after remembering the history now behind the two childhood friends.
Kyoko nodded, noticing her sad expression.
"It's really ok Hime-Chan. Now that I've found you again, I guess I can forgive that blonde idiot a little." Kyoko laughed and reached over to hug Haruka.
"I guess I can too." Haruka smiled.
Tomo and Kane felt a bit left out, but still hated to break up the moment the two were having.
"Girls, I am happy that you found each other again, but there is still an issue to solve." Tomo said, she grimaced watching Haruka's face fall.
Kanae too felt bad at the sour expression on Kyoko's face.
"Yes. Haruka, you now have the permission of your president to be in a romantic relationship, with as many of the guys as you choose. You're going to have to start giving some serious thought to that." Kanae said.
Haruka's blush was present once again.
She sighed deeply. "I don't know who I would pick. I don't think I could ever just pick one and break the other's hearts."
"Mou, Haruka. Both presidents gave you the answer to that. If you can't settle for just one, then settle for them all. As long as they all agree to it. That may be the best choice." Kanae said with embarrassment.
"I don't know if they would agree to that. I couldn't do that to them all." Haruka said with another forlorn expression.
"Hime-chan, I'm sure if you set them all down, and discussed you feelings, they may very well surprise you." Kyoko said.
Tomo decided to end the discussion. "Haruka, whatever you decide, do what's best for you and your heart. If that's choosing one then go for it, if it's choosing them all, then know we all support that decision too. Now, we can solve this all later, for now let's crack open the wine! It looks like it's time to celebrate a reunion!"
All the girls nodded as Tomo popped open the wine, and poured them all fuller than normal glasses. As each started sipping the clear liquid in the glass, each came to the conclusion that they would have to finish this glass, because they would definitely need to find a better tasting wine to follow.
None of the four realized what they were drinking in large amounts wasn't wine, but aged sake. No one thought to check the faded label on the bottle. All had no idea that one little mishap of a distracted mind would cause a series of humorous events in the next few hours.
The men only assumed wet dreams were going to be the worst of their problems. None knew that they were about to witness things, that after tonight would never be mentioned again. Not if they wanted to live.
(Time Skip: After the sake and more sake!)
BANG BANG BANG!!!!
That was the sound that heralded the night of hell for all, current, male occupants of the master course dorms.
Each awoke with a jerk, from various dreams about the same woman.
Except for the actor and his manager, who had been sleeping too deeply to dream.
"What the hell is that?" The grey headed Ranmaru jerked up out of bed cursing. Since after the Triple S final, he and his members had opted to move back to the dorms, to be closer to the woman they all loved. Although, they gave the excuse that they didn't have as much room in their shared condo, which was also true. So he was surprised when his dream ended before it could conclude in a way he could hope. Thoughts of ginger hair, burgundy nightgowns, and bare skin escaping him with the rude awakening.
'I will kill whoever ruined my dream.'
He quickly pulled on his shirt, the one that he had taken off before laying down, and proceeded to stomp out of his room.
He was met in the men's hallway by 12 other silhouettes.
None one had the presence of mind to turn on a light yet. None were ready to be blinded, after having been awoke so suddenly.
"What's going on? Who decided to tear the dorms down?" Cecil asked groggily.
None of the 13 present had an answer. They all originally assumed one of the other men had been up to something, or perhaps the crazy president, but seeing confused faces all around that left very few options. Either the president was to blame, or a yet undiscovered answer was awaiting them.
"I suggest we go investigate. The only way to find the source of the noises, is to seek it out." Masato said with very little enthusiasm.
"Ughhh." All the men groaned. Most of them just felt like returning to their beds, and trying to recapture the ends of their dreams.
Everyone was almost ready to walk back, and do exactly that.
BANG BANG BANG!!!
GIGGLE GIGGLE GIGGLE
All sleepy ness left the group at the set of sounds.
The bangs were what had awoken them, the giggles were something new. Without a word all men turned as one entity. Slowly they proceeded to the origin of the noises.
Along the way two more shadowy forms met them.
"Hyuuga-Sensei? Rin-chan?" Syo whispered to the two figures.
Both men just nodded in exhaustion.
"Do you two have any idea of what that noise was?" Tokiya asked, he hoped they knew. He really just wanted to go back to bed. After the earlier incident in the women's hallway, he was dreaming that Haruka had said yes to his attempted seduction. He would really like to get back to his night activity, and finish what he started in his dream.
Both figures just shrugged and shook their heads, neither had the will to voice their thoughts.
BANG BANG BANG
GIGGLE GIGGLE GIGGLE
CRASH CRASH CRASH.
"Ok, so the bangs we've heard before, the giggles are not so new either. The crashing sounds are completely new. Just what the hell is going on in this place?" Reji finally voiced the unspoken question in all minds.
'Sigh' "As Masa said earlier, the only way we'll know is to find out." Ren Jinguji said.
All the men nodded, and once again proceeded to the source of the disturbances.
They couldn't help but notice their steps were once again being directed to the day room.
'There's no way...'
They all thought.
Oh how wrong they all were.
As they approached closer and closer to the sounds, they noticed the day room lights were still off, but they could hear light music, and see dimmed lights coming from what had to be the TV in the room.
Closer and closer they crept. For the second time in less than 24 hours they heard a familiar song begin to play.
'Oh for fucks sake!' They all thought at the same time. Except for the two older men, who had only witnessed the earlier situation on video. This time the men actually heard the lyrics clearly, seeing as there was no female screaming to accompany it this time.
(Just a note, I used the English translation for the original Korean lyrics)
'It's at stake again, it's dangerous again
So bad why, we are, yeah
To withstand it more, to sustain it more
So hard hard, it can't'
Then they heard a female shout. "Hime-chaaannnn! You lose this time!"
'Was that Kyoko? Hime-Chan? Why does she sound so strange?' Ren Tsuruga thought to himself.
"Uh wasn't that Kyoko-Chan?" Asked Yashiro to the group. None answered. All were too focused on the room in front of them. They seem to be making a habit of eavesdropping lately.
"Meeehhhhh, but Yoko-Chan, it's so embarrassing! I'm sure you lost too."
'Now that was Haruka.'
"Haru-Chan sounds weird." Natsuki whispered to the group of eavesdroppers.
"Mou, come on girls. If you can't even stand this much, then how are you ever going to get laid?"
'Kanae?!!' Yashiro thought in shock.
'What the hell is going on in there?'
The men crept a bit closer to hear better.
The song still playing in the background.
'Slow down the time
Please stay for a little more oh
Please Baby Calm down
Just a little more'
"Come on Hana you can do it!" Tomo said.
'Hana?'
'Is there someone else here?'
"Fine. Although... it's embarrassing, I wouldn't mind trying some of these things..." Haruka said.
"KYAAA HANA/HIME YOU NAUGHTY GIRL!"
'WHAT THE HELL?!'
The men's thoughts kept getting more and more focused on what they were hearing.
"So who would you like to do these things with? Hmm?" Tomo asked.
All the men went deathly still. They felt this could be the most important moment of their lives.
"Hmm. All of them?" Said with a giggle.
'Did she just say all of us?'
"I'd never be able to handle more than one man, I think Ren-san is already too intense for me. He does have very beautiful hands. I bet he's very good with them. He's also a silver tongued devil already, I bet he has experience to back it up." Kyoko laughed out.
Ren froze, at that moment he was sorely tempted to walk in, throw Kyoko over his shoulder, and take off into the night with her. He'd be sure to prove her words right many times over.
The other set of men all became increasingly interested in what Haruka was saying.
"Mou, so what are your thoughts on each one then?" Kanae asked.
TINK TINK TINK TINK
All the men were temporarily caught off guard by what they believed to be the sound of glass hitting the table.
"Refill my glass while I explain then.." Haruka trailed off.
'Are they drinking again? How much are they drinking to be talking like this?'
"So who should I start with? Hmm, let's see. Ah! Ichinose-san." The men turned to look at the man just mentioned. All were too interested in watching his reaction to whatever Haruka might say.
"Well let's see, judging from my slight...experience earlier... I'd say Ichinose-san is definitely a deeply passionate type. He may seem cool and collected, but I bet you he'd be just as burning hot, as his temperament is cool."
Tokiya blushes hotly, while all the men tried their best not to shout curses.
"So then do you think Hijikawa-San would be the same way?" Asked Tomo.
This time it was Masato's turn to be the center of attention. He was quite nervous about what Haruka might say.
"Perhaps in burning passion aspects, but I would also guess that he'd be very intense too. I'd imagine he's the type to do things slowly and take his time, no rush with that man. He seems the type to like you to beg him before he'd finish you." Haruka said matter of factly.
'Well really? I'm a bit confused how she came to that conclusion.' Masato thought to himself.
The others were finding it increasingly hard not to incriminate themselves at the moment.
'How much more can we take?'
"Now let's see... Ren, my Ren, not Yoko-Chan's Ren.."
'So my little fox is about to talk about me? This is going to be enjoyable'
"With Ren...well let's say, he talks a lot of game. I'm sure he'd be good, but I'm still not too sure he'd be a one woman kind of man. Although if he could be, then that would be as equally intense as Hijikawa-San. In fact, if I ever got to have a three some, I'd want either Hijikawa-san and Ren, or Ichinose-san and Hijikawa-san. They both seem like well balanced pairs."
The three men just glanced at one another. Each with a calculating stare.
The others blushed at the things they were hearing.
Ren's heart actually hurt a little that Haruka thought he could never devote himself fully to her. That would be something he'd have to fix.
"Although that's not to say that Syo-kun and Shinomiya-san would be bad at the same time. Syo-kun is physically powerful and Shinomiya-san has a sexy dark side. I'm sure putting those two together would be a BDSM wet dream." Haruka said with another laugh.
Both men mentioned this time blushed and looked away from one another.
'BDSM? When did she learn about things like that?'
"Shinomiya-san's dark side actually really does excite me. It like the promise of something that could almost be pain because it's so good. Syo-kun would be the type that secretly likes to tie you down. Very dominant."
'Dominating?' Syo asked himself.
'So, she accepts the dark side of me enough to find it attractive? That is an interesting thought' Natsuki contemplated, while his other half was sitting quietly in shock in his mind prison.
"Ittoki-kun also is the type with hidden depth. He'd be gentle and sweet. He probably wouldn't do anymore than you ask of him. He wouldn't be the one to push things. Then again, if you asked him, he'd for sure give you the best of what you asked for."
Otoya blushed and looked down at the floor. He felt very flustered in that moment.
"Ok so how about Cecil and the Quartet Night members? Can't forget Rin-chan and Hyuuga-senpai either." Tomo pushes.
TINK TINK TINK TINK
The sound of glasses hitting the table again.
"Hmm. Cecil seems to be the more fun and adventurous type. He's from a distant land, so I'm sure there are some things that he could do that others had never contemplated before. Then there's the older group to consider." Haruka left off for a minute.
Each man became more and more stirred up as she mentioned them.
Cecil just stared at the doorway with a glazed expression.
"Reji-senpai makes me think of moonlit nights, and long drawn out passionate meetings. He's a man who knows how to keep a woman happy. While Camus-senpai, is very dominant already. I believe he'd be into the harder side of things. Spankings, gags, and other... such things. Kurosaki-senpai...well... he'd definitely be the one to go to for good rough, hard, sex. Mikaze-senpai seems like he'd be the most innocent about those things. That's kind of endearing in itself. Perhaps I'd be the one to lead? Rin-chan? Well...I still can't exactly figure that one out, but I do like surprises. Then Hyuuga-sensei, he is very well built, very nice physique. He's a bit older, so I know he would be the one to go to for someone who knows what he's doing. Although he just looks so big all over, I'm sure everything matches up in that respect..." Haruka finally finished her explanations.
Hyuuga raised his eyebrow at the implication the younger woman had made.
Camus just looked anywhere else, but at the others. He was surprised the woman thought him to be a deviant. He wasn't saying he didn't think about it, but for such an innocent woman to have figured it out was troubling.
Ranmaru was shocked that Haruka had even mentioned sex, much less that she saw him as the rough tumble type.
Ai just tiled his head, his data processors didn't know how to supply him with the knowledge he was seeking. He knew Haruka guessed pretty well about his 'experience'. He decided at that moment, to devote processors and memory function to gain this data.
Ringo wasn't sure if he was upset that Haruka hadn't formed an opinion about him, or play off the mystery he seemed to be. Who knew that she even considered any of this at all?
Reji had none of those thoughts. As he was listening to Haruka describe him, he decided that he'd give her exactly that when the time came. He couldn't wait.
As each man could only keep repeating what Haruka said in their heads, they didn't hear the slide of a chair, or the music being paused. Nor did they hear the soft foot falls that accompanied it.
"OH!!! Everyone! Good evening, I didn't know you were all here." Haruka said. She had no idea the men had been there the whole time, for her less than innocent summary of each one.
"What did you say Hime-chan? The boys are outside the door? Tell them to come in. The more the merrier." Kyoko said without a thought of what may have been overheard.
All four women had consumed enough sake by this point to not notice they were, themselves, acting strange.
'We're safe!! They don't suspect that we were listening to them!' All the men thought with relief.
"You invite them to join our game Yoko-chan. I was going to get another bottle." Haruka replied childishly.
"Mou, Hana-Chan hurry up. You might want to have someone go with you. We're going to need more glasses if this many people are going to play!" Kanae said.
Still the women had failed to realize what outfits they were still wearing, the men on the other hand... unfortunately were sober, and could not avoid noticing the attire.
As the men progressed into the room, their attention was mainly on the two gingers, but they also noticed shot glasses and what looked to be four empty sake bottles.
'Sake? Really? Where'd they get that?' The men all thought in panic, when the finally realized just how bad this situation could turn.
"Alright, alright Mo-ko-san. Ummm. Ichinose-san, Hijikawa-san, would you mind coming with me?" Haruka asked the two men closest to her.
'She isn't acting embarrassed about earlier. In fact she isn't acting like her normal self at all.' Thought Tokiya.
Masato just looked at Haruka. He finally got an up close view of the very same outfit, that had earlier caused his friend to lose sense. 'She looks amazing... but this isn't like her. She's being too calm about things. Have they really drank that much already?'
Without waiting for a response, she turned to the door to head for the kitchen. Both men followed along like shadows. At this point there was no question they'd follow her anywhere she asked. All the other men were still too busy accessing how drunk the other three females were to notice the three people leaving the room.
"So what game are we supposed to be playing Kanae-san?" Yashiro asked.
"The chicken game!" Kanae supplied happily.
"The chicken game? What's that exactly?" Ren Tsuruga finally asked. He was trying very hard no to follow through with carrying Kyoko away. Did she even realize what she was wearing? Now he felt some deep sympathy for the other men, and the earlier situation.
"The chicken game is something we made up! We'll explain once Hime-Chan gets back!" Kyoko said.
"Yes, yes let's wait for Hana-Chan!" Tomo said.
"Why are you all calling Haru-chan by those names?" Natsuki questioned. Even though on the outside he seemed unbothered about everything so far, on the inside he and Satsuki were quietly discussing what had been over heard.
"That's because, apparently, those two are lost childhood friends. They both grew up in Kyoto." Kanae answered while pointing at Kyoko, who was nodding at all this. She had the biggest smile on her face.
"That's right! We met as children, and Haruka was always so pretty! I thought she was a magical flower princess! So I called her Hana Hime! She called me Yoko-chan! Now it's just kind of become normal in the last few hours!" The actress finished off enthusiastically.
Everyone sweatdropped. 'We should have guessed.'
Before anyone could ask anything else Kyoko looked at Ren. "Nee, Ren. I feel bad for Hime-chan. She told us about her uncle and cousin that would come visit her and her grandmother once or twice. She hasn't seen either of them since she was really little, and seems to miss having them around. I hope she can meet them some day soon. Although when she was describing her uncle, I couldn't help but think he sounded like father, and her cousin sounded like corn. I did believe she was a flower princess as a child, so I'm sure she could be related to a fairy prince."
Kyoko just stopped talking. She must have been starting to feel the effects of the alcohol.
Ren froze, he was slowly processing what he just heard. Nanami-San is from Kyoto, and has relatives she's only met once or twice. So wait a minute. If Nanami was her father's family name, what was her mother's. He looked around the room. He was trying to decide how to find out the information he needed. There was no way the thoughts that he came up with could be true. He decided that a little digging later would be needed. If what little bit he just heard was true, and his assumptions were correct. Then he knew why Haruka seemed so familiar, if her mother and grandmother were who he was beginning to believe they were... he would have to finally break his communication silence with his parents. Especially if he had found his grandmother and cousin again.
(With Haruka and her shadows)
"Nee, nee you two, guess what!" Haruka said excitedly.
She didn't notice that she already had the attention of the two. She continued on, seemingly without a care. The strong alcohol giving her a relaxed state of mind.
"I found out something amazing tonight! Yoko-Chan and I were friends as children! Isn't that great! I had never thought I'd see her again!"
The two could only guess that 'Yoko-chan' was Kyoko. They just nodded, both still wrapped up in their own thoughts of things their...eavesdropping had allowed them to hear.
'Nanami-san has such thoughts about us? We thought that it was going to take a while for her to see us as men. Apparently we haven't given her enough credit.' Tokiya rolled the thought over in his mind.
His counterpart was much more unfortunate in his thoughts. 'A three some? Would she ever really be interested in that kind of arrangement? I know we all discussed potentially sharing her affections, but damn, more than one of us at a time? I don't know why that thought never came up.' Masato for once in his life cursed, even if only in his mind.
While the two were still lost, Haruka was beginning to really feel the effects of the sake. The girls had been doing good to balance out the alcohol with food and water, but she was still a lightweight. She started to slow her steps, as she felt her legs become slightly unsteady. Just as she started wobbling to her side, both men grabbed for her, unfortunately they both couldn't help to stop her coming fall, and fell with her to the floor.
'Giggle' "Did you two fall on purpose? How clumsy of you." Haruka said sweetly, not realizing she had been the reason for the fall.
'Really? We're clumsy?' Both men thought in exasperation.
"Nanami-San are you ok?" Tokiya asked in concern.
"Nee, shouldn't you just call me Haruka, like you did earlier Toki-kun? We really must stop meeting like this as you said." The young woman joked.
Tokiya looked at the woman in shock. 'Is she..is she flirting with me? And did she call me Toki?'
Her gaze moved from Tokiya to Masato, who was frozen in place at the sight of her. She slowly got to her knees, and crawled over to him. "You too Masa-kun! Call me Haruka. You voice is so wonderful, I bet if you said my first name it'd sound amazing too."
'Is this really the same woman that blushed when I accidentally touched her hand before?' Masato thought to himself.
Before either man could get his wits back, Haruka pushed herself slowly up from the floor. "Come on Toki, come on Masa! Let's get to the kitchen. We still have to get back to the others. The next round can't start without us!" She chirped happily.
She was yet again walking away, both men glanced at one another with raised brows. They could do nothing else but get off the floor, and follow along.
Both could only say one word. "Haruka."
(With the three presidents)
"Oh ho ho. These developments are moving along faster than I hoped possible." Said Lory as he watched from a video screen in Saotome's office.
"Yaaasssss. Indeed. Miss Nanami is certainly progressing faster than we expected." Agreed the red headed president.
Raging Otori decided to add his own statement. "I do believe the next few developments will be quite interesting. The girl doesn't even know about our surprise for her."
"Yes, you are right O-kun. Those other seven boys are about to walk into an unexpected situation." Lory said with a laugh.
He was having quite a bit of fun with his new 'live otome' subjects. Still his mind was pensive over some information Kyoko had shared about the other ginger girl.
Could she be the lost niece that Kuu had mentioned. He remembered hearing that the girl had been musically talented. She had the gift of being able to play a song, even after only hearing it once. She was also able to sing each part of a quartet in perfect pitch, even as a child. Kuu had shown him videos of the little girl many years ago. The man had been devastated with the passing of the girl's parents, and the eventual family break off. Lory had always regretted not looking harder for the girl, but fate seemed to be on his side. Surely Ren was coming to the same conclusions.
"Nee, Sa-kun... What can you tell me of young Haruka's family?"
"Hmmm. That is an interesting question old friend. As interesting as Miss Nanami is complex." Saotome set back in his chair with fingers interlocked. He felt this question may someday come about, especially when he had discovered the girl's family association. Both men glanced at their old friend, waiting for him to continue.
"As you may have heard, Miss Nanami was frail as a child, and raised in the countryside of Kyoto by her grandmother. Her parents, both being professionals in the city, weren't able to visit very often. Sadly, one day both were taken in an accident that left the young lady with just her grandmother. She does have other living relatives, on her mother's and grandmother's side. From my understanding the tragedy left the family emotionally scarred. The Hizuri family broke off ties with the grandmother and Miss Nanami. Her mother's passing deeply depressed her uncle, Kuu Hizuri. Miss Nanami has never said anything about being the niece of that man, I believe that losing contact with that side of her family, at such a young age may have kept her from realizing it herself. I don't even know if she's made the connection between her grandmother's last name, and her estranged family. From what I understand, she was raised without exposure to television. So she never had the chance to see her uncle acting."
Lory just nodded when his own thoughts were confirmed. Raging on the other hand, having not put the pieces together till now, sat back in quiet shock. He thought over the girl's talent, that seemed to be god gifted. Coming from the family she apparently did would explain it all.
"I see Sa-kun, this revelation changes some things. I will have to make a phone call. I can't very well leave this situation alone. This may cause some ripples in our plans. Perhaps though... this may make things work out better in the end." Lory said, all the while he was dreading the storm he would have to unleash. He just hoped Ren was prepared for his secret identity to come out, at least to a few people. He really prayed that he and Kyoko will had bonded strongly enough to make it through the revelations that were about to unfold.
With his thoughts deepening into depression, he picked up his phone. He dialed a number he knew all too well. This was not a phone call he was going to be able to cheerfully keep up.
RING RING RING
CLICK
"Hello boss! To what do I owe this unexpected phone call. It's not time for your usual..."
"Kuu, I found them. Your mother and niece." Was Lory's statement.
(Hollywood US)
Kuu Hizuri was just relaxing on his couch. His wife Julie was still out at a fashion show she was the heading.
RING RING RING
"Hello boss! To what do I owe this unexpected phone call. It's not time for your usual..."
The next words would shake him to his soul.
"Kuu, I found them. Your mother and niece."
The veteran actor didn't feel the phone slip out of his hands, and didn't hear it clatter to the floor.
'How? When? After so long, how is this possible?'
Memories began flashing through his mind. His beloved younger sister's face, her ginger colored hair, her tawny golden eyes... her laying cold in a coffin at her wake.
He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard another voice.
"Kuu darling, I'm home. Are you hungry? I can cook for you!" Even the thought of his wife's disastrous cooking couldn't move his mind right now.
"Julie... I'm... in... the living room." Kuu answered his wife, while slowly trying to put his phone back to his ear. Only to realize his hand was empty.
He looked down, still in a daze. Finding his phone on the floor, he picked it up and seeing it still connected. He said the only thing that he could get out.
"We'll be on the first flight to Tokyo. Let Kuon know we're coming."
"Of course Kuu... just don't do anything reckless. I'll see you when you arrive my friend." Lory said on the other end.
Before Kuu could reply the line was cut off.
"KUU!!! What's wrong?" Julie said as she arrived in the living.
"Julie we have to go to Japan. That man found my mother and niece." Was all he said.
Julie's eyes widened. She didn't know what to say in that moment. All she did was nod, and began to make phone calls. She had business to rearrange, this was more important than work.
They would soon set off for Tokyo, not knowing their son had already found his lost family too.
Soon everyone would be involved in a fate they never thought possible.
(Master Course Dorms, Japan)
All young people in the dorms were finally assembled in the day room. The women were setting up the shot glasses and sake. The men, deciding to play along, had expanded the table out to fit the group.
'Why are we doing this again?' They all thought. None really had the strength of will to tell the women no.
So here they found themselves in an awkward predicament.
"Ok gentlemen, chicken is the name of the game. Basically, a video will be played, if you look away, you will be called out as a chicken. The chicken has to take a shot for losing. Now, since we have an odd number of people, we'll have one responsible for watching us all, like a judge. Now how to decide the judge? I believe it should be one of us that has already played.." Tomo finally paused in her explanation.
'Who should I pick?'
"Nee, Tomo-chan, why don't you be the judge? You have the longest winning streak so far." Haruka said.
"Yes that's perfect!" Kyoko added.
"Mou, how bout we make it even more interesting? The loser each round has to do a punishment. Said punishments will be written on a piece of paper and drawn at random. How's that sound. Anyone too scared can back out now." Kanae challenged. She was looking at all the men in the room, instead of the women. She knew the girls were going to have an easier time not getting caught as chickens.
The men shifted uneasily at the challenge the raven haired woman had so craftily laid out. None wanted to seem unmanly in front of the women they loved.
"Why not? It sounds interesting. I propose a counter challenge then." Ren Jinguji replied. His mind working quickly.
All male eyes in the room turned to him in suspicion. Whatever he came up with could not be good.
"Go on blondie. We're waiting." Kanae replies back calmly. She wasn't going to back down from this man.
'Blondie? Oh ho ho. Now this is going to make it even better.'
Ren Jinguji smirked. "If one of the men comes out as the ultimate winner, they get to make a request, just one, of any woman in the game. On the other hand, if any of the ladies is the ultimate winner, all men present will be subject to all of the ladies whims for 24 hours."
'Is he insane?' They all thought.
"Ano, Jinguji-San isn't that a bit unfair to you all?" Haruka asked.
"Why lady, do you feel that the women have the advantage in this? I only set it up this way to make sure everyone tried their best." He replied.
'Bullshit you did.' All the men raged in their minds.
The women thought the same. 'Bullshit'
"Fine! Challenge accepted!" Kyoko, Tomo, and Kanae all replied. They weren't going to go down so easily.
Haruka laughed a bit nervously.
'He he he. We're going to have to be crafty to win this one.' Tomo thought.
'I know exactly what that blonde playboy is trying to pull. Not...gonna...happen.' Kanae thought to herself while coming up with a plan.
Kyoko became pale at being so easily riled up and accepting the challenge. Although, thankfully, in the last few hours, she had become more devious about winning. 'I do believe that man is targeting Hime-chan for real. Well that's too bad for him.' She contemplated a plan in her own mind.
'Oh dear god. What do I do?' Haruka thought while she looked at her girl friends. Seeing them burning in challenge she was a bit reassured.
"Ok. So now it's time to write down individual punishments. The game will end when all punishments have been drawn, or until enough punishments have been dealt to decide a winner. Just to make it even more fair, each round a new judge will be selected. Trading off female and male each time. Since I'm the first judge, I say Tsuruga-San will be the second judge. Each punishment slip will be kept by the person doing the punishment, that way at the end of the game we have a clear count of who was the biggest loser, and the biggest winner." Tomo said.
All heads nodded in agreement.
Ren Tsuruga really felt that this may get out of hand, but he decided that he was going to do his best to be the winner.
"Ok. Let's break up into male and female groups. While each person is writing a punishment down, they are allowed to consult members of their groups. The time limit will be five minutes." Tomo said, she decided to use the five minute opportunity to discuss plans with the other women.
"We will all spread out to different areas, so there's no chance of cheating. We will go to the room next door, and you will all stay here. Once we leave the room, the five minutes will start. When we come back time will be up." Kanae supplied to the groups, all the while trying to keep her expressions neutral.
With that Tomo and Kanae each grabbed one of the other girls and led them from the room.
All men watched them leaving.
'We are so fucked'
As soon as the ladies exited the room, the men sighed in relief.
"Okay men. It's time to face the music. Let's write these punishment slips out." Hyuuga said to the group.
"Yes this shall be very interesting. Let's all do our best to be the ultimate winner. I will be trying my hardest to win over you all." Ringo, still in his masculine form said.
"Yosh, we gotta do our best!" Otoya exclaimed.
The four silent men Ren Tsuruga, Yashiro, Tokiya, and Masato all thought the same thing.
'This is going to get very out of hand.' But they too couldn't help being caught up in the excitement.
All the men began quietly discussing possible punishments. None thought to go easy with them, all assumed the punishments were something the women would be doing.
Therefore the disaster ahead could only be blamed on themselves.
(Next door)
The four outnumbered women had finally made it to their 'battle headquarters' as two of them thought of it.
"Listen very carefully girls, I have a plan, but to be able to pull this off you two are going to have to just relax and do what we tell you." Tomo said.
"But Tomo-chan, aren't we supposed to be discussing punishments?" Haruka questioned.
"We've got that all covered girls. Don't you worry about it at all, if this goes according to plan there will be very little, if any punishments for us." Kanae said. She knew the lines Tomo's thinking was running. Their success would depend solely on the two younger girls in front of them. Although Haruka's part would be the biggest factor.
"Ok...we're listening." Both girls said nervously.
With both girls agreement, each was pulled aside by their respective best friends.
Each older girl, knowing their best friends the best, decided they'd play this plan out as easily as they could
"Think of it as...acting practice Kyoko. Something similar to when you play Natsu. You'll need you to play with Tsuruga-san's head a little. Imagine this as your big chance to prove your acting skills to him." Kanae whispered to Kyoko. She knew this was the best way to get Kyoko to follow the plan.
Meanwhile Tomo was thinking of how to get Haruka to agree with what she had in mind. "Hana-chan, we'll need you to distract the other men besides Ren Tsuruga and Yashiro-san. Just keep their eyes on you as much as possible. Imagine it as being inside your music and leading them with your songs. Let those notes guide your actions. Just do your best. Kanae and I will do the rest."
No one was yet aware of Haruka's family connections to two of the greatest actors in Japan, or her undiscovered ability that would soon present itself.
Haruka blushed and just nodded, she was thinking deeply about what Tomo-Chan had asked of her. She began imagining the lines of music in her mind.
When Tomo saw the look of concentration on her friend's face, she glanced at the other two. She gave a thumbs up to Kanae, and pulled the four pieces of paper out that she just knew would make this all very interesting.
(After the five minutes)
All the men grew quiet as they heard soft footfalls coming back to the room they had been left in.
"Alright everyone. Time's up." Tomo said with a sense of confidence.
All the men not noticing the tone just placed their written punishments into the holder.
Ren Tsuruga, on the other hand, noticed that something about Kyoko had changed. Almost as if she was in character. He felt uneasy when the woman looked at him and smirked.
'That's not a normal facial expression for her. It seemed more like...Natsu!... Shit! Shit! Shit! This isn't good.'
Not knowing anything was wrong Yashiro was distracted when Kanae came towards him. She leaned in close to his ear. "Nee, Yu-ki-to-kun. I hope you try your best." After that she pulled back and walked away. The poor man could only sputter in shock. He never thought, until this moment, that perhaps that woman was as interested as she just seemed.
'Well now I will have to put more effort into winning'
Haruka took her chance to slide up in front of the men she was directed to distract. With the musical notes flowing softly in her mind, her whole persona changed. "Nee everyone, do you best to win. I find the thought of what each of you may request to be...interesting, but I'm not going to go easy on you. 'Giggle' Be prepared to be my slaves for the next 24 hours." With that she sauntered away, still letting her inner music guide her. Between the Sake and her inner symphony she felt no embarrassment.
'What was that about?! When did she become like this?' All of them thought while watching her walk away.
The ladies all met at the table, and Tomo added their four slips of paper to the punishment pool.
"Alright Tsuruga-san, you should sit in the first chair since you'll be the next judge. Kyoko, you sit next to him as our third. Yashiro-san, please take the third chair as our fourth judge. Moko-san sit next to him. Ichinose-san take the seat after that. Hana-chan take the seat beside him, and then finally, Ren Jinguji, you sit next to her. Everyone else just pick a spot. We'll move down one spot each round. Leave a chair between Jinguji and the rest for the next female. This way we all have equal chances at being judges. After each female judge comes back, we'll shuffle the seating order since there are more of you than us. After my turn, we'll leave a blank chair between the specified seats and the randoms. Each woman is allowed to shuffle her judging order. Does that sound good?" Tomo drilled out.
The men agreed. They figured they'd let the women run the seating arrangement. They didn't know they were playing right into the girl's hands.
'He he. My prey won't know what's coming.' Kyoko thought in her Natsu state of mind.
'Just let the music guide me! I can do this. Once I prove to myself I can accomplish this, I know my music will become even better!' Haruka's mind was supplying her the music to guide her actions at this point. She would prove to herself that the music was a part of her soul.
'Get ready Yashiro-san. You're going to be my test subject.' Kanae thought deviously.
'Good they're all ready. This all hinges on Haruka and Kyoko now.' Tomo thought. When she glanced at the two girls, she felt a surge of confidence.
"Alright everyone round one of fanfic chicken!" Tomo said. She had already had the video selected. It'd be one the girl's had already seen.
'Wait! Fanfic chicken!! What the hell?'
The men felt panicked when they realized what kind of videos were about to be played. They suddenly recalled what Ai had informed them of earlier considering the videos.
Before anyone could speak up, the video started playing, Tomo was watching from the sidelines. Watching carefully for her first 'chicken'.
The video was one the girl's were prepared for, as the same song that the men had cursed at earlier began, the words began scrolling across the screen.
They were just at the beginning of the story. So nothing shocking had happened yet. After about two minutes of no reaction, the girls knew that it was only a matter of time. They had picked this video specificity for the purpose of its story line, they were going to shock the men into losing.
As it started slowly sliding into a racy part of the story, Haruka's inner muse gave her a push. Placing one hand on each of her seated partners thighs, she whispered quietly to them while stroking the place her hands were located. She kept her face on the video the whole time. "Nee, Toki, Ren. I wonder if someday I may hear you whisper things like that to me. I like the thought of that. Don't you?" Both men were very severely shocked at her boldness, and forgetting the video turned to look at the woman between them.
"Ichinose-san, Jinguji-san I declare you chicken." Said Tomo. 'Got you. Good job Haruka.' She paused the video, and all eyes turned to the two. They all noticed the two men staring shell shocked at the woman between them. By this time Haruka had already removed her hands, so no one could call foul. She's sure the two wouldn't think to do it themselves.
"What?!" They both shouted.
'So that's the way it is then?' Jinguji thought to himself.
'That was quite sneaky of you Haruka. I will get you back later.' Tokiya thought.
"Punishment time you two." Tomo said in triumph.
The two only nodded, and reached out to pull their punishments. Before opening the papers, they were reminded by the 'judge' about their shot glasses.
Both slung back the glass with a blanch, then opened their punishments.
'Dress in a Piyo-Chan costume'
Tokiya's read. 'God Damn it Natsuki! I told you not to put that!'
'Two extra shots'
Ren just sighed. 'Guess it could be worse from the look on Ichi's face.'
Both showed their papers to the room.
Natsuki seemed happy that someone picked his punishment. He pulled out the costume he had hidden earlier and handed it to Tokiya.
Tomo poured another shot for Ren, which he slammed back. The he waited for his second. 'At least my tolerance is high.' With that he took his next shot, once it was poured, and slammed it down too.
In the time it took Ren to do his punishment, Tokiya had slipped the costume on. No one dared to laugh, especially at the expression on his face. 'I'm definitely going to get you back for this Haruka.'
"Ok. Everyone, next judge to the front. Everyone slide down." Tomo said.
Ren Tsuruga stood up to take his spot as the next judge. Tomo sat down at the end of the table. "Just go to the next video Tsuruga-san." She said with an air of relaxed confidence.
He only nodded his head. He was still a bit suspicious about the results earlier, but just let it go.
The two previous losers had already caught onto the women's plan. They decided it was their turn to be sneaky, they just weren't sure how to go about it yet.
As the next video began, everyone tensed up again. All were determined not to be the chicken this time.
Ren sat at the front watching closely for his chance to call chicken.
He hoped the men would be alright. The women looked unconcerned. He didn't know the next to fall would be his manager.
Kanae decided it was her turn to act. Without removing her eyes from the screen she spoke to her intended target.
"Yukito, I never noticed till tonight how sexy you are. Maybe after this we can get to know each other better. What do you say?"
For the second time that night the poor man sputtered in shock, just as his eyes shifted away from the screen, he heard a sigh. "Yukito, I declare you chicken."
'Damn it really?' The men all thought.
"Punishment time." Tomo chimed from the end of the table. All the women were gleeful that their plan was working so far.
'Shit. That was smooth. I suppose the women had this all set up already.' Ren thought. He had noticed Kanae's lips moving this time, before Yukito had been caught as chicken.
14 more to go the women thought, as Yashiro slung his shot back, before reaching into the punishment basket.
'Run one lap through the downstairs hallways naked.' "Shit." As he raised the punishment to the room, everyone let out small laughs, all relieved that it wasn't them.
"Ladies, please avert your eyes. It would seem Yukito will be stripping down." Ren Tsuruga said with a sigh.
All women in the room did as requested, while the poor man stripped naked and ran out the door as fast as he could.
'Alright, I understand now. The women aren't going to play fair. So how do we all win this? We're already 3-0.' Yashiro thought to himself, he needed some kind of distraction from the embarrassment.
After he had rounded the last corner, he saw Ren waiting by the door for him, with his night clothes in hand.
Sighing in relief after catching his breath, he got dressed. Ren took the opportunity to whisper to him. "I take it you've noticed we're being manipulated into losing. I'm sure our first two losers have noticed too."
Yashiro just nodded.
"Good, then we both know that now we're going to have to play dirty too." The actor said with a strange smile on his face.
As he and his manager walked back into the room, they made eye contact with Tokiya and Jinguji, the first two victims, and all nodded.
'It's game on ladies.' The four thought together. They figured either the others would catch on, or they'd have to pull this off between the four of them.
"Alright seat change again." Ren said.
The next judge, Kyoko, as her Natsu persona took the judge's seat. She knew the men were catching on, but that's ok. She still had a plan for her target, she'd bide her time.
As everyone shifted down, and settled in their seats, the next video began.
This one was a much more intense story line from the beginning.
The youngest female of the four started getting nervous. This video was quite a bit more explicit than any she had seen before.
She didn't realize that the two next to her had caught on to this, and decided it was time for payback.
'Your turn Haruka.' They both thought deviously.
Moving in tandem, Tokiya and Jinguji shifted closer to their intended target.
At the exact same time, one placed his hand on her back and ran it under her shirt. Letting her feel the bare skin of his hand against her skin. While the other went for the bottom edge of her shorts, and slowly trailing his fingers up, pushed the material closer to her hip.
Haruka's mind went dead silent as she felt the touches. She was trying to ignore them, but they were causing her to slowly tilt her head back and close her eyes.
"Hiiimmmeee-Chan, Ittoki-san, Cecil-san! I declare you all three chicken!" Kyoko said from her seat. She paused the video, getting ready to deal out punishment.
The men on either side of her slowly pulled their hands away. Jinguji's from her back, and Tokiya's from her upper thigh.
'Got you.' They both thought. Though they had succeeded, they had a hard time stopping themselves from continuing.
All three losers took their shots. Then each pulled out a punishment slip.
Haruka was still thinking about the touches she had felt on her skin, that had been her downfall.
The other two losers were still blushing at having been caught looking away.
'Take a body shot off the previous loser.' Oyoya's said. He blushed as red as his hair.
'Take a mouth shot from another loser'
Said Cecil's
'Remove one item of clothing.'
Was Haruka's paper.
As the room saw the punishments, each person had a different expression on their face.
"This works out well, we have three punishments, two involving another loser. As Hime-Chan is the only none shot punishment, she will be the losers partners." Kyoko/Natsu said.
All of Haruka's love interests, except the two losers, were almost sad that hadn't lost.
Haruka slipped her robe off for her one item of clothing, reveling the thin straps holding up the tiny nightgown.
"Hana-Chan, this will be easier if you lay on the table." Tomo said, speaking up for the first time in a while.
Haruka just nodded and laid back, flat on the table. The others had moved back to give the three room. Cecil and Otoya approached her slowly. Haruka blushed thinking of what was coming.
The girls set one shot glass in her mouth, after telling her to open up. The other was placed on her stomach, where Otoya was instructed to hold it steady. Both shot glasses were filled.
As one, both boys leaned forward and took the shot glasses with their mouths and tilted their heads back.
Everyone in the room watched with interest.
"Alright, next judge!" Kyoko declared as she sat in her new seat.
Yashiro took the seat that had been vacated by Kyoko. He waited for everyone to get settled, and shot glasses to be refilled before he started the next video. He was happy for the temporary reprieve.
'Only 11 more to go. We are still losing 6-1.' All the men thought.
Who was going to be chicken this time?
Yashiro pulled himself from his thoughts, he had to make sure to watch carefully.
Haruka was distracted trying to reorganize her mind. There was no chance of dragging her eyes away from the screen. She honestly didn't even notice it at all. The two men next to her were caught in their own thoughts and weren't really paying attention either. Her two losing partners were still to embarrassed at being caught looking away, and determined to not be caught again.
Trouble was brewing down at the other side of the table. Masato was quickly becoming more and more disturbed at the video. He was trying to steel his mind and push through. While Syo was getting irritated that the men were losing. All the members of Quartet Night seemed unbothered so far. The two oldest men were busy watching the videos. They both agreed they were very well done, but being as experienced as they were it would take more than this to shock them.
Suddenly a judgement was made. "Masato, Syo! I declare you both chicken! It's punishment time." Yashiro said.
He didn't like doing it, but he had to be a fair judge.
'Shit.' Thought both men as they took their loser shot. After that they both drew from the punishment basket.
'Dress in drag.'
Syo wanted to rip the damn paper.
'Randomly select a name out of a bucket, and kiss that person.'
Masato turned pale at his punishment.
Both showed the room their papers. Syo was dragged out of the room, and given a wig and clothes to put on.
Tomo approached the second loser with the bucket. She really had been tempted to remove any female's name from it, but that would just be evil.
Looking at the slip in his hand, he almost cursed outloud. It wasn't the name he'd hoped to pull. "Can I switch punishments, or do a repick?" He asked quietly.
"Nope, no can do." Tomo said. She couldn't wait for how this would develop.
'Sigh' Tomo took the slip of paper from his hands to see the name. She couldn't help the laugh she let out. Masato just glared at the floor. "Ichinose-san, come here." Tomo practically sang. The other man's face turned very distinctly white at the implication.
'No fucking way!' Was what he wanted to say, instead it was, "And if I refuse?"
"Then you will automatically be declared the overall loser, and had to complete all the punishments in the basket. If that comes about the men will automatically lose." Kanae said. 'You're not going to get out of it that easy. This is payback for Haruka earlier.'
Tokiya and Masato both froze as they realized they were trapped. 'Whoever wrote this punishment will suffer!' They both thought darkly.
With heavy feet Tokiya stepped up to Masato. The other man looked back wearily. 'Just think about Haruka.' They both thought.
All eyes were on the two men, even Syo's as he arrived in a pink and white lace Lolita dress and blonde wig. 'Okay, my punishment could be worse. At least I don't have to kiss Tokiya, dressed as a big Piyo-chan.'
'Cute!' Natsuki thought looking at the Piyo-Chan clad Tokiya and the drag dressed Syo.
'At least it's not me!' Was the consensus among all the men not facing this punishment.
Haruka watched in fascination as the two men leaned into each other, and touched lips. It didn't last very long, but it made her feel strange inside.
"You two do know the punishment didn't state the kiss had to be lip to lip right?" Ren Jinguji said with mirth.
Both men froze at this, and had to stop themselves from cursing.
"Alright, judge change!" Yashiro said, he was trying not to poke more fun at the two unfortunate boys.
It was Kanae's turn as judge.
'Let's see if we can shake them up a bit shall we? We've got nine more punishments to hand out.'
"I purpose a seating switch! Ichinose-san you move to the seat at then end of the table please, sit next to Syo-san. Hana-chan you can stay put. Jinguji you can sit on the other side of Yashiro. Then let's see... ah yes, Hyuuga-san and Camus take the spots next to Haruka. Kotobuki-san you set next to Camus. The rest just shuffle your spots. I figured since the women have the lead, we'll give the men an edge by letting them be judges more often. Any disagreements?" Kanae finally finished her directions.
Some in the room were about to protest, but then they saw the look on Kanae's face. They just nodded, and did as they were told.
When everyone was settled once again. Kanae started the video. She hoped Haruka knew what needed to be done. The women still had a chance at losing. She could only watch and wait.
As the video began to play, everyone was even more determined not to be called chicken.
After the brief break, Haruka was able to get her mind melody flowing again. She had an idea of what Kanae was planning. She could only try her best to pull it off, while the other ginger headed girl decided it was time to make her move.
"Nee, Ren-san. I've been thinking. Perhaps it's time I try to love again. Don't you think? I feel I'm ready to be a woman. What are you thoughts?" Kyoko as Natsu thought for sure she had won. Although she knew Ren had figured out the women's plans, she didn't think he had the balls to turn it around on her.
Ren without looking away from the video replied to her. He already figured she would try and pull something, so he had prepared himself. "Kyoko, I am glad you are ready to open your heart again. On the subject of becoming a woman, I will confess that I am fully willing to help out with that. I can just imagine it now..." He trailed off. Sure he was trying to beat her at her own games, but he was having problems holding himself back. Both froze, neither willing to give in just yet. The two were plotting their next move, while at the end of the table, Haruka decided to gather her courage and act out her own plan.
"Hyugga-sensei? Camus-senpai? Reji-senpai?" She asked timidly. She kept her gaze straight ahead, but knew she had their attention.
"Do you think it's ok if I love more than one person? Maybe it's bad of me? Perhaps I need to be punished. Do you think so? I know if one of you three were willing to punish me, I may enjoy it." She finished. She had to hold back a look of triumph when she felt three gazes on her.
'What did she just say?! Is she serious?'
All the sudden the video was paused. "Camus, Hyuuga, Kotobuki! I declare you three chicken." Kanae said. 'Haruka you are truly evil'
The two at the other end of the table facepalmed. They knew exactly what had happened. Haruka had done something sneaky again.
The three men that had been defeated just took their shots and picked out their punishments. They all finally started realizing why the men had been losing so easily. 'These women were planning this all along.'
'Eat one of Natsuki's cookies'
Hyugga didn't know why that would be a punishment.
'You get to try a new look! Congratulations you'll be receiving a new hair color!'
Reji lifted his eyebrow and shrugged. He was sure it couldn't be too bad.
'You must bow down to everyone at the table and call them master or milady'
Camus paled. His dignity was about to take a very severe beating.
As they let the room see their punishments, everyone felt the worst for Hyuuga. He didn't know yet that Natsuki made cookies with extra ingredients, or that said cookies could cause you to have near death experiences.
Everyone wanted to laugh at Camus's punishment. It was quite fitting for the arrogant count.
They all felt that Reji got off to easy.
Hyuuga was the first to receive his punishment. As soon as the cookie has touched his tongue, he understood why it was a punishment. Being the man he was, he refused to spit it out, and swallowed.
Everyone agreed Reji's punishment would be done later, coloring hair would take too long.
Finally everyone turned to Camus. The man really despised life at this moment. Unwilling he bowed down to all assembled and greeted them all. Making sure to use the terms master and milady as was appropriate.
Kanae suddenly smiled as a thought came to mind. "Everyone, I hate to point out the obvious... but calculating the numbers, there are only six punishments left. The women lead the men 1-10. Should we continue, or do you admit defeat?" All the men sighed as one. Even if they won the next six rounds, they would still be behind. That still left the question of the ultimate winner.
"How do we decide the ultimate winner then? No one has more than one mark so far?" Ringo asked.
"Simple, all the non-losing males will be paired up each round with a female. No punishments, just head to head." Tomo replied.
Some of the males were about to agree, not all of them were aware the the plots the women had been using.
"I disagree, I do believe that we should come up with a different challenge. Just to avoid any future trickery." Ren Tsuruga said smiling at the women's faces.
"Trickery? What trickery are you talking about?" The grey head Ranmaru asked after being quiet for so long.
Tokiya and Jinguji smirked as they knew their time was about to come.
"Didn't you wonder why the men were losing so easily?" Tokiya asked. He directed his gaze to Haruka to see her nervously shift. She wouldn't meet his eyes.
"I did find it a bit strange, especially when Jinguji was one of the first to lose." Ringo said while looking from Tokiya to Haruka. He believed he was starting to catch on.
"Yes, the ladies apparently decided to play dirty. The original sitting order should have been the first sign something was up. Each lady apparently had a specific target, or targets in mind..." Jinguji said with a smirk. He didn't think to add that he and Ichi had figured it out after they lost. Nor did he feel it safe to mention their 'revenge' that had caused Haruka to lose.
"Oh really now?" Ranmaru asked with a raised eyebrow, his gaze was also now directed to Haruka. 'So she's been playing those boys like a fiddle? I'm impressed. To have caused Reji and Camus to lose is impressive enough, but she even got Hyugga. She's even more interesting than I thought.'
"So what do you suggest Ren-san?" Kyoko said very low. She still hadn't fully released Natsu yet.
Everyone in the room thought about how they could break this possible draw.
"Alright, I have an idea. Let's do hunter and prey shall we?" Ringo suggested.
"What's that?" Otoya asked, he didn't like where this was going one bit. He felt a bit left out not being targeted by Haruka.
"It's basically hide and seek, but in this case, since we are deciding winners and losers, it hunter and prey." Hyuuga clarified to everyone.
The girls all looked at one another. They wondered themselves where this was heading.
"We'll set a time limit of 30 minuets. Two members from the men's side, and two from the women's will center the hunters. The rest will be the prey. Which ever team has caught more prey in the end will be the winners." Ringo explained.
"Isn't that unfair to the women's team? There's only two prey." Cecil asked.
"How about this, once the hunters are decided, the leftover men will draw lot. The one with a blank will be our time keeper and referee. The rest will be divided between the men's and women's teams." Tomo added. She figured since they were found out, then she might as well play along.
Everyone nodded in agreement. That seemed to be most logical way to do this.
"I believe we should all do a shot each before this game, just so no one can complain about losing because the one that caught them was more sober." Ranmaru thought outloud.
No one understood why he'd suggest that, but at this point everyone figured they might as well.
Everyone took a shot glass and downed it.
Now it was time to draw for hunters.
The two women who drew hunter were unexpectedly Kanae and Haruka. From the men it was Ren Tsuruga and Tokiya.
After the four hunters were decided it was time to divide the teams. Each person left pulled a paper. Some cursing in their heads, the others happy with their pick. A few people wondered why they were even participating. Finally the teams were decided.
Hunter and prey teams
Women:
Tomo-Prey
Haruka-Hunter
Kyoko-Prey
Kanae-Hunter
Syo-Prey
Cecil-Prey
Otoya-Prey
Ai-Prey
Men:
Tokiya-Hunter
Ren Jinguji-Prey
Ren Tsuruga-Hunter
Masato-Prey
Hyuuga-Prey
Camus-Prey
Reji-Prey
Natsuki/Satsuki-Prey
Ref:
Ringo
With the selection process out of the way, the time keeper, Ringo stepped forward.
"Ok, anyone who is prey has five minutes to seek shelter, before we set the hunters loose."
Everyone but the 'hunters' and time keeper left the room. All were trying to figure out the best place not to be found.
Tokiya stared at Haruka while everyone left to hide themselves. He was regretful that she wasn't prey for this match.
While Kanae and Ren squared off. Both openly challenging each other. One as Kyoko's best friend, the other as the man in love with Kyoko.
Ren couldn't help to glance at his teammate, who in turn was glancing at the woman, that may be his cousin.
He felt now would be the best time to get some answers.
"Nanami-San, I know this may sound a bit strange, but what was your mother's last name? I couldn't help noticing you look familiar."
Haruka glanced at the actor and tilted her head trying to understand why he would ask. Tokiya was also suspicious at the other man's question, although now that he thought about it, he didn't know much about her family either.
'What are you up to Tsuruga?' Kanae thought. He was showing an unusual amount of interest in her new friend. If she didn't already know he was in love with Kyoko, she might have assumed he was falling for Haruka.
"Ano, my mother's last name? Hizuri...same as my grandmother's. Her last name became Nanami when she married my...father..." Haruka trailed off sadly. She knew she had never told her friends about her parents already being gone, and it still hurt sometimes to think about them.
The four other people in the room looked at the girl, three with shocked expressions, and one in sadness. They all made the same connection when the name was mentioned.
Tokiya was really quite shocked. 'Why has she never mentioned being related to one of the greatest actors in Japan, if not the world. Did she not know? He knew she grew up disconnected from media, so perhaps she didn't realize it.'
Kanae was just as shocked. Was Kyoko related to Kuu Hizuri, and why did Tsuruga think to ask her that question. She became even more suspicious.
Ringo said nothing at the information. He always knew Haruka was exceptionally talented, and if her family was who he thought it to be, it would explain some things. He knew he'd be asking the president some pointed questions later.
Ren was sad to bring up something he knew was painful to the girl, but now he had his answer. He felt bad for pressing anymore, but if this was going to work, he'd have to prepare her.
"So your mother was Miyuki Hizuri and your father was Shino Nanami, right?"
Haruka didn't say anything, just nodded sadly. She didn't question how a man she barely knew would know about her parents.
"That explains it then, I'm friends with your uncle and aunt. I know their son very well." Ren said softly, he wished more than ever he was free to be his real self. Kuon Hizuri, her cousin.
He was too busy watching Haruka's reaction to notice three sets of eyes turn on him in suspicion.
'What are you up to?' They all thought.
Haruka looked up at him for the first time. She never thought that one day, someone would know something about her estranged Uncle and his family.
"Really? My grandmother never told me much about him. After mother and father...died... I never saw them again. I figured after I grew up they chose not to contact us again."
The three unknowing witnesses to a family reunion, were shocked to find out that Haruka's parents were dead.
'What the hell is going on here?'
"I'm sure that's not the case. In fact tomorrow we can talk to President Lory about it. He's also friends with him." Ren wanted so badly to embrace his young cousin, but as Ren Tsuruga he wasn't allowed to.
Haruka just nodded again. She felt there was something the older man wasn't telling her. She knew eventually she'd figure it out.
Everyone in the room grew very quiet. Three people in the room were holding back from asking the actor's motives, or how he in fact knew everything he did. One was trying to figure out how to fix the situation he'd put himself in, and the other was lost in what little memories she had of her departed parents.
None realized how much time had already passed before they heard the chime of an alarm.
The total of 35 minuets was up. Everyone's heads snapped up at once.
"Well times up everyone! I guess it a draw for the game!" Ringo said cheerfully while trying to break the tension he could sense in the room.
The others just nodded. None really felt the game or deciding a winner was important at the moment.
While the five were still caught in their thoughts, all the 'prey' entered the room. All questioning how none had been caught.
"So it's a draw then?" Hyuuga looked in question at Ringo. The pink haired man just shrugged.
"Mou, I guess it is. We couldn't catch any of you. I guess there is no ultimate winner." Kanae said trying not to let the arrivals know something had gone wrong.
A collective sigh was heard.
Then Syo decided to say something.
"None of us ever mention this night again. I don't want to hear one word about me dressing like a girl. I'm sure everyone else will agree."
Everyone nodded. After tonight there was plenty of blackmail material to go around.
"Alright everyone should head to bed, for real this time ladies. Let's hope no one has a hangover tomorrow." Ringo said in glee.
Everyone groaned at the thought. Slowly all the players filtered out of the room, except for the five who had forgotten about the game earlier. Each looked at one another. Three looked at Ren with questions in their eyes, and one watched the group as a whole. All of them knew their discussion wouldn't be mentioned once they left this room, but all would seek answers on their own later.
With a huff Kanae decided she had enough. "Come on Hana-chan. Let's go to bed. The alcohol is starting to give me a headache." Not looking at the men they left behind she pulled Haruka out of the room.
The three men left behind stayed silent.
"You will of course explain things later. If anything you know may hurt Haruka we need to know." Tokiya finally spoke out.
Ringo nodded in agreement.
'Sigh' "When I can tell the whole truth, I will make sure you two hear it as well." With that statement Ren left the room.
The other two still stood watching the man walk away. They looked at each other.
"I believe you and I are in agreement that we don't like not knowing what is going on. Since we are the only ones that know about this conversation so far, then it's up to us to protect Haruka." Tokiya said the the pink haired man. He never thought he'd be allied with him for anything, but this was an unusual situation.
"I agree Toki. We'll find out what's going on and keep Haruka safe." Ringo confirmed softly.
After the unusual alliance was made, both men walked out and proceeded back to their beds for the rest of the night. Neither felt the least bit tired, their minds were full of questions.
(With Ren)
Ren pulled out his phone once he got back to his room for the night and sent three words, to two people.
To:Lory; Kuu H.
I found her.
(Tokyo)
Both men received the message at the same time. Seeing as how the actor had just arrived in Japan, and the president had greeted him at the airport.
From: Ren Tsuruga
I found her.
"So Kuon already figured it out?" Kuu asked out-loud.
Lory looked sad at the couple in front of him. He knew there was no need to say anything, nothing he could say would stop the emotional days ahead.
Julie said nothing to either man. She was happy that her darling niece would be reunited with them soon, she just hoped that Kuon would be able to reunite with them as their son.
All three remained silent. They could only hope to reach the president's mansion soon, and sleep before they did anything else.