Chapter 7 – And again
We headed over to the artists' lounge, where the boys were waiting, including Ai and 3 others, which I guessed where the rest of the band from Quartet Night.
Syo shouted excitedly: "Aika talked! I heard her! She asked Ai a question!"
Most of the STARISH members had a double-take, "Wait, what?!" "What do you mean?" "Incredible!" The members of Quartet Night only looked mildly surprised, only a brown haired nice-looking guy responded in awe: "That's great Syo-kun! Maybe she's getting better finally!" . That earned him a snort from the guy with heterochromatic eyes: "It was obvious she'd get better one day, no need to make such a huge fuss about it."
"Oy, Ranran! Don't say such mean things in front of Aika-chan!"
"No, I half-agree with Kurosaki on that one, for once", said the icy-looking man with long, blond hair, "I'm sorry, my Lady, but, as a professional, any event, no matter how big, should never have shook you as much as this has. Your reaction was clearly unprofessional; so you might want to relearn what it is to be a professional, my dear."
Otoya cut in: "How dare you say that! It's normal to be deeply traumatized after all she's lived through!" Even though I hadn't known him very long, it was still weird to see him mad. The thought that he was protecting me made my heart flutter.
I put my hand on my shoulder to stop him. He looked back at me, straight into my eyes, a protective look illuminating his. I shook my head no, he should stop, it wasn't worth it, they were right. I was a failure.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Ai staring at me, a long, thinking, piercing stare which felt like it was going right through my body and into my soul. "What exactly happened to Aika?" He asked. His face was still pokerfaced, but it had a hint of curiosity in it, this time.
"Yeah, I want to know too!" Natsuki exclaimed.
"You're too young, Natsuki" Ren said.
"It should be Aika's choice who knows or not anyways. It's her life." Added Masato.
I looked from each boys face to the next, one by one. The truth was, I didn't remember anything from that horrid night. I went over to my bag to get my mini blackboard and chalk, then went to sit on one of the couches with it on my lap. The boys crowded over.
"Interesting idea, of you to bring a blackboard. You can't sing with it though. What a shame." Camus said.
"Let our little lamb try to communicate, Camus-senpai" Ren cut him off.
I wrote on the blackboard: I don't remember what happened to me. You can talk about it if you want (I don't mind).
"Like, you really don't remember a thing?!" Syo asked in amazement. I shook my head no apologetically. Actually, I only remembered small fragments of what had happened on that fateful night, but most I had no idea if any of those fragments was reality, or if I had just made them up. To cover the real truth, the too real, cruel truth.
"One question though, Aika. Do you remember who Daisuke is?" Masato asked me gently, "It's okay if you don't, it's just to know, because we have the feeling that the only way to help you out of this is by looking through your story, bit by bit."
I thought for a moment before writing: Daisuke? I think he was my best friend in elementary school, right?
Then it all came back to me; the running, hiding in the shadows of that alley, how we had all been ambushed. And Daisuke, my poor Daisuke. He was like a brother to me, how could I have forgotten him?
I gasped and fell forward. The whole world was spinning again, but this time much faster. "Catch her, she's fainting!" I heard someone shout in the background. Then, hands were on my shoulders, holding me, catching me, and everything – you guessed it – went black again.
I do not own any of the characters, or the bands in Uta No Prince-Sama, but the protagonist (and her -dead- best friend) of this story is my own creation. Please do not steal them without authorization (just ask). Thanks dudes. :) Peace