Hey, guys! It's been forever since I updated this story, but I had way too many things going on: first I had to transfer to a different course and a different university, then I had my exams, next I have my family to spend time with. Then I had to go to the Philippines to attend my cousin's wedding as I'm one of the bridesmaids, and finally, I got sick with bronchitis, and was bedridden for a while, but now I'm feeling much better! :D
I sincerely apologize, though - I really took long to update, and I know that's unfair for you readers. TTwTT
Sadly, the updating may also be quite erratic as I have to catch up with my studies since I transferred universities. 0w0 however, I'll do my best to try and update. I'll be working on this fic the most for now compared to my others, as I've really got the plot in motion now. :D
Anyway, thank you so much to those who faved, followed and reviewed! 8D
KuroNeko: Thank you so much! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in a while. ^^' that's why I love them together: Antonio's so cheerful, warm and open while Quan on the other hand is quiet, composed and more mysterious. :D you're welcome, but I should thank you for reading my story! =^^=
Guest: Well, I'm here now, and I'm going to work on this story for now. The updating will sadly be quite erratic, so it may take a short or long time to update it. I apologize for keeping you waiting. ;w;
[Music Recommendation/s:
- Contest Hall by Junichi Masuda from Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire]
Hope you can forgive me for the extremely late update, and enjoy~! :'D
It was Friday morning when it was time for the first collaborative assignment to be released.
And unsurprisingly, everyone was discussing about it as they all hustled and bustled towards the familiar concert stage that helped sort out the students into their teams at the very start of the year.
Going down the long pathway that was made from red carpet, Quan peered up at the gigantic screen situated at the stage, which was off.
"Hello there, Quan."
The Vietnamese boy looked over his shoulder to see Madeleine immediately bound up to his side. He stopped so she can catch up with him as she carefully manoeuvred her way around and through the sea of people. Once she caught up to him, he nodded, "Hello to you, too. So, shall we?"
The pigtailed composer nodded in return, "Yes, let's go." Looking around, she noticed that Quan was alone before she had come up to him. "Rosaliese isn't with you today?" upon the Asian stylist's head snapping in her direction however, she immediately caught herself and waved her hands around. "S-sorry! What I mean is – you and Rosaliese Edelstein are quite close, so I was just wondering, that's all…"
"It's fine," Quan responded evenly. "It's still only nine; I'm sure we'll bump into her soon enough."
"Y-yes," the Canadian girl pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she licked her lips, feeling oddly nervous for some reason. She wasn't sure why – hearing about Rosaliese from Quan specifically always invoked a rather unpleasant reaction in her head and stomach.
Noticing that his composer didn't seem so chipper, Quan narrowed his golden eyes as he questioned, "Is everything alright?"
Madeleine blinked before shaking her head and plastering a smile on her face, "O-oh! Don't worry about me. I'm fine. I'm sorry I made you worry…"
Quan arched both his eyebrows up in shock, "Why are you saying sorry…?"
"F-for making you worry…"
"Shouldn't that be natural among friends?"
Madeleine couldn't help but feel her cheeks immediately explode a cherry red upon how he acknowledged her. Admittedly, she was really happy that he always noticed her – then again, he was the first person at the school to acknowledge her, too. So for that, she gave a weak smile, "Yeah, you're right. Sorry…" Upon seeing him arch one eyebrow this time, Madeleine clasped her hands to her mouth, "Oh, no! Sorry, I mean…! Oh no, I did it again, sorry! Oh-"
"You apologize too much," Quan remarked in a calm yet noticeably amused tone. Madeleine could've also sworn that she saw what appeared to be a smile creeping up on his thin lips.
"Hey, it's Quan and Maddie! Over here!"
Both of them weren't surprised to see Dracul waving his arm madly at a bunch of seats in the second row. Seated beside him was Emil who honestly looked extremely nervous, and Mitchell was in front of him – fully facing him and trying to help calm him down. Karina was on Mitchell's right, and when she turned around to see who the Romanian stylist was calling out to, she nodded at Quan and Madeleine.
Quan however could plainly see that the younger girl looked genuinely frightened. However, he didn't say a word about it, and simply allowed Madeleine to go take a seat first, before following soon after. When he planted himself on her right, he nodded in acknowledgement back.
"How are you two today?" Dracul asked, still grinning.
"F-fine," Madeleine responded as she gave a small smile. "A little nervous…you?"
"A lot nervous," Emil mumbled in reply before Dracul could respond.
Mitchell leaned a bit over his seat and patted the Icelandic's boy's shoulder, "Don't worry! I'm sure the first collaborative assignment won't be that bad…"
"I'm sure it won't as well," Madeleine spoke up as an attempt of making the younger boy feel better. "Besides, it's collaborative: you have your stylist and idol, too."
Dracul nodded as he jerked a thumb at himself, "You bet! You ain't alone in this, kid!"
Emil however gave a huff, "Do not call me kid!"
The strawberry-blonde with the top hat however chuckled, "Don't worry! I was just kidding!" this prompted everyone else to groan around him, however that made him break out into laughter even more.
"¡Buenas dias, mis amigos!" Quan didn't need to turn around to see his idol come join the rest of the group.
However, he did crane his head around upon hearing an unfamiliar voice give a grunt. Turning around, he saw that Antonio was trying to drag along a tall and rather muscular green-eyed young man with his dirty blonde hair slicked up into a spiky style. He was wearing a blue and white striped scarf, and there was a short, vertical scar at the right side of his forehead.
"Hello, Antonio," Madeleine spoke up, however she seemed a bit nervous upon eying the spiky-headed blonde. "Um, who is this?"
"This is Lars!" Antonio beamed brightly. "He and I were friends ever since we were kids!"
Lars however gave a snort, which caused Quan to arch an eyebrow slightly as he crossed his arms over his chest. Certainly looked friendly…
"Come sit with us, Lars!" Antonio piped up cheerfully as he playfully tugged on the scarf-wearing student's arm.
Lars' left eye twitched as he roughly removed his arm from the Spaniard's grip, "I can accompany myself. You go first."
Antonio didn't at all seem so miffed from the Dutchman's brusque words, though everyone else seemed a bit shocked by his mannerisms. Quan however simply arched both eyebrows in surprise, however he didn't take note of it; instead, he began to wonder…
'Was I like this guy when I first met Antonio? Or was I worse?'
"So, Quan – what do you think the collaborative assignment is?" Antonio's warm, thickly accented voice broke the train of thoughts in the Vietnamese stylist's head. "I hope it's not so hard…"
Quan blinked before rubbing at his head, "A-ah…well, I don't really mind. After all; this is a prestigious school, I expect that they'd be testing our skills out."
Antonio heaved a heavy sigh, "Well, if you put it that way…I guess you have a point, mi amigo…"
Lars arched an eyebrow in direction of the Asian student before lifting his head slightly, "Mind introducing me?"
Antonio however looked at the Dutch boy in surprise, "But, I thought you said that you could accompany yourself?"
The spiky-headed blonde gave an exasperated sigh, "Forget it…" he then paid his attention onto Quan. "What's your name?"
"Quan," the Vietnamese boy replied as he introduced himself; he leaned a bit as he stretched his arm out. "And yours?"
"Lars," the Dutchman leaned a bit as well as he stretched his own arm out. "Lars van Stein."
"I'm Madeleine Williams," the Canadian girl spoke up in a small, quiet voice as Lars fixed his icy green eyes onto her. Whenever he looked at someone, they would immediately speak up and say their name to him as well as shake hands with him. Emil notably looked very uneasy, and Karina was extremely shy about it.
As the concert hall began to fill out from students, Quan focused onto the stage to see that Katyusha the secretary was nervously looking from backstage. The Ukrainian woman was biting her bottom lip as her face was screwed up into an extremely anxious expression.
It invoked his curiosity even more as to what the announcement of the assignment was.
"The awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt is here!"
Beside him, Quan saw Madeleine give a little groan before shutting her eyes; she looked like she was honestly trying to cure a massive headache that was coming on while also trying to make herself look smaller. The Vietnamese stylist gave a small, inaudible chuckle in his throat.
However, Antonio had heard that little rumble beside him, and perked his head up in direction of his stylist. He couldn't help but smile at how the Asian looked so amused; it was nice to see him without a frown on his face. He actually looked really nice without one…
"There is no need to rush like a buffoon."
Quan immediately snapped his head around to see Rosaliese give a prim sniff in Gilbert's direction, which caused the pale-haired idol to roll his crimson eyes. He bowed his head in her direction, and when he caught her eye, her expression seemed to soften a bit as her lips tugged upwards and she dipped her head in return in his direction.
Antonio blinked at the quiet yet friendly connection they had between each other. It caused odd twists to erupt in his stomach, and it made him feel a little sick.
"Whatever, princess!" Gilbert said smoothly. "Call me when I give a damn!" he immediately seated himself behind Madeleine. "Hey, little birdie! How ya doing?" he grinned in her direction.
Madeleine rolled her eyes before giving a half-hearted shrug, "Okay, I guess." She didn't even look back to face him.
"Hey, Gil," Antonio spoke up. "Where is Francis?"
Before the Prussian boy could respond, there was some giggling from the other side of the room. When everyone turned around, they saw that the blonde Frenchman was surrounded by beautiful girls who were begging him to continue with what appeared to be stories. They were all also eagerly inching closer towards him as he gave his odd, French-sounding laugh.
It took a while for them to realize that they were asking Francis to speak in his home language towards them.
"How do you say 'you are the light of my eyes', Francis?" one girl asked excitedly as the others immediately agreed; some giggling in the process.
Francis gave a good-natured chuckle before replying in a clear voice, "Well, ma chérie, it is this 'Tu es la lumière de ma vie.'"
"Wait, hold on: I thought the French word for 'you' is 'vous'?" one girl asked, looking puzzled.
However, Francis simply laughed before answering, "Well, in France, we typically use the more familiar, informal variant of 'you.' After all – it is towards a lover, no? You would most definitely be familiar with a lover, oui?"
"Oui~" the girls were giggling all over again in that giddy way.
Quan was getting tired of hearing giggling, giddy girls – it tended to grate his head. 'Better than hearing them scream…' he thought to himself as he recalled that incident in the train when he heard that group of girls scream in such a way that his ears almost bled. "Looks like that answers your question," Quan nodded in Antonio's direction.
The green-eyed brunette chortled, "Well, Francis really does love the company of girls."
"He's still at it?" Lars didn't look so surprised, nor did he look impressed. "Still the same after all these years, huh?"
"Heya, dudes! Sorry, I'm late!"
Quan wasn't that surprised to see Alfred come clambering into the concert hall as he suddenly sprang over a few chairs and literally land right next to Rosaliese, causing the Austrian girl to give a slightly unearthly shriek that caused everyone else to jump. Even Quan himself. Gilbert on the other hand, had exploded into fits of laughter.
"You unruly ruffian!" Rosaliese hissed in the American composer's direction.
"Whoa, whoa! Sorry, dudette! Didn't mean to scare the ever living crap out of you!" Alfred apologized, looking surprised.
Rosaliese simply huffed before crossing her arms over her chest and flashing Quan a helpless look. Quan responded by merely shrugging his shoulders, and when the brunette girl rubbed at her temples, this prompted another inaudible chuckle to rumble in his throat.
And again, Antonio caught it – his ears were always very sharp, and he was always a good listener: you had to be in order to perform well with your musicians if you were to be an idol, after all. Still, again, he felt the unwanted twisting in his stomach as he shuffled a bit uncomfortably in his seat. He was still not so sure why he was even experiencing these weird feelings in the first place.
"Nah, don't be sorry!" Gilbert was wiping at his eye. "That was pure awesomeness! The look on your face, prissy aristocrat princess!" he suddenly scrunched his face up in a mortified expression as he placed his hands up in a girly fashion before giving a high-pitched squeak.
Rosaliese's pale face took a pink tinge as she gritted her teeth, "How immature of you; I do not even sound like that."
"Hey, Al," Dracul spoke up to break the tension. "Where's Eduard?"
"Eddy?" Alfred looked surprised at first, however he chuckled. "Ohh, well, he's—"
Before the bespectacled blonde could finish his sentence, there was the familiar squeaking of a microphone as everyone stopped from their chatter to look to the front at the stage where Ms Katyusha was now holding a mike. She was tapping at it and blew softly in it before murmuring, "H-hello? Testing, testing, one, two, three, four?" When the squeaking stopped, she sighed in relief before flashing a warm smile before speaking, "Welcome! Welcome first-year students of Shining World Academy! I hope that you are settling quite well, and feel at home here!"
Quan listened closely to the Ukrainian secretary's words as everyone followed suit. Noticeably, everyone seemed even more excited, apprehensive or mixes of both as they were waiting eagerly for what was the first collaborative assignment.
"Now, I know that you're all here because you want to know of the first collaborative assignment," continued Katyusha who seemed much calmer and at ease than before. "And, make no mistake – it will be revealed now-"
All of a sudden, the lights were all shut off. Everyone gasped in shock, and Ms Katyusha herself squeaked in astonishment. There were murmurs that erupted among the audience.
"Whoa, whoa! What's going on, dude?!" Alfred exclaimed.
"Do you think that maybe this is part of the assembly?" questioned Mitchell.
"Perhaps it's becoming a horror show~" Dracul wriggled his fingers in the dark mischievously. "Maybe there'll be ghosts~"
However, Alfred squeaked, "G-ghosts…?!" Quan couldn't help but feel amused at hearing the sudden terror that laced into the American's voice.
"Don't be ridiculous," Lars snorted.
Antonio looked around in wonder, however he poked Quan's shoulder and asked, "What do you think's happening?"
Quan shrugged as he shifted his shoulder as a means to get the Spanish idol to stop poking him. "Don't know," he replied simply before crossing his arms over his chest.
"Do you think it could possibly be an electrical surge?" Rosaliese inquired the Vietnamese student.
The dark-haired stylist rubbed his chin, "Hard to tell…could be, possibly. It's sudden after all. What do you think?"
Antonio only listened to the two in silence – he tried to listen to other conversations around him, however he found that his ears were only focusing on the discussion between his stylist and Gilbert's stylist. The green-eyed idol felt the knots and twists in his stomach worsen, and he could only hear Quan and Rosaliese's voice distinctly while everyone else's was fuzzy. 'Why do I feel like this?' Antonio wondered to himself as he licked his bottom lip nervously. 'I don't like it – I feel sick…'
Just as suddenly as the lights had been shut off, the spotlights at the front suddenly lit up, causing Ms Katyusha to jump in fright. However, as she backed away, she lost her footing due to the blaring lights flashing right into her baby blues, and not being used to the sudden onslaught of lights on her.
Just as she almost fell over with her arms flailing around and she gave a shriek, she was caught in strong arms.
The strong arms of Principal Romulus Vargas caught her before she fell over. All the spotlights were this time focused on them.
"Wow…" Emil murmured; voice dripping with sarcasm. "What a performance…"
Quan agreed that it was quite ridiculous. Antonio meanwhile was chuckling in his spot, which prompted the Vietnamese stylist to gaze at him from the side of his eyes. He had to admit; his idol was quite cute when he laughed like that.
'Hold on, cute?'
Realizing what he just thought of his idol, Quan slapped a hand to his forehead before rubbing it. Antonio however caught sight of it and asked in concern, "Quan, are you alright there, mi amigo?"
Quan could only nod silently.
"Fear not, signorina!" Principal Vargas declared dramatically, causing some students to giggle a bit. "For I have saved you from taking a fatal fall!"
Ms Katyusha was blushing furiously at being caught, however she was taking much more calmly than Quan had expected. The short-haired secretary cleared her throat, "T-that's nice, Mr Vargas, but could you please put me down, now? I can handle myself now." This prompted more giggling and even some laughter from members of the audience.
Principal Vargas sighed – looking as if there was a grey cloud over his head, "As you wish, signorina." When Ms Katyusha was finally let go, the headmaster then spread a huge grin on his face as the lights suddenly became colourful and flashed around before settling on him, "Hello to all of my lovely, little students! All of my insightful composers! My beautiful stylists! And my enthusiastic idols! Welcome again to all of you! Thank you for coming to this assembly!"
This time, everyone was sitting up more straight in their seats – the feelings of apprehension and excitement returned.
"Now, as all of you know, during your stay here in Shining World Academy, you will be doing collaborative assignments with your idol, stylist and composed," Principal Vargas spoke up with a mike that he suddenly had. Quan and Antonio wondered how he even got one since Ms Katyusha left with hers. "And with these collaborative assignments, they're worth a lot of your final marks not only in your schoolwork, but they're also there that'll give a huge impact of your career!"
This caused everyone to jolt and listen even more closely.
"Now, the first collaborative assignment is coming up," grinned Principal Vargas. "I'm sure that you're all aware of Channel 77's show, Rising Talent?"
Everyone suddenly broke out into chatter – Quan noticed again, that it was in excitement, nervousness and mixtures of both for some. As for the dark-haired idol himself, he was aware of the show that the principal had put up.
Rising Talent was a show that aired on Chanel 77. It was probably part of what made Yong Soo aspire to be an idol. The show's premise featured potential talents, and there would be talk about the talents that came on. For instance, the hosts would make comments on the talents that performed – some were really kind and encouraging, however there would also be quite a bit of snark with some talents. There would be a voting segment where there were categories at the end – that is who was the most picturesque, the most talented, and voter's choice.
Long story short, it was a pretty big deal of a show – whoever would get an award at the end would most likely end up getting a lot of recognition.
Quan knew he should've expected Principal Vargas' next words on the first collaborative assignment, however he still couldn't help but feel shocked when he heard it come straight from the man's mouth.
"I can see all of your eager and excited murmurs! Rising Talent's producer agreed with my idea on letting this round's first years on the show in order for them to make their debut! That's right~! Your first collaborative assignment is your debut on Rising Talent!"
Everyone immediately gasped at hearing that, and there was more chirping, murmuring and chatter erupting from the audience. However, Principal Vargas didn't seem to be at all bothered by it. He gave a big laugh before he cleared his throat to capture everyone's attention yet again. At once, everyone became silent as Principal Vargas was allowed to continue.
"Now, you'll be given a sheet when you leave the assembly just in case you forget from excitement," Principal Vargas himself looked quite excited. "What will happen is that idol students will make their debut on Rising Talent! However, in order to make a successful debut, that's where composers and stylists step in!"
Upon this mention, Dracul and Mitchell looked immensely interested while Rosaliese slightly raised her head. Quan himself paid close attention as Emil jolted in his seat while Madeleine looked a little apprehensive, though not as much as Karina. Gilbert leaned back in his seat while Alfred leaned forward in it. Lars looked totally disinterested while Antonio looked both eager yet nervous.
Stylists must make sure to capture the essence of their idol and present them in both an appropriate and gorgeous manner! The stylists have to make sure as well that they make rational choices with how they dress and present their idol – if the idol wants to present themselves with some choreography, make sure to make something that they can move in easily! At the same time, make sure they look good!"
Quan rubbed at his chin as he narrowed his golden eyes in Antonio's direction. Antonio blinked in the Asian's direction, but flashed him a warm beam before tilting his head a little. Madeleine wondered what Quan had in stored for the brunette idol.
"Composers meanwhile must make a song for their idol to perform on their debut!" continued Principal Vargas. "Like with stylists, make sure that the song really captures the essence of your idol, and that it is reachable with their talent and limit! Though, I'm sure all of you know how to do your craft, since you're here!" The man laughed before clapping his hands, "Your marks will be determined by not me, but by the hosts of Rising Talent!"
This caused the audience to erupt in more chatter, though some now sounded panicked, while others were bouncing in their seat in excitement. Quan narrowed his eyes a little while his companions were now joining the audience's reactions.
"They will mark the idol on their look, their presence, performance, and the song they're singing!" Principal Vargas concluded. "They'll release the marks when the Rising Talent special is over! The mark will be out of twelve! Also, at the end, I'm sure you're all aware that Rising Talent does hand out awards to who look the best, who performed the best, and voter's choice, yes?" Seeing all the nods and murmurs of agreement in the audience, "The awards will indeed commence, and some of you might get them, too~ now, the Rising Talent special, and thus, the first collaborative assessment, will come up in one month! You have one month to prepare yourselves and your idol for their debut! Make sure to do your best and have fun!"
And with that, smoke suddenly erupted on the stage, causing gasps to ring out from the audience, along with a few coughs. However, by the time the smoke subsided, Principal Vargas was gone.
Ms Katyusha then smiled nervously before bowing her head, "And that ends the assembly. Thank you for listening, and be sure to collect an assessment sheet on your way out! I hope you all have a nice day and make sure to plan ahead!"
Immediately, there was discussions blooming around left, right and centre in relation to the first collaborative assessment. Quan wasn't surprised that his friends were talking quite a lot about it, either. In all honesty, he'd like to discuss a few things himself, however he wasn't one that was quite used to conversation. He preferred if somebody addressed him first or was insinuating in his direction.
"Wow! That was really something!" exclaimed Antonio who was at the Asian stylist's side. "Can you believe it? Rising Talent! I'm going to actually perform on Rising Talent!"
Quan simply nodded as he surveyed the Spaniard up and down, immediately thinking of possibilities of what he could do to make or use for Antonio's clothing for that special day.
Noticing him gaze at him closely, Antonio stopped and stared back at him, feeling strange again. However, instead of the unpleasant knots that he felt before whenever he saw the dark-haired student talk to Rosaliese in such a friendly manner, the green-eyed idol felt his heart skip a beat.
When they made eye contact, his heart beat a little faster, and he felt something warm seep into his cheeks.
Quan on the other hand didn't really seem to pay attention. Instead, he felt his mind start to calculate and formulate – Antonio's body shape along with the colour of his tanned skin, plus what materials could work well, and what colours of said material would also contrast well with him…
"Hey, Quan!" Dracul suddenly butted in and patted his Vietnamese buddy's shoulder. "You pumped for this assessment?!"
Quan blinked before shaking his head a little. He gave a nod before closing his eyes in contemplation, "It's an interesting assessment. Definitely not something to just take so easily. I'm actually looking forward to see how this works out."
Antonio took a sheet from Mrs Kirkland who seemed to be quite satisfied when Madeleine and Emil were looking in her direction. He took another sheet and tapped Quan's shoulder. Plastering a smile on his face, he felt his heart pick up pace again when his stylist opened his eyes and focused on him. "Here, Quan!" the brunette idol chirped. "I got a sheet for you~!"
Quan dipped his head in acknowledgement before thanking his idol and took the sheet. He rubbed his chin as everyone continued walking on to their first lesson of the day.
Looks like things were about to get far more interesting. He didn't know what to expect, but what he did know was that he was going to make sure that he will be prepared, and work his hardest.
So, yep - there you go. The first collaborative assessment is the idol's debut on the show, Rising Talent. :D
How will our students handle the pressure? Just what kind of things will happen during their time preparing themselves for Rising Talent, and on the set itself? Will Antonio come in terms with his strange feelings? Does Quan feel the same way? How will the marks go for our heroes, and who'll get the awards of Rising Talent?
Stay tuned~ w
Peace out!
- Hebi-Kazechi-10
