Mythia: Hm...okay some of them didn't even vote, aha. And one of them I was torn between lie or truth...but then in the end of the review it said truth, so...
The majority is truth~!
Well then, I'll say it now. Lying is BAD, but the truth sometimes HURTS.
Oh ho ho...
Previously on 'This Is My Fate':
"W-Who's there?! I-Ittoki-kun!?"
"Nanami..."
"D-D-Did you hear anything?!"
Alarming golden eyes met conflicted red ones. Was Ittoki going to lie, or tell the truth?
Ittoki held his breath. "Well I uh, um..." Argh! What am I doing!? I can't lie to Nanami! "I…I did hear you. B-But before you say anything," he suddenly said, causing Haruka's open mouth to whimper, "I…barely did. I couldn't hear that much. I'm sorry, I really, really didn't mean to! I really, really didn't!"
He was speaking so fast that Haruka could barely concentrate on the facts. When she did, she tried her best to breathe. She tugged on Ittoki's arm. "Ittoki-kun, it's not safe to talk out here." She added in a small whisper, "Or anywhere…"
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"Ittoki-kun, let's talk in my room," Haruka mumbled lowly, Ittoki barely catching.
"I…uh, oh. M-mm!" The redhead nodded his head.
When the two entered Haruka's room, Haruka bolted the door shut, and closed her drapes, leaving the room dark except for a sliver of light from the bathroom, the door almost closed. She sat on the bed, Ittoki coming along. "Nanami?"
"Please speak quietly," she whispered, pulling him to sit down. Ittoki yelped at such a cold touch, meaning that Nanami's hands were freezing.
From all the times Otoya had touched her hands, like a long time ago from Saotome Gakuen where she bandaged his wounded fingers, he had never found her hands cold once. It was always, always warm. Even in the snow when they first met.
When they first met…
Is this their last meeting? If so, Ittoki wished he could trap this time he had with Haruka in an endless loop. Even if it was boring, or scary, or anything, he'd endure it for the one he loved. Besides, he's doing it for STARISH, for everyone!
"Nanami," he whispered, "what's going on?"
"Just…p-please know that this is for your own good," Nanami said quietly. "I can't tell you everything Ittoki-kun. But I just want to say that what I'm doing right now is to protect you. STARISH…"
Ittoki cupped Nanami's cold cheek, only to find burning tears flowing down. "I thought that we could tell each other anything."
"Well, if you understood this, then you'd do the same thing," Nanami barely uttered, choking from her sobs.
Otoya's hand moved on its own, both hands cupping her small face. Nanami's eyes widened, looking up at him before head-diving to his chest. "I'm just trying to protect you guys!" she exclaimed, startling Ittoki. "I love all of you, and care for all of you. I just hope...no, that's too much. I wish that I could stay with you forever. But I…"
"…You?"
"I just can't," she cried. "I can't! I'm so sorry…"
"But WHY?" Ittoki began to shout. "Nanami, you're not making any sense!"
Haruka looked up, her eyes reddening. "I'll tell you one word. But just one. If I say anything else…" She bit her lip. "Saizo."
Ittoki furrowed his brows. "Saizo?"
"Shh! Please don't say it now, here! Just after…"
"Wait! You're…you're planning to die, aren't you?! So that was suicide instead of murder!?"
"H-Huh?" The tables swtiched, and now Haruka was unbearably perplexed.
Otoya huffed. "Arghhhh!" He pulled on his hair, frustrated. "Nanamiiiii! Why can't I say this so easily?!"
"S-Say what?"
"Nanami!" He forced his hands on her shoulders, "Ai shiteru! Please don't leave on me, on us! Live until the end!"
Haruka had no words. Ittoki just confessed to her, going so far as 'I love you.' And right when she tried to hide her feelings for their sake! Oh, how she already felt that stomach knot inside of her, barely containing the butterflies. Yet...
The rosette was now cupping Ittoki's cheek, her hands warming from Ittoki's blush, and she leaned forward. "Ittoki-kun...it'll hurt, but this is my fate," she said. "Everyone dies. It'll be my turn, but I just want you to know something."
She leaned forward, giving Ittoki a chaste kiss, saying, "Ai shiteru. And remember...music lives in you. My music...please keep it and continue to spread it with that full-throttle smile and a peace sign." Her tears were no longer hot, but just warm, of bittersweet happiness.
"At least I have met you, Ittoki-kun. I'm thankful, and happy."
Ittoki wanted this to last forever. But before he knew it, he looked and felt translucent. Remember, you can only stay in the past for three hours…
No...no! NO! NO NO NO! Ittoki repeated angrily in his mind. "Nanami!" He kissed her lips one final time, hugging her as tight as he could, before he was completely gone.
Ittoki was back into the present, May 31st. Well, even though he had such a heartwarming moment with Nanami, he knew he hadn't saved her. He knew she was dead.
The door opened, and Ittoki realized that he was on his bed, and it was Tokiya who opened it. "Eh? You…you're back?"
Otoya frowned. "Yeah…I guess I am."
"You didn't save her," the blunet quietly said. "The mission failed."
"No...this time, she died in peace," Ittoki said, causing Ichinose to raise a brow. "She said something with wanting to protect us, and we exchanged words. She told us to move on, keep singing for her, for everyone, and I told her to live until the end."
"Well the end of her life was apparently too soon," Ichinose said, irked. "Nanami still died."
"I know, and I still want to save her," said a determined Ittoki Otoya. "I love her!"
Tokiya blinked in surprise at the sudden outburst. Sometimes, he envied the happy redhead at how straightforward he came to be. While his realizations come late, and it'd take forever for him to confess to Nanami, and then Ittoki just comes in and sweeps Nanami off his feet.
He frowned. "Did you at least get any evidence of the murderer?"
"Huh? Oh yeah!" Ittoki pulled out his phone. "Let's go get everyone."
When STARISH had gathered somewhere in the Master Course dorms, Ittoki played the recorded message. It gave out more than what he had heard, he realized.
"I beg you, please don't hurt them…I'll do anything for you! As long as you keep your promise."
"That's odd," Cecil muttered. "Do you know who she was speaking with, Otoya?"
"No, but I may have a clue," he said, causing STARISH to perk up. "Nanami and I talked, after she busted me spying on her. She said a name, 'Saizo.'"
Ren narrowed his eyes. "Saizo? Sounds like a man."
"It does," Masato had to agree. "Very suspicious."
"It's a high possibility that was who Nanami was talking to," Syo said.
"Maybe he was the guy that killed Haru-chan!" gasped Natsuki, squeezing Syo worriedly.
"Well, we can't just jump into conclusions now," Cecil said. "Otoya, tell us everything that happened."
Ittoki began to explain that he woke up in his room, searching for about an hour and a half. Then, he said how he found Nanami in the deepest part of the rose garden, and when he recorded her phone conversation. How he got busted, and ended up in Nanami's room. The only thing he left out was the fact that she has kissed him, and he kissed her. And the all cuddly part, he realized was embarrassing and left out too.
"And that's all," finished Ittoki.
"Haruka, our princess destined to die," Aijima sighed. "Well then, with all of this, Saizo is our primary suspect, and we obviously can't dismiss him."
"The first kanji means 'genius,'" Masato said. "The second means either 'possession' or 'warehouse.' Nanami-san was found dead in a warehouse, right?"
"So she's saying that we should check the warehouse the second time?" Syo asked, slightly confused.
"We should remember that," Ichinose said.
"Well then, we have to know who's next," Cecil announced.
Ittoki glanced around. All but Syo seemed very hesitant, he noticed. "Um, I think Syo should be next," he spoke up.
"W-Wha? Why me?" Kurusu asked.
"I think it seems right," Ittoki reasoned. "Minna-san, if Syo agrees, then we should send him!"
Syo made the 'WTH' face, still not believing this, until one by one, all of the STARISH members had agreed it had to be the shota. "Oh, what the heck now guys? Why me?"
"You seemed pumped, Ochibi," comcluded Jingugi.
"S-Shut up! Fine, I'll try to save Nanami you chickens!" Syo exclaimed, giving in. "I can only stay for three hours, right?"
"Yes, that's right," said Cecil, casting the enchantment.
Syo held his breath, waiting for the arriving impact of being sent to the past. He wondered if he could really be the one to save Haruka, after the not-too-failure of Ittoki. So this wasn't going to be too easy, and it certainly wasn't simple, but…
If this was Nanami Haruka they were saving, they always found a way.
Mythia: So, the truth SOMETIMES hurts! Well, sometimes it pays off! But Haruka still died. But we got a kiss! 2 kisses, even! But sorry if this was too short for you (it is for me) or that you were angry that this didn't go too far.
So, PLEASE READ!
Congrats, you have gotten the good ending to the first one! 'Confessing the Truth.'
I hope you liked this chapter, because there are more to come!
Please review too: constructive criticism is welcomed, I'm okay with those things if it makes me improve into a better writer! :)
Btw, you probably noticed that I changed this version from Kawaii Dream's. This was the idea I had in mind as I was reading her original story a while back, kinda angry that I wanted him to tell the truth too, aha…
EDITED on 6/13/14