So yeah no big intro this time reason why at end of chapter.
Chapter 7: Reconnecting
Takuto's POV:
Today was the day Muse starts practice, and how do I start the day? Having another nightmare about dad and arriving late. Mom suggests therapy, and I suggest not wasting 45 minutes to an hour of my day listening to someone tell me what I already know. Mom also hasn'tsaid anything to the girls. I told her I'll tell them when I'm ready, but I've been stalling a lot and I really need to tell them. I hate keeping secrets and if I don't tell them eventually I feel my life will take a turn for the worse. It also doesn't help I've only hung out with them a few times. They must think I'm avoiding them…Alright I've decided I'll tell them today after practice.
A few moments…
When I arrive at the shrine steps I saw Honoka and Kotori running up and down the steps with Umi at the top pretty much acting like a drill sergeant. Ok Umi your time as leader is over. Now it's time for you to join the practice.
"Hey sorry I'm late guys." I waved.
"Hmph!" Honoka pouted.
"Did I do something wrong?" I asked her, confused with her attitude.
"You're late!" She shouted. "I even got here earlier to get started. Then Umi decided to take the lead, and we've been running up and down the stairs all morning."
"Wait Umi has had you guys do nothing but run?" I asked turning to the girl in question.
"Yeah is that a problem?" She asked me.
I face palmed. "So you guys haven't even practice dance moves?"
"Not yet." Kotori said sticking her tongue out playfully.
"Oh boy do we have work." I sighed. "Ok let's start by seeing the song. We can get a better idea on the choreography by the lyrics and flow of the song."
"No way!" Umi shouted.
"Why not? We won't get anywhere without knowing what we're working with." I explained.
"As of right now looking at the lyrics won't do anything." She argued. "Without a proper composed song with won't know how much energy is needed in the movements."
I hate to admit it but she has a fair point. As of now reading the lyrics won't do anything, it will simply be a long poem.
"Yeah I guess you're right." I agreed. "Let's try talking to Maki on Monday at school. Although I hope she won't brush us off like last time."
"As long as Honoka-chan doesn't say anything to annoy her." Kotori said.
"Kotori-chan!" Honoka pouted.
"This is Honoka we're talking about." I teased.
"Taku-kun!" Honoka yelled chasing me.
"Oh god! Why are you only chasing me?" I yelled running away.
"Because you were late!" She said with a mischievous grin.
Why must everything be a game with her?
"LOOK OUT!" I heard Kotori yell from behind.
I couldn't turn my head fast enough to see where I was going before I rammed into someone. I thought that was gonna hurt a lot more than it did but the landing was somewhat soft.
I groaned as I started to get off the person I landed on. "Hey sorry about that I couldn't see…"I paused before I realized who I landed on top of. It was Nozomi in what seem to be a shrine maiden outfit. She looked back at me with a smile which was filled with both sincerity and mischief. I could feel my face burning up given my situation.
"Geez you already have those 3 and Elichi, and now you want me how bold." She said playfully poking my nose.
At that moment my brain froze. One moment Honoka was chasing me, then I ended on top of Nozomi-senpai in a very suggestive position and then her statement just now. How the hell can my morning go so far south in only a few minutes?!
Before it could get any more out of hand I got off of her and held out a hand to her.
"Thank you." She said sincerely.
"Hey are you guys alright?" Honoka asked.
"Yeah. No thanks to you though." I gave her a snarky remark.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She retorted.
"It means none of this would have happened if you hadn't been chasing me." I said annoyed now.
Honoka was about to yell but paused. "You're right. Sorry." She apologized with her head down.
I sighed. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have yelled at you." I apologized as well. I turned to Nozomi. "What about you sempai? You alright?"
"You are really far too formal just Nozomi is fine, and I'm fine thanks." She replied with an earnest smile.
"So do you volunteer here or something?" I asked.
"Why yes I do. I normally spent my time here helping out." She replied. "Since you're all here why not pay your respects?"
"Sounds good to me; we need all the help we can get. Come on girls." I said making my way towards the shrine. We stood in front of the shrine and clasped our hands together and made a wish.
"May our first concert be a great success." We said in unison.
"Alright let's get back to practice." Umi said.
"Right and you're running as well Umi. A team that trains together wins together, as the saying goes." I said with my arms crossed.
"I know. I know." She said shrugging her shoulders.
"This is going to be a lot better with Taku-kun around." Kotori chimed.
"Flattery isn't gonna help you." I said pointing back to the stairs. "A few more times and we'll called it a day."
"Aww come on." Honoka whined.
"Complain and I'll make Umi in charge again." I threatened.
"Never mind I'm good with a few more." Honoka said running back to the stairs. The others followed suit.
I walked over to Nozomi. "Nozomi-sempai, mind if I ask you something?"
"Huh? I thought I heard my name, but not in the right mannerism." She said playing dumb.
"N-n-nozomi." I stuttered.
"Aww not even a Nozomi-chan." She teased.
"You have way too much of a playful side." I said tilting my head.
"I guess." She giggled. She has a really cute side to her huh? I thought she be a bit more reserved. "So what is it you want to know?" She asked snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Oh. I wanted to ask about Eli." I started. She gave me a confused glance. "Why is she so against this? I mean our goals are the same, but every time we say we want to help she just brush us off or tries to stop us."
"That's just how Elicchi is." She said. I chuckled a little. "Hmm?" She turn towards me.
"Oh sorry. I just thought it's nice that Eli has such a great friend looking out for her." I said now looking towards the girls. "I know that description doesn't fit me as of late." A sullen look now plastered on my face.
"What do you mean?" She asked curiously.
"It's a bit too personal to say right now." I said.
"That's fair. You can tell me when you feel ready." She said in an understanding tone.
"Thanks Nozomi." I thanked her with a grin.
"Hey Taku-kun!" Honoka yelled. "Can we call it a day already?"
"I guess that's fine we'll practice again tomorrow then talk to Maki on Monday." I informed them.
"Sounds good." Umi agreed. "I got some shopping to do so I see you guys later."
"I'll join you Umi-chan. I promised mom I get some groceries before heading home." Kotori added walking up to Umi. "Enjoy your alone time with Taku-kun, Honoka-chan." Kotori teased sticking her tongue out.
"Kotori-chan!" Honoka said flustered.
"I should go as well. I have to get back to work." Nozomi said walking back to the shrine.
"Alright then, see ya." I said waving them goodbye. It was just me and Honoka standing there now. There was a silence for about a minute. Well this is awkward.
"Hey Taku-kun?" Honoka called out. Her voice seemed lower than usual.
"What's up Honoka?" I asked.
She was fidgeting in place. She was clearly nervous, but for what reason I'm not sure.
"Hey are you ok? You're acting weird today, more than usual." I asked concerned.
"W-what? Me? No I'm fine. Totally fine." She said even more nervous than before. "Anyway are you free now?" She asked looking away.
"Hmm? Well yeah it's Saturday. It's not like I normally have plans anyway." I said shrugging my shoulders. It was true even though I've been back a few months I still haven't done much other than the occasional shopping and walking around by myself.
When I said that Honoka's personality did a 180 and she was beaming with happiness. "Great! I had some things I wanted to do, but I didn't want to inconvenience the girls."
"And yet you thought it be alright to bother me?" I said raising an eyebrow.
"Hey you still got to make up for 5 years of being gone." Honoka said punching my arm.
When Honoka said that thoughts of this morning popped into my head. Shit I forgot that I was going to tell them all today. Well I guess I might as well tell Honoka at least. If I need to tell this to anyone it's her. She got me out of my loner state before, maybe she can again.
"Hey Honoka…" I called out getting her attention. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something."
"Sure thing Taku-kun. What's up?" She asked with her happy-go-lucky smile.
"If you don't mind can we go somewhere a little more private?" I asked.
"Uh sure." She replied.
We ended walking to the riverbank away from the busy and noisy area of the town. We found a spot on the grass and sat down. The wind blew gently through our hair as well as causing serene ripples in the water.
"So what's up?" Honoka asked curiously.
Well here goes.
"First let me start by saying I'm sorry." I started.
"For what?" she asked.
"For being so distant the past few days. The thing is a lot's been on my mind for a while. There was a reason I came back home and started going to high school even though I should have already graduated." I said. I could my body start to shiver and my throat was beginning to choke up.
"Yeah I thought that was weird. So why did you do that?" She inquired.
I started to shake even more, my eyes began to water, and I was gripping my jeans tightly. "D-d-dad…" I could barely speak. Just then I felt Honoka embrace me; she placed my head on her shoulder and stroke the back of my head like a mother would her child.
"It's ok I know." She whispered in my ear.
This completely got me off guard. I pulled back a bit just enough to make eye contact. "You know?" I asked her.
She sighed deeply and then spoke. "Yeah. I was in the house when your mom got the call. She begged me never to talk about it till you were ready." Even though she said that in a calm manner I could see the tears forming in her eyes. "I knew how much he meant to you, after all you decided to move away with him."
"Honoka…" I whispered.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there to support you. I couldn't even imagine how you felt at that time." She started. "When I saw you again I was so happy. I thought I lost my best friend, but you were there smiling, laughing, and was the same nice guy."
When she said that I hugged her as tight as I could. "I'm such an idiot. I've spent the past few weeks trying to put on a façade to keep you guys from worrying, but here you are doing the same for me. I'm so sorry I put you through that."
I heard her chuckle a little. "Don't be. We're friends after all; we do anything for each other. Right?"
I couldn't help but chuckle myself. "Yeah. Best friends."
"Even for best friends that's an incredibly long hug." A familiar voice called.
Honoka and I pulled apart a bit to see Nozomi with a sly smile on her face. We then look towards one another and realized we were incredibly close. I don't what happened faster, us breaking apart or our faces heating. I say it was a tie.
"Sorry for ruining the moment. I'm just on my way home so I'll you too alone." She said with a playful wink before running off.
"Nozomi-sempai it's not like that!" Honoka called out.
"She's never gonna let this go." I sighed deeply.
"Yep." Honoka said standing up. "Well let's get going I still got stuff to do and you said you'll help."
"Hmm…Nope don't recall every agreeing to that." I said sarcastically.
"Yeah, yeah. Come on you big idiot." She teased.
"Oh you're one to talk, after the crazy stunts you used to pull and I'm the crazy one." I retorted with a glare.
"Hey you went along with those stunts so you're just as crazy." She said returning the glare.
We held those faces for about a sec till we broke into laughter.
"Haha. Come on let's get this done before your mom has a fit." I said standing up.
"Good point." She agreed.
We spent the next few hours shopping and messing with each other. It was getting late so we headed for my house.
"Come on. Mom will be happy to see you." I said heading towards the door.
"Sure." She replied. Just then her phone beep. "Hold that thought." She checked her phone. "Man looks like I have to go."
"Its fine another time then." I said understandingly.
"Sorry. Catch ya later?" She asked.
"You bet." I said.
"Bye." She said darting off.
I opened the door and saw Mom standing there with a disappointed expression.
"What?" I asked her.
"Jeez you 2 are just so sad. Would it kill one of you to make a move?" She said playfully.
I tilted my hat down to hide the blush. "We don't have that kind of relationship mom." I said walking past her.
"But you want that type of relationship, right?" She asked teasingly.
Instead of giving her attention I just climbed the stairs and walked into my room. "Man she doesn't quit." I breathe heavily.
"Meow." My cat cried out from my bed.
"You agree too huh Uni?" I asked her. I chuckled and plopped myself onto my bed. After finishing my homework and organizing the idol stuff I decided to call it a day. As I was getting ready for bed I got a text. When I read the number my body froze. Hey. Been awhile huh? We need to talk. Meet me at the shrine tomorrow night. Never in a million years did I think I receive a text from him. One of my closest friends back in the states and the one who killed my dad.
So another chapter done. Yeah just gonna say it I have been just completely screwed the last couple of weeks. Not only do I have bills to pay college loans to take care of it doesn't help that my job barely gives me hours to get the money I need to live. So I've been waking up at the crack of down almost every day looking for a new job. And as result I'm actually forgetting my own F***ing story. And that sucks since I've gotten so much positive feedback on it. I want to finish I really do which is why I won't quit, but god is it nearly impossible to find the time and motivation to do so. I apologize to those enjoying this completely amateurish story and hope you can understand. And no I'm not trying to act my story is the shit or anything thing like. I just hope the ones that have been supporting continue to do so because I appreciate it. Again I'm deeply sorry, and to show it the next chapter is all about what happened in Takuto's past that a lot of you and boy do I mean a lot ask for. So as always if you enjoyed follow, favorite, and/or review if you wish. Oh and unnecessary hate comments will be deleted. It's FANFICTION I can write whatever the hell I want just like every other writer here. So anyway this has been Azure, See ya!