Track 04

Back at the studio, Hikari had just finished rehearsal, without Kamiko... After how excited she was to have Hikari there with her, how could she not show up? By this point, Rom had left long ago. Hikari sighed, leaning back against the wall at her drums. "I'm sorry for taking up so much time in the studio on my own, because of Kamiko's absence. Who knows what she's even-"

Just then, the door flew open, and an extremely giddy Kamiko danced into the studio. "You guys will never guess what happened to me today!"

Hikari glared at her friend in the center of the room and crossed her arms over her chest. "It better have been something life threatening to keep me waiting like this…"

"No, of course not!" She frowned and put her hands on her hips. "I found a new lolita shop in the center of Midicity! It's so big and full of the cutest clothes! I ran into an old family friend and he told me they were having auditions for models. I wanted to audition, of course, but I was nervous... So then he totally recommended me and I got it!"

At those words... the sound of drumsticks being thrown on the ground echoed through the studio. "Why am I not the least bit surprised…" Hikari growled, knowing very well which "family friend" this was. "As usual, Princess Kamiko uses the royal treatment to get exactly what she wants without even trying."

The boys, who at first wanted to congratulate Kamiko all stayed silent, taken by surprise from Hikari's reaction to the news. They looked back and forth between the two girls. Kamiko was hurt by her friend's words, ready to defend herself, but Hikari wouldn't give her the chance to speak.

"And of course while you were selfishly taking your time to get here, you completely missed out on rehearsal, after you told me how much you wanted to practice this song I've worked so hard on writing." Hikari crossed her arms and turned her back to Kamiko, who sighed.

"I'm really sorry, Hiki. You don't understand, though. This is a big deal to me." She looked up to her friend, who was still giving her the cold shoulder. "How about I make it up to you... I'll take you out to ice cream, and we can talk about it…"

Hikari didn't respond and grabbed her drumsticks off the floor before sitting back down at her drums. She then started playing them really hard, letting off some steam before she said anything else that may sound too harsh for Kamiko to hear.

Kamiko ran her hand through her hair and sighed, turning to the boys. "Well... anyone else wanna go to get ice cream? I'll buy..."

Crow threw a hand in the air, volunteering immediately. He then ran for the door, and waited not so patiently for her to follow along, tapping his foot. "Well come on! Are we going or not!?"

Aion and Yaiba both agreed to join her as well, but weren't quite as impatient as the hedgehog. Kamiko watched Hikari for a moment, but shook her head and started out the door with the boys, closing the door on their way out, leaving Hikari to beat on her drums some more.

In the hall, Crow grabbed Kamiko's hand and started running, the other two members of his band following behind. "Come on! You can't tease me with ice cream and then take your sweet time getting me there!" They passed by a grouchy Rom, who was walking with his hands over his ears.

"What is with all the racket!?" He opened his eyes to see Crow and Kamiko hand in hand, running down the hallway. "Um... what the...?"

He opened the door to the studio where he saw Hikari angrily beating on her drums. So this is where all the noise was coming from. But where was that musical passion he heard before. Why was it that this time her playing sounded so… terrible? When she finally stopped, he spoke, startling her. "First of all, why did I just see Crow and your friend running down the hall together? And second... what is with your drumming right now? It sounds so sloppy. You can't just-"

"Is there something I can help you with? I'm kind of not in the mood for you right now..." she grumbled, lifting her arms to start playing again. However, the moment she did, he yanked her drum sticks out of her hands.

"Enough! If you're not going to put any actual effort into your playing, then don't play at all! It's one thing if you were actually playing a beat or something, but just mindlessly hitting them like this is ridiculous! Some of us would actually like a little bit of peace and quiet every once in a while!" he yelled, standing right over her. His intense stare made her cheeks burn. Who the hell did this guy think he was?

"It's none of your business what I'm doing down here!" she shouted, standing on her tiptoes to try to reach her drumsticks that he was holding high in the air. "Give them back, now!" she demanded, glaring at him.

"Or what?" he asked, now feeling a little bit of satisfaction. He still couldn't get over how entertaining she was when she was angry. "You act like I should be afraid of you."

She growled and turned away from him, her hair smacking his face in the process. "I'm out of here…" she started for the door but he blocked it, slipping her drumsticks into his back pocket.

"Something bothering you?" he asked with a smirk on his face. "What's the matter?"

Her face was completely red now. What nerve Rom had to push her like this. "Why exactly are you so nosy? It doesn't concern you, so get out of my way."

"Hmm... can't do that. You see, until you tell me what is going on inside that head of yours, I can't allow you to leave." He didn't move an inch, and put his hands up in front of her. "I'll even let you take your anger out on me, rather than your precious little drum set. Come on. Take your best shot!"

She shot him another glare before looking down at his hands and balling her own up into fists. "You wouldn't understand even if I told you!" She threw her first punch, not putting much effort behind it. She wasn't exactly sure how she felt about this just yet. He was really frustrating her, but the last thing she wanted to do was cause a big scene for everyone to come down to.

"Try me," he said in a cool tone, not at all impressed with her first punch, which showed.

She punched the other hand just a bit harder. "You don't know what it is like to have to work so hard to get so little and know someone who can get anything she wants just for... being who she is!" She punched him again, this time harder than the last.

He nodded, actually listening to what she had to say. "I think I could probably imagine." He knew all about situations like that, though he wasn't very open about them. Not these days.

"Kamiko gets everything just handed to her because of who her parents are. She just walks in the room and everyone is always complimenting her and giving her gifts and waiting on her hand and foot... Meanwhile, I have to work and find a way to make my own dreams come true. I refuse to just let everything happen without working for it. I have to prove I can actually make it on my own, you know?" Now her punches were getting a little fiercer. The more she talked things out, the more power she put behind them.

Rom was trying to be understanding while she vented, but couldn't help but notice the strength she was starting to put behind each of her punches. "And today, she missed rehearsal to go shopping in a new store in town, and what happened? They chose her to be their model! And she didn't even audition! It was just given to her, all because a friend of her family just so happened to be there!" With that, she gave one final punch as hard as she possibly could, causing him to actually lose his balance for a moment. He shook his hand and stared at her in disbelief for a moment.

She leaned against the wall next to the door and sank to the floor, feeling a little worn out from all of that. He sat down next to her. "You know... I know someone who lived the same lifestyle. It's not easy to deal with, that's for sure. Just remember, it's not necessarily something she chooses to live with. It's just one of those things that comes with her being raised the way she was."

Hikari sighed, cracking a bit of a smile. "You're probably right. Who'd have guessed…"

He handed her drumsticks back. "Well you may not be aware of this, but in the eyes of my bandmates, I'm a very good motivational speaker. I can easily persuade them, too." He winked at her, earning an eye roll. At least she had loosened up a bit at this point.

"Ehh, I could see them looking up to you, I guess." She took the drumsticks in her hands and sat them in her lap. "I should probably thank you for what you just did..." Just as she was about to say more, they heard footsteps coming down the hallway. The first thing Hikari could hear was the sound of Kamiko's laughter. They were back from ice cream already?

The door opened and both Kamiko was at the door. "I forgot my bag, so after I get it we can go to ice cream," Kamiko said as she walked in. Once she grabbed her things, she looked up to see Hikari and Rom sitting right in front of her... together... "Whoa, what do we have here, Hiki?" Kamiko asked, giving her friend a little elbow nudge. "Now I get it! You couldn't come to ice cream because you needed some alone time~ Am I right?"

Hikari stood up, making fists at her sides, her growing red. "Wrong! He just came in here to insult my drumming, then wouldn't let me leave, but now I'm on my way out!"

Kamiko smiled, practically jumping up and down on the inside. Hikari wasn't the type to let any boy get to her. Usually she'd beat them up and walk away without looking back if they ever pissed her off. So what was truly going on here? "But Hiki, you're blushing, like, super hard right now."

Crow ran a hand through his own hair in an attempt to be attractive. "She is obviously flustered because I entered the room."

"Yaaay... Crow is here…" Hikari teased in an emotionless, sarcastic tone. He shot her a glare from the doorway, to which Hikari couldn't help but crack a small smile. Rom happened to find this entire scene amusing, but made sure to keep quiet. He didn't want to stir things up even further.

Crow quickly shrugged it off. "Well while you two are down here, I thought I would mention that we decided that all of us should go to ramen tomorrow. What do you think?"

Rom thought to himself for a moment. "I've got work tomorrow, man, but I will see if I can make it afterward. It's been awhile since we had ramen night."

Hikari looked over to Kamiko, who was giving her puppy dog eyes. It was very obvious that she really wanted her to come. She sighed. "I guess I can go."

"Great! Then it's settled! Let's all meet up around 7:00pm," Kamiko responded, throwing a hand in the air. "It could be lots of fun~!"

As she spoke, a figure passed by the door, but all she was able to catch a glimpse of was a flick of his tail as he passed. She blinked, feeling her cheeks warm up. "Um... who was that?"

Rom smirked, responding in a teasing manner. "Oh you know... this guy who happens to live here too. He stands about 6'5", considers himself a god... The guy's a monster, really."

"Ohh~ He sounds dreamy," she said, unintentionally speaking her mind.

They all laughed to themselves before Rom shouted to him. "Yo! Aion! Get in here, dude."

Aion turned around, and slowly walked back to the studio… bumping his head on the way in, which made Kamiko gasp loudly. He held his hand to his head as he walked in and looked down at Rom, who still sat on the floor. "Crow is planning ramen for tomorrow. You in?"

Aion closed his eyes and looked as if he were pondering the question. "A god such as myself could never turn down an offer to enjoy ramen with his bandmates."

Kamiko clasped her hands in front of her, admiring the taller lion. Everytime he spoke, she felt like she could melt. She watched his tail sway back and forth. It looked so soft... If only she could just touch it... Hikari noticed her friend's reactions to Aion and smiled, rolling her eyes. "Alright boys, we'll meet you all there tomorrow. I think it's about time I get little Kami out of here." With that, she grabbed her by the arm and took her back up to their room.

After the events at the lolita shop, Shuzo sat backstage before the Trichronika concert that evening, thinking everything over. Kamiko, the girl he grew up with, was now signed under the same label as Rom, one of his closest friends from high school, and previous band member. After everything went down the night their band broke up, the two hadn't been able to really see eye to eye. The argument that had pushed them apart had left them both bitter toward each other.

The question that was on his mind the most, was just how close was Kamiko and her band to ShinganCrimsonZ, and exactly how much had Rom told her about their past. There was no way he wanted anything from that night coming back to her parents, and then his own. Of course, it was more than just that. A slight wave of jealousy washed over him as he thought about how close they could possibly be.

The next day, the girls got ready for ramen night together, both deciding to put the argument from the night before behind them. Kamiko, however, could not let go of the fact that Hikari was alone with Rom and kept picking at her every chance she got for it.

"Kamiko, it wasn't at all what you think. He was just letting me vent. That's all it was," Hikari replied to the constant kissy faces Kamiko was giving her. Considering the fact that Hikari kept blushing each time she teased her, she wasn't ready to believe her. Hikari rolled her eyes and started brushing her long hair. "You're still wrong, Kami. Nothing happened, and nothing is going to happen. Ever. We aren't even friends. I can't stand the guy."

"Suuuure," Kamiko responded. "We'll just see about that."

Hikari turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. "Right... Well what about you? Didn't you spend all evening with that guitarist? I'd say, if anything, that is suspicious."

"You know... You have a point, but you're wrong, too. He's definitely a little cutie, but he's not my type," she said, letting out a sigh. It sure sounded like someone was.

"Ohhh, so now you have a type, huh? Well we know perfect little princes are off the list. So what is it this time?" Hikari questioned, obviously taking a stab at her turning Shu down a few years back.

"You're right... He's not a prince. He just so happens to be... a god," she said, her eyes sparkling as she spoke.

Hikari laughed, nudging her friend. "How did I not guess that from the beginning? You were practically drooling over him last night!"

Kamiko's face turned red. "W-What? That's not how I remember it!" She fiddled with her own hair out of embarrassment. She was never really allowed to like anyone before, so now that she could, her feelings for him just happened to show a little more than she intended.

"I'm only teasing, Kami." She gave her a pat on the back. "We should probably head to the ramen house."

As the girls walked in to the ramen house, they found Aion, Crow, and Yaiba sitting at a larger table than usual. Aion and Yaiba sat on one side, with Crow sitting right across from Aion. Kamiko took the seat at the end of the table that was right between Aion and Crow, and Hikari sat on the other side of Crow with Yaiba across from her. Thankfully, Rom wasn't there, because she was tired of Kamiko's constant pestering about the night before.

As the waiter made his way around the table, he took down Aion's order, Kamiko completely distracted as she listened to his smooth voice. She just adored the way he posed as he spoke. She was so fascinated with him that she hadn't even realized it was her turn. She never even took the time to check the menu!

"U-Uh…" Her face grew red, so she threw her hand on her face in the same manner as Aion to cover this up. "I-I'll have mine with sriracha." Everyone found her little moment to be pretty amusing, especially Hikari. Kamiko noticed the judging looks Hikari was giving her and decided she had to get some payback.

She grabbed a little pad of paper and a pen and started making some doodles. When the waiter brought all of their bowls of ramen to the table, with a whole other tray just for the boys' toppings, Kamiko handed him a slip of paper to put on Hikari's bowl, in place of the one that was already on there. He rolled his eyes and did as she asked before setting her bowl in front of her. Hikari, unsuspecting of what could be on the slip of paper, pulled it out and set it next to her bowl. She reached to the side to grab her chopsticks and happened to look down at the slip of paper... noticing a very suggestive little doodle of Rom. She was completely caught off guard while holding her bowl of ramen in her hand, and freaked out, her ramen flying across the table... right on Yaiba's head.

She covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes about three times wider than usual. "I-I'm so sorry. I just..." she looked down at the drawing, then shot Kamiko an angry glare. "YOU! You did this on purpose, Kamiko!" As she was shouting at her friend from across the table, the bell on the door rang. She sat down with her arms crossed and her cheeks puffed out.

Rom approached the table and sat at the open seat between Yaiba and Hikari. She turned her head to look at him with an annoyed expression on her face, before grabbing the doodle and shoving it in her pocket. Oh god... If he saw that...

"What happened? Someone spit in your ramen or something?'" He asked her, an amused smirk on his face. He then looked at Yaiba, who was a noodley mess, and snickered. "That's a good look for you Yaiba."

Hikari growled, now even more annoyed than she was before. "It doesn't concern you, so don't worry about it!" She let out a huge sigh and waved for the waiter to come back. She didn't have any food now.

Kamiko sat at her end of the table, giggling to herself. It was especially funny when she told Rom it didn't concern him... because it was totally about him. She pretended to mind her own business and drew up another doodle. This time, she drew two little bats with hearts next to them and slid the slip of paper toward Aion, her face completely red. She had never flirted with anyone before, so she had no idea how to ask how he felt or anything like that.

The black monster continued posing, but shifted his eyes down at the little drawing. He smiled just a bit under his hand and put the doodle inside his jacket, without saying a word. Kamiko internally squealed, thinking she was going to die!

Once everyone was finished eating, the group all went outside to walk back to BRR together. Kamiko followed behind Aion, watching his tail and petting it every once in a while. However, everytime he would turn around, she would put her hands behind her back and act like she was completely innocent. Hikari trailed behind the group, her arms crossed over her chest. She stared down at the ground as she walked. That whole event had her frustrated. She had never been so humiliated in her life.

Suddenly, the sound of a car horn snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see a ridiculously long white limo pass by them. 'What on earth...?' she thought. It started slowing down just as the back end was approaching. It came to a screeching halt right in front of them as the window of the back seat lowered. She was surprised to see Shuzo, the lead guitarist and vocalist for Trichronika, and Kamiko's ex.

"Evening, CrimsonZ!" he said, flashing them his signature pose with a wink.

Kamiko stopped playing with Aion's tail as she heard the familiar voice. 'ShuShu?' she thought to herself. What was he doing here? She was about to say hello, when Rom groaned. She looked to the leopard and tilted her head. What was going on? The boys didn't exactly seem happy to see Shu. Something definitely didn't feel right.

With an irritated tone, Rom responded, "What do you want, Shu?"

"Oh, I just happened to be in the neighborhood, and saw my favorite opening act leaving the ramen house, and thought I would stop to say hello!" he said, putting some unnecessary emphasis on the words 'opening act.' "However, it does look like I stumbled upon something more than just your usual ramen night," he teased just as Hikari caught up to the group and stood next to Rom. "Just who might these beautiful kittens be? Oh Rom, I hadn't realized how soft you've become! Letting yourself get tied down so early in your career."

Rom growled and Hikari looked back and forth between the two boys and laughed. "Tied down? You've gotta be kidding, right? There's absolutely nothing going on between us. We don't even like each other!" she responded. How did 'Prince Perfection' even know these guys? Rom's hands balled into tight fists at his sides, his anger starting to get the best of him. If this didn't stop…

Kamiko narrowed her eyes at her former boyfriend. He seemed to be acting as if he had never met her or Hikari. Was it because he didn't want to get into details on how they knew each other? She decided to keep quiet and get back to playing with Aion's tail to seem like she was too distracted to notice.

"You don't know what you're talking about. Why don't you just leave and get back to your twins, you little-" But before Rom could finish, he was cut off.

"You're right, I suppose I don't," he interrupted with a chuckle. Shuzo couldn't help but find this whole situation to be hilarious for reasons that none of them knew. As it turned out, he and Rom were the best of friends when they were in school. Any of the times he and Kamiko would go out together, he would tell her to bring Hikari along, saying he had a friend that would be a perfect match for her, considering they had similar personalities. Hikari would always decline, however, hating the idea of being set up with someone, much less someone chosen by him. But now, here they were!

The idol decided not to push the issue any further. It would be fun to just sit back and watch everything unfold exactly how he always predicted they would. "I'll be on my way now! Enjoy the rest of your evening~" he called out as the limo pulled away. Rom let out an annoyed sigh as he began walking, his bandmates slowly trailing behind.

Kamiko was about to follow, but Hikari grabbed her by the arm to stop her. "I really hope this wasn't your doing, Kamiko. Because I've had about enough of these jokes about that drummer."

The lioness flashed her friend a bit of a sad smile. "Of course it wasn't. Didn't you see? He acted like he didn't even know who I was, even after seeing me just yesterday. I was just as surprised by his appearance as everyone else." It didn't make any sense to Kamiko, and not just because of the way he pretended not to know her.

Hikari was just about to make a comment on how he could have acted that way as part of her joke, until she noticed the sadness in her friend's voice. "I guess that is pretty strange, isn't it? I'm sorry for thinking you planned all of that. Why don't we head back, then?" Instead of questioning Kamiko further, she decided to let it go and get to the bottom of things the next time Shu was around.