So... As i said before, this chapter is a bit sadder than the other ones. But upon reading it again i can safely say it's not that sad XD. I hope you enjoy this one as well and thank you for reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own Uta no Prince-sama or any of its characters.

1 hour later (11 p.m.) ~

Haruka had asked Otoya to spend all the time he had left before going to work with her. Of course: he said yes.

"You'll see everything will turn out okay" the ruby-eyed boy said stroking her hand.

They were in the music room because Haruka felt guilty about what had happened earlier. So she tried to write a new song for each and every one of them as an apology for not being more understanding of their feelings.

"… I don't know Otoya-kun… I feel so bad…"

"You don't have to. Come on, cheer up, they'll get over it in no time"

"How do you know?"

"I don't" he said giggling, trying to make Haruka feel better. It only made her feel worse. She had a grim look on her face that made Otoya stop smiling all together. "Haruka… I know you feel bad, and I feel pretty bad myself, but we can't just mope around. What's done's done and besides: isn't it better this way? They deserved to know, not telling them would've been worse"

She looked up at him faking a smile and said "I guess you're right…"

Otoya usually tried his best to stay happy as much as he could; he hated being sad or seeing people sad. That was why he had wanted to be an idol in the first place: to bring smiles, real smiles to people's faces, to make them happy. He wanted to let them feel even if just for the four minutes of a song that they had nothing to worry about.

He remembered little about his biological mother. But in the small time they spent together, he recollected how happy she had been: Singing Shining's songs, dancing around in their house. He wanted to make people feel like that, like his friends in the orphanage made him feel. All of this made him repress any upsetting feeling when he was surrounded by people and even sometimes when he was alone. And while that may seem like a pretty stable behavior for people around him, inside he was coming to his limit, to the point he had to break down or he would get physically sick. Because even though he claimed he had a happy childhood (he did) with his friends and adoptive mom later on, he was still haunted by little questions as: 'Why didn't my dad want me?' and: 'Why did my mom had to leave me?' Lately those questions had been deep in the back of his mind. But after what Haruka told him about his father, they were coming up again and he couldn't let that happen, he had to stay strong for her, for his friends. He couldn't lose them.

With all that in mind, he decided to hug his girlfriend, surprising her and himself at the tightness of the hug. She was the one feeling sad but she sensed he was the one that needing comforting so she hugged him back just as tightly. The only sound in the room was the beating of their hearts, getting louder and louder. When they couldn't resist anymore they broke apart just enough to aloud them to kiss. This time it was different than the others, the kiss was more desperate, less sweet, and sloppy all around. But they didn't care; they just wanted to be as close to each other as possible. With that in mind, Otoya leaned in closer to Haruka, making her lay down on the bench they were sitting in with him on top of her. They weren't thinking clearly, they were just doing what they felt like doing, what their bodies craved for. He pulled away for a short second to take his shirt off and then continued to kiss her as she took her coat off. At that moment he decided to start unbuttoning her dress as he kissed her neck for the first time. They were both shirtless now and it wouldn't take too long for them to go all the way. But before that, Otoya leaned in to kiss her once again on the lips (after leaving some hickeys on her neck). In the split moment it took for him to go from one part to the other, Haruka came back to her senses. She pushed him away touching his chest (and upon realizing he had no shirt on: blushing deeply) and said: "No… Stop"

It took him a moment to take in the words she said "What… What do you mean?"

She looked at him in the eyes and said "I love you, but I'm not ready yet. I'm sorry"

He would've normally told her something among the lines of "No, it's not your fault. You don't need to apologize, it's okay" but today was not a normal occasion. He was furious, he didn't answer her. He stared at her with a cold look that made his red eyes look like fire.

After what seemed like forever, he got up, put his shirt back on, and walked. The harsh sound of the door closing behind him felt like a hit to her. But she just stayed there, confused, shirtless, cold and alone.

She didn't even move, she couldn't, it hurt too much. She wanted to put her dress and coat back on but the only thing she could do was cry. In no time her small cries turned into ugly sobbing as she curled up into a ball thinking 'Where did I go wrong?'

~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~

After he closed the door Otoya started walking away faster and faster until he was running. Running from his thoughts, running from what he did, just running. He couldn't stop and he didn't know where he was going, he just knew that he had to go.

When he got to the door that separated him from the outside he put his sneakers on and his coat. As he opened it, he welcomed the piercing cold before resuming his running. He was about to start again when he realized he wouldn't get far by foot so he got on his bicycle and rode off.

~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~

Haruka cried until she just felt numb. Not sad, not angry: empty. She slowly got up, put her dress back on buttoning it up. She grabbed her coat and put it on as she walked out of the room, walking to hers.

She didn't want to think anymore, she was just so exhausted. She couldn't even take the covers of her bed off. Because 1) she didn't want to… She was sure the sheets still smelled like him and 2) she couldn't bother. She passed out on her bed without changing and just let go of the cruel reality.

~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~

'What? Why? How?' was everything Otoya could think about as he pedaled away from the dorms. It would've been hard to avoid cars at the speed he was going (and the state of mind he was in), but he rode through pretty deserted most of the time. As he was reaching a deep fatigue he decided (or more like: his body did) to stop on top of a little hill with view to the lake. He couldn't feel his legs so he just laid down on the grass looking up at the sky. This was exactly what he didn't want: have time to think. So he decided that maybe he could just fall asleep right there. Who cared anyways, right? But, nope: the adrenaline from riding the bicycle all the way there was keeping him as awake as possible. It cleared his mind allowing him to reflect on what he had done.

'She must hate me now. I should've just gone to bed and let her be with Cecil that night… But… She said she loves me… though… More like loved after what I did today. What got into me?' he thought as a couple of tears rolled down his face. Then it dawned on him 'I have to apologize and just… leave… I can't hurt her again… I need to leave'

He was getting up when it occurred to him 'I need to know who my father is… I can't go on like this… But I can't ask her… What can I do?' A little voice in the back of his mind told him that she didn't hate him. That this could turn out okay, that he needed to stay. But he was too confused. When he saw the hurt look on her face before leaving he realized he could never do that to her again, that he couldn't forgive himself for that. So: why should she?

He got up still not knowing what to do and felt an excruciating pain in both his legs and arms. He shouldn't have ridden so much after sleeping so little the night before. But he just thought it was his karma; that he had to pay for what he did. Even though he believed that, he could barely move. So, with great effort, he sat down and looked down at the lake.

~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~h~o~h~

Back at the Starish dorms ~

"Boys! Where are you all?! Ringo is here to bring some fun!" He got no response which was pretty weird given it was almost three p.m. by then. He went to the living room and seeing no one there either, he tried again: "Boys?!" He decided to go check on Haruka just in case. He walked up to her room and knocked on the door. "Haruka?" No reply. "Haru-chan? Are you there?" Upon saying that, he heard a low response from the other side. Suddenly, a very puffy –and red- eyed girl opened the door.

"Ringo-san" she just said in a hoarse voice.

"Haru-chan? What happened? Have you been crying?" She wanted to answer: "no", close back the door and go back to sleep, but she just wasn't strong enough at that point so she just nodded.

"Oh, honey. It's ok: Ringo-chan knows how to healI'm gonna make you feel better"

They walked back in as Ringo closed the door behind them and got to the curtains to open them "How can you see anything?"

"I… was sleeping"

"Oh" Haruka went to sit on her still made bed and Ringo followed.

"So… What happened? You know you can trust me"

She bit her lip and replied "…It's a bit too personal"

"Oh? What do you mean? Are you having boy problems?" she nodded "Huh… But honey, you can't date… Is that the problem?"

"No… the principal let us be together"

"Oh wow, really? Huh… Then… Who is him?"

Haruka opened her mouth to answer but Ringo stopped her "Wait! Let me guess!" She just nodded in response.

"Is it… Tokiya-kun?" she shaked her head "Okay…then… I know! It's Otoya-kun isn't it?!" she just looked down at her lap in response.

"Oh honey, come on, you'll feel better if you tell me what happened" he said as he stroked her hand.

She looked up at him, took a deep breath and finally told him what happened. Ringo was speechless when she finished talking as he gave her a quick hug.

"I'm sure he didn't mean any harm" he said. "But I don't think I could help you much with telling you that, can I?" She stayed silent "You need to talk to him; it must be a big misunderstanding. But keep in mind that you didn't do anything wrong, nothing" She nodded and gestured towards the bed as if asking: "Can I sleep now?" Ringo smiled in response and walked up to the door. But before he could open it, he heard her say in a low, weak voice: "Thank you, it actually helped a little"

When he was far enough from her room, he took out his cellphone and dialed Otoya's number. It took a couple of calls but he finally picked up.

"Hello?"

"Otoya-kun, it's Ringo, where are you?"

"…Not in the dorms"

"Yes, I can see that. Now get your ass back here before I track you down and beat you up for hurting sweet Haru-chan"

"… How is she?" he asked.

"How do you think she is?! Devastated! Now, I don't know what happened to you. I'm sure you have your reasons but you need to talk this kind of things through. A couple is made out of two people: you have to discuss your problems together and make decisions about the relationship together!"

"But-" Ringo cut him off.

"No buts young man! Now get back here!" and with that he hanged up.