So umm... i don't know how this happened but to all you Ren lovers out there: This is a Ren centric chapter! XD I really don't understand how this happened giving that i don't even like Ren that much but oh well... XD

Oh, and also: there is a little tiny reference to Pride and Prejudice on this chapter :P

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

After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened. Tomochika was so surprised at seeing him that she screamed and pushed Ren away, closing the door as fast as she could afterwards.

It hurt to fall yet again but at least this brought him back to reality. He got up just in time for the red haired girl to open the door again.

"What the hell are you doing here?! You scared me!" she yelled.

"I… Sorry" He didn't seem like himself. He looked at the ground blushing in embarrassment as he stuttered his replies. The refreshing attitude he was presenting, surprised both girls. "I just… I was about to knock and… Sorry… I didn't mean to frighten you"

"Um… It's okay, no big deal… Are you okay?" Tomochika asked.

"Eh? Yes, it was just a little fall, it's nothing compared to yesterday"

The redhead stared at him for a moment and then said: "Are you sure? You seem… different"

"Different? How?"

"… Oh… I… I don't know… It's just a feeling"

"Ummm… Okay…"

Afterwards, they stayed in awkward silence for a while. Haruka couldn't stop looking at the bruises on his face. And even though most of the time, he would appreciate some female attention (specially coming from her), this time it made him feel quite uncomfortable. He found the whole situation really bizarre: why would he feel anything but flattered if a lovely lady looked at him?

"… I thought you were working, Jinguji-san" said Haruka trying to break the ice.

Ren stared at her for a moment. He was trying to figure out what she had just said and what he was doing before completely freezing at her doorstep. When it finally dawned on him, he replied: "I… No, I'm not"

"… Yes, I can see that…" she replied.

That made them go silent once again, but this time Ren thought: 'For God's sake this is ridiculous!' And metaphorically slapping himself, he said: "Sorry, I just… I had a photoshoot and looking like this is not what the photographer had in mind for the ads"

"Oh… I see"

"So what are you doing here anyways, pretty boy? Coming to Haruka's room when no one's around?" Tomochika asked.

"Jealous, my lady?" Ren asked.

"What? In your dreams" she said matter-of-factly. Then she turned to her friend and said: "Look Haruka, I have to go. Can you handle this womanizer on your own?" This made Ren scoff.

Haruka looked at him for a moment and then back at her friend and said: "Yeah, I'll be fine. See you later"

"See ya" and as she walked away she turned around and looking at Ren she said "Don't try anything funny on my friend, I'm watching you"

They were left alone then, so after a couple of minutes, Haruka asked: "Do you want to come in?" gesturing towards her room.

"Oh, yes. That would be nice, thank you, Lady"

As they got in, Ren settled for sitting on the bed and Haruka for one of her desk chairs.

"Wouldn't you feel more comfortable on the bed, Lady?"

This made Haruka blush as she stuttered her answer. "N-no, it's fine here"

"Really? Then I can sit there and you sit on the bed"

"No, really, I'm perfectly fine here… I'll just move my chair closer to you and it'll be just fine" she said as if talking to herself.

When she got close enough, she looked up at him, waiting for him to start talking.

He took a deep breath and said: "Listen, I have no clue why I even came here in the first place, my dear Little Lamb. But I do know that I'll take advantage of all the time we have alone together" he finished winking.

Haruka looked at him sadly, and said: "Jinguji-san…" Her reaction intrigued him since he found no reason for her to be anything but glad to receive his full attention.

"What is it, Lady?"

"I… I'm worried about you… Otoya-kun told me what you did yesterday and by looking at the scars on your face I can gather you didn't disinfect them well today… Are you okay? You know you can trust me"

He smiled and replied: "Such a sweetheart, always worrying about everyone else. But there is no need, I am a grown man and I can take care of myself"

Haruka realized that no matter how bad he needed to open up, she had to find a way to get it out of him discreetly; he was too prideful for his own good. So she changed the topic, taking a different approach on the subject.

"… So, umm… Jinguji-san… How is your brother? It's been a while since we've met him"

The sudden change of topics surprised him, but he went along anyways. "He's… good… We met last week for lunch… I think we may go on vacation together if all is well"

"Oh, I'm so glad to hear that!" she said smiling. This made him blush a little and also hushed him. He was feeling like a schoolgirl: blushing and being nervous. He usually didn't do that, not even with Haruka. But he could barely control his emotions that day. His jealousy, anger and sorrow had taken over him, and there were moments when he could do nothing but stand back and watch himself make yet another mess.

"So… What were you doing this morning? Seeing as you didn't go to work today" she asked.

"… I just went out jogging, honey" he decided to distract himself by using various nicknames for her as they talked.

"… That sounds… painful… Shouldn't you have been resting this morning just like me?"

"Nah, resting is for…" He looked at her before finishing and realized what he was about to say, so he instead finished: "… people with more serious injuries. Not me, I just got a few punches, no big deal"

"Well it does look like a big deal, you look awful!" He looked hurt hearing that so she added: "I'm sorry… I didn't mean-" he cut her off.

"No, it's okay… I looked at myself in the mirror this morning… But I don't care, you know. If I had a recording today, this wouldn't have been a problem at all… It's no big of a deal, I'm a tough guy, I'll manage"

"… Are you sure? I mean, I'm not going to question your… manliness? But you shouldn't be so careless about your body…"

"I'M FINE!" he yelled standing up. He was furious and his rage was blinding him so it took a couple of moments before he could realize the scared look Haruka had. "I-I'M…" He noticed that he couldn't stop yelling and he didn't want to hurt her so he just said: "I SHOULD GO, SORRY!" and started walking towards the door.

What he didn't realize was that Haruka ran after him (getting a strong headache in the process) so when she grabbed his hand and turned him around, he was shocked.

"Jinguji-san…" she just said in a worried tone keeping her hand attached to his.

He opened his mouth as if to tell her to let go, but he just broke down instead. He started crying silently and then leaned in on her shoulder. He kept muttering: "I'm so sorry" over and over against her shoulder, to what she replied to, every single time with: "I know"

Ren didn't want this to happen, he never did. He had promised himself when he was little that no one would ever see him cry, he couldn't show that kind of weakness. So he put on a careless facade, and after his father died he had started to believe that the mask was his true self; that the flirty boy with a passion for roses and a cool attitude was the real him. And in a way he could say that he liked roses, women and even liked to flirt. But that was not his whole persona. He had started paying attention to women because he wanted to be loved. He thought no one cared about him and seeing as he got so many compliments when he was little, he just thought that maybe someone could actually love him that way. So he learned some easy pick up lines, dressed up in fancy clothes and in no time, he had a bunch of ladies attached to him like bees to honey. But he still didn't feel anything, it was all superficial. They just cared about his looks, about the way he acted, so all that work was naught. He felt empty, numb. That's why he tried to think about the last time he had truly enjoyed himself, and a sweet memory flashed before his eyes: that time when he and Masato sneaked out of one of those boring extravagant parties and to have fun on their own. He remembered that it felt nice to laugh with someone, but they were rivals now, he had to act the part. So when his brother told him he had to represent the company with his image, he decided to follow his old "friend". He'd heard that the blue haired boy was going to attend Saotome Academy. And given how good he was at music, he decided to follow him, 'just for laughs' he said to himself. Of course, he made his brother think as if he had been the one that had the idea of attending the academy, but the truth was: he could've gone somewhere else. That was where he learnt to care about others again, but most importantly: to care about himself, not just pretend. He made some friends and he fell in love. But now with Haruka dating one of them, his once strong structure seemed to be trembling. He didn't want to lose anything; he just wanted everything to go back. He didn't care about how long he had to bottle up his love for her or how long everyone else had to; he just wanted all of them to be friends. 'Why did they all have to fall for her? Why couldn't she just be mine?' This was all he could think about. He had promised not to make any moves until she was overage. But it seemed that in his confident move he didn't realize someone was already taking the lead in the quest for her heart. How dare Otoya ruin his whole perfect plan?

He was just so confused. He didn't want to fight them. He just wanted someone to punish him for what he thought. He felt it was only fair for them to punch him after how ill he had been thinking about them.

And he hated change. He hated it when his mother died (even though he could barely remember her), he hated it when his father passed out too, and he hated it the most when his brother forced him to attend a music boarding school just for publicity's sake. Of course this last one turned out to be not as bad and his brother was just looking to help him be happy again, but that still didn't change how horrible he had felt at first. And yet again things seemed to be changing and he didn't like it not one bit. So he embraced Haruka, he hugged her as he cried, letting himself be weak at least for that one moment.

Haruka on the other hand couldn't help but think about what Tomochika had told her. She had to show her confidence to help these guys; they needed her for reasons beyond her understanding. And she didn't want them to feel useless or unwanted just because she was dating one of them. These boys were the most attractive bunch of gentleman she had ever met and yet they felt as if they weren't worth it if she wasn't in love with them? It just sounded ridiculous, so gathering up her courage Haruka decided to give poor broken Ren a piece of composer wisdom.

She pulled away to give him a napkin to dry his face as she started "Jinguji-san… You shouldn't feel this way. You're an outstanding man, you have a wonderful voice and you have so many people that love you for who you are… And we worry, we don't want you to lose yourself, you're special"

"… Yeah, well… Not special enough for you it seems" he said between deep breaths as he tried to calm himself down.

"Don't say that! I may not be in love with you, but I do love you and I can guarantee that you will find a girl just right for you"

"But I don't want any other girl, I want you"

She sighed and said: "I know you do, but you can't have me. Like you told me before: you're not a little boy, you're a 'tough guy' and you should respect my decision to date Otoya-kun"

"…" he looked down at the ground.

"Listen, I know it's hard, but I also know that you're already aware of the fact that you can't have everything you want in life. And I don't want you to feel like you don't matter, because you do! I care about you and I don't want you to feel this way. I'm sure nobody else does either! Why can't you see that?"

He took a deep breath and replied: "Little Lamb, I know you're trying to help, but when I set my mind to get something or someone… I always get it… I appreciate the effort though"

She roughly pushed him away with an angered look on her face and in a somewhat desperate somewhat furious tone, she replied: "I. Don't. Love. You. That. Way. Can't you please respect my wishes? I'm in love with Otoya-kun, I am and as far as I know I plan to stay with him! So please understand me when I tell you that you need to move on!" She felt that what she said was a bit too hurtful, but she was so angry she couldn't find another way to let him know her feelings.

For some reason he didn't seem to be paying that much attention to the words she said but to the attitude attached to them. And he found that attitude quite arousing. So needless to say without thinking twice he leaned in for a kiss. But before his lips could reach hers, he made a sudden stop. He opened his eyes and saw how strongly she had closed hers. It was as if she was afraid he would… rape her or something among those lines. And that was when it hit him: she didn't want him at all. She just saw him as a friend (a really sexy friend that is). And this time he got the full picture of the situation: he was forcing himself on her. So he pulled away as she opened her eyes no longer feeling his breath on her face and said: "I'm truly sorry" Before she could reply, he bowed to fully express his regret.

"… I… You are?"

"Yes, you were right. I should respect your wishes and if what you want is for me not to make any more advances towards you, I understand"

Still confused she replied "I… Really?"

"Yes… I'm sorry for being so forward… I just… I didn't want love to slip through my fingers again this time and I think I held on too tight… I do hope you can forgive my foolishness… I didn't mean to cause you any harm… or anyone for that matter"

"I… It's okay… I'm glad you understand… Thank you" she said smiling relieved.

"No, thank you" he said smiling back.

Then she realized something. "Oh… But… what about the guys?"

He thought about it for a moment and then replied grimacing: "I'll have to apologize to them too for acting like such a douche lately"

They stayed in pleasant silence for a while and then Ren said: "I'm sorry for acting like such a baby… I don't know what went into me…"

"It's okay… It really is, I understand…" she said.

"So… All is well?"

"All is well"

And with that he gave her a quick hug and started walking out.

"Wait, where are you going?" she asked.

"Oh… to the infirmary. I better get this cuts cleaned. See you later Little Lamb, it was nice talking to you… Sorry if I drenched your dress" he said smirking as he walked away.

She smiled in response and replied: "See you" Just in time for him to hear before closing the door.

A/N: By the way guys: do you ship Tomochika with any of the boys? 'cuz i'm planning that for VEEEEEEEEEEEERY future chapters to pair her with one and i don't really have much of a preference for any... So please do tell!