Hello guys! It's been a while, hasn't it? So... If you're wondering why i took so long to post another chapter it's because even though i had written up to chapter 19 i wasn't really happy with those 3 chapters... So i completely rewrote them all over again XD This is one of the longest chapters ever so i hope you enjoy! XD Oh, i almost forgot: thank you to everyone that keeps reviewing, reading and all the good stuff, sorry to the guest reviewers 'cuz i usually thank via PM, but i can't do so when you're just a guest... so thanks!

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

"I… Oh… Ummm… Yes… How… How did you know I had a problem with that?" he said taking two steps back while blushing.

"Well… Otoya-kun told me all about your acting adventures" she said giggling.

He moved his arms away from her and said blushing slightly "Huh… That was… different"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"I… well… You know how I got the part when I auditioned, right?"

"Yes, of course"

"Well, the thing is that… you really helped me do that"

"I… Yes, I believe you told me that right after you got the news… But I still don't know how, I don't think I even talked to you much during your audition process… If you have to be grateful towards someone it should be towards the guys"

"Well, yes… They were really kind… And they had the best of intentions, but at the end of the day, I was the only one that was auditioning and what actually got me the part was… you"

"I still don't…"

"Ummm… You see… I…" he said blushing.

"Yes?"

'Ughh… Man up Masato! Man up!' he thought. So taking a deep breath he said: "Ipicturedyouweretheactressiwassupposedtohugandtha twayicouldshowmyemotionsandithelpedmeact!"

"… Sorry, I didn't understand a word you said… Could you talk a little slower?"

"I…"

"Hijirikawa-san, is there something troubling you?"

"N-no, it's nothing like that" he said as he avoided her eyes, his face turned red as a tomato.

"Then, what is it?"

"I… Okay, I'm just going to say it… In order to get the part I had to imagine myself in a place where I shared similar feelings to the character I was portraying" seeing as she nodded he finished, blushing: "So I pictured you there… I imagined that you were the actress I hugged… so… That's why I thank you"

"Oh…" she said as she looked down blushing.

"Wh-what did Otoya tell you?" he asked suddenly.

"Oh… He said that you had trouble hugging Ichinose-san… Or anyone for that matter… So they were really glad when you made it in the audition"

"Oh, I see" he replied as silence kicked in.

Moments later Haruka remembered the situation they were in, so she said: "So… You're not going to talk to me now… will you?"

"Nanami-san…"

"I… No, it's okay… I get it… I just… It makes me really sad" she said as her vision got blurry again.

"… I'm sorry… I really wish it hadn't gotten to this point, but… I don't think I can restrain myself while I'm around you… I wouldn't want to betray Otoya's trust"

"Eh?"

He avoided her gaze as he said: "When we hugged… I almost kissed you"

"WHAT?!"

"I know… I… I'm deeply sorry, I can't ask for your forgiveness enough… But had I actually done it… Let's just not think about it… What happened was proof enough that I need to stay away from you" he said as he started walking towards the door.

"But, Hijirikawa-san!"

"Haruka" he said coldly looking her straight in the eyes.

'It's the first time he calls me by my first name… And yet I feel sad… It's as if he's using it to ground me or something… At least that's how it sounds like…' she thought as she stared back.

As she looked down away from him, he slowly turned back towards the exit and steadily walked away.

What she didn't see though were the tears that rolled down his face as he rounded the corner of the hallway on his way to the Lesson room 1. He knew no one would interrupt him if they heard the piano from outside and he truly needed to play a little to ease his mind. Masato craved to know that what he was doing was the right thing. On one side he had a feeling that this was the only way he could still stay in Starish, but on the other hand, his chest hurt so much he had to stop every few steps just to take deep breaths and try not to cry.

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

Haruka stood alone in the empty music room as she stared at the wall. It was silly of her to think that a nice talk to every guy would make everything better. Even as she thought about it, she figured that maybe Ren wasn't really okay at all with the situation either… But it was out of her hands… At least Starish was still an item, right?

She sat on the floor as she laid her face on her knees; it seemed that was her "What am I going to do with my life?" position.

Maybe she shouldn't talk to the rest of them. No, she was sure she wouldn't be able to lose each of her friends one by one… but they needed closure… heck, she needed it. It didn't matter how much pain she had to go through, she had to do it, because… what if Masato hadn't talked to her today and then suddenly he began giving her the cold shoulder? It was quite possible that if that happened she wouldn't have been able to have the same conversation she did today.

"Why does it have to be so hard?" she asked out loud to no one in particular as she broke down once again. She hid her face between her knees and stayed there for a while. A voice inside her head told her to get up and get to work on more songs, but she wasn't strong enough at the moment, she just wanted to lay there and cry until she ran completely dry… But eventually she had to get up; or at least until someone found her… 'Maybe I can go to my room to take a nap… I'm not really tired, but I don't think anyone will disturb if I lock it and cry like a little baby inside… Ughh… But what if Otoya gets out earlier? He would be so worried… I could text him that I…' as she thought that, her phone vibrated in her hand. She had a text from Mr. Smilieface himself: ":D Haruka-chan! How are you?"

She sighed as she thought 'What is he doing? Shouldn't he be working?' so with that in mind she replied: "Otoya-kun, what are you doing? Are you out of work already?" Quickly after she pressed sent, her cute little jingle started playing marking that someone was calling her. As she checked the caller ID she saw a picture she didn't even know she had with Otoya, it was really cute, but she couldn't help but cry at the sight of it, she felt really fragile. 'What is wrong with me? I can't pick up like this; he'll hear me cry… I can't worry him like that' she thought as she pressed ignore. As the screen of her phone went back to normal she quickly sent him a message to avoid him worrying and/or calling again: "Sorry Otoya-kun, I can't pick up now, my battery is running low" it was a lame excuse but it was all she could think of on the spot. After she pressed sent, she slowly got up and walked outside.

In the hallway she saw in the distance a vague figure resembling Natsuki. As he noticed her, he started waving at her direction as he yelled: "Haru-chan!"

'Oh, no… This is not good, if he sees me like this he'll never leave me alone' she thought as she quickly made up her mind to run towards the other end of the hallway.

Seeing her rapidly disappear from his view, Natsuki stood dumbfoundedly thinking 'Maybe she didn't see me?' Although oblivious to it, his other side had another idea: 'She ignored Natsuki, that is unforgivable… But I do wonder: why?'

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

Haruka quickly locked the door of her room as she let herself fall to the ground.

'Maybe I should've picked up… Otoya-kun always knows how to cheer me up' she thought as she started crying again.

After running all the way over there and with that gelatin-like feeling she had on her legs, she decided to crawl all the way over to her bed. As she let herself fall over it, she stared out of her window.

'It's snowing again…' she thought trying to distract herself. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to calm down and started slowly drifting off.

Suddenly a weird noise resounded in her room. It was as if someone was knocking on… glass. She quickly opened her eyes and found a certain emerald eyed boy staring right back at her from the other side of the window.

"Cecil-san!" she yelled. As he waved at her she remembered how cold it was outside so as fast as she could she walked towards the window and opened it just to close it as he got in.

"Cecil-san, what are you doing here?!"

"Haruka, are you crying? Why?" he asked ignoring her question.

"Eh? No, it's nothing…" she said quickly drying her face with her hands.

"Tell me what happened, did Otoya do something to you?"

"What? No, everything is fine, really… You still haven't told me why you're here"

"Oh, that's simple: My muses told me you weren't feeling well, so I came"

"Umm, okay?"

"Now it's your turn, I won't leave until you tell me why you were crying"

"Cecil-san…"

"I'm serious"

Seeing the determined look on his face, she sat down on her bed and avoiding his eyes said: "I guess I found out that I can't fix everything…"

"Eh?"

She looked up at him and said: "When I decided to date Otoya-kun I didn't know that the principal would let us do it so easily… But I didn't realize that it still had a price… I'm losing six of my friends because of it and I can't do anything to change that"

He sat next to her and taking one of her hands, he replied: "I know that I've been acting really jealous around you two, but that's just the way I am, I'm sorry… I can't really avoid it… Although there is something you need to know: Even if you stay with him forever, there is nothing you can do that will change my feelings for you. Even if I move on, form another family, you name it, I will always be grateful. So given that I noticed the other boys having similar feelings as mine towards you, I can tell you that even if it doesn't seem like it right now: we'll do anything for you. If what you want is to be with him, then we will cheer you on, even if it means to suppress our love for you" then he leaned in placing a kiss on the back of her hand and finished: "I love you, Haruka, my princess. If you ever get tired of Otoya, you can always come to me"

"EHHHH?! CE-CECIL-SAN!" she stuttered as she blushed.

At that moment someone knocked at her door so Cecil got up and said: "Well, I guess it's my time to leave!" and opening the window, he ran off.

She stood there confused for a moment but as whoever was at the door knocked again, she went back to reality. She quickly walked up to the nearest mirror and checking her face she decided: 'this is as good as it gets' So answering "I'm coming!" she approached the door.

When she finally got to open it, her eyes instantly locked with ruby ones. Surprised, she jumped back and fell on her rear.

"Haruka?" he asked confused getting her attention.

"I… you scared me… ouch" she said as she caressed her injured area.

He got close to her and giving her a hand, helped her get up and replied: "Sorry… I just wanted to surprise you"

"Then you did a great job" she said giggling.

He smiled and upon closer inspection said: "Why are you wearing a headband?"

"Eh?" she touched her forehead in confusion and as she felt the fabric, she replied: "Oh, I just needed something to hide my bruises… It's not the prettiest accessory, but it was the best I could find to cover it up"

"Really? Is it that bad? Come on, let me see" he said getting closer to her and making her blush in the process.

"N-no, it's awful, I don't want you to see it!"

"Haruka, please, I've done a lot of sports my whole life, a little bruise you got by someone hitting you with a door would be nothing in comparison to everything I've seen"

"But…"

"Pleeeeease?" he said as he fake pouted.

'Oh no… Not the puppy face! NOOOOO' Haruka thought as she slowly removed her headband and closed her eyes, waiting for his reaction.

Otoya stared at her small bruises for a moment thinking 'Wow, she really exaggerated, this is nothing!' But then he decided to play along and said: "You were right, it looks horrible!"

She quickly opened her eyes and avoiding his gaze she tried to put the headband back on. As she was about to place it in its previous spot, Otoya grabbed her hands to stop her and put the piece of fabric in one of the back pockets of his pants.

"O-Otoya-kun!" she yelled surprised.

He glared at her mischievously and after seeing her blush get a deeper shade of red, he said: "Haruka, I was teasing you, you have nothing"

"Eh? Tha-that's not true, I checked on the mirror and…" she started saying only to stop as he moved closer to her.

He carefully took her face with his hands and placed a soft kiss on her bruises. As he pulled away he noticed she had shut her eyes as if afraid that he would change his mind, so he said: "You look beautiful" making her open them just in time for him to kiss her on the lips. At this, she pulled him closer by the neck kissing him back.

Moments later, when she pressed her body against his, he pushed her away.

"Haruka…" he said breathlessly.

She gave him a quick peck on the lips in response and said: "Okay…" as she leaned in again. When her lips touched his, she felt him smile onto her mouth even though he seemed not too kin about that much kissing, making her smile back and deepen the kiss. As their tongues came in contact, Haruka felt a wave of electricity go through her body that forced her to think: 'Oh no… Not again… Don't make any noise… don't… nope' in that moment, Otoya wrapped his arms around her so that they could be more comfortable. He tried to just focus on the kiss, in order not to get his mind into more rocky issues, so as he did; he noticed that her lips tasted like strawberry.

Later as Haruka pulled away in favor of air, she slightly opened her eyes and as she looked at her redheaded boyfriend, she couldn't help but giggle, startling him in the process.

"What? What is it?" he asked as he let go of her embarrassed.

"No-nothing" she said as she kept giggling.

"Haruka!" he replied in an accusatory tone.

"I just… I was wearing lipstick and now it's all over your face!" she said as she laughed harder now.

"I… What?!" he said as he ran towards the closest mirror he could find. As he looked at himself though, all anger went away and he started laughing alongside her.

After they laughed it out and could actually breathe again, Otoya asked: "Since when do you wear lipstick?"

"Oh… Ummm… Well, Tomo-chan bought me a whole make-up unit for my birthday and I thought I should start using it…"

"Today?" he said giggling.

"Yeah…"

"It's weird; I never thought you would wear make-up"

"Me neither, but there is always a first time for everything, right?"

"I guess… I wish your bedroom wasn't as dark though, maybe I could've noticed before your lipstick wound up in my face" he said giggling.

"Oh…"

"Wait… Why is your room this dark anyways? Where you sleeping before I got here?"

"Before I answer that, you have to tell me the truth: did you actually got to see my bruises if you couldn't see my lips?"

"Hey! I asked first!"

She just stared at him in response so he sighed and replied: "I can see your forehead perfectly fine, it's not really that dark in here… Maybe I couldn't see your lipstick 'cuz you had a light color?"

"Oh… yeah, it's actually a pretty similar shade of pink as my actual lips… But it was strawberry scented, you didn't notice?"

"Oooh, so that's what it was! I thought you had eaten some strawberries or something like that"

"Nope…"

"You still haven't answered my questions, you know"

"Ah… Yes… I tried to take a nap, but it didn't really work"

"Eh? What do you mean?" he asked as he moved to turn the lights on.

After closing her eyes for a moment trying to adapt them to the new brightness in the room, Haruka replied: "It's nothing…"

Upon closer inspection, Otoya noticed a certain puffiness in her face, so he said: "Are you okay?"

"Umm, of course, why do you ask?"

"Please don't take this the wrong way, 'cuz I'm only asking since I'm a bit worried, but… your face looks a bit swollen… What happened?"

She sighed and thought: 'It seems I'll have to tell him after all…' as she sat on her bed. After he joined her, she said: "I had a talk with Hijirikawa-san… It didn't really end well"

"What?"

"He said we can't be friends anymore… and needless to say, I cried… a lot" she replied avoiding his gaze.

"Oh, Haruka…" he said as he quickly hugged her.

As she hugged back, she took deep breaths to avoid crying and in his arms said: "I love you"

"I love you too" he said as he rubbed small circles in her back.

As they pulled away, Otoya held her face in his hands and said: "It'll be okay, you'll see" to which she just nodded as she thought: 'I really do hope so…'