Hello, my dears! :) New chapter is here :) (that rhymed but it wasn't on purpose XD). Here's the new chapter 'cuz i'm lazy and i don't wanna study :D Oh, and honorable mention to 'Smileyface' for leaving that nice comment/review! You're a cutie :3

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

Being dragged away from his girlfriend wasn't an experience he would ever want to repeat. Neither was the giggle she tried to suppress as his heels hit the ground and his shoes started screeching. The only thing he was thankful for in that moment was that in all the way to Shining's office they hadn't run into any members of Starish.

When they finally arrived, Otoya picked himself up and as Reiji gestured for him to do so: he walked inside room with the open door.

Shining had his back turned towards him, facing the window instead. But he still noticed his presence. "Mister Ittoki…" he called as the redhead stood there.

"Yes?"

"Please take a sit" he said, still not turning towards him.

Otoya pondered for a moment about whether he should follow his order or not, but he eventually did so. He didn't want to get fired for such a stupid thing.

After sitting down, he waited for his boss to say something, anything, but he didn't seem to be even fazed by the younger boy's presence. Considering he didn't want to waste his time doing nothing, Otoya moved to talk but that was the moment when Shining turned around.

"It has been brought to my attention that you are the reason why Starish has been having all these arguments as of late. Mister Ittoki: the instigator of troubles. That could be your trademark" When he finished talking, he smiled complacently. He was on the verge of hysterical laughter (as always), but Otoya's worried expression stopped him from traumatizing him further.

"I-I… I know, sir! Bu-but we haven't argued at all for a while and now things are cool! We're cool! It's… cool"

"Is that so?"

"Y-yes!" he stuttered before whispering: "Please don't fire me"

"Oh, don't worry, child. That's not why I brought you here"

"Is that-? Really?"

"Yes. In fact, I have an offer for you"

"An offer?"

"Mister Ittoki, could you please stop asking questions until I finish talking?"

"Mm, sorry"

"… So yes, I have an offer for you. Just think about this: A solo debut"

Otoya stared at his boss dumbfoundedly as he tried to figure out whether he had heard right or had somehow hit his head while Reiji dragged him to the office. He stayed quiet since he was completely out of it, but Shining was waiting for some sort of response which is why he went back to 'screaming-and-laughing-out-loud,-insufferable' Shining.

"MISTER ITTOKI, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY OFFER?!"

"Oh! I… Sir… Ummm… What about Starish? I…"

"Starish, Starish… Listen to me boy: I researched about this and I can assure you that most 'boy bands' have a life expectancy of ten years at the most. And I'm talking about really successful worldwide bands. For now, Starish is a success, and I'm glad it is, but I can't live- we can't live off of it for much time"

"But, sir-" he tried to say before being interrupted.

"No no, just think about it. You know what? Let's make this a little MORE FUN!" he said. Right afterwards, he started laughing in his usual crazy state, loudly and obnoxiously.

Otoya just stared back at the man he had discovered to be his father and without a second to spare, started praying to every god he ever knew to please please not let him turn out that way.

After his laughing fit, Shining straightened himself and finished his pitch: "Why don't you tell me the decision you came to right at the end of this month? That way we'll see how you and Miss Nanami turn out right as I figure out what to do with you"

'What to do with me?! Am I an object to you?' is what Otoya wished he'd had the courage to say, but after all the fighting (and the many times he had confronted Shining in the past) he was afraid that just another outburst would be the end of his career. So instead of saying exactly what he wanted to say, he tried to sugarcoat it. Because be it as it may: Ittoki Otoya was no coward. "… What do you mean by 'figure out what to do with me'?"

"What I mean, dear, is that as far as I've seen, I can't really trust you with a group of people, at least not as of right now. And to be quite honest, you're a good artist, I wouldn't want to waste that potential"

"Oh, umm thank you. But that's not… What I did… The way I've been behaving lately is not really how I am! I love my friends and I'm sure my teachers at Saotome Academy can vouch for that! You were there as well; you saw how easily it was for us to harmonize together as a group. And I swear that I'm not going to cause any trouble anymore"

"I wish I could believe every word you say… But even if what you are saying is true, I'm still looking for a solo artist in my Agency, I need a new shining light. And if you reject my offer, then I'm afraid you will never have that chance again because I'll give someone else that chance; perhaps one of your bandmates? Just think about it, Mister Ittoki"

Otoya had lost track of his thoughts by then, but the word 'bandmates' brought his girlfriend back to mind, and therefore, the most pressing issue about the offer. "If… If I were to accept your proposition by the end of the month and Haruka coincidentally manages to write yet another hit song for Starish… What would happen to us?"

Shining smiled as his sunglasses glinted with the light from outside. Producing an unreal picture of himself that depicted him as a threatening and worthy entrepreneur. "Well, Mister Ittoki, if that were the case then I would have no choice but to offer Starish's composer a job as yours only"

"Mine? Wait… My composer?"

"Yes, boy, what else did you think I meant?" he said, trying to hide his amusement. After a short pause, he added: "But I figure you'd know that she wouldn't quit Starish that easily. If that were the case, she would've chosen you alone back in the Academy"

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

Meanwhile, at Haruka's room ~

Right after Otoya disappeared out of her view, Haruka's giggles died down. Her smile vanished from her face and she sat back in her bed as her worries clouded her thoughts once again.

She wanted to stay positive, to maintain the mood that she was in when he was with her, but be it as it may: she just couldn't do it. Just thinking about him she'd smile, but the thought of him brought along her fears at full force. Because as much as she tried to convince herself that even if she failed and they had to forcibly break up it was going to be okay, she just couldn't. The little time they spent together was so full of happiness that it could last an eternity in her mind, but the truth was that they spent more time trying to figure out how to love each other, how to deal with their heartaches, their past, their friends that they truly didn't have much time to enjoy each other's company. But Haruka wasn't someone who would easily give up. Her time with Starish had taught her many things, but the one she cherished the most was truly believing that she was talented. She could stand for herself as a composer; she could stand alongside the boys feeling worthy of that place and she could smile proudly at that. She had changed because of them, because of him and she wasn't going to let anyone take away this little haven she had- no, they had worked so hard to get.

But she was still human, and even through it all, she had doubts. Artist's block is a world known nightmare for anyone in the field and truth be told, she was tired of getting it. Though it still felt… off. The last time she experienced such a difficulty at writing had been right before Cecil joined Starish. And the thought of that never left her mind. Perhaps there was something that wasn't quite clicking in her head… Something wasn't fitting with the rest anymore, but she couldn't figure out what it was.

Out of the sudden, she heard some light knocking coming from her door. She rose and opened the door without checking, but she was hoping that her boyfriend's meeting had been a short one.

Instead, standing outside was his roommate: Tokiya. He looked back at her, hands in his pockets as he smiled weakly, waiting for her to let him in.

"Ichinose-san?"

"… May I come in, Nanami-san?"

"I… yes, of course" she said. Then she took a step back so that he'd have space to walk inside.

Following him and taking a sit at her desk chair, she wondered why he had come to visit her then. Her room was certainly transited a lot lately and she found it weird considering how Ringo had made sure to tell everyone how forbidden it was to walk into the Women's Dormitories. Regardless, she wasn't quite fond of the rules so she just sat there in silence, awkward as she sneaked a glance and found him twiddling his thumbs with nervousness.

He was sitting right across from her at the border of her bed looking like a wet, terrified puppy. She hadn't seen him like that many times, and it worried her that something might've been wrong with him.

What was escaping her mind was that the last proper conversation she had with him had been before she started dating Otoya. Since then, the longest talk they had was when he had interrupted their first breakfast together.

She had forgotten to give closure both to Tokiya and Natsuki and that was certainly going to have consequences.

"So, Nanami-san, I heard you were having trouble with Saotome"

"I am, actually. How did you know?"

"Well, we all knew you had a meeting with him today so I gathered there must be something bad going on"

"Ah, I see… Yes, I'm actually having a really bad case of writer's block" she said, and then sighed.

"Oh? Maybe I can help you"

She looked up at him, hope filling her eyes, but then it rapidly disappeared. "If only it were that easy"

"Mmm? What do you mean?"

"I mean… I've tried and tried and tried and… I just can't write anything that he likes, and it just frustrates me because it makes me unable to write any longer for fear of him rejecting my compositions more. Every time he says "try again" I lose a little bit more strength, a little bit more confidence, a little bit more inspiration, and I don't think I can take it anymore" her voice grew higher with each word and right before she stopped talking she had to embrace herself, wrap her own arms around her body to stop herself from crying, shaking or any other response that might make him to worry.

"Nanami-san… Does this mean you're giving up?"

Without a second to spare, she shouted: "No!" The power with which she said that word made him slightly lean backwards, away from her as he felt personally hurt.

When she looked up at him and saw the way he was staring at her, she quickly apologized, tried to smooth things over, but she couldn't shake the pain from his eyes no matter how many times he claimed that it was nothing.

"I guess… You don't need my help, then" he said, looking away from her.

She tried to set things right and she honestly appreciated his help, so she responded with: "I do! I actually do need your help. I'm sorry, apparently I'm really close to having some sort of nervous breakdown and I… I clearly can't deal with this on my own… You helped me many times before when I needed a guiding light, some hope to keep pushing through and… And I really need that right now. If you're still up to it, that is"

He took his time to answer her, but as his eyes locked with hers, he knew that there was no way he was refusing now. "I am"

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

In Tomochika's house… far far away ~

While Haruka talked with Tokiya and Otoya with Shining, Tomochika returned to her home from a long day of work. After the success of her opening number at the Utapri festival, she had received endless parts and photoshoots to make. She was quite proud of herself for it, but with more opportunities came less free time and much more work. She hadn't been able to meet up with Haruka or any of the boys since the concert and she honestly missed them a lot.

She figured her place would be empty considering how her composer had a meeting and her senpai was out of town, so she just let herself fall on the nearest couch right after getting inside.

"Tired, are we?" a familiar voice said. She stood right up and searched the room with her eyes as fear invaded her. He stood right at the top of the stairs, looking down at her.