A/N: The beginning of this chapter is thanks to Nanami-Hime. The idea was hers and I loved it so much I couldn't help but find an excuse to incorporate it into the story.
Cecil strolled along the railing of Haruka's balcony, the sun feeling glorious on his dark fur. He didn't take his cat form often. He much preferred his true form of human. Especially after being stuck as a cat for several years, but he was still capable of taking on the form and did so upon occasion. He had some good memories associated with being a cat. He'd been a cat when he'd met Haruka, after all. And if he'd never been cursed into this form, he never would have met Haruka and never would have joined STARISH. In a way, he owed a lot to this form.
He paused to stretch, extending his claws as he arched his back. The surprise birthday party for Tomochika was about to start, but the sun outside had looked so inviting that Cecil couldn't help himself. And, he admitted, part of him wanted to look inside Haruka's room (not with her in it). He hadn't been inside since before he'd joined STARISH and he was curious about how it had changed. Both Haruka and STARISH had grown in a lot in the last year.
Also, STARISH had recently given Haruka a new poster of themselves, one with them wearing their outfits from the SSS and signed by all of them. He wondered if she already had it up. He peered through the balcony doors and his hear leapt when he spotted a poster on the back of Haruka's door. Except…the coloring was wrong. It wasn't a poster of STARISH, it was a poster of…
Cecil's fur stood on end and he hissed at the sight. He let out one yowl at the picture before losing his balance and tumbling to the ground.
~.~
By the time Cecil went back to his room, threw on clothes, and entered the living room, the party had already started. Cecil stood back anxiously, too riled up to join in the festivities. Why did Haruka have a signed poster of HEAVENS in her room? And how long had she had it for? Since the SSS? Before then?
"There you are, Sesshy," Ren said, looking over with a smile. "We were wondering where—" Ren broke off when he noticed Cecil's disheveled appearance. "Is everything all right?"
Cecil winced when Tomochika and Haruka looked over at him in concern. He didn't want to do anything to ruin Tomo's party. Why did he have to see the poster today of all days? Why did Haruka have to have the poster in the first place? And what in the world did her having the poster even mean?
"It's fine, it's fine." Cecil waved the matter off, grinning at Haruka and Tomochika. "I just tripped. No need to make a big deal out of it."
Haruka still gazed at him with concerned eyes, making his heart melt. How could any guy not fall for her? Of course, "any guy" encompassed HEAVENS. And they spent a fair bit of time with Haruka during the time leading up to the SSS. Darn it! He couldn't think of anything except that poster. In Haruka's room. Where she would see it every night before going to bed and every morning when she woke up. Why?!
He worked to give Haruka a more genuine smile, hoping it hid the turmoil inside him. Haruka finally turned her attention back to Tomo and he sighed in relief. However, his odd behavior did not escape the attention of his bandmates.
~.~
Cecil was distractedly washing dishes in the kitchen after the party with his bandmates as Haruka and Tomo talked in the living room. The girls felt bad leaving the cleanup to the guys, of course, but STARISH insisted. They knew how close Haruka and Tomo were and how little time they got to spend together these days.
"So?" Ren asked, suddenly appearing in Cecil's line of sight.
"Ah!" Cecil exclaimed in surprise, jumping back and dropping the plate in his hand.
"Whoa!" Syo said, lunging forward and snatched the plate from the air before it hit the ground. He breathed a sigh of relief before putting the plate in the sink and glaring at Cecil. "What was that for?" He asked, putting his hands on his hips.
"It was an accident," Cecil defended. "Ren surprised me."
"You must have been pretty deep in thought for me to scare you that badly," Ren said, raising his eyebrows and folding his arms. "So are you going to tell us what's bothering you?"
Cecil looked at the ground and fidgeted as he debated whether he should tell STARISH anything. And, if so, what he should tell them.
"Cecil?" Otoya asked in concern, coming closer. "Did something happen?"
"You know you can tell us anything," Natsuki encouraged. "We're here for you no matter what."
Cecil sighed and bit his lip, looking troubled. The rest of STARISH gathered around him in concern. Tokiya was just about to demand that Cecil cut the drama and tell them what had happened when Cecil burst out, "Do you think Haruka is growing closer to HEAVENS?"
The rest of STARISH exchanged confused looks. "Well," Masato began calmly, wondering what had prompted Cecil's outburst, "I think we all became closer to HEAVENS leading up to the SSS. During the duet projects, STARISH and HEAVENS came to understand one another better and Nanami was there through all of that."
"I know," Cecil said, "but she also worked with them without us there and we have no idea what happened between them. What if HEAVENS showed Haruka more appreciation for her hard work and her songs than we do? What if they're still trying to steal her away?"
"The SSS happened a few months ago," Tokiya said, "why are you worried about this now? Haruka hasn't been any less involved with STARISH since that point."
"Yeah," Otoya said cheerfully. "And Nanami isn't just our composer, she's the eighth member of STARISH. She'd never leave us for another band. Even if she makes new friends, that's not a threat to us."
Cecil looked entirely unconvinced and the rest of STARISH was beginning to wonder if Cecil thought he had a concrete reason to be concerned, or was reacting over nothing.
One member, however, was beginning to feel uneasy. Ren recalled the blush on Haruka's face when she told him she was writing a song for Van as a thank you. That was only one member of HEAVENS, but getting close to one member might entail getting close to the rest as well. "Sessy, why are you concerned that the little lamb is getting closer to HEAVENS?"
"Because," Cecil said reluctantly, "I saw a poster of HEAVENS in her room. Signed by all the members."
STARISH stared at him in stunned silence until Syo demanded, "What were you doing in Nanami's room?"
The stunned stares turned interrogating. Cecil blushed. "I wasn't inside Haruka's room, I saw it from outside."
"When?" Syo asked with narrowed eyes. He tried not to let his emotion show too much on his face, but it was hard to hide his jealousy. He had never seen the inside of Haruka's room.
"Earlier today," Cecil said, the blush still on his face.
"Obviously," Tokiya said, giving Syo a look. "That's why he was so distracted during the party."
"Why would she have a signed poster of HEAVENS?" Natsuki asked, a hurt look on his face. Then he brightened. "Maybe Haru has a signed poster of all the bands she's composed for in her room. Did she have our poster and one of QUARTET NIGHT up?"
"I don't know," Cecil said with a shake of his head. "I only saw the HEAVENS poster."
There was silence for a moment until Natsuki said, "Then we should go look."
Syo blanched and Masato looked horrified. "You can't just go into a lady's room without her permission," Masato said strictly. "That wouldn't be right."
"Maybe we could just ask her about it?" Otoya suggested.
"Sure," Ren agreed sarcastically. "We'll just go up to her and ask what posters of idols she keeps on her bedroom walls. That won't be awkward at all." Secretly, he liked Natsuki's plan. Well, he liked Natsuki's plan if he was the one checking Haruka's room to see what posters she had up. Much as he cared about the other members of STARISH, he didn't like the idea of them entering the Little Lamb's room.
"Then we can let Haruka know how much we appreciate her and her music instead," Otoya said. "If Cecil is worried that HEAVENS is stealing Nanami away with praise, we'll make sure we always let Nanami know how grateful we are for her and all that she does for us." His brow creased with worry. "Maybe we haven't been telling her enough lately."
Syo pouted as he crossed his arms. He didn't think that Otoya's plan was a bad one…he just really wanted to know why Haruka had a poster of HEAVENS, a signed poster of HEAVENS in her bedroom. And what other posters she had. She had to have the one from STARISH up, right? And in a better, more visible place than the one from HEAVENS? This was going to drive him crazy until he knew.
"Otoya is right," Ren agreed. "We do need to make sure we always let Lady know how grateful we are for her and all she does for us. If HEAVENS thinks they can lure her away, we'll show everyone no one is more supportive of her than we are." And if Van thought he could snatch up Haruka, he was dead wrong. At least, Ren hoped he was.
"Let's let her know right now," Natsuki said, his eyes shining brightly. The other members all began smiling.
"Yeah," Syo agreed. "Let's do it."
"Hooray!" Natsuki exclaimed, before turning and running off.
"Why are you running?" Syo demanded as the rest of STARISH took off after him.
They reached the living room and stopped. Tomochika and Haruka looked up at them all in surprise.
"Did something happen?" Tomochika asked.
"Would you like us to help clean up?" Haruka offered.
"It's not that," Syo said with a shake of his head. "We just wanted to let you know we love your music."
"And you," Ren added with a smile, making Haruka blushed.
"Yeah, you're music is the best, Nanami!" Otoya exclaimed. "We don't ever want to sing anyone else's music."
"You have a connection to the muses that few ever experience," Cecil said. "The music you compose touches our souls and helps lift others."
"We want to continue growing with you and getting even better," Tokiya said. "We won the SSS, but we can still reach higher."
Haruka looked touched at STARISH's words, but Tomochika was sweat dropping. She was used to STARISH praising Haruka, she was amazing after all, but this seemed a little out of the blue. One minute, STARISH had been cleaning up from her surprise party. The next, they were standing here gushing about Haruka like they'd just won an award, or made it through some difficult trial and wanted to reaffirms their strong ties together. "Did something…happen in the kitchen?"
Everyone looked too innocent to Tomo as they shook their heads. "We just wanted to let Nanami know how much we appreciate her," Otoya said enthusiastically, a blush covering his cheeks.
"Yeah," Syo agreed. "It's important to let the people in your life know how you feel about them, and express gratitude."
"Studies show that those who regularly express gratitude live longer and happier lives," Masato added.
"Really?" Haruka asked, looking amazed. "That's incredible!" She smiled brilliantly at STARISH before standing and bowing. "I'm so grateful for all of you in my life. You too, Tomo. I love having you as my best friend and being able to compose for STARISH is a dream come true. I always learn so much from all of you. Thank you."
Tomo resisted the urge to smack her face as the hearts of STARISH obviously melted at Haruka's words. Wanting to express gratitude for gratitude's sake was definitely not what was going on here.
"Mmhm," Tomo said. Something had to have happened to bring this on, but what? A desire of one of the members to confess their true feelings for Haruka? Had one of them said something earlier that they worried hurt Haruka's feelings?
Haruka's phone beeped and she pulled it out to check the text message. A shy and happy smile crossed her face, an expression Tomo wasn't sure she'd ever seen on Haruka's face before.
"Who's it from?" Tomo asked, curious.
"What?" Haruka asked, looking up in surprise as though she'd forgotten she was in a room full of people. "Oh, it was Van letting me know he just performed his new song and he said everything went perfectly."
Tomo raised her eyebrows in surprise as various members of STARISH repeated, "Van?"
Tokiya felt like he'd just been punched. He'd thought that Cecil's fears of Haruka growing closer to HEAVENS had been ridiculous, but she'd just referred to Kiryuin Van by his first name. She didn't refer to any members of STARISH by their first names despite the fact that she'd known them all for over two years now. They spent a year together in school and had now worked together professionally for over a year. How could she possibly be calling a member of HEAVENS by his first name? When had this happened?
"Why would Kiryuin be texting you about performing a new song?" Tomo asked with raised eyebrows. If Haruka was dating Van and hadn't told her about it, Tomo would not be happy.
"Because I gave him the song," Haruka said, a light blush on her cheeks. "He helped me out a little while ago. I wanted to do something to tell him thank you and composed a song for him."
STARISH was flabbergasted as they stared at Haruka and some of them couldn't deny feeling a sense of betrayal. Haruka didn't belong to them, of course, but she was their composer. Composing a song for a thank you was exactly something that Haruka would do, but they wished she'd chosen some other way to express her thank you.
"Well," Otoya said, sounding a lot less enthusiastic now, "we just wanted to let you know how we felt." STARISH walked back to the kitchen, feeling dejected. If Haruka had grown so close to Van that she was calling him by his first name, who knew what had happened between her and other members of HEAVENS.
It looked like STARISH was going to have to keep a close eye on their rivals in more way than one.
A/N: So, season 4 has sucked away my motivation for this fic. It has been largely disappointing However, it's also really made me want to do a fanfic where STARISH leaves on a world tour after the SSS and Haruka becomes really close to QUARTET NIGHT (possibly with HEAVENS thrown in too, because they're great). Not a Date will probably have one or two more chapters and then I might write that other fan fic