"Mmm." Catarina stirred in her sleep. Is it morning already? Slowly,she opened her eyes to meet an unfamiliar ceiling.

Where..?...!!Right,we decided to stay in a hotel. Catarina turned her face to her right to see Eiichi fast asleep. Her cheeks got dust of pink.

She grabbed her phone from the side table. It's seven thirty yet it's dark outside. The clouds didn't completely clear but the rain had stopped.

I should wake up n-!

Abruptly,she sat up and turned to her side. From the side table she got her bag. She fetched out her notebook from it. Folding her legs into a comfortable position,she began scribbling on her notebook.

These melodies! These are what I was looking for!

Excitedly, Catarina kept writing the lines of songs that popped inside her mind.

If I don't write these now,I might forget. She continued writing without a care to her surroundings. If I change the tempo here, it will be better...... I should change the dynamics here....And this should be perfect for the chorus....And here-

"Is that how you compose our songs?" A husky voice whispered in her ear.

"Eek!!" The sudden voice in her ear caught her by surprise and she leaned forward. She forgot she sitting at the edge and the notebook and pencil fell from her hands with a soft thud. She herself was going to fall from the bed.

!!

A strong arm was wrapped her from behind that prevented her from falling too. The owner of that arm pulled the blonde closer in order to avoid her from losing balance again.

"Be careful,"Eiichi said.

Catarina slowly moved her head to look at him when her heart started pounding and a bright pink blush graced her cheeks. The way Eiichi was holding her could be depicted as him hugging her from behind.

"Eto...I-I..." Catarina stuttered. "I....y-you surprised me."

"Oh sorry,"He apologized,not letting her go.

The blush became deeper when he didn't remove his arm. There were butterflies in her stomach for some reason.

"Uh....Eiichi?"

"Hmm?"

"Umm....let me go?" She couldn't stand the crazy beating of her heart.

". . .Are you that sensitive?" He smirked.

"Wha!N-no,that's not it!" Catarina denied.

"Oh really?" He wrapped his other arm around her,pulling her much closer.

"Wh-what?!"Her blush became red. The male didn't answer her.

"E-Eiichi?" The female asked when she felt the man suddenly go quiet.

All of a sudden,

"Kya!!" Catarina squeaked when Eiichi poked her on both sides. He didn't stop there. He started to tickle her sides resulting in her to laugh loudly. She couldnt escape from him since he was just behind her. The young woman tried to say between her unstoppable laughter.

"E-Eiichi....please.....s-s-sto...p....I-I....can't!!! Eiichi. ...p-please...can't take i-it.... anymore .....Eii-..."

"I think that's enough,"Eiichi smirked after stopping the teasing. Catarina collapsed on the bed, still laughing while holding her stomach. She started speaking after calming down.

"Very funny,Eiichi." She tried glaring at him after wiping the small tears gathered her eyes.

The brunette grinned. "Sorry but I couldn't resist it. I knew you were ticklish so I tried to see it for myself."

The blonde pouted at his response. "But that doesn't mean you can just knock the airs out of me." Her gaze turned into a threathening glare. "And DON'T even think about telling anyone especially Van about this. I don't want to experience this every morning."

"Why?I think it will be nice."

"Eiichi!" She puffed her cheeks.

"Fine,I won't tell anyone," He finally said to give her peace of mind and ruffled her hair. Although he won't tell her that he had no intention to tell anyone from the beginning. It's just that her reactions were too entertaining to watch.

"By the way,were you composing?" Eiichi asked changing the subject.

"Oh!" She picked up her pencil and composition notebook. "Yup.I was. I suddenly got inspiration!" Catarina replied happily.

"I was writing down my ideas for your new song." She eagerly began to write down the tunes that came to her mind with a happy face.

"I see..."He took a glance at the blonde before chuckling. Your devotion for music is amazing."

"Hmm?" The young woman looked up from her notebook curiously.

"It's just,"he grinned, "you shine when you talk about music.Your expression conveys your passion."

"Eh?" Catarina wasn't expecting him to praise her at the moment. "Well you are right about that. Music is my soulmate."She smiled. "I can say the same about you. Your passion for music is much more intense."

"Yes. Music that shakes the core of the souls is the best." He gave his usual excited grin. "Nothing is better than that. Good!"

"I'll make sure to compose songs that matches up to your expectations!"

"I know you will surpass them." He patted her on the head.She has been getting a lot head pats these days, not that she minded. She actually loved this affectionate gesture.

"I think I can complete the song now. The outing with you must've helped. Thank you," She said with a bright smile.

"Huh?. . Sure,it's my pleasure.." It looked like he was caught off guard or something.Catarina noticed but before she could ask anything, the brunette got up from bed.

He ran his long fingers through his slightly ruffled brown hair. "Angel,you don't mind if I use the bathroom first?"

"N-no,go ahead." She stuttered again.

As soon as Eiichi was out of sight, Catarina fell back on the bed on her back.

I should keep working...

Just as she was held her pencil properly, her blue eyes caught sight of the cut on her finger. Letting go of the notebook, she inspected the wound closer. A memory flashed in front of her eyes before she could stop herself.

It was the memory of Eiichi holding her hand while he put her finger to his mouth. She remembered how he 'decontaminated' the wound, how warm she felt, how warm he was. And before she knew it, the remembrance of that incident increased the pacing of her heart. Her heart felt constricted and her cheeks flared.

Realizing something felt different, Catarina placed her left hand on her chest where her heart was. She could feel the abnormal pace.

What's wrong with me? Why am I feeling like this..? She couldn't exclaim the burning feeling inside her. She remembered something when she again looked at the wound on her finger.

Wait.... this happened many times before. Many times when my heart was going to burst and my cheeks were turning to lava.

She shifted to lie on her side after putting the pencil down. Even if I felt like this almost everyday, in some days it was too much to handle.Come to think of it, since when did I start feeling like this?. . . . .I think the first one was just before HEAVENS decisive concert.... Then..... when I went shopping and a reporter noticed Eiichi. . . . And... She shut her eyes and started racking through her memories.

And then the summer festival. . . I think I felt something like that during white day. . . .One thing I'm sure is it's not normal to feel like this. I have to find out why I'm like this! Try remembering the exact situation, Catarina!

After putting pressure on her brain to remember, she let a gasp. "Ah! I remember..."

The first time was.... when Eiichi left me to follow after the others. . . And then.... when I was....too close to Eiichi.... again, when we were alone in the festival...and when.... he did 'that' yesterday. There are many more times this happened, more than I can count.

Catarina returned to her initial laying position. Her thoughts kept puzzling her more and more. Now that I think about it, Eiichi is present in all those memories. . . .

As she began remembering all those moments, Catarina again felt the weird feeling. Again...My heartbeat is up again, this bubbling feeling in my stomach, the warm and fuzzy feeling throughout my whole body. ...what's going on? Why am I feeling like this? Why am I like this every time I think about Eiichi? What is goi-!!!!!

Understanding dawned her like cold water.The sound of shower running fell deaf to her ears.Fast heartbeat, weird feeling, overheating, butterflies in the stomach.... no. No,no,no,no,no. No,this can't be.... There's no way.

A cold sweat ran down her back. She might've been oblivious to those weird symptoms but she wasn't an idiot to not come to this conclusion.

There's just no way it's possible,right?. . . .There's no way I'm falling in love with Eiichi. . .No,it's impossible. He's my friend,my idol. I can't fall for him....It's absurd!

The female rolled over and buried her face in a pillow. That's right. I'm not in love...I can't be... The idea itself is ridiculous. I am just his composer and friend.Nothing more, nothing less. . .Yes,I must be thinking nonsense. Idols aren't allowed to love only one person. There's no way I will fall for him and cause him trouble.... Just no way!

But she knew that she was denying what her heart was telling her.

She couldn't remember just what happened after that. Somehow, the two had returned to their home in the noon.

.  .  .  .  .  .  .

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. After what Catarina had thought of two days back, her mind had stopped working. The only time it was working was when she was composing.

That day, Catarina was with Kira,Van and Yamato. The three were in an interview so the blonde decided to walk around the studio. As she was walking while thinking of what sweet to buy, she bumped into someone.

"Oh,I'm sorry." She quickly apologized. When she looked up at the person who she bumped into,

"Catarina?"

"Ai! Hello."

"Good afternoon....Are you here with HEAVENS?"

"Yes. They're being interviewed so I'm just walking around. What about you?"

"I just finished my shoot."

"I see. . ." That was when she stumbled upon an idea.

I think he's the perfect one to ask. The two had a good relation and she trusted the teal-haired idol wouldn't spill anything. He was also intelligent and capable of giving her a solution.

"Umm Ai, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure,I have much time before my next work." Ai replied. At Catarina's suggestion, the two went to a nearby cafe.

"Ai, I want to ask you some questions. Please answer them honestly." The blonde looked into the younger idol's eyes seriously.

"I will." Ai answered with his poker face. He was growing curious as to what made the normal cheerful composer look so serious. It would make for a good data on human emotions.

"Eto....Ai,"Catarin took a deep breath, "What is the cause of sudden increase of heartbeat, butterflies in the stomach, feeling warm inside and an unknown emotion?"

Ai processed the long question in his artificial mind. "I have read something about the symptom before. Do you mind answering some questions?"

"Sure."

"Do you experience what you explained in the prescense of another person?"

"Yes...." She then figured out something. "Wait, th-that's not about m-me ...." She just admitted that she felt those emotions when in the company of another person.

Ignoring her trying to come up with an excuse, Ai continued asking, "Then does your heart suddenly start accelerating when you are with that person?"

"Uhh..."She looked away. "Yes."

"Does your body becomes hot when thinking of that person?"Ai continued asking.

"....yes." She wanted Ai to stop asking such straightforward questions. But when she looked at his curious face, she knew there was no escape. She knew the teal-haired boy would learn what he wanted to.

"Is that person beautiful in your eyes?"

"Yes." There wasn't any hesitation in her answer. The answer to this question was quite obvious, wasn't it?

"Do you like or want to be physically affectionate with that person?"

At that question, steam came out from her cheeks. "A-Ai!? What are y-you-?"

"Judging from your reactions, I take it as an yes."

"No! No way! I-I never thought about Eiichi like that!!" She furiously denied, exclaiming while keeping her voice low for only them to hear.

Pin-drop silence surrounded them. A second and the female figured out the reason.

Oh.my.freaking.goodness.

Catarina just wanted to disappear from the face of this world. Or maybe the ground to swallow her up. But that was too much to ask for. So she just slammed her face on the empty table. Hard.

"I see. So 'that' person is HEAVENS' Otori Eiichi." Ai nodded after digesting the information.

"............" There was no denying now. She just told him very clearly who 'that' person was.

"Catarina?"

". . . ."

"It seems that you are now regretting your sudden outburst."

".....please."

"Pardon?"

"Please, don't tell a single person about this. Please." She lifted her head from the table to look at him.

"I did not have any intention of telling anyone about our conversation from the beginning. Unlike Reiji,I respect privacy."

"Thanks,Ai," She mumbled in relief, knowing that her secret is safe with him.

"Your welcome. .I would like to ask the final question."

"Okay.."

"Did you come across a reason why you are experiencing those various emotions?"

"...." Catarina looked away again.

"Catarina?"

".....just a hypothesis." She looked at Ai. "What conclusion did you come up with?"

"I am not much familiar with human emotions. But from what I have researched, I believe I know why you are going through this."

"....why?" The composer weakly asked.

"Because,"Ai had no hesitation in his clear eyes, "you are in love with Otori Eiichi."

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Good grief. Catarina wasn't surprised. She expected this even if she didn't want to. She knew it was of no use denying what she felt for the glasses wearing brunette. But,

I am SO done for.

                                      To Be Continued.