He still remembered the day.

He was lying on his bed facing the ceiling of his dark room. Much like his soul, his room was a mess – clothes were scattered on the floor, papers were all over the place and maracas were left to collect dust. Another year passed and still no sign of Aine waking up.

The thought crushed him.

On the palm of his hand was his phone displaying the details of the very call he missed and wished he hadn't. Once he got out from work, Reiji would head back to his apartment and fall on his bed while waiting for a call from a certain someone even though that person wouldn't be dialling Reiji's number anytime soon. The brunet would wait until he unconsciously falls asleep and the cycle goes on. It wasn't like he had anyone else to talk to – everyone blamed him for Aine's suicide attempt including two of his closest friends, Kei and Hibiki. Between the two, Kei was the most devastated since he was Aine's composer and they shared a special bond with one another so Reiji understood why he was so upset. Still, it was unfair that the brunet's side of the story wasn't heard much or others pretended to be fucking deaf. The only people who didn't sneer at him were his mom and sister, Shining Saotome, Hyuuga-sensei, and Aine's uncle.

Life gets lonely sometimes regardless of the amount of time he was alone.

'If you were here, you would urge me to go to the beach with you.' Reiji thought. He could always go by himself since no jerk would bother him there, but going to a place where his bestfriend tried to drown himself wasn't exactly helpful.

Sighing, the brunet shifted and hugged a pillow. Perhaps he should just go to sleep – it had always been a remedy. Just as he was about to, his phone rang. Reiji raised an eyebrow once he saw the caller.

"Hello?"

It was Shining Saotome. The president of his academy asked him how he was doing and somehow, it made Reiji feel a little lighter inside. No matter how crazy and questionable Saotome would usually act, the old man was of good nature.

"I have an assignment for you, Mr. Kotobuki." Said the president.

"What is it?" Reiji inquired.

"You are to be in a band of four. Are you up for it?"

Silence.

...

...

"What time and where?"

"Tomorrow, 1:45 pm. You and the others will meet at my office."

"Alright."

With a hearty laugh, Saotome hung-up leaving Reiji in a state of wonder. The brunet finally agreed to sing in a band after going solo for a long while. Come to think of it, it had been quite some time since he last sang – he mostly did jobs related to comedy after he found out how good he was at making other people laugh even if he couldn't do it for his self without pretense. In addition, there were four members including Reiji.

Would it be the same?

Of course not. It wouldn't be the same because they were people Reiji never knew.

But then again, so were the people he used to be friends with.

~

Next day came and Reiji forgot the time he was supposed to be at Shining's office. Well, maybe not that he forgot, he just overslept. He had 2 hours before the designated time so the brunet decided to take a quick nap. He opened his eyes and was frankly surprised that it read 1 o'clock on his watch so as of the moment, Reiji was going around the room grabbing a decent attire and his car keys. It really helped that he owned a vehicle and he was quite knowledgeable of shortcuts therefore he arrived exactly on time although he looked a bit dishevelled from all the running.

"Mr. Kotobuki! Glad you could join us!" Saotome boomed.

Reiji smiled sheepishly and went inside. There were 3 other males in the office, minus the presence of Saotome and Hyuuga. One guy has spiky silver hair and dual-colored eyes which Reiji suspected one to be contact lens, the other one has long blond hair, ice blue eyes, and was obviously from a foreign land, and the last guy –

"A-Aine?" Reiji stuttered which earned him strange looks from the occupants of the room.

How could this be? Has Aine woken up without the brunet's notice? Impossible!

Clearing his throat, Hyuuga spoke, "Kotobuki, take a seat. We are about to begin."

The dazed idol eventually complied and sat across the cyan-haired stranger, who looked at him with blank cyan eyes. No doubt he looked like Aine but there was something off about him.

"I bet all of you were wondering why you've been called here." Ryuuya began.

By the looks of the others, Reiji concluded that he was the only one informed about the president's motive.

"It is without a doubt that you are all highly skilled idols and you possessed the qualities of professionals." Hyuuga Ryuuya continued. "The president decided to form an idol group composed of the four of you in order to maximize your potential and to further elevate you in this industry."

"Yes-o! You will be known far and wide-o!" Shining Saotome exclaimed. "This is a chance you must not miss! Your presence here means you accept!"

"Please introduce yourselves before leaving." Ryuuya instructed. "Let's begin with you, Kotobuki."

Time to put on his happy face again. "Konnichiwa minna! I'm Reiji Kotobuki! Let's all do our best!" The brunet cheered.

"Ranmaru Kurosaki." Was the only introduction of the spiky-haired male.

"Camus of Permafrost. Pleased to make your acquaintance." The foreign individual said a bit too sweetly.

The last to introduce himself was...

"Ai Mikaze."

Reiji stared at him. He looked like Aine, he sounded like Aine, but he definitely wasn't the brunet's bestfriend. Why, Aine held so much emotion and animation while this guy...there was only emptiness in his eyes.

Once their brief introduction was through, Reiji and the others were dismissed from the office. As usual, Reiji was the sunshine of the group and tried to brighten things up.

"Uwah~! We're a group! I hope we can all be friends~!" The brunet exclaimed happily but earned silence as a response. "Minna! Why so quiet?"

"Hmph. It is my last request to engage with peasants!" Camus began, his true colors coming out.

"Peasants huh? Who made you king?" Ranmaru retorted to which Camus pointed his scepter at the rocker in a threatening manner.

"Watch your tongue! I am capable of freezing you to death!" Said the royal.

"Tch. Is that a joke or a threat? Either way, I'm not amused. Not a fucking bit." Ranmaru shot back with a glare.

"Now, now...let's not get into trouble!" Reiji intervened.

"Reiji Kotobuki is right. It is pointless and vey unprofessional to cause a scene over a petty matter." Ai added.

The idols involved either scoffed or sneered at the other before parting ways.

'What a funny duo.' Reiji thought. 'First time those two met and they already hated each other.' "Thanks for backing me up!"

The cyanette stared at him blankly. "Don't think that it means anything. By the way their fists clenched and the intensity of their glare, they were ready to fight. What I did was simply to stop a meaningless fight. I did not back you up."

With that, Ai went away leaving Reiji almost shocked. 'Almost' because he didn't really expect someone he just met to be so chummy and 'shocked' because those words came out of someone who looked like the person who would say the opposite.

Once again, he was alone but there was nothing new with that.

Months passed and the four idols were on better terms than the first week since they've met. They interacted more with each other, despite some of those interactions were arguments between Ranmaru and Camus, and the four males were more cooperative. Reiji was doing better as well. He was more genuinely enthusiastic now that he belonged in a group even though he was, more often than not, told to keep shut or was plainly ignored. The brunet had even tidied his room and let in some light in case his bandmates planned to visit him in order to discuss idol work.

Speaking of idol work, they found out that the real reason why they were grouped was because Saotome wanted them to try out for the UtaPri Award. The other three couldn't care less about the award but Reiji believed that it was his high spirits that motivated everyone. Was he bragging? Perhaps, yet changing the perspective of his bandmates would need a miracle should anyone else try to motivate them. In addition, Reiji felt like he had been accepted by the others since no one would hit him every time he called them by the nicknames he gave them; unlike the first to three times he did so it was all good.

Reiji heard his phone ringing. He knew exactly who it was and answered it.

"Ai-Ai!"

"About time you answered my call." The younger of the two began.

The brunet quirked an eyebrow. "You say that as if I've missed your other calls before! This is the first time you've called me, Ai-Ai!"

"..."

"Hello? Ai-Ai, you still there?" Reiji asked in concern.

After a moment of silence, Ai spoke, "I'm still here."

Something about the way the cyanette said it that made Reiji a little down-casted. Ai was definitely not Aine yet sometimes Reiji felt like he was talking with his bestfriend instead. Maybe he was just imagining things or maybe he just missed Aine so much. Perhaps both.

Steering his thoughts back to reality, Reiji let out a chuckle and asked the other if he got lost with the address although he highly doubt that. Despite his young age, Ai was pretty smart and frankly the most logical among the group. No wonder he was known to be a genius.

"No. In fact, I'll be arriving at your place in exactly 5 minutes." The cyanette replied.

"Okie dokie then~ Ja ne!" The older of the two cheered. The day for the UtaPri Awards was fast approaching and they still had a lot to revise. Ai was working on their song and although he said he was fine doing the composition alone, Reiji insisted that he helped so Ai had no choice but to let him for the brunet could get pretty persistent. Reiji suggested meeting at his place to work and Ai did not object to that.

Precisely five minutes later, the doorbell was rung. The brown-haired male merrily skipped to the door and opened it.

"Ai-Ai! Welcome!"

The younger of the two gave a slight nod before entering the room. Of course, no time was wasted since the cyanette was intent on getting work done. They would take breaks and Reiji would offer whatever food he got but only to be turned down by Ai who claimed to be full from what he ate when he left his apartment. They would resume with work and before they knew it, they were done just as the sun was setting.

"It's getting pretty late." Reiji began.

Ai stood up. "Yes. I should get going." He turned to the brunet and gave a slight bow. "Thank you."

The cyanette was about to head to the door when he was stopped by Reiji.

"Hey, hey! You can't go out there alone! It's dangerous to be walking around at night!" The older of the two exclaimed.

"I assure you I am capable of defending myself." Ai stated in a monotone manner.

"There are bad people out there, Ai-Ai! Who knows what they'll do to you!" Reiji crossed his arms. "As your older brother, I will not allow you to be placed in danger! You are staying here for the night!"

Ai looked at him and sighed. He knew too well that there was no changing Reiji's mind once it's made up. It was evident on his face that he wouldn't allow the cyanette to wander around without the company of an adult.

"Very well." The younger of the two conceded. "Can I use your phone? I will just inform...my guardian of my stay here."

Reiji grinned and pumped his fists in the air. "Yahoo~!!! This'll be a sleepover!"

Such energy was normal of the brunet and so was being ignored by the other. Ai went to make a call while Reiji busied himself with preparing dinner. It had been a while since he last had someone over so why not treat Ai-Ai with his cooking? After all, it was one skill he possessed that saved him from going to restaurants every night. Once he was through, Reiji called the cyanette for supper.

"Itadakimasu~!" Reiji exclaimed before chowing down the meal he made.

Ai stared at his food for a short while before he nibbled on a piece of karaage. He seemed cautious which did not go unnoticed by Reiji.

"Something wrong, Ai-Ai? You're not allergic to anything there, are you?" The brunet asked in concern.

Ai shook his head. "It's not that."

"You don't like the food?"

"It's not that either. I'm just not accustomed to eating...so much food and this is the first time I had a homemade meal." The cyanette explained.

Reiji mouthed an 'oh' before he broke into a smile once the other started to eat like any other regular human being his age. The brunet figured for his bandmate to be a growing boy since he was so young therefore Reiji made sure to whip up a good meal. It truly surprised him when Ai stated that he didn't eat a lot, but then again, the cyan-haired teen rarely joined the group when eating was involved. He would always say that he needed to go somewhere or that he ate ahead. Ranmaru and Camus didn't question him unlike the eldest who would try to persuade the other to have a snack.

Ai was full of secrets. Come to think of it, among his bandmates, Reiji knew Ai the least. He had no idea what the cyanette's hobbies were or his family or even his childhood! When asked about personal life, Ai would give the vaguest answers and it drove Reiji insane. The rest of the group didn't really care and the fans were too oblivious but not the brunet. He was determined to know the youngest member of the group especially if he knew or has any affiliation with Aine. However, Reiji's efforts were in vain for Ai gave no answers or would divert to another topic.

Ai was a mystery – a riddle Reiji couldn't quite solve and he was only intrigued even more.

Once they were done eating, Reiji readied his visitor's room. He has a guest room since Aine, Kei, or Hibiki used to stay overnight at his place.

"Ai-Ai! Your room's ready!"

The cyanette went to where he should rest and made himself comfy. Reiji, who hadn't left the room yet in case the other needed anything else, grinned. Maybe it was just him, but the brunet swore he saw a slight smile on Ai's face.

"Oyasumi, Ai-Ai." He began.

Ai looked at his host and in turn told him to have a goodnight as well.

Reiji went to bed and in fairness, it was the best sleep he ever had after a long time.

~

The day of the UtaPri Awards came and sadly, the group didn't make it. However, they were no doubt the fan's favourite judging by the loud cheers they received and the chanting of their group name.

"Aww...I really think we did better though." Reiji began.

"What happened, happened. No use sulking over it." Camus added.

"We'll be going our separate ways after this. Well, that is until Shining Saotome calls us to regroup." Ai exclaimed. "There is a 100% chance that we will meet each other again."

"Tch. Is that so?" Ranmaru commented, sounding a bit disappointed about the separation. "Whatever...by the way, how'd you come up with the band's name?" He asked the brunet.

Reiji grinned – of course, he was the one responsible for providing a name for them.

"It perfectly suits us!" The eldest exclaimed. "Cool, mysterious, and tempting...we are the four nights – Quartet Night!"

The other three looked at their hyped companion then at each other with a faint smile. It was no use denying that throughout the months they've spent together, they formed a connection – a bond – with one another. They might part ways for now to do their own work but it was certain that they would meet each other again. Next time, they would take the throne and the crowd would cheer their name –

Quartet Night.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It isn't over yet.

Hello dear readers! After a while, Quartet Night had finally been updated! Thank you so much for your continuous support. This fanfic should have ended with the eleventh chapter but you guys gave me the push needed to make it last for 2 chapters more so thanks for being awesome! :D Don't forget to leave a love note/vote/follow :)

Oh and konnichiwa = hi/hello, oyasumi = goodnight, minna = everyone, and karaage = deep fried meat (usually chicken)

Here's a short preview on the next chapter:

"I have something to ask you." The shorter of the two began.

"Ask away."

"Who's Aine?"

Oho...what's gonna happen next? Stay tuned~