"You ready?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

After the incident with Ranmaru, Reiji found himself on a trip to the seaside with Aine. The cyanette practically forced the clown sempai to tag along; said sempai raised no objection since it would give his bestfriend a peace of mind.

Speaking of his bestfriend, Aine had never pampered someone so much until Reiji started acting funny. Ever since the brunet got punched in the face for claiming to have known and be bandmates with the angry heir to the Kurosaki group, Reiji had been under the watchful eye of Aine. The cyanette could always entrust Reiji to Kei and Hibiki, but he feared that the other two might not stand the brunet's odd behaviour so Aine took the responsibility of being Reiji's guardian.

"It's been a while since you last visited. You should see the new inventions the professor made!" Aine exclaimed. "I heard that he's recently occupied with building something Saotome requested."

"What's that?" Reiji asked for the sake of saying something after being unusually silent.

"An A.I or Artificial Intelligence." The taller of the two replied. "According to my uncle, Saotome requested him to create a robot that'll depict the perfect idol."

"The perfect idol, huh?" Reiji thought aloud and felt his lips broke into a smile. His fellow bandmate was the embodiment of idol perfection and Reiji swore that Ai wasn't human. The youngest displayed little to no emotion unless needed, and worked without breaking a sweat. The rest of Quartet Night could also do that since it was expected of them as professionals, yet they could never calculate or analyze as precisely as Ai.

Ai was a mystery – he really lived up to his given title: the mysterious cool beauty.

"Yeah, apparently Saotome believed that an A.I would whip newbies into flawless idols. I wonder what he meant by that." Aine continued.

"Maybe the A.I will be a sempai at the Master Course?" Reiji exclaimed, remembering his fellow Quartet Night.

His companion chuckled at the idea. "What're the odds of that? But then again, we're talking about Saotome. Who knows what's running inside that head of his."

The duo arrived at their destination. Reiji took his time to gaze at the place. The sea had never been so blue and the air had never felt this refreshing for the brunet.

It almost felt like paradise.

"Done with your sightseeing?" Aine asked thus snapping the other idol out of his thoughts. "Come on! My uncle's waiting!"

Reiji scratched the back of his head sheepishly before he followed his friend. They went to a house that Reiji knew too well for he had visited it multiple times. Aine rang the doorbell and it was opened by a very familiar man.

"Aine! Reiji! Good to see you boys! Come in, come in!" The professor exclaimed as he welcomed the two idols into his abode.

'Everything's the same here...' Reiji thought and true enough, the professor's place didn't look so different. The place was clean with the exception of some papers – probably scientific research – lying around the table. Reiji wondered if it was the professor that brought him back to the past.

"Any chance you built a time machine?" The brunet asked.

The professor gave a hearty laugh. "Not quite. However, I am building something just as interesting! Let's head to the lab!"

The professor led them to a door downstairs and Reiji knew who used to be behind that door, hooked with contraptions and an oxygen mask. Now that Aine was saved, the brunet couldn't help but wonder who or what was inside that room.

'If Aine's with me, then is Ai-Ai...?'

The door was opened and it revealed the same white room with laboratory stuff around. However, instead of a bed in the middle, there was a metallic table and lying on it was another cyan haired figure.

"Ai?" Reiji whispered.

"Boys, meet my new invention – the A.I! This is what Saotome instructed me to build. He said to create the perfect idol android for it to serve as an example for aspiring idols." The professor boomed. "That's all he is, though, and that's all he needs to do. I still have to work on his voice and other data."

"Why does he look like me?" Aine asked.

"I had to model him after someone, and do I have any other nephew, huh Aine?" The professor explained while adjusting his glasses.

"You could have made him look like Reiji..." The cyanette grumbled. "Huh? Ne, Reiji!"

The brown haired sempai was once again lost in his own little world. It was one thing to see his bestfriend in a coma, but somehow, seeing his bandmate lying lifeless on the cold metal table was just worse.

'Is this really worth it?' Reiji thought miserably. He felt like he just robbed his bandmate of his stunning future as a legit idol by saving Aine, but if he hadn't saved Aine, then his bestfriend would be in a fucking coma.

Right now, Reiji was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Was saving Aine really worth losing Ai?

"REIJI!"

After what seemed like an eternity, Aine finally managed to bring Reiji back to his senses. Reiji became aware of his surroundings and saw the concerned faces of the occupants of the room.

"I've been calling you many times. What's on your mind?" Aine asked and got an incoherent reply.

"The boy's probably hungry. I'll order us something to eat. Is pizza okay with you?" The professor chimed in an attempt to brighten the mood.

"Sounds good. Let's head to the living room, Reiji." The cyan haired teen suggested and led the dazed brunet outside the lab.

~

Tick....tick....tick....tick....

Reiji stared blankly at the clock and listened to its sound. A while ago, he was contemplating whether or not he chose the right course of action hence, time held no gist whatsoever. Speaking of time, he remembered his conversation with Camus.

'I travelled back to the past and I saved Aine from drowning himself but why do I feel like I lost something greater?' The brunet pondered.

All his life, he wanted Aine by his side and to have him experience the wonderful life as an idol. He wanted the world to know Aine and for Aine to share his beautiful voice to the world, but most of all, he wanted to see the other happy.

I'm not being selfish, now am I?

"Shit...what have I done?" Reiji cursed himself and threw his head back in frustration. "Shit, shit, shit!"

His self-blame was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Thinking it must be the pizza the professor ordered, the clown sempai got up and went to get the door.

Only to be greeted by a familiar face upon opening.

"Pizza delivery! One box of pepperoni with extra cheese, right?" The delivery boy chimed while Reiji stood in shock.

'O-Otoyan!?"

The red head delivery boy blinked in confusion. "Sorry sir, but you got one letter wrong. My name's Otoya...but why would you know that?"

"What are you doing here?" Reiji asked in bewilderment.

"I'm the pizza delivery boy. I deliver pizzas." Otoya replied.

"You're not in Saotome Gakuen!? You're not an idol!?"

"Sir, I'm sorry but I don't know what you're talking about."

"Reiji, is that the pizza?" Aine asked, and just in time for him to see his bestfriend dashed out of the house.

~

Reiji ran.

He ran to wherever his feet took him – he didn't care at this point. He just wanted to run far away as realization finally dawned on him.

"How fucking selfish can I get!?" Reiji gritted his teeth and ran faster until he left the seaside and was heading towards a forest.

"It's all my fault! I can't save anyone!"

The brunet slowed down and eventually stopped to catch his breath. He leaned against a tree and breathed deeply.

"I really wish I can save someone...I wish I can, but..."

If I had to choose one life to save, whose life would it be?

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Hallo! Finally updated this fanfic! Here's chapter 8 (chapter 9 will hopefully be uploaded tomorrow) and I do hope you enjoy!

Seems like Reiji's losing it. Oh my dear Rei-chan T~T

Spoiler for the next chapter: FANS OF AI, BEWARE!

(And I better go find a good sword to defend myself lol)

Anyway, thanks for all your votes/comments/follows! Ja~!