ｄａｎｄｅｌｉｏｎ   ｈｅａｄ

『 your p.o.v 』

          "Oi, I want a beer."

          "Make that two!"

          "Do you have tea by any chance?"

          "Water, please."

          I stood in front of our booth and placed a hand on my hip as I looked to my four idols, a forest green apron that's just a little too big for me wrapped around my waist. "We just got finished recording your solos and you two want alcohol already?"

          "It's just a beer kid." Ranmaru scoffed. "We won't go getting drunk off our asses."

          Reiji nodded his head, quickly agreeing with the silver haired rocker sitting beside him. "Yeah! One beer is fine."

          Sighing, I went ahead and reluctantly wrote down their drink orders. "Fine, but the last time I saw you get just one beer you, Ringo, and Ryuuya were all drunk and Otoya and I had to take everything away."

          "That was one time!"

          "Yeah yeah, I'll be right back with the drinks."

          Making my way towards the kitchens, I couldn't help but glance over my shoulder to Quartet Night. They're actually talking to one another a little bit nowadays and seem to be trying to get along more so than when they were first brought together by Shining. I'm so happy that things seem to be on the up and up now. I just hope that when challenges arise, the four of them can take them in stride and not fall apart; and with me by their side, I'm sure I can keep them together!

          "So, that's Quartet Night huh?" Mom asked as she flicked her eyes over the front bar counter and over to my four idols. "I know Reiji said that AI looked like Aine, but that's uncanny don't you think?" She then asked as she looked to me while I go ahead and start grabbing the boys their drinks.

          I told mom earlier that Quartet Night would be recording their first solos and she immediately offered to close the bento shop for an hour or two for us to celebrate such a happy occasion. Though of course today would be the day where the weather takes a turn for the worst and suddenly it's storming out and so cold I'm sure the rain will ice over in a matter of hours. Not to mention the wind is killer out right now too! But at least the recordings for the songs went smoothly without any issues.

          Looking to the beautiful brunette, I offered her a small smile. "Yeah, it's something I'm still trying to get used to. You heard their debut song right?"

          She nodded as she continued finishing up the cheesy fries for the boys. "He sounds just like Aine."

          "Reiji thinks so too, but on the bright side him and AI get along pretty alright from the looks of it. Well, I take that back," I paused as I tried to make sure I added just the right amount of sugar into Camus' tea, "AI and Reiji only look to get along really well because Camus and Ranmaru are polar opposites and take every opportunity to shade each other and Reiji."

          "So they're a dysfunctional band?"

          "As dysfunctional as they come."

          Mom laughed some at that, the sound of my spoon clanking against the sides of the tea cup as I stir it's contents around ringing about throughout the kitchen. "They sound just like a family."

          "They'll get there eventually." I mused. "But right now it's just a matter of keeping everyone from killing each other that's at the top of my priorities."

          The hazel eyed woman hummed, adding the last of the green onions to the cheesy fries now as I grab another glass to fill with water for AI. "Boys will be boys." She said thoughtfully. "Anyways, how's it been working with all of these idols so far? Still loving being a composer now that you're a professional?"

          "I need a better word than stressful to fully summarize how it's been being a professional composer, but I wouldn't change this for the world." I responded with a warm smile.

          "I'm waiting for the day you come home and tell me you have a crush on one of them." Mom said with a bright laugh, easily catching the attention of the idols sitting just outside the kitchen. "They're all so handsome and well-built and they can sing. What more could a girl want in a man?"

          "Oh my gosh- I expected one of my roommates to come out with a comment like that but never my own foster mom." I groaned, placing the four drinks on a circular tray and making my way out of the kitchen before that hazel eyed woman could respond, her laughter following me all the way back to the boy's table.

          Reiji looked to me with an amused grin. "What's got her so happy?"

          I sighed as I began passing out their drinks. "She's just gone crazy. Cheesy fries are about to be done and- oh yeah! I forgot that I have presents for you guys wait one sec." I then said as placed the now empty try onto a nearby table and hurried for the backroom beside the kitchen that says it's for "staff only".

          It took me a few minutes to find where I hid the somewhat large bag considering I had to make sure Reiji wouldn't come snooping around in here and finding his gift too early. I went out the other night without anyone knowing and picked up a few things just to be certain no one would catch onto me buying Christmas presents for my friends, the Quartet included.~ Though Tokiya almost caught me sneaking my way back into the dorms last night since he was coming back from a long day full of schedules and really, he would have ruined my whole surprise if he pressed to know what I was hiding behind my back. Thankfully he was nice enough to let me off the hook even though we both know he saw that I was poorly hiding five large bags from him.

          Giggling a little to myself at the sheer absurdity of my life nowadays, I went ahead and once again tried to hide this decent sized bag behind my back as I made my way out from the back room and back to the boys. Honestly, one look in my direction and anyone could easily see the bag behind my smaller frame so really, it's not much of a surprise. Thankfully my idols were already caught back up in their own conversations while enjoying their drinks when I stopped in front of the table again. "Okay, so I'm sure you're all going to be busy this Christmas which is why I went ahead and got you guys a little something ahead of time." I said before dragging a chair from a nearby table to sit with them now.

          AI stared at the bag I have on my lap as I began rummaging through it for his gift first. "Christmas isn't for another three weeks or so. Why go through the trouble of buying us anything when we're not family?"

          "It's tradition to give gifts to friends as well Mikaze, or so I've been told." Camus spoke up, cold blue eyes also curiously looking at the bag now. "Though I wasn't expecting for us to be considered friends by this peasant."

          "I'll be sure to talk to Shining to ask him to book you the job of being the next idol to sing the Piyo-chan jingle for their commercials." I said sweetly while smiling to the sour platinum blonde. "Anyways! I'm going to be stuck at school working on songs during winter break so I wanted to give you guys your presents early. First gift goes to AI." I then said, pulling out a medium sized present wrapped in Piyo-chan wrapping paper (it was on sale...).

          The teal haired idol took the present from my hands without a word as I passed Camus a slightly smaller and more rectangular box. "Present..." AI murmured, tearing the paper some to reveal the headphones I had searched for all last night.

          "Oooo, those look nice!" Reiji said with a large smile, leaning over the table some to get a better look. "Arcadia makes the best headphones and those are their newest ones too! They came out what?" Reiji paused as he looked to me. "A week ago at most now?"

          I shrugged in response, handing him a pretty small box compared to his two band mate's. "Something like that. Open up your present already, old man."

          Ranmaru hesitantly took his present from my hands when I held it out for him to take. He looked more skeptical than anything, almost like he thought I might take it back any second now.

          "A tea cup?" Camus scoffed as he examined the intricate golden design lacing around the pale blue and white tea cup. "Did you even know what to look for when selecting this for myself?"

          "I went to a store that was only selling fancy dining things and saw that teacup and immediately thought of you so take it or leave it Camus." I giggled. "Honestly, I was just happy I found something for you considering you only like sweets and I figured buying you a cake for Christmas wouldn't cut it."

          Reiji held up the deep emerald colored cologne bottle up to the light some, it's contents shimmering as a smile tugs at the corners of his lips. "This is a different cologne from what you normally get me." He mused. "What's this one, cinnamon scented?"

          I pointed to the box. "Pine mixed with cinnamon. I'm getting creative now.~"

          "What did you get, Ranmaru?" AI asked as he peered over to the silverette sitting beside him.

          Ranmaru held up the box of guitar picks I had bought for him. "Just some cool picks for my girlfriends."

          "You call your bass' your girlfriends?" Camus asked in probably the most condescending voice I think I've ever heard him take on.

          "What about it you pompous earl?"

          "Oh nothing, dandelion head."

          It took me a moment to realize that Camus just called Ranmaru a "dandelion head", and then I was laughing so hard I struggled to catch my breath. Those two and AI looked at me as if I was completely and utterly mad while Reiji asked if I was alright, mom actually popping her head out from the kitchen to see for herself what I was laughing at.

          Wiping away a stray tear from my eye, I tried to hold back my last remaining giggles. "Sorry sorry, that just really caught me off guard. I mean, dandelion head? What kind of an insult even is that?" I asked while shaking my head some. "You guys are the best. Oh and Ran, I got you the picks with dragons engraved into them and they're all red, black, silver, and white. Thought those looked more your style than the ones with pink hearts on them." I mused, completely dismissing the little banter those two just had considering really at this point, if Camus and Ranmaru aren't at each other's throats at some point during their forced time together then there's probably something wrong with them.

          The silver haired rocker clicked his tongue. "Thanks. You're still a brat." He said and then took a drink from his beer.

          "A brat who bought you something nice so you're welcome." I responded before sticking my tongue out playfully at him.

          Chuckling, Reiji reached over and ruffled my hair some. "You didn't have to do this for us kiddo."

          I shrugged at that. "It's not like I couldn't just not give my four idols something for the holidays. You guys better get used to this too because the second I find out when your birthdays are, I promise you I'm going all out on parties, gifts, and everything else- especially cakes."

          "If I'm going to be forced to attend these parties, I demand you allow me to assist in picking out the cakes and other desserts." Camus said, still turning the tea cup around in his hands as he inspects it. He isn't frowning at it so the small little cup must not be too cheaply made. Thank the heavens for that too because I was scared that the first thing he'd ask when I gave it to him was how much it cost me to get it.

          We don't need to tell him that his gift alone cost me more than all of my friends gifts combined...

          "You can pick out all the desserts Myu-chan." Reiji promised as he flashed the platinum blonde a large smile. "And RanRan can pick out the food!"

          Rolling his eyes, the silver haired rocker stayed quiet as he opened up the box of guitar picks and began twirling them around his fingers some. AI on the other hand continued staring down at the box containing his headphones, more or less at a loss of what to do with the new piece of technology he now owns.

          "You use that brand of headphones normally, right?" I asked a little softer as I leaned over towards the tealette. "I've been meaning to switch over to using Arcadia like you do, but never found the time to go out and buy myself a pair so I hope these work well for you. Worst comes to worst we go out together sometime to pick out better headphones and I'll pay for them if these don't meet your standards." I then said with a small laugh.

          Bright teal eyes flicked up to meet my own and for just a fraction of a second, I swear I saw some sort of emotion flash behind them only to disappear in a matter of moments. "These have nothing but good reviews. They should work just fine for my purposes. Thank you ___."

          Just as I was fixing to respond, mom came walking out of the kitchen with our order of cheesy fries and a bright smile to accompany them. "Hello boys, here's the fries you ordered. Oh and ___?" She then said my name as she leaned down some to be closer to my eye level while she stood next to my chair. "Have you asked one of them out yet?"

          "MOM!"

          Later that night back at Saotome Academy, I found myself sitting in our claimed practice room far off from the more up to date additions to the school. Though instead of being alone this time around the rest of my friends were here all talking about this and that as I finished up their four solos for good now. Funny enough, someone thought it would be a great idea to bring Monopoly up here and now we have Masato and Tokiya running a joint empire while everyone else is mere seconds away from going into debt.

          "You can't collect two-hundred dollars- you didn't even pass go yet!" Syo barked as Ren slyly attempted to take some more cash from the bank, Natsuki not even paying attention despite him literally being in charge of the money right now.

          The orangette flashed the shorter blonde a heart stopping smile. "But Ochibichan, you landed on my property so really you should be glad I'm taking from the bank and not straight from you."

          "Just take him out of the game all together, Ren. He only has a grand to his name right now." Tokiya said with an added sigh. "With him out of the game, it'll be easier for me to win."

          "Toki is scary." Otoya cried out dramatically, Kuppuru meowing in agreement beside him.

          Just a ghost of a smile danced across Masato's lips as he silently rolled the dice, passing go and landing on unowned property that he bought in record time, Natsuki still barely paying attention to what's going on and somehow managing to have more money than both Masato and Tokiya. Truly a mastermind if you ask me.

          I spared the six boys and singular black cat all sitting together on the floor a fleeting glance before refocusing on the songs at hand. The four solo's for Tokiya, Otoya, Natsuki, and Syo are virtually complete now and their duets are both about halfway done as well. But there's something nagging me about these songs and I can't quite place my finger on it. I need to fix it before I can finish them though or else these duets are going to be horrible compared to Masato and Ren's...

          "Oi ___, you okay over there?" Syo called out to me, snapping me from my thoughts.

          "Oh, um- yeah, I'm good. Just thinking is all." I responded with a halfhearted laugh.

          Tokiya glanced to me as he continued thumbing through all of the bills he has in his hands. "Come take a break ___. You've been busy all day."

          Saving the two duets, I went ahead and closed my laptop and placed it on the coffee table before getting up and walking over to sit between Ren and Natsuki. "Not like you guys haven't been working hard. All I do is sit and compose while you boys go out and dance and stuff."

          The orangette sitting beside me handed me a few hundreds with a small smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. "Buy yourself something pretty, little lamb."

          Syo gagged while I took the bills and handed them to Otoya since he's actually about to lose the rest of his money to Tokiya on his next turn. "Okay maybe you need to work more if you're still finding the time to shamelessly flirt." I scoffed, Ren simply smiling as he goes back to watching the game unfold.

          "How was the recording with Quartet Night earlier, ___-chan?" Natsuki asked while Tokiya rolled the dice now, placing yet another hotel on one of his properties as he shot Masato a silent look. Those two working together is a dangerous combination...

          "Surprisingly, no one fought and the songs came out great. They're working really hard to put out quality songs for their fans. I'm just a little scared for what HE☆VENS has in store and if the Quartet can really stay ahead of the game where they're concerned." I responded with an absentminded shrug of my shoulders. "Really, I'm sure they'll do just fine against them, but I can't help but worry about them and you guys when you debut."

          "We'll be better than all of them!" Otoya said loudly as he looked to me with a determined look behind his eyes. "We can work harder than Quartet Night and beat HE☆VENS, easy."

          Ren chuckled at the red heads sudden outburst. "Oh? Someone is confident."

          "He's not wrong. We'll do whatever it takes to become the number one idols worldwide." Syo agreed with a large grin.

          Kuppuru meowed once more as he moved to sit down next to Masato now. The blue haired boy spared the onyx black cat a glance and then rolled the dice, moving his character eight spaces forward. "We shouldn't underestimate our opponents even if we are determined to beat them in the end."

          "Masa-chan's right, they have more experience than us..." Natsuki sighed.

          "Experience doesn't always translate into success." Tokiya spoke up without ever once looking to any of us. "Someone can work for years and see no improvement while someone new to the industry can find instant success if they put in the time and effort towards being the best."

          "Ichi has graced us with his words of wisdom yet again so now we have to work harder." Ren chuckled. "Not like we weren't already prepared to do just that."

          Syo fished out his phone from his pocket. "That reminds me guys, have you actually listened to HE☆VENS' debut song?" He asked, already pulling up a video of a live performance they recently did. "There's only the three of them but they're insanely good like, we actually have to put in effort to beat them. Not to mention Quartet Night is going to become a major problem for us if they keep improving too."

          "Which they will." I confirmed. "They're working hard right now to stay ahead of their competition and relevant in the eyes of their fans. Your debut stage is going to have to be explosive in order to not be overshadowed."

          As Syo started the video, Otoya looked to me with a quirky grin. "Just write them a bad song to put out right before we debut. Then we'll have it easy." He said with a laugh, obviously joking since we both know I'd never put out a bad song on purpose.

          The three members of HE☆VENS are three I've seen a number of times in passing, but haven't spoken a single word to. Though I did thank Kira for saving me that one time when I was nearly hit by a car while out with Haruka. I don't count that as really talking to him though.

          It's still shocking to think that I met Otori Eiji, Eiichi's younger brother, just last week at the cafe by chance. I wonder if he told those three that he met me. Probably. He said that his brother and his band mates are fans of mine so I'd be surprised if he kept it a secret that we spoke. I'm just waiting for the day I get a text from one of the HE☆VENS members considering Eiji and I did exchange numbers and he seems nice enough that if one of them asked for my number, he'd most probably just give it to them without thinking twice.

          "They sound great." Otoya murmured as we all crowded around Syo to watch the live performance of "Heaven's Gate". "No wonder Quartet Night is working so hard to stay ahead of them."

          "Soon we will be at the top and both HE☆VENS and Quartet Night will be having to work even harder to keep up with us." Masato responded, eyes glued to the screen as Kira flashed across it, golden eyes sparkling as he dances and sings with blue flames licking at the bottom of the camera's edge.

          Natsuki cooed just as the short, strawberry blond headed boy popped up on screen. "Nagi looks so cute! I hope we get to meet them sometime. It'd be great to be friends with them."

          Tokiya chuckled at that. "You want to be friends with our rivals?"

          "We're already going to be on decent terms with Quartet Night at some point so what's the harm in talking with HE☆VENS?" Syo asked as he looked over to our navy haired friend.

          "The idol world is competitive. Befriending your competition is only in your best interest when you're wanting to fight a common enemy."

          "This isn't war."

          "He's right to an extent." I spoke up with a small smile. "You guys teaming up with Quartet Night makes sense because you'll be label mates and could help promote one another's songs and things. But HE☆VENS is from Raging Entertainment which means they are our main competition if you look at it that way. I'm not saying we need to treat them like trash or anything, but being all buddy-buddy with them isn't the way to go about things either."

          Natsuki's shoulders fell a little at that. "Awe, I just wanted to be friends with Nagi..."

          Syo scoffed at the taller blonde. "You're too nice for your own good. Who knows, maybe we can have a friendly rivalry with them and you'll get to be friends with that shorty."

          "Aren't you and that shorty more or less the same height?" Ren asked and you could just hear him smiling without having to even look at him.

          "Oi, stop bringing my height up into everything."

          "It's the best punch line."

          "So, when are we going to start working on our debut song?" Otoya asked with a grin. "Seeing Quartet Night and HE☆VENS start their careers off with such great songs makes me want to hurry up and start ours already!"

          Tokiya shook his head, though a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "Shouldn't we talk about what we're doing for Christmas first?"

          "We're throwing a small party!" Natsuki cheered.

          "How about we go ice skating before then?" Masato chimed in.

          "I'd love to go look at the Christmas lights strung about the city with our lovely lady here." Ren then cooed and winked at me as well, only causing Syo to grab a pillow from off the nearby couch and launch it at his face.

          Kuppuru stood up and stretched some before walking all over the Monopoly board, essentially ending the game right then and there by toppling everything just as Tokiya was about to sneakily roll the dice once more and start stealing Masato's properties. The ultimate anime betrayal really.

          Natsuki hurried to grab the small black cat and scooped him up onto his lap before anyone could try and throw him out of the practice room. "Haru-chan and Tomo-chan need to come too! It'll be so much fun with everyone together." He said with a bright smile. "I'm so excited to spend Christmas together like a real band would!"

          "It will be a Christmas to remember, that's for sure." I mused. "Now let's hurry and clean all this up so we can bring out the Game of Life next.~"

————————

          Nagi is the Kou/ Fuuto of UtaPri, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

          Question of the Chapter: Are you guys looking forward to seeing HE☆VENS come into the story more now? We're just about at that time where HE☆VENS is going to actually start popping up and causing their own mess of problems and just ahhhhhh I'm so genuinely excited to write them into this fic it's stupid lmao my brain is already figuring out just what needs to happen and when in order to reach the end of the fic where all of the fun collabs between the three bands really starts to kick off and I'm probably looking forward to this more than you guys ngl like I'm ready xD

          And now we're going to get cute Christmas scenes for the next chapter or two (i dunno what's going to happen in chapter 57 yet so we'll see if it's still christmas fun or panic composing time again lul) And multiple ppl have both commented and DMed me about having a mistletoe scene so, well, I can't just not write it in now lmao I haven't decided on who'll end up under the mistletoe with the protagonist yet so if you guys have any ideas on which starfishy boi you'd want to see in that situation go ahead and comment it here xD this fic is such a mess i don't understand why anyone reads it lmao

          Also there was a cake pun in this chapter that I just glazed over and I'm so tempted to go back and make it a big deal simply because puns give me life lmao but it would lowkey ruin the flow of that small bit of the chapter so I have to hold myself back ;-; at least we got Camyu calling RanRan dandelion head xD the chapter could have ended right then and there and I would have been fine lul

          I love each and every last one of you lovely cuties and thanks so much for taking the time to read this chapter <3

    ~ ｋａｔ ♡

p.s. operation ringorella is still a go i promise