ｒｏｙａｌ ｃｒｏｗｎｓ ｆｏｒ
ｔｈｅ ｐｒｉｎｃｅｓ ｏｆ ｓｏｎｇ

『 your p.o.v 』

          With the little bell above the door ringing as Otoya opens it for us, my six friends and I all hurry into my mom's bento shop, the cold winter wind nipping at our heels as we try desperately to escape it. "Could it be any colder?!" Syo hissed as Ren playfully pushed down on his fedora so that it covered his eyes. "Learn to wear actual coats fit for winter instead of your thin hoodies, Ochibichan." The orangette responded coolly.

          I shook my head as those two began bickering back and forth almost instantly, Masato talking with Natsuki and Tokiya while Otoya and I head up to the front counter to place our orders. Mom kept her greetings short this time around since I called her earlier asking if it was possible to bring everyone down here for me to talk to them. I've already filled her in on the current situation regarding Quartet Night and the modified graduation auditions so she simply offers me a gentle smile while Otoya heads off to make sure no one steals his usual spot at the large table we've more or less claimed as our own near the back of the restaurant.

          "Those boys of yours are really something else." Mom mused, her warm hazel eyes sparkling some as she looks past me to our table. "I still can't believe they actually proposed becoming a band just to keep you as their composer."

          Shrugging, I glanced over my shoulder at the perfect moment to watch as Otoya blew the end of the straw wrapper right off the straw and directly into Tokiya's face, the red head immediately panicking since he meant to hit Syo, not our stoic navy haired friend. "Yeah, I can't believe it either. Haruka had said a while ago that it would be cool for them to create a band and we joked about it here and there," I paused as I looked back to my mother with a small smile, "but I don't think either of us thought they'd really go creating the group themselves."

          "Would you have asked them to form a group if they didn't bring it up?"

          "Probably not. I'm already selfish enough wanting to compose for them and Quartet Night, I wouldn't want to make things worse by trying to force them to work together if they didn't want to."

          My mother laughed some as she turned to head back in the kitchen to start on our orders. "They're lovely boys, all of them, so I'm glad you're working with both groups. Hopefully those boys over there won't get too jealous now that you'll be working with their seniors." She mused with a suggestive raising of her eyebrows and- and clearly Reiji is a bad influence on her...

          "Oh my gosh, don't jinx me please." I said as she just giggled some more and disappeared back to wear the lovely smell of fried chicken can be found coming from.

          Shaking my head, I turned to head on over to my table. Natsuki beamed a bright smile as I sat between him and Masato, the other four boys all sitting across from us and looking to me expectantly. "So, what did you want to talk to us about ___?" Syo was the first to speak up after all of their individual conversations had died down.

          "You know how you guys left it up to me to convince Shining to let you all create a band?" I asked, Otoya already grinning and looking five seconds away from shooting right out of his chair. "Well, I kind of got him to agree."

          Launching his fist up into the air, Otoya cheered. "I knew you could do it ___!"

          Tokiya looked to me before sighing. "What do you mean by kind of?"

          I sheepishly laughed as I rubbed at the back of my neck. "I had to make some compromises because having you six go into the graduation auditions as a group wouldn't be fair for the other students. So, Shining and I decided that we'd have you all audition individually like the other students except you all will be singing one of the solo songs I will have composed for you. Each of you will be graded like professionals, being held to higher standards and all that jazz."

          "Then how do we become a band?" Natsuki asked with knitted brows.

          "The six of you have to get the six highest scores despite being graded on a much harder scale than the rest of our peers. If some other student get's in one of the top six spots, then none of you will be allowed to professionally debut." I said with a saddened smile. "And even if you six manage to take those top six spots, you then have to perform your debut song for Shining and prove to him that you as a band are worth his time and resources. Only when he approves of you guys as a band will you be allowed to professionally debut with me as your composer."

          Ren looked to me with a slight frown. "What else happens if we fail?"

          Masato sighed. "It wouldn't make sense only for us to be penalized if we fail. You're withholding information again, aren't you?"

          My smile fell completely now. "If I fail to write good enough songs for you six, if you fail to get the six highest scores, or if you fail to convince Shining you can work well together as a band, then I have to leave Saotome and work under a different agency. I'll also have to give up working with Quartet Night."

          "Quartet Night?" Tokiya repeated.

          "Oh! I had to keep this a secret from you guys so I totally forgot to tell you all about them." I laughed, a slight warmth beginning to bloom over my cheeks as I think about those four idols. "Reiji along with three other idols were brought together by Shining to create a new boy band. They'll be debuting together at the Saotome Academy Music Festival actually so you'll get to see your seniors there."

          Syo looked to me with a deadpanned expression as he crossed his arms over his chest, something he normally does when he isn't exactly happy with something. "You mean to tell me you're already the composer to a professional boy band?"

          "Yeah, is that bad..?" I asked hesitantly. "Rei-chan had asked for me to compose for his group and I couldn't bring myself to say no after meeting them. They're just, they're amazing and I really want to compose for them too."

          "But we wanted you to be only our composer ___..." My red headed best friend said sadly. "Now we have to share you with a whole other band."

          Chuckling, Ren leaned back some in his chair as he absentmindedly shrugged. "What can we do? Lady here has so much love and passion in her heart that it shouldn't be all that surprising to hear she would be composing for her brother's group as well. It would have been naive of us to believe we truly could keep her all for ourselves."

          "You'll still be our composer though, right ___-chan?" Natsuki asked, his beautiful green eyes widening some as he waits for my response.

          I patted his thigh to try and reassure him. "Of course I'll still be your composer. I even told the Quartet that if I absolutely had to choose between them or you guys, I'd choose you guys without a second thought."

          The blue haired boy sitting on the other side of myself looked to me with a slightly surprised expression. "You'd choose us over Reiji..?"

          "Of course." I responded with a warm smile. "You guys have been working so hard just as I have. We're a team and I wouldn't abandon any one of you for them. They may be a band of professional idols, but they're not really a band. They just sing together." I mumbled with a shrug of my shoulders. "You guys are actually becoming friends and wanting to take this on together and that's something special that I wouldn't want to let disappear."

          "Who would have thought that she loves us." Syo scoffed.

          I rolled my eyes as I balled up a nearby napkin and threw it at his chest. "Oh shush you."

          Chuckling, Tokiya shook his head. "This is all getting crazy now that we're really doing this."

          Otoya grinned at that. "That just means more fun for us! We're going to show everyone that we're the next big thing to come crashing into the entertainment industry!" He said confidently.

          Ren patted the red heads shoulders. "That's enough out of you. Calm down before you get us kicked out." He said with an amused smirk. "But I can't deny that I don't share your enthusiasm to an extent."

          "You always did like a good challenge." Masato murmured before taking a sip of his tea, eyeing Ren with a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

          Mom soon brought out our food, flashing me a warm smile before wandering back behind the counter. As my friends began to talk amongst themselves about what their debut song should sound like, I couldn't help but let my thoughts wander some onto the topic of Quartet Night.

          When I explained the situation to them as well as to Ringo and Ryuuya last night after our meeting with Shining, they didn't look surprised to hear that I'm still going to be composing for my friends. In all honesty, they didn't look like much of anything. Reiji was the only one genuinely happy to have me as their composer while Camus, AI, and Ranmaru simply nodded in response. I wonder if they even cared about me becoming their composer or if they were truly that indifferent to it..?

          If Shining had turned me down, then they would have just gotten someone else to become their composer so I guess to them I really didn't mean much. They were still going to become a band regardless of whether or not I was their composer. Reiji would have been sad, but he wouldn't have backed out either. In the end, I might have ended up causing them more trouble where Shining is concerned... At least everything's been settled for now and they have their song. All that's left is for them to write the lyrics to their debut song, make up some choreography, and then record it all before the music festival comes around.

          I wonder if one day they'll actually regard one another as a band or if they'll always just be nothing more than work acquaintances..? It seems like such a pity to have four talented young men placed together like this only for three of them to treat it as some inconvenience. Maybe with time they'll grow to genuinely like each other? Hopefully they do. And I hope to be there when it happens as well. I want to help them achieve their future goals with my compositions to show my support- but who knows how long it'll take for them to get to that point if they ever get there to begin with...

          Natsuki peered down at me with knitted brows. "___-chan, what's wrong?" He asked, no one else paying us much mind right now as Syo and Otoya start fighting about which series is better, "Prince of Fighting" or the new Piyo-chan animated series that started airing last week.

          "Nothing's wrong, just thinking is all." I responded with a reassuring smile. "There's a lot to think about now that you guys are going to be forming a band soon."

          "We should start thinking of our debut theme then." Tokiya spoke up.

          Otoya and Syo's little argument died down as Ren gently elbowed the red head in the side to garner his attention. "Little lamb, do you have any ideas for us yet?" He asked, a playful smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.

          Thinking for a moment, I shook my head. "None whatsoever. I was going to leave the planning up to you guys."

          "Really? Just going to leave our debut song in the hands of six drastically differing idols?" Masato asked, his deep blue eyes holding just a hint of amusement to them as I meet his gaze.

          "If you could work with Ren, then I'm sure the six of you can put your heads together to come to some sort of decision." I said with a small laugh. "But, if you guys would like, I can make up some trial tracks to help you all figure out what direction you'd like this song to go in?"

          Syo gave me a thumbs up as he gulped down the rest of his soda. "That would be really helpful." He said and then promptly stole some of Ren's chicken right off his plate.

          Sighing, Ren looked to the shorter blonde. "Must you always do that?"

          "Hey, if I'm going to be stuck in a band with the likes of Mr. World-Wide-Handsome then I might as well do you a favor and keep you skinny."

          "By stealing my food?"

          Nodding, Syo immediately shoved the chicken into his mouth before Ren had even a moment to try and snatch it back.

          "You two are too much." Tokiya muttered.

          Otoya laughed as he watched Ren glare at the short blonde. "It's fun being like this though, right ___?" He then asked, looking to me with nothing but delight behind his eyes.

          I nodded as I took a sip of my drink. "Having everyone together no matter what's going on is pretty fun." I agreed.

          Masato sighed. "I could do without the yelling-"

          "I like it when we're all together too!" Natsuki easily cut off the blue haired boy, bouncing happily beside me like the overgrown puppy he is.

          Giggling, I went ahead and finished off my plate of food, the other boys having scarfed down their food a while ago. "Why don't we all go out for now then? We have a free day and after these duet projects, I think we all deserve a bit of a break."

          "Where should we go?" Otoya asked as he helped me gather up all of our used dishes in order to bring them to the sinks behind the front counter in the kitchen.

          I shrugged, the two of us having already made the first of two trips with the dirty dishes. "Anywhere is fine with me."

          Ren handed me his empty glass with a princely smile. "How about we take you out to the shopping mall nearby? We can celebrate officially starting on this journey to becoming a band together with you here, lady."

          "Ooooo look at you suggesting something not totally sketchy." Syo snickered, Masato cracking a smile at that while Natsuki just shook his head. "Syo-chan, Ren-chan isn't always thinking about kissing and doing some naughty things with girls!" The green eyed blonde said without an ounce of hesitation.

          "Why is that your way of defending me?" Ren asked exasperatedly.

          Laughing, I grabbed the last couple of empty glasses and carefully hugged them to my chest. "I'd love to go to the mall with everyone." I managed to say between giggles as I then hurried back to the kitchens to drop off all the glasses into the sink.

          Otoya was just finishing up as I walked in. "What's going on out there?" He asked, a grin forming as I continue to laugh.

          "Just everyone accusing Ren of being a sex-driven pervert and Natsuki failing to defend that pesky orange haired boys honor." I mused.

          "So, the usual?"

          "The usual."

          Chuckling, my red headed best friend said a quick goodbye to my mother before dipping back out of the kitchen, Tokiya's indignant yelling for Syo to stop opening and wasting straws simply to blow about their wrappers at people ringing out into the otherwise empty restaurant.

          "I take it your friends took the news of you composing for your brother well?" Mom asked with a gentle smile, Otoya now joining in on the straw wrapper wars that is sure to go down in history.

          "It barely fazed them. They're now wanting to head down to the nearby shopping mall so I think that's where we're headed next." I responded, lifting up my sleeves to quickly wash and dry our used glasses so that mom has less work to do herself once we leave for the evening.

          The beautiful brunette glanced over her shoulder to me as she momentarily paused cleaning the stove. "Isn't your orphanage in that direction?" She asked.

          I nodded. "It is, why?"

          "You haven't visited there since the bazaar last summer. You should take all of your handsome friends and introduce them to the kids. I'm sure Kora and Auntie Christa miss you just like I have ever since you left for Saotome Academy."

          "I can't believe you remember Kora and Auntie Christa."

          Mom smiled. "I was going to the orphanage regularly for almost a full year before the Bento Shop started getting busy." She said with a laugh. "Take the boys there if they don't mind. Otoya has to miss the place too and they'll get to know you more by going there."

          My hand paused just as I was dragging the sponge across the outside of the glass. "I don't think now is a good time to bring them there just yet," I responded softly. "Reiji hasn't even gone there with me yet and, I don't know, it just doesn't feel right."

          "I understand. You should still visit soon before you get busy again." Mom said gently. "Even if you go alone, it's always nice to go back to a warm and familiar place and reminisce about the good old days."

          "___, hurry up! The mall is going to close before we leave at this rate!" Syo called out.

          Finishing up with this last glass, I quickly placed it up on its shelf before hurrying over to mom and placing a feather-light kiss to her cheek. "I'll be going now. I already left money to cover our bill on the counter and thanks for always letting us have the shop to ourselves when we need it. I'll come back with everyone again soon, love you."

          Smiling, mom offered me a small wave. "Bring those Quartet Night boys over sometime too. I'd love to see just who Reiji managed to get thrown into a band with." She said with a bright laugh.

          I tried to not let my smile falter at the realization that mom hasn't seen AI and doesn't know he's practically Aine's twin. "I'll be sure to bring them around when they're free."

          Grabbing my jacket from Masato who picked it up off the back of my chair for me, I went ahead and pulled on the somewhat thin piece of clothing. I should really find Reiji's jacket since this one isn't nearly as warm as his, but after we returned from Okinawa, it's like I just up and lost it. Something tells me Kuppuru may be behind the disappearance of Reiji's pine scented jacket... This wouldn't be the first time that finicky feline has stolen something of mine.

          Otoya linked his arm with my own as we left Kotobuki Bento behind and started down the street, Ren and Syo still bickering while Masato and Tokiya look to one another with this silent communication of "why must we be the ones to deal with those two?" going on between them both. Taking the slightly longer route to the shopping mall, I avoided the orphanage at all costs, Otoya sparring me a glance as I directed us down a side street. He didn't say anything though, probably guessing that I'm not ready to have everyone going there just yet.

          Someday we'll take them to the orphanage when we're all truly a band. Today's just not that day is all.

          "So, now that we're here," Masato paused as we all looked around the large shopping mall, "what should we do?"

          Many people passed us by, some glancing curiously at Ren, Masato, and Tokiya but no one daring to approach us thankfully. Unlike the students at school, most of these people have some sort of manners and know to not go walking up to cute guys out of nowhere when another girl is present. At least I don't have to go parading myself around with a sign in order to get it across that none of these boys are currently on the market. We have music to be focusing on, not love.

          Natsuki happily threw his arms around my neck from behind, pulling me back some so that I was pressed against his chest. "We should go find us something cute!"

          "Such as..?" Masato trailed off, Otoya staring at Natsuki's arms for a moment before he forced himself to divert his gaze.

          The overgrown puppy hugged me a little tighter, Syo barking at him to not go squeezing me to death. "How about we buy some friendship charms?" He asked as he looked between the other five boys. "We could get Piyo-chan charms and all wear them as friendship bracelets!"

          I reached up and gently placed my hands over Natsuki's arms as I leaned back into his larger frame. "I'm not opposed to us getting friendship charms."

          "Do they have to be Piyo-chan?" Tokiya asked with an added sigh. Someone is clearly done with today as a whole, though there's a small smile just barely ghosting over his lips so maybe he's secretly enjoying this more than he's letting on...

          "No, I just want to get something with everyone so I don't care what the charms are." Natsuki responded cheerfully. "Should we let ___-chan decide?"

          "Don't give me that sort of responsibility," I said as I looked up at the tall blonde.

          Laughing, Natsuki hugged me tighter. "Okay okay, we'll find something then."

          And with that, the seven of us went off in search of something we could consider to be our friendship charms. Syo kept leaning towards some sort of epic bracelet worn by Ryuuya in the "Prince of Fighting" series which didn't surprise any of us. Masato suggested some simple handmade string bracelets that were being sold for a pretty cheap price at a traditional Japanese antics store. Ren wanted us to buy chokers with different colored rose pendants for each of us, needless to say that idea was shot down quickly though it looked like he was joking anyways so no harm done. Otoya found rainbow bracelets, Syo brushing them off since the brightly saturated bracelets would clash with most of his wardrobe. Natsuki, as he said he would, found Piyo-Chan charm bracelets in the window to a Piyo-Chan store and both Otoya and Ren had to pull the tall blonde away from the store before he threw all of his money at the cute yellow mascot. And then Tokiya, thankfully being the most rational one of us all, found a small store that was selling a little bit of everything.

          We curiously walked inside and peered around some. Clothes were being sold near the front, further in the back we could see manga and anime filling up shelves beside comic books and figurines. There were a multitude of ceramics and other handmade crafts lining the opposite wall, some antic weapon displays being kept in the center of the main floor, and there were cute little traditional Japanese hanging decorations coming down from the ceiling. This store was filled with anything and everything we could have possibly asked for and each of us inevitably got distracted by one thing or another.

          "Woah ___, look at these katana's." Otoya murmured as we walked up to a weapon display case near the back of the store, the cashier sparing us a glance before going back to reading their magazine, probably realizing that we're just a bunch of students spending time here instead of being productive.

          I peered down at the beautiful work of art in the case, being sure not to touch the glass that has a very clear "do not touch" sign hanging from the very front of it. The katana itself is long, sharp, and looks almost like it's glittering some from how polished it is. Its hilt is covered in predominantly black leather, though if you happen to look closely with the light hitting it just right, gold shimmers can just barely be seen, making the weapon appear to be ethereal in a way.

          "It's really well made." I responded at nothing above a whisper. "Wouldn't it be cool to display something like this?"

          Otoya hummed in agreement. "One day when we get a house together, we should have a room just dedicated to cool antic things to show off to everyone else." He said with a laugh.

          My eyes widened ever so slightly as I looked to Otoya. He thinks we're going to buy a house together..? Isn't that moving a little fast?

          The red head said something as he pointed towards the pendants Masato happened to be looking at nearby, running off without ever once glancing back at me. Shaking my head, I followed after my best friend, trying desperately to ignore what I know is there while the rest of our friends gather round to see what this blue haired boy has found.

          "Hm? What's that, Masa?" Ren asked, peering down over Masato's shoulder curiously.

          Holding up what's in his hand for all of us to see, we were met with the sight of a small royal crown pendant fitted with tiny little deep sapphire gemstones. The pendant itself is separate from any kind of strings though it does have a small little loop at the top for being able to attach it to anything we want really.

          A smile danced across my lips as I looked to the display rack with a multitude of different colored royal crown pendants. "You found us crowns?" I mused.

          "We're royalty now." Syo scoffed as he picked up a crown pendant fitted with light pink gemstones.

          Ren held one with bright orange stones. "I like how simplistic they are."

          Picking up a fiery red gemstone crown, Otoya looked to Masato with a bright grin. "Masa! You're a genius!"

          The blue haired boy's eyes widened some at the sudden compliment. "Why do you say that, Ittoki?"

          "Because he's been going on and on about us being the six fabled Princes of Song from this children's book he has hidden under his pillow." Tokiya spoke up, already holding a crown pendant that has glimmering dark amethyst gems embedded into the metal.

          "T-Toki! You weren't supposed to say anything about that!" Otoya whined, Natsuki cooing over how cute he is when he gets all embarrassed while finding himself a yellow gemstone fitted crown pendant, insisting that it reminds him of Piyo-chan and that he has to get it now.

          I went ahead and picked up a moonstone fitted crown pendant, the gemstones ever so slightly altering it's colors to all of those that make up a rainbow and more as I move the pendant around to have the light catch the gems at different angles. "These are really nice." I murmured as I continued to watch the moonstones change color some despite staying predominantly white.

          The boys glanced between themselves before nodding and not even ten minutes later, the seven of us were walking out of the store with seven newly bought royal crown pendants, everyone happily talking as we made our way out of the mall and back to the dorms of Saotome Academy.

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          I would kill for the starfishies to have interactions like this in the anime with Haruka cuz oml the way I'm writing for Ren and Syo is just too good and I would kill to see this animated xD (also Syo just being a sarcastic little buttmunch is so good like why did the anime make him so nice when in the games he's like highkey a savage?? Utapri needs to get their life together to make this boy best boi material lmaO

          Question of the Chapter: How do you think the STARFISHIES are going to interact with Quartet Night when they finally meet in a band-versus-band situation? I'm kinda 50/50 right now on how things are gonna go cuz part of me is saying that there's immediately going to be a rivalry and the other part of me is saying Quartet Night is going to be so confident in themselves that they won't even worry about the starfishies as real competition since a bunch of young kids aint got nothin' on them lul (woW the Southerner in me just came out because I used "aint" ew no one ever let me do that again plz)

          This chapter was pretty chill, not much going on, but there was cute fluff and Natsuki kills me all day every day so let's goooooo fluff filled chapters.~ I'm debating on where I want the next chapter to start in terms of positioning within the plot lul I could get a true first Ryuuya moment coupled with Ringo and then also Quartet Night, or I could just skip straight to the Saotome Music Festival and cut down on the amount of these filler chapters riP but I guess most chapters could be considered filler chapters since, like, there's no epic fighting or anything really cool going on in a music reverse harem unlike Dialovers where it's like death, death, some bloodsucking here and there, and then more death lulululul

          I'm writing and editing this at midnight and I haven't slept in almost 48 hours so don't mind me not making sense in the authors note lol at least I'm kinda sure that the chapter itself makes sense to some degree x3 *imma go make myself some hot chocolate while I finish editing this chapter and blasting mune no kodou for like the ninth day in a row brb*

          As always, 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 ♡