ｒｙｕｕｙａ,   ｔｈｅ   ｄｅｆｅｎｄｅｒ

『 your p.o.v 』

"Where's Tomo-chan?" I asked, Haruka and I walking side by side down the hallway.

The pink haired girl looked to me with a sheepish smile. "She ran off to a fashion show in the city." Haruka said with a small laugh. "Turns out she's more into fashion than I had thought."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Yeah, no kidding. We're getting our grades for our first songs and already she's skipping class- truly a legend if I've ever known one."

"She'll be back later tonight... Probably." Haruka sighed. "Knowing Tomo-chan, she might just stay with a friend in the city or something."

Turning a corner, more and more students came into view crowding around the board hanging next to the A-Classes classroom. "And leave you behind alone in our dorm room with lil' ol me? She would never." I reassured as my attention flicked back over to all the students. "What's going on there anyways?"

Haruka followed my gaze to the crowd of students all gathered around the bulletin board. "Oh! That must be where our grades are."

"Really, they'd put it outside for everyone to see..?" I mumbled to myself, the two of us making our way over to the board just as all the other students are.

"I mean, I guess you'd want to know how you stack up compared to the other students," Haruka said softly, "the people at the bottom might want to pair with someone higher up for this next song and it would be good for everyone to see who's on top. We're all aiming to be the best so we can have our professional debut at the end of the year after all."

Glancing to her, I sighed. "True, it's just, everyone's already staring at us." I whispered.

True to my words, all the students who had been crowding around the bulletin board stared at Haruka and I as we walked towards it, the other students even taking steps back just so we'd be able to walk right up to the two long papers posted. Neither Haruka or myself had to look for our names what with the way everyone is staring at us. We both knew where we ended up.

"Tomo-chan and I got second!" Haruka said as she looked to me with a bright smile. "She'll be so happy when I call her later."

I couldn't help but return the sweet girls smile. "I'm happy for you two, you both worked hard for these results."

My fellow composer beamed at that as she looked back up to the two papers. "Oh! You got the highest score, congrats! We should go tell Natsuki." She then said, not caring about the stares of the other students in the least bit.

"He'll find out in a bit. C'mon, let's go see what I got on my S-Class song." I said as I easily grabbed her wrist and began leading her further down the hallway, not particularly keen on staying where we're just being stared at...

Just as we were beginning to walk away, the whispers broke out among the crowd of students we're leaving behind. I quickened my pace ever so slightly. It's annoying having everyone always talk about me but it's bearable, having them talk about Haruka now as well? Now that's something I could very much do without.

The further down the hallway we walked, the more students stared at Haruka and I. If I listen closely, I can just barely make out our names. I guess it must be quite the gossip material for an idols younger sister and a girl who didn't come from a wealthy family to suddenly become the school's top composers. I'm not sure if it's a better or worse thing that Haruka and I aren't in the same class. Part of me wishes that we could shoulder these whispers together, but the other part of me hopes that with me being in a different class than herself, maybe it'll save her from the brunt of the gossiping since, after all, I'm the one with a famous sibling.

"I heard Natsuki and Syo's songs the other night." Haruka suddenly spoke up. "They sounded amazing. I can't believe you made both of those songs in three weeks. It took the entire three weeks for Tomo-chan and I to make our one song, I couldn't imagine trying to compose a second song for a completely different idol."

I thought for a moment before shrugging. "There was a lot of communication between my two idols and myself so there wasn't much time wasted in wondering what to write and what to later change and tweak. The only difficult part for me I would say was staying up most nights composing and editing. Believe you me, writing those two songs definitely took a lot of effort."

Haruka hummed in agreement, the S-Classes board coming into view as we turn down another hallway. "Without a doubt. You worked so hard and so did Syo and Natsuki, I'm glad your songs came out so well." She said with a genuine smile and just wow, Haruka really is too nice.

"And your song came out just as wonderful.~" I sang as we approached the grade postings.

Much like with the A-Classes bulletin board, the students stared at us and cleared a path for Haruka and I to walk up and see the grades. A few whispers broke out among the other students here and there but for the most part everything was quiet. Honestly, everyone being so silent is unnerving.

Just as I was placed on the previous board, I found my name up at the very top with Syo's placed directly beside it. Scanning a little more down the list, I smiled when I spotted Ren's name coming in fifth place. Though my smile faltered when I finally found Tokiya's name third from the bottom of the list.

When I heard him recording in the booth, I knew there was something missing from his voice, but I never thought it would place him so low when compared to the other idol students in our class... Hopefully this doesn't put him in danger of failing or anything. Reiji told me a while ago that if I score low on things consistently in my class, they'll move me down to A-Class which I guess wouldn't be so bad since Otoya is there, but for Tokiya? I don't think that would go over very well for him.

"Good morning Nanami, and good morning to you Little Lamb." Ren said with his usual suave voice as he walked up to us with his hands in his pockets, orange tie loosely tied with his shirts top buttons left undone to show off quite a bit of his tanned chest. Only this orangette can get away with wearing his uniform like this I swear. Anyone else and questionable glances would be flying their way.

Smiling, I turned around to the orange haired idol. "Congratulations on getting fifth place Ren, looks like you're not as hopeless as I thought you were."

The idol student scoffed at that while Haruka giggled some. "Wow, what a great backhanded compliment. Reiji teach you that?"

"Nope, but he's helped me perfect that skill over this last year so I have to give him some credit where credit is due." I mused.

Ren placed an arm around my shoulders as he walked me away from the bulletin board as well as away from the majority of the death glaring students, Haruka walking on the other side of myself. "Now now Lady, with me getting fifth place and you being in first, how about the two of us be partners for our next song hm? Clearly we'd be a force to be reckoned with."

"Or she could just stay working with either Syo or Natsuki." Haruka threw out there.

I couldn't help but laugh at the rejected look flashing across Ren's face. "Oh you'll live. Besides, someone has already called dibs on working with me and I can't exactly turn him down."

The orangettes blue eyes widened some. "Hijirikawa?" He asked.

"Nope," I said popping the 'p', "Otoya."

Haruka smiled brightly at that. "Oh! You two used to write songs all the time when you were growing up in the orphanage right? This next piece should be a piece of cake for you two!"

"That's what I'm hoping for. After composing for both Syo and Natsuki, I need a bit of a breather." I admitted while absentmindedly leaning into Ren's side as we continue down the hallway towards the S-Class classroom. "Anyways, class should be starting soon so you might want to run back over to your class Haruka. Tell me what Masato and Otoya made on their songs yeah?"

"Sure thing! See you two at lunch!" She said before hurrying back down the hallway, leaving Ren and I more or less alone to walk together now.

Once Haruka was out of sight, Ren's arm around my shoulders tightened ever so slightly. "So you'll be working with Otoya on this next song little lamb? Are you sure that you wouldn't rather work with me? I did come in fifth place after all."

I rolled my eyes some at his cockiness. "Ren, I already told you that I'll write a duet for you and Masato so just wait a bit longer. Otoya called dibs on working with me anyways and we can't just ignore the calling of dibs now can we?"

"How cruel, you're going to make me wait."

"I'm pretty sure our next project after this one is a duet so you can hold out a little longer, I'm confident in that."

"How do you know that for sure?" The orange haired boy asked, neither of us paying the death glares being shot in my direction any mind.

I smiled up at him, his bright blue eyes widening ever so slightly. "Perks of being friends with the S-Class and A-Class teachers."

"Really?" Ren asked.

"Of course not." I responded with a laugh. "They don't tell me anything when it comes to school stuff. That would give me an unfair advantage in terms of preparation and they'd surely lose their jobs if they did that."

The orangette shook his head. "You're too much."

Smiling, I hugged my laptop a little closer to my chest. "You get used to it."

Ren and I grew quiet as we walked into the S-Classes classroom, all of our peers immediately quieting down and staring at the two of us as we walk over to our seats in the back corner of the room. Tokiya is already sitting in his seat behind my own when we get there and I offer him a bright smile as I place my laptop down onto my desk. "Good morning Toki, how's your morning going?"

The dark navy haired idol student shifted his gaze from out the window and over to myself, Ren already leaning back in his chair and kicking his legs up onto his desk. "I've had better." He responded shortly.

"Same. This morning just isn't going good for us." I said with an added shake of my head before offering him a smile. "But! We'll get to head off to lunch later so at least we have that to look forward to!" I then said, trying to lessen the somber mood currently surrounding this navy haired boy.

Ren chuckled some from where he's rocking his chair back and forth on its back legs, his arms placed behind his head as he does so with surprising balance. "What's so good about lunch, little lamb?"

I flicked my eyes over to the orangette. "Well, for starters, it's easier to ignore everyone's stares and hushed whispers when we're all together." I mused. "And, we get to eat good food with our friends! What's not to enjoy?"

"I guess you're right." Ren said with a small smile. "Where's ochibichan anyways?"

My attention flicked to Syo's empty chair for a moment before we heard the sound of footsteps running down the hallway, closing in on our classroom. "Something tells me we're about to find him."

On cue, Syo came rushing into the room mere seconds before Ryuuya did, clearly waking up late if his disheveled appearance is anything to go by. I couldn't help but to snicker at the poor boys misfortune.

"I'm going to kill Natsuki." Syo huffed, all of the other students glancing to him with obvious confusion.

Tokiya sighed. "What has that giant blonde done now?" He asked, surprisingly taking an interest in our conversations. Progress is being made! Maybe eventually Tokiya will open up completely to us.~ But, until then, I'll just be happy with finally being able to have Tokiya included in our pre-class discussions.

Syo groaned some as he allowed for his upper body to just fall onto his desk, his head resting sideways to look at Tokiya and I. "He kept me up all night going on and on about this new Piyo-chan event that's happening in a couple weeks and he didn't let me go to bed till nearly four in the morning." He grumbled dejectedly. "And then we both overslept since we were too tired to hear our alarms. If it wasn't for Otoya coming over to check up on us before class, neither of us would have made it to our lessons today."

"Sounds like you three just aren't having the best of luck today." Ren mused from behind Syo's desk.

The short blonde glared at the boy sitting behind him. "Oh shut up Ren, I'm too tired to deal with you."

"Ochibichan is a feisty little thing this morning.~"

"Don't call me ochibichan!"

Ryuuya cleared his throat, garnering all of our attentions after he had finally gotten his notes all in order on his desk. "Alright class, quiet down, we'll be starting today's lesson after I discuss your next project's details." He said, scanning the room without ever once letting his eyes linger on myself. He's been doing that a lot lately, not looking at me directly that is. Maybe he doesn't want for the rumors that are spreading around this school to get any worse? That's my only guess...

"As you know, the grades for this first project have been posted outside this room on the bulletin board as have the grades for all the other classes," the orange haired actor said as he walked to the front of his desk and leaned against it with his arms crossed over his chest, "I highly advise you to take a look at these grades and choose your next partners wisely. The composer and idol duo who prove to work together well for the final project of the year will have the chance to professionally debut so don't take these beginning projects lightly. If you find someone you work well with, improve your work flow with them to become the best and win your chance to debut. Otherwise, you'll find that your time here has been wasted if all you do is compose and sing without a goal in sight." He said thoughtfully.

A few of the other students in the class turned their heads and glanced to me out of the corners of their eyes, their glares still harsh as ever. They see me as a threat to them possibly having their professional debut. As they should I suppose. I won't be letting this opportunity slip through my grasp just like that so if they want to have their professional debut at the end of this year, they'll have to work just as hard as I do to beat me and my idols, I'm sure of that.

"This next project will be graded on the same criteria as the previous one, the only difference this time around being that you'll get to choose your partners instead of me choosing for you." Ryuuya said as he looked from student to student. "You will once again have three weeks to come up with and complete a song. The composer and idol with the highest grades from each class will get to perform at a local concert to be held in a months time, two students from each class being chosen that is. That performance is by no means a professional debut, but it's a chance for you idols to get your name out there and start creating a fanbase for yourself and a chance for You composers to get your work out there, something you all should be trying to do through any means necessary. With that reward in mind, is there any questions over this assignment and what's expected of you?"

One student raised his hand near the back of the classroom, a few seats down from Syo's desk actually. "If we're allowed to work with anyone, how will you and the other teachers pick your classes top students to perform at the concert when we'll be working with students in other classes?" He asked, a valid question considering I think most of us are going to be working more with our friends rather than just the people who are in our class from this point forward.

"We decided that the best way to pick our top student from our class would be to listen to everything our students create regardless of who they create that with." Ryuuya answered methodically. "Idol students will be graded separately from their composers and vice versa meaning that I'll be grading you individually. If the top composer worked with an A-Class idol, then that A-class idol will perform on behalf of my recommendation. Same with idol students, if I think you sang well, then you'll get to sing live regardless of what class your composer came from. But all of you keep this in mind, idols sing better when they're on the same page as their composers so pick your partners wisely because those with the most compatibility in terms of working together are more times than not, the most successful." He said with a smirk. "Now, are there any other questions?"

There was a beat of silence before a hand rose near the front of the classroom, the hand belonging to a male composer student, one I've seen glaring at me more times than not nowadays. "Is there a limit to the number of idol students us composers are allowed to compose for?"

I saw Ryuuya's eyes flick to myself for just a fraction of a second before closing. "There's always been a limit. Every composer get's one idol to compose for just as every idol has just one composer to compose for them."

The composer student looked less than impressed with that answer as he turned halfway in his seat to look directly at myself. "Then why did ___ get to compose for two idol students during our first project?" He asked, spite lacing his words and only making me flinch at the venomous tone he's taken on. Someone sure isn't happy with myself...

Our teacher sighed. "___ was a special case for that one project and unless another problem such as that one arises, she won't be composing for two idols again when the rest of you only compose for one."

"What was the problem that made it possible for her to compose for two idols?" The female composer Ren had worked with then asked, I think he said her name is Shizu.

Ryuuya looked to us students with a coldness to his gaze. "___'s idol student assigned to her was Kurusu Syo, as you all know. The A-Class student she also composed for was paired with a different composer from his class originally, though it came to mine and Ringo's attention that his composer was verbally abusing him and refusing to work alongside him. For that, we had the A-Class composer expelled for breaking Saotome's Student Code of Conduct and ___ offered to compose for the A-Class idol so that he could finish this first project like the rest of you. And contrary to popular belief, the two of them were not given a time extension of any kind and were graded on the same criteria regardless of the fact they had only a week and a half to create a song instead of the full three weeks. Now, if you're all done trying to make a villain out of ___ for helping out a friend in need, let's move on to today's lesson." Our orange haired teacher said, sparing me a fleeting glance before pushing up off his desk to begin writing out some lesson points on the chalk board.

I shifted my attention out the windows to our left that Tokiya often stares out of, the lingering gazes of my fellow students putting me on edge some. Their stares are nothing new, but having Ryuuya defend me like that in front of the entire class no less, well, was unexpected and if anything a little embarrassing in a way. All I can hope is that maybe with the rest of my peers knowing the truth behind me working with Natsuki, their harsh glares and cruel words will lessen if only a little.

Class flew by surprisingly quick today and before I think any of us really knew it, we were being released for lunch. I ignored the stares of the other students and held my laptop close to my chest, not exactly wanting to stay behind in this classroom for much longer. I'm thankful for Ryuuya sticking up for myself and all, but I feel as though his defense might have just made things slightly worse for me. I guess only time will tell...

"Let's go guys, lunch isn't going to eat itself." I beckoned as I began walking to the front of the classroom with my three friends following close behind.

Ren chuckled, moving to walk beside myself as we step out into the hallway. "Well someone's in a hurry to leave class."

Syo hurried to walk on the other side of me. "Oi, slow down will ya? You're walking nearly as fast as Natsuki's normal pace."

Slowing down my walk some, I laughed sheepishly as I offered them guilty smiles. "Sorry guys, it's just I want to get to the lunchroom already to see all of our friends is all."

Tokiya shook his head. "You seem more as if you're on the run." He noted.

Huffing some, I glanced over my shoulder to the cold idol student. "Don't go calling me out like that, Toki. If you had the entire school whispering about you constantly, I wouldn't go pointing it out."

"I do have the entire school whispering about me as well." He responded with a deadpanned expression.

"As do I." Ren then spoke up. "Don't let them get to you ___, nothing good is going to come out of you listening to them. Instead, just focus on me. I won't let anything happen to my little lamb.~" He cooed.

Syo gagged some at that. "Oh my gosh, why does anyone like you?"

The orangette chuckled as he looked down to the blonde. "You just don't understand how to win a girls heart like I do."

I couldn't help but laugh at his response. "If you think sweet words are the way to my heart, then you'll need to rethink your plan of action because that won't work on me Ren."

"What a pity. Guess I'll just have to try something else to win you over, Lady."

"Please refrain from openly hitting on her."

"Yeah, listen to Tokiya and stop trying to get into all of these girls underwear. It's kind of pathetic."

Ren rolled his eyes at Syo and Tokiya's words. "I have standards. If giving girls attention will make them happy, then I'll do just that. But to accuse me of trying to sleep with them is wrong."

Tokiya sighed. "Do we have to talk about your sex life right before lunch..?"

I shook my head as we entered the lunchroom. "You three are too much for me to handle I swear." I said with a laugh, smiling over to Otoya as he beckoned me over to join him in line for our favorite chicken place, temporarily abandoning the rest of our friends in order to get my food.

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         Writing for pre-ST☆RISH is making me remember why I love Ren so much oml I need Quartet Night to come into this story already before I cheat on Camyu and Rei-chan smh ;-;;;

Question of the Chapter: Would you guys like to see some cute moments with Ryuuya and Ringo during your characters time at Saotome or should I hold off on those two until your character graduates and heads off to the Master Course? I'm kind of 50/50 right now and not sure if I should give those two teachers their own cute scenes or not. They'll definitely be more of love interests come the Master Course time, so even if I don't include them now as much they'll shine later on.~ now it's just the question of if I should or shouldn't wait lol

I'm happy cuz I get to write cute stuff with Otoya now and look more into your characters backstory with him back in the orphanage and just ugh it's going to be cute and fluffy and kinda emotional and sweet and everything utapri should be when things aren't getting all depressing lmao

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 ♡