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『 your p.o.v 』

"You're at a beach resort on a beautiful island and yet you choose to spend even your free time composing instead of actually living a little?" Ryuuya asked blandly, pulling the wooden chair across from my own out and taking a seat at this small beach table, many more just like this one set up further up on the beach while many of the other students sit out on towels under large umbrellas near the edge of the ocean. "I know you take your compositions seriously, but going through the effort to put on a bathing suit and then not go into the water seems a little pointless."

          I cracked a small smile at this orange haired actor's typical cruel words. "Otoya forced me out of my hotel room to come watch over the idols photo shoot and Haruka thought it would be cute for us to wear our swimsuits as well. You know how these idols students are, just so needy." I teased.

          The idol sitting across from me scoffed. "Speaking of needy idols, Jinguji is skipping again."

          Glancing up from my laptop and over to the ocean, I wasn't all that surprised to find he's right, that orangette is once again missing from class. Despite me telling him he needs to take this seriously and to stop being so selfish, he clearly didn't listen to a word I said and instead chose to go off on his own and do lord knows what. Well, knowing Ren, he's probably listening to whatever he has on that MP3 player again. That seems to be the thing he does most when skipping class in order to be alone. I wonder just what he's always listening to when no one else is around..?

          Right as I was fixing to return my attention to my laptop from looking over at the idol's swimming about in the water, my eyes widened as Natsuki grabbed both Syo and Otoya and promptly jumped backwards into the water, the two smaller boys being taken underthe water's surface in one swell swoop and a large splash. Tokiya and Masato just stared at the water as those two struggled to make Natsuki release them before they drowned. That tall blonde doesn't understand just how big he is compared to everyone else- he's like an overgrown puppy who doesn't know his own strength! At least Tomo-chan is off with Haruka and Ringo who are helping to fix her up for her photo shoot and in turn being spared from whatever the boys are doing. Honestly, what am I supposed to do with a group of idols who are such polar opposites to one another?

          Also, who thought it would be a good idea to have an entire photo shoot dedicated to the idol students, in the ocean, in their bathing suits? Gathering a ton of attractive people in one area with over half of them being shirtless is just rude and quite inconsiderate if I had to say so myself. I mean, did I really need to know that Tokiya is just as fit as Otoya if not more so, his abs slightly more defined and him looking incredibly cute with wet hair? No, the answer is no, I did not need to know this and now I don't know what to do with this newfound information.

          Shaking my head, I looked to Ryuuya as I placed my chin down onto the palm of my hand. "How close are you to expelling Ren?" I asked since there's no sense in trying to work my way around asking this question.

          The actor didn't need to think as he immediately answered with "if he doesn't show up to this photo shoot at some point today, then I'm going to fail his portion of the duet project and expel him."

          Blinking once, then twice, then a third time I stared incredulously at the idol sitting across from me. "You're going to expel him over this?" I asked as I nodded over in direction of the five idols I've more or less been forced into a friend group with. "It's just one photo shoot Ryuuya, don't act so hastily. Can't you give him another chance? I haven't even had a second to truly work with him on this project so why are you going to go expelling him before you've given me the opportunity to keep him here?"

          "Jinguji clearly doesn't care if he stays or not so why should you?"

          "Because he's my friend."

          Scoffing, Ryuuya shook his head as he looked out to the ocean. "Well your friend is a lost cause. I already discussed it with Ringo and if your song with that Hijirikawa boy ends up being exceptional like your previous songs, then we'll allow him to perform at the Saotome Music Festival even if Jinguji doesn't put in a single ounce of effort into this project." He said as he watched Natsuki nearly drown Otoya for a second time now while Syo frantically tried to hide behind Masato and Tokiya who are very much staying away from that green-eyed blonde. "It wouldn't be fair to let someone with talent suffer because of an idiot so tell Hijirikawa for me otherwise he'll probably start stressing over Jinguji. That kid will probably be happy to hear his grade won't be affected since they're rivals anyways."

          "You know they're rivals too?" I asked as I began rearranging some of the notes to Ren and Masato's duet song. We discussed the song details together a couple of days ago and I'm still trying to figure out how I want this song for them to go... "I feel like everyone knows more about those two than I do."

          "You weren't born into some famous or high ranking family so I get why. Most people wouldn't concern themselves with the sons of two large conglomerates unless that information pertained to them in some way. From a business standpoint, it's important to know a fair number of things about those two." Ryuuya explained. "Both of their families have a surprising amount of influence over many things in the entertainment industry and not to mention we have two rival sons aiming to become idols at this school- or at least one of them is." The actor scoffed. "As for competition, it's important for everyone here to weigh how they stack up when compared to both of those boys. Raw talent alone isn't good enough to surpass money and influence."

          I shook my head. "I don't think either of them coming from some hotshot families makes all that much of a difference here. Once you're admitted into Saotome, you're kind of just expected to do well. If them being from wealthy families was the end all be all for them being here now, then most of the composers who originally got into this Academy wouldn't have dropped out because of the work load. Masa and Ren have to work hard just like I do."

          "Are you forgetting you now have an advantage just as they do?"

          "And what would my advantage be, Ryuuya?"

          "Your brother is an idol." He responded with a small laugh, sipping the beer he had brought with him over to the table I more or less claimed for myself, the sound of Syo being body slammed into the water and yelling ringing out into the once calm atmosphere. "Automatically you have an advantage over those with no idol connections. You're being considered to become a professional bands composer, you've befriended Ringo and I because of Reiji, and you're most likely going to be given more opportunities because of your connection to your brother."

          A smirk tugged at the corners of my lips as I gave up on composing for now and fully closed my laptop after saving the piece once more. "So my individual skill has nothing to do with my success?"

          Ryuuya chuckled. "Of course your individual skill has everything to do with your success here, but your connection to Reiji and in turn other idols gives you opportunities the other students here don't have. Don't be ignorant to the larger picture of just how this entertainment industry works. The more people you know," he paused as he took another drink of his beer, "the more likely you are to succeed. But, if you couldn't compose, then you would have dropped out like all the other students who have already done so. You just happen to be a rare combination of natural talent and someone who possesses a very valuable connection to one of Shining's most loyal and fan loved idols."

          "If you say so. Personally, I think I have just as much of a chance at succeeding here at Saotome as Haruka does and came from a normal family and also, she couldn't even read sheet music when she initially started here." I said, grabbing my laptop and standing up from our small table. "In my opinion, hard work is more important than connections. Anyways, I'm going to go find Ren to see if I can convince him to come to this photo shoot before it ends. And, do me a favor and keep Natsuki from killing everyone." I said with an added sigh as that hyperactive blonde finally managed to get a hold of Masato and began violently swinging him around, smiling giddily and everything while Masa looks mere seconds from fainting. "At this rate, you won't have any idols graduating from this school apart from Natsuki himself."

          "Don't get your hopes up where Jinguji's concerned." The actor said, swirling the contents of his beer bottle around some as he looks out to the ocean once more and watches Natsuki torment the other students while they all wait for their turn to have their pictures taken. "He's the type to do whatever he wants to do and nothing you say will ever truly get to him. You'd need a miracle to take place if you want him to take this project even remotely seriously."

          Beginning to walk away now, I lifted a hand and lazily waved to my teacher and friend. "Well then I guess I'll start praying because there's no way I'm going to stand by and watch as Ren gives up on himself like this." And with that, I left Ryuuya behind to watch over the idol students, Tokiya now somehow getting pulled into Natsuki's unrelenting play time as Syo narrowly escapes with his life intact.

          I get what Ryuuya was saying, I'm not blind. Me having a connection to Reiji does give me a different set of opportunities when compared to any of the other composers here, but that could be said for most of them as well. Their connections are not my connections so the only way we can truly beat each other is through our hard work and composing capabilities. Who we know has nothing to do with who's going to get the top scores for each of these projects and win the graduation auditions, that comes down to individual talent and individual talent alone.

          Keeping my laptop resting against my hip as I walk further away from the beach, I ignore the gazes of my friends where they're still gathered up in the ocean, Masato going up first for his photo shoot now. I'll come back to hang out with them once I find Ren. Until then, I can't get distracted considering how close Ryuuya is to just expelling him at this point. If nothing changes with Ren's attitude towards this idol business, then he's going to get kicked out and there's nothing I can do to stop it if nothing I say get's through to him.

          With a sigh, I continued down the little path I managed to find that leads into the nearby forest area. I heard a couple of the other students saying there's plenty of cool locations in here like a shrine, a water fall, and an open space that looks like a great place to hold any sort of large gathering. I'm betting everything that if Ren decided to skip this photo shoot and isn't hauled up in his room back in the resort, then he must be in the forest somewhere where he won't be bothered by his seemingly endless amount of fangirls.

          Seriously, he's only been gaining more and more popularity lately since all of the girls at the Academy see he can sing actually rather well. A man who looks just as good as he sings and is a natural flirt would have any girl falling for them so I guess I'm not surprised. It's just annoying how no one ever bothers to see past Ren's look. There's so much more to a person than their physical appearance, now if only these dense lovestruck girls would understand that simple concept...

          The faint sound of a saxophone being played off in the distance ever so slightly began to ring out into the large tree filled area the deeper in I walked. twigs and leaves crunched beneath my sandals, streaks of sunlight pouring in from the treetops up above and casting a myriad of shadows over the ground. Making my way closer to the saxophone, I wasn't all that surprised to eventually find Ren sitting down on a bench along the path with the glistening golden instrument held to his lips as he plays with his eyes closed.

          I hesitated for a moment as I just watched him. He's so peaceful like this when he's in his own element and for as much as I know I need to talk to him, I kind of don't want to.

          Last time I tried to talk to him, he walked away from me after blatantly telling me he never thought of us as friends and was only trying to get close to me in order to more or less manipulate me into liking him. Then when we were with Masato a few evening's ago to discuss our duet songs, he snapped at our blue haired friend and was honestly pretty harsh with his words. The last thing I want to do is be that annoying pushy person who keeps nagging him to take his time here at Saotome seriously, but no one else is going to hound him about this and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I knew Ren got expelled without me trying my hardest to keep that from happening. If he gets himself kicked out despite my best effort, then fine, but I'll try to prevent that from happening for as long as I can...

          This is one of those times I'm really beginning to understand why Otoya and Reiji say I'm too stubborn for my own good because wow, even I would be a little sick of myself if I had to deal with me on a daily basis.

          The orangette suddenly stopped playing, opening just one of his light blue eyes to look over at me as he lowers the golden instrument to sit on his lap. "How long are you just going to stand there, Little Lamb?" He asked, once again closing his eyes as he tries to relax some.

          "Ren, have you been thinking about what I said..?" I asked a question of my own as I began walking a little closer to this cold idol student. I thought things between us were starting to look up, but, I guess I was wrong. There's still a clear wall Ren has built around himself and there's no way for me to get around it right now. But I don't have time to try and get around some wall when he's in danger of being expelled before the end of this month...

          "About how I shouldn't pull you and Hijirikawa down because I'm unmotivated." He responded with clear malice behind his false honeyed words. "Of course I haven't thought about what you said."

          Sighing, I took a chance and sat down beside him on the bench, making sure to leave a fair amount of distance between us so I don't push my luck here. "Ren, I shouldn't have said it that way-"

          "You were just speaking your honest thoughts so don't try to backpedal because I don't like it, Lady. That's counterintuitive to your goal of keeping me here." The orangette cut me off with ease, never once looking at me as he opens his eyes to look up at the clouds that are just barely visible through the thick leaves of the trees.

          I shook my head. "No, it was selfish for me to say something like that. What I said disregarded your own feelings for the sake of Masato's and my grades on this project when that isn't my reason for wanting you to take singing seriously."

          "But what you said wasn't wrong either ___." A deeper voice spoke up near where I previously came from on this long path. "Jinguji shouldn't be so selfish as to forcefully put us at a disadvantage by allowing his personal problems to interfere with his ability to complete a group assignment."

          My eyes widened as I slowly turned to look at the blue haired idol student who's already walking over towards us. "Masato? I thought you were in the middle of your photoshoot..?" I asked, truly dumbfounded at seeing him showing up at a time like this when I was certain I'd get another chance at talking to Ren alone.

          The cool idol student spared me a fleeting glance before once again focusing his attention on the orangette beside me, Ren already moving to stand up. "I asked Ittoki to take my place once I realized what you were doing." Masato said, standing in front of me now as him and Ren glare at each other. "I came here to tell you that you're wasting your time on this lazy excuse of a man and shouldn't bother coming here for your pleads to fall on deaf ears."

          Smirking, Ren scoffed as he placed his saxophone down onto the bench to lie beside me on the wooden surface. "I'm an excuse of a man? Coming from someone like you who can't so much as stand up to his own father about his passion for singing is truly impressive." The orangette said coldly, his smirk looking more cynical and unsettling than sexy and flirtatious like how he usually appears to be. Even his voice is filled with nothing but cold hatred, only making his words sting that much worse.

          Masato's fists clenched at his sides. "Don't talk as if you could possibly understand my situation, Jinguji. You have a freedom I will never be able to possess and yet you're throwing it away just like you throw everything else away." He spat, this being the first time I've ever truly seen this usually calm and collected blue haired boy getting genuinely upset.

          "You keep saying that I have this freedom just because I'm not the firstborn son, but you couldn't be more wrong." Ren said with a small, condescending laugh. "I'm not the firstborn, I'm not even the second born- I'm the third son, the one that's good only to be used for acting as my family's poster child. Do you think I really had a choice in coming here? Are you that naive to believe that even for a second I would come here and not give it my all if I was doing this for myself and not for my brothers?"

          "I don't care- you still get to pursue music!" Masato responded angrily, only growing more and more agitated the longer this confrontation lasts. "It's not fair, it's not fair that you, someone so irritating and flawed and undeserving get's to come here and become an idol while I had to fight to even come here for this one year let alone having to face the cruel truth that I'll never truly be allowed to live my own life. You have so many options laid out before you, and yet, you choose to ignore each and every last one of them out of spite. How can you be so damn self-centered to the point you take even this for granted?"

          "Like I said, I didn't come here because I wanted to. I was forced. Simple as that, Hijirikawa. Now stop trying to take your personal issues out on me." Ren responded with a slight twitch of his eyebrows, obviously throwing the words I told him during our duet discussion right back in Masato's face.

          Hesitantly, I tried to calm things down before they truly get out of hand. "Okay guys, I think that's enough for now-"

          "No, someone needs to stand up to this pompous and arrogant idiot." Masato hissed, easily cutting me off while his gaze never wandered from the orangette standing in front of him who looks careless as ever. "I can't stand him acting like this anymore."

          Ren's smirk fell at that into a cold, stony expression. "You really want me to speak what's on my mind?"

          The blue haired boy's fists only seemed to clench further. "I don't give a damn what you do anymore." He seethed.

          In a blink of an eye, the good-looking orangette fell backwards and was knocked onto the ground, one of his hands brought up to cover his mouth while he narrows his light blue eyes at the other idol student. Though despite just getting punched, Ren didn't say a word. He just stared at the blue haired boy who was breathing heavily and looked seconds away from pouncing him as he rubbed at his sore knuckles.

          He's going to let Masato beat him up without fighting back in the slightest bit...

          "Okay! That's enough." I said as I stood up and pushed as hard as I could on Masato's chest so that he would be pushed back a few steps and no longer close enough to start kicking Ren who's already trying to recover from that punch. "I don't care what happened between you two or what your differences are- I'm not going to stand by while you punch our friend, Masa!"

          Slowly, the blue haired idol student seemed to regain his composure as his breathing slowed back to a normal pace and the tension in his shoulders began to release if only a little bit. "He's no friend of mine, ___." He said coldly.

          "He's right Little Lamb, we'll never be friends." Ren then said as he staggered his way to standing, spitting out a fair amount of blood from his mouth onto the ground as he does so. "We haven't been friends since we were kids, before we grew up and realized who the other was."

          "Now we can't go back."

          "We wouldn't know how to even if we wanted to."

          Turning to look at Ren, my eyes widened some as I saw his busted lip. "Oh my gosh, you're bleeding a lot. C'mon, let's get you back to your hotel room and I'll help clean you up." I then glanced over my shoulder to the blue haired boy. "Masa, I'll come over to your room later to talk. Go back to the beach before Natsuki and Otoya start getting worried about you running off like this."

          Without waiting for either of them to give me a true response, I balanced my laptop and Ren's saxophone under one arm while grabbing at Ren's wrist with my free hand, leading him back down the path I came from in order to bring him to the resort's hotel. Masato didn't say a thing as we passed him. He simply stood there, unmoving and emotionless as he looked down towards the ground, never once uttering a single word in response.

          Many of the other students looked to Ren and I with shocked expressions considering his lip is busted enough for it to be bleeding a fair amount now despite the orangette trying his best to cover it and prevent the blood from dripping everywhere. Even Ryuuya and Ringo took a moment to watch as I hurried past where they're still set up on the beach, not wanting to let Ren's lip swell too much as to not let it affect his assignments here at school. He's still an idol student and idols need to take care of their looks so a busted lip may not be the best thing for him right now what with expulsion on the line and all...

          "I'm surprised you chose me over Hijirikawa, Little Lamb." Ren said from where he's sitting in a chair placed beside his bed within his hotel room, me hurrying into the bathroom to wet a washcloth while trying to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I did kind of abandon Masato in order to take care of Ren, but, this orangette is hurt and I couldn't just ignore that.

          With the cold damp washcloth in hand, I made my way over to the pesky orangette and grabbed another nearby chair so I could sit directly in front of him, my knees placed between his legs so I could get close enough to actually clean the blood from his mouth and chin. "Of course I chose you in this situation. You're hurt and I'm worried for you, Ren."

          The orange haired boy scoffed, trying to stay still as I gently dab at his skin, doing my best to be careful while taking off as much of the blood as I can without hurting him. "Hijirikawa was right, I don't care about this place. You're not going to magically change me over night or something and make me start working hard to become a great idol. I don't care about any of this." He said with a small, bitter smile. "I almost feel bad for letting you down like this-"

          "You love music." I cut him off with that simple assumption.

          Ren's eyes widened just ever so slightly. "What does that have to do with anything?" He asked, my laptop and his saxophone both lying beside one another on his bed.

          "Saying that you don't care about any of this is a lie." I responded easily, leaning a little closer to better get at the blood that managed to trail down his jaw some. "You want to take music seriously and pursue an idol career because you love to sing, I can see it in your eyes. You're a surprisingly honest person, more so than I think you realize." I then giggled a bit. "But you're still holding onto your resentment towards your family's decision in sending you here so you haven't been able to truly sing for you just yet."

          "You sound so sure of yourself, like you've figured me out without even trying."

          "It's apparent to see that you're holding back and I can only assume it's because of your family."

          The orangette sighed, leaning back in the chair some as he allows for me to clean up the dried blood that got smudged on his chin. "Why is it you keep putting up with me?"

          "Because I'm your friend." I repeated from earlier when I was talking with Ryuuya. "We're friends and friends don't leave the other to deal with things on their own."

          "But why try so hard to keep me from dropping out?" Ren then asked.

          I thought for a moment, cleaning up the last of the blood now while trying to make sure his busted lip doesn't start bleeding again. "You love music just as much as Masa and I do so, I want to help you rekindle that love so you can grow as an idol and a person." I murmured as I pulled the washcloth back from his face and offered the blue eyed boy a warm smile. "You're a great person already Ren, and I know you'd be an amazing idol so I'm not going to give up on you just because you don't currently believe in yourself. Just knowing that I believe in you is good enough for me."

          Ren stared at me in silence as I slowly stood up and wandered back over to the bathroom, rinsing out the blood from the washcloth before hanging it up to dry a little bit. I'll have to wash it later to get all the blood stains out, but there's nothing I can do about it right now.

          "___," the orangette spoke up once I was grabbing my laptop and getting ready to leave his hotel room, this being one of the few times he's ever called me by my name, "thank you."

          My heart skipped a beat as an uncontrollable smile worked it's way across my lips just as I was opening the main door. Looking back at the orangette who was looking to me with a faint smile of his own, I couldn't help but to laugh. "Don't thank me. I told you I would be here for you no matter how many times you lashed out at me. Just do me a favor and think over what I said, okay? It doesn't matter how you start as long as you're serious about it now so reconsider taking this whole idol thing seriously. I'm sure Masato would want you to take this seriously as well- oh, and don't forget to ice your lip."

          Closing the door behind myself with a soft click ringing out into the empty hallway, I walked down the hall towards my room, my smile never truly disappearing until long after I had made it to my room and placed my laptop to charge for the evening.

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          heh I told you all I would work that punch into this fanfic somehow and I did.~ (so many regrets to be had but what's done is done so yeet skeet imma go to hell now)

          Question of the Chapter: Do you think what Masato and the protagonist said have finally gotten through to Ren, or do you think he still has a ways to go before he gets past his grudge towards his family and truly starts taking being an idol seriously? I'm curious what all of you lovely peeps think lul

          This chapter was so cuteeeee with Ren at the end oml I'm such trash for sweet Ren and I'm a sucker for an angry Masa so I got the two things I love most from ST☆RISH in one chapter ayyeee the pros to being the author of this fanfic lmao I can lowkey write what I want lul too bad I didn't throw Cesshi into this chapter tho... He would have been funny to work in somewhere but this chapter is already hitting the 5000 word count and I should really not make it any longer than what it's already at x3 (you'll just have to wait for a different chapter to get your next appearance sry cesshi)

          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 ♡

p.s. listening to Ren's song "Give Me True Love" is such a great thing to listen to for the ending section of this chapter oml i love it (oh and listening to Kira's "Dazzling Darling" during Masa and Ren's confrontation is also surprisingly good ngl) also editing with Reiji's "HurrayX2 Dreamers" blasting is the best decision i've ever made