Upon receiving Ren’s text of approval from their sempais, the rest of Starish regrouped as followed: Natsuki, Tokiya, Masato, and Syo, Cecil. Obviously the small blonde wasn’t amused having Cecil as a pair – it was bad enough that he took the prince’s form – but Syo had no choice, thanks to Tokiya and Masato’s logic.

Also, he couldn’t take the sight of Natsuki hugging his person any longer. It was a whole new level of weird for Syo.

With a sigh, the blonde closed his eyes and plopped down the bed. He was stressed out by the situation. In addition, he had to do ALL of Cecil’s work (which were pretty easy by the way – everything’s just too foreign for Cecil).

‘I hope everything goes back to normal soon.’ Syo thought. He missed his person and everything about him especially his ability to look damn great in a fedora.

Okay and he kind of missed staying in the same room as Natsuki and Ai even though those two were, more often than not, the cause of his stomach-wise or schedule-wise suffering.

“Oi Cecil,” the munchkin began without opening his eyes. “Can’t you do anything to turn us back to normal? Y’know, like do that weird circle dance or something.”

Syo expected the younger to spout stuff about the muses and all, but no reply came. Curious as to what made his companion silent, Syo got up and approached the study table where Cecil was.

‘Oh.’ He thought as he caught a glimpse of the prince’s sleeping form. ‘He fell asleep from looking at magazines? Geez.’

The violinist decided to head to a practice room but not before draping a blanket over the peacefully snoozing prince.

~

Elsewhere, Natsuki, Masato, and Tokiya were huddled in a secluded corner of the library. They wanted to use either Natsuki’s or Tokiya’s room, but their sempais were there and they seemed to be acting even stranger. The trio decided that perhaps the library could be the best place for them.

“You think he choked him?” Masato asked, referring to Syo and Cecil.

“Nah. I don’t think so.” Tokiya replied.

Apparently, the trio’s getting-to-know-you-better/how-to-be-like-you activity composed of them reading a book of their own liking. Masato was reading a history book, Tokiya was engulfed in some novel, and Natsuki was happily viewing the contents of a cookbook. They weren’t sure how this was supposed to help, but boy were they relaxed!

“Syo-chan’s too cute to do something like that!” Natsuki chimed in. “He wouldn’t do such a thing!”

“Shinomiya-san, why do you keep calling Kurusu ‘cute’? Doesn’t he dislike that kind of description?” Masato asked without looking at the other. Eye contact would only make Natsuki want to hug him and not in a comfortable way either.

“Eh? But it’s only true!” Natsuki insisted.

“He detests being called cute and other words similar to that.” Tokiya bluntly stated as he flipped to the next page of the novel. It was a universal fact that Syo’s of a….smaller stature compared to the rest of them but he was nevertheless a man, and those kinds of comments could pretty much eat up his pride and dignity.

“I’m only saying what’s real. Why does everyone keep on dodging the truth?”

It was an innocent question raised by Natsuki. It wasn’t his intention to pull any heartstrings but apparently he did, for Tokiya and Masato became quieter than usual and the atmosphere became tense (not that the happy-go-lucky blonde knew the meaning). The most rational members of Starish were drowned in their own thoughts, completely unaware of Natsuki’s ramblings.

Masato was thinking about Ren. Of all human beings, he thought about his rival/annoying roommate. He reminisced the days where they were younger and were pretty close for polar opposites. Those days were gone now and he thought of the saxophonist as nothing more than a pain in the ass. He disliked Ren’s womanizer charm AND his lazy attitude AND his lack of motivation in music, but most of all, he loathed how free the other was yet couldn’t appreciate such liberty. Masato was repelled by, yet at the same time, drawn to Ren. It’s as if the other’s foolish behaviour caught his attention and the blunette had the need to babysit someone close to his age.  It was annoying, but what annoyed him even more was that he found himself worried about his rival. Why the hell does he give a damn about someone he was supposed to hate? Answer: he cared for Ren. He always did. Heck, he cared a lot for the saxophonist to the point where he’d take a bullet for him. Truth was, Ren’s a person precious to Masato – not that the pianist would ever admit it out loud (face it: Masato’s so not the type to do that).

Tokiya was thinking about his days before the master course. Being the perfectionist he had always been, the dark-haired idol passed everything with flying colors, jets, and fireworks. He did his assignments precisely and neatly. He almost always succeeded in any kind of work so it served as a big shock when Hyuuga-sensei told him that his singing had no heart. Tokiya was extremely frustrated in trying to give emotion to his music. He pondered what was missing and he came to a realization: he lost his passion for singing. He thought he would never sing as brilliantly as before until he met Otoya. At first, Tokiya thought that the boy’s singing needed a lot of improvement and had a long way to go before reaching his level, yet for some strange reason the idol was drawn to the redhead. He couldn’t explain why he was fascinated by someone so mediocre but then it hit him: Otoya sang with heart. Unlike him, the redhead sang with all he had that he could attract anyone in. Tokiya envied his roommate to the extent of even disliking the little things that he did but alas! The odds were against him for as time passed, the cheerful teen melted the cold walls of his heart.

“Tokiya you’re smiling!” Natsuki exclaimed which snapped the thinking duo out of their thoughts. “Ne, what were you thinking about? Why’d you smile so suddenly?”

“It’s good for the heart.” Tokiya responded, sounding out of character for a moment since he was unsure of what to say.

“That’s something Otoya would say.” Masato commented with a slight smile.

Now Tokiya couldn’t help but chuckle. Perhaps his roommate’s sunny demeanour had gotten to him already.

“Yeah that’s something he would definitely say.”

“Otoya-kun’s quite the sunshine no? I wish Syo-chan was like that more.” Natsuki whined.

Masato sighed discreetly. What Natsuki didn’t know was that Syo was really grateful to have him as his friend. Sure the taller blonde was annoying as hell – and sometimes he was hell – but Syo wouldn’t ask for a better bestfriend than the one he already has. Masato knew this because he and the shortest member of the group were pretty close. At times he was deprived of food (which would be almost every day), Syo would go to Masato’s room and the blunette would cook him dinner. While waiting, the younger would pour his heart out and complain about his Piyo-loving roommate but,

‘But he's the friend I could count on. Ah, not that I don’t depend on you Masato. If it weren’t for you, I’d be a goner!’ Syo exclaimed with a smile. ‘Anyway, I’m grateful for Natsuki. He’s a klutz but he’s the most supportive person I know. He’d go out of his way just to cheer me on, even if he sometimes does it in the most annoying sense possible.’

“I’m sure Kurusu thinks of you as his very good friend.” Said Masato and half-regretted those words as Natsuki gave him his (in)famous death hug. Unable to take such physical contact, the pianist blushed furiously while failing to pry his person off him.

“I’m glad to hear that! Syo-chan is very dear to me!” Natsuki exclaimed happily.

“Natsuki, are you trying to rob anyone?” Tokiya asked from out of the blue.

Bewildered, Natsuki replied “Huh? Why would I do that?”

“Well, you are certainly robbing Masato AND Syo of oxygen.” The perfectionist pointed out.

As if it was just now that he realized his action, Natsuki let go of the almost air-deprived Masato.

“Thank you…” the pianist muttered as he straightened out his attire.

“Ne, gomen Masa-chan!” Natsuki apologized. “Hmmm…I know! I’ll bake some cookies for you as an apology!”

Upon hearing those earth-shattering, stomach massacre words, the blunettes immediately took action.

“Actually, why don’t I teach you some new recipes? It’s really good and I’m sure Kurusu will appreciate it more.” Masato exclaimed, saving the day for himself and everyone else.

“R-Really? If it’s not much trouble….then ok! Thanks so much Masa-chan! I can’t wait!” Natsuki cheered.

“Yes yes, but you have to follow the exact ingredients. No add-ons whatsoever.” Tokiya said sternly. “Am I understood?”

“Yes sir~!”

With smiles of joy and relief, the trio walked out of the library as closer individuals.

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OMG! Hello my dear readers! I miss you so much and I miss this site as well! Haha...well, chapter 7 is finally out, after what I find a VERY long time :) They're not too out of character right? Hehe...I had to admit that I started tearing up while typing Tokiya's and Masato's thoughts. Haha what's wrong with me I need help x(

BTW shout-out to the peeps who commented/voted/added-to-library my other story, Angel Face. Thank you sooooo much you guys!

(I couldn't remember all of you but THANK YOU SO MUCH!)

I apologize for the late replies for some of you guys AND for the very late update. I applaud you for your patience.

I will do my best to update this fanfic! Until the next chap! (I'll be watching Free! for the meantime. Haha.)

PS: Are you ready for Season 3~?