Well, I am back *chuckles awkwardly* I decided to focus on this story and HAYATO's Revenge (if the idea strikes, I might update Sweet Serenade as well) since I don't plan to write them too long. If you still anticipate this story (Digila-san, I am truly sorry!), please expect irregular or seldom updates since my brain is not really nice and yeah, my schedule is also not nice to me either. Sorry for mistakes in terms of grammar, plot, dialogue etc.

CHAPTER 4

The orange eyes met another pair of red eyes. She could not care less with her thumping heart that hit her chest and ears when the most precious person who she missed like crazy every single of her breath was here.

Right in front of her.

Or rather, the past Ittoki Otoya... the past self of her late husband was here, being her knight in shining armor.

"Are you okay?" The sight of the familiar and charming smile was curved in. It was supposed to be his outstanding feature at the moment but being his wife who was left out of the blue due to a certain horrifying tragedy, she could not help but drink in every inch sight of him.

The same red sweater, grey jeans, the bag, the necklace...

She was too happy to talk. His question about her condition was left unanswered even after he was sure that she was standing up straight and released his hold.

No, this feeling was not just happiness. There were a lot of things going on but all she could do was shedding tears. It was spontaneous, flowing from her heart.

"Hey, please don't cry. Does it hurt anywhere?" Otoya anxiously eyeing her figure but could not spot any.

"I... I am sorry," she turned, finally noticing that her response was confusing. She did not even hit the ground so what her turning into a drama queen was what might across as strange for the guards and Otoya.

"Miss, are you sure you're really okay? Did these guys do something to you?" As she was busy wiping her tears, she could spot the slight sarcasm in his voice.

"Watch your mouth, kid," one of the guards sternly remarked to Otoya. "She was the one who was late so she deserved it if we don't allow her..."

"I believe despite her mistake, she doesn't deserve to be pushed like that at all. At least, a gentle reminder will be better," he said with a smile. That was when she turned back to the scene, meeting her concerned eyes right away.

"Do you feel better now? I am Ittoki Otoya. You must be an examinee as well," he said, attempting to shake hands with him.

"I am... Nanami Haruka," she said, returning his chummy gesture with both hands.

How warm, she thought but her hands were faster to react as she let go his hand.

In this past situation where she did not know either it was an illusion, dream, or Cecil's magic, she quickly reminded herself that she was not supposed to get carried away.

"Look. You can see how bad she wants to sit for the exam, right? Yes, she's late but we still have about 30 minutes left before the exam starts."

"No, late is late. Being late proves that she doesn't deserve to be a part of Saotome Academy," one of the guards insisted, eyeing Haruka as if she was a plague.

"It depends on the reason, doesn't it?"

A warm voice interposed, followed by a tall man who was walking his way towards them from his posh car. Handsomely wearing red and white winter top and dark brown pants, Jinguuji Ren joined the scene, smiling at Haruka.

Jinguuji-san, her mind exclaimed. If it was true that she was brought to her past, she desperately hoped that other STARISH members also faced the same situation as her.

Just like Tokiya who personally met Cecil just to ask for the possibility for them to be teleported back to their Saotome Academy days, she believed that all of them would wish the same thing no matter how hard it would be.

"She's late because she helped a lost child," Ren justified. "If I had known she was going to take the entrance exam today, I would have given her a lift."

The two guards stood on their spots wordlessly. Back then, the clueless Haruka did not know what did that mean but it was clear for her now. They were intimidated by Ren's presence due to his famous family background. Even before joining the showbiz, the scion was extremely popular. He had been always in the spotlight, together with his brother who was the CEO of their company.

But whatever Ren blurted out so that Haruka would be allowed to sit for the entrance exam could not find the space in her ears. Instead, her attention was brought back to her late husband who was assisting Ren to convince the guards. From this encounter alone and with how the used to be arrogant Ren ignored Otoya's friendly demeanor, nobody had expected that they would end up being the very close teammates, let alone treating each other like siblings. Ren had always had a soft spot for Otoya given the scion was like a typically cheeky but loving brother while Otoya was his opposite. He was not the youngest member in STARISH but his bubbly and adorable personality won everyone's heart.

The next thing Haruka realized was one of the guards received a call from someone. Everyone's attention brought to him especially with the way he talked and nodded timidly.

As if he was talking to a scary boss...

Come to think of it, she never knew who was the caller and what made her gained an exception so that she could take the exam. Now, she was positive that it was all Saotome's doing but she still could not figure out the reason.

"They made an exception. You can go in," once the words came out from the guards, Haruka and Otoya smiled brightly, immediately looking at each other to share the delight and relief.

"You did it!" Otoya exclaimed.

"Thank you. Thank you so much!" She bowed at him and Ren. "Without you both, I wouldn't make it."

"You've got a way with words," Otoya exclaimed, resting his hand on Ren's shoulder but he was ignored right away. Instead, the scion walked his way to Haruka before holding her shoulders.

Seeing the reaction, it's the same. Maybe this Jinguuji-san doesn't come from the future like me... Well, if Cecil-san really did what Ichinose-san and I asked him to do, she thought.

"Good luck on the exam, Little Lamb. Let's meet in April," he remarked, followed by his signature wink. It was a gesture that would typically bring a disgusted expression from Syo, a disapproving look from Tokiya and a sarcastic 'do you really want someone to stab your eye for real every time you meet Nanami?' remark from Masato.

In April? That's too long for me to meet Otoya-kun again, her heart shrunk in despondency as her mind cruelly reminded her.

But for some reason, she could sense a difference in Ren's gesture. The man was typically hard to read since he was good enough for being vague but thanks to their long-last and close friendship, it felt like Ren's eyes were telling her something.

But, what was it? What was he trying to say? She did not dare to ask since had she just been overdramatic, her question would come across as weird and Ren and Otoya might think she had a screw loose.

She especially did not want to ruin Otoya's first impression of her. She had to if she was going to be close to him.

Which was her current priority had she been meant to stay in this situation and year for a long time.

"Well, let's... let's meet each other often," her determination forced her to voice out what she thought. Realizing that she was focusing more on Otoya which sent the men looked at her in a puzzled way, she instantly added, "I mean... both of you. It's been an honor to meet wonderful people like you both. Let's get along, shall we?"

Her cute remark brought the light but pleasant chuckles from Otoya. He held her shoulder which was this time, she could not help but blush with the platonic gesture.

"Let's get along, Nanami."

It was simple and probably did not mean anything special for the red-haired guy but for Haruka, it was everything.

It was everything since she could hear him saying her name again.

It was everything for her since the remark indirectly allowed her to be someone in Otoya's life rather than just a girl who he happened to save. She knew with his soft-hearted personality, her husband was always prone to help anyone in need.

But, she would make sure that sooner or later, she would be someone who was always there beside him. She wanted to spend more bitter-sweet seconds with him and the last but not least...

She wanted to find clues for her husband's death. Yes, his death took place when he was 26 years old and the fact that she was brought all the way to her 16 years old memory would make things hard since she had to face the training again but Haruka could not care less.

There was a possibility that what happened at Saotome Academy would give the clues for Otoya's tragedy.

And she would stop it before it happened.

It was hard for Haruka to stay focused during the exam session. Unlike her past self who only had one goal in her mind which was she wanted to pass the exam with flying colors, this time, she also wanted to please her eyes with the sight of Otoya who looked a bit confused at times as he was looking at the exam paper. In the hall, his seat was far from her so sometimes, her sight was shielded by some students between them.

I have to focus on the exam first. If I screw up, I cannot see him again, she thought.

Dear God, thank you so much for this wonderful moment and opportunity. I know this is too much but please let me stay here as long as possible.

Yet, she was always reminded of the fact that not all wishes or prayers would come true. If they did, the path for her in order to achieve what she wanted would be way harder or more painful.

Much to her grief, as soon as the exam ended and everyone quickly and noisily made their ways outside of the hall, she could not spot the redhead anywhere. With how a lot of candidates were still around and there were some guys who were also red-haired like Otoya, she found it hard to search for him.

She anxiously made her way towards outside of the hall, running as fast as her legs could carry her while her orange eyes were busily scanning everywhere. Other candidates eyed her like she was a lost deer but that was not her concern.

Her only concern was Otoya. She wished her today encounter did not end in front of the guards. Instead, with the way she was still clueless with how long she was blessed with this opportunity, she wanted to spend time as much as possible with her husband.

"The... the orphanage... He'll go straight to the orphanage for sure," she mumbled. Her heart thumped fast as she came out with the small ray of hope before making her way straight to the orphanage.

Without her knowing, there were two pairs of sad eyes watching her from distance.

"You're sad, aren't you?" One of the men, Ren said, glancing at Masato who immediately looked dagger at him. They were standing at the corridor, trying their best not to make it seemed obvious that they were watching a certain girl since it would catch other candidates' interests. As the public figure due to their high-class family, they would not make something that would worth a gossip.

Especially for Haruka who was obviously running around to find her husband. The scions were thoughtful of Haruka without bothering to care about how other examinees were amazed at how the rivals could stand peacefully next to each other as if they got along perfectly. It was unlike the rumors that told how strained Hijirikawa and Jinguuji family's relationship had always been.

"Just cut the crap, wouldn't you?" Masato warned.

"Well, judging from how you could read what I actually meant instead of asking 'what do you mean, Jinguuji?', I wasn't wrong. You feel sad to see her searching for Ikki everywhere."

Silence filled the air between them as Masato collected his thought. They both already could guess from the very beginning that they were brought from their adult days enough from reading their gestures as soon as they bumped into each other. That was why they both ended up standing on their spots together, carefully, silently...

And sadly observed Haruka and Otoya's situation.

"She is in pain and I can't stand that," Masato said slowly. "But for some reason, she couldn't see me when I greeted her. I wonder why. I don't think she ignored me on purpose."

"Don't worry. It happened to me too. She did look at me with Ikki during our encounter with the guards but after that... it was as if I am invisible in this world."

"At least, Ittoki did see and greet me. It just upset me that I had to react to him according to how I was supposed to at this time, not as his close friend. I wish I could tell him how much we felt lost after he left us."

The saddening fact about Otoya clouded their minds. It was as spontaneous as how Ren blurted out the next set words.

"That makes two of us and it doesn't happen a lot, I tell you," Ren said, his tone turned playful.

"You don't need to remind me of that, you know," Masato's melancholy was soothed right away and he replied it with a smile. He knew it; Ren could not stand depressing moments any longer.

"And you don't need to tell me that I know I don't have to remind you of that," Ren replied, which earned chuckles from them.

The childhood friends might argue a lot for a lot of different reasons but they did find comfort from each other. That was how their friendship had always been.

Meanwhile, Syo already expected that he would encounter the excited Natsuki as soon as they met each other. Natsuki from their adult days was still the same no matter in which year he ended up in which was;

"Syo-channnnnn! Now that we met each other back in this academy, you never change. You're still as cute as ever!" Natsuki exclaimed, hugging the very small Syo not far from the exam hall. He did not even let Syo greet Ren and Masato who were still talking to each other from other corridor and look for others including Haruka.

The sight of Shinomiya Natsuki, the big and bright guy from A Class hugged Kurusu Syo, the cute but tough guy from S Class had been normal among Saotome Academy students but since it was only the first day of everyone's experience walking around the prestige academy ...

"Waaaahh, let me go! Do you have no shame? Everyone is looking at us, you moron!" Syo screamed as loud as his throat and lungs allowed to.

Syo ended up not only physically suffering from being squeezed like a cream squeezer right after the entrance exam. Rather, it was downright humiliating. His face was as red as Otoya's hair. His body was still hanging in the air as Natsuki was still hugging him. He would be more grateful if Natsuki just dropped him on the floor and let him run away from the scene immediately.

"Huh, why would you be concerned about it? I did hug you every day when we were still in school, right? It's normal for everyone."

Out of days, Natsuki always chose this kind of moment to be dumb.

He might just play dumb so that he could embrace Syo as long as he wanted to.

"Are you freaking kidding me!? Today is only the entrance exam. You aren't supposed to expect people to see your craziness as normal!"

"What the heck are they saying?" Other examinees who were more skeptical started to whisper to each other incoherently while there were others who laughed and suddenly became their fans for their 'weird chemistry'.

"The big guy looks creepy."

"But he seems nice and friendly. He's the one who lent me an extra pencil when I lost mine."

"Poor the small guy."

"But I can understand the big guy though. The small one is so cute. His eyes are big. He's totally my type!"

More and more comments came out from people around the childhood friends.

Syo was mentally telling himself that this embarrassing controversy was just a nightmare and he would wake up soon as the adult him.

If he ended up staying here for a long time due to Cecil's magic, he already had his upcoming days as Natsuki's roommate image in his head.

"Waaaah, where is that Cecil when I need him? Even you're currently a cat, at least please save me from this maniac!"

Syo was screaming and pleading no matter how nonsensical it sounded but no one including a certain blue head who just walked past them took pity on him.

It was like Natsuki and Syo were invisible in his eyes.

Which was true. The dark blue-haired man, Tokiya could not see the pairs and neither both of them. Instead, after he received a call from his or HAYATO's manager, Himura, asking where he had been, Tokiya walked as fast as he could. He had to rush to his next schedule no matter how much he hated it.

He already knew what to expect when he asked Cecil for the 'time travel' magic. He would live the exhausting double life again; as Ichinose Tokiya, the student of Saotome Academy and HAYATO; the famous idol with fake smiles.

But for his late best friend, Ittoki Otoya, that was nothing. Finding the man's murderer was everyone's current priority.

Maybe this is the second chance for me to start over and be more caring about you, Otoya. I was too aloof, he thought with a bitter smile. 

He did look for the redhead everywhere during the exam session but to no avail. 

Random thoughts; I do watch Korean dramas sometimes and I can't help but think that Masato and Ren will fit the second lead perfectly for different reasons; Ren for his positive character development and Masato for his loyal and cute personality. Well, I already wrote Masato as the second lead in Beautiful Affection (except this story, he always ended up in one-sided love) while Ren, I am currently writing him as the second lead in Sweet Serenade.

Back to this story, if you have anything to comment on, please don't hesitate to drop it. Hope to see you again as soon as possible :D