CHAPTER 9

As much as Otoya was grateful with how caring his friends were, they might pass as sometimes embarrassing since they made him feeling like too almighty and precious.

Since the day when he was attacked and the culprit was still on the loose, they ended up being protective towards him. Masato and Natsuki as his classmates would accompany him to everywhere even he had to go to the toilet in the midst of the lessons. After school, he gained more freedom if Tokiya was not in their room which happened often since the vocalist was busy as HAYATO. The 'duty' would be replaced by Syo and Ren who always loved to hang out in his room. When Tokiya was around, it was much worse and stricter.

It was expected that the bubbly and thick-skinned Natsuki would not take seriously when some of their cheeky classmates teased the redhead for being guarded 24/7 but Masato's ability to brush them off was unexpectedly better than Natsuki. Instead, every time Otoya asked them not to be too worried, the blue head would say;

"Let me serve you as your friend, classmate and teammate, Ittoki. Then only our peace will be guaranteed."

Strangely enough, his patriotic voice, a hand on his chest and a bright smile from Natsuki could convince him at last. Was Masato possessed all of sudden? You decide.

"Can you guys tell me about Nanami?"

It took just one sentence to draw all eyes with different colours in the field. They were supposed to enjoy their recess peacefully when he suddenly asked about the girl who stole his heart.

And also the others' hearts.

"What?" Syo responded as he made himself busy by munching Masato's rice ball so that he could ignore Natsuki's burnt biscuits as long as possible.

"Why all of sudden, Ikki?" Ren asked, still leaning his sturdy body against the cherry blossom tree.

"It's not really sudden, Ren. I am always curious about her," Otoya said.

"That makes sense," Masato remarked, poking Syo so that he could eat more which was accepted full-heartedly by the pitiful boy. Weeks with Natsuki's life-threatening food made him reminiscing his adult days a lot. They did not live together anymore and he could give the man 1000 excuses not to risk his tongue to taste Natsuki's food.

"What do you want to know about Haru-chan, Otoya-kun?" Natsuki asked, finally giving up to make Syo as his victim.

"About her. Like what do you guys know about her..."

"She is like Elizabeth!" Natsuki exclaimed right away before the others could collect their thoughts about their beloved girl.

Unlike Natsuki who could make himself sound innocent all the time, others were still contemplating.

How could they put their words properly about the girl who they admired all their life without sounding weird for the man who managed to steal her heart?

"Well..." Masato cleared his throat, eyeing Ren who definitely would save this awkward situation with his witty or cheeky words. "Come on. At least, be useful when the situation needs it."

"Okay, then. I'll start," throwing Masato a smirk since the pianist always claimed him useless lazybone, Ren straightened his posture.

Why is it so hard for them to answer it? I thought that they know Nanami well enough. They're always there for her. They know about her pregnancy since she believes in them, Otoya thought.

"For me, Lady is the most amazing girl who I have ever met in my life. Well, she's the only person who I call Lady anyway. That's how special she is to me... I mean everyone," Ren turned to others as he avoided Masato's fiery glare. It was always terrible to have a scary childhood friend like Masato. One careless word and he could say hi to his grave after this.

"Mind you, you also call her with Little Lamb. You can drop the act already, Ren," Syo said who was as catastrophic as Masato. Around them, Ren always felt like he was a mousedeer that would be attacked anytime by two tigers.

"You can call her one too if you drop your tough guy exterior for once, Shorty," Ren replied.

"Don't call me Shorty!"

"Amazing in what way?"

For some reason, Otoya was interested to know more.

"She's passionate and diligent in what she loves. You can tell it from her songs though. It has a lot of love, especially for you," Ren added which caused the redhead lowered his head. Blush quickly spread to his face.

"Well, this is just a suggestion from me, Ittoki. You might have to learn how to conceal what do you feel about Nanami. At this point, everyone can tell that you're in love with Nanami."

The redhead lifted his head, staring at the poker-faced Masato for a few seconds before he shifted his look to others.

Was he that obvious?

"How do you know... I thought I never say it to anyone. Not even to Tokiya."

"You said it using your body," Masato said as malicious as possible.

"On TV," Syo continued with the same tone.

"Publicly," Ren added.

"Wait, wait!" Otoya stood up, screaming at the top of his lungs. Okay, maybe it was too dramatic since it was normal for him to fall in love but to be found out this fast? This was disturbing. "Really? Was I being that obvious?"

"Yes, unfortunately. Mind you, that trait is not good for your future career, Ikki. You won't pass even as an extra at this rate," Ren replied, twirling a rose out of nowhere.

"Oh, my... what should I do? Where is Tokiya when I need him to whine about my life?"

"He's currently working as HAYATO and might be late for most of our gatherings and meetings," Natsuki replied.

At last, apart from where they came from, they had to expose to Otoya that Tokiya was HAYATO. It gained a dramatic response from the redhead, exclaiming that how his roommate might have a dissociative personality disorder for being too different off and on stage before almost got strangled by his roommate. Luckily, others were there to calm him down before and that was another fact about Tokiya that the redhead was forced to learn. The guy was cool as cucumber most of the time but he would go berserk like a bull once his HAYATO persona was made fun of.

"Just a piece of advice. Don't make it obvious though. Whatever Ringo sensei had taught you about acting, this is the best moment to apply it. Just imagine that you talking to a wall every time you encounter Nanami," Syo remarked.

"I see. Thank you for the advice but, wait... Where did it come from? We're supposed to talk about Nanami, right? You guys don't even answer my question properly yet. Is it that hard?"

Little did he know, they did not answer that particular question because they were afraid.

They were afraid that their true feelings would be revealed.

"Which makes me curious. Who do you guys end up with in future? Do any of you guys get married? Perhaps, with any female student from this academy?"

More innocent words struck their hearts. Out of people in this world, Otoya was the person who won the top list.

The list of the people who should not know who each of them loved.

None of them ever realized that when it comes to Haruka, they were all in the same boat.

In unison, the memory of how they ended up together as STARISH lingered in their minds.

All of them... six of them had a share of sweet memories with Haruka for different reasons.

Haruka was oblivious that she would cross paths with these six young men in a way that none of them would forget it in a second. Ren and Masato struggled with their family conflicts and had their share of struggles and rebellion. Haruka was there when they were lost.

Syo and Natsuki were similar.

While Tokiya, his and her paths crossed a lot, much to his annoyance at that time since he did not want anyone to know his double life secret. Haruka's randomness and constant interruption to his life was a nuisance.

Little did he know that he was wrong. It was far from a nuisance. Rather, it introduced him to the meaning of starting over. What did it feel to sing with and for people who were precious to his life and...

Their meeting had introduced him to his first love. He was super oblivious when everyone in STARISH literally predicted that Haruka would pick him as her partner for their graduation assignment. Given she was his big fan of HAYATO, it was bound to happen.

But what took place next promised a plot twist for everyone. No one ever predicted that she would propose that they should form a band, putting aside the rules which had stated that they had to find a partner. She convinced them, stating that there was no way she would choose one of them when each of them had contributed each of the puzzles in her life as Saotome Academy student.

Of course, she should expect from the very beginning that they all processed her suggestion differently. Otoya was the first one who supported her whole-heartedly. They had never thought deeply about why he was so sincere to support her without questioning or rebelling at all. They just thought that it was his personality and nature to be understanding and when it comes to Haruka, he was willing to sacrifice anything for her.

That was how his image worked for everyone all this time.

The next person who agreed on the plan was Syo. He was more relatable since he openly said in front of everyone that he was disappointed to find that he was not the only one who was chosen by the composer but at the end, he decided that he would give it a shot since working with Haruka in either way was still promising to him.

Masato and Natsuki were more hesitant and wanted to take time to make up their mind. It was expected but to face the more sceptical and blunt guys like Ren and Tokiya was harder for the girl.

Ren's words were the harsher version of Syo's.

"I want to be the only one who you picked. There is no way I will graduate in a band."

As for Tokiya, while he might sound much more collected than the former guy, that did not exclude him from being harsh either.

"I refuse. I never heard of such graduation before. Plus, what are you thinking when you came up with things like these?"

"But..."

"Do I have to repeat myself? I don't want to pretend that I am okay with your idea and I believe everyone here has the same thought. They all want to be the only one who you choose."

It was dead silent after the guy spoke his mind. Typically, he did not say much and it seemed like it was not his thing to enjoy talking anyway. But, once he opened his mouth, it caused others to seal theirs.

That was how they knew him. To have Ren and Tokiya in the same room and conflict with them was complicated since both of them were too honest with the fact that they were head-headed and self-centred.

After that, much to Haruka's relief, Natsuki and Masato decided to side her. With five of them, they had tried their hardest to convince Saotome to approve their proposal. The legendary singer still refused and told them off for having the nerve to oppose his rules when suddenly...

Ren and Tokiya sashayed dramatically towards them, saying that they were on their friends' side. After countless begging which led them to sing Maji Love 1000% as the last resort, it was all set. Saotome was pleased.

At that time, nobody ever thought to ask Ren and Tokiya what made them changed their minds. What had they discussed with each other which led them to agree with the band idea. After all, the only thing that mattered the most at that time was STARISH would be born.

It was all thanks to Haruka if they had to speak in general term. Since then, as STARISH had surfaced as a promising idol band, they were all too busy with their works. Too busy and seemingly too immersed to give their best for Haruka's songs. They put aside their feelings since dating was still not allowed among idols and Haruka herself was too dedicated for her music that she did not seem like she had any interest in any of them.

Everybody seemed like they put aside their feelings right after Ittoki and Nanami got married, Masato thought.

It was atypical for the scion to be spaced out on his bed instead of sitting on his tatami and doing calligraphy despite how gloomy he felt inside. Leaning against the headboard and still in his school attire, the only thing that mattered in his head was Otoya's words.

"Can you guys tell me about Nanami?"

"You guys don't even answer my question properly yet. Is it that hard?"

"Which makes me curious. Who do you guys end up with in future? Do any of you guys get married? Perhaps, with any female student from this academy?"

He thought he was the only one. As Otoya pointed it out, he took a glance at everyone.

He might only know them as his teammates but when the bubbliest Natsuki looked like he was more willing to seal his mouth, his guess was proved.

Including him, the rest of them was still in love with the composer. Of course, out of people in the world list, Otoya should not ask it. Given he still knew them less than two months according to his timeline, he could not sense how awkward their all-rainbow atmosphere turned into, thanks to his curiosity.

"I guess I am not the only one who end up having a lot of thoughts in his mind," Ren said, clouding the blue head's mind with his casual comment. Masato turned, only to be served with the sight of his roommate who might just arrive from his girls-pleasing session.

Masato did not answer. He decided that he was too tired to do anything even today's class was not that tough given Cecil's magic still spared his knowledge in his head.

But, still... talking to Ren would give him more headache and extra reason to kill a person.

"You... you're disturbed by how Ikki had asked us that question, right?" Despite he could perfectly read Masato's mood, Ren who was never afraid to die young would still goad the man.

"I am not in the mood to talk."

"I am not wrong, then," Ren said. "I saw how your face looked like when Lady hugged her sweetheart on the entrance ceremony day."

He could see Masato shifted from his spot.

"You are still in love with her, right?"

Masato turned. A glare might be necessary to hint that he was not really in the mood to listen to Ren's craps which seemed to be endless.

"Come on, man. Don't be that serious," Ren said, chuckling despite Masato might kill him with his look. "At this point, with how Ikki was already attacked, you might be misunderstood that you're the attacker you know. It's not like there are other people who were transported like us anyway."

That was it. Masato got up from his bed, shooting his roommate with a dagger look.

"Mind your words. How many times should I say that you're not funny at all?"

Now, Ren's face hardened.

Well, he finally snapped. Might as well touch his nerve more.

"If I am not funny, it means I am right."

"Don't act like you're too innocent either, Jinguuji," he said. It was husky tone that Ren had encountered in a very rare case. No matter how rare it was, it did not mean he anticipated it. Rather, it scared him. "You have a fair share of guilt as well. Just try to be grateful that I am still on your side."

At this rate, the only thing that they had to be grateful was no one ever eavesdropped on their argument at that time.

"Hey, Syo-chan."

"Wh...what?" Suddenly hearing his unpredictable roommate's voice sent Syo to flinch from his couch. As he turned, Natsuki was sitting on his bed while hugging his Piyo-chan pillow.

He should sigh in relief when there was no pink dress or cute costume in Natsuki's hand but no smiles from the big guy was weird.

What was he thinking?

"I was thinking about Otoya-kun's question," Natsuki initiated.

"Oh, you mean the one with what we think about Nanami?"

"Yes," the guy said. "Are we in the same boat?"

"What do you mean?"

Natsuki smiled. He knew what to expect from Syo.

"You do realize that none of us has never say anything about what we feel about Haruka, right? I think the only time when all of us look jealous is when Cecil-kun randomly flirted with Haru-chan, when Tokiya-kun secretly took her to the festival, when Ren-kun..."

"Basically, we all will be jealous once someone makes a move," Syo added as he threw a bitter smile at the guy. "What do you expect us to do then, Natsuki? Killing each other off and whoever wins the stupid competition will get her forever? Nanami might be air-headed but I still respect her and we all know that she's not a trophy for us to put on a shelf."

"No, that's not what I meant, Syo-chan," Natsuki said, swallowing his saliva as he pondered on his next words. "I know Haru-chan will forever be in love with Otoya-kun but unlike we both know each other, we don't really know the others too."

"We just know everything about their works. We always provide support to each other's works but the real reason is... if one of us screw up with our jobs, we won't win Utapri awards, the triple S event..." Syo said. "I never thought that I will talk about this with anyone including you or Nanami but it does make me wonder at times."

"About... do we really care about each other? Do we really know each other too well to the point of we can read each other's mind just like how Masato-kun and Ren-kun do to each other all the time?"

As they were more open to say their thoughts out loud, they could feel the chill flowed to their veins.

"I know you, Natsuki. You won't do such a thing. Ren and Masato might know each other too so if anything suspicious, someone will be revealed in no time but..."

Instantly, even without notifying each other, their minds were clouded with the only person who did not have any childhood friend in STARISH.

Haruka was strolling along the corridor after long hours of study in the library. Even she did not have to face the struggle to come up with songs given she could reuse all the songs that she had composed before, she used this chance as a student.

Reading music books, writing more songs for future use, preparing bento for Otoya and sometimes shopping with Tomochika.

It was for as long as she could. No one would know what the future would hold for her once her destiny changed drastically. Her pregnancy in this timeline was shocking and she started to feel the side effects.

A few female students had pointed out how she gained weight easily in these past months and how most of the time she looked pale despite Tomochika's make-up. She could give excuses like she had a health issue but she never believed that it would last long.

You don't have to worry, honey. Mommy will keep and protect you. Please be understanding that if one day, Mommy will keep you away from Daddy.

"Nanami-san?"

She lifted her head, only noticing that she was staring at her stomach while smiling bitterly like lost child. Luckily, it was just Tokiya who was one of the people who knew her secret.

"Ichinose-san, it's been a while," she said, eyes sized up brightly to see Tokiya who was in his casual clothes. He looked tired; something that was bound to happen when he had to juggle two commitments once again. She could not imagine how hard it must be for the guy. "Did you just come back from..."

"Yeah, HAYATO's works," he said huskily. "I didn't attend school for four days already. Is everything okay with you and Otoya?"

"Ah, well we..." she lowered her head, blush quickly dusted her cheeks.

Unbeknown to her, as much as she looked so pretty in Tokiya's eyes with the red cheeks, he hated the reason why she felt such a thing in the first place.

He had grown to hate it.

"I see. It must be a good news. You have never smiled like that for as long as I could remember," he said, startling her. "It makes me worried."

"I am sorry, Ichinose-san. I don't have words to describe how much I love to be where I am right now. I'll trade with anything just to be with him," she said. "Lately, Otoya-kun has been so caring and protective towards me. I know. He is concerned about the baby but... One day, he just came and held my hand and said he will take care of me."

He forced a smile.

"That's good to hear."

Receiving the encouraging response, she kept rambling on about Otoya who the tired Tokiya would meet anyway in his room which earning her a series of short replies.

"I am sorry for babbling, Ichinose-san. Normally, I will say things like these with Tomo-chan but I can't help it when I see you."

"It's okay."

After a short goodbye which was followed by Haruka strolling along the corridor before completely leaving his sight, Tokiya was glued on his spot like a statue in the middle of the lonely corridor.

He threw an insanely long look at her direction before someone softly held his shoulder.

"Yo, Icchi..." the raspy voice with the skin-crawling nickname hit his ears, sending his already terrible mood to hit its worst level. "Long time no see."

"Yeah," he said, weakly who did not bother to show the scion how he was jaded to prolong empty conversation. He turned his heels, making his way to the boys' dorm.

"Do you really have to be that busy all the time? If you keep disappearing like this, who knows what might happen to Ikki. He will be attacked in no time," Ren remarked.

The scion received no answer from the guy.

"I guess you're more upset with the fact that her attention is no longer on you, right?"

The words managed to make Tokiya stopped walking.

"Her eyes didn't shine at all when she saw you, unlike how she was in the original timeline. You guys bumped into each other a lot, just like in the original timeline but she no longer had the interest to ask how are you doing and such. You're more upset with that, right?"

Silence passed before Tokiya turned to face him.

It was the devilish smirk that had caught Ren off guard.

Cecil was still stuck in his timeline and it drove him insane.

Two days passed since he knew something unexpected from the cops. Even the false testimonies from his friends did not directly hint that they would be the culprits but...

Why would they lie if it would complicate Otoya's death investigation?

A normal friend would give their best so that Otoya would get his justice.

But these so-called friends... their lies were frustrating and aggravating. They did not want anyone to know who was the murderer. They might protect someone, each other or...

Themselves.

Cecil might be childish and random all the time. That was his personality traits after all. He was not as thoughtful and mild as Natsuki. He was not as tough as Syo. He was not as calm and collected like Tokiya and Masato. He was no way as sharp as Ren but...

Recalling his friends' quotes about Haruka which he found beautiful and sincere had suddenly become parts of the most disturbing things in the world.

"Why don't you tell her that you love her?"

"Being connected to her through her music is enough."

"I'll wait for her to be mature enough. Then only I'll confess to her. I can't wait to kiss her too."

"Even the princesses in fairy tale can't surpass her. She's so amazing and cute."

Otoya and Haruka were in danger. Two days passed and that was what he could think of.

All this time, Saotome had promoted them as a group which only sang about pure love, friendship, their passion deliver happiness to their fans and many more. More daring concept would be given to QUARTET NIGHT the spot.

But maybe what really happened... what they all really felt when it comes to Haruka...

Was not that pure. There was something poisoned among them.

He had to go to the past as well. He needed to protect Otoya and Haruka.

That was all he needed. That was all he wished. 

Please pray that I'll have the energy, time and idea to complete this story as soon as possible. I myself can't wait either :D As usual, feel free to drop a comment.