Author's Note: Just a thanks to all my readers for the love and support. Please stick with me even as you begin to find out how slow I update. I hope to finish this series with a bang! I wanted to put some angst into this chapter, which is part one of a two-part story. Warnings of Ren bashing ahead.

H for Haughty: arrogantly superior or disdainful.

Words: 2330

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Haruka's always been a particularly optimistic person; she wasn't known for staying depressed. However, in her dark room, with the shades drawn and cold evening air slipping in, it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep from collapsing onto her bed and sinking into the pitch black abyss of emptiness.

It wouldn't be a good idea in any sense, as she was still dressed in her red sequined party dress and heels, with a full face of makeup. If she ended up crying herself to sleep, her face and pillow would be a mess. Brewing within her, Haruka could feel the occasional twinge of fury. That in itself made it hard to fall asleep.

Unconsciously, her mind flashed back the scene she was sure she wasn't suppose to witness, yet still had every right to know about, though she probably would have been blissfully ignorant.

She'd gone off in search for Saotome to give him the new songs he'd wanted the day before. Haruka was sure she'd only been gone for no more than five minutes but that was apparently enough time for Ren to find another partner to "mingle" with. As in, passionately flirting.

So she stood there, dolled up head to toe for him, wearing the skimpy red dress that she knew he liked, waiting in vain for him to notice her over his new date.

She felt empty, her chest hollow, yet constricting countless amount of times. Haruka was having trouble swallowing, her throat closing up as her eyes welled in tears. Her fruitless attempts to blink away her tears drew the attention of the idols and composers around her.

Eventually, Ren remained the only one that hadn't noticed her; even the blonde flirt he was with had realized why the room, previously bustling with noise, had become hushed.

The most renowned composer in Saotome Academy was standing before her supposedly loyal boyfriend, whose arms had slackened around the blonde at the whispers and glares being thrown at him.

Confused as to why he was the center of the sudden hate, Ren glanced around, his expression growing from confusion to frustration to anxiety. He'd finally seen Haruka who was silently sobbing now her fists clenched at her sides, head down, her fiery auburn hair covering her face. But it was now plenty obvious to everyone, even those who couldn't see her that she was crying, and the hushed whispers had grown to harsh accusations directed at the cheating couple.

When Ren called to Haruka, the broken composer rushed out the doorway, wrangling out one more sob before disappearing into the female dorms.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Otoya broke through the crowd and followed after Haruka, throwing Ren a hasty, but fierce glare. Following suit, the other five members of STARISH trailed along, this time not sparing Ren and his blonde friend a glance.

Even after the majority of the hosts of the party left, the hushed insults didn't cease. Squirming under the heated gazes of the audience, the blonde girl feigned innocence, finally speaking.

"You had a girlfriend?!" She spat in her high voice. She made a show to spin on her heel and walked out as if triumphant.

Ren growled, and sighed in exasperation, running a hand through his groomed hair. Looking back up at the people whispering, he threw them a challenging glare as if daring them to speak up against him. This silenced them as they watched Ren walk out.

The uncomfortable tension stretched on for what seemed like forever until Saotome boomed in the quiet room, "The party must go on!"

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Otoya paced outside Haruka's room in the female dorm. He wasn't even allowed in the female dorm- he sighed thinking of ways to approach Haruka who he was sure was brooding in bed. He couldn't beat around the bush much longer; he's been loitering outside her room for several minutes now. Any longer and it'd look suspicious.

Running his hand through his flaming red ruffled hair, Otoya took one last calming breath before entering what he would soon recognize as the calm before the storm. He promptly knocked on the door before he could chicken out.

"Haruka, you alright in there? It's Otoya, can I come in?"

There was the sound of shuffling on the carpet, and then clicks of high heels as she approached the door.

She's still wearing the heels? Did she even change?

Otoya was spared that one last concern before any and all coherent thought left him.

He had prepared himself for Haruka's appearance, but her smudged makeup, mussed hair and wrinkled red dress looked so....enticing. Otoya knew; he was so deep in the friend-zone that there was no return, and that having such fantasies of his closest female friend was taboo. But his male conscience couldn't help but lust after Haruka, who had a gentle, subtle, soft beauty. And in that low cut, short, tight, red sequined dress? Killer.

He found that it was suddenly very hard to walk even as a saddened Haruka opened the door and stepped aside to let Otoya in.

In her room, Otoya found that her closet door was agape, dresses seeping out, looking as if they were jammed in, her vanity table was covered in a mess of cosmetics, and her bathroom door was open to present the clutters of miscellaneous items lying around everywhere.

Otoya sighed. He knew that the mayhem that occurred in her room was because she wanted so desperately to impress Ren. Evidently, it didn't work too well after all.

Otoya sidestepped a pile of mismatched shoes and gingerly took a seat on the corner of Haruka's bed. He watched as the sullen composer shut the door gently behind her, her head still hung down as if embarrassed to look at Otoya.

"Hey," he began. "It's okay. C'mon, look at me." He didn't know why he was whispering, but it seemed like a hushed conversation was appropriate in this situation as not to scare Haruka away from consulting in him.

Haruka slowly lifted her head, and Otoya got a closer look at her. Her mascara was obviously runny from tears, it was smeared down her eyes like a curtain of black. Her red lipstick was smudged as if rubbed off, and her eyes were red and puffy from crying. She looked so miserable.

Otoya frowned, his eyebrows furrowing together.

"Why do you let him get to you so much? Look at you. You're miserable. He's not worth it, Haru." Otoya told her.

He knew just as well as anyone else in Saotome Academy that Ren and Haruka were the star couple, and that Haruka was the endearing type. Otoya didn't know exactly when, but Ren had started to sigh in exasperation, avoid being with Haruka as often as possible, and had even shook off his habit of public display of affection that he'd refined before dating Haruka. No one had the heart to tell Haruka.

Haruka's bottom lip began quivering, and Otoya watched as Haruka's eyes began to water.

"Oh-oh geez. Don't cry. I can't-I don't know-" Otoya's incoherent stutters were cut off as Haruka rushed forward to wrap her arms around him, burying her head in the nook of his shoulder.

"Oh, okay." Otoya couldn't help but feel protective of her as she sobbed in his shoulder, gradually rising in volume.

He placed his hand on the small of her back and pushed so that she was seated on his lap and moved to embrace her.

"Shh, shh. Let it out," Otoya hushed soothingly.

"W-Was R-Ren always seeing girls be-behind my ba-ack?" Haruka managed to get out with a fit of hiccups.

Otoya's eyes widened. He knew for a fact Ren had always had a line of girls waiting for him when and if he got bored of Haruka, but that would be the single worst thing to say to her at the moment.

"No, of course not."

Haruka's soft sobs halted for a second as she let out a "Liar."

She lifted her head from Otoya's shoulder, and, still not looking at him, faced his chest while she said, "I know he has a supply of girls because he thinks I'm annoying. I knew but I-I still-" Haruka broke off once again to hold in her cries.

Otoya grimaced. How long had she known of Ren's disloyal tendencies?

"Why have you put up with him for so long?"

Otoya was genuinely confused and frustrated. Ren was his friend, but he was such an insufferable git sometimes that he wondered what got into him the moment he befriended Ren.

By this point, Haruka's sobbing had reduced to whimpers and hiccups. She was still gripping Otoya's now damp, white collared shirt as if afraid he'd leave too.

"I-I had wanted t-to date him for s-so long, and I di-didn't want to leave him." She took a deep shuddering breath.

I was lying t-to myself. Maybe he really was in love w-with me, but I knew he wasn't. Never sh-showed it," Otoya was going to tell her there were far better men than Ren, but he realized as Haruka began to rant she forgot her depression and stopped hiccuping.

"Maybe it was for the best, because I would never really leave him if I hadn't seen for mys-self."

Otoya nodded despite himself.

"Men aren't dogs after all," he said, earning him a confused look from Haruka. "Dogs are loyal." He finished.

Haruka laughed, husky and rough because of the crying, but it was a laugh nonetheless, and Otoya was proud of that accomplishment.

"Aren't you a man too?" She choked out among her giggling.

Yes, I am. Which is why this is a really bad position for me right now.

Instead, Otoya said jokingly, "That's irrelevant right now."

Haruka laughed again and buried her head in his shoulder. For a second, Otoya thought she was crying again, but then, he could feel her smile through his shirt, so he grinned, and patted her head. She pulled him tighter against her as she burrowed her head further into the nook, and Otoya's eyes widened.

There weren't exactly many layers separating him and her, and it was becoming increasingly hard for him not to have fantasies. And the kind of fantasies he was having wouldn't be for the best, especially when she was seated on his lap. She'd probably notice things that shouldn't be noticed.

"So-" He cleared his throat. It had come out a bit too wrangled and husky for his liking.

"So, are you going to break up with him?"

She contemplated for a moment, pondering her choices. Seeing her hesitate, Otoya threw Haruka a warning glance. She laughed.

"I don't know, I still have to work with him for another year, so tension isn't good."

Otoya nodded, feeling assured that Haruka wasn't going to go back to a whor-horrible person like him. Yeah. Horrible.

Haruka sniffled, and took a deep breath that was wracked by shudders. Her intense crying had exhausted her, and her body felt heavy and her swollen eyes couldn't stay open anymore.

Otoya seemingly sensed her weariness and made a move to get her off him and onto her bed. Besides, any longer with her straddling him would result in some pretty interesting results.

"Haru, hey. You wanna sleep?"

Haruka nodded slowly, her head down.

"You're okay now?" She nodded again.

"Okay, if you're sure." Otoya relented, gathering his wits, forcing down what needed to be forced down, and left the dorm room, glancing at the slumbering Haruka once more before shutting the door behind him gently.

Hearing the door click shut, Haruka opened her eyes, peering to make sure her facade hadn't been in vain. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and sighed deeply, attempting to push all her problems into that gust of air. She ran a hand through her hair and down her face, no doubt ruining her hair and makeup further.

She hated to deceive a friend, especially Otoya; he'd been so understanding and guilt wracked her for a moment, but she convinced herself that she wasn't exactly lying if she really was exhausted.

Haruka just needed a moment to herself, and despite how great it was to be wrapped in the comforting arms of her friend, it wasn't fair to dampen his bright mood with her gloomy one.

She was feeling so many indescribable emotions, some fleeted pass, others lingered and forced waves of anger, betrayal and depression over her. Her heart was in danger of imploding because of the painful contractions that clenched her chest until she was breathless.

Who did Ren think he was? He's not better than everyone else, he can't mess around, that little heart-breaker.

Haruka stopped herself before her inner rantings got out of hand. It wasn't like her to be so...angry. She knew it was expected of her to be forgiving, but witnessing shameless, public cheating changed a girl. Haruka just hoped she wasn't that girl.

She didn't want to change, not because of him. Not because of Ren, that arrogant jerk. No, not arrogant....it was something else....Masato had spat it at Ren for winking at the hostess of their holiday concert...

Haughty.

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Author's note: I tried, but I think Haruka ended up out-of-character anyways. This is gonna be a really long one, and considering it's only part one, y'all are probablyv gonna get bored. Hope not.

Please vote~ Thanks bunches.