Thank you for the votes, guys! ^^

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN UTA NO PRINCE SAMA. I just own the plot.

CHAPTER 14

"Did... Did you just say... Masato..."

Their eyes widened in fright and guilt as soon as they saw how despondent Tokiya was now (they still could not contain their shock from seeing him being this disheveled either). The vocalist eyed each of them in extreme anxiety, hoping that it was just a sick joke but none of them looked at him straight into his eyes. Superficially, they seemingly did not have the mettle to explain further about Masato's car crash to Tokiya but in reality...

Ren who stood the closest to the stairway was secretly signaling Masato to cut the crap and revealed himself before Tokiya went out of his mind again. Once was enough and as much as he loved to see Tokiya's reaction when he got ribbed, Ren was not that callous to see his friend cried again because...

For goodness sake, Hijirikawa, this is a bad idea! This dude is this close to bawl his eyes out again so please, come here and cut it out already! The ladies' man mentally said when he did not see any sign of Masato appeared from downstairs. He started to feel rueful to agree on Masato's dramatic idea.

"You guys will tell him that I was in a car crash while I was on the way here. Please make it sound like I am in critical condition and what not so that he will cry. Why should we make him cry, you ask? It's because when he knows it's only a prank, he will be embarrassed and more expressive. It will be easier for me to comfort him too."

But, I still think this prank is cruel, though... Poor Tokiya-kun. I can't stand to see him crying like this, Natsuki thought. The big guy tried to form a telepathic communication with Kazuki, asking what should they do next since they did not expect to see Tokiya breaking down this soon but Tokiya's father just avoided his eyes, implying that he did not know either.

Meanwhile, Syo looked the 'worst' out of them. His tears quickly streamed down his face as he had been targeted by Tokiya to answer him. His reaction was enough to fulfill the dramatic demand in this setting but just like others, he mentally prayed so that Masato would stop pulling such a terrible prank on his own friend.

"Ne, Syo. Tell me. Masato is alright, right? He was fine, right?" Tokiya grabbed Syo's shoulders while staring at him straight into his eyes.

"Oi, guys. Help me..." Syo winced as Tokiya's long fingers sank deeper into his muscle.

"He's not, Tokiya-kun. He's in the hospital right now," Natsuki confirmed, secretly eyeing Ren to save this situation.

"No, it can't be..."

All of sudden, the so-called victim of a car crash, Masato slowly climbed the stairs with an annoyingly amused face.

"At last, we can hear your voice, muttering about things besides 'I am sorry, Otoya,'" he said, much to Tokiya's shock. His hands slowly dropped from Syo's shoulders, much to the small boy's relief.

Tokiya gazed at his very healthy best friend out of confusion. He saw how contrite the way the other four looked at him and that was when he could put two and two together. If his emotion was stable enough, he would snap right away like the usual him but his tired eyes just blinked at what happened. The next thing he did was he dragged his dog-tired body into his room, attempting to isolate himself again.

But Masato knew him well enough to predict what would he do so he was quicker to stop Tokiya from being melancholic by himself again. He forced the door open before shutting it right in front of others' faces.

"Oi, that's so rude! Wait, he even locked the door!? " Syo exploded as he pounded on the door aggressively. They came to visit Tokiya but this was how Masato going to treat them?

"He ignored us just like that!? Oi, Hijirikawa! Let us see Tokiya too!"

"Let him be, Ochibi-chan. After all, what he did is right," Ren added, patting Syo's shoulder.

"What do you mean?"

"It seemed Masato-kun doesn't want Tokiya-kun to get more scared since there are a few of us here. In this kind of state, Tokiya-kun knows everybody blamed him for Otoya-kun's death so Masato-kun just wants to protect him," Natsuki's supplied.

"Oh, I see..." Syo felt embarrassed for not being able to control his temper so he turned to Kazuki to apologize. "I apologized for the rudeness, ojisan. I just felt frustrated because I also want to see Tokiya."

"Nah, it's okay," being a cool dad as he was, Kazuki understood Syo perfectly. "Besides, we still can peep on them, right?" He showed the spare key that he took out from his pocket.

They shifted gazes at each other before grinning triumphantly.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom, as soon as Masato closed the door, Tokiya quickly made his way to his bed, sitting there silently without even glancing at his best friend. He felt so embarrassed to be that credulous but he felt more than embarrassed to cry dramatically like just now.

But, he could not help it. There was no way he wanted to lose Masato as well after breaking down because of Otoya.

"Man, look at this mess," Masato started nagging as soon as his eyes wandered around the room. "Do you really want to stay in this kind of room, Tokiya? How come a clean freak like you even stands this kind of mess?"

Expectedly, Tokiya did not respond but Masato could see that Tokiya was quivering and hoping that he would leave him as soon as possible.

Everyone looked so scary to him.

"Are you afraid of me, Tokiya?" Masato could see that the blue head recoiled as soon as he asked. "But you still care enough about me to the point of you cried like a girl, right?"

At this rate, he missed Tokiya's temper and glare every time Masato did something that he disapproved. Yet, the blue head still zipped his mouth while his eyes stared at particularly nowhere.

"I am sorry for the prank but I have no choices. It feels tough for me if you stay silent because you know, when you cry in front of me, you tend to vent everything on me and I can know what you have in your mind."

Still...

"Come on, Tokiya. Please say something. This is really awkward. You had always been loud and annoying when I was around," he playfully encouraged Tokiya to open up while holding his shoulder but the blue head just sat there, still quivering.

He is scared, apparently, Masato thought as he took a seat just behind Tokiya.

"If you are afraid of me, it's okay. I will just stay here but please, listen to me. Only once and after that, I will leave you. I just want you to hear me out. Please, Tokiya..."

Receiving no responses from the vocalist which was absolutely predictable, Masato continued with his ramblings.

"To be honest, it feels lonely without you guys, Tokiya," he formed a sad smile, recalled the moment where his morning was so dull and quiet without Tokiya and Otoya's squabbles. "Maybe it's because I was so used to have you and Otoya around since we were small so I feel adrift when we lost Otoya and now... You didn't even want to go to school anymore."

Tokiya just stared blankly at the window but Masato already mustered up his courage to not give up easily.

"Hey, do you remember when we were seven-year-olds, you always hugged and protected me when I got bullied by those cheeky kids? At that time, I seriously thought that you were Superman, you know. I don't know if you really wanted to imitate Superman at that time since every time I reminded you of those heroic and cheesy lines that you said to the bullies, you would cringe and tell me to scram. Nevertheless, your timing was always right to save me. Just like Otoya, instead of choosing those popular superheroes as my idol, I bragged about you in my class. I told everyone that you're like my brother but at that time I never realized that we are the same age. That was embarrassing, right? Sorry for scolding you every time you habitually stroked my head. I know you still see me as that short little brother but I would cringe at how naïve I was back then."

"Do you remember when you destroyed all those flowers from otousan's Ikebana class because you wanted to rebel against him? You told otosan that I couldn't cope with his strictness. You admitted that you were the one who would sneak me out so that I could go to the annual festival when Otoya was the one who insisted to ask me to join you guys. When otousan hit you, you still took the blame by yourself. You know what? At that night, Otoya called me while crying. He said that you shouldn't be punished when he was the one who wanted me to follow you guys to the festival. Actually, there were so many occasions that made Otoya and me thought that you were so protective towards us and we were so indebted for that."

"And do you remember when I grew the tallest out of us three? Otoya pouted at how he ended up as the shortest one while you complained that it felt awkward to stroke my hair anymore. But still, you said that you were happy because I could grow this tall," Masato let out a chuckle even the sadness slowly tried to overwhelm him. "You don't know how much I miss all of those things, oni-chan."

Masato could hear a husky gasp from Tokiya. His head locked down as his shoulders visibly trembled with the thought of somebody that he missed so much.

"Otoya..." He mumbled with tears streamed down his face and Masato knew why.

'Oni-chan' was Otoya's favorite name. Otoya really wanted to address Tokiya as the name but he never acknowledged it the moment he hated the redhead for being the reason for his mother's death.

Masato slowly pulled a chair before sitting in front of Tokiya.

"Hey, easy, easy," he hesitantly rubbed Tokiya's shoulder and when the blue head did not refuse the touch, he continued, "I bet Otoya doesn't like to see you crying like this. He said to me that he wanted to see you smile every day, Tokiya."

Tokiya just shook his head in despair as another set of tears dropped into his laps.

"Are you still scared? I mean... Of everyone including me?" Masato asked carefully. He did not expect a verbal reply because the way Tokiya shuddered was enough for him.

"Don't worry, Tokiya. I never thought for one second that you are a murderer," he held the crazily trembling arm firmly. "Please... If you have more things to say, just whine to me like you always do. You don't need to endure everything by yourself, Tokiya. That's not only painful to you but to your father, your friends."

"Please..."

"Hm?" Masato's eyes brightened up before another set of words hit him hard.

"Please leave me alone."

"What?"

Tokiya slowly looked into his eyes before removing Masato's hand from his arm. "I think... This is more than enough, Masato. You are supposed to practice for your debut. What are you doing here every day, coaxing me to eat and what not?"

"It's because you are not there. How am I supposed to practice when we promised that we will debut together?"

"A promise can be broke for your own sake, Masato. It's not like... We have a written agreement or something," Tokiya forced a chuckle. "At this point, you should think about yourself. Being an idol is your long-time dream, right? You can do it by yourself if you try harder."

"But, Tokiya..."

"I know. It'll be tough at first. I know that feeling when you steered clear of me like Otoya required. It felt weird to not have you around but somehow I could cope with it. I am sure you can do it too, Masato. You just need the willpower to do that. You should have a brighter life with nicer friends. Someone troublesome like me doesn't even deserve to be your friend."

"No, you are not, Tokiya..."

"I am sorry for causing so much trouble to you, Masato. I ignored your advice and I was mad at you for making Otoya be close to me again. In the end, because of my immaturity, I ended up killing him."

"No, Tokiya. You didn't kill him. It was Shibuya who killed him. Don't take the blame by yourself. Otoya doesn't want this."

"I was mad at myself for the whole time. If I didn't hate Otoya from the start, he would not go through all the trouble to the point of being the matchmaker of Shibuya-san and me. If those things at that night didn't happen, he would still be alive but... Because of me," the voice that was used to be so sweet ended up cracking a lot. "He lost his life. He couldn't even achieve his dream. He came back as a ghost just because he did not want me to blame myself. Aijima-san tried his best to protect me from Shibuya-san but me... I was being stupid the whole time without having the slightest idea about what they had gone through. To be honest, I am so done to be treated like some damsel in distress. I don't deserve to live a good life after what happened but at least, now I feel what Otoya felt all this time. When people blamed you for someone's death, it's never easy to bear... All Otoya felt was a pain and that was because of me."

"But I believe Otoya never blamed you for that."

"Why? Why didn't he? Why was that boy so nice when I was the one who cursed him!?" Tokiya shouted furiously. He was sick of everyone who tried so hard to console him. "And you, Masato... What are you doing here!? Don't you hate me because after what had happened, he ended up dying because of me? He died because of my stubbornness for crying out loud!"

"No, I don't. I don't hate you," ostensibly, Masato looked intimidated to see Tokiya went berserk but words could not describe how happy he was. It sounded weird but for him, it was much easier to fix his best friend's head when he was expressive.

"If that's the case, you should."

"What?"

"Please go away. I mean... How come you are so persistent!? Just go and debut for yourself. You still have Syo, Ren, and Shinomiya-san with you. It should be fine."

Yet, Tokiya's seriousness caused Masato to laugh. The level of sarcasm was the same when he told Masato that the pianist was being ridiculous for ending their friendship just because of the weird rumor about them.

"Is that funny?" Tokiya asked, slowly but Masato knew how livid his best friend was.

"Hell, yeah. Don't you think this is funny?" The way Masato smirked instantly rang a bell for Tokiya which angered him even more.

Is this guy mocking me right now?

"No, not at all and I am not in the mood if you come here to pick a fight. I am really not in a good mood," the way Tokiya looked daggers at him amused Masato more. "And stop smirking like that. It's annoying."

"I know. That's why I am doing it," Masato replied casually and when he saw that it took all for Tokiya to suppress his fury, his face expression softened. "That brought you to the usual you. I am sorry for making you offended but..." His hand grabbed Tokiya's arm, much to other's puzzlement.

"Listen here, Tokiya. You never realize how much do you mean to me and Otoya, right? You don't have to feel bad about Otoya because no matter how mean you were with him, it did not change the fact that you are the first person who treated him like a family after he lost his parents. You were the first person who stood up for him when he was bullied back then. Do you forget about that already? Otoya told me that the moment he knew you, he prayed that someday, he would be close to you. Just so you know, all this time Otoya and I wanted only the best thing happened to you because you always did the same to us."

Something cheesy but sincere like this... Masato needed it to make Tokiya forgiving himself and he knew it worked when Tokiya avoided his eyes. Most probably, he thought that it was so cheesy but he could not help but feel moved with Masato's sincerity.

"Just remember, Tokiya... No matter if the whole world goes against you, Otoya and I will always by your side. Maybe Otoya is no longer here but I know... He's watching somewhere, praying for your happiness. I bet he told you that you are the reason for him to keep alive, right? So all you have to do is doing what he wishes."

Tokiya sighed in dissatisfaction. To be honest, there was something that he still did not understand about these two annoying 'kids'.

"Seriously... Why did you guys always remind me of those so-called good deeds that I have made when we were still small before? That's a long time ago," Tokiya asked, innocently.

"Because first, the fact that you changed something dreadful in our life since a long time ago just made us happier in future and second, we are not the type of people who forget somebody's compassion just because he is a human being who can make mistake. Otoya and I are a pair of grateful brothers, you see," Masato's thick-skinned reply earned him rolling eyes from Tokiya.

"Cheesy and narcissistic as hell," Tokiya sniggered. He snuffled in annoyance, realizing that how much he tortured his nose for making it stuffy.

"Wow, I guess my counseling service worked, huh? You even started to be foul-mouthed again," Masato crossed his arms, adding in the sarcasm to show that he was so relieved of the situation.

"Don't worry. I promise I won't swear after this," Tokiya said. "But what's with the counseling service crap? Do I have to pay you now? Since when do you become stingy with me, Masa?"

"Of course you have to pay, you idiot! You wasted my time, energy, and my money for the taxi. You even took away my motivation for the debut practice. Now, the payment is you have to take a shower since... Dude, you are stinking. You also have to eat."

"Tsk! All I have to do is eating? What kind of payment is that? Does that make you full?" Tokiya smiled, indirectly saying how grateful he was to have a friend like Masato.

"If you want a cheesy answer, yeah, it makes me full. Now, cut the crap and I will cook something for you. Just tell me what you want and I will make it fast," now Masato's voice resembled a typical ramen restaurant owner.

"Don't want."

"Eh? Why?"

"Because Otoya didn't eat anything when he disappeared before. He looked skinny..."

"So, you want to be like him too? I bet if Otoya knows you don't eat at all, it will make him sadder."

"You deliberately 'bribed' me with all those nostalgias for Otoya, right?"

"Because I know in this situation, you will do anything for him."

"Of course..." His dull eyes stared at the floor but his head was full with his late brother. "I will do whatever it takes if it means I can get him back. I really wish I can see him again."

Ah, is he going to cry, okay? Masato anxiously thought.

"Okay, enough being melodramatic. Now, what do you want me to cook?" Masato deliberately hit Tokiya's back so that Tokiya would stop blaming himself.

"Something simple?" Tokiya said, noticing how Masato would never shut up unless he ate just anything.

"What is it?"

"I don't know."

"Okay, I will cook for you. You go and take a shower, okay?"

"Alright. You are not my mother, you know? Stop nagging."

"And you are not my son so stop whining and eat properly."

"Ahhh, I DON'T CARE!" They were suddenly distracted by Syo's deafening voice, followed by a punch on the door, caused both blue heads jumped from their seats.

"Syo-chan, calm down!" As soon as the door was forced open, it showed Natsuki who desperately tried to hold Syo back, the calm Ren, and the speechless Kazuki.

"I was so mad! I want to comfort him too!" Syo yelled while struggling to escape from Natsuki's strong hug.

"Even so, did you really need to punch the door?" Ren sighed while looking apologetically at Kazuki for his friend's discourtesy.

"Ah, Tokiya-kun!" Natsuki mindlessly dropped his roommate down before asphyxiating Tokiya with his notorious hug.

"Shi...No...Mi..." Tokiya muffled against the wide chest, struggling to inhale oxygen.

"Oi, don't kill my son!" Kazuki screamed in horror. There was no way he could let his only son and family got killed by a hug from his friend. His one and only experience was enough for him to tell that Natsuki's hug was life-threatening since it blocked your oxygen absorption.

"Shinomiya-san, are you... Crying?" Tokiya titled his head as he could hear the big boy started to sob out nowhere.

"Of course! I miss you so much, Tokiya-kun! We lost Otoya-kun and we couldn't make Cecil-kun and Haru-chan to get over with their grief so if you don't debut with us, it will be lonely!" Natsuki's sincere confession stabbed Tokiya straight to his heart. He glanced at others who nodded, agreeing with Natsuki except Syo who was...

"Don't cry, you idiot!"

The next thing they realized was Syo already switched on his drama mode, weeping beside his roommate.

"Oi, you guys..." Tokiya did not know where should he start. He lifted his hands awkwardly before stroking their hair, attempting to calm them down. "You guys don't have to cry like this, you know..."

"An idiot like you shouldn't talk much!" Syo screamed while wiping his tears. "You don't know how lonely the practice room looked right now. It never looked the same if one of us missing, you blockhead!"

"..."

"Say something, you idiot!"

"But just now you asked me to not talk!"

After that, Tokiya spent at least half an hour to console them and apologizing to everyone for making them worried before taking a shower and eating Masato's cooking.

It was nice to know that in spite of the odium from other students, his friends were the one who stuck by him till the end.

Tokiya sighed for the nth time as he was on the way back to his house. As requested by his friends, Tokiya went to visit Cecil at the house of his adopted family which was conveniently in Japan. During their meeting, it did not take him long enough to find that Aijima Cecil was still sad with what happened to Otoya to the point of his debut would be meaningless without the boy.

His friends were right. He should be the one who understood Cecil's circumstance the most.

But, he never thought that Cecil would reveal something that made him understood the prince even more than he did.

It was all started when Cecil told him about his half-brother. Back then, Cecil told them that the reason why he enrolled in Saotome Academy because he wanted to find his long-lost half-brother. His mother, Aijima Kotomi regained her memory after being the victim of plane crash from 15 years ago, stated that she had a child in Japan. Based on all those pieces of memories, Cecil was convinced that his half-brother would enroll in the academy as well.

The only thing that he never told everyone was the father of his half-brother was their principal, Shining Saotome.

"Do you remember when I told you about my half-brother, Tokiya?"

"Yes. What about it?"

"And you know that Otoya was the first one who greeted me when I came here, right?"

"Yeah, he kept telling everyone to be nice to you."

"To be honest, he reminded me so much of the brother that my mother said to me. Red hair, the clear resemblance between these two... I was positive that he was the person that I looked for but when I asked him about his past, he said that his parents died because of an accident. I felt frustrated because I could feel the strong connection with him. If only I brought him to my mother sooner..."

At that time, Tokiya failed to come up with suitable words to comfort Cecil. All he knew about Otoya's past was his parents died because of a car accident and his relatives put the blame on him. Nobody wanted to have the custody of Otoya which led him to stay in the orphanage for a few years before Ichinose family adopted him.

That was all.

"It's the same like what Otoya told me."

"What?"

"When he met you, Aijima-san, it felt like he just got himself a new brother. It's maybe because you got close to him faster than anyone else."

"Wow! That was nice to hear even he's not the brother that I looked for."

Tokiya could swear that was the brightest expression that he ever saw from the prince. Cecil was always bubbly and childish but something told the blue head that he looked the happiest when he talked about Otoya.

"Remember, Tokiya. It's not you. That bitch is the one who killed your brother."

Tokiya could never forget how Cecil's expression darkened as soon as he mentioned Tomochika.

In the end, he left the prince to reconsider his decision to not debut. There was no way he could force Cecil but at least, he already tried his best.

Otoya...

I don't know how all of these going to happen but please pray for us. I really wish Aijima-san will change his mind and...

I never thought that he was sad that much because he didn't only see you as his friend.

On the next day, Saotome Academy was surprised with Tokiya's presence. Much to the blue head's confusion, no one even dared to glare or bully him like before. They got obviously intimidated especially when other STARISH members were around him.

He never knew that behind his back, his friends would scare them off by glaring or giving any kind of daunting gestures. It was even confusing for the blue head when on the same day, the teachers organized a special talk for all students about being nice to a public figure and how to act civilized when rumors circulated around them.

"Why? As a future idol, do you prefer to get thrown with trash and get your laptop destroyed again?" Masato remarked when he asked what was the motive for this sudden talk. It was the same answer that he got when he questioned how well-behaved those students were.

Tokiya never knew that after the talk, Masato thanked the teachers for making his suggestion from the last time came true.

"It's nothing, Mr. Hijirikawa. We should be the one who says thanks to you. It was a brilliant idea indeed," was what Shining Saotome said.

Meanwhile, at the dorm, Tokiya was impressed with how clean his room was in spite of not staying there for a while.

"Hijirikawa cleaned it almost every day so that you don't have to clean it when you come back," Ren ignored Masato's death glare.

"As expected from my brother," Tokiya stroked Masato's head and much to other's shock, Masato did not whine afterward.

"Hijirikawa, are you blushing? What's wrong with you, being nice-tempered and what not?"

"Shut up, Jinguuji."

Masato was too happy to be nit-picking like always.

Otoya, things started to go better. Please anticipate our debut. We promise we will do the best for you.

A few days passed with the practice room was crowded with noises from the remained STARISH members again. This time, at least they could convince Haruka to join them.

Just like their normal day, a dispute would pop out fast when Ren was back to his normal self which included his flirting activity when Haruka was around.

"Em, ano..." The composer hesitantly accepted her 1000th rose from Ren. She really wanted to say that he did not need to give it to her again but luckily, Masato saved her this time.

"Can you stop flirting with Nanami? Can't you see that she's not comfortable with what you are doing!?" Masato snatched the pitiful rose from Ren before scrunching and threw it into a trash can. "Just how many of them do you have!?"

Then, as typical as they got but turned out to be something that they would want to bring up after being lost in despair, Masato and Ren would argue noisily which became the duty for the rest of them to calm them down.

The door was suddenly open, showing somebody that they missed so much.

"Cecil?" Syo was the first one who generated tears. The others just had the shock written over his face.

"Cecil-san?" Haruka moved away from the piano, headed for her friend.

"Hello, guys," the said boy scratched the back of his neck, smiling in a silly way. He was wearing his usual practice attire which consisted of a pair of white jogging suit and a green tee shirt. "I am back."

"Took you long enough to come back, huh?" Tokiya smiled in relief. He could imagine Otoya's smiling face in his mind.

"This piece of..." The next thing that they realized was Syo already locked Cecil's head in his small and short arms, totally pissed off. "Another disgusting drama from you and I will..."

"Syo, my... My neck..." Cecil patted Syo's surprisingly strong arm, physically begged his friend to cut him some slack.

"Don't you want to say sorry!?"

"I am sorry! I am sorry!"

"You deserved that, Aijima," Masato smirked and Cecil swore that was the evilest expression that he ever saw from the pianist.

"Cecil-san, I thought that you never came back. I miss you so much," Haruka stated, almost bursting into tears before getting startled with Cecil's hand, touched her cheek.

"I am back, my princess."

"Don't flirt with her, you idiot!" Masato and Syo yelled out of jealousy before hitting his head in chorus.

"Auchhh!"

When they were busy welcoming Cecil in their own way, Tokiya caught a glimpse of a redhead, standing just behind the piano. It managed to divert him to step out of the commotion to approach the figure.

Slowly and in a sudden way, he saw the person that he really wanted to see again.

"O...Otoya?" He asked. He titled his head when the said guy who he did not know was real or vice versa, curving in the brightest smile that he missed the most. "Is that really you?"

Masato, who was the first one who noticed him acting strange, quickly approached him, followed by the others.

"Tokiya, what's wrong?" Cecil and Masato asked, almost in unison.

"It can't be... Am I going crazy now?" He hit his head while his blue eyes still stared at the thin and tall figure.

"Tokiya..." It got more depressing when the figure that he believed was Otoya called out his name. The voice was so soft and warm.

"Did you come back again? If you want to say sorry, I don't want to hear that."

"Tokiya, who are you talking to?" Masato was confused as he could not see anyone.

"Masa, Otoya is..." His finger pointed at the empty space right in front of him, much to other's confusion.

"Oi, just knock it off already. This is not funny, Tokiya," Syo said, worrying over Tokiya's mental health. Not to mention this kind of situation was creepy for a fraidy cat like him.

"No, I am not joking, Syo. He's here. He's smiling at all of us," Tokiya hit Syo's shoulder impatiently while desperately pointed at his front side.

"But, Tokiya-kun... We cannot see..." Natsuki gasped, followed by his friends when all of them could clearly catch the sight of...

A thin figure with a dark blue sweater and grey pants. His red hair matched the color of his eyes. Yet, no parts of him could match his smile. The smile which could cure the pain in their hearts after missing his presence like crazy.

"Ikki," Ren muttered, could not believe what his eyes most probably wanted to deceive him.

"Waaaa, everyone is here! Even Nanami and Cecil!" They got tensed up as the redhead acted like the typical him, beaming from ear to ear. His eyes wandered around the room, obviously looked thrilled. "I miss you guys soooo much! I always come here since the debut is just around the corner but you guys didn't practice a lot. I was sad," he pouted.

"Otoya, you..." Masato was too shocked to talk.

"But now, things are going back to normal, right? I don't have to worry anymore! I wish you guys all the best for your debut! I will be watching. And you, Tokiya..." The blue eyes glistened with tears again as soon as Otoya looked at him. "I am so happy to see you here. Take care."

That was all they managed to hear because the figure slowly faded away, without giving them the chance to express just how much they missed him.

Everyone just froze on their spot. Some of them smiled bitterly. Yes, it was still painful to learn that Otoya was no longer with them but at least, they knew that they managed to make him happy.

Thank you, Otoya. Thank you so much, Masato mentally said as he could see that despite the drop of tears streamed down his face, he knew Tokiya finally could forgive himself.

Tokiya looked around as he could hear some sobs from the audience. Most of them looked dumbfounded to hear the true story.

"So, that's what happened to my brother, Ichinose Otoya. He was killed. Maybe physically by another person but I believe the root of his death was me. I was the one who cursed him on that night so I should bear the responsibility for that," Tokiya held the microphone stand as he tried to muster up his courage before he could finish his speech. "I assumed that he came back for a while as a ghost because whoever made it happened wanted me to know how my stupidity cost my brother's life. I should be ashamed of how I treated him all this time. No matter how many times I apologized to him when I visited his grave, no matter how many times other people said to me that Otoya never blamed me, it did not change the fact that I was the one who killed him and I am so rueful of that. I miss him so much."

Tokiya did not realize that instead of crying or putting on a sad face, the audience started to whisper to each other, wondering if he was in his right mind. Some of them put on a 'what the heck' face.

"And that's why... To answer the question, the only thing that I wish if I have one chance in my life is I want Ichinose Otoya to come back to our family. I really want to see him now..."

"What the heck are you talking about, Tokiya!? I am not dead yet! Stop with the cheesy drama, won't you!?"

"Eh?"

Tokiya did not know what he should be surprised at first. The fact that somebody randomly and rudely interrupted him in the middle of the speech or...

The fact that somebody had the 'oh-so-familiar' voice...

The voice...

The infamous and childish tone...

Tokiya turned to see the source of the voice before he could feel that his body was shaking out of both horror and contentment.

In the midst of the audience, his eyes caught the sight of a pair of red eyes, looking daggers at him. The boy who interrupted his speech was biting his lips instead of smiling while his hands held his waist.

"O...Otoya?"

Okkayyyy, another tough but completed chapter. I got feedback from my friend and sister that they were puzzled by the last scene. No worries. I'll try my best to explain in the next a.k.a the last chapter. And speaking about Cecil and Otoya, I really wanted them to know that they have the same mother T_T That's why I decided to include the scene of Aijima Kotomi finally regained her memory about her first son because that's what I hoped to see in anime. Nevertheless, feel free to tell me what do you think about this chapter, okay? :D