DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN UTA NO PRINCE SAMA. I JUST OWN THE PLOT.

CHAPTER 7

It was 1.00 a.m but Tokiya could not sleep even his body and mind were way too tired with all the dramas that took place today. It was raining cats and dogs outside so he simply concluded that he could not sleep because of the factor even his head now was full of Otoya. His long-term enemy still did not come back to their room and as much as he was grateful for it, he could not restrain himself from being slightly worried about where might the guitarist sleep over.

Yet again, his ego was his priority now.

At the end, he felt that it was boring to stay on his bed so he switched on the lamp and sat on his study desk to read a book before somebody knocked on the door.

It was 1.00 a.m. so nobody was insane enough to disturb him like this unless...

The person was Masato, according to Tokiya's definition.

"Hey, hasn't Otoya come back yet?" Masato, wearing a yukata, asked Tokiya as the vocalist opened the door.

"No," Tokiya answered flatly as he headed back to his desk.

"This is weird. Where did he go?" Masato stepped inside the room before closing the door, letting himself in while Tokiya just shut his eyes in annoyance.

He knew the tone. Masato wanted to provoke him. Masato wanted him to feel guilty and take back what he had said to Otoya which of course, would be impossible.

"Masato, if you want to talk about the bastard, I am pleased to let you know that I am not interested."

"Oh, really?" The scion sounded sarcastic while pretending to be amazed. "And I am pleased to let you know that I am not surprised at all. Given you are so egoistic and petty to begin with."

Did Masato realize what time it was now? Was he seriously trying to pick a fight with Tokiya now? The vocalist really did not want to do such emotionally tiring activity, let alone with his best friend now.

"This is not the right time to fight, Masato."

"Oh, yeah? But the problem is... I don't care what time it is now. What should we do, huh?" the pianist mocked. "You can think whatever you want and you can hate me after this but I just want to help you fixing your ego."

"Are you still talking about that bastard again?"

"That bastard that you insulted a few hours ago is an orphan who lost his parents out of his will. Not even a second he would think about causing them to die and the same goes for your mother, Tokiya."

No responses from Tokiya but Masato did not want to give up easily. It was not his thing to give a lecture and behave like a typical okachan at midnight but because of Tokiya, he forced himself to summon his moxie tonight.

He just did not want Tokiya to regret later because he knew the blue head too well. He had a very loving side, just like his late mother but he chose to be cold just because he could not accept the reality.

"The bastard is the boy who is very happy to have you as your brother. As he grew up, he spent his time wondering why you have been so mean to him. What had he done wrong? Do you hate him? He asked me those for so many times."

Tokiya just flipped his book pages, showing no interests in Masato's midnight rant.

"When he got no answers from anyone and he thinks that he must work hard to make you like him again, he asked your father to talk to the principal so that you and he would be roommates for the whole school years."

"What!?" This time around, Tokiya snapped as he shut his book. He turned to meet eyes with Masato who was poker-faced. "The roommates thingy is a plan and you just told me now?"

"Come on, Tokiya. I am not that stupid, okay? If we told you, do you think that you would just sit around and do nothing? Not even in anybody's dream, right? And you know what is another annoying but awesome thing? I was the one who told Otoya to help you with your crush so that you would warm up to him."

"Excuse me?" Tokiya stood up from his chair as he approached Masato. His face was like thunder, enough to make the scion flinched but he was determined to knock some sense into Tokiya's head. "Did you just say that you told him my secret?"

"Yeah," Masato deadpanned, sending the blue head to clench his fists in anger. "Because it's not like he is a scandalmonger or something, right? He's your brother. How harmful could it be?"

"'How harmful could it be', huh?" Tokiya repeated, suggesting a danger. "Then, should I tell everyone about your crush on Nanami-san so that you will know how harmful can it be and you will end up apologizing to me?"

"Go ahead. I don't care."

"I thought we are friends, Masato! How could you!?" Tokiya snapped. He was frustrated when his attempt to threat the pianist turned into a failure.

"Yes, we ARE friends and that's why I act like one. I am not your minion, Tokiya! I am not here to lick your boots but to let you know that the way you treated Otoya is wrong. That's what friends are supposed to do! I point out your flaws because I want the best for you. Just tell me now, Tokiya. How the hell an orphan who doesn't have many goals in his life other than debuting as an idol someday and getting chummy with his brother back can even think about stealing a girl from his own brother? I bet he doesn't even think about starting a relationship because to him, that is not important for now."

"And yet you trusted him?" Tokiya smirked, internally laughing at Masato who seemed so naïve in his eyes. "That easy?"

"Yes because I know Otoya more than you know him. He is the nicest brother that I can ask. He cares about you. He did not hide your school uniform every morning for nothing, you know. He just tried to make you talked to him!"

"I hope he knows that his way of making me talked to him is absurd. He just added more reasons for me to curse him."

"He stood up for you about your perfect idol image because he knows you want to be free from it. You want to be yourself."

"I didn't ask for his help and it's not bad to be perfect, though. Everyone likes me anyway."

"And he even planned your confession..."

"He said he loves Shibuya-san!" Tokiya snapped again as the most terrible memory hit his head again.

"He meant he loves her like his friends, like STARISH. This is why you should let him explain instead of leaping to conclusions like that!" This time, Masato's deep voice turned louder, enough to make Tokiya flinched.

"YOU," the scion pointed at the blue head with a rage and Tokiya could see how shaky it was. "Not only you did not give him any chance to explain to you but you even wished for his death instead of your mother! That was the most unforgivable thing that I have ever heard from you. I know you are mean but I never thought that you can be that heartless, Tokiya! You wished for your own family to die! How could you!"

It was an intense silence as Masato gasped for a breath while calming himself down. His eyes never left Tokiya's but what was the most aggravating thing was the blue head did not show any sort of emotion on his face.

Instead, his next set of words struck Masato like a thunder.

"You can say whatever you want, Masato. But, just so you know, it is normal when I wish for my mother to live instead of that frigging stranger."

His answer gained himself an appalled expression from Masato. The pianist widened his eyes as he continued staring at the vocalist, indirectly asking either he really meant it or it was just a lame joke.

"No, this is not a joke. I meant what I said," Tokiya sneered, gaining himself a heavy and sorrowful sigh from Masato.

"That's your problem, then," Masato simply gave up now as he headed for the door. He could not think anything else that might convince Tokiya to fix his brain. Tokiya was too stubborn and immature.

"But, just remember, Tokiya," the pianist turned as he held the doorknob. "Our life will never be eternal. The same goes with everyone that we love so I hope that when you realize that you still love your brother, you still have a chance to atone for your mistake," as Masato was about to leave the room, he received a call from someone that had been the cause of their argy-bargy.

"Otoya?" He glanced at Tokiya who just rolled his eyes and took a seat back at his desk.

"Hello, Otoya."

"Masa..." The voice over there somehow sounded in fear and weak.

"Hey, where are you!? When will you come back? Look... If you are afraid of that certain idiot right now, just sleep over in my room, okay? Jinguji is already sleeping so you don't need to be worried about your puffy eyes or anything."

Otoya chuckled bitterly.

"You are always nice to me, Masa. Thanks a lot," the redhead cleared his throat. "But, I don't think I will come back tonight. It's just that... I want to thank you for everything, Masa."

"What... What do you mean?"

What was with this sudden and platonic drama?

"Thank you for always backing me, helping me. Nobody can understand me better than you, Masa. You are so kind. No wonder Tokiya likes you."

"Otoya, don't talk rubbish like that. You scared me and I don't feel flattered at all," his heart thumped so fast. It did not sound like Otoya to say something melancholic like that. The boy had always been so bubbly and positive. "Just where are you, Otoya? Tell me. I will pick you up."

"No, it's okay, Masa. I am fine," the soft voice suddenly cracked and the scion could hear sobs from Otoya.

"Otoya, are you crying right now?"

"No, not really. It's just that I feel guilty about what I have done to Tokiya..."

"I already said to that idiot that you don't mean you love Shibuya in that way but I think something happened to his ears and brain. Maybe a virus attack," Masato ignored the death glare from Tokiya.

"Masa, that's not nice."

"I am telling you the truth. Okay, enough with your stupid brother. Where are you, Otoya?"

"I am just hanging out somewhere. I need a fresh air after all," Otoya's voice turned incoherent as the wind blew so strong to his direction. "Masa, can you help me?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Please tell Tokiya that I am so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt him. I love my brother, Masa. But if he still refuses to forgive me, I understand. After all, nobody likes a cursed child in their family, right? So, I guess, that's all from me. Thank you, Masa."'

"Hey, Otoya! Chotto!"

Otoya just switched off his phone. That was what Masato could conclude when he tried to call the redhead back. He turned to look at Tokiya.

"Just in case you want to know even I don't think you even care at all, your brother said he loves you and he apologized for what he had done to you but I think there is something wrong with him. He hid something from us," Masato informed before slamming the door as he went out of the room.

Tokiya froze in his chair, not sure how to feel when Otoya apologized to him. He was spaced out, thinking about Masato's previous lecture before he received a call from his father, Kazuki.

"Hello, daddy... What's wrong? It's already..."

"That should be my line, Tokiya. What's wrong? Why did Otoya suddenly call me and apologize for being a cursed child in our family? What had you done to him, Tokiya!?"

Like Masato, Kazuki totally exploded this time.

Two days passed and with Otoya's status as the missing person, it made everyone getting panicky and prayed for his safety. Just like Tokiya, Otoya gained himself a lot of fans for his likable personality so his disappearance somehow made others felt the aura around the school turned gloomier than usual.

The policemen worked hard to find him including interrogating everyone who would possibly come across him at that night including Cecil, Haruka and Tomochika.

Yet so far, nobody could give enough information to ease the investigation.

As for Tokiya, being Otoya's brother, he was bombarded with so many questions from the guitarist's fans.

And also from his father, Ichinose Kazuki after he and Masato were summoned to go back home.

"Masato told me everything, Tokiya," with a single glare and first sentence from his father, Tokiya knew where the interrogation would lead to.

'Everything' meant the scion told Kazuki how he insulted Otoya before the redhead completely vanished off the face of the earth. Well, that really sounded like Masato. He did not care if Tokiya called him a betrayer as long as he believed that what he did was right.

Heck, both of them even ranted the same thing with identical sets of words which consisted of;

"Your brother loves you, Tokiya."

"How could you mention his late parents?"

"He is not a curse. He doesn't hope for anybody's death including your mother."

"He helped you with your crush. There is no way he would betray you."

"You ditched him just because of a girl?"

Which he forced himself to explain for the nth time that he did not mind if Otoya also loves Tomochika but he was mad because the guy lied to him.

And the last but not least...

"How come you wished for his death? How come you turned to be this heartless?"

Which eventually made the guilt slowly crawled into Tokiya's veins. He knew he was wrong and harsh but...

There was no way the school could grant his wish, right? It was just a rumour, right?

Now, it had been a week since Otoya's disappearance. Tokiya could not help but wonder about the redhead's whereabouts. That guy was not someone who would act recklessly no matter how depressed and miserable he felt. If he went somewhere, he would tell anyone, in case someone looked for him.

Yet, this time, Otoya did not even leave any messages and calls. Something that one would never do if he was physically and mentally stable.

As for Tokiya, spending time in school while wearing a very gloomy face was not a tough thing to do since everybody would assume that he behaved like that because he was worried about Otoya. He really cared about Otoya. Once again, his flawless image saved him.

But, except Masato who did not talk with him for a few days since the scion was fed up with his obstinacy, nobody knew that there were mixed feelings in his heart about Otoya.

Where had he gone? Was he alright? Was he still sad?

Every time he came back to their room, there was a crumb of hope in his heart that Otoya would make a surprise to him, saying that....

"Tokiya, I am back!! Do you miss me? I bet you miss me, right? Don't worry. I am alright. I just went to..."

And their normal days would start again since Otoya would just pretend that everything was fine and Tokiya did not need to bother to apologize to the redhead for being mean.

Tokiya desperately needed the moment to happen now. He really wanted the 'hiding his school uniform' prank took place again in his mundane life.

He agreed that Masato and Kazuki were right. He still loves his brother and it actually never vanished. He did care about Otoya but he just disregarded it.

He recalled the first time when he saw Otoya in elementary school. It all started when he wondered why Otoya was bullied a lot. He was always alone when the lunchtime. All he did was eating just like how the students were supposed to do but it was enough for those so-called stronger and bigger bullies to pick on him before stealing and throwing his lunch box to the floor. Their words that irritated Tokiya the most were...

"Oh, pity you, you orphan. You don't have a mum, you don't have a papa. Pity you..."

Which led Tokiya to approach them while wondering why being an orphan was a problem for them? Was it that funny when a kid grew up without parents?

And when he asked them with;

"I am sorry to interrupt but why are you guys bullying him?"

"Because he is an orphan," one of the boys who was most probably the leader answered him arrogantly.

"Then, what's wrong with it?"

They looked at each other, obviously did not know the motive of their deviant activity which only made them looked ten times more ridiculous than usual.

"Em... etto... He doesn't have parents. He is a loser."

Which was the stupidest answer that Tokiya had ever heard. It could not be helped since they were still the kids with immature brains but if they themselves did not really know what was the definition of 'loser', why would they bully Otoya in the first place?

So, Tokiya saved Otoya on that day because he held strongly with what his mother had told him. Children went to school to learn how to be a kind boy or else, the God will get angry with them. So, he felt responsible to tell the bullies what the God felt to see them bullying a weak kid.

The blue head never knew that helping Otoya made him more protective towards the stranger. Especially when he learned that the redhead encountered more bullying from the same kids and once he found out that he could intimidate them (probably because of his guts and tall frame), he got another idea.

After he got the permission from Suzuna, he went to Otoya's orphanage and the first sentence that came out from his thin lips was...

"Hey, want to be my brother? You will not get bullied anymore."

Just like what he said, the boys did not even dare to touch Otoya anymore and he felt so happy with that.

Tokiya sighed heavily. He was the one who asked Suzuna to adopt Otoya because he did not want the boy to be sad again. But now, it turned out that he was the one who made the redhead feeling more miserable. If the bullies were still here and saw how mean he was with Otoya, they would take the mickey out of him. If he was the main character in a movie, people would get pissed off with his attitude. A character like him would only feel guilty when the object of his resentment disappeared or died. The audience would criticize him, saying how stupid he was to feel rueful when it was too late.

Yet, the question was... Where was Otoya? He never knew either it was too late or vice versa for him to atone for his mistakes until he found Otoya.

As he was spaced out while staring longingly at Otoya's room side, there were a few knocks on the door until Masato opened it by himself.

"Tokiya..." Masato was going to ask something but stop himself as he read Tokiya's face expression.

"Then, shall we look for him together?" Masato suggested with a smile.

Tokiya chuckled bitterly. "Yeah, I guess."

"Wait, Tokiya. Are you sure that you want to find him HERE?" Masato swallowed an invisible lump in his throat as his shaky finger pointed at the abandoned building. It was a cryptic building that made itself notorious for its myths and horror stories, not far from Saotome Academy.

"Yeah."

"Why!?"

"Just because... I just feel like I want to come here. Come on, let's go. It's getting late," Tokiya calmly headed for the main door.

"No, I am not going," feeling not satisfied with Tokiya's unconvincing answer, Masato just stood there in fear. It was surrounded by a thick forest with fewer sources of lights so God knew how he felt when strange sounds resonated out of nowhere.

"Why? You can hold my shirt hem or something if you feel scared," Tokiya suggested.

"No! That's not what I meant!"

Even it really was.

"Then, what?" Tokiya asked. Maybe he was temporarily deaf and blind to the point of he could not digest that the whole situation itself looked macabre.

"It's only two of us and you do know the popular horror story when two people go to a scary place, right? The B person kept following the A person but at the end, he realized that..."

"The so-called A person was not his friend, right?" Tokiya's voice turned husky and creepy, much to Masato's fright. "Like what happened to you right now?"

"W...What?" Masato stared at Tokiya who seemed like he was being possessed by a random entity in disbelief. "Wait! You are not Tokiya?" The scion suddenly played out a familiar scene from a horror movie.

Silence.

"Ah, I got caught," Tokiya giggled like the certain killer from Death Note anime.

"Tokiya..." When Masato was about to pass out, Tokiya deadpanned again.

"Did you enjoy it that much? Come on, we cannot waste time," Tokiya rolled his eyes as he walked into the house, leaving the speechless Masato behind.

What the heck? He pulled a prank on me when here I am, almost lost my lifespan?

"W...What do you mean I am enjoying it!? I was scared to death you know!" Masato protested.

"But seriously, how can you protect Nanami-san when you yourself are a scaredy-cat, Masato? I heard that Nanami-san gets scared easily so you might as well do something with your dramatic side."

"Where did that come from? Of course I will be brave to protect her!"

As they continued bickering, they could see the image of red liquid splattered everywhere. Almost all the windows were broken and both of them could only assume that they were all the naughty boys' doing who basically would never learn until the actual ghost showed up.

"Otoya..." Tokiya called out, slowly walking with the hesitant Masato behind. "Are you there?"

"I don't think this is right, Tokiya. We should go back..."

All of sudden, they heard scratching sounds coming from somewhere nearby.

"There is someone in there, right? Let's take a look," Tokiya nonchalantly remarked as he slowly opened a cracked door.

"What? No!" Masato shouted, desperately objecting but his friend was too curious to listen to him.

Tokiya was crazy! There was no way he would follow Tokiya to ensure the source of the scratching sounds. Obviously, somebody held a sharp object like knives and played around with the wall.

And obviously, that kind of person or entity was not sane at all. How could not Tokiya at least consider the risk that they might face afterward?

"Excuse me..." Tokiya went to the source of cryptic sound before gasping loudly.

"Tokiya, what happened?"

The scratching sound was no longer could be heard and the same goes with Tokiya.

"Tokiya, answer me..."

Still...

"Mou, why do you always like to make everything a suspense? Just answer me already!" Masato thoughtlessly headed for Tokiya before making sense why the vocalist gasped just now since he himself also let out the same response.

The two best friends now stared at a thin frame, crouched down while holding a breaking glass. His red eyes stared at them back, looking horrified.

"Otoya..." Both Masato and Tokiya muttered as they were devastated and relieved at the same time.

The said boy crawled back, seemed scared but no words formed from his thin lips. He strongly shivered and they could see that he injured his head while the blood still looked fresh.

"Otoya... There you are..." Without thinking too much, Tokiya pulled the smaller frame into his arms. "Finally... Everyone is looking for you. Where have you been? What happened to you?"

As much as he felt happy to find the redhead, Masato was wondering about Otoya's suspicious state. What happened to his bloody head? Why did he look so dirty? Why did he look traumatized?

As for Otoya, he could not answer any of Tokiya's questions. His lips felt dry. He was still in shock and scare but to finally find out that Tokiya also looked for him, he could not ask for a better circumstance after experiencing a hell for a week.

But, still... There was something that he really wanted to know.

"I am sorry, Otoya. I know I had been mean to you. I am really sorry."

Why now, Tokiya? Why?

End of chapter 7! Maybe there was no Tomochika so it felt easier to complete this chapter. As usual, feel free to let me know what do you think, okay? See ya!