First of all, thank you, ChiToNaru-san for the vote! And... I know we are already in chapter 8 but I would like to apologize for making the main characters OOC. I should have putting a warning beforehand. Nevertheless, hope you enjoy this chapter since I must say that... *smirk I enjoyed writing the dark version of Otoya.

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

CHAPTER 8

It had been a few days since Otoya was found and admitted to the hospital. He had become so quiet that the doctor could only assume that it was because of the trauma that he suffered from his injury. He spent his time by being spaced out even somebody was there to visit him. So far, nobody knew what had happened to him during the past week.

This not-Otoya-esque sight was intolerable for Tokiya, especially with the fact that he was the cause of this situation.

Yet, Otoya looked obviously disturbed when two policemen visited him to interrogate him.

"Good evening, Ichinose-san. I am Officer Ryugazaki and this is my partner, Officer Suwa. We were in charge of your disappearance last week. If you don't hesitate, can you give us full cooperation so that we can solve your case as soon as possible?"

"Go ahead. Make it fast," Otoya muttered flatly but that was enough to make all of them gazed at each other. The redhead suddenly acted cold as soon as he saw those officers.

"Since October 6th, you had disappeared for a week. On the same day, a few witnesses informed us that they saw a white van with a few guys in the abandoned building which where you were found. By any chances, do you know them?"

"No, I don't know them," Otoya answered bitterly and quickly but nobody ever realized that he was looking daggers at Tomochika who ended up hiding behind Cecil.

Just why did that vixen come here anyway? He thought furiously.

"Were you in that building on October 6th?"

"I didn't."

"Then, can you tell us where did those injuries come from? According to the report from your doctor, the injury and some bone fractures showed that you just fell from a high place. Can you tell us what exactly had happened to you?"

So annoying, the redhead thought as he closed his eyes. Those questions just made his urge to kill somebody in the room burnt in his veins.

"I tried to commit a suicide. Did I answer your question?" Otoya sneered with his darkened expression, much to everyone's shock. "You can close the case since there is no crime, officer. I disappeared because I was so depressed and I needed to be alone."

All of them were speechless but nothing could beat Tokiya's unsettled feeling.

"What do you mean, Otoya? Why would you commit a suicide?" Kazuki asked his youngest son as it was hard to admit just how absurd it sounded. Otoya never did something that horrendous no matter how despondent he could be.

"No real reasons. It just that... I felt that everything would go wrong again if I stayed alive."

Masato looked at Tokiya. Apparently, both of them knew more than anyone about what encouraged Otoya to say such thing.

"Here we go," Tokiya exclaimed as soon the taxi that he and Otoya got in arrived in front of their house.

Instead of responding to Tokiya, Otoya just got off before gazing at the bungalow, feeling a sudden longing for the place which he called a paradise.

A paradise that would be perfect without him, the curse who tore Ichinose family apart.

"Otoya, are you okay?"

"Eh? Yes, I am fine," Otoya was startled with a sudden hug around his shoulder from Tokiya.

"Let me bring your bag," Tokiya offered but the redhead was fast to refuse.

"It's okay. It's not that heavy," the redhead took this opportunity to release himself from Tokiya's hug. He really felt awkward and uncomfortable.

"Are you sure? How about your legs? Can you walk properly?" Tokiya still tried to help Otoya but it seemed like it just made the redhead felt more awkward. "Do you need help?"

"No. Seriously, it's okay," Otoya forced a smile as he moved away from Tokiya. "No need to be concerned, though. I am used to taking care of myself."

Otoya never had the intention to make Tokiya feeling bad but his answer was enough for the blue head to feel so. Tokiya froze on his spot as Otoya, with his still injured legs, limping towards the house.

He was positive that Otoya still resented him.

"The fried chicken... You should put it over there, Masato. Otoya loves to sit on the right side so you should make the chicken accessible to him," Kazuki instructed Masato as he was busy arranging different plates of Otoya's favourite foods.

"I think they are already here, ojisan," Masato remarked as he could catch the sound of footsteps from the living room.

"Oh, crap! Come on, Masato! Let's get ready," Kazuki quickly dragged the boy who was still arranging fries to the front side of the dining room.

"Ojisan, I still have fries in my hand..."

"Let it be. We should shout 'welcome home' to him now. 1...2..."

As soon as they could see Otoya, walking slowly with a tired face...

"Welcome home, Otoya!!"

To say that Otoya was surprised was an understatement. In fact, he almost collapsed before making himself supported by a wall. He rubbed his chest in alarm as Masato and Kazuki looked overexcited to greet him.

"Oh, sorry, Otoya. Did we surprise you?" Masato asked the obvious as he hugged Otoya. "I am truly sorry. Look, ojisan. We shouldn't do that in the first place. This is all your fault!"

"How come this is my fault when this is all your plan?" Kazuki exclaimed in disbelief. This brat is unbelievable!

"Ugh, you are unbelievable, ojisan."

"What did you say to me, Masato?"

"What are you guys on about?" Otoya questioned with his puzzled face.

"Eh? Well... It's a surprise! Surprise!" Masato exclaimed awkwardly. It looked so lame when the welcomed one did not even look enthusiastic, especially when you expected that the said person would get excited like the usual him. "Here... Have some fries," Masato fed the fries in his hand to Otoya.

"Oh... Thank you," Otoya smiled as he chewed slowly but it was enough to distract Masato and Kazuki who knew him more than ten years.

This was not Otoya. He just lost his old self and God knows what might cause him to behave such in a mysterious way.

"Then, you must be hungry, right, Otoya? Come, join us. We already cooked a lot of foods for you," Masato carefully helped Otoya to walk properly to the dining table. At the same time, Tokiya who just arrived felt bitter as unlike with him, Otoya did not refuse the body contact from Masato.

"How's it? Do you like it?" Kazuki asked as Otoya was ready on his seat.

Otoya scanned every single food on the table. Yes, he was starving since he did not eat properly during the past days but he still lost his appetite. He had so many things to think and face after this so he really did not feel like doing something leisurely like eating.

But, of course, he felt the warm and homely atmosphere around him.

"Hey, want to be my brother? You will never get bullied anymore."

The redhead never forgot the best feeling that he ever had as soon as Tokiya said that right in front of his face. Back in their elementary school, he always felt impressed with the blue head. Tokiya always had a group of pupils who would follow him around and compliment how talented, cute or nice he was. His lunchtime was like a festival. It was lively and fun with his friends talked and jested with him.

Unlike Otoya... Just an orphan who did not have any friend and would eat his lunch alone. He was really sad when everybody avoided him as soon as they knew that he was an orphan. He was clueless about why the bullies always loved ridiculing him. He thought that nobody would ever love him as much as his parents did until he met Tokiya. He never expected that a boy who had everything in his life would even waste his time for someone like him.

Since Tokiya was the only one who got the audacity to stand up for him when he got bullied, the blue head became the hero in his life. When everybody in his orphanage named those legendary and fictional characters like Ultraman and Batman as their heroes, he, on the other hand, drew a blue-haired boy with a friendly smile on his drawing block, saying that...

"This is my hero, Ichinose Tokiya. He is a senior at my school. He is kind..."

Which coincidentally, the said person visited and saw Otoya presented about him right in front of his friends when their teacher asked him to come in front.

It was embarrassing but much to the redhead's glee...

"Thank you but I don't think I am amazing like Ultraman or Batman to be your hero."

Since then, his life changed. He was addressed as the youngest member of Ichinose family. A few years had passed and even when he had no idea why Tokiya suddenly detested him, he wanted to continue to be the acknowledged Ichinose family member so he tried so hard to get chummy with Tokiya again.

But, because of Tomochika... Because of that wench, his plan was ruined like nobody business. His life was totally destroyed.

After what had happened to him on that night, he never thought that he would feel this kind of feeling in his life.

The feeling where he would despise somebody for their existence.

He hated Shibuya Tomochika. He would never forgive her.

"Otoya!"

The said redhead flinched as Tokiya, who appeared out of nowhere, calling out his name, not far from the tree house he was sitting at.

"Tokiya..."

"What are you doing up there? I believe that you should rest in your room instead of climbing a tree, right?"

"I feel bored. This place is much cozier," Otoya answered flatly.

"Well, you got a point there," Tokiya agreed reluctantly before climbing up the tree, taking a seat beside the confused Otoya. "Plus, I know how agile my brother could be. He just doesn't like to stay in the same spot for a long time."

Tokiya did not realize that Otoya was staring at him, with a glum smile on his thin lips.

At last, you called me your brother, Tokiya.

"By the way, I don't mean to scare you but daddy used to say to me, this area is quite haunted, especially at night like now. Last two weeks, our neighbor just bumped into a messy-haired ghost," Tokiya remarked while being half-joking about it since he knew how critical Otoya's fright could be. Maybe this story would lure Otoya to leave the place as soon as possible and he would rest peacefully in his room but...

"Oh, really?" Otoya put on a very poker face which was implausible. "You mean... ghosts really love this area?"

"Y...yeah."

Did my story not sound scary enough to him? That's strange.

"Then, I think daddy is right because I just saw the messy-haired ghost. As soon as it looked at me, I could see the red eyes, sharp teeth... The face itself... It looked like it's just been scratched and stabbed..."

"It can't be... Maybe it's just your imagination," Tokiya reasoned out.

This kid... Is he trying to make fun of me instead?

"No, I am telling you the truth. It was there, under the big tree but it disappeared so fast," with his innocent red eyes, it was sized up in amazement as he tried to convince the not-so-convinced Tokiya. "Oh, look over there, Tokiya! One more. It's crawling here, just like The Ring ghost. Can you see that?"

What the... This is not even a joke anymore.

Tokiya slowly looked at the ground but nothing could be seen.

Otoya smiled calmly. "Nah, you don't have to worry, Tokiya. Maybe they just love this place. They will not disturb us if we don't pick a fight with them."

"How can you suddenly see those ghosts, Otoya?"

And not to mention you can talk about it that cool.

The redhead shrugged. "Beats me but don't you think it's weird? Why human beings tend to be afraid with ghosts when they used to be human beings too? They used to live like one. And one more thing, they don't even have a body, a medium that will make it possible for them to touch us."

Tokiya furrowed his brow as he tried to answer the question. "Hmm... Maybe the majority of the ghosts have a very disturbing face like they have bloodstains, scars... Or to make it clearer, they look like a homicide victim."

Otoya nodded out of acknowledgment but in his mind, there were so many things to linger on. "Then, if you see a ghost but it looks like a human, is it still frightening?"

"I don't know. I seriously don't know," Tokiya answered honestly because since he was small, he did not find ghosts as eerie. In fact, when they were still in elementary school, he always thought that ghost houses as monotonous. But, he and Masato did not have choices since Otoya would pester them to join him just because he felt curious about the ghost house. Yet, after that, Tokiya ended up protecting and comforting those two scaredy-cats after they could not stop crying from seeing those hair – rising but fake creatures.

"Come to think of it, Tokiya, you are not afraid of ghosts, right? How is that even possible?"

"I don't know. Maybe I believe that as long as we don't annoy them, they will be just as nice to us."

"Really? That's good," Otoya looked uncannily happy.

"What?"

"Eh? No, nothing. It's just that you are so amazing, Tokiya. You don't even feel afraid of ghosts. I bet they will like you more if they hear you."

"Well, thanks, I guess," Tokiya was not sure about what to feel since the topic itself was so random. "But, what's with this ghost-talking anyway?"

"Because I was imagining what might happen if I really become a ghost. I don't want to disturb people. I don't want to be bad but people still find me scary. I don't know how I will live my life, though."

It sounded foolish but for Tokiya, he felt that it was a stab straight to his heart. "What are you on about, Otoya?"

His glum reaction sent the guitarist to be surprised before scratching his head. "Nah, nothing. Maybe I feel so cold. That's why I kept talking rubbish. You don't have to feel so uneasy about it."

"Hell, I won't," Tokiya suddenly sounded serious. "You have behaved strangely since your disappearance. Daddy and I were so troubled about you. We thought that maybe you just felt traumatized but... The way you acted now... It did not seem like the real you. Our friends also said the same thing."

Otoya just responded with an unreadable look before curving in a smile. "It really was nothing. Plus, no matter how terrible the problem is, it can be settled, right?"

"Are you perhaps... Are you still angry with me, Otoya?"

Otoya twitched his brow, indirectly suggesting that Tokiya's question was ridiculous but it just made Tokiya's guilt hurt him more.

Did Otoya seriously not feel upset with what he had done to him?

"Why should I feel angry with you? You took such a good care of me. You were even absent from school for my sake. I cannot ask for a better bro... I mean a better caretaker. Instead, I should be the one who asked you either you are still angry with me or not."

"No, I don't feel angry with you anymore but..." He trapped the smaller frame into his arms. "I want to apologize. Please forgive me, Otoya. I never appreciated you before. I hurt you."

Otoya smiled as he hugged Tokiya back. There was no way he would not forgive Tokiya. He is his family after all.

"No, don't say that, Tokiya. You didn't hurt me. In fact, I deserved that or else, I never realized that I was the one who..."

"No. Please don't say that Otoya," the vocalist tightened his embrace. "From now on, I will never say something like that to you again. I will treat you well... As your brother."

That was enough for Otoya to drop his tears. He wondered how could his life become so twisted like this?

Tokiya was right. Everything just went wrong the moment he lived.

Two weeks later....

"Okay, remember, guys. First of all, please blow the party horns as loud as possible, okay?" Natsuki pointed at a group of his classmates as he instructed them.

"No, no, Shinomiya! Don't surprise him too much. Otoya is not well enough. The last time we tried it at his house, he almost collapsed. We don't want to send him back to the hospital," Masato interrupted.

In A class, the brouhaha was no joke since they were all excited to welcome Otoya back. Natsuki and Masato led them in the most parts while Cecil and Tomochika were half-heartedly joined them as they still felt disturbed about Otoya.

"Hey, guys! He is here!" One of the class members shouted in panic, sending the others to run here and there before forming two lines in front of the door.

A few seconds passed before...

"Welcome back, Otoya!" All of them shouted in unison, followed by the squeaky sound of party horns, which later and expectedly caused the redhead to be taken aback.

"I told you guys, no need to be that ecstatic!" Masato scolded them right away before approaching Otoya. "Hey, are you okay?"

"It's okay, Masa. I am fine," Otoya formed a smile before directing his gaze towards his classmates and his beautifully-decorated class with 'Welcome Back, Otoya' sentence on the blackboard. "Wow, you guys did all of these for me?"

"Of course, Otoya-kun! We are so glad to welcome you back," Natsuki added, bubbly.

"Oh, well... Thank you, guys. I really appreciated that," Otoya replied flatly.

"Hey, what's with the lame mood? Don't you feel happy to see us again, Otoya?" One of the students cracked a joke.

Otoya struggled to form a delighted smile.

If only they knew...

"He's still recovering, guys. Give him a break," Masato interrupted, trying to cool down the situation when deep inside, he was also concerned about Otoya.

"Then, let's start with the party, shall we?" Natsuki's cue sent the others to enjoy the party right away. Different kinds of dishes were provided as they also invited their teachers.

"Otoya-kun, yokatta. You are doing fine," Haruka smiled as Otoya took a seat next to her after conversing with his teachers, together with the fidgety Tomochika and Cecil.

"Yeah, thank God," Otoya answered as he stared at Tomochika rather intently. The girl had to look away several times because she was not comfortable with it.

She was aware that he was teasing her. He was internally laughing at her. He was provoking her to confess her sin.

"I want to refill my juice," Haruka remarked as she left them, slowly disappearing in the midst of other students.

This was so menacing.

Three of them which consisted of Otoya, Cecil and Tomochika were sitting in silence. They could feel the tension as they knew, they had a lot of things to say to each other.

"Just be honest with us, Otoya. Where did you go after that? Just what happened to you?" At last, the Prince of Agnapolis gathered up his moxie to ask something that everybody wanted to know.

"I think somebody here has the answer for that, right, Tomochika?" Otoya emphasized the word 'Tomochika'. No more 'Tomo-chan' from him. He was disgusted with the owner of the name, let alone to address her as that nickname.

Tomochika's face turned pale.

"Guys, do you want more juices?" As soon as Haruka took her seat back, the other three forced the composure to be seen on their faces.

"Why not?" Otoya took one of the glasses from Haruka's hand.

Cecil just swallowed his saliva as he recalled Otoya's answer.

This was getting out of hand. He never thought that he would be daunted by his own friend, let alone by Otoya.

Otoya's reappearance was a catastrophe for her.

His reappearance, which was obviously for revenge, had kept her sleepless since the day she threatened him that she would hurt Haruka.

Her sleeplessness and concentration loss were enough to affect her performance in class and debut practice with Tokiya.

"Stop!" Ringo shouted, ordering Tokiya and Tomochika to stop singing.

Tokiya and Tomochika shifted puzzled gazes between each other. Both Ringo and Hyuga looked somewhat disappointed with their singing today.

"Tomo-chan, again... The same mistake," Ringo exclaimed in dissatisfaction. "Try more like Tokiya-chan. I know he is more talented than you but you should at least be just below him, you know. At this rate, I am afraid he will shine more than you and he might as well be a soloist instead."

"Hai, sensei," Tomochika locked her eyes on her feet as she struggled to not look daggers at the cross-dressing teacher for belittling her.

"Hm... sensei. I think Shibuya-san did good enough," Tokiya tried to ease the situation as he could see how despondent Tomochika looked and he did not feel good to be compared to for so many times today.

"Tokiya-chan," Ringo curved in his evil smile that made Tokiya instantly flinched. "I know you are nice with everyone and you want to be nice with your partner too but you don't have to behave like that all the time especially when she will end up dragging you down because of her incompetence."

Darn it, Tomochika bit her lips.

"Please come to your senses, Shibuya. Even today's practice is over, you have to improve yourself or else, Ichinose will overshadow you when you guys are supposed to be on the same level," Hyuga just rubbed salt into the wound.

No, he won't! There is no way this loser can beat me, Tomochika thought.

"Shibuya-san, are you okay? Do you need help?" Tokiya asked as soon as Hyuga and Ringo left the room.

Obviously no, you retard!

"No, Tokiya-kun. It's just that I lost my concentration. I felt tired with the practice and homework," Tomochika forced a smile.

"Yeah, you are right. They are crazy these days," Tokiya agreed, trying to make it sounded like they were in the same boat.

You fat liar! I know all these things are never hard for you, Tomochika mentally insulted her partner. At this rate, if she let Tokiya continued with his glory, he would snatch the winner title of the graduation audition.

No, the title is hers! So...

She would get rid of him, along with Nanami Haruka at any cost because they stood in her way.

She observed Tokiya down to his toe. She admired the perfect body but her priority now was to ruin him.

Where should I start? His face? Should I make it damaged? How about his voice? Should I cut his throat? Or... I will just kill him so that he will never come back to life again?

"What's wrong, Shibuya-san?" Tokiya's muddled expression dragged her to the reality.

"Nah, nothing."

"Tokiyaaaa!" Otoya, who came out of nowhere appeared in front of the door, smiling brightly like the usual him.

"Oh, Otoya. What gives?" Tokiya asked as he took his bag from the nearby chair.

"Masa wants to see you at the cafeteria."

"Now?"

"Yeah, he is waiting with others."

"Okay, thank you," Tokiya turned to Tomochika who immediately curved in a fake smile. "See you on the next practice, Shibuya-san. Just let me know if you need help."

"Okay, Tokiya-kun."

No, I don't need you. Rather, I want to kill you.

As soon as Tokiya made his way to the cafeteria, Otoya did not waste any time to grab Tomochika by her collar.

"Otoya-kun, don't you think this is a bit harsh?" Tomochika remarked as she tried to loosen his grab. She could feel that her chest felt tight as she was desperate for oxygen.

"Why did you stare at him like that?" The redhead asked coldly. His voice was too creepy, unlike his jolly one.

"I just thought that your brother is handsome. That's all."

"Don't lie to me, you bitch," now, Otoya found someone that he could call the name without feeling guilty because Tomochika obviously deserved it. "Read my lips. If you try anything funny with my brother, you will pay for the consequence."

"Your brother? Are you sure that he is only your brother? Not your crush, your object of affection or something?" Tomochika chuckled, obviously was not afraid with Otoya who was much stronger than her. "You look so obsessed with him. Care to share why? Is he your knight in shining armour or something?"

"I don't feel the obligation to tell you," Otoya's voice was quivering with outrage. This girl was so fearless. She ruined his life and now, she wanted to harm his brother? He would never allow that to happen!

"Why? Because you are truly obsessed with him? I can't believe that you are limp – wristed with your own brother, Otoya-kun. Now, I get it! You rejected me because all this time you have a crush on Tokiya, not Haruka. No wonder you keep following him around like a dog," Tomochika sneered. "You disgusting bastard."

"You..!"

Meanwhile...

Tokiya headed for Masato who was chatting with other STARISH members in the cafeteria.

"Yes, Masa. What's wrong?"

"What?" Masato grimaced, feeling weird to see Tokiya who came out of nowhere and asked him with such a random question.

"What do you mean by 'what'? You wanted to meet me here, right?"

"Why would I? I feel bored to see you every day, you know. And please, don't be so full of yourself," Masato rolled his eyes.

"But Otoya said that you wanted to meet me," Tokiya exclaimed in disbelief.

"I bet he just wanted to pull a prank. Glad to know that he's back to normal," Masato answered nonchalantly. "Come, take a seat. I already ordered your dish just in case you don't eat yet."

"Eh, really? But, thanks, though," still bemused, Tokiya ended up sitting beside Masato before grabbing a rice roll.

"You really took a good care of Icchi, right, Hijirikawa?" Ren teased, ignoring Masato's glower.

"It will be annoying if he pesters me about being starving afterward," Masato remarked, switching on his tsundere mode.

"Where did you come from, Tokiya?" Syo asked.

"I just came back from practice with Shibuya-san. That's when Otoya said to me that... Masato, are you sure..."

"I said, I am not!" Masato screamed now as he was fed up with Tokiya's badger.

It can't be... Cecil's heart thumped fast as he was positive that Otoya was alone with Tomochika now. He excused himself before storming to the practice room.

His guess was right. As soon as he reached his destination, he was served with the sight of Otoya, slapping Tomochika. The redhead looked so scary as he continued to scowl at the girl. Cecil never thought that the sweet redhead could be that violent with a girl...

Which he internally agreed that Tomochika deserved more than a slap.

Meanwhile, the school goddess's eyes sized up in horror. She held her red cheek as she was stunned by Otoya's attack.

Did... Did this bastard just smack me?

"Serves you right, you bitch."

"Otoya!" Cecil tried to butt in but was left flinched by Otoya's death glare before the redhead left the room.

"The asshole will pay for this!! How dare him!!" Tomochika screamed like a madman. She felt her pride shattered. She felt like she had been insulted. She had never had anyone who would dare to hit her.

That Otoya!

"What did you do to touch his nerve, Tomochika?" Cecil asked coldly. Now he knew her true colour, of course, he tended to put the blame on her first.

"Shut up! Your job is to take care of Haruka if you really wish for her to stay alive. I can hurt her whenever I please. Remember that!" Tomochika pushed Cecil away, scurrying to her dorm.

Cecil sighed heavily. He felt like dying inside.

Everything was just a mess right now.

End of chapter 8! You will see more 'obsession' from Otoya but you will see more and more why he became that obsessed. Thank you for reading and please let me know what do you think about this chapter, okay? Thank you sooo much!