Stepping Out From the Shadows (various x fem!modern reader) [Uta no Prince Sama]

Chapter 7: Lakeside Meeting

The school day ended all too quickly, and soon enough Kaya was headed to her room to unpack. She really didn't bring much, just her instruments, her lyric journals (including the "fortune telling journal" as she liked to call it), basic necessities, a few pillows and extra blankets, and a comfy bean bag chair, which was a gift from her parents. She managed to unpack fairly quickly.

The same could not be said for her roommate. There were boxes upon boxes stacked on the other side of the room, untouched. Now, she didn't want to judge too quickly, but the girl she was staying with didn't really seem like the nicest person. She hadn't said a word to Kaya the entire time they've been in the same room, which wasn't much, since she seemed to only be in her dorm when mandatory and otherwise went down the hall to hang out with another group of girls. Whenever she was actually in the room, all Kaya would get from her was occasional judging looks and disapproving glares. She couldn't for the life of her understand why though.

Deciding there was no use mulling over questions she didn't have the answers to, Kaya climbed up into the loft bed she was given and belly flopped onto the fresh sheets. She rolled over and blankly stared at the ceiling for a while, before absentmindedly beginning to hum. She didn't really realize what she was humming until she came to the refrain. She didn't really know how she got A.I. into her head. Kaya made a note to herself to be more careful in the future. If she were to sing a song that wasn't released yet and someone were to hear? That would be bad news. Luckily, she was alone right n-

"Mrrow?"

Oh shoot. Kaya jumped and whipped her head around quickly towards the furry intruder. Her face scrunched in confusion as she addressed the cat/boy/thing.

"What are you doing here, little dude? Aren't you supposed to be committing crimes or something?" Ah. She probably shouldn't be implying things like that. He may be a cat now, but he wouldn't be one forever. If she wasn't careful, he might let something slip as soon as he was able to speak again. The cat sat there for a moment, his tail occasionally flicking back and forth annoyedly, before once again loudly mewing.

"Meooooww!"

"What is it bud? Are you hungry?" She climbed down the ladder of her loft bed, walking over to the window where he sat. That was probably a more normal response to seeing a cat.

"Mrrr..."

"Kitty boy, I can't understand you." She ran a hand over his head and lightly scratched behind his ear. Yes, it was a bit weird. She was trying not to think too hard about it. Still, she was curious as to why he came to her. did he want her to go meet Mr. I-swear-I'm-not-Hayato? She couldn't think of any actual reason why he would want that, but it was the only answer she could think of. She decided to test it.

"If you were looking for a place to rest, then you're in luck. I was thinking about taking a walk, so the bed's all yours." She gestured to her loft, carefully watching the cursed prince's body language. "Come to think of it, there was a pretty neat looking lake, maybe I could check that out..."

He quickly stood, a rumble in his chest alerting her that she was right on the money.

"Wow, you break into my room, and you're that glad I'm leaving? I'm offended." She lifted him up by the armpits, which he seemed surprisingly okay with, and placed him on the bed. "I'm trusting you kitty. There'd better not be any property damage when I get back."

Cecil simply stared at her with his large green eyes. ...she didn't trust him enough to leave the fortune telling journal in the same room as him unsupervised. For this reason, she plucked a pencil and pen from her pencil case, snatched up the journal, and made her way to the door.

"Bye cat boy. Don't get thrown out by my roommate." And with that, she left.

Cecil sat on the bed, slightly bewildered. He wasn't sure what he'd expected the angel to be like, but her overall welcoming demeanor was a pleasant surprise. It was a far cry from the fragile girl who had sobbed weakly into his chest until she was overcome by exhaustion. His heart stung at the memory. He wasn't sure what exactly had happened, but he knew that in that moment, she was a lost and confused angel sent hurtling to the earth. Maybe she had always been one. It didn't matter, in the grand scheme of things. What mattered was that she was now untied from any string of fate. An unknown. He was curious to see the path she would pave for herself, unbound by fate.