According To The Muses {UTAPRI}

19: His Eternity Love

"What? Otoya was supposed to tell you!" Tomo placed her hands on her hips glaring at the male redhead.

Otoya sweatdropped, "Me-chan never seemed to be in good enough spirits. So I never found a good time to tell her..."

"Tell me what? How did it go?" I asked honestly.

Otoya smiled, "You and I placed second." I blinked profusely.

"What? For real?"

"Yup. Kurusu and I placed third." Masato smiled too.

Syo leaned on him holding a peace sign, "And got Most Improved Pair! Double awards baby!"

"Oh wow." My mouth dropped, "And the winner's then..."

"Us." I looked to Ren, "Shinomi and I finished first~"

Natsuki squeezed Ren without warning, "Me and my partner soared farther than we could ever imagine! Couldn't have done it without him!" He rubbed his cheek on Ren's.

Ren sweatdropped, "Hai hai. Okay." He pried himself out of the blonde's hold.

"No way. I mean that's great of course!" I directed my confusion to Tsubasa, "But you guys didn't place at all? Both of your performances captivated the audience!...They were really good." I muttered.

"No. We forfeited." My eyes widened. "After Senpai's performance and you ran away, I was able to tell Tokiya the truth. He and I mutually agreed to disqualify ourselves from the contest immediately after."

I felt the veins in my forehead squeeze together, "What? Why would you..." I stood up, "You guys could have won!"

"You wanted us to win off of your song, Senpai?" My eyes widened again. "At that moment, it was undeniable. What Serena had done was wrong. It corrupted our whole routine and we knew it. We felt it. And when you left, we knew it was the right thing to do."

"Tokiya, was so angry that day, he yelled at the three of them in front of us all." Otoya told me.

Tsubasa came closer to me, "He was practically pulling his hair, stressing over how much he hurt you. He 100%, no 1000% regretted how singing that song made you feel. And he went after you to tell you that. That he couldn't win with your song like that."

I gripped my forehead, "And then I didn't give him a chance too." I could feel the tears stinging my eyes. "He came to do right by me...and I only pushed him away...again!" I was shaking as the first tears fell. "Dammit!" I yelled scaring Aruhi, who had started to approach me.

"KaSakura-chan," Aruhi said in a quiet voice. She seemed to be on the brink of crying as well. "I never got the chance to apologize to you...I was wrong for following Serena's plan. I knew it was a horrible thing to do, but at the time, I felt the pressure of being Ichinose-kun's composer, and I...I didn't believe anything I could produce would suit him well enough." She had removed her tear-stained glasses and was wiping her eyes. "Still it's no excuse, and I hope that you can find it in you to forgive me one day. But if you never do...I have to ask one thing of you." I peered into her face directly, "Please, don't blame Ichinose-kun anymore. He was innocent and all of this. He doesn't deserve to be hated for anything! He is always looking out for the best interest of everyone. He would have not gone through with this if he had known the song was yours, I promise you!" She cried. "Please forgive him, KaSakura-chan! If you forgive anyone, please forgive him! I'm sincerely sorry for all of this!" The long-haired bluenette bowed low.

"I am sorry as well." Tsubasa bowed with her. "Ichinose Tokiya, is a good guy. And most importantly, he regrets singing your song not because it was yours, but because of how it made you feel. He cares about you. He wouldn't have forfeited if he didn't." Tsubasa stood back up, "Please reconcile with him."