Thanks for the votes, @Animebay-san! ^^
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN UTA NO PRINCE SAMA. I only own the plot.
CHAPTER 10
A few days later...
Deciding to disregard Tokiya's decision to not give away the culprits' identities, Masato and Otoya did not waste time to inform it to the teachers so that they would come down on them. Their assertion gave a big help to the recording from CCTV since they could spot three-suspicious looking students around the guard shack (probably to steal the keys so that they could lock Tokiya up) and after gathering ample amount of witness' statements, those three attackers were meant to be punished.
Yet, the most trying part was to make them owning up to the grounds of their assault.
"For the last time, you guys... Don't waste our time and spit it out already!" Hyuga Ryuya ultimately snapped at the trio. Normally, everybody would be daunted, enough by his infamous glares and buff frame but this time around, he even needed to go as far as bellowing at them.
And yet...
Toru, a son of a single mother still put on an infuriatingly poker face all the time. His black eyes wandered around the principal's room as if Shining Saotome and Hyuga Ryuya were not even there.
His friend, Rei, was staring at Hyuga daringly. His expression seemingly pestered the teacher to punish them as soon as possible if that would make him satisfied.
And the last one was Gai who according to Tokiya, was C class's the most top-notch student when it comes to acting. But, now only Hyuga knew that Tokiya was right. Evidently, Gai was adroit enough to provoke the teacher or Saotome so that they would jump down his throat by smirking the whole time
These were the faces that no teachers had ever thought that one day, they would be charged for attacking a student. Previously, they never defied any academy's rules, let alone to act like some thugs who would beat others for spice.
"You guys have shown the bad example to other students because when you are being tight-lipped like this, it showed that you guys didn't have any motive to attack Ichinose. Is that true? Is it that hilarious to mess him up until he had to be absent from school? Is it that amusing to ruin somebody's future by attacking his throat when you guys know that he needs his voice the most? And yet, he still forgave you and the fact that you guys are here is not because he told on you guys. Somebody did apparently. He even pitied you guys because he is aware of your family background."
This time, they showed a slightly shocked expression which Hyuga was convinced that they were somehow remorseful for their offence.
Yet, that was not enough to make them talked.
Outside of the principal's room, Otoya was eavesdropping intently as he tried to digest the interrogation but it did not sound clear enough.
"Why the hell didn't they say anything?" He muttered impatiently.
"Oto-kun!"
Otoya flinched as Ringo's stern voice hit his ears. He turned around, feeling slightly nervous to see the teacher's reaction.
"Are you trying to eavesdrop on them?" Much to his surprise, Ringo just smiled benevolently at him.
"Well, I..." Seeing the soft look on the beautiful face, Otoya felt more at ease to share what he thought with Ringo. "Yes, I am. Since they beat my brother..."
"Yeah, I understand. It must be hard to see your family in that kind of state when he did nothing wrong," Ringo supplied as he held a few files closer to his chest. "But, so far, they did not want to confess why they did that to Tokiya-chan. It seemed they were made to be tight-lipped about it."
Someone occurred to Otoya the moment Ringo said 'they were made to be tight-lipped'.
Shibuya Tomochika!
"Auchh!!" Tomochika screamed in pain as Otoya suddenly threw her to the wall. As usual, they always ended up 'discussing' in a deserted practice room, far from everybody else.
"That's hurt, you dumbass!"
"Oh, yeah? How about this?" Otoya swung his hand before slapping her again. It looked like he was possessed by a demon.
"Otoya, stop!" And as expected, Cecil was there, seemingly defending Tomochika but in reality, only three of them knew the truth. "If you exploded because you think that she has anything to do with what happened to Tokiya, just forget it. I already questioned her but this bitch never admitted it. I assumed that maybe she paid them with something that they really needed and that's why those guys were too hard-headed to tell the truth."
"Who are you calling bitch, Aijima Cecil?" The light purple eyes darkened with burning rage when she expected Cecil to protect her from Otoya. "Just remember, Cecil. If you stand up for Tokiya, Haruka is..."
"So, that's how you are going to play, huh!? That's how you are you going to play!?" Otoya grabbed the girl's collar before strangling her. "You will victimize either Nanami or Tokiya in your game!! What the hell is wrong with you!?"
"I hate them! They deserve to be destroyed..."
"What!?"
"Otoya, let her go! If you get violent like this, it looks like you just accused her without solid evidence and you will be in a serious trouble for that. Just calm the hell down and go back to class, won't you?"
And that was when the situation could not get any worse.
"What the hell are you guys doing, huh!?" Hyuga and Ringo were standing just in front of the door, crossed their arms while looking all pissed off.
In this situation, anybody could assume that Otoya and Cecil or either one of them were the one who attacked Tomochika. With her red cheek from being slapped, disheveled hair and school attire and crying face, she was the obvious victim here.
"Are you okay, Tomo-chan?" Ringo softly applied the icy cloth on the said girl's swollen cheek.
"I am okay," every time the girl winced in pain, it took all for Otoya to not hurt her more since she deserved it.
She had ruined his life. She was the one who asked for it so she really looked spiteful now when she ended up playing victim in this situation. She could sit comfortably and cry all day in Ringo's arms while he and Cecil...
They were standing in front of Hyuga Ryuya's desk, ready to be verbally attacked by the fierce teacher.
"Can anyone explain to me just what the hell happened over there?"
"I slapped her," Otoya replied, surprisingly quick and somehow looked proud of his 'achievement'. "I also strangled her. Cecil had nothing to do with this. He was there because he tried to protect her."
"Or to be exact, I don't want him to be punished if he had been too much. It didn't mean that I tried to protect her," Cecil explained, much to the teachers' puzzlement. Hyuga exchanged looks with his colleague, indirectly asking about their relationship with Tomochika.
"They are supposed to be good friends," Cecil and Otoya had to restrain themselves from rolling their eyes as Ringo answered Hyuga.
Good friends, my foot!
"They have been close since the first year, together with Haru-chan, Ma-kun and Nat-chan."
"We love to have Haruka as our friend because she is humble. That bitch... I mean Tomochika just happened to join us because she is supposed to be Haruka's friend," Cecil explained. It was disgusting to admit the fact that Tomochika was their friend to the point of he could not even lie, even to the teachers.
"Did you just call her 'bitch', Aijima?" Hyuga's voice turned creepy but it did not intimidate Cecil even for the slightest bit.
"Yes, I did."
"Why?"
"Because she is not humble like Haruka."
Ringo and Hyuga sighed heavily and almost simultaneously. They knew that Nanami Haruka was too nice with everyone. Despite being talented, she was self-effacing, contrasted with Tomochika who was outgoing and vivacious. Well, Tomochika really had to possess those personality traits because she was going to be an idol after all.
"So, that's why you guys are being mean to Shibuya? Did you hit her because she is not humble like Nanami, Ichinose?" Hyuga asked as he looked daggers at Otoya. "I didn't know that Ichinose family member has this violent side. Let alone you."
Swear to God, that bitch is the first person that I have ever hit in my life, sensei. And for a solid reason, Otoya mentally answered.
But in this situation, there was no way they could tell that Tomochika was the one who ordered the guys to beat Tokiya.
Without risking Otoya's secret to be revealed as well.
"Please talk to us! Don't waste our time! We got your brother's case to handle and you, Ichinose, you should know more than everyone that this is not the right time to attack a girl," Hyuga was this close to beat those two students who used to be really well-behaved. "Fine. If you guys don't want to talk, let me guess instead. By any chance, did you guys try to... Rape her?"
"No!" The three classmates shouted right away but with different tones. It seemed Hyuga was successful in luring them to give the game away.
Cecil looked disgusted to meet the girl's eyes so to think that he was assumed that he wanted to rape the girl was...
Impossible and downright outrageous. He knew he was not a saint but Tomochika would never make it to his list if he was bound to be a serial rapist.
Tomochika was so disgusting in his eyes.
While Otoya... He felt like he was affronted by Hyuga. Yes, he knew that hitting a fragile girl with full energy was malicious but he would not go as far as sexually attacked her in order to avenge on her.
Not to mention this was Tomochika that they were talking about. The girl who he had sworn that he would never let her off.
As for Tomochika, she made herself sounded fraught because she had another plan to gain herself sympathy from Hyuga and Ringo.
"No, Hyuga sensei! They... They did not try to rape me. There was no way they... They would try to do something like that. It's just that..." She pretended to stutter, showing that she felt guilty to confess.
"Just say it, Shibuya!" Hyuga exploded.
"They just care about Tokiya-kun too much so..." Her lips shivered but God knew how she was laughing arrogantly inside for possessing such a great acting skill. "They assumed that I paid the C class students to beat Tokiya-kun because I did not want to be compared with him..."
"You really did, you bitch!" Otoya suddenly snapped and it took all for Cecil to stop from attacking Tomochika again. "You are just a loser who has an insane inferiority complex with Nanami and Tokiya! Why don't you just kill yourself and go to hell instead!?"
"Ichinose, another attempt to hit her, I will not hesitate to bring this case to the principal and we will talk about your future in this school."
That was enough to make Otoya getting a grip.
"Do you guys have any evidence that she was the mastermind of the attack?"
No answer.
"I guess that you guys just blindly accused her, right?" The teacher sneered. "You know how bad can it be when you accuse someone without a proof? Not only it will ruin her image but if she is proved innocent, you guys will be punished and lose respect from others. You guys are going to be an idol. An idol who will be loved and treasured by many people. But if this is the attitude that you are going to show us, we will be very disappointed because you will never survive in the real showbiz. It's not even a joke. Once you make a sin, people will not forgive you easily, you cannot get a job and the worst thing that can happen is you will be kicked out from idol industry."
"I taught you guys for almost three years now and I know how well-behaved you guys are. I still cannot believe that you guys can be this cruel to a girl, let alone to your friend," they had never seen Ringo looked that upset until today.
Otoya and Cecil knew that both teachers were being nice to them. He wanted them to not waste this hard-to-get-chance in order to pursue their dreams but...
They could not care less about their future as an idol. After what had happened that night, their future was finished.
"Sensei, it's okay. I think that they are just emotionally overwhelmed with what happened to Tokiya-kun. I can relate to them. If my friend is assaulted maliciously like that, I also cannot stand doing nothing. I will fight for him."
It took all for both the boys to not smack the girl. Apparently, she knew how to anger them by talking way too much.
Nobody asked her opinion but she just talked too much.
"So, are you saying that you forgive them even they hurt you, Shibuya?" Hyuga was obviously amazed at the girl's 'kind heart'.
"Yes, I do. They are my friends so I know how they usually behave. They are sweet guys who treasure everyone around them so it was normal for them to act reckless when Tokiya-kun was attacked mercilessly like that."
Ringo stroked her long hair as she smiled proudly at his student. "You are such a kind person, Tomo-chan."
"I am not your freaking friend, you bitch," Cecil muttered, enough for Tomochika and Ringo to hear. His hands shivered from being clutched too much.
"Who do you think you are? Who are you to forgive us!?" Otoya on the other hand was more vocal in expressing his indignation.
"Just stop with that attitude, Ichinose, Aijima!" Hyuga's outburst was enough to calm them down. "I am so sick of this! Just so you know, you both are lucky because she already forgave you when she didn't have to. So, to thank her, I want you guys to apologize to her right now."
"What!?" The friends could not help but shouting in disbelief. Being treated like some thugs was not enough and now they had to apologize to her? Shibuya Tomochika? No!
It was the worst feeling ever when you could not prove the criminal's wrongdoing and yet, right in front of your eyes, she or he shamelessly said that they would forgive you and could relate to you who blindly 'accused' them.
It might make you questioned on just how callous someone could be?
"We will never apologize to her," Otoya and Cecil did not know how but just like usual, they always ended up thinking about the same thing.
"I say, apologize to her right now!"
"No," Otoya resisted.
"Over my dead body," Cecil remarked.
"If that's the case, to make sure that you guys reflect on your wrongdoing, you both will be detained until tomorrow morning. You guys are not allowed to go back to your dorm, understood!?"
Surprisingly, it did not intimidate them at all. Instead, they looked rather satisfied to be detained rather than to apologize to Tomochika.
They knew Tomochika would not feel daunted by this. The girl would not go back to dorm and slaughter Haruka afterward because Otoya and Cecil were already there to endure the punishment...
And also to lose respect from the whole school. No matter how long they tried to keep this situation as a secret, it always knew how to reveal itself.
Syo scratched his blond head as he headed for Tokiya's room. Masato's voice lingered in his mind and it was confusing as hell.
'Please tell Tokiya that Otoya and Aijima won't come back to the dorm until tomorrow morning. Otoya already asked Shinomiya to take care of Tokiya tonight but I trust you to monitor Shinomiya instead.'
Which of course would cover the risk of Natsuki feeding his hellish food to Tokiya. So, tonight, Syo was assigned with the tough job.
But, why doesn't Hijirikawa himself nurse Tokiya for tonight? Not that I want to complain but usually, it has somewhat become a rule for him to take care of Tokiya.
"Tokiya, I am coming!" Syo slammed the door open but what happened next was...
Tokiya with his screamingly blue face, looked lifeless while staring at Natsuki who was beaming ear to ear with a spoon of soup in his hand.
Syo knew than everyone that Natsuki and a spoon of suspicious-looking soup was one of the disasters that you should avoid at any cost.
"How does it taste, Tokiya-kun?"
Instead of answering Natsuki right away, Tokiya averted his gaze at the horrified Syo.
"See you in heaven, Syo."
That was all he could think of before he passed out with a spirit desperately wanted to come out of his mouth.
"Tokiya!!!"
The blue eyes desperately opened themselves before scanning around the room. He could see that half of the room was painted dark blue with minimal items while the other half was much more colorful with two guitars hanged on the wall. Otoya's bed was neat...
Wait? Otoya's room side?
He was still here, in his room with open eyes?
He was still alive? How was that even possible when the last food that he ate was Natsuki's perilous soup? Just now, he was positive that this was the end of his life and he would meet his late mummy soon.
But he was still alive.
He was about to look for someone, probably Syo when his hearing was distracted by Masato's loud voice, yelling at someone. Syo who was standing beside Masato looked as angry while crossing his small arms.
Eh, Masato?
"For the last time I tell you, Shinomiya, your dish is disgusting! It could cause Tokiya to die early, you know that!? There is a reason why everybody refuses your dish! Why can't you just get it into your thick skull!?"
"But why?" Natsuki titled his head, feeling ridiculously confused.
"Because they are disgusting!" Masato and Syo burst in anger. It was cute to see the shorter boys yelled at the much bigger Natsuki. It looked more like they were yelling at wall.
"Do you remember the last time Tokiya ate your biscuit? It caused him a terrible food poisoning!" Syo supplied. He knew more than everyone how dense Natsuki could be when it comes to others' feedback on his cooking so he was there to help Masato to knock some sense into his roommate's head.
"But Ren-kun said that they are delicious."
"His taste bud is weird. Don't believe in him!" Masato retorted. "I believe that I taught you how to at least make a decent dish. But are why you still failed?"
"But, I... I ..."
"No excuse! You are forbidden from bringing food to Tokiya. Got that?"
"Masato?" Tokiya's hoarse voice stopped the scolding session. Instead, everybody formed a half circle around him.
"Tokiya/Tokiya-kun!!" The way they approached him made it looked like Tokiya was miraculously alive after being dead for a few minutes.
Oh... Maybe he was already dead but somehow came back alive, his still spinning head reasoned out.
"Are you alright? Do you feel queasy?" When Masato continuously showed his motherly side, that was when Tokiya realized that Masato was there, did not avoid him as usual.
It had been a week since the attack took place and Masato never saw him in his room anymore.
"I thought that you are already dead, Tokiya," Syo was unconsciously overdramatic again.
"Shut up!" Masato shouted again.
"You will make me die easily if you shout like that again, Masato," Tokiya smiled. "Where have you been? I thought that you were mad at me."
Oh, crap! I should have not been near him! I guess that I am too worried about him to remember my promise with Otoya.
"I... I am just busy..." He quickly stood up. Out of panic, his elbow hit Syo's innocent nose but Masato was too anxious to say sorry.
"Hijirikawa... How dare you..." Syo mumbled in pain as he touched his red nose.
"Woah, Syo-chan! Are you okay?" Natsuki asked.
"I guess that you are getting fine, right? You have Kurusu and Shinomiya to help you so I will excuse myself first," Masato remarked before scurrying away like a cartoon character.
"Hey, wait!" Tokiya shouted again but Masato was too fast to be stopped.
"Oii!! Say sorry to my innocent nose, Hijirikawaaa!" While holding his victimized nose, Syo sought the justice. "This guy is unbelievable... Hitting me with such a sharp elbow..."
"What happened to him?" Natsuki asked. "Why is he in such a rush?"
"That's what I want to ask," Tokiya answered.
"Come to think of it, I believe that you are supposed to be mute, right, Tokiya?" Syo remarked. "You even shouted just now. Did it hurt your throat even more?"
"Considering how Masato acted around me and how Otoya did not come back to dorm tonight, do you think I am going to shut my mouth?" Tokiya said, bitterly.
"Yeah, you got the point there," Syo sighed.
"Speaking of Otoya-kun and Cecil-kun, do you think they looked weird today? No, not only today. They are always weird," Natsuki pointed out. "They suddenly have something up together. They always did not include Masato-kun and me in their conversation and they..."
"They seem to resent Shibuya. Is that what you wanted to say?" Syo added.
"Yeah," Natsuki softly nodded.
"What do you guys mean?" Tokiya asked as he thought that it was so sudden to hear such gossip.
"Otoya always glared at Shibuya for no reasons. And you know what is the most shocking thing today? I heard rumour that the reason why he and Cecil cannot come back to dorm tonight because they are in detention."
"And maybe because Cecil-kun and Otoya-kun did something to Tomo-chan," Natsuki added. "Before they both suddenly disappeared and were absent for the rest of day, Otoya-kun asked Tomo-chan to follow him somewhere. Shortly after that, Cecil-kun also went out of class. Masato-kun and I were worried about them so we tried to ask Ringo sensei but he seemed hiding something. After Otoya-kun asked me to take care of you tonight, I asked him where did he go but he did not reply me."
"And during the lunchtime, Nanami told us that Tomo-chan had to rest at dorm since she was injured. Don't you think it's suspicious, Tokiya?" Syo remarked. "And do you remember when you talked to Otoya about the practice? This happened before the attack..."
"So, do you have plan this evening, Otoya?" Tokiya asked as they met right after class.
"No. Why?"
"Then, do you want to brush up your singing a bit? You know, there is a part lacking in your 'Smile Magic'..."
"You... You want to teach me?" The ruby eyes lightened up.
"Yeah. Why do you look so surprised, though?" Tokiya raised his eyebrow as he chuckled.
"No, it's just that..."
"Tokiyaaa!" Out of nowhere, Syo ran towards them, all excited to see the blue head. "Today is the day, right?"
"Yeah, of course."
"What day?" Otoya asked.
"He will join us for the practice too. He keeps asking me to help him with his singing but I am only free this evening. So, today... How about at three o'clock?"
"Yeah, of..." Syo was about to agree right away when he could see that Otoya was looking daggers at him. Something that he never received from the used-to-be-genki redhead.
What's wrong with this dude? He never looked at me like that, Syo stepped back, as if Otoya's look could kill him. He always thought that he and Otoya were friendly to each other.
At least before Otoya disappeared strangely, they were really chummy to each other.
"Are you in, Otoya?" Tokiya reconfirmed.
"Eh? Sure."
"Syo?"
"Eh? Em... No, thanks. I suddenly remember that I have a plan with Natsuki today. So, see you guys soon, byeee," the small boy immediately left those two siblings, much to Tokiya's bewilderment.
"What's wrong with him?"
Both Tokiya and Syo did not realize that they muttered the same thing, referring to the said boy and Otoya respectively.
"He scowled at you?" Tokiya's eyes sized up. "Why would he do that?"
"I don't know. Don't ask me," Syo remarked. "He seemed resents anyone who spends more time with you so that's why he glared at me and if Natsuki's true about he doing something to Shibuya, I think that makes sense since Shibuya always practiced singing with you."
"I think Ikki is psychologically disturbed," without anyone realized, Ren was already sitting in their circle, twirling a rose. "When I bumped into him a few times, he laughed and cried by himself."
1...2...3...
"Woahhhh!!" Natsuki, Syo and Tokiya shouted in chorus. It was like they just saw a strawberry blond ghost unabashedly joined their conversation.
The volume of shout was enough to make Tokiya coughed, gasping for oxygen.
"Woah, Tokiya! Are you okay?" Syo quickly stroked Tokiya's back. "When are you here, Ren? You almost made all of us passed out, you know that!?"
"What? All I did was silently taking part in the circle with you guys..."
"That's the wrong part about that!"
"But, Ren, what do you mean by that?" Tokiya asked.
"Oh? About your brother?" Ren turned out serious as he took out another rose to twirl around. It took all for Tokiya to not scold the playboy for making a mess in his room. "Well, you see... Ikki was used to be so cheerful and friendly. But now, after his disappearance, he is always spaced out and it seems his attention only revolves around you, Icchi. And oh, before you can say that he is your brother so of course he will get clingy with you, I have something to say about Hijirikawa too. I come here because the moment I asked Hijirikawa about you, he kept looking daggers at me as if I am trash. I don't want any ink bottle fly to me so I come here to save my handsome face."
"Yeah, another convoluted case," Tokiya sighed. "It seems he tried to steer clear of me nowadays and I am dying to know why. I wonder if he thinks that I am his encumbrance..."
"No! That's not true!" The three blond boys quickly refuted.
"Even he always heaps scorn on you, I have never seen such a loyal friend like him," Syo remarked, followed by Natsuki's convincing nod.
"You don't know how pallid he was when you went missing on that day. That was the most frightened look that I have ever seen from Hijirikawa," Ren justified.
"Then, why?" Tokiya remarked sadly. It was not that he could not survive without Masato but when someone so close to you suddenly acted distant, it scared and confused you.
"Well..." Syo suddenly looked anxious as he met eyes with Natsuki.
"What? Is there something else that I didn't know?" Tokiya asked.
"Natsuki, how?" Syo asked his roommate.
"I think he needs to know, Syo-chan," Natsuki remarked.
"What is it, guys?"
"That night after we found you, is that true that Hijirikawa and Otoya were going to cook something for you?"
"Yes, they were. Why?"
"Well, Natsuki and I eavesdropped on their conversation. We did not mean to begin with. We wanted to grab some snacks but it seemed they both were quite serious in their conversation so we did not want to distract them. We began to pay attention when they mentioned your name."
"Otoya-kun was crying. He said something about... He could not stand with whatever 'this' he referred to. He helped you but it turned out so twisted," Natsuki added.
"And when Hijirikawa offered to help him, Otoya said that everything was too late. Nobody could save him but he asked Hijirikawa to stay away from you. Otoya literally forced him to agree with this," Syo carefully explained.
"But the oddest thing is Otoya-kun said that it is only temporary. When he is gone, he wants Masato-kun to stay beside you no matter what happens. He said something that please don't let you by yourself," Natsuki added.
"Wait, what!?" Tokiya felt his head spinning as he was shoved with such nonsensical information. "What did those guys think they are doing? This is ridiculous!"
"We don't know. We just told you what he heard," Syo remarked.
"You should ask them directly, Icchi. When they know that you know about this, there is no reason for them to deny and they will spill the beans right away," Ren suggested. "And about your brother, I am sorry to say this but he needs help, Icchi. Being spaced out, crying and laughing alone, glaring at Ochibi-chan and Shibuya who are his close friends and he even asked Hijirikawa to stay away from you... That really did not sound Ikki that we know unless something really happened to him before."
Yeah, Ren was very right about this.
Just what did Otoya have in his mind?