ａｎ ｉｎｎｏｃｅｎｔ ｌｏｖｅ
ｌｉｋｅ ｎｏ ｏｔｈｅｒ
『 your p.o.v 』
"So you actually turned them down?"
"Turned who down?"
"Reiji and those other idols?" Tomo-chan asked with a laugh as the two of us walked down the hallway together, Haruka still in bed back at our dorm because she wasn't feeling all too well this morning.
I spared the burgundy haired girl a glance. "I did."
She shook her head. "I can't believe you turned down professional idols just like that- you skipped out on a great opportunity."
Shrugging my shoulders, we turned down another hallway while the rest of the students stared at us as we walked past. "It's not that big of a deal. We talked for a while and came to the conclusion that right now isn't the best time for me to be spreading myself out so thin between school and possibly working on even more songs for their group."
The beautiful girl walking beside myself looked to me with widened eyes. "So does that mean you're still going to compose for them later on then?"
"Yup. Around the halfway point of this school year they'll be talking with Shining about their debut single actually, and that's when they'll bring me up as their composer recommendation." I explained. "Everyone seemed pretty okay with me becoming their composer after I showed them a number of the songs I have been working on and completed so I think everything will go smoothly when it's time for me to work with them."
"I sure hope so." Tomo-chan said as we neared the practice room Masato had told all of us to gather in this morning for our little friendly competition. "What are you going to do about the graduation auditions if you're already going to be working with professional idols by the time the auditions come around?"
I thought for a moment before shrugging once more. "I don't know. Shining will probably discuss that with me when I officially become his new bands composer and that's if he agrees to me becoming their composer in the first place."
"Reiji set this up behind his back, didn't he?"
"Of course he did."
Both Tomo-chan and I broke out laughing at that. With smiles gracing our lips, we entered the practice room and weren't all that surprised to find all of our friends standing about with Masato already sitting at the grand piano, the only two missing from today being Haruka and, you guessed it, Ren.
That handsome blue haired idol student looked to me with a gentle smile as I walked over to the nearby table and began opening up my laptop. "Ready to play our songs?" He asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be." I responded, already knowing what would be the outcome of this little competition we created before he even began playing the piano.
Just as I had called, our friends voted for Masato and so did I. His song was just, better. It flowed a little better, matched my personality better than how my song matched him, and overall his sounded nicer. Even with Otoya voting for me, there was no way I was going to win and I told Masato that after he was declared the winner. That boy is just one amazing pianist and I never stood a chance against him.
I need to work harder if Masato is currently capable of this much.
Just as we were all getting ready to head off to the recording studio to record the songs for our current project, I noticed something. Tokiya's ankle is bandaged and he's limping slightly with every step he takes. The idols have a dancing assignment they've been working on for a couple weeks now and I know the final choreography is due in only a few days now considering Otoya has been panicking about it so how is our navy haired friend going to fare when he's injured? There's no way he can dance on that, right? He might really hurt himself if he does and just bandaging it isn't going to heal it enough in time for the due date.
"Toki, can I talk with you for a sec?" I asked just as everyone was beginning to walk out of the practice room, the seven of us needing to head off for the recording studio now to record our songs.
Otoya stopped to stand beside me as he looked between his roommate and I with knitted brows. "Shouldn't we be leaving ___?" He asked, eyes focusing more on Tokiya now.
"We'll catch up with you guys at the recording studio," I said with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'm not abandoning you for Tokiya." I then mused, laughing as Otoya's eyes widened before he walked right out of the practice room with a bright blush tinting his cheeks.
Tomo-chan laughed as well as she made her way out of the practice room and followed after my red headed best friend. "Someone's got a crush on his composer.~" She teased.
"I do not!" Otoya yelled back.
"Looks like a crush to me." Syo scoffed as he walked out after them.
"A cute crush." Natsuki tacked on.
Shaking his head, Masato followed them out of the practice room last. "Honestly, does it matter if he has a crush?"
With the door finally closed, Tokiya looked to me with a blank expression. "What is it you want?"
Keeping my laptop placed just in front of my stomach, I shifted my weight from one heel to the other as I looked to this stoic navy haired boy. "Remember when we talked back at the hospital over dinner? The night you brought me my laptop?"
The idol student sat down on the piano bench. "I remember, yes. What about that conversation?"
"Well, you said you're work would begin picking up soon and it has just as you said it would; You've missed class a number of times but you haven't fallen behind since I help you with the assignments and let you copy my notes and all," I rambled, not exactly sure on how to bring this up without possibly upsetting my friend.
After what's been happening with Ren, I've been a little hesitant to talk to any of the guys in all honesty. I don't want to say something or ask them a thing and suddenly they get upset and start avoiding me like he is. Even though I'm determined to get back on Ren's good side, it's still scary to think that he might hate me forever if I don't play my cards right and I don't want to possibly put myself in that situation with even more of our friends. But I can't just not talk to Tokiya about this either. It must be hard for him not being able to talk to anyone about his problems here and his struggles and I want to at least offer him a chance to talk to someone.
Now hopefully this doesn't backfire miserably or else I'm going to only talk to Otoya for the rest of my life and give up on making any new friends.
"___, what are you trying to say?" Tokiya asked, obviously already catching on to me failing at words.
I laughed sheepishly. "Well, you see here, I'm pretty sure you're actually Hayato and wanted to see how you're managing handling work and school at the same time?"
There was a beat of silence before Tokiya was sighing as he looked to the wall to his right just so he wouldn't have to look at me anymore. "How did you come to that crazy conclusion?"
"Am I wrong?" I asked.
Hesitating, Tokiya nodded. "You're wrong."
Laughing, I shook my head. "Alright fine, let's say I'm wrong and you're not Hayato. I don't mind if you try to play this off for now as me being crazy or something-"
"That's because you are crazy."
"That's beyond the point here." I reasoned as my smile softened into a look of concern. "Your ankle is sprained and you won't be able to dance as Hayato or present your choreography for your project here in school unless you ice it. You have work later tonight don't you?"
The navy haired boy looked to me for a moment, studying my body language and my expression before curtly nodding. "I do."
"Then after we're done recording our songs, do me a favor and grab an ice pack and rest until you have to leave. No dancing either. I don't care if you're going onto some music show and they ask you to do just that, alright? You can't go pushing yourself when you're injured or else you'll just make things worse." I said, genuinely worried about my handsome friend.
Tokiya glanced from me, to the wall, and then to the piano, almost as if he's avoiding my gaze. "Have you talked to anyone about you thinking I'm Hayato?" He asked coldly.
Feeling an ounce of worry course it's way into my veins, I shook my head. "No. You must have your reasons for wanting to pose as a twin to your idol persona so I'm not going to out you. We're friends Tokiya, I wouldn't do that to you."
"Then why bring this up in the first place?" He asked as those deep blue eyes of his finally met my own once more.
I couldn't help but smile at his question. "Like I said, we're friends and I care about you and your health and your happiness just as Haruka and the others do. I don't want you to possibly hurt yourself more because you're so busy with both work and school and you should really have someone on your side here at school, don't you think?"
With another sigh, Tokiya's shoulders fell some. "God, you're too nice." He said with a dejected laugh.
"So I've been told.~" I mused. "Anyways, c'mon Toki, you have to go record your song and so do our friends and I want to listen to everyone's songs! I won't go telling anyone about your secret either so don't worry about that." I then said before making my way over to the door to the practice room and stopping just as I placed my hand on the handle, glancing to my handsome friend from over my shoulder. "But if you ever need someone to talk to or to ask for advice, I'm here for you."
The navy haired boy stared at me for a moment and then stood up, trying his best to follow me out of the practice room without placing too much pressure on his hurt ankle while also not appearing to be limping too much.
Walking side by side, we made our way down the hallway together. Students stared at us as we walked passed just as they always do, their lingering gazes no longer that annoying considering this has become our norm over these last few months attending Saotome Academy. Though I guess between the two of us, Tokiya is far more equipped at handling their stares. He is an idol after all.
"Do you think Ren will be present for this recording?" Tokiya suddenly asked, the question catching me off guard completely.
I looked to him with a smug smile. "And here I thought you didn't care about Ren?"
"I don't," this navy haired boy responded without hesitation, "though if he shows up and sings, I will have even more competition to deal with."
"Oh you know you love him just as much as I do." I said with a bright laugh. "And as for if he'll show up or not, I'm hopeful but I don't think he will. He hasn't talked to me or anyone else for that matter and Masa says that he doesn't even go back to their dorm room most nights- I doubt he'll come for a recording session."
Tokiya shook his head. "I still can't believe you chose him as one of the two idols you wish to write a duet for yesterday."
"What can I say, I'm a sucker for smooth and heart melting voices." I teased.
Tokiya chuckled some at that. "You honestly don't want to see him flunk out, do you?"
The two of us turned down another hallway, the recording studio already coming into view now. "Of course not. I don't want to lose any of you if I don't have to. We're friends after all and friends don't abandon each other when they're going through a tough time."
"A heart of gold."
"Oh shush you."
Chuckling, Tokiya held the door to the recording studio open for myself. Syo was already inside the recording area by the time we walked in, warming up his voice some before the track to his song began to play through the speakers and his headphones. Otoya ushered me over to his side just as the short blonde in the recording booth began to sing. I glanced over to Ryuuya and Ringo and offered them a smile accompanied by a small wave, the two of them smiling and nodding back as their hello's.
Syo's song was actually really well made and his lyrics were just as good as the composition. Natsuki's song was better in my opinion simply because his voice resonated more with the song, though his lyrics were lacking a little when compared to Syo's. Ren didn't show up just as I had guessed so he was skipped over despite writing down a timeslot for himself. Masato sang beautifully as expected, his vibrato more controlled than when I heard his last song. And second to last to sing was Tokiya, Otoya's proclaimed rival who sounded off yet again as he sang.
Ryuuya looked less than impressed with his performance and so did Ringo, though my classmates seemed to be in awe since they clearly didn't catch on to the fact Tokiya isn't singing with all he has. All they could hear is the navy haired boy's beautiful and smooth voice. Though myself and our teachers could hear the underlying issues with his voice, that there's something there preventing him from truly connecting with the music despite his best efforts.
There's no getting around it, Tokiya is going to be demoted to A-Class if he doesn't change something and soon...
Otoya looked to me with a big grin as Tokiya's song came to an end and the navy haired idol stepped out, the other idol students waiting around looking to our group with wary glances as they realize the song I worked on is up next. "Ready to hear our song now?" The red head asked excitedly.
A soft smile of my own worked it's way over my lips as I met his gaze. "You're confident that it accomplishes everything we wanted it to?"
"Of course! With your composition and my lyrics, there's no way this didn't come out exactly as we had wanted it to." Otoya reassured as he quickly hugged me with his lyric sheet in hand, strong arms encasing my smaller frame as my head is pressed gently to his chest, his heart racing. "Just you wait ___, I'll blow you away with my voice."
As he pulled away from me and walked into the recording booth, Syo nudged my shoulder with his own. "Otoya's really getting close to you." He said with a slightly annoyed expression, watching that red head carefully through the thick glass.
Laughing, I shrugged my shoulders. "Otoya's always been this way with me so I don't think anything of it. We're closest with each other and we do have a deep bond so it's only natural that we love each other so much."
"Romantically?" Tomo-chan then asked.
"No, not romantically." I immediately responded without hesitation as Otoya placed the headphones on his head and gave a thumbs up to the producers to start his song. "We're close like family, though we don't see each other as brother and sister either. I know we're close and we hold our relationship above all else, but I also know that from my end of things, I don't love him romantically."
"And what of Ittoki?" Masato asked softly. "Do you believe he loves you in a romantic sense?"
Thinking for a moment, I looked to Masato with a small smile from over my shoulder. "That's a mystery." I mused.
The entire room went quiet as my composition began to play through the studio, the red headed idol student's eyes closing as he focuses on the song. The song itself sounds very sentimental and lyrical and emotional- quite the opposite to both the songs Otoya normally sings as well as a total contradiction to his bubbly and upbeat personality. No one was expecting for an emotional song to be played. It's simply not like Otoya to sing this type of song and that's exactly why he wanted to sing it.
As my best friend began to sing, his eyes opened and focused directly on myself. I can't sing with him, but the composition I created for us speaks back to his lyrics with what I wish I could respond with, a conversation being shared between the two of us despite me not being able to write or sing a set of lyrics in a true duet form. Our friends and teachers seem to pick up on this as well, glancing between Otoya and I as the song continues on.
"We've been through a lot haven't we?" Otoya asked once it was just the two of us off in a practice room in the older part of Saotome Academy, our friends eating lunch in the cafeteria after we had split up from the main group the second the recording session for today ended.
I glanced to the red head with a warm smile, the two of us sitting side by side on the couch placed in front of a set of two large windows. This practice room just like the other one overlooks the large lake many of us sit at and gaze upon, though there's no grand piano here so we must be in a different practice room from the one Masato had asked me to meet him in two days ago. "We've been through a fair amount of things." I agreed. "But everyone goes through their own hardships, we just went through ours at a very young age."
Otoya slowly nodded in agreement. "Do you ever think about her..?"
"Who? My mother?"
"Yeah."
"I do," I admitted, "every now and again I'll remember her when something familiar shows up. I can't remember her well now though. I don't remember what she looked like, how her voice sounded, or much to any of the time we spent together so I don't think about her all that much. But I do remember how happy she made me."
Grabbing my hand closest to him, Otoya interlaced our fingers as he pulled the hand he's holding to rest on his thigh. "You know I never knew my father and I barely remember my mother now, but while I was writing the lyrics to our song, I couldn't help but remember her a little bit." He said softly. "There was one thing she used to tell me a lot before she died in that plane crash, that I should never stop smiling. I don't think she understood how difficult it is to always smile though, you know?"
I hummed in agreement as I softly squeezed his hand. "Life isn't always just happy moments with no bad coming our way so I don't think your mom wanted you to always smile, I think she just didn't want you to lose your smile."
"you think so?"
"I'm sure."
The red head beside me laughed as he placed his other hand over my own that he's holding. "I guess with you here by my side, I'll never lose my smile." He said honestly.
My heart swelled at his words and I found myself unable to do anything but return his smile.
We spoke for quite some time before we realized we had been in the practice room alone for nearly two hours now, lunch clearly over by now though it's not like we had classes today to begin with so there's no harm being done in the two of us sneaking off with each other. It's rare that we get free time to just talk with one another without our friends nearby to keep us company so having Otoya all too myself is a nice change from our norm. Though as we grow quiet, something feels different.
It's not like our friendship has changed, that feels the same as it's always been. We're still the two best friends we've been since we lived in the orphanage together. But as we sit here beside on another on this couch, our fingers still interlaced as we simply enjoy the comfort that the other brings, it becomes blatantly apparent that something has changed in our dynamic since we first came here to study at Saotome Academy.
With me being deep in thought, I didn't have a moment to truly process what was happening as Otoya leaned down and easily captured my lips in a sweet kiss. My eyes widened when I finally realized what was happening. My best friend is kissing me. Just like that, everything and yet nothing at all between us changed.
"What if I told you that I love you?" Otoya asked, his forehead resting against my own while we sit in this quiet practice room alone together.
"I'd say you're crazy." I responded at nothing above a whisper.
Laughing, the red head pulled back from me without ever letting go of my hand. "You're not wrong. I know it's a rule to not fall in love, but I can't help it. I had to tell you how I feel at least once."
I looked to my best friend incredulously. "You mean to tell me, you're in love with me?"
Otoya grinned. "Y-Yeah, I'm in love with you ___."
"You really are crazy."
"I know."
Glancing to the red head, I shook my head some. "We can't be together, you know this don't you?"
Squeezing my hand, Otoya nodded. "For now. But maybe when we're old and I'm no longer in the entertainment business, we can live a happy life together."
"Maybe." I murmured in response. "I still can't believe you love me." I then said in disbelief with a small laugh.
"Well, do you love me?" He asked back with a warm and bright smile that easily lit up the entire room.
Looking to him, I rolled my eyes. After that kiss, I don't know how I feel about Otoya. I was so sure that I had no romantic feelings towards this cutie when our friends had brought this up earlier, but, I guess I was wrong wasn't I? "C'mon Otoya, let's just go grab some food and drop this discussion."
Otoya pouted as he easily pulled me to stand up as if I weighed nothing, grabbing my laptop with his free hand while our linked hands remained with our fingers still interlaced. "But I want to know if you like me back- that's just being mean if you don't at least give me something."
"Alright, I don't hate you."
"That's not what I wanted you to say!"
Laughing, we walked down the hallways of Saotome Academy hand in hand, both of our hearts growing closer despite us both knowing we can't truly ever love each other.
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When you just casually plow through a chapter that's lowkey important to the plot but you hit writers block yesterday and struggled while trying to write the entire thing lolololol end me
Question of the Chapter: Were you surprised that Otoya suddenly confessed at the end of this chapter? How do you think this will affect his relationship with the protagonist from this point forward in the upcoming chapters? And how do you think the other characters will react when they find out Otoyan confessed (if they ever find out lul)? :3 I'm going to hell for writing this chapter lmao just a casual "hey I think you're Hayato" and then bam there's an Otoya confession right at the end for all you Otoya lovers out there xD what am I doing with my life oml
You know you're doing good when you're editing an Utapri fic while listening to Brothers Conflict character songs lmao Anyways! This was a weird chapter to write because for the first 2.5K words or so, I was really struggling on how to write what I wanted to write and I'm pretty sure you all can just feel that I was struggling (or I'm overthinking this and nobody other than myself will ever see that I failed at this chapter lmao) but omg the ending with Otoya is cute and it actually flowed really well and I really love that red head even though I still despise getting his cards in the Shining Live rhythm game lmaO sry Otoya but I need me more Rei-chan and Camyu cards.~ <3
I love each and every last one of you lovely cuties and thanks so much for taking the time to read this chapter <3
~ ｋａｔ ♡
p.s. okay but seriously, if they ever implement a card trading system among friends into the Utapri Shining Live rhythm game, I'll trade all of my Syo, Cecil, and Otoya UR/SR cards for QN and Ren cards lul i'm not joking either.