"And the winner is..."
The people in the BLACK or WHITE venue, the people in front of their home TV screens, and the people watching from live viewing screens in the busy cities were focusing on the number of votes on stage on top of each idol that was going up rapidly.
Once the numbers came to a stop, Mr Shimooka excitedly announced the winner right away.
"IDOLiSH6!!!!"
The main spotlight went to IDOLiSH6. The group was stunned for 3 seconds before the members started looking at each other's faces as a reality check. They then jumped and screamed in happiness. Everyone gathered around their young centre, Izumi Iori, and gave him a caring head pat. "We did it! We WON!" Nagi shouted. Mitsuki could not stop his tears.
"Thank you, everyone. Really, thank you!" Iori grabbed the mic and spoke before the 6 of them joined hands and together bowed to the fans.
The second place went to Kujou Riku, followed by TRIGGER. The votes were very close. Riku bit his lip in frustration. At the same time, the boy was happy for I6. The fans had proven it. I6 were the best to convey their feelings through their song and those reached the fans' hearts. TRIGGER felt bitter that they lost. Still, they gave everything they had during the performance and they had no regrets. Tenn would probably cry in Gaku's and Ryuu's arms as soon as he exited the stage.
~~
"That rat..."
Kujou Takamasa shut down the TV and smashed his remote control. He was obviously pissed seeing IDOLiSH6 won and not his son. Not his precious product.
The pale-faced man raged. "You have crossed the line, Nezumi Iori. You leave me no choice." [A/N: Nezumi means rat Japanese]
"You will regret starting a war with me!"
~~
"Kujou!!"
The cold female manager pulled Riku's shirt on the chest violently with both hands as soon as they got to their prep room. Then she pushed the boy away, making his back hit the hard wall. Riku yelped on impact and he started coughing. Riku leaned on the wall, put his hand on his chest and drew in deep, loud breaths. Not only he was tired from dancing on stage, but the pressure from his manager was also crushing him. That woman was probably scared. Scared about what Takamasa would do to her. She just had to take it out on Riku. It was truly an ugly cycle.
Riku wanted to cry. The sadness grew as he felt he had given everything he had on stage. He deserved some praise regardless of the outcome. He wanted them. The boy could only imagine that Iori and Tenn would hug him. Riku tried so hard to hold back his tears. He let himself flop to the floor and fought the pain of not being able to take the air into his lungs fully.
The manager went to grab Riku's bag, which had his medications and threw it to the boy. It nearly hit him. The opened bag landed on the floor next to Riku and the contents were scattered everywhere. "Ugh, I'm outta here. Deal with your annoying illness yourself!" The manager slammed the door loudly and stormed off.
Riku searched for his inhaler, which was luckily nearby. Annoying illness. That really hurt. It was not his fault that he was ill. Once his attack calmed down, Riku put his arm on his forehead and sobbed quietly.
~~
Tenn's head was buried in his hands. He said he needed a moment to cry so Gaku and Ryuu also used this opportunity to process their thoughts. Anesagi being their manager could not help shedding some tears. She knew her boys worked really hard and they at least deserved to hear that she was proud of them. She was hoping the president will not be too harsh on them when they face him.
A moment later, Tenn tugged on Gaku's shirt sleeve, "Gaku... I want a whole cake". Gaku turned to face the young centre before embracing the boy. "Alright. Brat, you can pick your own today." Then he looked up at Ryuu. "Let's celebrate our loss tonight." Ryuu nodded. Together they laughed. The bonds they shared shone especially brightly during the toughest of times.
I6 was promised a hotpot party at the agency and they were all excited to toast to their huge success. One member after another was stepping into the agency's van. When it was Iori's turn, he stopped. His mind felt heavy. "Mina-san, I-"
"You want to see Riku, right?" Yamato said this while relaxing in his seat, dreaming about several cans of beer he was about to get to drink. "Go, Ichi, we'll wait."
Iori's eyes went wide as the others nodded in approval. "Thank you, everyone." Iori bowed and dashed back into the hall.
"Riku!" Iori knocked before opening the door. He was panting from running and searching for Riku's prep room. He closed the door and rushed to the boy who was sitting on the floor, hugging his knees.
"Riku..." Iori sat down in front of the solo idol and reached out his hand to caress Riku's cheek. "Are you okay?" Iori's eyebrows dropped with worry.
"Yeah..." Riku refused to look up. He knew he was a mess and he did not want to ruin Iori's night, or rather, I6's night of happiness. "Congrats."
Iori sighed. "Riku, look at me." He shuffled in closer to Riku and touched his left shoulder. "Please."
Hearing Iori's gentle request, Riku looked up slowly. Immediately, Iori used this chance to press his lips against Riku's. He then whispered, "You did well. You did very well tonight."
The redhead hugged Iori tightly. Of course, Iori returned it. "Thank you!" Riku sobbed lightly. It was just a simple sentence, yet he was hoping to hear someone say it to him. He felt so much better when those words came from Iori. After a while, Riku pulled away "I'm really okay, Iori. You should go. Tell I6 that I say 'congratulations' okay?"
"Alright. Text me when you get home" Iori smiled at the older boy. When he was getting up, Riku stopped him by pulling his arm. "Wait!" Iori stopped as he saw Riku look away for a second with a pink face before looking at Iori in the eye. "Can I have another kiss?" Iori was the one blushing this time. "F-fine, cu..greedy person." He sent Riku to heaven once more.
~~
After BoW, Riku was still working for the same agency, but as he spent more time with Iori and even I6, he started to become a little more 'rebellious'. He sometimes responded to the fans' calls for him at his live concerts when he was not allowed to. He refused to say some harsh words to other idols when his manager instructed him to do so. There were even people in the entertainment business gossiping about Riku getting into heated arguments with his manager often.
Kujou Takamasa of course heard about Riku's behaviour. He was getting more and more furious every time a piece of information reached his ears. Takamasa believed strongly in influence and power, providing that he was able to have them. Riku was supposed to reach the top with 'his management'. Riku was his tool for him to achieve his dead dream.
"Son, you exist only to be mine."
Takamasa called Riku's manager and instructed her to prepare to put his next plan in place.
"I shall have my control back, Riku!"
~~
"Yaotome, it is a pleasure to work with you again."
Takanashi Otoharu, along with his daughter, Tsumugi, walked into Sousuke's office to meet YaotomePro's president and Anesagi. They were planning a collaboration event for the two idol groups once again.
"Of course, now, we have a rather unusual situation" Sousuke stood up and went closer to Otoharu. When Otoharu asked what it was about, Sousuke explained. "That agency wants to work with us as well" Obviously, he was talking about the agency Kujou Riku works for. "It will be beneficial for us for sure but..."
"You don't think they have an ulterior motive, do you?" Otoharu opened his red eyes and questioned.
In the end, both agencies decided to accept the collaboration request, and so Kujou Riku, IDOLiSH6 and TRIGGER were scheduled to practise together for their next big event: Friends Day!
TRIGGER was called to their president's office later that day. When the three entered the room, Sousuke, who was sitting in his large luxury chair, turned around to face his idols. "You three. You have a big event coming up."
"What is it?" Gaku asked without leaving another second for Sousuke to breathe after a sentence. Sousuke glared at his son before continuing.
"Listen to the end before you ask, idiot son. You three are to have a collaboration with IDOLiSH6 once again. This live event, 'Friends Day' will last for 24 hours straight, consisting of music and talk shows. Some other artists may fill in here and there but you and the other two will be the hosts and the highlights." Sousuke spoke while keeping his usual stern face.
Tenn picked up a small detail in Sousuke words and questioned. "The other two? You said we are working with I6. Who is another one?"
Sousuke stared at the three, pausing for a bit before answering. "Kujou Riku"
TRIGGER's faces were full of surprise. They knew Riku's agency was against Riku associating with other idols, so why are they letting him join in now? Tenn was also worried. There was no way Riku could last that long doing the event with his health condition.
When the three were dismissed, Ryuu touched Tenn's shoulder and asked, "Aren't you happy to work with your little brother, Tenn?" Tenn then turned to face both Ryuu and Gaku. "I would be if it wasn't a 24-hour long live event! And what is going on? Why is he allowed to work with us now?!?" Tenn blurted out the worry he had on his mind to the two.
Ryuu tried to look at the brighter side. "Tenn, maybe his agency is going easier on him now"
Tenn was definitely not convinced, but there was nothing much he could do so he decided to focus on the fact that he would get to see Riku more from now on.
~~
"Riku!"
As soon as Yamato guided the redhead inside TakanashiPro practice room, Tenn dashed to Riku to give him a hug. Iori felt a little jealous watching from behind. He also wanted to hug Riku or more accurately, he wanted Riku to hug him.
"Long time no see, Tenn-nii." Riku smiled a little. Tenn refused to let Riku go. Soon, he heard little sobs from the young TRIGGER centre.
"Oi, brat, why get so emotional?" Gaku shouted from the back. As soon as Tenn heard that, he let Riku go and walked to Gaku. The centre pulled the leader's shirt and threatened him with his sharp glare. "How dare you interrupt our precious moment of reunion, Gaku!?" Ryuu had to jump in and do his usual everyday job.
Riku then walked straight towards Iori and pulled the high school student into an intimate hug. "K-Kujou-san!?!" Iori went as red as a beet. Sure, he wished for a hug but EVERYONE was watching them. Mitsuki, Yamato and Gaku smirked. Tenn and Sougo were in shock. Iori pushed Riku away in total embarrassment, making Riku tilt his head in confusion. "Iori didn't want a hug?"
"B-b-baka! We are not alone here!" Iori was so flustered that he did not process his words properly.
"So you did want a hug."
~~
The Friends Day practice started off really well. Because Tsumugi and Anesagi knew about Riku's condition, they carefully planned out the practice and event schedule so that it would not be too hard on Riku. Riku's manager went with whatever the two planned. As long as Riku got his exposure, she did not care about anything else, which was why Riku was here at Takanashi Productions to practise on his own.
Sure, I6 and TRIGGER had seen Riku on stage or on TV many times but none of them had seen Riku singing his own song during practice. His movements were incredible. Despite being clumsy normally, he never made a single mistake during his song. They were in awe watching his performance. Well, until he finished, went to his corner, and stumbled to his bag to get an oxygen bottle. This is why Kujou Riku's concert always leaves around 2 minutes between 1-2 songs for Riku to get backstage and use the medications he needs.
Riku looked like he was fighting for air even with an oxygen mask covering his mouth and nose. "Oi, Riku are you okay?!?" Mitsuki shouted in a panic. "I-I'm fine. This is *huff* normal." Riku explained. He really did end up like this every time after a song or two. Tenn eyed him with a sad look. Riku...
In the evening, when they finished their practice, Riku went downstairs to get some fresh air. Tenn saw a chance to speak privately to Riku so he went to find the redhead sitting on the steps. "Riku."
"Tenn-nii, what is it?" Riku smiled a little when he saw his twin brother but he still had those classic blank eyes.
Tenn went to sit right beside Riku. He took a hold of Riku's arm and played with Riku's fingers. He did not say anything, hoping Riku would start, but Riku was terrible at thinking of a conversation since his emotions were still largely suppressed. Tenn thought What happened to my talkative, lovely younger brother...?
"Riku, you should quit being an idol."
Even Riku was stunned for a few seconds. "Why, Tenn-nii?" He turned to look at his brother.
"If you keep doing this, your lungs will..." Tenn looked like he was about to cry. "I don't want you to be in pain every time you sing." Tenn looked back at Riku with watery eyes. "I can easily support you and-"
Riku cut him off. Tenn swore he could hear the hurt in Riku's voice even though the boy kept his straight face. "I've already been through a lot of pain, Tenn-nii. I'm used to it." Riku then stood up, still looking at his twin brother in the eye. "I want to sing. Please don't take away one of the things that keeps me alive."
Tenn gasped loudly as Riku went back inside. Perhaps Riku could have worded it so much better. Tenn buried his face in his hands and wept.
I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm sorry. I never know how you feel.
I wish I could be there for you, Riku.
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13:00 Thursday! So I'm back with an update. I hope you enjoyed this chapter of some fluff and angst teehee~
Sorry, Tenn T^T I need to stop making you suffer.
Next chapter will be....less angsty? Ehehe~ Kujou Riku has something on his mind, so...?