Promise to Sirius (An Utapri / Uta no Prince-sama Fanfiction)

Chapter 50: First Kiss

Natsuki Shinomiya

"Eto... how... do I do this...?"

Natsuki whispered under his breath, his eyes lowered to the script shown on his phone screen.

"How... do I kiss her?" he asked himself softly, completely unsure how to do this.

It was a bright winter morning, just a few days after the five of them rode the party bus and moved into their new home. Natsuki had woken up earlier than he intended, unable to fall back asleep, only to check his inbox and find an email saying that he and the rest of his band had been chosen to star in a new romance drama, with him being chosen to be the main male protagonist. Shocked that he got chosen for the role, with a cup of freshly-brewed rose tea, Natsuki had immediately downloaded the script and gone through it in the living room, and worry coursed through him when he discovered that he had to kiss the female lead on the lips.

He had never kissed anyone on the lips before.

Neither had he dated anyone.

And based on the script, the main male protagonist was experiencing both for the first time.

So staring at the script, he knew that he truly, truly had to practise if he wanted to do well for everyone, for he was going into this with not even a single bit of experience.

"Eto... so... first... she grabs me by the collar of my shirt and pulls me closer..."

Getting more and more nervous by the second, he grabbed the collar of his own white shirt and jerked himself forward, causing himself to stumble. And as soon as he was done, he gulped, unsure he was doing any of this correctly.

"And then... she kisses me first..." he uttered softly, reading what was written on the script, "and I stare at her with eyes filled with shock and within a few seconds, recover and kiss... her... back, closing my eyes, tilting her chin, angling my head... deepening... the kiss... How... do I 'deepen' a kiss? How do I angle my head... let alone kiss properly...?"

Recalling what the script told him to do, Natsuki reached out into empty air, tried to pretend that he was holding a girl's chin - even though he had no clue whether he was holding it right, which he probably was not - and closed his eyes, trying to imagine the scene, hoping to properly picture what was supposed to happen and thinking maybe it would all fall into place and-

"Pfft!"

The sound of someone spitting out their drink startled him out of the awkwardness of the moment. Blinking in shock, Natsuki spun around, only to find Ranmaru staring at him with his jaw dropped, his heterochromatic eyes wide with what could only be pure terror, and Natsuki could barely bring himself to let out a few awkward chuckles before greeting the older male. "Eto... good morning, Maru-chan. Um... how long were you there?"

"Long enough to be horrified!" Ranmaru exclaimed, clutching a cup of water in his hand as he briskly walked over to Natsuki, shaking his head rapidly. "What do you think are you freaking doing, kiddo? Of all the many things I wanna see when I first wake up in the morning, that - whatever that was - is not it!"

"I was trying to practise my acting for the romance drama that we all just got chosen to star in," Natsuki explained, rubbing the back of his neck with an apologetic smile. "The email was already there when I woke up and um... my character has to kiss someone on the lips and I have not had my first kiss before so I don't really know what to do."

Ranmaru's eyes slowly widened in even more horror and Natsuki hesitated before speaking again.

"Um..." his heart faltered in his chest, "have you had your first kiss, Maru-chan?"

"Uh, I- Oh God..." Ranmaru facepalmed hard, shaking his head, and Natsuki was starting to worry even more. "You know what? Gimme a bit, Natsuki." Natsuki slowly nodded and Ranmaru stormed over to the door to Reiji and Natsuki's shared bedroom and much to his pure shock, started banging on the wooden surface with his fist. "Reiji! Reiji, you fedora-loving sleepyhead! Wake up! We have a freaking emergency and we need all hands on deck for this one, so get out of bed before I drag you out of there myself!"

"Maru-chan," Natsuki began, his worry amplifying with his heartbeat, "it's okay to let Rei-Rei sleep-"

"No, it's not!" Ranmaru exclaimed, shooting Natsuki a look of disbelief as he strode over to the next door. "In fact, he ain't the only one who needs to be awake for this." He started banging on the door and this time, it was even louder than earlier. "Oi, ice prick! You ain't gettin' any more beauty in your beauty sleep, so get up and over here right now!"

Ranmaru was about to head over to Ai's bedroom, only for the door to open and allow the teal-haired boy to step out into the commonplace, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Before you proceed to cause any more disruption, I have been awake for ten minutes doing my personal research when I heard you pounding your fist against other bedroom doors."

Ai turned and his face softened when he saw Natsuki.

"Good morning, Natsuki. Can either of you please explain why Ranmaru is being disruptive early in the morning?"

"You make it freaking sound like it was unneeded, but like I yelled, this is a freaking emergency and we need everyone in this crazy group for this!" Ranmaru exclaimed, glaring at Ai as two more bedroom doors opened, revealing a scowling Camus and a sleepy Reiji. Once everyone was gathered in the commonplace, Ranmaru scowled and spoke through gritted teeth.

"Now. Before any of you ask me what is freaking going on or try and lecture me, here's the train wreck. We have all been chosen to star in that romance drama we talked about yesterday and of all the people that they had to choose to do a kiss scene-" he jabbed a finger at Natsuki, whose eyes widened "- they picked the one person among the whole lot of us who has not had his first kiss before."

Reiji and Ai slowly widened their eyes in pure surprise and realization while Camus frowned deeply, and Ranmaru cursed, clenching his fist as he shook his head again.

"So now will you spare me the freaking lecture," Ranmaru demanded, his tone rising, "and help us prevent this from being a bloodshed of innocence?"

Ai Mikaze

Ai had not expected the morning to begin this way, but considering the lack of predictability of life, especially with this unconventional quintet, it could not be helped. However, despite initially being annoyed that his research had been audaciously disrupted by unprecedented yells and knocks on the other side of the wall, Ai understood why the early congregation was necessary. Romance was not something that could be learned merely by sifting through articles or books or conducting extensive research. The given definitions from the dictionaries sounded relatively simple, but were too vague and did not truly give an understanding that covered every aspect of the term itself.

Dates, kisses, flowers, serenades, flirting and all those other confusing topics...

Love... in the romantic aspect...

Ai would be dishonest if he said that he did not overheat upon being introduced to the various aspects of romance, especially when he was already uncertain and confused about his own emotions as it was back then. No matter how much he read up on the different kinds of dates, kisses and expressions of affection, the research materials only brought him more questions than answers. Therefore, he was absolutely certain that he, Reiji, Ranmaru and Camus were going to take quite the amount of time to teach Natsuki, who was 100% oblivious to how romance worked, the various aspects of the intricate theme. After everyone had woken up - with Reiji and Camus being abruptly jolted out of their sleep courtesy of Ranmaru - all five of them had prepared for the day by getting ready and having breakfast before gathering in the living room with the script downloaded in their respective mobile phones and cups of hot rose milk tea on the glass coffee table. 

Besides the complications in regards to Natsuki's clueless innocence, everything else is relatively simple, with all of us playing characters that perfectly match our actual, normal selves in terms of personality. Our five characters are described to be a quintet of best friends since childhood, with every member of the group being extremely distinct from one another in just about every aspect. And the first part of this romance drama centres around all of them aiding the most innocent of the group, Naoki (portrayed by Natsuki), in his first experiences with romance. In the first scene, they are all seen in their shared apartment, with one bedroom being shared by the characters played by Natsuki, Reiji and me and the other being shared by-

"So for this whole freaking drama, I am sharing a room, as well as a bed, with Camus?"

Ranmaru jabbed a finger straight at Camus, his heterochromatic eyes filled with utter horror.

"Whose big idea is this? I know that this is also a comedy, but the scriptwriter must be freaking insane!"

"You know, if they are making you two sleep on the same bed," Reiji commented, smiling widely, "they may end up writing out a cuddling scene for the two of you!" His grey eyes glimmered with cheekiness as Ranmaru choked on his tea. "Wouldn't that be really sweet, Ran-Ran?"

"Please do not put that disturbing image in our minds, Kotobuki," Camus stated, giving Reiji an icy glare as Ranmaru coughed violently. "Being coerced to sleep on the same bed is already as onerous as it sounds; please do not induce any further distress by suggesting that devastating possibility."

"But you two would be so cute together!" Reiji exclaimed.

"Absolutely not."

"But-"

"Shut up!"

"Other than this unprecedented detail of the drama and the complexities of romance, based on everything that I have read," Ai interrupted before the quarrel could escalate any further, "there is no issue with the rest of the given script, with all five of us having the primary advantage of our respective characters mirroring our normal selves." He turned to Natsuki, who sat between him and Reiji, and smiled faintly. "So if there are no more complaints, we can proceed to handling the main issue of this romance drama."

"Yeap, Ai-Ai is right!" Reiji agreed, nodding in agreement as a bright smile flashed across his face. "This is not just any romance drama, but the romance drama where our dear, precious Nattsun will have his first kiss!" Turning to Natsuki, Reiji wrapped an arm around him and beamed. "Nattsun, we know that you are very new to this and really nervous, but you don't have to worry about a thing! Ran-Ran, Myu-chan, Ai-Ai and big bro Rei-Rei will be with ya every step of the way! So by the time the day of filming comes, you'll be able to nail all the romance scenes, including the kiss scene, with flying colours!"

"And we'll be sure to whack Reiji on the head if he happens to say anything near perverted," Ranmaru added with a light grin.

"Hey!" Reiji exclaimed.

"Rest assured that you are in good hands, Shinomiya," Camus stated with a slight smile, ignoring Reiji's protests. His ice-blue eyes turned serious as he stroked his chin. "However, before we begin, I believe that an evaluation on how much knowledge you have on the theme of romance is necessary so that we know where precisely to start."

"Yeap," Natsuki agreed, smiling gently as Reiji and Ai nodded at the same time.

"With that bein' said, there's somethin' I'd like to know," Ranmaru added, crossing his arms. He frowned with puzzlement in his heterochromatic eyes. "You've been in romance-themed dramas before, haven't you?" Natsuki silently nodded in confirmation and Ranmaru's frown deepened. "So how on actual earth have you not had your first kiss? Just what kind of roles did those morons give you, kiddo?"

"Eto..." Natsuki pressed his finger against his phone, his eyes filled with deep, uncertain contemplation, "I'll try to recall and check what my roles were last time."

Tightening his arm around Natsuki, Reiji scooted and leaned closer to the sunshine blond while Ai peered down at the phone screen, silently formulating his own thoughts. As coarse as his language was, Ranmaru did have a logical point. If romance dramas, movies or series wanted a fresh face for their main protagonist, Natsuki was vividly a suitable fit. Not only was he youthful and bright, but his natural kindness, pure heart and compassion that shone in his personality and his glistening green eyes allowed him to be easily fit to be a pure-hearted and innocent male protagonist experiencing love for the first time, one whom viewers would love to cheer for and who would become a fan favourite. Thus, Ai personally was curious and puzzled himself as to how and why Natsuki was only given the role that required lip-kissing now.

"Oh, I remember that drama! You played one of my favourite characters and you... e-erm..."

As though remembering an excruciating memory, Reiji's grey eyes slowly widened in terror.

"The day the last episode was released..." Reiji visibly paled as he chuckled awkwardly, "... you and your character... made all us viewers cry... A whole lot... y-ya know."

"What freaking role was that?" Ranmaru exclaimed, cursing as his expression grew terrified, and Ai felt the concern intensify in his chest as Camus narrowed his eyes grimly.

"In that drama, my character's personality was so much like me," Natsuki recalled softly, smiling a little. "He managed to confess to the main girl during one rainy day, but she then ran away out of fear and he ran after her. And after that..." he lowered his eyes, wincing slightly, "... he pushed her out of the way of a moving car and... got run over himself."

"Oh God..." Ranmaru paled as Ai shook his head, the latter's concern only growing with each revelation. "What else did those dimwits give ya?"

"The other romance-themed roles I got were..." Natsuki paused for a few seconds, his eyes thoughtful, "the boy who nearly kissed the girl only to be pushed away by the main boy, his best friend, who then kissed her instead..."

"E-Eto..." Reiji smiled awkwardly, stroking the side of his cheek.

"The guy who likes the same girl as his best friend but never made a move or confessed his feelings even once because he wanted the two of them to be happy..."

"I am starting to see a gut-wrenching pattern here..." Camus mused grimly.

"The main character's best friend who gives advice to him but spends most of his time watching romance movies in the hospital while his cancer is being treated-"

"Those directors just love giving your characters tragic fates in romance!" Ranmaru exclaimed before Natsuki could finish, appalled as he smacked a palm against his own face. "No freaking wonder you haven't had your first kiss! They love throwin' ya into roles when the guy either nearly gets his first kiss or never had much of a chance to!" He shook his head rapidly at Natsuki. "And before you even dive even deeper, I can freaking bet that all those characters are basically the kind, clueless and innocent type who get trashed on by fate and other characters alike! And I'm right, ain't I?"

"In other words, roles of characters whom viewers are meant to cheer on with smiles and tears alike."

"Exactly!" Ranmaru yelled, jabbing a finger at Ai. He slumped back against the sofa. "These directors and scriptwriters enjoy being sadists for a living, huh?"

"Well, it did attract more viewers and therefore, more revenue," Camus remarked, taking another sip of his rose milk tea.

"Well yeah, but still, what on freaking-"

"In conclusion, we need to start from the very basics of romance," Ai stated, scrolling down the downloaded script in his lilac mobile phone. "This romance drama that the five of us are to appear in will be the first one in which Natsuki plays a character who has to directly experience romance rather than support or observe others' romance endeavours. And we only have 4 days before filming begins, so we need to ensure that our sessions are effective and efficient. So Natsuki, I would like to start by having you answer this crucial question."

He wrapped his hand around Natsuki's own and looked into the blond's pair of innocent green eyes.

"Natsuki, do you know what a date between two people in a romantic relationship comprises of?"

"A date..." Natsuki repeated softly, a contemplative look emerging in his green eyes as silence overtook the formerly-chaotic atmosphere. "The couple goes to places together, like cafes, libraries or any other place that makes them both happy. They chat, smile, laugh, often share many warm hugs... and they kiss too and give gifts at times." A soft smile tinged his lips. "They do many things and make sure that both of them are happy, right?"

"Yeap, you got that right, dear Nattsun!" Reiji responded, beaming as he pulled Natsuki into a half-hug and Ai nodded with a faint smile. "And that's exactly how your character's first date will go too! He'll do what he can to make sure that his date, the main girl, is having fun too! And his four bros will be spying from afar makin' sure all goes well! Supportin' him, exactly like how we all have your back!"

"Guess observin' did ya some favours, kiddo," Ranmaru commented with a lopsided grin. "Though your thoughts are still way on the innocent side, this will do, especially considerin' that your character is as innocent as you in real life in terms of this stuff."

"According to the script, your character, Naoki, will have his first date with his fellow schoolmate from his music class," Ai proceeded, recalling the prime details of the plot. "As unusual as it is for a new romance drama, they will feature the first kiss at the beginning of the first episode as a tease of future events, so they will undoubtedly film this portion of the drama on the very first day of filming. This brings us to the second important question."

Ai poured more tea into Natsuki's teacup and gave it to him, having sensed the faltering of his heartbeat when his fingers made contact with his best friend's wrist.

"Natsuki, what do you know about kissing? Specifically kisses on the lips?"

"E-Eto-"

"Close to nothing, that's for sure!" Ranmaru yelled out, shaking his head repeatedly as Natsuki rubbed the back of his own head with an awkward smile. "Why do you think was I panicking back when I banged on your doors? I saw him practising that scene and you'd be mortified yourselves if the whole lot of you saw how he tried to kiss the air. It was way worse than my first kiss and considering how much I still cringe at my own memory of it, that's sayin' a lot!"

"Could you elaborate?" Camus requested, a sly smirk curling on his lips. "We would very much appreciate the details."

"Camus, if you freaking dare-"

"Maru-chan did say that all of you guys have had your first kiss before," Natsuki recalled, smiling lightly at everyone. "If you have kissed in dramas or movies before, is it okay if we watch your kiss scenes? Maybe it can help me learn more about how to k-"

"Anything but my first kiss!" Reiji cried out, squeezing Natsuki tightly. "Anything but that, please, Nattsun! My first kiss on television was super, super embarrassing! And not to mention, if we're all doing that, we gotta filter which kiss scenes we show ya too, 'cause, ya know... there are times when kisses lead to other stuff and the show implies such stuff. Err... stuff that you're still too pure to understand yet."

"Like what, Rei-Rei?" Natsuki tilted his head to one side, as confused as he was clueless. Ranmaru facepalmed and glared at Reiji, who chuckled nervously as Camus and Ai all sighed at the brown-haired leader and Natsuki attempted to make a guess. You are truly terrible, Reiji. "More kissing?"

"Well..." Reiji spoke awkwardly, clearly aware of the warning looks being pierced at him, "yes and more."

"Cuddling?"

"There can be that, but that's not what I'm referring to."

"Hugging?"

"That's still innocent too."

"More dates?" Natsuki asked, his voice getting more and more confused by the second as Ranmaru buried his face into his palm and Camus shook his head with grimness evident on his face. Natsuki was facing Reiji when his eyes suddenly widened with pure shock and worry. "Rei-Rei...? Rei-Rei, you're... crying-"

"Nattsun!"

"R-Rei-Rei?"

"Our sweet, precious Nattsun!" Reiji cried out, wrapping his arms around Natsuki tightly as he sniffled and sobbed. "Our warm, pure boy who has kept his innocence as innocent as it can be all this time even as he grows up with us, and... he'll have his first kiss in a romance drama and we'll all be there to watch it unfold before our very eyes! All while not knowing what we know about how dirty the world of romance can be... You're so precious, you know... that my heart can't take how it's overflowing."

Reiji tightened his arms around Natsuki as tears rolled down his cheeks.

"You're doin' us all proud, Nattsun. You're makin' us all so, so proud, ya know."

"I can't believe this..." Muttering the words aloud, Ranmaru was visibly stressed and incredulous as Ai rubbed his right temple and Camus slowly shook his head, with Natsuki's eyes wide open before easing into a warm smile as he returned the crying brunet's hug. The silver-haired rocker turned his head to face Camus and Ai and spoke again. "You see why we needed the wake-up-call in the morning? Romance is as overwhelming as it is freaking ridiculous! And look, now it's even got Reiji in tears!"

"After Reiji has calmed down from his emotional moment," Ai suggested as he ran a hand up and down Natsuki's back soothingly, a small smile formed in his own chest despite the absurdity of the situation, "let us divert the conversation from the topic of what kisses could lead to and focus on the theoretical knowledge on how kisses work instead. Natsuki had the right idea in terms of watching visuals of kisses on the lips. However, if that is not effective enough..."

Cupping his left chin with his palm, Ai looked at both Camus and Ranmaru.

"Would you be willing to volunteer to give us a demonstration?"

"Are you suggesting that I kiss Camus?" Ranmaru shrieked, seemingly utterly mortified by the prospect as Camus nearly choked on his milk tea. "No way, Ai. No freaking, freaking way am I goin' anywhere near the ice prick and his lips!"

"I never mentioned that you two had to directly kiss," Ai stated bluntly as Natsuki and Reiji slowly pulled away from each other, although they held hands tightly. "I was referring to solo demonstrations of the movements involved in the activity of kissing, such as the tilting of the head, pressing of the lips and such."

"So you're suggesting that we kiss the air?" Ranmaru demanded, staring at Ai in terror.

"Oh, count me in, fellas!" Reiji chimed in, smiling brightly as he wiped the tears away from his eyes.  "We can take turns doing the demonstration one by one! You, Myu-chan and me!" He blew a kiss in Ranmaru and Camus' direction and winked. "The three eldest bros of this group!"

"Kotobuki, you sincerely have no shame."

"Is that new?"

"Hey!"

"Why is he our leader again?"

"Ran-Ran!"

Camus

For majority of the morning, Camus, Ranmaru, Ai, Reiji and Natsuki rehearsed their parts for the romance drama while concurrently teaching the latter about the various aspects of this complicated topic known as "romance." The typical mayhem persisted over the hours, which was a norm when it came to this group, but despite the struggle, noise and chaos of the pandemonium, the five of them were surprisingly much more productive than Camus initially thought they would be. After the first few major tribulations of romance had passed - with Ranmaru's vehement refusal to demonstrate air kisses - they had come to a consensus to carefully go over the basics of romance, dates and kisses in general, and being the keen listener and learner he was, Natsuki managed well. Following that, they had discussed the likelihood of their director, whom all of them had coincidentally worked with before, desiring impromptu additions and changes to the script, and knowing how this particular director often improvised scripts and welcomed impromptu acting during the filming itself, they agreed that they had to prepare should this occur.

And it was in this junction in which Natsuki's natural personality came through amidst his acting and worked as an advantage with it being a main part of his charisma.

"Can I... can I kiss you...?"

Natsuki rubbed the back of his head with a shy smile, his green eyes glistening faintly.

"I-It's okay if you don't want to, but... even the thought of it... is making my heart glow like stars, and that's... what a first kiss feels like, r-"

"So the rumours were true."

Having grabbed the younger blond by the collar of his white shirt, Camus tugged him closer and smirked, a myriad of thoughts occupying his head at this one fleeting moment as Natsuki let out a quiet gasp. He would sincerely have much preferred to be one of the three who observed rather than temporarily play the role of the heroine for the sake of this activity, but due to losing in a brief round of rock-paper-scissors against Ranmaru, Ai and Reiji, he ended up having no choice but to comply. However, he had to demonstrate his prim professionalism - despite his dignity being on the line thanks to the absurdity of this role - and as embarrassing as this entire ordeal was, he could make absolute use of this practice to teasingly fluster the innocent sunshine blond during this new experience in romance, and so he would - wholeheartedly, for that matter. His lips curling slightly more, he leaned in and spoke into Natsuki's ear, lowering his voice.

"So it is truly your first kiss, Naoki." His voice was deep and low, baritone.

"Yeap, but-"

"No 'but's, love." Camus' smirk darkened as he pulled away to stare directly into Natsuki's eyes. "I recall that you were the one who initiated this dangerous phase, correct? And the fact that you have never had your first kiss only thrills me even more, much akin to the caramelising of a tender sweet, do you know?"

"So... Akari-chan..." Natsuki's eyes were wide with emotions, as surprised as they were pure with hope, "... you're okay... with us having a kiss... now?"

"Have I not made it clear?"

Chuckling, Camus smiled gently, placing his other hand on the back of Natsuki's head, and felt the younger blond softly place his hand on Camus' hand on his collar.

"Come closer, dear, and we shall-"

"Pfft!"

"... Kurosaki."

"No, don't stop, you two!" Ranmaru exclaimed amidst hysterical, ludicrous laughter, shaking his head as he guffawed loudly despite Camus' icy glare, burying his face into his palm as his shoulders trembled. "Camus, they should have given you the role of Natsuki's love interest; it would have been a freaking masterpiece! Just imagine: you and Natsuki going on dates, with you being the demanding and arrogant prick who has a soft spot for his lover and Natsuki being the bright, innocent one of the two - that's a legit power couple, alright! Camus and Natsuki... that's pure genius!"

"OMG, Myu-chan!" Reiji cried out, squishing Ai in his arms as his body shook with laughter. "We all knew you didn't wanna play the role of the girl in this practice, but you looked so into it! Nattsun, big bro Rei-Rei's super proud of you for standing your ground as the shy, pure protagonist! It really looked like you and Myu-chan were the right fit! But seriously-" he was momentarily cut off by his own laughs "-Ran-Ran's right; Myu-chan should have been cast as the love interest!"

"... Shinomiya. Do you know a prime advantage of being as naive and innocuous as you are in regards to romance?"

"Nope, what is it, Myu-chan?"

"The fact that you are not drunk on asinine possibilities like these two imbeciles."

"Eto..." Natsuki smiled awkwardly as Camus focused his glare on the two aforementioned imbeciles and Ai sighed with a small smile, "but... did I do okay, Myu-chan?"

Despite his utmost irritation towards the two extroverts of this colourful quintet, Camus turned to Natsuki and gave the younger blond a faint smile.

"Like I previously stated, you are in good hands. And so with that added with your willingness to learn and natural talent, you have vastly improved and thus, did a job well done, Shinomiya. If this progress remains as consistent as it is, you will be very much prepared for the filming. I am absolutely sure of it."

Natsuki beamed brightly at Camus and much to the latter's surprise, pulled him into a tight hug.

"Thank you, Myu-chan!"

Camus initially stiffened, but with a quiet chuckle, he smiled and reciprocated the gesture of affection by placing a firm hand on the gentle blond's back as his ears noticed that Reiji and Ranmaru's laughter was gradually simmering down. Through the multifarious practices, the five of them made the discovery that as oblivious as he was in terms of countless parts of romance, including the less-than-innocent junction that a foolish Reiji nearly divulged about earlier - Natsuki was actually quite impressive when he was required to improvise and adjust to changes in the script. They had all advised him to be natural and simply be himself; the main protagonist, Naoki Sato, was almost identical to Natsuki himself, so if Natsuki could channel his true personality in the character with deep brilliance, then there was definitely no issue. And with his natural sentimentality and creativity, after a few moments of initial struggle, he was flawlessly able to ad-lib as required when they all chose various parts of the script to act out.

"Rai-chan, why is the starlight described to make things more romantic? Is it because of how it sparkles and sheds innocent light onto beautiful love? As pure and white as it is? I don't know why, but the one thought of how beautiful it is... makes me so happy."

With his love for the stars and constellations being brought out to the open, in that particular scene where he was supposed to converse with Reiji's character, Raiden, Natsuki was able to create those lines on his own without a moment of hesitation, fitting it seamlessly with the scene's sentimentality. As much as Camus would have truly appreciated it if Reiji or Ranmaru, preferably the latter, were to play the role of the female heroine to aid Natsuki in his next practice, he was at the very least satisfied, as well as relieved, that the practices and teachings had gone as smoothly as they had. As Camus and Natsuki pulled away from each other, the latter began to chat about their practice, remarking with a happy smile that Camus was amazing when he acted out the heroine's personality, and that was when he noticed that he had seemingly failed to fluster Natsuki nearly as much as he had aimed to.

To his credit, he is the person amongst all of us who seamlessly flusters others with sincere and bright compliments and remarks that he means from the heart, and he normally does not even notice that he is in fact flustering them without trying to.

Camus remarked that he had indeed been attempting to catch Natsuki off-guard and fluster him, and he shook his head and chuckled when the younger blond smiled shyly and with the tilt of his head, laughed and commented that he did not notice at all, as expected.

So if his co-star attempts to fluster him in the romance scenes... may she beware of this boy's cluelessness.

"Our dear, precious Nattsun's really gettin' the hang of it, isn't he?"

Reiji threw his arms around Natsuki from behind and smiled brightly and laughed when he heard his best friend squeak in surprise.

"We've got a whole bunch of romantics in this group and he, just like Ai-Ai, is definitely a sentimental romantic, alright!"

"Can't disagree with that," Ranmaru pointed out, grinning widely as he and Ai approached the three of them. "And if he could hold his ground when Camus was going all out like that, he's gonna be just fine, that's for sure!"

"I sincerely hope that the girl whom Natsuki gives his first kiss to is someone who is deserving of it," Ai mentioned, his lips easing into a gentle smile. "Based on my research, a first kiss is quite the significant event in most individuals' life, with the details often sealed into memory. Natsuki, we know that the girl whom you are to give your first kiss to on the set next week is a stranger, but we hope that she, at the very least, has a warm soul." 

His voice softened with his smile.

"You deserve to have a special first kiss, Natsuki, truly."

"Yeap," Reiji agreed, smiling gently as he wrapped his arm around Natsuki. "In this industry, we may not get to choose who we kiss on screen, but together, we're going to make sure that your first kiss will be as special as it can be, no matter who it is. Honestly, anyone would be super, super lucky to have the honour of being your first kiss 'cause you're a warm, pure soul with a kind, bright heart. Because you're you, Nattsun."

"And if the girl whom you have to kiss tries to mess with ya..." Ranmaru stated with a wide grin.

"You have us to eradicate her memory," Camus finished with a smirk, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He's got that right."

"Guys..." Natsuki's lips curved into a warm smile, pure emotions glistening in his green eyes. "Thank you. Thank you so much. To be honest, this experience is already really special as it is because you guys are all here with me." His eyes glistened brighter as he placed his hand on top of Reiji's on his shoulder. "So no matter what happens on the day of filming itself, this experience is already a bright memory in my heart, and it's because of you."

"Aww!" Reiji squeezed Natsuki even tighter, beaming brightly as Ai and Camus smiled. "That's our dearest, sweet Nattsun, alright!"

"Yeah, that's our kiddo, alright!" Ranmaru agreed, slapping Natsuki on the back of the head with a lopsided grin. He then looked around at everyone. "Now that we've finally made a whole bunch of progress on this romance drama, how 'bout we all take a break and go grab some grub? I'm personally starvin'."

"Now that you've mentioned it, me too, Ran-Ran!" Reiji laughed as he wrapped his arms around Natsuki and Camus. "All that practice sure took a lot out of all of us, alright! If you guys are up for it, how about we go to that new Italian restaurant that just opened a few weeks ago? The reviews said it was pretty good."

"Sure, Rei-Rei!" Natsuki cheered as Ai, Ranmaru and Camus nodded in agreement. Camus had searched it up himself just a few days ago and very much looked forward to trying their signature pasta and milkshake. "Let's all have a hearty and happy lunch there together!"

"Of course, dear Nattsun!"

"Afterwards, as previously agreed upon," Ai remarked as Reiji pulled Natsuki to their shared bedroom, the brunet presumably desiring to grab his car keys, "we need to practise the scenes in which Camus and Ranmaru are required to share a bed together." Ranmaru's eyes widened in horror as Camus sighed deeply, neither of them desiring to be reminded of that. "The two of you need to be accustomed to sharing one, especially with your current reactions towards the very idea of it. Which bed would you prefer to use for this segment?"

"Nattsun and I are the ones with the largest bed as it's meant for two people," Reiji commented as he pushed the bedroom door open, turning to grin at everyone as Natsuki nodded with a gentle smile, "so since Myu-chan and Ran-Ran are sharing a bed, our bed would be the best for them to get into character, right?" 

"... well, the more space the bed has, the farther I can be from the likes of Kurosaki."

"Yeah, ya got that right. So Reiji and Natsuki's bed it is."

"Wha- That's not the point!"

"Ehh? But Myu-chan, Maru-chan, if you are on the same bed together, why would you want to be far away from each other when you can hug and cuddle-"

"Stop! For the love of freaking rock, the whole lot of you are driving me insane!"

"That is quite the odd remark considering that you are blatantly the least sane amongst the five of us. By a substantial margin, might I add."

"And you shut it, sugar addict!"

...

"We have a new update in regards to our script."

"Please tell me that they decided to put me and Camus in two separate bedrooms." Ranmaru groaned, slumping back against his wooden chair as he threw his head back to stare up at the ceiling. "That'd be the best decision they ever made for this freaking romance drama."

"But putting you and Myu-chan in the same bedroom was the best-"

"No!"

"It appears that they merely made corrections to certain cast members' names," Ai said as Ranmaru growled at a playful Reiji and Camus set down his mug of the restaurant's signature hot mocha and Natsuki stirred his mug of hot rose latte. "There are no changes in the script itself, so quite frankly, you and Camus still need to share a bed in the drama."

Ranmaru slapped a hand against his own face as Camus sighed, whereas Reiji laughed and Natsuki smiled brightly.

"Unbelievable..."

"These ludicrous peasants..."

The five of them were seated at a rectangular, wooden table in a private room at the Italian restaurant, with Camus sitting on Ai's left and directly across from Natsuki. Deciding to begrudgingly accept this wretched fate of having to share a bed with this rock-loving dandelion head, Camus added yet another teaspoon of sugar, knowing fairly well that it was going to be mentally draining to practise the scenes with that particular horrendous detail. At the very least, he and the rest of QUARTET NIGHT were granted this momentary serenity amidst their lunch break, as imperfect as it was given the circumstances. As they awaited their meals to be served, Camus took another sip of the delectable drink and opened the email on his ice-blue cellphone, deciding to see for himself what the updates were.

With the fickle of hope that it would not aggravate matters, of course.

"I did have my personal suspicions, but it appears that now they have become actuality."

"What is it, Ai-chan?" Natsuki asked curiously, tilting his head in confusion as Ai narrowed his eyes.

Ai looked up from his lilac cellphone to face everyone. "Do you remember the two cast members that we did not recognize by name and I was unable to find on the Internet?"

"The main girl and our group's next-door neighbour, right?" Reiji inquired, stroking his chin with a thoughtful expression in his grey eyes.

"Yes, and do you recall what the neighbour's personality was?"

"Sure do. Flirty, teasing, annoying, likes spouting out innuendos and dirty jokes that threatens the main guy's innocence, whether subtle or-" Ranmaru froze, his heterochromatic eyes dilating in sheer horror. "No. No, you can't be freaking serious. That role... the person playing that role ain't-"

"The writers made a mistake and put the wrong names of those who would be playing the main heroine and our next-door neighbour on the list of cast members," Ai proceeded as Camus saw the changes on his own cellphone and let out a disbelieving sigh at fate. This is deeply absurd. "The person who is supposed to act as our flirtatious neighbour in the drama is not Hayama Todou, but Ren Jinguji." He sighed quietly as Natsuki and Reiji stared at him in pure surprise and Ranmaru cursed loudly. "If he is a definite cast member, Ren has a copy of the script as well..."

"Which means that that perverted fool is aware of Shinomiya's newest role and is most likely to insert himself into our current catastrophe," Camus finished, shaking his head as Ranmaru buried his face in his palms. He sighed with utmost disapproval. "He will only serve to worsen the chaos. Intentionally, for that matter."

"Ren-kun knows so much about romance, right?" Natsuki asked, smiling brightly as Ai rubbed his right temple and Reiji let out a few awkward chuckles. Ranmaru nearly spat out his drink at the sound of those words. Those clueless, optimistic words describing the orange-haired Casanova. "If he's in the romance drama as well, he can practise with us and we can help one another, right? After all, we're all friends!"

"No, Natsuki!" Ranmaru exclaimed, shaking his head incredulously as Reiji ruffled Natsuki's blond hair with a few light chuckles. "In terms of romance, Ren is the complete opposite of you! Not only is he a playboy and a Casanova, but he's also a pervert who has no problem with slipping in dirty jokes and pick-up lines here and there with how unfiltered his corrupted mind is like throwing flower petals all over the streets of Japan! So no! Let's not invite him over, Natsuki! Please-"

The door suddenly swung open and Camus immediately frowned as Ranmaru cursed.

"And of freaking course he's here too..."

"A wonderful afternoon to you too, Ran-chan, Shinomi, senpais," Ren responded, winking mischievously as he closed the door behind him. "I just happened to come here for lunch and a kind waitress recognized me and mentioned that the five members of QUARTET NIGHT were here too. I requested to be led to you guys and it appears that I came at just the right time."

Ren grinned as Reiji laughed and Natsuki beamed.

"All of you guys saw the latest update for our romance drama, right? Looks like I get to be part of the fun as well."

"The exit is more than welcome to accommodate your departure," Camus stated, his voice devoid of any humour, "so please do leave."

"You're cold, Baron." Ren pretended to sound hurt as he chuckled and stepped deeper into the room, making his way towards the empty chair on Ai's right. "How could I leave when the six of us have such a wondrous opportunity to work together in a romance drama? As a fellow romantic, it is my utmost pleasure to do all I can to charm the ladies out there through my acting, and what better way can there be to do that than to discuss the details with my five beloved friends from QUARTET NIGHT?"

Ranmaru made a strangled noise and Camus shook his head with an unamused sigh as Ren smirked and took a seat. The orange-haired saxophonist from STARISH turned and smiled at Natsuki.

"Shinomi, I saw that you will be the lead male protagonist of this drama and that role requires you to kiss." His eyes glimmered with curiosity. "Say, is that going to be your first k-"

"It is," Ranmaru yelled out before Natsuki could answer, glaring at Ren, "which is why the last thing we need is for you and your perverted brain to mess things up here!" He jabbed a finger at the amused kouhai. "We've spent all freaking morning working on the script and having lessons on romance; don't ruin our hard work with your lack of decency, you sly Casanova!"

"But Ran-chan, you are not innocent yourself-"

"And do I go throwing pick-up lines and innuendos all over the place like you do?"

"It's called the art of flattery, Ran-chan."

"Excuse me-"

"Ren, please do not add fuel to the fire," Ai spoke, quietly shaking his head. "As a self-professed romantic, I am sure you are aware of how complex and difficult romance can be. We are all attempting to ensure that Natsuki's first kiss is a pleasant experience and that he is more than prepared for the day. Therefore, please do not complicate matters for us."

"What makes you think I will, Aimi?" Ren asked with a mischievous grin.

"Ren, can you seriously shut up before I-"

"Nattsun, you look really tense. And afraid too."

At the sound of Reiji's words, Camus shifted his eyes over to Natsuki, who was staring down at his yellow cellphone, his green eyes filled with apprehension and fear. Squeezing his best friend on the shoulder, Reiji leaned closer and gave him a worried look as everyone quieted down. "What's wrong, Nattsun?"

"The girl..." Natsuki answered softly, raising his head up to face Reiji. "The one who is now supposed to be the main female protagonist in the romance drama. The one I'm supposed to kiss. I... I know her."

"Harumi Tanaka," Ai stated softly, his voice laced with concern. Natsuki nodded quietly as Ranmaru narrowed his eyes and Ren's eyes turned concerned. "She is a rather popular actress, having starred in numerous movies and dramas. What is your relationship with her, Natsuki?"

"She was my classmate in high school and..."

His lips twisted into a wince as his eyes tightened with pain, and an ominous feeling rose inside Camus' gut.

"She was also..." Natsuki confessed, his voice barely audible, "one of the people who tore my plushies with scissors and threw them all into the swimming pool before pushing me in too..."

"As if the directors couldn't be any more freaking ridiculous..." Ranmaru muttered aloud, cursing a few times as Camus felt his own expression turn grimmer as Ai quietly shook his head, with Reiji's grey eyes widened with worry and anguish. "I can't believe I'm freaking sayin' this, but if it means that Natsuki does not have to give his first kiss to that piece of trash, I'd gladly comply to having to share a bed with Camus in the drama."

"So would I." Sharing the same sentiments with his bickering partner, Camus nodded briefly, knowing that he himself were to be absolutely repulsed if he were the one who had to concede a kiss, let alone his first kiss, to a high-school tormentor who stooped lower than a human being should. And if he had his way, he certainly would not allow his close friend to give up his first kiss to that unworthy imbecile.

"Shinomi... you were bullied during high school?"

Everyone immediately swivelled their heads around to face Ren, whose eyes were widened with surprise and concern. Camus frowned grimly. Ren was the only person in this room whom Natsuki never divulged the unpleasant details of his high school years to. It appeared that almost everyone had come up with the exact same thought as the atmosphere thickened with tension and apprehension, with both Ranmaru and Ai narrowing their eyes and Reiji's expression worried. Those memories of him being repeatedly tortured as a young boy were a recollection of something that brought deep pain to Natsuki even in the present, and Camus could vividly recall how tears had rolled down the younger blond's cheeks when he confided in the senpais about it. 

As chaotic as our group was prior to this situation, if Shinomiya is not comfortable in regards to conversing about his past with you, Jinguji...

Ren did not utter another word, clearly waiting for someone else to speak as he sensed the palpable shift in the atmosphere.

We will not be humorous by even the slightest bit when we ensure your departure.

"It's okay if Ren-kun wants to stay."

As oblivious as he was in terms of romance and topics closely associated with it, Natsuki was extremely observant in regards to his friends and their emotions. With warmth glistening in his green eyes behind his black-framed glasses, he looked around at everyone and smiled earnestly.

"I know that Ren-kun won't do anything to hurt any of us and I trust him, so if you guys are okay it too, he can stay with us."

"If our dearest Nattsun's okay with it, I'm okay with Ren-Ren staying here too!"

Reiji draped an arm around Natsuki and beamed brightly.

"Whaddya say, Myu-chan, Ran-Ran, Ai-Ai?"

"No objections here," Ranmaru answered, crossing his arms behind his head as Camus and Ai nodded in agreement. "Like Reiji said, if Natsuki's got no issue with this, neither do the rest of us lot." He turned to Ren and his heterochromatic eyes narrowed. "But let me say this in advance. If you let any of this slip out of your perverted mouth to a single soul, I'll be sure to hunt ya down. And I ain't freaking kidding."

"I won't, Ran-chan," Ren assured his assigned mentor with a chuckle, a slight smile forming on his face. "And I mean it when I say that I'm glad to know that all of you trust me that much, just like when all of you senpais let me in on the plan to trap those who had hurt Shinomi last time."

"And as agreed upon, you did not utter a word about it until the plan had been realized," Camus remarked, adding another teaspoon of sugar into his mug of hot mocha. Jinguji may be trustworthy enough, but him being present nevertheless will lead to amplified chaos, "not even to Aijima or Ittoki."

Ren smiled. "All of you were kind enough to trust me and I didn't want to ruin it. Moreover, like Bukky said back there, anything for our dear Shinomi." He turned to Natsuki and his eyes turned concerned. "But going back to what you mentioned earlier, you were bullied in high school, Shinomi? And the girl that you need to kiss in the drama was one of your tormentors then?"

Natsuki nodded, the light in his eyes dimming with sadness as his lips offered a weak smile. "Yeap, Ren-kun. She was one of the main people who hurt me then. I haven't seen her ever since I graduated and got into Saotome Gakuen, so I didn't think I'd see her again but... the script says otherwise."

Natsuki shook his head, lowering his eyes.

"But... for the sake of all of us, for QUARTET NIGHT, I'll do it," he spoke softly, his eyes tinged with sadness but nevertheless earnest. "If it means that I am doing my part as an idol and a member of QUARTET NIGHT, if this will help all of us, then it's okay if I give away my first kiss to her. Even if it'll be really painful, which I'm already afraid it will be, it's really okay."

He slowly raised his head and gave all of them a warm, gentle smile.

"Like I said before, these memories are already incredibly special because you guys are with me. And even though I'll give my first kiss to her, they will remain as special, because of all of you."

Camus, as calm and placid as he was on a regular basis, could not help but stare at Natsuki along with everyone else, sincerely incredulous towards how the latter was still placing all of them first amidst the inequitable absurdity of the given situation. Natsuki was more than willing to concede his first kiss, something that he could only give and have once in the entirety of his life, to someone who had broken him for years that he could never undo, if it would support everyone that he cared about. It was true that being dispassionate about the romance drama because of this detail could hinder his performance, but even taking that into account, Camus was still rather astounded that his close friend and band member was this selfless and considerate. And as moving Natsuki's sincerity was... it was also deeply heart-wrenching. 

Whispering Natsuki's name, Reiji, with his grey eyes filled with warm emotions that were simultaneously tinged with pain, pulled Natsuki towards him and hugged him tightly as Ai got up to approach them and place a hand onto the younger blond's shoulder, a soft but sad smile adorning the latter's features. Ranmaru shook his head with an agonized expression as Ren's face held a pained smile and Camus began to contemplate how to alleviate this experience. Natsuki agreeing to concede his first kiss this way did not mean that they could not do a thing to help him ensure that it was as painless as possible, which Camus knew all of them were definitely hoping to do, especially now that they were at this juncture. Natsuki and Reiji remained pressed close to each other even after breaking the hug and Ai placed a hand on the former's shoulder as Camus crossed his arms and decided that the sooner they had this discussion, the more time they had to alleviate this absurd situation for Natsuki's sake.

 And so facing everyone, he spoke.

"Even though the actress whom Shinomiya has to concede his first kiss to cannot be eradicated in order to grant our wishes, I believe that we can still make the most of our time to ensure that the experience does not have to be nearly as abominable as it can potentially be."

Camus added another teaspoon of sugar into his mug as he proceeded, with everyone facing him now.

"One method would be to divert Shinomiya's attention from the fact that he is, in fact, having his first kiss with that unworthy peasant. Without sacrificing the depth and romance of the scene itself, of course." Ai nodded in agreement while Natsuki smiled faintly. "Does anyone have any suggestions?"

"Natsuki," Ranmaru spoke, turning to face the gentle blond, "for you, kissing just about anyone else is better than kissing that trash, right?"

Natsuki tilted his head in confusion. "Eto... 'anyone else' is too many people and some... may be worse people, right?"

"Actually, ya got a point there, so I'll just get straight to it." Ranmaru folded his arms. "So how about this? Instead of focusing on the fact that you are kissing that girl while you're doing it, just use your imagination and pretend that you are kissing Camus!"

"E-Ehh?"

"Kurosaki." His tone colder than ice, Camus glared at an unfazed Ranmaru as Reiji and Ren burst out laughing, Ai facepalmed, and Natsuki's eyes were widened in sheer shock and confusion. "Could you please come up with an adequate suggestion? Because as absurd as your indecent mind can be, I am rather certain that you display genuine intelligence from time to time, and you suggesting that Shinomiya imagines that he is kissing me is one of the most foolish statements that I have ever heard from you, you rock-loving buffoon!"

"You were the one playing the role of the girl during our practice in the morning, Camus!" Ranmaru retorted, although he was beginning to smirk. The insolence of this fool. "So it makes sense that of all the people that he should imagine kissing him, considering that he isn't in love with anyone as of now, is you, ice prick!"

"Kurosaki," Camus threatened, gritting his teeth, "if you do not stop uttering those nonsensical words-"

"This idea will not be effective," Ai remarked, interrupting the argument, shaking his head. "Even the mere sound of the suggestion is already awkward as it is. Putting it into application will only hinder Natsuki's performance and cause him to struggle with his thoughts more than he already is, so this suggestion will not work."

Camus sighed as Natsuki nodded in agreement. "Thank you, Mikaze."

"But Ran-Ran has a point!" Reiji commented as he wrapped an arm around Natsuki and smiled brightly. Camus gave him an icy glare and the brunet immediately laughed. "No, I'm not talking about the part where Nattsun has to imagine Myu-chan! I am referring to the part about Nattsun focusing on another thought in order to distract him from the fact that he is kissing his ex-bully!" His expression turned thoughtful as he stroked his chin. "The problem is... he cannot divide his attention too much or the kiss scene will lose its emotions and intensity and thus, it'll fail. And not to mention, he will have to retake that scene until he gets it right, meaning that he'll give more kisses to her..."

"I have an idea, Shinomi, senpais," Ren spoke up and immediately, Camus, Ranmaru and Ai gave him suspicious looks. He laughed. "What? I have a contribution to make and it is worth considering. If we could, we would make sure that Shinomi's first kiss does not go to the actress, right?"

Natsuki and Ai nodded and Ren's grin widened, causing an ominous feeling to overtake Camus' gut as he frowned deeply. Jinguji-

"So how about during practice, I play the role of the girl and take Shinomi's first kiss instead? So that the kiss going to girl is not his fir-"

"No!"

Ranmaru was the first to yell in protest, glaring at Ren as a panicking Reiji shook his head rapidly and Ai sighed quietly. As unsurprised as Camus was as he glared at the shameless Casanova that he was the one to come up with such a suggestion - if it was even worthy of being called a suggestion - he was still rather appalled that Ren could say it aloud with a smile. Beside Reiji, Natsuki was staring at Ren in pure shock and disbelief, blood rushing through his cheeks, and Camus mentally facepalmed at the Casanova's absurdity. 

Now I am questioning why we did not ensure your departure when you first set foot into this room.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Ranmaru exclaimed, grabbing a fistful of his own silver hair, as agitated as he was furious. "Just because we don't want him to give his first kiss to his bully, it does not mean that he's gonna give it to you, you dimwit!"

"But I can promise all of you that it'll be a better first kiss than she can give-" Ren started, smiling as he winked.

"That's not how this works, you flirt!"

"I have kissing experience and-"

"No!"

"Why does romance need to be this complicated and perplexing?" Camus overheard Ai mutter softly as the latter rubbed his right temple and the door opened and the waiters brought the main courses that all of the QUARTET NIGHT members had ordered before Ren's arrival. Letting out another laugh, Ren took the food menu and grinned as Ranmaru shot him a dirty scowl and Camus sighed again. Camus definitely made the right decision to place additional teaspoons of sugar into his drink as the time flew by; he was going to need every drop of energy he could have, and it was not just for the scenes in which he had to share a bed with Ranmaru. 

At this rate, I am quite sure that I will need to order another drink. One with a high level of sugar, might I add.

Once the waiters had left, Camus asked Natsuki to pass him the drinks menu, which he gave with a light smile, and skimmed through it thoroughly, knowing that he was not only satisfying his own sweet tooth, but deeply needed it for mental and physical strength in dealing with the situation in hand.

And once I receive it, I will add even more teaspoons of sugar, as required.

"If I am allowed to stay here..."

Ren's lips curled into a cheeky grin.

"Does that mean that I get to join practice too?"

Ranmaru could only smack a hand against his own face as Ai and Camus breathed out a heavy sigh and Natsuki and Reiji chuckled awkwardly.

I shall also request for more sugar to be added into the drink in advance. And yet even that does not feel sufficient enough now that Jinguji is present. Mikaze, perhaps it is not only romance itself which is perplexing and complicated.

Camus pressed the Order button, mentally shaking his head repeatedly as Ranmaru's hand slid down his face.

It is the cast of individuals involved that determines the level of chaos potentially attained and with this quintet in addition to Jinguji... a pandemonium is not only guaranteed... but more than guaranteed.

"Is it possible for Nattsun to maybe fall in love by the time this week ends?"

"I doubt that will happen, Reiji."

"How about we try blind dates, Bukky-"

"No, you dimwit!"

... the level of ridiculousness... was astonishing. Truly astonishing. Camus shook his head and began eating his truffle cheese pasta as Ranmaru shouted at a laughing Ren and Ai began a lecture about the lack of reliability of dating applications and the probability of chaos in blind dates, grateful that the restaurant was truthful in regards to this room being a "private" one, with the walls being soundproof enough to prevent outsiders from hearing the chaos engulfing the room.

When the waiter finally arrived to take his order, Camus smiled politely as he requested that they added as much sugar as they believed was still considered a healthy dosage. An understanding Natsuki added more teaspoons of sugar into the remainder of Camus' mocha and the Permafrost baron sighed with a slight smile, glad to be not the sole serene person in this room.

For now, that was.

Reiji Kotobuki

"So the meeting still ain't done?"

"The staff members had not come to knock on the door, meaning that it has yet to conclude," Ai answered as Ranmaru slumped back against the backrest of the brown sofa. "This is strangely unprofessional of the director and scriptwriters. Having worked with this group before, I know for a fact that they are normally punctual and more than prepared to begin once everyone has congregated. So there may be an internal urgency happening amongst them."

"At least that kinda stalls us from needin' to film the scenes that we are definitely not looking forward to," Ranmaru remarked, cursing softly. "Though on the other hand, it'd be great to get them over with as soon as freaking possible."

"But either way, we all worked super, super hard to get ready for today," Reiji chimed in, giving everyone a light smile. "We practised so much for everything, even the ones that were not exactly the most painless for us."

Reiji turned to face Natsuki and his smile softened.

"But really, Nattsun... it was incredibly kind and selfless of you to be so willing to give your first kiss to that girl. If I were you right now, having seen her in person like that just now... I really wouldn't be nearly as calm as you right now. That's me bein' real honest."

It was the first day of filming the romance drama that they would be starring in. The five of them were all given a trailer of their own to wait in, and that was where they were, with Reiji, Ai and Camus sitting on the brown sofa and Natsuki and Ranmaru seated on the grey sofa across from them. While Ren was still on the way having finished a photo shoot later than expected, the five of them had arrived early and coincidentally ran into Natsuki's high school bully, Harumi, whom he would have to kiss onset. At one point in time, Natsuki had tried to be optimistic, saying that maybe she had changed and become a warm and kind person after all those years of not seeing her in person. However, once their eyes met, Harumi had smirked and taunted Natsuki, unveiling her callous, scornful self that she had hidden behind a polite, welcoming and cheerful facade that she showed to the staff members. 

So am I the one who shall have the honour of being the first to kiss your lips, Natsuki-kun? she had mocked, laughing with a cruel smile. Of course you haven't been kissed before. Who would want to kiss a weird loser who brings plushies everywhere he goes? Oh wait, do you still have plushies? As in, the ones that my friends and I didn't rip into shreds then?

That had been more than enough to anger Reiji, Ai, Camus and Ranmaru, with Natsuki flinching at the sound of those cold words. Camus had placed an arm in front of Ranmaru to prevent him from storming over to the unchanged bully while Ai and Reiji held Natsuki and together with everyone else, stood up for him, stating that whether in real life or in the drama itself, she did not deserve to be anywhere near Natsuki. Honestly, Reiji had not only been angered, but sickened, especially when he looked into her arrogant and cruel eyes and saw that this girl was the person whom their kind and innocent Natsuki had no choice but to give his first kiss to. When the five of them walked away, Reiji had held Natsuki's shoulder tightly, his heart wrenching at cold reality.

Now in the trailer, Natsuki shook his head with a gentle smile, assuring Reiji that it was okay and that he was happy enough that he was with all of them, but that only broke the brunet's heart even more. Shaking his own head, Reiji pulled himself up with a pained expression and walked towards the other side of the trailer to give Natsuki a tight bear hug. However, just as he was about to reach his best friend, Reiji felt his leg bump against the leg of the wooden table and before he knew it, with a yelp slipping from his lips, he was falling forward and in less than a moment...

He felt a pair of lips under his own.

Wait. No no no no no-

His mind could hardly register the countless thoughts spinning around it as he found himself staring into a pair of dilated green eyes that were staring back at him in what could only be pure shock and disbelief and his heart was immediately overwhelmed in a flurry of panic as reality crashed upon him like stars onto the earth. No no no! I... I didn't just... I just tripped and- No! Stumbling away, he could only gasp in horror as he slowly reached a hand up to touch his lips, knowing that the sensation tingling on their surfaces was vividly real, yet unable to truly grasp what he had just done to Natsuki. I... I just...

I... I kissed Nattsun...

Covering his mouth, Reiji could feel panic, guilt and fear surging through him all at once as Natsuki slowly touched his own lips with his index finger, his heart pounding unsteadily in his chest, the latter's green eyes still widened as they stared at him.

I... I... I just stole... Nattsun's first kiss. Nattsun's one and only first kiss...

"Reiji!"

Ranmaru shouted at the top of his lungs, staring at Reiji like he had gone mad.

"What did you just do? Of all the freaking things you could have done, kissing Natsuki was not one of them!"

"It was an accident!" Reiji cried out, waving his hands repeatedly as he shook his head rapidly. Still seated on the sofa, even the calm Ai and Camus were staring at him in pure disbelief. "My leg bumped against the table leg and then I tripped and accidentally kissed him when I fell! Oh God... oh God..."

Reiji swivelled around to face Natsuki, who still had yet to recover from the kiss, his first kiss.

"Nattsun, I am so s-"

Before he could finish stammering out his apology, Reiji was cut off mid-sentence by a knock on the door, which was then opened by a staff member. "The director would like to see all of you now." The staff member held the door open for them and thus, even though Reiji desperately needed to talk to Natsuki about what just occurred, he could not right now. Reiji felt Ranmaru push him towards the door as Ai, Natsuki and Camus followed them from behind, and he could feel himself falling deeper and deeper into his shame and guilt. They had all done everything that they could to make Natsuki's first kiss as special as possible, only for all of it to crash into flames the moment Reiji's lips fell onto Natsuki's. Trying to keep himself together, Reiji let out a shaky exhale as they all stopped at the area where all the other actors and actresses were gathered, with the director standing in front of everyone. Amongst them was Ren, who waved and approached QUARTET NIGHT when he saw them.

Why...

Reiji felt like hiding in a corner as he tried to remain calm, hoping that Ren did not notice that something had happened and ask about it.

Why... is this happening?

"I am deeply sorry that our meeting took much longer than we initially thought it would," the director, Mr Kagamiya, began after clearing his throat, his eyes scanning the people gathered in front of him. "But based on the results of this meeting, I have an important announcement to make, and my apologies in advance, but..."

He paused for a brief, unsettling moment.

"The script has been changed, and so have a number of roles."

Reiji's eyes dilated in shock as gasps rang from every direction.

"I apologize on behalf of the entire crew, but due to some arguments amongst the scriptwriters, there are numerous changes in the script, and so we will be unable to film the drama this afternoon. Therefore, instead of the actual filming, we will be having a photo shoot of all of you who are playing in this drama, regardless whether your roles are changed or not. So if everything is clear, we will start with those whose roles remain unchanged, meaning that the people who are going first are the people playing main male protagonists."

Mr Kagamiya looked around until his gaze fell upon Reiji, Natsuki, Ranmaru, Ai and Camus.

"So right now, all five of you from QUARTET NIGHT are having your turns, starting from Shinomiya-san who is the main male protagonist of this drama, followed by Kotobuki-san, Mikaze-san, Kurosaki-san and Camus-san. Therefore, with that being said, we would like you to get onto the set right now, Shinomiya-san."

"Okay, Kagamiya-san!" Natsuki agreed, nodding slightly. He turned to Reiji, Ai, Camus and Ranmaru and gave them a bright smile. "I'll do my very best, guys!" Waving at them, Natsuki walked briskly towards the set, which was a timeless garden with flowers of vivid colours such as white, yellow, pink and lilac, his green eyes bright and innocent as always, and Reiji felt even more guilty thinking of how his best friend was feeling right now. 

If the filming of the drama was cancelled... that means that Nattsun... did not have to kiss anyone at all today...

Standing a few metres away from the set, Reiji felt his heart drop as reality sank more and more like waves, thumping loudly and unsteadily.

And yet I... I just took away... his first kiss...

"Ah, so Shinomi does not have to give away his first kiss today after all."

Ren sighed with a smile on his face, and Reiji could barely conceal the impact that those words had as they struck his gut.

"But either way, he's definitely ready to do the kiss scene when he has to." He looked at Reiji, Ranmaru, Ai and Camus and grinned. "Wouldn't you agree, senpais?"

Thankfully, Camus was fast enough to save Reiji from answering Ren by giving a smooth, confident answer himself as Ranmaru folded his arms and Ai nodded. Ai turned to Reiji and placed a hand on his back, his teal eyes soft with understanding. Reiji smiled faintly as he squeezed Ai on the shoulder and all of them watched Natsuki converse with the director, a light smile on the latter's face. The four senpais definitely could not discuss about what had happened in the trailer as Ren was here, but Reiji knew that he had to talk to Natsuki. Reiji had originally thought of getting Natsuki alone in the trailer so that they could have their private conversation, but his mind was whirling too much for him to come up with a convincing excuse to not raise suspicions, and Ren was quite the observant person himself. 

Thus, mentally shaking his head, Reiji decided that he had no choice but to settle with waiting until everyone from QUARTET NIGHT had had their turns, which was going to be excruciating although he could not say that he did not deserve it.

Please forgive big bro Rei-chan, Nattsun...

...

As soon as Camus' turn was over, Reiji immediately got up from his seat and exclaimed that all of QUARTET NIGHT had to go, pulling Natsuki by the arm as Ren smiled and said that he was going back to his own trailer to have a drink. As soon as they parted ways with Ren, the five of them walked briskly towards the trailer, with Reiji trying to make sure it did not look like they were rushing, and when they were finally inside, Ranmaru shut the door firmly behind them, locking it. With all of them still standing up, Camus faced Reiji and spoke with a serious expression in his ice-blue eyes.

"You can now address this matter, Kotobuki."

Nodding, Reiji turned to Natsuki, who was facing him with a gentle expression, and unable to take it anymore, the brunet started speaking. "Nattsun, about earlier, I am really, really sorry. I tripped and fell and accidentally took your first kiss in the process. It was really, really an accident!" He averted his eyes away in guilt, his heart clenching in his chest. "I know how much your first kiss means to you and how you really wanted it to be special, and you deserve that! Nattsun, I'm so sorry I took that away from you. I know I didn't mean it, but still, I-"

Reiji was stopped mid-sentence when a pair of arms pulled him closer and wrapped themselves around him in a warm and tight hug, and his grey eyes slowly widened in pure surprise and disbelief. "N-Nattsun...?" Natsuki gently pressed Reiji's head against his chest as his other hand rubbed his back soothingly, his arms tightening around him as the brunet's heart stumbled in shock and confusion. Natsuki's head that rested on Reiji's left shoulder slowly shook once before a warm, gentle voice reached his ears.

"Thank you, Rei-Rei."

Reiji's eyes dilated as he tried to pull away, only for Natsuki to tighten the hug. "But Nattsun, I-"

"A first kiss is supposed to be special, right?" Natsuki gently interrupted him, warm emotions intertwining with the words being uttered. And Reiji could hear the tender smile in his best friend's voice as he continued. "I know that we do not love each other in the romantic sense, but even so... even though it was by accident, I'm so, so happy that you are my first kiss, Rei-Rei. If it wasn't you, my first kiss would have most likely been with Harumi-san or a stranger, and... as strange as it sounds, you being the one who ended up kissing me first made it much, much more special than it would have been if it were any of them. Even though not romantically, I'm happy that the one I get to kiss first... is you whom I love and care about so, so much."

Natsuki let out a contented exhale and held Reiji even tighter.

"So thank you, Rei-Rei. Thank you... for being my first kiss."

Now that Reiji thought about it, Natsuki had not struggled at all during the photo shoot. In fact, he had done an amazing job from the very first shot, giving earnestly bright and gentle smiles to the camera as he portrayed innocence, kindness and tenderness all at once as the camera flashed, easily making it one of his best photo shoots to date as far as Reiji knew. It turned out that Reiji had been too worried and anxious to realize that it was not that Natsuki was hurting deep inside of him and yet was pushing extremely hard to have a successful photo shoot, but that the sunshine blond was genuinely happy and that the first kiss that had been accidentally given to him was giving him more strength and vibrance throughout the course of the shoot. And if Natsuki was happy... so was Reiji, because Natsuki's happiness meant more than anything to Reiji. 

"Ah, thank goodness..."

Letting out a sigh of sheer relief, Reiji laughed softly and hugged Natsuki back, his heart finally relaxing amidst the warmth of his best friend's words and emotions.  

"As crazy as that moment itself was, if it was that special to you, then I'm super, super happy that it went the way it did, dear Nattsun. I didn't think that this was gonna be how it all turned out, but like I said before, anyone would be real lucky to be your first kiss, and so now..."

Pulling away to look directly into Natsuki's glistening green eyes, Reiji beamed brightly and spoke.

"I am incredibly honoured to be your first kiss."

Natsuki's lips curved into a brighter smile as he nodded and his green eyes sparkled even more, squeezing Reiji's hands in his tightly.

"You know, Natsuki... if I were you, I would have knocked Reiji out cold with my fist by now."

"Wha- Ran-Ran!"

Reiji cried out, spinning around to face Ranmaru who was facing them with a loud sigh as he crossed his arms.

"But as haywire as this whole case on romance went, it somehow ended way better than expected," Ranmaru continued, his lips curling into a lopsided grin. "For one, Natsuki did not have to give his first kiss to that sicko we saw earlier. Two, as much as we didn't think his first kiss would be you of all the people in this freaking universe, by some freaking miracle, his first kiss was actually much more in his favour than we all thought it would, to the point that our kiddo's real happy about it and is practically glowing."

He gave Reiji a hard pat on the back and ruffled Natsuki's blond hair as his grin broadened.

"So I say after all that chaos, as crazy as the ride was," Ranmaru declared, "mission freaking accomplished!"

"As incredibly bizarre as the circumstances were, your first kiss, in its own way, was truly special, which was precisely what every single one of us wished for you, Natsuki."

Ai smiled softly, giving Natsuki's shoulder a small squeeze.

"Perhaps this is a rather unique example of what it means for a first kiss to be 'special'. I can feel your emotions radiating from you as we speak and as warm and bright as they glow, they, in turn, bring warmth to my chest as well." His eyes turned gentler. "Therefore, I agree with Ranmaru. As much as what has transpired was indeed extremely unexpected, you are truly happy, which means that the rest of us are too."

"I suppose that Kotobuki being your first kiss will do as well."

Camus relinquished a quiet sigh, his lips forming a slight smile.

"One may even say that this was the best possible outcome. For that, I congratulate you, Shinomiya, on having a pleasant experience for your first kiss, albeit an accidental first kiss."

"Thank you so much, guys."

Natsuki looked around at Camus, Ai, Ranmaru and Reiji and smiled warmly.

"All of you, as well as Ren-kun, made this memory so, so special, so much more special than it would have been without you guys. And it makes me extremely warm and happy inside knowing that you guys are happy too!" His green eyes glowed warmly behind his black-framed glasses as his voice softened. "So really... with all my heart, thank you, Rei-Rei, Ai-chan, Myu-chan, Maru-chan."

All of them smiled sincerely at the precious sunshine blond as Reiji beamed and wrapped his arm around Natsuki. "Aww, of course, our dearest Nattsun!" Reiji squeezed him tightly, his heart glowing within his chest. "As colourful and crazy and uncontrollable as this quintet is, we are always here for one another, including in our romance endeavours! As long as all five of us are laughing and smiling at the end, I say that everything was just swell, alright!"

"Yeap!" Natsuki chuckled as Ranmaru propped an arm over Ai's shoulder and Camus nodded. That was when his eyes widened slightly. "Guys. I just thought of something. If Rei-Rei is my first kiss, does that mean that if anyone asks me who my first kiss is..."

Natsuki tilted his head in curiosity, smiling lightly.

"Does it mean that I'll say it's Rei-Rei?"

Reiji's eyes immediately shot up as his cheeks began to blush madly. "E-Ehh-"

"Not without context, you don't!" Ranmaru yelled, looking horrified himself as Ai smiled in amusement and Camus smirked. "If you just simply say it's Reiji, people are gonna think that the two of you are or were in a freaking relationship! And of all the freaking rumours we'd ever want flyin' around, that is not it!"

"In my opinion, keeping it a secret would be a better option in this particular situation," Ai remarked, smiling faintly. "The details revolving around a first kiss are considered quite personal in numerous circumstances, so you have the right to either not answer or give a vague reply if anyone ever asks you about your first kiss, Natsuki. Moreover, I can safely say that if Ren and the rest of STARISH were to discover this incident..."

"There will be no end to their teasing remarks," Camus concluded, "especially coming from the likes of Jinguji. I would not be surprised if the entire idol industry, as well as the rest of the world, knows about this once that flirtatious peasant does."

"Yeah. Once they know, you two are doomed."

"W-Wahh!" Reiji cried out, knowing that it was true.

"Ohh okay, I understand now," Natsuki said, nodding with a gentle smile. "In that case, let's keep it as a secret between the five of us, okay?" His green eyes glistened with warmth as his smile brightened. "As one of our group secrets. Is that okay with you, Rei-Rei, guys?"

"Of course, our precious Nattsun!" Reiji immediately responded, smiling brightly as he tightened his arm around his best friend.

"Sounds good to me," Ranmaru agreed, flashing a lopsided grin.

"I have no objections." Camus smiled.

"Neither do I." Ai nodded with a slight smile.

"Yay-"

Someone knocked on the trailer, interrupting Reiji's cheer. Narrowing his ice-blue eyes, Camus unlocked the door and opened it, revealing a staff member. "QUARTET NIGHT, the director would like to see all of you." Glancing at one another, the five of them nodded briefly before heading out of the trailer one by one, with Reiji pulling Natsuki out with him by the hand with a blithe smile on his face. Upon meeting the director under the shade of a tree of countless white and pink flowers, they were all told that since numerous of the scenes that only included the five members of QUARTET NIGHT were left unchanged, the filming of their scenes were to begin now. As they followed the director towards the house in which the five characters that they were playing would be living in, Reiji, Natsuki and Ai laughed when Ranmaru paled in horror at the realization that they would be filming the bedroom scenes - including those in which Camus and Ranmaru had to be on the same bed - as Camus grimaced slightly. 

"It's okay, Ran-Ran! Think more on the positive side and it may be one of your favourite parts of the drama after all! Especially when we watch it once the episodes are released!"

"No way! When those scenes are up, you can count on me to be locking myself in my room while the rest of you lot watch so good luck with that!"

"But Maru-chan, it really warms the heart to watch a bright memory all over again-"

"That ain't a bright memory!"

But everything really ended up being a bright memory altogether, Reiji thought to himself as he smiled happily and laughed when Ranmaru buried his face into his palm and Ai began to articulate on the scenes that Ranmaru and Camus were dreading. Nattsun doesn't have to give his first kiss to his bully and his first kiss ended up being a bright, special memory for him, all of which we wanted all along. Just like you said, the experience is a bright and special one because all of us are here together...

As the five of them walked together, Natsuki wrapped his arms around Reiji and Ai and squeezed them into a tight hug with shining green eyes and a soft, earnest smile. Ai laughed quietly as Reiji beamed and tousled their best friend's sunshine blond hair, the latter's own heart truly glowing like the sun itself within his chest thanks to the very fact that the five of them were smiling with one another.

And you were right, Nattsun. 

Reiji smiled gently as Ranmaru guffawed and Camus smiled, the five of them now chatting about the comedic scenes in the romance drama.

Wholeheartedly and brightly, you are right.

...

"So the role switching really mattered that much, huh?"

Unable to stifle his laughter anymore, Ranmaru burst out laughing as he shook his head in pure disbelief.

"Whether or not we ever tell Ren about what happened between you two, he'll be right if he says that Natsuki's first kiss is Reiji, that's for sure!"

Reiji was extremely torn between laughing and crying as he stared at the script in his viridian cellphone with his jaw dropped and eyes dilated. The scriptwriters were quick to email the updates on the script and one of the main updates was the first kiss scene. Natsuki's high school bully, Harumi, would not be playing as the main female protagonist, but instead, as a major female antagonist who would date Natsuki's character and try to steal his first kiss and proceed to break up with him right after as an act of humiliation for him and indirectly, the rest of his group. However, the plan would fall into pieces because Reiji's character would, out of sheer panic upon realizing what was going on, intervene by rushing between them and then accidentally fall on top of Natsuki's character and take his first kiss. Sitting beside him on the midnight-blue sofa, Natsuki was looking down at his yellow cellphone with widened green eyes filled with utter shock as his cheeks reddened. 

Letting out a long exhale, Reiji draped his arm around his best friend and shook his head as blood rushed through his own cheeks, unable to believe that fate was doing this to them as Ai and Camus laughed quietly. 

Is this what I get for stealing Nattsun's first kiss by accident?

Natsuki turned to face him with a shy smile as Reiji rubbed the back of his head and smiled lightly, the two of them glad that at the very least, it was with each other.

Well... whaddya know?

Natsuki's cellphone suddenly vibrated, indicating an incoming call. His eyes widening, the innocent blond looked down at the screen and picked up the call, placing it on speaker mode. "Hello?"

"Hey, Shinomi!" Reiji immediately froze at the sound of the Casanova's voice, sweat rolling down his back at what was bound to come. Ren-Ren, please don't-

"Ren-kun!" Natsuki smiled gently.

"Have you read the update on the script?"

"Yeap!" No!

"Ah, looks like you know what I'm going to talk about." Ren chuckled, the grin evident in his smooth voice. "So your first kiss isn't going to your high school bully after all. Even better, it's going to someone close to you, albeit not in the romantic sense. Isn't that right, Shinomi and Bukky?"

"Ren-Ren!" Reiji cried out as Ren howled with laughter, squeezing Natsuki beside him.

"Say, does that mean that you two will be practising your kissing? I can give you some t-"

"Bye."

"Ran-chan, I am being serious-"

"Bye."

Ranmaru hung up the call for Natsuki and cursed softly at his assigned mentee, although his lips were curved into a cheeky smirk. "Well, he does have a point." He crossed his arms, his smirk widening. "So are you, you two?" Reiji yelled out to Ranmaru in sheer horror as Natsuki blushed even more with his eyes filled with confusion and shock, the latter soon obliviously asking whether they should in order to prepare. Shaking his head rapidly, Reiji pleaded for Natsuki to not listen to Ranmaru as the silver-haired rocker howled with laughter and a mischievous Camus and Ai began adding remarks in support of Ranmaru's point, and all of it only engulfed their shared commonplace with even more havoc. 

"By the way, Natsuki, Reiji, for research purposes, may I ask you to elaborate on the details of your accidental kiss in the trailer? Like how a writer would write out a kiss scene in a novel which, based on my readings, includes the texture of the lips, the kind of kiss, and-"

"Eto... from what I remember, the kiss was-"

"Nattsun, no! Don't answer Ai-Ai!"

"No, Shinomiya, if you could, please do continue."

"Myu-chan!"

"Guys, Ren-kun texted me saying that he will come over."

"No!"

Although there were countless shouts, protests and yells, at the end, everyone laughed and smiled as they sat together in their living room with cups of English Breakfast milk tea, with Ranmaru stating that he would kick Ren out as soon as he stepped into the condominium. The script also stated that once the female antagonist played by the bully blew her own cover by divulging her true intentions on taking Natsuki's character out on a date, the senpais' characters would have their fun having their revenge on her for hurting their precious bestie, and Reiji truly looked forward to filming that scene, taking it as them somewhat avenging Natsuki for what Harumi had done to him years ago on screen. 

The "c" in "romance" is colours. Normally the colours in mind would be red, pink and white, right? But for all of us, they are an uncontrollable spectrum of not only the colours of the rainbow, but each and every shade between them, all blended and swirling as they splash onto the canvas from our palettes. Red, pink, yellow, orange, green, purple, blue... every colour that is bright and brilliant and kaleidoscopic, especially under the illuminating sun.

Reiji playfully asked Natsuki, flashing a wide grin and winking as he did so, if he was a good kisser based on that accidental kiss that they shared. As a stunned Natsuki struggled to speak and smiled shyly with blushing cheeks, Reiji laughed at how adorable his best friend was and squeezed him into a tight hug, cuddling against him as his heart warmed at the sound of the sunshine blond's earnest laughter. And the laughter only rang even more when the doorbell was heard minutes later, signalling that Ren was here, and Ranmaru grabbed the nearest hard object that he could find: Camus' sceptre.

One could say that in our group, the "c" in "romance" stands for "crazy" too. Well, that ain't wrong, but that ain't a bad thing either right? Neither could it ever be, no matter how bright and uncontrollable these colours get. After all, we aren't us if there isn't any craziness or colour here, alright!

"Love is a mysterious thing.

If we chase it, it runs away.

If it runs away, we chase it again.

The first time I felt true love,

I realized I didn't need to think about it.

Let's spend a lovely time together,

Just the two of us."

- "Aurora", by Camus (Tomoaki Maeno)