After that, blue light beams appeared around the place and a screen was suddenly shown in front of the group.
"Good evening, idol fans of the nation!" The announcer from the screen said. "We bring you live news of the Uta⭐Prince Brand New Award, the rare title that is awarded when brilliant, new idols appear!"
"Two groups have been nominated! The first group is... STARISH!"
"And the second group is... HEAVENS!"
"HEAVENS." (Ichinose)
"What an amazing aura." (Kurusu)
"Yeah." (Ittoki)
"Hm?" Kato tilted her head slightly when she saw the members.
"It's a miracle." Ichinose started. "According to rumors, they were expected to win the award."
"What? Really?" Ittoki asked.
"I've heard that rumor too." Jinguji mentioned.
"Be that as it may, we will not give up." Hijirikawa declared.
"Yes. That is why we've been nominated." Ichinose agreed with determination.
"A miracle, huh?" (Kurusu)
"In other words, we're on the same level as them." Shinomiya said with a close-eyed smile.
"Yes." (Hijirikawa)
"Let's switch our cameras over to HEAVENS' concert hall!" The announcer spoke and the screen appeared HEAVENS walking down towards the stage.
"Here they come! The members of HEAVENS, nominated for the Uta⭐Pri Award, have arrived!"
Then the audience went screaming.
"Congratulations on your nomination. Tell our audience watching on TV how you're feeling right now." The announcer said as he passed the mic to one of them.
One of them gave a glance and harshly took the mic from him.
"I'm HEAVENS' Otori Eiichi. This nomination is truly upsetting. Is there anything else I could say? No, of course not." A male with dark brown and was wearing glasses introduced himself as he threw the mic back to the announcer.
"Hah? Who does he think he is? Someone who is at the top?" Kato scoffed as she crossed her arms.
"What do you mean by that?" The announcer asked.
"It's unthinkable to compare us to someone else. Isn't that right, angels?" He said and gave a flying kiss to the audience.
"I'm gonna punch that smug look off his face." Kato said with rage as Kotobuki told her to calm down.
"Kira, say something. It'll never be my turn if you don't." The shortest out of the three told the male with black hair and has a pair of yellowish eyes.
"I am HEAVENS' Sumeragi Kira." He introduced himself with a few words.
Hmmmmmm? Kato was slightly confused as she pondered for a while. Where have I seen this face before...?
"Ah~ You never say much, do you?" The short male said.
"I'm HEAVENS' cosmically cute idol, Mikado Nagi. We'll be taking the Uta⭐Pri Award." He introduced himself while doing some cute poses.
And their fans went chanting, "Cutie Nagi."
Kato just frowned at this.
"It's no wonder they're expected to win the Uta⭐Pri Award! HEAVENS' presence is overwhelming!" The announcer exclaimed. "Let's see our second group of nominees, STARISH! We've got a broadcast!"
This certainly surprised everyone.
"Hi! I hope you're having a good morning this evening!" Tsukimiya appeared on the screen with a mic.
"Why do I have to do this?" Hyuga deadpanned as he held a Digital Cine Camera.
"STARISH is currently visiting a campsite on their vacation." Tsukimiya said as he showed them to the audience. And of cours, they screamed when they saw the idols.
"Ah. Look at how they're dressed. Do they even want to win?" Mikado said with squinted eyes. "Even without that, the difference between us is like heaven and hell."
Kato heard him and she was clearly irked.
"They're camping." Sumeragi stated the fact.
"Their composure will drive them into a corner." Otori chuckled. "Ii. (Good) How truly interesting."
"STARISH, congratulations on your nomination. Tell us how you're feeling right now." The announcer said.
"Let's start with you, Nat-chan." Tsukimiya said as he passed the mic to Shinomiya.
"It's like a dream. I'm honored."
"Two groups have been nominated, but only one group will achieve glory! The Uta⭐Pri Committee has specially prepared a location appropriate for a battle between these two groups!"
"A battle?" (Kurusu)
"The battle is a concert showdown!" The audience screamed.
"HEAVENS seems like a formidable opponent. How do you feel about that?" The announcer asked STARISH.
"We want to deliver our music to everyone. That's all." Ittoki said with determination.
" 'We want to deliver our music to everyone,' apparently." Mikado mimicked and Kato was about to blow her fuse.
"Do you believe you have a chance of winning?"
"Of course." (Ichinose)
"If we're doing it, we'll win." (Jinguji)
Mikado whistled and said, "Do they not think anything of us?"
"Those honest eyes and pure hearts... It's unbearable." Otori said as his glasses flashed.
"STARISH is just as confident!"
After that, everyone heard a familiar laughter.
Shining appeared in front of STARISH and stated, "The STARISH standing here isn't the STARISH you all know!"
"Allow me to introduce you. Like a million volts, captivating all living things in the world, he is the Mr. Mysterious Boy... Aijima Cecil! He is STARISH's new member!" Shining announced and everyone who was watching the live show was excited.
"This is STARISH's true form."
"What a surprise. The star symbol of ST⭐RISH was the 'A' of Aijima Cecil. The new, seven member group STARISH. What kind of world will they show us?"
"No matter how many there are, it is the same!" A sudden voice said.
"What?! An incredible person is here in the concert hall! The intimidating creator of HEAVENS, Raging Otori!" The camera showed towards the man.
"That's..." (Hijirikawa)
"Raging Otori, President of Raging Entertainment, the industry's greatest agency." Ichinose mentioned.
"Otori Eiichi... Is that his father?" (Jinguji)
"That guy's clearly extraordinary." Kurusu stated.
"It's been a while, Saotome." Raging said.
"Haha. You don't seem to have changed." Shining said. "I have a suggestion for you today!"
"In order to determine who is the true Uta⭐Prince, we should conduct this contest under a certain condition!"
"Hm."
"Singing songs written by the same composer would be the best of the best." Shining said.
"What?"
"The same composer?"
"I have here fantastic songs composed by Miss Nanami." He said as he took out a stack of paper. "Take whichever one you like, and arrange it however you please."
"What?" Nanami was shocked and confused. "But I wrote those songs for everyone..."
"Hm. I was wondering what you would say." Raging said.
"President!" Ichinose exclaimed.
"It will only expose the difference in their strength. Very well!" Raging agreed.
"Um, you can't just decide..."
"I'm saying we will do it!"
Shining laughed. "This should be an interesting battle."
"What? This is really becoming crazy! The groups will compete by singing songs written by the same composer!"
Shining grinned.
"The same composer?" Raging chuckled. "A song can change dramatically depending on its arrangement."
"Listen, HEAVENS! If you lose this battle, you will be disbanded! Is that clear?" He declared, which surprised everyone. EVERYONE.
"HAH?!?!" Kato exclaimed with wide eyes.
"How can he disband them?" Ittoki said with furrowed brows.
"Ragin Entertainment has no need for losers."
"How harsh of Raging Otori! His standard of perfection hasn't changed since he was an idol!"
"It won't change how overwhelmingly talented we are. Why not?" Mikado said with confidence.
"That's an unusually good idea. Disbanded, huh? Ii. I'm incredibly thrilled." Otori said as well.
"In that case, if STARISH loses, they will be disbanded as well." Shining grinned.
"What?!"
"Old man, are you sure you should be saying that?" Hyuga asked.
"No problem!" Shining laughed.
"Rei! Ran! Let me go! Let me go! I'm gonna kick Shining-san! Let me go! Argh!!! He can't say that like it's no big deal! Let me go!!!" Kato was shouting and struggling from Kotobuki and Kurosaki's grips.
"Calm down!" Kurosaki exclaimed.
"I will NOT calm down!!!" Kato squirmed more.
"Kotone!" Kotobuki said her name for the first time, and it sounded serious.
Kato flinched slightly and slowly stopped.
"Have you calmed down, Kouhai-chan?" Kotobuki gave a small smile.
"..." Kato lowered her head and stopped struggling, which made the two males let go of her.
"Laugh while you can, boy." Raging said.
"Another surprise! It seems both parties will participate in this competition with their careers as idols on the line!"
As soon as their declaration, social media has been going wild.
"Who will become the most brilliant new idol group and win the Uta⭐Prince Award? A concert showdown for their careers! We'll meet again in another special broadcast!"
(￣▽￣)/♫•*¨*•.¸¸♪
After a few days, STARISH and Nanami, and also Shibuya, were at the lounge chatting among themselves.
QUARTET NIGHT and Kato were on the second floor staring at the group.
"They really are positive, aren't they?" Kotobuki said to the group.
"Hmph. Do they really think they can beat their opponents so easily? At this rate, they'll be disbanded." Kurosaki pointed out.
"What's this? Ran-ran, could it be that you're sad?" Kotobuki teased.
"I'm not sad at all." He glared.
"You're not honest, are you?"
"Shut up."
"But the probability of STARISH winning is... 50%." Mikaze blurted.
"That's higher than I expected." Camus said.
"It's 50/50, huh..." Kotobuki muttered.
Kato, who was leaning on the railing, just stared at the group below with a blank expression.
She was especially staring at her friend, and she noticed that Ichinose was staring at Nanami as well.
"Guess I know what I'll be doing..." Kato mumbled. Luckily, the rest didn't hear her.
(￣▽￣)/♫•*¨*•.¸¸♪
When STARISH and Nanami went to the recording studio, Kato decided to tag along as well.
After the recording, Kato went to the washroom to do her business.
When she came out and was walking out the corridor, she saw Nanami and STARISH at the corner.
Confused, she walked towards them and saw HEAVENS was there as well. She decided to stay hidden for a while as she didn't want to bring attention to herself.
Then she saw Otori walking towards Nanami who was standing in front of STARISH.
He then grabbed her chin upwards and said, "Become our composer."
Nanami yelped and Otori grabbed her shoulder and forcefully pulled her towards him. This made STARISH angered as they moved forwards as well.
Kato sighed before appearing out of the corner.
"Why don't you let go of her, Otori Eiichi." She said with anger lacing in her tone.
"Kotone!"
"Kotone-chan!"
Kato pushed Otori's arm away from Nanami and stood in front of her protectively.
"Who are you?" He asked with narrowed eyes.
Sumeragi on the hand, slightly widened his eyes at the sight of the girl.
"Who I am is not important. What's important here is that you shouldn't be doing that to my friend here." Kato glared.
"Heh. Are you sure you're supposed to worry over your friend here?" Otori smirked as he shortened the distance between Kato and him.
Kato just stepped up and held her head up high.
"Listen here, buddy. If you ever hurt any of their feelings, I won't hesitate to do the same as well. Be it mentally, or physically." Kato said, hardening her glare.
Otori just looked at her with amusement whereas Mikado just squinted his eyes.
"And you there, kid." Kato pointed at Mikado.
"Hah?! Kid?"
"Shut up, brat. If I see you mistreating my friends here, you will face the consequences. Whether you're younger than me or not." Kato gave a deadly look which made everyone shivered.
Yes, even Nanami and STARISH since it was their first time seeing this side of hers.
She gave a glance towards Sumeragi which made him flinch. She didn't say anything to him and continued to stare hard at Otori.
Luckily, a staff member came to break the tense atmosphere.
"HEAVENS, we're ready for you!"
"Victory - and you - will definitely be ours. Definitely." Otori smirked and chuckled.
"Not in a million years." Kato glared.
When they walked away, Kato sighed loudly.
"I just went to the washroom and this is what happens... Is everyone okay?" Kato faced the groups.
"We're fine. But Nanami..." Ittoki muttered.
"Haru. If there's anything going on, ANYTHING, be sure to tell me all right." Kato turned towards the girl with a slight angered expression.
"Okay..."
Kato didn't believe her words and sighed again.
"Let's go back."
(￣▽￣)/♫•*¨*•.¸¸♪
Later that evening, back in the Master Course, Kato decided to head to one of the music rooms to play the piano.
When she opened the door, she found STARISH were there as well.
"Hm? Everyone's here." Kato stated and closed the door.
"Kotone! What are you doing here?" Kurusu asked.
"Well, you guys were definitely talking about the situation earlier. But I'll just leave it to you guys."
"What do you mean, Koto-chan?" Shinomiya asked.
"Since everyone's here, guess I don't have the go through the trouble." The guys just questioned her statement.
"Everyone's free right now, right?" She asked while walking towards the grand piano.
"Yes. Is there something you need, Kotone?" Ichinose spoke.
"In fact I do. Remember I told you guys that there was an incomplete song that I wrote?" Kato said as she sat on the piano stool and opened the cover.
"You've finished with it?" Jinguji asked with wide eyes.
"Yeah. So just listen to it."
Kato took a deep breath and started playing the song. As she played, she sang out the melody as well, of course, without the lyrics.
STARISH stared at her with amazement as she continued to sway along the music.
When the song ended, they just stood there in a daze.
"It's not that good 'cause I'm singing it in solo. This song is meant for seven." Kato stated with her eyes closed.
"Seven?" Hijirikawa asked.
"Yeah. I originally wrote this song for seven people. But there were only six of you guys before Cecil joined, so I didn't continue. I even planned to give up. But ever since I heard Cecil's voice, I decided to continue and there you have it." Kato explained.
"This is amazing, Kotone!" Ittoki exclaimed.
"Yeah! It's slightly different from what we sing but this is just too good!" Kurusu grinned.
"Thanks. Let this be the first and final song for the seven of you." Kato calmly said as she stood up from the seat.
"Oh, right. I forgot that you aren't our composer..." Shinomiya said in a soft voice.
"Hey, it's all right. Don't look so down. Especially not now." Kato gave a small smile.
"Why don't you sing this song for someone? Let it be my gift to them as well."
"Someone?" (Aijima)
"Gift?" (Shinomiya)
"Mhmm. Dedicate this song to someone special." Kato told them with a wink.
"Who?" Jinguji asked.
"You'll figure it out. Anyways, I'll give you guys the sheet paper later. It's in my room." She said while heading towards the door.
"Thank you for writing this for us, Kotone." Hijirikawa smiled.
"It's my pleasure. Anyways, I gotta go now. See you later." Kato waved and left.
"All right. Let's start writing the lyrics!" Ittoki urged the guys.
"We can't do that without the sheet music, Ittoki." Hijirikawa said.
"Why not? Let's just think of some ideas so we can add them later." Jinguji suggested.
"Yeah. That way it will be faster." Ichinose agreed.
"Then what are we all waiting for? Let's start!" Kurusu exclaimed.
"Yeah!"
-End of Chapter 19-