━━━━━━ PRIDE ;┊
final romance of rhapsody ✧･
if fine were to win this their reputation would be enormous than it's supposed to be. something about that thought didn't seem to okay with y/n. but her heart never mourned, and she stared at the screen behind ryuseitai and fine. anzu fidgeted, nervous on who would win because she knew both units did an outstanding performance.
they, whom were deluded with victorious desire, awaited the answer. much to all surprises, the unit that won was shocking- though not taken too serious.
the words left anzu's lips as if she saw someone she had never seen in a billion of years.
"RYUSEITAI WINS."
chiaki and nagumo were quick to celebrate. shinobu was hugged by nagumo and kanata pumped up a fist. midori watched them , shocked. he seemed to be holding back on something, and when y/n was about to walk out and congratulate ryuseitai. and as fine frowned but yet congratulated the opposing unit. midori clenched his fists and pumped up straight up.
"if that moment ever does come to you, that's when you'll fall in love with the idol industry~"
"YEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
this alone made his members breathily gasp. there no question midori quietly cheered during past events but this. midori practically jumped up and cheered without any hesitation. winning after a match with the student council president's unit, that seems like a big deal. it's a potential upgrade. as conferring flew everywhere on stage, there was even hair stands on y/n's shoulders that stood up from the excitement (pressure.)
she ran over and cheered with them. in the distance, y/n's family clapped. hisaki glanced to his right as he did, and as he was about to whistle for the triumph, he was utterly distracted by the proud curves lifting up by the corners of his parents lips. he nudged kanami on his left desperately because of that. kanami stopped clapping and peered over her brother's shoulders .she grinned and laughed, knowing exactly what those smiled meant. "oh, this is the moment i've been waiting for!!"
"well played, ryuseitai." eichi didn't know whether to be upset or dignified for having such a worthy battle, but either way, he got to see the smile on y/n's soft face. as she waved at the crowd; not at her parents; she forgot all about them for now, and felt the praises coming from the crowd. she chuckled proudly, being hugged by anzu and cheering ryuseitai on.
"thank you all for coming! keep supporting our wonderful idols! " y/n and anzu excused them. until the only people left were y/n's parents and her friends was the show finally over. hisaki was the first to run over to y/n on the stage, smiling widely with katsuro and mao trailing behind him.
"this was amazing! and you boys did an excellent job!" hisaki laughed, draping an arm over midori's shoulders. midori blushed in embarrassment and awkwardly thanked him.
"y/n, you seriously made these costumes?" nao admires all the details and beautiful belts/ additions. y/n's cheeks heated up. "i couldn't have done it without anzu!" she gestured at the brown haired girl who hummed and felt eyes on her. she blushed at the attention and giggled nervously. though the given credit was incredible.
the lights of the stage dimmer and then lit up. dimmed and lit up. the pattern repeated itself with low beats until they realized someone was messing with the controls at the broadcasting room. kanami could be seen waving below from the windows. a huge grin on her face. anzu seemed pretty offended that someone as her was allowed in that room, whilst others such as y/n and her family, were not surprised.
"how'd she get up there?!" tori exclaimed.
kanami disappeared from the view and made her way down. wataru walked towards y/n, smiling at the fact she still wore the rose he had given her when they first met.
"this was a fun experience. i'm not shaken up at the fact fine lost. it's a marvelous fes, can't by disappointed by a fragment loss." wataru smiled. "now, what's on your mind? dear f/n."
the young producer smiled awkwardly, scratching her cheek and heaving dramatically as a way to blanket her slight anxiousness. "you think mai would be proud?" y/n asked him, looking at him earnestly.
"hm? why of course, n/n. to me it looks like you might have surpassed her skills." wataru chuckled, winking cheekily. y/n gaped, heart skipping a beat. that's something y/n deemed to be nearly impossible. she wouldn't think her unit's costumes were too complex.
"i..." y/n closed her fingers into her palms and smiled gently at him. other units came on stage and congratulated ryuseitai while others talked to fine. "that's a lot to take in. haha!"
"not what we expected from you, y/n."
y/n's breath hitched, stiffening up. fear took over her eyes as she slowly turned around and saw them. all this time, she wasn't quite sure how to confront them. after two whole years , it wasn't something y/n dreamt or thought of. what her next step with her parents would be had never crossed her mind when she met these idols and anzu.
"these idols are one of a kind." her mother smiled, directing towards ryuseitai to which chiaki thanked energetically.
"it's an honor, ma'am!"
kanami appeared, jumping on hisaki's back while laughing. "you boys did a good job!"
"nee-san..." y/n forcefully smiled at kanami, tearing up both because of her and the presence of her parents.
"y/n, hello! amazing show!" she giggled, tackling y/n in a hug. hisaki scratched his head, stretching since he hadn't had kanami jump on him for a good year. y/n turned back to her parents, frowning while the humiliating tears glossed over her eyes. kanami stood next to her, hands connected behind her back.
"it's been a while, y/n." her father tipped his head. everybody felt the uncomfortably tension rising in the air between the two adults and the teenager.
"mother...father..." y/n's voice broke sillily, but there was a warm kind of tone. "mother....father! what do you think? i...i put so much effort in this!" y/n promptly asked, placing a hand across her chest to bring out more emotion.
a hand was placed on y/n's shoulder and she saw the satisfied smile on her parents faces.
"you grew strong." her father softly said. y/n's lips parted as her eyes turned watery. just three words was enough to make y/n want to faint. she took a deep breath and smiled widely as a couple of faint chuckles escaped some people's mouth.
"we enjoyed it."
━━━━━━
y/n bid goodbye to him. (or her) she is looking forward to seeing him the next school day. yet, the girl, who was clever at hiding things from her friends, her parents seemed to read right through her and walked up to her before they left. all as if they weren't on good terms just a while ago—
"you look at him like he's your whole world." her father laughed. besides him, his wife was unamused. she understood the saying 'it's just girls being girls', after all.
"him?" y/n frowned.
"yes him." her mother sighed, a hand on her forehead. "but please remember your roots, sweetheart. your father and i don't want to see you falling in love with the wrong person. let alone an idol."
"i'm sorry. i won't mess up again." y/n huffed determinedly,.
"this is another experience you would need but, you've been nothing but a workaholic since you've turned seven." y/n did not know how to interpret the words of their father. she did not expect him to remember the age everything went downhill for everything. well, at the very least..they admire this attentive side of his. "that's right. though, the beauty of this yumenosaki school can have any guy she wants...oh so i've heard?" umiri teased. "don't let yourself be swayed so easily, be the one who sways instead."
y/n blushed in embarrassment. she doesn't think she'll be accostumed to that title any time soon. "i didn't work hard for that type of title for nothing!" still, y/n prepared a determined smile.
"that's the l/n way." their father chuckled.
-
looking in the mirror of her bathroom, staring quite intensely at her reflection, wearing a cropped cardigan with some sweatpants, she cleaned her face and sighed.
she heard a couple of laughs nearby. mythic three, ruri, and kanami decided to visit y/n's apartment before they would leave to their business.' y/n still didn't know how to confess other than the tips hisaki told her. be yourself... sounds easy to say than to be done.
besides that, there was something else on her mind. its only been four months she's spent with these boys. she didn't know how to feel about it. the boys seeing her more than just a producer. a producer, thats all she thought she would be with them but the more they tried getting close with her, the more conflicted she felt.
y/n rubbed her face in exhaustion as she walked out the bathroom and made her way to the living room where her friends are sitting in her couch and on the floor while chatting. she took a seat next to nao on the couch and in front of her, on the ground sat kanami.
"hey, y/n. thanks for having us. th-this is my first time hanging out with the three l/n's." ruri thanked y/n, who sat across from kanami on the floor, crossing her arms on the short table in front of the couch. y/n smiled softly.
"of course." there was a hint of sadness in ruri's greenish blueish eyes that anyone could spot a mile away. hisaki snapped his fingers and pointed at ruri. "you're not a replacement of mai, ruri. don't feel that way!" he pouted, concerned.
"yeah! we took you in because you're interesting! not because you remind us of mai!" katsuro laughed, patting her head. ruri blushed brightly, glancing down at her hands fiddling together. "right...sorry'..."
"alright, let's watch a movie!" hisaki cheered, grabbing the remote. "we have to make the most out of our free time!"
"i ordered us some food by the way! it should be coming in a few minutes!" nao chirped, passing hisaki a mischievous look. he knew that look all too well, making his jaw drop and eyes go wide.
"stop using my credit card!" he whined, as katsuro laughed.
"i didn't order you anything, kanami." nao scratched his cheek, avoiding eye contact with her, which she fixed her stylish scarf around her neck.
"eh?! why not, ya bastard?! i told you loud and clear to order the pizza! after all i've done for you!" kanami sounded like she was betrayed. ruri quivered slightly, glancing at the two frantically. y/n started to doze off, casually thinking of her crush as nao and kanami argued. she started to blush thinking about his smile and his passion. (or her, LOL)
"you almost hit me with a car, kanami!"
"y/n." katsuro waved his hand in front of her face to get her attention. she blinked and shook her head. she looked at katsuro, noticing he handed her a soda. "oh..thank you." she took it and opened it before taking a sip. the caramel haired male went back to his spot.
"i posted your embarrassing pictures." kanami suddenly told nao, grinning. "they're trending as we speak!" she laughed, slamming a hand on the short table
"oh i saw them this morning! you know, she even posted the one where you got that triple chin." y/n wheezed.
"let me see them real quick." hisaki took out his phone and went to his social media platforms to see nao trending everywhere. "NO! HOW COULD YOU-" nao dreaded, profusely and defeatedly. "KANAMI!"
"uh uh uh! kanami always wins! even that time where i rode like a master when we was late to see father's show!" kanami clapped to herself. ruri looked with katsuro, giggling quietly at the pictures of nao posing and cosplaying anime girls. "you almost crashed. we almost DIED!" y/n exclaimed, shivering at the memory of kanami riding like a maniac and not getting pulled over somehow.
"i posted one of your baby pics too, lil sis~" kanami coed, sipping on her tea calmly worth her eyes closed. y/n's face turned beet red once everybody found it. nao gave hisaki's phone to her while the others 'awweee''d at it like it was the most cutest thing in the world. y/n looked at it with disgust, seeing herself in a princess outfit with a fancy toy crown and wand. she was crying, cheeks flushed while a teddy bear sat in front of her.
"i remember that day. i pranked y/n pretending that he got turned into a stuffed animal and left her all alone~" hisaki smiled blissfully, closing his eyes and placing his hands on his cheeks. kanami snorted as ruri melted at the cuteness. "that's not a good memory for me! i hate you for that, hisaki..." y/n huffed.
"what's wrong? you don't want [idol's name] to see it~?" nao coed. everybody gaped, glancing at y/n.
"silence!!" y/n sipped on her soda quickly.
"ohohoho! he better be good in bed too!" kanami loudly said. hisaki let out a laugh, giving a high five to the woman.
"ew, stop! he's a great guy! and i'm only 16!!" y/n scolded.
"yes, she's a child of god." hisaki nodded his head.
"aren't we all....." ruri chuckled.
"well except kana." katsuro shrugged.
"i am very much a child of god!" kanna defended herself, flipping her hair.
y/n really missed this. hanging out with her usual group of adults, and she was more than certain that mai is proud of her. for how far she's come and the new people in her life, secretly guiding her. and failing in love with the most handsome idol ever. though, even if they are an illustrious bunch.