CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA 

CHAPTER 13

Two weeks passed and it was time for the mid – semester exam. Like STARISH members, Haruka also burned the midnight oil. Yet, much to her wonder, she never came across Tokiya since then. Instead, he just simply left a few messages to her via Otoya, stating that his schedule as Hayato was packed again.

"I am also worried about him, Nanami. We just had a good time during our practice before since he has opened up more to us but his schedule was tight again. Most of the time, he only came back to dorm in the morning. I am surprised that he never collapsed."

That was Otoya's answer. Haruka could somehow presume that maybe Hayato's manager could find out about the fact that he led a double life so he deliberately stuffed everything into Hayato's schedule in order to stop Tokiya from going to school.

"Well, so far, he just started coming to school since the first day of exam but you know what? He looked weary. He was caught sleeping a few times by Hyuga sensei and sometimes, he finished answering the paper in a short time before excusing himself," Syo answered her.

All Haruka could do was hoping that despite of his hectic schedule, Tokiya still managed to take care of his constitution.

"Lady, where are you? Oh, is that so? Nothing. It's just that.. Icchi is currently sleeping in our class. Yeah, Icchi. Can you come here and check on him? He seems ill, though.. Okay, you're welcome."

"Are we supposed to wake him up first, Ren? I bet he still have another work to do after this," Syo pointed out as soon as Ren finished informing Haruka about Tokiya's whereabouts. He gazed at Tokiya, who was sleeping in their class, with a hand supported his chin and a pair of black headphones over his ears.

"Nah, I don't think his work will start any soon or else, Icchi won't even dare to sleep soundly like that. Moreover, we need to make Lady teaching him some lessons for disregarding his health. Just look at him. Sleeping while wearing that thing.. I bet he is trying to revise for the exam in his dream."

"Yeah, you got a point there, Ren," Syo nodded. "Not to mention that he is always the one who manages to sleep while sitting still like that. I bet, that's one of the skills that an idol should master. Sleeping while sitting since you are so busy to do it properly."

"By the way, did I tell you to go back to your dorm? Why are you still here?" Ren suddenly remarked. His face expression obviously looked uncomfortable with Syo's presence, much to the small boy's annoyance.

"And what about you? Why are YOU even here? You should let Nanami taking care of Tokiya by herself instead of being some back-seat driver," Syo stretched his head upward as an attempt to match Ren's eye level but of course, it was to no avail. Their height difference was no jokes, apparently.

"I have some things to do. You should go back to your dorm instead," Ren still insisted to shoo Syo but the pink idol obviously did not get him.

"I don't want. I want to look after Tokiya a bit," Syo crossed his arms, showing his unnecessary perseverance.

"Or perhaps.. Ochibi-chan.." Ren glanced at the dark corridor before smirking mischievously. "Are you afraid to walk alone because the corridor is dark?"

Auch, such a smack on the head!

"It's only five in the evening. What are you so scared of, Ochibi-chan?"

"Sh..Shut up!"

"Jinguji-san, Syo-kun!" their conversation was interrupted by Haruka who was followed by Tomochika, right behind her.

"Ah, Lady.. Speak of the devil," both Ren and Syo smiled chummily to the rosette and her best friend.

"Is he still sleeping?" Haruka's attention quickly averted to the guy who she could not take her eyes off.

"Yup."

"Should we wake him up first? I bet he still has a work to do after this," Tomochika remarked.

"That's what I told this dude just now," Syo replied while giving Ren a 'I told you' look.

"But instead of waking him up, why don't you take a glance at him first, Lady?"

"Eh, why?" despite of the confusion, Haruka still obeyed the scion.

Yet, instead of merely glancing, she ended up staring lovingly at Tokiya. The tired but handsome face did not just urge her on taking care of him but...

"I bet Haruka is thinking 'he looks like an angel when he sleeps' or 'he looks so handsome when he sleeps like that' right now," Tomochika's cheeky remark sent the composer blushing.

"Or 'seeing him sleeping like that, I really want to kiss him'. Something you can see from a shoujo anime," Ren's smirk only made Haruka felt worse because apparently, all those cheesy guesses were correct.

"You guys, please don't say something like that!"

"But don't you think this is the perfect way for you to make your love story like a shoujo anime? You told Ikki that you want to start over with Icchi, right? This is one of the precious chances that you should never let go, Lady."

"But.. I don't want to make him thinking that I am pushy."

No one realized that in the midst of the tease, Syo was the only one who did not seem to be as amused as them.

So, that's how Nanami will look like when she really cares about her husband. You're so lucky, Tokiya.

"Right, Ochibi-chan? Ochibi-chan? Oi!" Ren gave the small boy a jab in the stomach when he gained himself no responses.

"Eh? Ah, right, right!" Syo tried to sound natural. "What about you, Shibuya? Heading straight to the dorm?"

"Ah, no. Actually, I need to see Shinomiya-kun for a while," Tomochika's pretty face suddenly blushed.

"It looks like we can expect another couple from our group, huh?" Ren's comment only made Syo's smile faded away.

"It's not like that, Jinguji-san," Tomochika turned redder before dragging Ren and Syo along with her. "Let's give Haruka and Ichinose-san some privacy, shall we? Haruka, see you at the dorm, okay?"

"Okayyy. Thank you, minnasan," Haruka waved to the trio until they were no longer in her sight.

As the composer approached Tokiya, the blue head still slept soundly. Haruka took a seat in front of him before brushing a lock of hair from his eyes.

Staring at him up close, Haruka instantly recalled those naughty remarks from his friends.

He looks like an angel when he sleeps.

He looks so handsome when he sleeps like that.

Seeing him sleeping like that, I really want to kiss him.

Ahhh, how could they read my mind that easy? Maybe that's what a wife in the entire universe will think when she sees her husband's sleeping face, she closed her blushing face with her delicate hands before staring at Tokiya again.

I wish I can kiss him but we are at school. It will be too risky. Not to mention Ichinose-san will not feel pleased about that, she stroked his cheek before automatically flinching at its temperature.

He's burning!

"Ichi.. Ichinose-san!" she had no choices but to wake him up.

Screw the 'seeing him sleeping like that, I really want to kiss him' thing. His health is way more important right now!

Knowing Tokiya who used to be her husband for two years, waking him up would be an easy thing to do but not for today.

It took a while for him to wake up.

"Nanami-san.." he slowly opened his blue orbs. "You are here...What time is it?"

"It's five o'clock. Why are you sleeping here? You are burning, Ichinose-san..." she asked as he took off his headphones. The dark circles around his eyes turned visible while his face was ashen. "Did you go to the health centre?"

"I did but the doctor asked me to rest for a few days. Unfortunately I can't. I had a work at 6.30. The dorm is way too far from the school gate so I thought I would take a nap here while waiting for the taxi. Thank you for waking me up, Nanami-san."

"It's okay. I know you are so tired. Ittoki-kun and Syo-kun told me about you so I was worried and searched for you everywhere. Thank God you are here," she let out a sigh of relief. "By any chance, do you have a drama shooting this evening?"

"Yes."

"Is the female lead..Yuma Risa?"

"Yes. How do you know that?"

"It's just a guess. Moreover, they keep saying that Hayato and her are match from heaven or something," Haruka tried to suppress the jealousy as she talked.

"I think it's because we co-starred in more than three dramas so that was bound to happen."

"Do you guys have a kissing scene together? Are you going to kiss her?" she knew she sounded impatient and possessive but she could not help it. Not after she knows that after she and Tokiya announced their marriage, Yuma Risa had openly said to mass media that she was in love with an idol from a popular band but the guy was stolen by someone else and when she asked other STARISH members about it, all of them said,

"Obviously she talked about Tokiya/Icchi/Ichinose/Tokiya-kun. That girl always stared at him so intently whenever she had a chance. There were also rumors that she tried to kiss him a few times but Tokiya rejected her."

"No. Not this time," Tokiya's simple answer was enough for her to be relieved. "Why though?"

"Nothing. Just a random question," she answered him in a trice."By the way, Ichinose-san..When is the last time you grab foods? May I give you some? You will collapse in the middle of work if you don't eat.."

"I.." it took a while for him to answer since his head started spinning.

"You haven't eat anything, right?" the way she looked at him was full of concern and it made him touched. "Here," she took out tablets, a chocolate bun and a drink from her bag before giving them to him.

"Thank you.." he replied weakly as he took those foods from her yet frankly speaking, he did not have any appetite to swallow even a sip of water. He was way too ill.

"You're welcome. Even you don't have an appetite, you should try to eat slowly."

He smiled bitterly while staring at her.

"Ichinose-san, what's wrong?"

"Eh? No.. nothing. It's just that.."

"You are not used to be taken care like this."

The blue orbs widened a bit, making her chuckled.

"I am sorry if I freaked you out but after I fell in love with you and got married, I always observed everything about you and I ended up..."she suddenly gasped and blushed. "I.. I am sorry, Ichinose-san! I sounded like a crazy fan girl, right? Right?"

"No,you are not.." Tokiya answered right away. "I cannot expect less from someone who can guess what I think, someone who knows about my scars when we are not even married yet.."

She blushed again, much to Tokiya's enjoyment. At least the presence of this girl could cheer him up.

This girl did cheer him up before his head started spinning again.

No, Tokiya. Don't pass out. You still have a lot of works to do, Tokiya desperately motivated himself to act stronger. He did not want Haruka to get more worried so he decided to leave now.

"I got to go now. Thanks for the foods and medicine. I will consume them in the taxi."

"Okay," she really did not want him to leave but this is not a drama whereby you can just ignore your work and then you can come back home safely without you paying for the consequences.

But, still, her protective instinct kicked in so she decided to..

"I will wait for you to come back here, Ichinose-san. At what time?"

He paused for a while.

"Tonight, about 11 o-clock. Thank you, Nanami-san."

Meanwhile..

Those two future idols from S Class just strolled along the lake, going straight to their dorms.

"Ne, Ochibi-chan.."

"What?" Syo muffled.

"You are awfully quiet. Something's wrong?"

"What.. what do you mean something's wrong, you idiot?" Syo spontaneously lifted his head up after getting himself provoked by Ren.

Ren chuckled bitterly as he could get a better look at Syo's obviously gutted face.

"That's why I said you should leave first just now, Ochibi-chan. Or else, you have to see how loving Little Lamb looked when she stared at Icchi."

Syo bit his lips, suddenly feeling guilty to misunderstand Ren when in reality..

The ex-playboy knows just how much Syo loves Haruka. Ren just did not want him to feel hurt..for the nth time.

"For someone who is so laid-back and half-assed, you sure are very considerate, Ren."

"I'll take it as 'thank you' then. Next time, when I ask you to just go back to the dorm despite of how scary the corridor looks, you should do that. Obviously, it's better for you to see ghosts than Lady's loving face."

"Shut up!"

"I think I start to fall in love with Tomo-chan."

That was Natsuki's confession when he accompanied Haruka in order to wait for Tokiya. Both of them were waiting in the gazebo, not far from the school gate while enjoying the night view.

"Eh? Really?" Haruka smiled brightly. "Since when?"

"I don't know," Natsuki chuckled since he really meant it. He always thought that Tomochika's upbeat personality is interesting but he was too oblivious to treat the feeling as love until he realized it recently. "But every time I see her, I feel strangely happy."

So he and Tomo-chan do love each other but they are not aware about it. Should I tell him then?

"Hey, that's Tokiya-kun!"

Haruka quickly looked at the school gate before her eyes served the sight of a blue-haired boy, walking slowly into the school compound.

"Ichinose-san!"

"Is it me or Tokiya-kun looks too pale?"

"He is sick. Ichinose-san!"

The cobalt blue eyes wandered, trying to search for the voice but his vision was way too blurry. His manager, Megumi and the president were annoyingly brutal these days. They assigned him for countless jobs, just for the sake of gaining more popularity. They knew how he loves perfection so either he likes it or hates it, he would do his job perfectly and when Ichinose Tokiya does something perfect, it will be a sure-fire success.

Well, maybe just for once in his life, he should be a troublemaker in variety shows by picking a fight with one of the compĕres so that in future, he would not be invited again. As for dramas, maybe he should not memorize the actual script and instead, just blurting out whatever lines from Otoya's favourite tv show so that, he would end up getting dropped out of the dramas. The news about him being such a skank would spread around and nobody would be sane enough to involve him in any projects anymore. Hayato's career would be no longer a career and this persona of him would vanish completely.

Tokiya dragged himself for a few steps before finally, his body could no longer stand with the hot temperature. He swayed a bit before collapsing on the ground, enough to make Haruka gasped in horror.

"Ichinose-san!" she did not even bother to take her umbrella along. Her eyes were already full with tears as Tokiya did not move anymore.

"Ichinose-san, wake up!" She put his head onto her lap. She patted his cheeks, trying to get his attention but to no avail. Instead, his half-opened blue eyes stared blankly at her while his chest was struggling to inhale oxygen.

At the same time, Natsuki was calling his friends, seeking for a help.

"Ichinose-san, can you hear me? Ichinose-san!"

Yet, he was too weak. His blue orbs were shut slowly, sending Haruka in neurotic.

"Ichinose-san!" she shook his shoulders out of panic yet he remained unconcious.

"Haru-chan, don't worry. Ren-kun already called his driver to pick us up. Let me carry Tokiya-kun first, " Natsuki slowly reached Tokiya's waist as he carefully put the fainted boy's arm around his shoulder.

She nodded helplessly. She could not think straight anymore and with her overflew panic, it was wise to ask Natsuki to accompany her tonight. Unlike his appearance, the roommate of Syo was much calmer to deal with such a nerve-wrecking situation.

Currently, they were in Hayato's house. As they were informed by Otoya (who always sneaked a look at Tokiya's diary to check his schedule) that Tokiya would have a packed schedule tomorrow, they did not want the president nor Hayato's manager to look for Tokiya if he was not in the house because it might lead both of them to find out the truth about Tokiya studying in Saotome Academy.

"He needs to rest for a few days. He pushed his body out of its limit and if he continues with such a hectic lifestyle, I am afraid if he can last longer. If you care about that friend of yours, please make sure he keeps both work and rest balanced," Jinguji family's private doctor, Dr. Handa remarked.

Ren and Natsuki already left Tokiya in the care of Haruka. She could feel the same jitters on the first night of their marriage appeared again, especially when Ren said..

"Please do us a favour, Lady. Please take a good care of him. Let him know how much you love him."

Her heart pounded with nervousness. It has been a while for her to be in the same room with the love of her life. Only two of them even Tokiya was currently sleeping soundly.

Haruka took a seat beside sleeping Tokiya. His face was too pale while from the way he breathed, she knew how weak his constitution was. Just how much works he was going to take?

She rested her tiny hand on his forehead before flinching at its temperature. She quickly got a bowl of water and with her handkerchief, she rinsed it in the water before wiping his whole face before going down to his neck.

Haruka put the soaked handkerchief on Tokiya's forehead. A few minutes passed with her staring at him tenderly. Her hand brushed through his soft blue lock, making sure they did not poke his shut eyes.

"Your hair is getting long, Tokiya."

"I thought you like it long."

In the blink of an eye, the feeling of warmness and happiness that she could feel only when he was around kept her feeling in an unspeakable state. Even the voice of Tokiya only resonated in her mind but she could not help but feeling despondent and delighted in unison.

She slowly crawled onto the bed before resting her head beside the sleeping guy. She really missed the moment whereby she would end her day with Tokiya next to her and when she woke up in the morning, she would be greeted with his smiles and touches.

If this is the only night where I can spend together with him, it is enough for me.

As she was worried about how the next day would greet her, she rested her head on Tokiya's stiff shoulder while her arm embraced his waist slowly.

"Goodnight, Tokiya," she pecked his burning cheek before shutting her golden eyes.

This is too good to be true. If this is only a dream, you can say that this is the best dream ever for her. 

That's it for chapter 13! I will update the next chapter after a few days.

For XHaquaX, YukinoMurasaki and ChiToNaru, thanks for adding this story into your library. I hope you guys will keep reading this story till the end. 

And also... Special thanks to XHaquaX for the votes. It was nice to chat with you!