CREDITS TO : UTA NO PRINCE SAMA

CHAPTER 4

"Haruka, look over there."

A touch around her arm made Haruka's mind went back to reality. It was a lunch break and after taking a bite, Tomochika and Haruka took a walk randomly around the school. It felt nice to go back to school even the enigma of why they were here still remained as one.

Haruka looked past the field and over there, under a cherry blossom tree, she could see that the STARISH members were forming a circle, seemingly discussed something.

"Let's join them," Tomochika pulled her best friend's arm before heading towards the boys.

"As soon as I woke up, I found myself in the dorm. I looked at Jinguji and I could see that he was also as confused as me," Masato said while crossing his arms.

"Me too. I was surprised to see Syo-chan in the same room with me. At first, I thought that Syo-chan wanted to surprise me by sneaking into my house," completely opposite with serious Masato, Natsuki shared his experience while smiling brightly.

"Hell I won't! Why would I sneak into your house, you idiot!?" Syo totally snapped with the ludicrous imagination of Natsuki. In fact, he was so grateful for finally being able to be free from the tallest guy in the group.

"As for me, Tokiya suddenly came and scolded me for using his laptop, right after the assembly," Otoya interrupted while scratching his red head. It became his sudden habit since this morning as he could not conceal his bewilderment.

"What? Ichinose? Did you just say Ichinose?" Masato could not believe his ears while Natsuki' green eyes grew wider out of delight.

"Did you meet Tokiya-kun?"

"Yes, Masa, Natsuki. Tokiya is here," Otoya responded while smiling brightly. "Nanami even hugged and kissed him because she could not contain her excitement. Luckily, the president... I mean the principal gave them a second chance."

They chuckled almost in unison before..

"You guys are supposed to be an adult, right?" Haruka's question that popped out of nowhere made Otoya and Syo shouted so loud that they even managed to scare those birds nearby, sending them flying to the sky.

"Nanami, what are you doing? You almost made my heart dropped," Syo rubbed his chest with an annoyance. "Eh, Nanami?? You are here? You... with Tomochika?"

"I am sorry for the interruption," Nanami replied, softly. "Well, I guess, nice to meet you guys again in this school."

"Yeah, nice to meet you guys here," Tomochika added.

"Likewise, Haru-chan, Tomo-chan!" Natsuki paused before adding, "And Tokiya-kun too!"

"Yeah. It's a good thing we can see Icchi again..." Ren remarked. It felt like a dream when he could sit beside Tokiya again in class.

"But it will be tough to get chummy with him since he is his normal self before debut," Syo added.

"Yeah, you are right, Syo-chan."

Again, silence fulfilled the atmosphere. They honestly did not know what should they do next.

"Has anybody seen Aijima?" Masato asked, sending the others shook their heads.

"Well, maybe instead of being younger, he turned into a cat like he was supposed to be. He would come and being clingy with Nanami like before," Syo said, unconsciously expressing his silent jealousy. "Could it be.. Cecil is the one who made all this? You know.. with his absurd magic.. anything can happen..."

"Waaaa, Ochibi-chan is so smart!"

"Don't call me Ochibi, Ren!"

"I think maybe we are sent here because of Tokiya-kun. Whoever that put us here possibly wants us to change something in our past," Natsuki interrupted while hugging Syo's back who was persistent to strangle Ren at all costs. "Who knows, we can find who killed Tokiya-kun as well."

"You are right, Shinomiya-san! This is the right time for me to protect my husband from anyone who will hurt him," Haruka remarked in stick-to-itiveness.

"So, first of all, Haruka, I believe you are the one who knows what your husband needs the most at this time, " Tomochika's words made all eyes focused on Haruka.

"Eh? Me?" Haruka pointed at herself.

"Of course you are, Nanami. Just so you know, Tokiya is so secretive with us. We never knew that he has family problems until you accidentally told us," Syo replied.

"Well, according to him, he told me everything because I am his wife," Haruka admitted.

"Maybe we are here to help you achieving your goal. Do you remember? You told Ittoki that you wish to see Ichinose during our school time. I think that makes sense why we are all here so please tell us in details what is your wish, Nanami. What do you want to do with Ichinose," Masato commented.

Haruka almost bursted into tears as she could sense the sincerity from all her friends' eyes. They have been so supportive of her relationship with Tokiya until now even all of them used to love her so much.

"Well... I wish I can go out with him properly but first of all, I want him to know that he is not alone. He has us."

At that night, five pair of eyes focused deeply on a black cat while forming a circle around the said animal. Their brows stuck together, enough to describe just how intently they tried to understand the creature with only 'meow' as its vocabulary but...

"Enough is enough! Just turn into a human and talk, you frigging cat!" as the one who typically lost his temper easily, Syo suddenly grabbed and strangled the black cat out of frustration.

"Waaaaa, Syo, don't kill him! He's still your friend!" Otoya quickly backhugged Syo while Natsuki swiftly grabbed the said animal before stroking its fur gently.

"I don't have a friend who talks a load of crap about magic and dragged us into this mess!" Syo totally faced the music as the cat suddenly bit his finger.

"You stupid cat!!" Natsuki and Syo's room became messier as Syo chased after the animal.

"Ne, Masa, Ren. Is it really okay if we.." Otoya who was anxious about his friends' wellbeing tried to gain the said scions' attention but..

"Just let them be," Ren sighed, too lazy to take part in the childish fight.

"At least we already know that Aijima is the cause of the whole situation," Masato concluded from the gestures that Cecil alias the cat has made since an hour ago.

It was all started when Natsuki told them that he had found a cute cat and before he told them that he was going to make the cat as his pet, they all shouted,

"That's Aijima/Cecil/Cesshi!!"

Without wasting any second, they interrogated Cecil the Cat because it was no doubts that whatever happened to them right now was all Cecil's doing.

Yet it was to no avail. Cecil's continuous 'meow-meow'sounds were barely understood by those dorks.

"Is Icchi in your room right now?" Ren's blue eyes met Otoya's red eyes.

"Yes. He's studying," Otoya grinned happily. This morning, he did not get a chance to meet Tokiya. He assumed that he woke up too late and Tokiya did not even bother to wait for him. Since this evening until just now, he managed to look at Tokiya up close and to be honest...

He could not hold back from grinning like a moron all the time when he saw Tokiya around him. It felt warm and it took all for him to not feel emotional or bursting into tears.

Even all of this happened so quick and ridiculous, it never crossed his mind that he would see Tokiya again.

"How do you feel when you see him in your room?" Ren asked with a warm smile even he already knew what was the answer.

"I am so happy, Ren," Otoya replied him with the same kind of smile before receiving a stroke on his shoulder from the rich guy.

"You don't see him yourself yet, right, Hijirikawa?" Ren asked, receiving a nod from Masato.

"Would you mind if I hang out in your room later, Ittoki?" Masato asked before receiving a nod and chummy smile from the red head.

After having a chit-chat for a while, they went back to their respective dorms without even bothering to stop Syo from killing Cecil the Cat.

"So, today was supposed to be the third day of school," Otoya whispered to himself as he recalled how they were assigned to write a song for the first assignment ever.

Of course it would be a piece of cake for Otoya, especially when as predicted, he was paired with Haruka. All they had to do was choosing his song, Brand New Melody as their assignment. Unlike others who worked hard to compose the song, Otoya instead told Haruka,

"It's okay, Nanami. We can just pretend that we worked hard to compose Brand New Melody. Instead, you should focus on how to help Tokiya."

Apparently, that is one of the benefits once they returned to the past. They did not need to waste time in brainstorming anymore.

But when he had nothing to do tonight, it looked like he would end up wasting time again by spacing out or something...

"Ahhhhh, what should I do tonight?" he rolled on the floor while resting his head on his arms with closed eyes. He bet the other STARISH members except Cecil and Tokiya were also bored like him.

Out of the blue, the first thing or person that he saw right after he opened his eyes was...

"I cannot concentrate if you make noises."

Tokiya.

Wait, this is absolutely his typical reaction when he gets annoyed with me. How about... Otoya's mind suddenly generated a random idea, realizing how he missed everything about Tokiya.

"Hihi.. Sorry. Tokiya also can make noises."

"That's not my point. I mean that I want you to be quiet," a vein suddenly throbbed from Tokiya's forehead, indicating just how annoyed he was with the annoying answer.

"Ahahaha, the same reaction!"

"What?"

"Eh? I mean... I am sorry. I was too bored."

"Don't you have an assignment to do?"

"I.. I have done it..."

"Good for you then," Tokiya remarked sarcastically before returning to his desk. "Since you have already done your assignment, it will be much appreciated if you can keep your voice down."

"Em... I don't think I can promise that," Otoya grinned awkwardly while glancing nervously at the door.

"What do you mean?"

A strong knock on the door ended their conversation. Tokiya sighed before lazily opened the door.

Natsuki, who was holding Cecil the Cat, along with another three guys were coming.

"Hi guys!" Otoya greeted back, happily.

"Otoya-kun, we come to..."

Natsuki paused as he could not believe his green eyes. His big body blocked the other STARISH members from entering the room.

"Oi, Natsuki!" and of course, Syo was the one who got easily annoyed.

"Tokiya-kun.." before he could approach and hug the blue head, Cecil the Black Cat was the first one who jumped into Tokiya's arms.

"Waaaahh!" Tokiya shrieked before bringing the said animal to his eye level. "Is it yours, Shinomiya-san?"

"Er... not exactly," Natsuki grinned awkwardly while struggling to keep his emotions stable as Tokiya, his late friend now stood right in front of him. Nevertheless, he stepped into the room, followed by Syo, Ren and Masato.

"What? What do you.." Tokiya was distracted as the black cat started licking his cheek. They could see how Tokiya the Walking Ice was suddenly flattered by the affection from the cute animal.

But much to his confusion...

"Ichinose, that's... I mean, that's.." Masato could not form right words as he felt disgusted and speechless at the same time. He pointed towards the cat with his shaking index finger but Tokiya apparently could not get the picture.

If Tokiya knew that the cat was...

A guy...

"Hey, stop licking him!" Syo could not stand the horror show so he decided to grab Cecil from Tokiya but the blue head just shook his head.

"It's okay, Syo," to their surprise, Tokiya's face looks so loving and gentle when he played around with Cecil the cat. His usual cold face formed a chummy smile as two of the cat's legs grabbed his finger before biting it affectionately (only in the eyes of Tokiya yet not for the others).

Masato, Syo, Ren: Ichinose/Tokiya/Icchi will faint if he knows the so-called cute cat is a guy.

Natsuki,Otoya: What a rare sight! Tokiya/Tokiya-kun looks cuter when he smiles like that.

"What are you guys looking at?" Tokiya's stern question, followed by an icy expression sent them flinching.

"Nothing," Masato shrugged. "By the way, Ichinose.. have you done your lyrics?" he asked randomly, out of nervousness and happiness.

"Not yet. Still brainstorming,"compared to others, for some reasons, Tokiya found that Masato is the only boy who he could talk with without feeling that his personal bubble is invaded. "How about yours?"

"Well.. I..." Masato quickly approached Tokiya. "I have a trouble with..."

And the conversation flew naturally, as you could expect from both the blue heads.

"I think Masa is the only person who can get close with Tokiya easily from the start," Otoya commented as he felt happy to see this sight; STARISH were in the same place including Tokiya.

"You just realized that now, Ikki?" Ren smirked. "I think both Hijirikawa and Icchi always prefer to room together instead of with us."

"Ehhh, is that so?" 

"But Ren.. I don't think Otoya is the only one who only realized about that now," Syo pointed at Natsuki who sticked his nose into the blue heads' conversation.

Meanwhile, thanks to the natural flow of conversation, Masato managed to distract Tokiya from playing with Cecil the Cat. Still talking, Masato put the cat onto the floor before smacking its butt.

"Meow!" Cecil glared, mentally saying, 'that was hurt!'.

"Why the hell did you act like a gay? Licking him like that.." Masato murmured angrily to Cecil.

At the same time, Tokiya and Natsuki continued talking about lyrics brainstorming.

"Eh, me? Well, when I look at hoshi-sama, pretty words will pop into my head, so all I need to do is remembering them."

"Hoshi...sama?" Tokiya looked puzzled. He never thought that Natsuki's answer would be this flowery.

"Yes, hoshi-sama."

"You mean... those hoshi-sama?" Tokiya pointed at the window.

"Yes, those hoshi-sama."

"Sounds enthralling," Tokiya answered with an awkward smile. 'Is he joking? Is he being serious?' expression was written all over his fair-skinned face.

The other three; Ren, Syo and Otoya just formed a relieved smile, feeling grateful for what God blessed them now. They could see Tokiya again. They could form a strong bond with Tokiya again after being separated by a tragic death. 

 Again, to AngelLilica-san, thank you for your comment! It really made my day, honestly. Hope you and whoever that will read my story get more interested in this first try of mine.  

And about this chapter.. Just like what some of Utapri fanfic writers had stated, Tokiya is a hard character to write since.. maybe he is reserved and mysterious? I don't even know either he likes cats or not but for the sake of this story and his future interaction with Cecil, I made him a cat lover. And another thing, just like what you have read about Cecil the Cat, you sure can guess that this story will involve magic, right? I hope for the next chapters, I don't make the magical stuff too cringeworthy or stuff. Okay, enough with the blabbers. So, do you like this chapter? Feel free to comment on this story!