CHAPTER 1

This idea popped out when I read this; 'Tokiya dislikes Otoya for certain degree because the redhead reminds him of HAYATO' in Tokiya's wiki. I was like, 'poor Otoya though. He didn't anything wrong' and to see Tokiya had to put up with an energetic but kind-hearted senpai like Reiji was just exciting to me! It seemed like the more he thought that Otoya was loud, the more people with similar personality invaded his life. That's when I thought, 'how about HAYATO? Should I include him as well?'

And then, this story started this way...

The sun's rays were mellow but convivial for the new residents of Master Course dorm. The whole gigantic building was so quiet, save for the seldom chirps from random birds but the oomph of youth was echoed everywhere by certain six boys. Given they just debuted as an idol with STARISH as their brand, it was normal for them to be energetic.

One of the six boys was Ichinose Tokiya. Strolling along the corridor with the third box of his belongings, his blue eyes observed the building that became his home henceforth in a deep interest. Normal people would be drained to move in and out of the vast building ad infinitum just to move their things around but not for the Mr. Perfectionist. It was not merely because he hated procrastination and languor the most but he was also ecstatic to be tired.

For him, it was too early to be tired when his new life just began.

His new life as an idol with his true identity. Not as HAYATO who was his fake persona. Not the HAYATO who had to act frivolously both off- and on-screen no matter how miserable and jaded Tokiya felt inside. Not the HAYATO who took the credit for Tokiya's uphill struggle.

With his determination to start over, he enrolled in Saotome Academy while still working as HAYATO. At that time, his mind and soul had fixed the 'debut again' phrase as his goal and would use this second chance at his best.

Yet, the destiny had plotted something atypical for him and his teammates.

He aimed to debut as a soloist with Nanami Haruka as his composer but later found himself involved in Haruka's 'propaganda' aka putting six of them together in a group. Like Ren, he was skeptical about her idea at first but Maji Love 1000% had proved her right.

Their debut with the song was exceptional. STARISH gained the spotlight fast and had been dubbed as one of the most promising idol groups. Even Tokiya did not really approve of the way Shining Saotome used HAYATO's popularity to market STARISH, he stomached it since debuting as the group member meant that he could leave the persona for good.

At the night of their debut, it was the most mind-blowing stage performance that he had ever participated in his life. He could feel the wonderful and heartening energy, both from the audience and his teammates as they were connected by Haruka's song. The audience screamed their names during their solo parts and every time they reached the chorus, they just could not stop cheering and being as animated as them.

Haruka was right. Debuting in a band was the best decision. Plus, Tokiya gained himself five close friends and he became more open with them.

Speaking about Haruka...

"Auchh!" Tokiya's trail of mind was interrupted by a sound of a chipmunk-resembling yelp from someone after she banged on his side.

It was Nanami Haruka, sitting on a floor while wincing in pain.

Unlike his friends, Tokiya was the only one in STARISH who was blessed with classically romantic moments with Haruka such as...

Bumping into and staring at each other for a few seconds. If they dropped something and wanted to pick it up again, the unintentionally hand-touching moment would take place. They would awkwardly remove their hands before standing up in unison.

They bumped into each other a lot since their first meeting and today was no different.

But, Tokiya was a man who spent most of his life alone and had a lot of things to learn when it comes to interpersonal communication. Instead of asking her whether she was alright or not, the vocalist only stared blankly at the cute composer. Little did he know that the response just reduced his point as a gentleman.

"Ichi... Ichinose-san?" She exclaimed. Slightly dramatic he could say but it was still better than him who could care less about the girl's condition after bumping into him so hard. All he thought was he needed to put back his scattered CDs and magazine into the box.

"Unbelievable. You are still as clumsy as ever," he remarked. He did not mean to scold her but his voice always sounded colder than he intended to.

Clumsy? Haruka titled her head as the word echoed in her mind. Was I being clumsy just now? I believe both of us bumped into each other. It's not like I am the one who crashed him.

"I... I am sorry. Ichinose-san, have you moved in here?" Haruka asked, decided to ignore her internal questions.

"I am just getting started. I never finish today if I don't get moving," he replied.

They stood up almost in unison and that was when the typical awkwardness that Haruka felt when she was alone with a stranger filled the air. With Otoya, Natsuki, and Syo who she met a while ago, she did not feel awkward since natural conversation always knew how to find their ways. Including Masato and Ren, they all looked so welcoming, to begin with.

But with Tokiya, it was different. There was always a strange aura around him that made him looked stand-offish. Plus, it was probably because he was HAYATO, the person who inspired her to be a composer so she felt that they were still in a different level.

There was still an unspoken gap between them.

On the spur of the moment, Tokiya leaned closer to her face.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked, seriously and that was when the composer realized that she was staring at him intently.

"N... No, nothing," she stammered but it just drew an amused chuckle from Tokiya.

He's... laughing! For some reason, it always makes me happy whenever I see Ichinose-san smiling or laughing, Haruka thought.

"My mistake. I am accustomed to talking harshly with you, as well," Tokiya admitted. His eyes pierced straight at hers and she could not bring herself to look away. "We are both professionals now. Let's give it everything we have."

"Huh? Okay!" Haruka said, cheerfully.

It felt nice when you could hear your idol himself encourage you, the girl mentally remarked.

After meeting Shining Saotome, Ringo and Hyuga Ryuya rather in a colorful setting, they were informed that they had their senior group, QUARTET NIGHT to guide them. While all nine of them made their way to their rooms while talking to each other, Tokiya busied himself by wondering about just where the heck did the fourth member aka Camus disappeared after QUARTET NIGHT performing Poison Kiss. The count from Permafrost mysteriously disappeared when the other three members got their clothes changed in a fraction of a second.

Speaking about QUARTET NIGHT members...

The first impression lasted longer and that was the first thing that crossed Tokiya's mind as the seniors opened their mouths. Tokiya was aware that his own personality was far from being likable like Otoya or genial like Natsuki but if those people thought that they wanted STARISH to see them as the snobbish seniors, they had done a very good job because...

Mikaze Ai, the first senior bluntly stated that he was only interested in STARISH as his test subject and would collect data from six of them (which made him sound like a scientist). He was also insanely poker-faced (What was he? A robot?). Since he was assigned to be Natsuki and Syo's senior, he wondered what kind of future was waiting for his friends.

The next senior was Kurosaki Ranmaru. The way he dressed up and inserted a lot of curses in his lines had established himself as a typical rocker in Tokiya's eyes. Right from the beginning, he stressed that he did not want to teach anything to STARISH simply because they were not special and they would not go far if they relied on other people.

Yet, it tickled Tokiya's fancy when Ranmaru ended up having two rich boys, Ren and Masato as his juniors. When the ex-rocker was so confident to disparage STARISH, those two scions would be the best guys to shut him up. Syo would get easily emotional which might lead to a fist fight while Natsuki would get on Ranmaru's nerves by saying he was cute and what not. The naïve Otoya would apologize right away while Tokiya would ignore Ranmaru's scorn simply because he did not want to worsen the situation.

Ranmaru did not have any idea how sharp-tongued Ren and Masato could be. Unlike Syo, the childhood friends did not waste their energy in wrangling. Instead, they would speak back in a soft but sardonic way. It was all at one go and it managed to make the rocker went berserk before Kotobuki Reiji, the leader of QUARTET NIGHT comforted him.

"You can ask us anything. After all, we'll be sharing a room!"

As soon as those horrifying words escaped from Reiji's mouth, Tokiya could see how blue Ren, Masato, and Syo's face turned out. Tokiya swore that Ren and Masato would regret how they were so nervy a few minutes ago while Syo...

Tokiya could guess that the fashionable boy was imagining the horror of being a test subject. Natsuki looked startled but Tokiya was positive that he did not care much. He himself was already dangerous anyway so Tokiya just hoped the best for Syo. What a luck to live with two dangerous roommates who always saw him as the guinea pig!

Meanwhile, for Tokiya and Otoya, they were greeted by the jovial Reiji from his room side.

Speaking about Kotobuki Reiji, he was the senior that everybody wanted to have. He looked the friendliest so the only atrocious thing that could happen to the partners other than their belongings were pushed to the corner was...

The bunk bed. They would sleep on a bunk bed.

"My tatami is gone!" They heard Masato shriek from his room.

"Shut up! What's your problem!?" Syo's fury followed.

"You don't seem to know how to respect your seniors," Ai's girly but daunting voice filled the air.

Tokiya recoiled while Otoya swallowed his saliva at Syo's creepy scream afterward. The roommates looked at each other before mentally agreeing that they were in no position to complain.

They knew that Reiji was the best senior ever.

At that night, STARISH spent their time in their practice room, bashing their seniors.

"I cannot sleep on the top bunk so maybe, just maybe... I will secretly sleep on Ran-chan's bed and get up early before he kicks me," Ren said. That was the most determined-looking face that everyone had ever seen from the usually laid-back scion.

"He threw my tatami away," Masato said as he lowered his gaze in sorrow. The others could only give him a series of sympathetic looks since they knew just how precious the tatami was for the pianist.

Apparently, that's what you got when you tried to defy your senior, Tokiya mentally commented. But, that can't be helped, though. Hijirikawa-san and Ren just wanted to back STARISH.

"Ai-chan is cute! His room side is all white and he doesn't mind me hugging him," Natsuki exclaimed while balling his hands into fists.

"Which part of that person is cute!? Wait, I don't think he's even a person! He's like a robot! He expected us to wake up at 5 o'clock, 5.02, get changed, 5.07, wash face and on top of that, we have to sleep at 9 p.m. That's ridiculous!" Syo whined. He also balled his small hand into a fist but unlike Natsuki, that was a sign that he would throw a flare-up.

"But, actually, Syo-chan is angry because Ai-chan thought that he is only 100 cm," Natsuki clarified.

"Shut up, Natsuki!"

After that, when the four pairs of eyes settled on the certain redhead and blue head, the two roommates looked at each other.

So far, they certainly did not have any grievance except...

"Well, I think Otoya has a brother that will baby him. He won't cling to me anymore," Tokiya concluded.

"Ehhhh? Do you want to say that I am a nuisance, then?" Otoya demanded before pouting.

"Pretty much."

"That's mean, Tokiya!"

Before Tokiya knew it, their conversation suddenly revolved around Haruka and him.

"Do you like Nanami?" Otoya asked as the starter for the more serious conversation.

"Huh? Where did that come from? Wait, why are you guys staring at me like that? Hijirikawa-san, you too?" Tokiya's eyes sized up as the other blue head who was normally mature also had his face close to the vocalist.

"Yes because I can't help it. I am as curious as them," Masato reasoned out. Even his voice could match Ai's for the monotone but his eyes flashed a strange persistence, like a samurai in the midst of vendetta.

"Right from the start, Haru-chan cared a lot about you since you are HAYATO and everything," Natsuki exclaimed, brightly.

"So?"

"Since Lady had helped you to find hope and what not, we are just curious about either you like her or..."

"I don't see why I have to tell you guys," Tokiya cut Ren's words coldly. Some of them flinched at his tone but for the sake of his privacy, he had no choices. Sure, he was closer to them than before but it did not suggest that he was ready to share his deep feeling to Haruka with everyone. "Or did you guys want to know because you guys love her? Go ahead. Don't count me in for your competition. Remember, love is forbidden among us. We'll be expelled right away if the president finds it."

Tokiya smirked as he could see some of them recoiled at the thought. Ren and Masato tried so hard to remain composed but their hidden fear was still perceptible.

Why did everybody really want to know what he felt about Haruka? Was it that important for them? Tokiya did not see how it affected them. If they liked Haruka, go ahead! They could make a move...

No, they can't. Yes, they literally can but... It will affect me greatly because...

I love Nanami-san.

If truth be told, there was no way he would not fall in love with her. When almost everybody gave up talking to him and comparing him and HAYATO, Haruka was the person that he needed the most. The girl gave him a hope. The girl made him realized that he could not give up after coming this far to Saotome Academy in order to pursue his dream.

This morning, no words could perfectly describe how happy he was to see Haruka. He missed her so much. She looked so adorable with the pink dress and he was left mesmerized by her presence. Yet, as awkward as he was, he just could not say it right on her face.

When he was truly stunned by her for being physically present in front of him, Tokiya had a lot of things to ask her but he just did not know where he should start.

Her grandmother? Her new songs? What else? What else?

That was when he realized that compared to his friends, he knew nothing about Haruka. Their conversation was solely about their works.

But, what made him almost jump down his friends' throats before fleeing to his room...

"Ahhh, if you are HAYATO, it'll be easier to know your feeling," Ren said, ignoring Otoya's nervous look. Among them, the redhead was the only one who was aware that HAYATO was definitely a taboo for the vocalist. He was chewed out for wearing HAYATO costume before so he had learnt a great lesson.

"I bet if we start working tomorrow and they find out that HAYATO's true personality is not friendly at all, they will be utterly disappointed," Syo said.

So much for him to live in this world who only favored someone sweet and funny like HAYATO. He did not expect these people to understand his personality but at least, they should keep their opinion to themselves when he clearly did not ask for it.

He had to be serious. He was comfortable being strict because that was how he achieved success in his career a long time ago. Before he debuted as HAYATO, when those trainees slacked off during their training, he did not let his time wasted in one second. He worked so hard to overcome his tone-deaf condition and he also learned to play a lot of musical instruments. He could not change this serious attitude that easy if it brought more benefits to him.

"You had a lot of works as HAYATO, right?" Ai's quizzical voice crossed his mind.

Yes, he had but from now on, I will prove to everyone that Ichinose Tokiya is far more successful than HAYATO.

The thought that STARISH would attend interviews and CFs starting from this morning just overwhelmed him. Tokiya woke up way too early and he already stood in front of the mirror, grabbing his all sorts of skincare products and toothpaste. Minutes passed with him, brushing and cleaning his teeth. Later, he rubbed and massaged his flawless face with the product before splashing some water on it.

Yet, unlike the past morning in Saotome Academy where it was normal for him to walk alone in the bathroom (since Otoya would wake up way later than him), he felt like...

Somebody was staring at him.

What's with this feeling? Why am I feeling weird? Why do I feel that somebody is observing me?

He could feel a shadow just crossed his back. It was fast but it was not enough to deceive his eyes.

He knew there was something, right behind him.

With a small towel in his hand since he was about to dry his face, he turned to look around the wide bathroom but there was only him, standing in uncertainty.

"What's that?" He mumbled. The chill still played around in his body but he slowly walked to his room, finding Otoya and Reiji who were asleep.

I know Otoya doesn't sleepwalk but Kotobuki-san...

"Tokki, Otoyan, good luck for your first project today. Your senpai is cheering on youuuu. Fighting!"

But apparently, Kotobuki-san talked in his sleep, Tokiya thought as he saw Reiji put his fist up with his eyes closed.

Decided to shrug it off since he was annoyed with Reiji's stubbornness to call him Tokki, he went back to shower. Allowing the warm droplets showered his body, he lost in his thought before...

"Hey, Tokiya..."

Tokiya's eyes snapped open while his hand quickly reached to turn off the shower.

Somebody... Somebody is calling me, right?

He was not a scaredy-cat like Otoya. He could wander around in a dark place alone since wild and ridiculous imagination would bring him to nowhere but in this current situation, there was impossible for him to not feel a sheer fear.

He was positive that he was not popular enough among his friends to be pulled a prank this early in the morning. They knew how much he hated those 'fun' and childish things so...

If it's not someone, it must be something that called me. The shadow was 'something', not 'someone'.

He stood still with his hands remained on his sides. He did not turn on the shower since he gave a chance for the voice to reach him again if 'it' really wanted to talk to him. Blue eyes gazed at everywhere that they could see before...

"Tokiya..." This time, the owner of the soft voice came in synch with knocks on the door. Maybe it thought it was funny but for Tokiya, his heart almost lost its ability to pump the blood. He wanted to continue showering but until this mystery solved, he could not stay still.

That didn't sound like Otoya or Kotobuki-san. Then, who...

For sure, he had heard the voice somewhere before...

"Hey, Tokiya!" The high-pitched voice started to whine like a child and the same goes with the knocks. It sounded so desperate and for the nth time, Tokiya was frustrated with a heavy sleeper like Otoya (with Reiji as well given how he was not affected by these aggravating knocks, he must be a heavy sleeper as well). If they were easily awake because of this noise, they could save him.

"Are you really not going to open this door, Tokiya?"

Tokiya stepped back, assuming that the person, alien or creature would barge in and attack him.

"Who's that?" He asked. He reached his bathrobe before wrapping it around his body.

"Me," the voice answered before giggling. "It's me."

"Who!?" Tokiya demanded as he could not stand this pressure any longer.

"Open the door and you will know."

He knew a normal person would not simply open the door just because 'something' told him to do so but he could not help it. He did not want to be trapped in the bathroom forever so he slammed the door open.

Little did he know that after seeing who was that 'me', he wished that he would stay in the bathroom and desperately hoped that this was a nightmare because...

To Tokiya, the sight of 'me' was more terrifying than any other ghost that ever existed in this planet. For the first time ever, he was scared of someone or something that Otoya was not.

His eyes stared at the tall frame which was the same height as him in horror. He would rather if this 'me' did not have a face because the way he grinned just annoyed Tokiya and deserved a punch.

Tokiya observed the frame up and down until his eyes could convince him that this was not a nightmare.

The smiling eyes, the spiky hair with midnight blue color which matched his and the outfit...

That frilly outfit!

"Waaaaa, this is how I will look like if I am cooler, huh? Hmm, not bad. I look more handsome, I guess?" The 'me' said.

Tokiya still had a shocked look on his face. His fringe still had droplets from the shower but he could not care less. He just could not bring himself to do anything until this creature opposite him told him the reason for his existence because...

This guy was not supposed to exist!

"Hey, don't be so surprised, Tokiya!" The mysterious guy said while patting Tokiya's stiff shoulder. "It's just me. Don't you get excited to see the real me?"

No! I... I am not excited at all! And... And he... He patted my shoulder. He... he touched me so...

He's... real?

"Why do you look so pale, Tokiya? Are you supposed to be happy to see me in real life? And why are you touching your shoulder? Are you that ecstatic to be touched by me?" when the guy's face was dangerously close to his, he could feel a perilous wave of sound energy, threatening to escape from his throat.

No, don't... Don't shout, Tokiya. Don't shout. It's only five o'clock. You'll wake the others up, he coaxed himself frantically while pounding on his chest.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong with your mouth? Why is it getting bigger? Are you going to shout?"

I think. I am sorry but I can't help it...

"Hey, Tokiya. Relax. I am not a ghost..."

1...2...3...

"Waaaaaaaaa!!!!"

"Hey, don't shout!"