Sorry, forgot to publish part 2 -.-;

"What's with these boring photos?" the editor-in-chief ranted. "Use 'those.'" A staff member quickly brought over a small box what looked to have cat equipment like cat ears, tails, toys, and so forth.
The woman looked at the boys and simply commanded, "Put them on." The staff member grabbed three cat ear headbands and walked to them. Was she trying to make fools of the three of them?
Then you remembered Goshi and how he didn't want anything to hurt his pride. You turned to the boys, but the staff member had already handed them the cat ears. Yuta and Kento took and put them on willingly, but Goshi stood there, staring down at the pair he was given.
"Quit wasting time," the editor-in-chief said. "Hurry up and take some pictures. Show me some kitty cat poses!"
     Yuta happily stood in front of the camera and gave a few cute poses. Kento soon joined him, but Goshi still hadn't moved from his spot.
     The editor-in-chief had noticed and commanded he put the cat ears on. Goshi looked up at her in disbelief, murmuring, "'Meow, meow...?'"
     Walking over to the box of cat equipment, she said, "It's Kiss & Hug's trademark pose. If you want to get popular, you'll do it. If you can't do it yourself, I'll help you." She grabbed a fluffy cat teaser wand and a small ball and walked to the edge of the shooting area. The woman threw the ball to Goshi's feet and he immediately stiffened, looking back down.
     "What's wrong?" the woman mused. "Hurry up and play like a cat." She wiggled the cat teaser in front of his face. Still, he didn't move.
     This was all wrong. She was playing around with him, toying with him. Even you, who was usually calm and didn't hold her chin up high, were angry. You had had enough of this woman's attitude. With your fists clenched, you began to walk over.
     "I can't do that," Goshi growled before you could get to them. He threw the cat ears to the floor and glared at the editor-in-chief. "I won't wear these embarrassing things or appear in a THRIVE article!" Goshi yelled at her.
     They stared daggers into each other as everyone turned their attention to them. Finally, she challenged, "Do you know who you're talking to?"
     In response, Goshi snapped, "You're a perverted editor-in-chief with a cat ear fetish!"
     The woman grimaced at his response, not knowing how to reply.

~~~

     "Goshi...?" you called out softly. Surprisingly, you got an answer immediately.
     "What the hell do you want?"
     You followed the voice and found Goshi sitting by himself outside the building the shoot was being held in. Kneeling down in front of him, you held out a cup of hot chocolate. "Drink," you said quietly. "It'll help you relax a bit."
     Goshi hesitated for a minute before grabbing the cup and looking away, his face a bit pink. You looked up at the sky and murmured to him, "That lady really is horrible...isn't she?"
     He scoffed, "'Horrible' is an understatement." Both of you looked at each other and shared a smile, but was interrupted by someone.
     "What's wrong with that Kaneshiro boy?" the voice asked angrily. It was the editor-in-chief woman.
     As if on cue, you and Goshi turned to peek around the corner at the same time. The editor-in-chief was talking to a staff member in private. "Make him do what I want," she had just demanded.
     The staff member quietly said back, "But if we're too forceful, it could affect future business with them..."
     "Don't worry about that," she reassured him. "Idols only last four or five years anyway."
     At that, you immediately stood up and walked up to her and the staff member. "Ma'am," you called to get her attention. She turned her head slightly as if she had gotten bored. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't act like you can just throw away idols once they've lived their career," you said with Goshi right behind you.
     "Oh, did I offend you?" the woman provoked. "But isn't it true? Wear fashionable clothes, sing popular songs, and have girls scream over you. Isn't that all you boys want?
     "And you," she said, turning to you with a smirk. "The only reason you're B-Project's songwriter is because you want to be surrounded by attractive boys, right? And once you've chosen your victim, you'll seduce him and run off with his money when you're done with him?"
     It wasn't at all true, but you had gotten close to tears...
     "Hey," Goshi said, stepping up. "I don't care what you say about me, but don't you dare talk about _____ that way!"
     The woman's expression had gone from looking smug to simply amused. "Protecting your precious princess, Kaneshiro?" she said tauntingly. "Or should I say your little girlfriend?"
     If it was possible, Goshi would have scowled even more than he already was. "I've had enough!" he declared. "I'm cancelling our deal with your crappy magazine!"

~~~

     A staff member had walked up to you, Tsubasa, and the remaining two THRIVE members. Goshi had run off somewhere after you and him had confronted the editor-in-chief. The staff member had informed the four of you that the she had instructed them to swap THRIVE for another artist for the article.
     You all stayed quiet, trying to process everything all at once.
     Yuta made a sudden noise while looking at the editor-in-chief. "I remember now," he said. "She was with Yashamaru." The image of the night before popped up in your mind.
     "Ah, you're right," you chimed in. "When Yuta and I went out to buy some pudding last night, we saw Yashamaru and the editor-in-chief together."
     Kento asked, "Does that mean Yashamaru was entertaining her?"
     Shaking your head, you said, "No, I don't think so. It didn't look like it, but..."
     The staff member spoke up, "Oh, Yashamaru works for Gandara, right? He came to us a bunch of times to ask the editor-in-chief. 'Just one page would do so please put THRIVE in the magazine,' was what he kept saying."
     Tsubasa, Yuta, and Kento turned to each other to agree on looking for Goshi to tell him the news. But you had already gone ahead and ran out without waiting for them.
     It wouldn't be hard to spot him since he was still wearing his outfit for the shoot, but actually finding which area he was in would be difficult. Goshi had been gone for quite a few hours so he could have been anywhere. Not only that, but what if something had happened to him?
     You ran as fast as you could and searched playgrounds, bridges, even alleyways. Every now and then, you'd run into Tsubasa or one of the two other boys who were also looking.
Finally, after awhile, you found Goshi walking alone on a slanting sidewalk. Yuta and the others were nearby and you heard him call out to Tsubasa and Kento.
Of course, you couldn't wait until they arrived and ran down the grass to him. But you were running down so fast, you lost your balance near the bottom and fell forward. The others cried out, "_____!" as you yelped. Instinctively, Goshi turned around only to catch you in his arms in time.
He winced a bit as he did so and immediately let you down. "You!" Goshi said angrily. You quickly bowed to apologize, but you looked him in the eye after. "Goshi, Yashamaru begged that editor-in-chief lady repeatedly for your job today," you said. "I'm sure you wouldn't have wasted that opportunity if you had know."
He kept quiet, only signing and scratched the back of his head in annoyance. After a few short moments, Goshi grabbed your hand and began running. The others followed behind without any knowledge of where they were being led to.
As you ran, Goshi looked back at you and grinned without saying a word.

• • •

"Ma'am, can't you wait a little longer?" the photographer asked the editor-in-chief as she made her way to her car.
The five of you had just ran in before she could reply. After catching his breath, Goshi bowed, "I'm sorry!"
The editor-in-chief glanced at Goshi as he held his bow before looking at Yuta and Kento. "Aizome and Ashu, right?" she asked. "You'd be more popular if you dumped this pain in the ass and handled THRIVE as a duo."
You saw Goshi stiffen again, but continued to hold his bow. The editor-in-chief continued, "If it were just the two of you, I'd offer you an article on the rebirth of THRIVE. How does eight-- no, ten pages sound--"
     Yuta interrupted her, "No, thank you!" Kento and him each wrapped an arm around Goshi who was forced to straighten up a bit. Smiling, Kento said, "Terrible things would happen if we let this 'pain in the ass' run free. We need to keep him on a leash." Goshi struggled to pull free, but the two only grabbed him closer and tighter. "The three of us are THRIVE," Yuta added.
     It was nice and all, but the editor-in-chief was scowling now. "W-Wha..." she began to say in disbelief that they would turn down an offer as good as the one she made.
     "Hello, everyone," a warm sounding voice from behind said. Everyone turned to see Atsushi standing there. "I had a meeting in the area and heard the editor-in-chief was here," he said, walking to her. "I came to see you, right?"
     As he asked her that, Atsushi grabbed her by the waist quite aggressively and pulled her against him. The editor-in-chief seemed surprised, but didn't show any sign she'd pull away.
     Atsushi then asked her, "Are you finished with work for the day? Would you like to get dinner together?"
     All the editor-in-chief said was, "Oh, my..." but he took it as a yes and turned to you and the others. "_____, Tsubasa," Atsushi said. "You can handle the rest." He winked and led the editor-in-chief into her car as he began chatting with her about a certain shop. Everyone seemed dumbfounded to know that he had won her over so easily.
Meanwhile, the three boys walked up to the staff and apologized for taking so long. "Please let us continue our photo shoot," Kento said as they all bowed.

~~~

The rest of the shoot went by smoothly despite it being late at night and everyone was tired and sleepy.
Before it resumed, however, the four of you had Goshi listen to the new version of their new song.
"With some help from Shuuji, I got the song revised to what you requested, Goshi," you said smiling.
     All he did was put his hand on mouth to hide his grin which you could clearly see.
     There was a meow behind you and Yuta exclaimed, "Ah, you're still here?" There was a white cat licking itself. "Come here," Yuta said softly. The cat turned its attention to them and strutted over.
     But instead of going to Yuta, it walked up to Goshi's leg and brushed itself against him. Kento said, "He smelled one of his own kind." A flash was lit and the three of them looked that direction.
     The photographer was grinning as he said, "Let's get some shots with the cat."
     The shoot itself finally resumed as the three boys made various poses with the cat. As he took photos, the photographer said that he couldn't say it in front of the editor-in-chief, but he had gotten sick of the kitty cat poses.
     You and Tsubasa decided to call Yashamaru for a status update. "Yes, things are doing okay here," she said after he picked up. "We're almost finished...a powerful helper showed up to talk--no..."
     Looking back at the boys, you finished Tsubasa's sentence for her.
     "You could say to 'meow' some sense into him," you said smiling.

• • •

     "Are you ready yet, _____? Your mother's becoming more impatient by the day."
     "Just wait a bit more, Dad. It won't take much longer."
     "That's the same exact thing you said weeks ago."
     "I'm sorry...but I promise. I'll be back home soon."

~ Extra Ending ~

"He doesn't make this face often," Shuuji mused, picking up a photo from the shoot.
You nodded in agreement, "Yes, I think the article came out successfully because of it."
However, he scowled, "But my brother didn't need to get involved..."
Remembering what had happened that evening, you laughed nervously at the thought of it.
Tsubasa spoke up, "But the new version of THRIVE's song was wonderful!"
"Of course it was," Shuuji replied. "_____ and myself worked on--"
He was interrupted by Yuta who had been loud since they arrived.
"Wrong!" Yuta exclaimed. "Do your hands more like this! Make them rounder and tilt your head a little!"
"Do I have to do this?" Goshi asked.
Kento smiled brightly, "Of course. There's no telling when we'll be hired to do kitty poses again."
"Right?" Yuta laughed. "Come on, Gochin. Let's kick it up a notch!"
Shuuji stood up and said, "_____, Sumisora. You know what to do."
You and Tsubasa nodded at each other and ran to the boys' side. You and her threw up your hands and did kitty poses. Goshi and the other two were in the middle of their poses as Shuuji took out a camera and snapped a picture of the five of you.

I have to admit it myself, but I was a bit bias with this episode's chapter(s) -.-;

Goshi is my second overall bishie in B-Pro right behind Hikaru, who'll be in the upcoming chapter.

Look at this adorable cinnamon bun =w=