Haruka's heart beat like a crazed drum in her chest, her breath harder than the strongest whirlwinds. She felt shivers of excitement and fear roll up and down her arms like the waves of grass in the meadow, causing her to pull her jacket closer to herself, shivering quietly. She watched as the boys chattered among themselves, complaining about their costumes. They were waiting in the practice room for the concert to start. They had wanted to get in last minute changes to the dancing and song, but found nothing in need of changing. Fully satisfied with their song, they began to talk about the upcoming event.
"Awe man, I'm getting nervous." Otoya said with a shiver, looking around worriedly.
"Don't be, it'll be fine." Syo reassured, a smirk pulling over his lips.
"Yes, we practiced for this," Masato nodded, a smile stuck on his face. "And have pulled together at last."
"Ne, Tokiya, was it hard to go on at first?" Otoya asked nervously, the bluenett blinking at him.
"Yes, I nearly turned back." Tokiya said honestly.
"W-what?!" Otoya squeaked, shaking his head.
"Toki, I don't think honesty was what he needed." Ren chuckled, shaking his head.
"He asked." Tokiya sighed. Haruka gave a small smile at their antics, but lowered her head once more, her eyebrows knitting in anticipation.
"Haru-chan," Haruka looked up to spot Natsuki smiling down at her, hands on his knees. "Don't worry, we'll be fine." Haruka scooted back in her chair and looked down, giving him a shaky nod of the head, still looking doubtful.
"Nanami," Otoya smiled. "Believe in us." The other boys nodded as well, giving her confident smiles.
"I-I DO believe in you... But I'm still nervous..."
"What are you nervous about?!" Syo suddenly yelled, turning away from her. "WE'RE The ones going on stage. All you have to do is wait for us and we'll be fine, alright. S-so stop pouting." Haruka blinked in surprise form Syo's sudden outburst.
"Oh, whats this? Is the munchkin trying to acting cool now?" Ren chuckled, putting his hands in his pockets.
"What do you mean TRY!?" Syo yelled, turning around to face Ren. "I've always been cool- and stop calling my munchkin!"
"What ever you say, Chibi-chan." Ren said, causing Syo to fume. Haruka watched them bicker for a few minutes before she began to giggle a little. The boys turned to her, mouths lying slightly open and faces blank as her chuckles turned into howling laughter. Haruka wiped the tears from the sides of her eyes as she laughed full heartedly. The boys began to smile at her laughter and soon joined in. Haruka looked up at all of them, smiling widely at them.
"Mina-san, I know you'll do great. I do believe in you!" Haruka smiled, causing the boys to nod.
"Nanami, we'll never let you down." Otoya suddenly said, causing Haruka to blink in surprise.
"Thats right, we're here your you, My Lady." Ren nodded.
"We're friends and will stick together for now on." Masato agreed.
"Yep, friends for ever~" Natsuki gushed, squeezing Syo in a deadly hug, causing the short blond to struggle.
"And we're stuck together." Syo grumbled at his double meaning as he tried to pry Natsuki from him, to tall blond not paying any heed to his struggling.
"Nanami-san, you brought us together with your music." Tokiya said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And now we're bound to one another. We won't let you down- not ever. Because we will always believe in your music." Tokiya nodded at her. Haruka felt tears weld in the corners of her eyes as a smile spread across her face. She nodded as she wiped away her tears. The boys smiled in sympathy at her, some reaching out to touch her in comforting gestures.
"Boys, it's time to start." A man said, poking his head into the room.
"Hai!" The boys responded, helping Haruka up and bringing her with them. They all waited at the edge of the curtain.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to this Saotome Debut Concert!" Shining yelled from on stage, wildly dancing as the crowd cheered. "BUUTTTTT! We will start with the debut of our newest band in Saotome's Master Course! They will be debuting today- here and now! Now, please welcome, STARISH!" Shining shouted, causing the crowd to go crazy in a surprised yet pleasing excitement.
"STARISH?" Haruka asked, the boys looking at each other in confusion.
"Wait, shouldn't we choose the name?" Syo asked.
"Of course not~" They turned to see Ringo walking towards them.
"Ringo-chan? What's with the name?" Otoya asked, confused by their band's name.
"Don't know~ Shining just chose it out of the blue." Ringo shrugged. "But enough of that, it's your time to shine boys! Now get on that stage and make me proud!" Ringo cheered, pushing them onto the stage. Haruka watched at the boys walked out onto the middle of the stage, waving as the crowd cheered.
"I never would have thought we'd get this far." Haruka sniffed, rubbing the tears from her eyes. "I'm so proud..."
"Haru-chan, let's get a better view! We have seats in the back!" Ringo said, pulling Haruka along the side of the stadium, trying to get to their seats before the concert started. They ended up in an exclusion area high above any other people, exclusively for members of Saotome Industries. Ringo sat Haruka in the second row, right behind a group of boys. One chatted louder than the rest, leaning out over the railing to see better.
"Wow, look at them! Their our new juniors, aren't they!?" The brunette of the group asked the others.
"Obviously." The silver haired one huffed, crossing his arms.
"Ne, Ran-Ran, no need to be so stuffy." The brunette wined, falling back in his seat, letting his head fall back, his hat tumbling onto Haruka's lap. The opened his eyes and blinked at Haruka before cracking a smile at her. "Hi there~" He chirped, twisting around in his seat to place his chin on the back of his chair.
"H-hello." Haruka said, giving a small bow to the man, a blush spreading across her face.
"Aren't you a cute one~" He chimed, causing Haruka's face to to beat red. "I'm Reiji- Reiji Kotobuki." He said, sticking his hand out.
"N-Nanami Haruka.." She responded, shaking his hand lightly. He pulled her hand close to him and kissed it lightly, winking at her.
"A pleasure to be acquainted with you." He winked, causing Haruka to pull away. "These are by band mates." He said, turning to the three other boys by him. "Thats Camus, he's not very friendly." He said, pointing at the one with longer, blond hair. He turned to Haruka for a moment, eyes roaming over her, scanning her. Haruka gulped in a nervous fear, twiddling her fingers. The man huffed and turned away, ignoring her. "He's Mikaze Ai, he doesn't talk much." Reiji said, pointing at a light blue haired boys, much younger than the other three. He stared at her blankly, blinking in an emotionless state. "And that's Kurosaki Ranmaru, he's the mean one." Reiji whispered just loudly enough for Ranmaru to hear.
"Oi, shut up Reiji. I don't need an idiot calling my rude, especially one who can't shut up and listen for five minutes without whining in an obnoxious way." Ranmaru glared, causing both Reiji and Haruka to flinch back. Haruka swallowed her nervousness and gave them a nice bow.
"I-It's a pleasure to meet you." Haruka said, bowing to them. They stared at her for a moment before turning away from her. Haruka blinked in surprise. They acted so cold, they probably would never get along with her.
He reached out and grabbed his hat, pulling it over to himself and placing it on his head. "Enjoy the show." He chuckled, turning back around. Haruka nodded, placing one hand over the hand he turned, still blushing. Ringo giggled at Haruka, fully amused by the two of them.
The other three looked back at her, watching her curiously. Having no idea who she was or why she was in the exclusive area, they saved their questions for latter. Perhaps another new recruit?
Unannounced to them, they were currently being watched from above by a man with cool, tanned skin and cat like green eyes. He hissed in annoyance after watching the two of them mingle like they did. It was aggravating to see her be flirted with like that in front of him, as if he wasn't even there. He had been protecting his princess for years and now he had lost her. For now.
At least she's happier now." He smiled, nodding to himself. His eyes shone when he stared at her and his heart swelled when she smiled. A smile spread across his face. "Ill have to join them soon. STARISH, hu? Heh, I still think I'm a better singer than them, but for now, I'll let them have her. If only for a little while." The man smiled, nodding to himself in a promise.
Alright, yet another story finished! I'm so glad I wrote this much! I was going for a longer chapter but I felt sick today, so this is as much as I can write for now, sorry~ Well, this is the last chapter of this story, so I hope you enjoyed. I have been getting requests for a season two and I am thinking about it, but so far I can't figure out a way to change things up- they're just about on schedule with the normal anime from this point on so it may be impossible to keep going. Oh well, best now to ruin something good with a bad sequel- you know how hated those are~
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