A/N: Well, I hope things aren't too bleh with this little tale... kinda enjoying this actually. :P Usual disclaimers etc!

Chapter 3- And so a new star is born

"The seventh member of Starish... is the Crown prince of Agnapolis."

"The what!?" Sakura turned back to her older brother. "The Crown Prince of Agnapolis...!? Why would a member of the royal family be a pop idol of all things!?"

"Why not?" Camus asked with a challenging tone. "This is a good way to expand one's horizons and get to know more of the world."

"Cecil didn't originally intend to be an idol." Ranmaru spoke up as if to gloss over what Camus had said before another argument could begin. "He came to Saotome Acadamy to study music."

"It was Ittoki who introduced Aijima to the rest of us and convinced us and Saotome to let him join Starish as an idol." Masato added.

Sakura nodded her head, turning back to look at the dark-skinned young man Otoya pelted towards and plowed into with a hug. She cocked her head to the side as she watched the excited exchange between the two of them.

"So... are those two together or what?" she asked innocently enough.

This question was met with snorts of laughter quickly stifled as Ren and Reiji turned their backs, their shoulders shaking.

"Did you seriously just ask if those two were in a relationship?" Camus scoffed, raising an eyebrow at Sakura.

"Well, looking at them, I can see how an outsider may misunderstand." Syo said wryly, his head cocked to the side, one black-nailed hand resting on his hip.

"Well, I doubt either of them are interested in incest." Tokiya said matter-of-factly.

"What? Incest!?" Sakura was even more confused and Susumu frowned in confusion as well.

"Sakura-chan- Otoya and Cesshi are brothers!" Natsuki finally dropped the ball the rest had been tossing over her head.

"What!?" Sakura exclaimed, turning back to the two who were walking towards them. "They look nothing alike!"

"I think you'll find half-brothers is the more correct term, Sakura-chan." Masato said by way of explanation. "They have the same mother, but different fathers... and since they are the first born of the respective couplings, they don't look too much alike."

Shining nodded.

"Otoya is my son." he said. "However, due to... complications... his mother left Japan after leaving him in the custody of an orphanage and ran away to Agnapolis where she married the then Crown Prince, giving birth to Cecil about a year later*."

Both Sakura and Susumu nodded at this explanation as Otoya and the newcomer walked towards them, still chatting amicably. As they drew close enough for the others to speak to them, Natsuki spoke up.

"Welcome back, Cesshi!" he grinned at the younger man.

"Thank you, Natsuki." Cecil answered in a cultured tone and a wide grin. "It's good to be back. Especially since I get to be away from the stuffy council meetings."

"How can you still speak about your responsibilities so blandly?" Camus asked Cecil with his arms crossed over his chest, an arrogant expression on his cold face.

Otoya turned to the only other member of the nobility in a huff.

"Cut Cecil some slack, Camus!" he said, his fists clenched at his side. "He only just got back!"

Cecil grinned at his older half-brother.

"It's okay, Otoya. Don't let Camus get under your skin." he told him sagely as he turned to the snobby noble with a grin. "And I was just voicing my opinion, Camus. Don't you find council meetings and such things stuffy?"

"My opinion on them does not matter." Camus huffed. "Council meetings are a necessity to ensure that countries run properly."

"While that may be true, it doesn't mean that everyone finds them enjoyable like you do." Otoya scoffed.

"I never said I enjoy them, I said they are a necessity." Camus retorted coldly, causing Reiji to grin.

"So you admit that you find those meetings stuffy, right Myu?" he teased the Silk Palace noble, causing him to frown as the others grinned, chuckled or smiled at his falling into the trap, hook, line and sinker.

While the Starish boys gathered round Cecil and spoke to him, Sakura watched the two half-brothers with her head cocked to the side, a strange smile on her face. Otoya noticed and called her out on it.

"What? Why're you looking at us that way?" he asked.

"Last I checked, Japan was a free country." she teased the older idol, sticking out her tongue in jest, then smiled at him. "I was just thinking how you two have such a good bond... It's obvious you're close. Not all siblings are that lucky..."

Sakura's expression clouded over, causing Ai, Reiji and Ranmaru to share a look, Camus, Masato and Tokiya to look over at the Jinguji siblings, Ren to look at Susumu, who shook his head with an expression of 'Don't ask' on his face, and Cecil to look around in confusion. He looked at Otoya.

"Is this her?" he asked his band mate and older half-brother.

Otoya nodded.

"Yes." he answered. "This is FrEe SpIrIt."

Cecil nodded, then walked over to Sakura, smiling as he took her hand and gallantly kissed it.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Cecil Aijima. You may call me Cecil, since we seem to be around the same age." he told Sakura.

Sakura grinned at the princely display.

"Nice to meet you, Cecil." she told him. "I'm Sakura Jinguji, the new idol. I don't like formalities, so just call me Sakura."

"The pleasure is mine." Cecil smiled at her greeting. "And I will do so, Sakura. I look forward to working with you."

With that he kissed the surprised Sakura on both cheeks.

"Hey, Cesshi, don't flirt with my little sister in front of me!" Ren said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I was just greeting her." Cecil said with a smile. "It's how we say 'hello' in my country. You're being overprotective, Ren."

"Well, in case you didn't notice, Aijima, this is Japan." Tokiya told him with a frown. "You can't just go around kissing and acting so familiar with people you just met."

"Precisely." Masato added. "That aside, Sakura-chan is one of only a handful of girls in an agency filled with men. I don't think Jinguji is being overprotective."

"Well, why wouldn't he be?" Natsuki asked. "After all, Sakura is pretty cute! Any big brother would be protective if they had as cute a little sister as Sakura!"

With that Natsuki wrapped his arms around Sakura from behind and rubbed his cheek against her hair as if he were petting a cute animal, causing her to squeak and blush in surprise.

"Oi, Shinomi!" Ren grabbed his sister's arm and gently tugged her towards him and out of the other man's arms. "What do you think you're doing to my little sister!?"

Syo sighed and crossed his arms.

"Man, there's those 'crazy big brother' vibes again." he said. "Yo, Ren! Cool down, man."

Ren turned to the short idol.

"What was that, Shorty?" he asked, grabbing the blonde's arm. "You want a noogie?"

With that Ren proceeded to fist the shorter man's head as Syo tried to get out of the half-nelson he was in. Sakura giggled at the sight before turning to the rest of the gathered idols and Shining.

"Shouldn't... someone help the Short-stack?" she asked with a grin.

"Nah, leave 'em be." Ranmaru answered, rubbing his hand through his hair with one eye closed, a disgruntled expression on his face. "They're always like this..."

"Really?" Sakura tilted her head slightly as she watched the two young men scuffle.

"Yes."Camus said with a scornful sniff. "They act more like schoolboys than anything else. "

"You want to say that again, Camus!?" Syo growled, shooting a glare at the snobby noble, still trapped in Ren's half-nelson.

Ren gave a chuckle.

"Aww, come on, Shorty." he told Syo. "Don't let the Baron get under your skin."

"Ren's right." Sakura added."Besides, rather a rough-housing schoolboy than an obnoxious noble with a stick up his-"

"Sakura!"

She turned Susumu to see him frowning at her. Nor was he the only one who seemed to disapprove. Tokiya stood there with his eyes closed while Masato shook his head. However, others seemed amused. Reiji's shoulders shook with suppressed mirth, Otoya seemed to develop a facial twitch as he tried to keep a grin off his face, and Cecil had to wipe a grin off his with his hand. Susumu shook his head and turned to Shining.

"Perhaps we should get to signing those papers now?"he asked him and Shining nodded.

"If you'll come this way, we can go over them in my office."

Susumu nodded.

"Of course." he then turned to the gathered idols."I'm so sorry for the trouble. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. Anything to add, Sakura?"

Her agent threw her a sharp glare,but Sakura merely rolled her eyes with a sigh,then turned to the men she would be working with as a member of Shining Productions.

"Well, it's nice to meet you all! I look forward to working with you."

She then followed Shining and Susumu, leaving a mass of mixed emotions behind her.

Author's note:I decided to make Cecil about 18 months younger than Otoya given that they have the same mother which would make it difficult (although not impossible) for them to have been born in the same year, as this gives very little time for their mother to get with Cecil's father after leaving Otoya at an orphanage and leaving Japan. Also, given their birthdays (Otoya's 11 April and Cecil's 31 October), it makes more sense for this to be the age gap between them. That way they would be similar in age as the wiki's seem to speculate.