"Hey, don't we have cla.s.ses?" Eika asked. Her brown eyes peered into his own and Hikaru waved his hand.

"Don't worry we're not skipping it's not time for cla.s.ses yet," Hikaru rea.s.sured her but, in reality, they were late for cla.s.ses since they brought Noriko to the school infirmary. He ordered a banana milk popsicle and, he observed Eika search through the menu.

"Choco chip," She smiled at the cas.h.i.+er. Hikaru took his ID about to tap it on the register but, Eika moved in first. "I can pay it myself,"

If there was one thing he learned about this school loser is that she thinks she is a loser when she isn't. He knew about Eika's early bird auditions. People who pa.s.sed in the auditions are posted in Ace Aca's website since not everyone can be reached through a callback.

He remembered that night scrolling through the audition list seeing how his name highlighted in light green. He stood up from his chair and flailed his arms wide. He strummed random notes on his guitar and tumbled down on the floor from relief.

He refreshed the webpage just in case everything was a mistake and, a new name popped up in the audition list. He found her name. 'Jane Eika Miyamoto' highlighted in light green with a symbol of silver bird beside it.

He scrolled down to find other people with the same symbol by their name but, he couldn't find anyone else. Hikaru remembered staring at the screen for a long time.

He remembered thinking that this Jane Eika Miyamoto would be way out of his reach.

"Sato?" Eika waved her hand in front of him. He snapped out of his thoughts and turned his head around to find that his popsicle has arrived. He scratched his head shyly and took the popsicle from the lady.

"Sorry, I'm just thinking of smoke bombs," Hikaru joked and, Eika's face became concerned. She furrowed her brows.

"You're not thinking of bombing Noriko are you?!" She blurted out and, Hikaru never planned to do that but, seeing how Eika's reaction was satisfying to see. Maybe he would.

"Why would I?" Hikaru chuckled and, they walked down together out of the cafeteria. Neither of them spoke out loud to each other. They strolled down the halls in silence. Eika took a small bite from her ice cream. A visible sign that she didn't want to eat.

"Hey, why did you become an idol?" Eika asked. Hikaru doesn't know if Eika was speaking to him or speaking to herself. But, he chooses to reply.

"It's my dream to be a musician," Hikaru said casually, he took a bite from his pop and Eika's eyes looked up to him in question. Hikaru didn't explain any further. That was it he wanted to be a musician for a long time. He has nothing going for unlike Noriko, his sister, friends, and everybody else.

"Is it bad that I never really had a reason to be an idol?" Eika inquired, she looked down on her ice cream that's slowly melting. "Is it bad I'm just here to get away?"

"Didn't Noriko tell you that not everybody here has a dream?" Hikaru pointed out. They were back in the courtyard where they saw the crystal fountain centered around the irises. A small stream can be seen flowing down between the bushes.

Eika stepped on the cobblestone path like hopscotch and Hikaru watched curiously. He has never seen that type of game before.

"But it makes me wonder if I even deserve to be here. There are many people out there who wanted to be in this school and, here I am with no dream or goals," Eika sat down on the bench and tapped her fingers on her seat. Hikaru stood there silent and approached the girl. He sat a few inches away. He didn't want to disturb her.

"You say a lot of heavy stuff for a 14-year-old," Hikaru commented and Eika pipped up from her seat but, then she slouched her back. She dropped her bag on the ground and stared at the sky.

"Well, sorry! You're not even supposed to hear any of this!" Eika exclaimed. She leaned her back on the chair and closed her eyes. The wind swept her hair to the side. She could hear the school bell ring from the distance.

Hikaru settled his bag down and took a notepad to write down a few notes. Eika looked over to see what he was writing and found a few starting lines for a song.

"Ah! Lyrics!" She said excitedly, she leaned in closer to see what was written but, Hikaru moved it away from her.

"You can't see it," Hikaru teased her and Eika frowned at him. She sat back down on her seat. She folded her arms.

"Why not?" She raised a brow and Hikaru smiled cheekily at her. He closed the notepad and pretended to be a bit c.o.c.ky.

"You said I can't know any of your thoughts so why I should let you see mine?" Hikaru provoked her playfully and, Eika's jaw dropped to the ground. She stomped her feet and shook his sleeve.

"I'm sorry! I take it back!" Eika apologized but, Hikaru didn't respond. She started to worry and shook his sleeve again. She lowered her head and clutched on her skirt. "Sorry for yelling at you,"

Hikaru watched her movements. Well, she wasn't exactly yelling at him. He gave the notepad to Eika to show what he started for their project.

"I ended up writing about you," Hikaru told her and Eika took the notepad from his hand and, stared at the lyrics. Her eyes softened at the words she saw.

Hikaru looked away from her. He really didn't think his lyrics were great as hers but seeing her reaction like that. It shocked him.

"Wow, this definitely doesn't say it's me. It's just a person I hope to be," Eika looked up from the papers to find that Hikaru was staring at the stream.

"You deserve to be here," Hikaru said softly. He watched the flowers dance from the breeze. Eika took out a pencil from her bag and continued to write the lyrics.

At times like these, Hikaru wished that Eika would see how great she was in his eyes. He remembered back in the auditorium when he caught a glimpse of her. He expected a jerk and a c.o.c.ky att.i.tude from someone who pa.s.sed the auditions as an early bird.

The moment he sat down he was ready to be clawed out by Eika but, it wasn't the case. Instead, he received a timid girl who was talking to herself about how she didn't deserve to be here and how the person (Hikaru) was better than she was.

"What would I ever do without you, huh, partner?" Eika nudged his arms as the hallway buzzed with chattering students. Hikaru watched the students pa.s.s by them but, the only one he noticed was Eika's orange hair that stood out from the crowd behind her.

"Hey, what's the plan by the way? You said we have to help Noriko," Hikaru sat up from the bench and Eika slapped her face. She placed her palm on her cheek. She hummed for a second.

"You're right! Well, I didn't really think of a plan, but, I'll figure it out soon!" Eika promised and, Hikaru sank down on his seat. He swears to heavens this girl is a dolt. He threw the popsicle on the trash bin and stood up from his seat.

"You got to think of one before we head to cla.s.s soon, I hate sports cla.s.s," Hikaru said disappointedly when he checked the cla.s.s schedule from his notepad. Eika followed him and finished the ice cream she had.

"You'll help me right?" Eika smiled up to him and, Hikaru nodded his head. He grabbed their bags and gave the other to her. They walked down the hallway without a care who went pa.s.s them.

"Since when did I not help you?" Hikaru smiled back at her. They headed toward the gymnasium while someone from afar was watching the two with her binoculars. She closed the shutters and sat down on her seat.

"Talk to me," Haewon spoke out to her a.s.sistant and the boy with round gla.s.ses showed the clipboard to her and, she s.n.a.t.c.hed it away from his hand.

"T-those two were skipping c-cla.s.ses along with Ms. Noriko," The frail boy stuttered and, Haewon tossed it back to him. "T-there are r-rumors going on that Ms.N-Noriko is the one who caused Ms.M-Miyamoto's injury,"

Haewon bit her thumb as she stared down at the records. She had enough of these charades!

"Get Ms.Noriko! Now!" Haewon commanded and, the frail boy saluted to her. He ran out in the speed of light and Haewon leaned back on her chair. She sighed heavily as she stared at the records.

The papers contained incidents of students sabotaging one another. There's a profile within the folders that have Noriko f.u.kuyama's papers.

Haewon closed the file and stormed out of her office. Her shoes clicked against the marble floor. Today, she'll end all sabotages.