[1] Smile Magic (UtaPri - Ittoki Otoya Fanfic)

Chapter Fourteen: I'll Be Waiting!

C H A P T E R 14 :

☆ Local Park ☆ Few Days Later ☆

Otoya sat on a bench in the vacant park, strumming the guitar he held in hand. His head rocked back and forth along with the beat, though as he continued, the notes seem to fade as his thoughts drifted elsewhere and onto a certain someone.

That performance was really amazing... He never would've thought Mae could play such a bright and energetic piano. Otoya found himself smiling. If Mae was that amazing, then the students in the academy had to be just as amazing... How would he be able to survive in a place like that?

No, Otoya shook his head, clenching his fists determinedly. He was going to last. The reason he left the orphanage was to follow his dream of becoming an idol.

"Ittoki-kun!"

Otoya flinched at the sudden call of his name and he looked up to see that certain redhead come racing up to him. Mae was wearing a small smile as she stopped right in front of him. Otoya's eyes were wide as he took in how happy she seemed today.

"Akahana...?" Otoya said, perplexed.

Laughing, Mae took a seat beside him. "I knew you'd be here." Her hazel coloured hues flickered towards the instrument he was holding. "Oh, you play the guitar?"

Otoya flinched before looking down at it. "O-oh, yeah."

"Hmm," Mae began in a calculative manner. "Are you good?"

Otoya was surprised by the way this conversation went and he forced a smile. "Uh...I think I'm pretty decent..."

Mae smiled at how uncomfortable he looked. "Then from a scale of one to ten, how would you rate yourself?"

"...Maybe a seven or eight...?" Otoya answered unsurely.

Mae chuckled. "Could you play something?"

"Play something?" Otoya repeated.

She nodded. "Yup, then I'll let you hear me play afterwards."

Otoya was startled. "You play the guitar Akahana?"

"Yup!" Mae responded. "But I'm not really great. I took it up in between my piano classes when I was a kid but I dropped it when it came in the way of them."

"Oh..." Otoya said. He watched Mae from the corner of his eye. She really was acting differently today...

Though, taking in the sight of how much she was smiling, Otoya began to strum a time on the guitar. After he finished playing for a few seconds, the beautiful notes resonating in her ears, Mae's eyes lit up in awe. "Wow, which song is that?"

"It's not a song," Otoya answered with a sheepish laugh. "I... sorta came up with the tune myself, ha ha."

Mae's eyelids shot up. "Oh wow! That's amazing!"

Otoya shook his head hurriedly and turned to face the girl. "No way! Your tunes are more brilliant!"

"...No they're not."

"Yes they are!" Otoya objected. "Like that performance at the daycare! Your music really mesmerized me. Even everyone else admitted how amazing it was remember?"

Mae felt her cheeks hear up as he complimented her, and as she recalled the comments from Otoya's friends after the performance. She had thought they'd definitely despise her but they were all more accepting of her being apart of Saotome Academy than she had thought. If anything, it made them more motivated to come to the academy - especially Syo.