KARMA!!: absolution | book 1 | uta no prince-sama

Chapter 13: Lessons in Sincerity (Ft. Multiple Taxis)

Sora　天

Today was her Prince of Fighting audition! After having it rescheduled to the day after the concert due to an overflow of applicants, she was now ready to give it everything she had. Physically she felt fine too - she couldn't feel any side effects of her accident the day before, although she could almost hear her brother's voice warning her not to push her luck and to take it easy.

She had shyly agreed that morning to meet Syo-kun at the front of the main school building after a phone call asking how she was going to get to the auditions.

"I'm... not really sure," she had admitted. "Maybe I could walk? It's not far is it?"
"No way, Sora!" He had protested. "You have to save all of your energy for the audition! Just leave it to me 'kay?"

She had been in one of the practice rooms, going over one of her old routines to calm her nerves. She was wearing the white daisy dress that Syo-kun had treated her to the day they'd gone shopping, and her silver-blonde hair had been let loose from it's usual bunches, falling over her shoulders the way Syo-kun had styled it the first time.

It was a surprisingly comfortable dress, and she'd loved the way the skirt swooshed when she had practised her twirls... like she was a real idol in a costume.

As she made her way down the hallway towards the front of the building, she spied two figures - one was the familiar figure of Haruka, while the other taller figure was turned away, his entire demeanour dismissive of whatever Haruka was talking about.

She quietly inched forward, but they made no acknowledgement of her presence. Something felt wrong about the encounter - Haruka sounded timid. What were they talking about?

"It has nothing to do with you." The voice of Ichinose said coldly. "Please don't bring that up again."

Haruka stepped forward and Sora could sense the concern in the composer's voice, "B-But...!"

"It's a nuisance." Ichinose stated, turning to walk away. Haruka stared after him dumbfounded which allowed Sora to get a hold of herself. She started forward, her calm energy from her practice now gone, and she felt anger bubble up.

"Hey! Ichinose! Just a second!"

The young man paused and regarded her with the same unfeeling eyes. It was the first time Sora had really taken the time to look at him, and he seemed so sad... but that didn't excuse his manners, or lack of.

Then again.... He really did look like HAYATO... The memory of the concert aftermath was still fresh and she shook her head violently to stop herself from thinking about the idol who had helped her breathe again.

Focus, me!

She pointed at him. "I don't know what the two of you were talking about," she glanced at Haruka who seemed dazed at her intervention. "But that was pretty cold! It has nothing to do with you... It's a nuisance..." she did her best to mimic his tone but Ichinose remained unresponsive so she continued her lecture. "Haruka sounded worried about you! I know you've probably got a lot to live up to since your twin is HAYATO but that's no excuse to act so dismissively of people who want to support you!"

Still unresponsive, she went a step further. "Ichinose Tokiya! You need to live life with your heart! So whatever is making you feel lost - confront it with your heart and don't avoid your true feelings!"

She could have sworn she saw his eyes widen just slightly, but she quickly realised what she had done and covered her face, embarrassed... What she said wasn't wrong but... she'd accidentally spouted her lines for the audition.

Then to further her humiliation she saw Syo-kun a little way up ahead, staring at her in bewilderment. While Ichinose might not realise what she had just said, Syo-kun was an entirely different story - she'd practiced her lines to him after all...