Chapter Text
“This isn’t a good idea,” Saihara muttered, staring at the empty sheet of paper lying on the table in front of him.
“Of course it isn’t,” Akamatsu confirmed, her expression just as gloomy as his. Somehow she managed to push the responsibility of making the list onto him, so he was the one holding a pen.
Of course it wasn’t a good idea. Of course. They both knew it, and yet they had to do it.
“Why would they even want us to form units like this? Our groups are rivals. TWILIGHT☆MYSTERY doesn’t even belong to the same agency as DAYLIGHT×COMET. There’s no reason for us to work together,” Saihara said, making eye contact with her. “We should-“
“If our superiors decided we’re doing it, then we’re doing it,” she replied. “Also, there’s definitely a reason. Think, Saihara-kun. You’re smart enough to come up with one.”
“I just… would’ve preferred to have something to say in this case,” he sighed, glancing at the sheet of paper again. “They just want to put us against each other. By forming duet units, they’re supposed to learn about the weak sides of their temporary partner and use it against them later.”
“This is exactly what they’re thinking.” Akamatsu seemed to be on the verge of an emotional breakdown, as she just put her hands on the sides of her head, pulling at her blonde hair. “I know we’re both trying to win that stupid award, but this is going too far.”
Even if she said that… Saihara was pretty sure a lot of members of their groups would go along with that plan. They weren’t exactly on good terms, ever since the Academy days, when the group Saihara formed and became a composer of, TWILIGHT☆MYSTERY, got to graduate and debut first. After this, Akamatsu and her band started working with another agency… and that’s how they ended up like this.
He and Akamatsu were a completely different case though. There was no way childhood friends like them would fall out because of such a reason... right?
“I can’t do this, Saihara-kun. I just can’t,” Akamatsu said, completely giving up and resting her cheek on the table. “I just can’t make any of the boys work with Chabashira-san. I’m sorry.”
Saihara could only think that his job was going to be much harder than this. He could swear that he almost heard the mischievous laughter he would definitely prefer not to hear, even though that person wasn’t even around. They were in DAYLIGHT×COMET’s dorms after all, occupying the living room.
Just when he was about to give up too, the door opened and a girl with short, gray hair entered the room, holding a tray with two mugs.
“Good evening, Saihara-san. Akamatsu-san told me about the task you’ve been assigned to, so I decided to make you coffee,” she said with a smile, placing the mugs on the table next to them. “You’re working really hard.”
“Toujou-san… Help us…” Akamatsu whined, raising her head from the table. “What would you do in our place?”
Saihara didn’t want to admit, but the moment she asked the question he got his hopes up. Toujou was the most responsible person in Akamatsu’s group after all.
“There’s no need to worry so much, everyone,” she replied calmly. “Just think about who gets along with whom the best, and whose voices will sound good together. Don’t rush anything.”
“It’s easy to just say this…” Saihara sighed again. “Does Hoshi-kun even get along with any of the girls? I say in advance that Iruma-san is out of question.”
“Oh, when it comes to Hoshi-san, I can easily handle this,” Toujou stated. “It’s only one song. I’m sure we can create something good together, as our taste in music seems to be similar.”
“Are you… sure, Toujou-san? Sometimes he’s really uncooperative,” Saihara asked to make sure, but he was ready to write Hoshi and Toujou’s names down next to each other.
“He’s certainly less uncooperative than Ouma-san,” the girl replied. “You can leave Hoshi-san to me.”
“What are we going to do about Ouma-kun though?!” Akamatsu cried. “He might be the one with the most experience and probably biggest amount of fans, but no matter who we pair him up with, it’ll be a nightmare!”
Saihara couldn’t deny that, Ouma really was… exceptional. TWILIGHT☆MYSTERY had no official leader, so when they needed one it was usually Ouma or Momota who would take that role, but if he was to choose the one doing a better job at it, it was the former. It was always him, always in the center of attention… Well, probably because he was doing everything he could to attract it.
He always was like this. It was embarrassing to admit now, but Saihara and Akamatsu both used to be his fans… It was a long time ago, before even meeting him though... since for him, the career as an idol started much earlier than for the other members. Then they went through that whole ordeal with Ouma withdrawing from his idol life, enrolling the same school for beginners as them and pretending to be his own non-existent twin. What was his excuse? Apparently he lost his motivation for music and was looking for another one, but who knows if that was the truth.
Now that Saihara was thinking about it… he really was a pain in the neck, since the very beginning. Working with him only made it more obvious.
“Okay, when it comes to Ouma-kun, I’m crossing out Harukawa-san, Chabashira-san and Iruma-san in advance,” he said without hesitating much. “Though I doubt this helps much.”
“You’re panicking too much and forgetting about one very important thing,” Toujou stated in response. “Even Ouma-san has his weak points. If Saihara-san asks him to behave, I’m sure he will at least try to obey.”
“Why would he though?”
“Because you’re the only one he listens to, Saihara-kun,” Akamatsu said, suddenly sounding more motivated. “Toujou-san is right! Even someone like him has soft spots we can attack! We can do it!”
“Then who do you suggest we should pair up with Shinguuji-kun?” Saihara asked, watching her smile falter.
“…”
“…”
“You know what, we should talk about Amami-kun first.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“I wish you two good luck…”
***
“And why should we work together?”
That was the first thing that came out of Ouma’s mouth when the next day they explained their next assignment to both of the groups. At first everyone fell silent, but then Ouma spoke up.
“This is to strengthen our bonds!” Akamatsu exclaimed, ignoring the cold tone of his voice. “We’re supposed to get to know each other better and become friends, instead of always fighting! Isn’t a friendly rivalry better?”
“Haaa? Seems like a pain to me!” Ouma replied with a cheerful smile. “We’re soon going to become enemies again, right? It’s useless to play games like this, Akamatsu-chan!”
“Ouma-kun, please, stop causing problems only because you find it funny,” Saihara sighed, making his face go blank, then laugh again.
“Like expected from Saihara-chan! I was only joking. I’m all ears, Akamatsu-chan!”
Saihara just really wanted to go back to his room and sleep some more. He could swear he heard Toujou giggle from across the room, as if he already won this, but he knew it wasn’t going to be that easy. The real problems would start later.
“Nyeh, no one cares what Ouma has to say anyway!” Yumeno spoke up, annoyance on her face. “If we have nothing to say anyway, just tell us the teams and let’s get this over with!”
I’m sorry, everyone…
“Come on, everyone, I’m sure it won’t be that bad!” Momota said, making both of the composers sigh in relief. If Momota was on their side, it was going to be okay. “Let’s forget that we’re rivals once in a while and just have fun with this!”
“Momota-chan says this as if it really was this easy,” Ouma replied. “We’re in the same band and we’re still fighting over every small thing!”
“No, it’s you who’s trying to pick up fights with me. I’m ignoring you.”
“Don’t pay attention to those idiots, Akamatsu. Like Yumeno said, just tell us what the units are so we can start working,” Harukawa interrupted them. She was actually getting along with Momota, but Ouma was driving her insane…
“Aw, Harumaki-chan, I thought at least you’d understand me!”
“One more word and you’re dead.”
Others were mostly just listening to them with tired expressions, and honestly, Saihara could relate. He really did feel bad for the person they picked for Ouma, but on the other hand… There was no one else who could handle him.
Not that this poor girl could, but at least Saihara and Akamatsu could handle that duet together.
“We shouldn’t fight, everyone. Akamatsu-san said it, we should get along!” Gonta suddenly exclaimed, making everyone’s expressions soften a little bit. Even if they were all rivals, it was just hard to dislike him. Saihara was kind of grateful for his presence.
“Thank you, Gonta-kun,” Akamatsu said, raising the sheet of paper she and Saihara filled out yesterday. “Let me announce the units then. Gonta-kun… You’ll be with Shirogane-san. I hope it’s okay.”
“Oh thanks god…” The blue haired girl muttered. “I’m so glad… I’m looking forward to working with you, Gonta-kun.”
“Me too, Shirogane-san!”
“Chabashira-san…” At the sound of her name said girl seemed to had stopped breathing, only to let out a sigh of relief. “You’ll be with Amami-kun.”
“Well, Tenko can’t say she’s very happy about this whole thing, but if she had to choose, she’d choose Amami-san too.”
“Let’s do our best, Chabashira-san…”
“Yeah, yeah, sure.”
“Toujou-san already knows about it, but her partner is going to be Hoshi-kun,” Akamatsu continued.
“I guess I can live with this…” He said, looking neither pleased, nor awfully disappointed.
“Iruma-san will be with Kiibo-kun.”
“You know, Akamatsu-chan, even I feel bad for Kiiboy now!” Ouma exclaimed, even though everyone knew he was the one to usually bully Kiibo.
“Shut up, you little shit!” Iruma stood up from her seat, ready to fight him, but luckily Kiibo stopped her.
“Iruma-san, please, watch your language…”
“Shinguuji-kun….”
Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath now.
“Shinguuji-kun will be with Angie-san,” Akamatsu finished her sentence, but her tone was making it obvious it wasn’t an easy choice.
“Angie is with Korekiyo? Well, it’s not like she can’t handle this,” she sighed.
“Don’t worry, Yonaga-san, I’m certain together we can create a song our fans will enjoy,” he stated, but nobody felt comforted.
In addition, Harukawa looked like she was ready to murder someone… and it was understandable, considering that only Momota and Ouma were left.
“This must mean I’m with Harumaki, right?” Momota was faster than them, as if trying to save her from the terrible fate. Or maybe save Ouma from dying so young.
“Ah, actually… Yeah, me and Saihara-kun decided it’s safe to put you two together. Not only because you get along, but also because we think your voices will sound really nice in a duet song,” Akamatsu explained, trying to avoid making things awkward for them. It wasn’t their intention to play matchmakers.
“Nyeh… Does that mean…”
“…me and Yumeno-chan…”
“…are supposed to work together?!”
Ouma and Yumeno yelled the last sentence in sync, making a few of them laugh, but neither of those two looked amused.
“Akamatsu-chan, Saihara-chan… If you even suggest us to make this a love song, I’m going to kill both of you, and then die by Chabashira-chan’s hand,” Ouma deadpanned, staring Saihara in the eyes and making him feel somewhat nervous. Nobody liked to have Ouma stare at them for too long, except for his fans, and Saihara stopped being one a long time ago.
“At least you know your situation, you degenerate male,” Chabashira hissed.
“Ouma-kun… This is exactly why we put you and Yumeno-san together. You can make a song about literally anything,” Akamatsu sighed. “Use your imaginations, you’re usually the most creative ones.”
“Hmm… But Ouma-kun, aren’t you normally okay with love songs?” Saihara asked before he could stop himself. He didn’t know if that’s something he should be proud of, but he knew all of his songs. Every single one until now. Hell, he probably wrote the music for like half of them, and knew the lyrics by heart…
Even if he stopped being a mere fan of Ouma Kokichi, he still found him incredibly talented and loved listening to his voice, that was the undeniable truth. That’s why he knew a lot of his lyrics were, indeed, love songs.
“Eh? I don’t know what you’re talking about, Saihara-chan! Me? Love songs? Never!” Saihara could swear that there was a faint blush on his cheeks, but it was still barely visible and he couldn’t be sure. “I could never write a lo-“
“He’s gay as hell and writes his love songs for you, Saihara. End of the story,” Harukawa interrupted him with a straight face, making Saihara’s cheeks go red in turn.
“W-What are you even talking about?!”
“Eeeh?! Harumaki-chan, you traitor! I thought my secret was safe with you!” Ouma cried, and that was it. When Harukawa said it, for a moment Saihara thought it was the truth, but seeing that liar confirm it so easily discarded all of his hopes.
Wait, hopes…?
“What secret? We all know you’re thirsting for Shittyhara, you stupid twink!” Iruma screeched, but got ignored yet again.
“If it wasn’t for Yumeno, I would’ve slaughtered you,” Harukawa said, glaring at Ouma. “Be happy you’re still alive.”
“Saihara-chan, I really don’t like this assignment... Can we talk to the president again and try to change his mind?
“Stop making Akamatsu-san’s work more difficult!” Chabashira joined the chaos, and Saihara could already feel his head starting to hurt.
“I suggest we all stopped making so much noise…” Shirogane pinched the bridge of her nose. “Chabashira-san, we should appreciate Saihara-kun’s work too…”
“Huh? Why?”
“Calm down, everyone.” Toujou clapped her hands, making everyone go quiet. Only she could have that much power in that chaotic group. “Now that we all know our assigned partner, I think we should start discussing with them what kind of song we want to create, right? I’m sure we can count on Akamatsu-san and Saihara-san’s help, but let’s not leave everything to them and have a concept ready before talking about the music with them.”
“Sound like a reasonable idea,” Shinguuji replied. “I assume our part is the main concept and lyrics?”
“Exactly,” Akamatsu agreed, glad that this was finally going somewhere. “We don’t know yet in which order we should go, so if you think you’re ready to discuss your song with us, just hit me or Saihara-kun up.”
“Ahahaha, sure thing! Come on, Korekiyo! If Angie really has to be with you for this project, let’s at least make a hit that even God will hum!” Angie laughed cheerfully, grabbing him by his sleeve and dragging out of the room.
“She really has… a lot of energy,” Saihara sighed, wishing it could be him. “You don’t have to hurry so much. You can think about it on your own before consulting your partner…”
Most of the remaining group just nodded, slowly standing up from their places and leaving the room. Some of them, like Shirogane and Gonta, left together, but the rest seemed to need some time to themselves.
“Welp, see you later, Saihara-chan!” Ouma sent him a smile before leaving, then ran out of the room, muttering something about ‘taking Yumeno-chan on a date’.
“He can’t be serious… right?” Saihara asked Akamatsu, who stayed behind with him.
“Of course he isn’t. When is he even serious?” She replied, annoyance clear on her face. “First of all, he’s not stupid enough to do something like this under Chabashira-san’s nose. He’s bratty, but terribly smart.”
“Right… You’re right,” he said, but couldn’t help feeling a little uneasy.
He wondered why.
***
He spent the next few hours with Akamatsu, discussing ideas and suggestions they could offer to those units who would have trouble coming up with something for themselves. Amami and Chabashira seemed like a duo what would need a little push… and some of the other teams too, to be honest.
The only unit they skipped consisted of Ouma and Yumeno, since they just knew it’s not ideas that was going to be the problem in their case. They shared some similarities, like being the creative ones in their respective groups, as well as the ‘cute’ ones… Though Ouma was incomparably more hardworking, no matter how much of a prankster he seemed to be. It was one of the things Saihara managed to learn about him, so he was sure that team was eventually going to be fine.
When Akamatsu finally decided to go back to her dorms he was almost happy about that. They stayed up late last night, too… Sometimes he was wondering whether choosing a job like that was even a good idea. Managing an idol group like TWILIGHT☆MYSTERY was simply exhausting. It wasn’t like the effects of his work didn’t bring him joy though, so he continued to endure it.
One part of Saihara’s mind wanted to just go to sleep, but the other was convinced he shouldn’t waste his time… Though when he finally reached his room, he knew neither of those things were possible. The muffled sounds of a piano coming from behind the door were enough for him to realize what was going on.
“Ah, Saihara-chan! You’re finally back!” Ouma spoke up, the song stopping abruptly.
“…how did you even get in here? I’m pretty sure I locked the door when I was leaving,” he said, trying not to sound exhausted.
“Are you sure about that? I just decided to stop by and then discovered you forgot to lock the door! How forgetful of you, Saihara-chan! Something could’ve happened! So I decided to stay here and look after your room, and at the same time after your piano…” The purple-haired boy continued talking, making him feel even more tired.
“…so you lock picked again,” he concluded. It wasn’t the first time he found Ouma in his room – sleeping while curled up on his bed, reading his books, playing his piano… For some reason, Ouma seemed to like it more than his own room.
“Tch, you figured me out again. How boring,” Ouma replied. “To think that you used to believe me at first…”
“It was only at first. Why do you keep breaking into my room in the first place, Ouma-kun?”
“It’s a very nice room, just like the owner! I like spending time here because I love Saihara-chan so much!” He said cheerfully, grinning at him and forcing Saihara to think about those unidentified feelings again. “That’s a lie of course! I was simply bored.”
Figures. Ouma had to be kept constantly busy, otherwise weird things were starting to happen around. Amami probably knew about it the best, since the two of them shared a room back in the Academy days… Right now there was no need for it and it was rare for anyone to share a room with someone else, so Ouma was living alone.
“Sorry, Ouma-kun, I’m not really in the mood to play with you now… So if you don’t have anything you need to discuss with me immediately… I would appreciate it if you let me rest a little.”
Ouma stared at him for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face, then smiled again.
“Actually, I came here to thank my beloved Saihara-chan.”
“T-Thank me? For what?”
“Wasn’t it your idea to pair me up with Yumeno-chan? I’m pretty sure that if it was Akamatsu-chan to decide about it, it wouldn’t end up well for me.”
Saihara blinked, not expecting that. How did he know? “Well, it indeed was my idea… I was also thinking about Angie-san…”
“Ah, Angie-chan would also be cool! She has tons of amazing ideas, but I think it’ll be easier to convince Yumeno-chan to do things my way,” Ouma stated happily, and Saihara wondered if he should start worrying now.
“I thought… that you’d be more opposed to the whole idea,” he muttered, finally sitting down on his bed.
“Well, it’s not that I like it. Working together with someone is always a pain, isn’t it? But since we had nothing to say about it anyway, I’ve accepted my fate. It could’ve been worse, you know. I could’ve ended up with Iruma-chan or Harukawa-chan,” Ouma explained, looking bored, then his lips stretched in a sinister grin. “Also, it may be a good chance to find a way to destroy them from the ins-“
“Ouma-kun.”
“Just kidding, Saihara-chan! I wouldn’t do that. They aren’t a threat to us anyway,” he laughed, running his fingers on the piano’s keys, not playing anything specific. Normally if someone other than him or Akamatsu touched his piano, Saihara would kick them out of the room. Normally. Ouma was a special case, since in addition to being an idol, he was a pianist too. “You look tired, Saihara-chan.”
“That’s because I am, Ouma-kun,” he sighed, laying down on his back. “That’s why I said I’m not in the mood to pl-“
“It’s okay! It’s not like I was planning on spending the whole day here, I have work to do too, and tomorrow I’m hosting a radio program with Amami-chan. You should take a nap, Saihara-chan! Do you want me to play a lullaby for you?” Ouma asked with a wide grin, and even though Saihara was sure he was being sarcastic, he also smiled to himself.
“Yeah, please.”
For a few seconds he didn’t get any answer, but after a moment Ouma began playing a slow, calm melody Saihara easily recognized as one of the first song he ever composed for him. Despite being so tired, a part of him was also happy Ouma still remembered that amateur ballad.
Listening to it was so relaxing that he slowly drifted off to sleep, choosing not to think about what Ouma was going to do next…
…what, just like always, was a mistake, as he later woke up with a doodle made with a marker on his stomach – Ouma not only drew his own head there, but also added a caption.
“This person is mine – Ouma Kokichi”
Well, he also woke up covered with a blanket, so maybe he could forgive him this time. It’s not like he had bad intentions, and Saihara was just too tired to get angry about something so silly.