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Haruka had been tired that day when she found Honami. She had barely managed to shake everyone from asking questions when she went up to the rooftop. And, yet, despite her exhaustion of being near anyone, she wanted to talk to Honami.
She wasn’t really sure why . Maybe it was because Honami saw her, but didn’t say anything. Just leaned her head back against the wall and rested. Haruka was just oddly drawn to this girl. Maybe it was because Haruka thought she seemed kind or that it was a fact that Honami was pretty?
Whatever it was, it drove Haruka to sit next to her and ask a simple question.
“Why are you up here?”
Honami hadn’t given a very clear answer. All she had said was “I… needed to be alone.”
Haruka thought that it would be clear if such a beautiful girl came up to the rooftop, but didn’t say anything about the response.
“Hm… We’re not so different if that’s truly the case then. It seems that people aren’t paying much attention to the news if they’re still asking if I’m Haruka Kiritani from ASRUN, or if I could sing for them. I could… but after the whole idol thing, I don’t think I could.”
Honami opened her eyes, and Haruka thought she looked even prettier.
“Oh, so it’s similar for you…? I couldn’t perform again after my friend group broke up. And then middle school was…” Honami sat up, and then leaned down to cradle her face in her hands.
“I know I already said this, but since I want to be friends, I’m Haruka.” Haruka leaned down to her level, smiling when Honami looked over to her.
“Honami Mochizuki. I hope we can become good friends!”
Haruka loved her voice more than anything else.
“Hey, Kiritani-san. You come up here a lot now, don’t you?” Honami giggled softly as she sat down beside Haruka.
“It’s the most relaxing place at school. Well, second most.” Haruka sighed contently.
“What’s the first?”
Haruka laughed in response, thinking it should be her little secret.
Honami huffed, her characteristic soft voice not matching what she was trying to go for. “I guess I’ll find out another time, then.”
“Call me Haruka, Mochizuki-chan.”
“Eh? Oh, no, I couldn’t-!” Haruka relished in the way Honami’s face flushed and she started spitting words at 100 miles per minute about reasons why she couldn’t call Haruka by her first name.
“Of course you can just call me Haruka, Mochizuki-chan. We’re friends, so…” Haruka trailed off, Honami’s gaze causing her to become flustered.
Seriously, what in the…
“Then you should be able to call me Honami too, Haruka-chan.”
“Of course, Honami-san.”
“Eh? Why is it ‘Honami-san’ now?!”
Haruka definitely loved her reactions.
Haruka was enjoying her time with Honami (who had taken to calling Haruka Haru-chan. Haruka didn’t mind.)
Although, Haruka surprised herself when she said she wanted to learn bass.
“Eh? Haru-chan, why do you want to learn bass?” Honami had half asked, half giggled.
“…Is it that weird that I’d like to expand my horizons?”
“No, not at all Haru-chan!” Honami flushed, making Haruka smile softly. “Shiho-chan could teach you… But you’d have to ask him yourself. I don’t think she’d like to see me right now.”
“Hm… Why don’t you come with me?” Haruka propped her head up on her hands, making herself look innocent like she had seen Airi do a few times on TV.
“Sorry, Haru-chan, but I’m going to pass this time.”
Haruka sighed. She hoped to at least build up a little confidence in these past few months with Honami, but that’ll take more time. That’s okay.
Besides, maybe one day she’ll decide to do it on her own. Haruka would be proud either way.
Haruka found herself being friends with Honami for a little over a year now. They were about to head into their second year of high school. Which Haruka was happy about, and she was also pleased to find out they were in the same class.
“Honami, do you think we’ll get assigned seats?”
“Not really… At least not this week. I’m not actually sure?” Honami smiled sheepishly.
“…Hey, I think we’re good enough friends, and I’ve seen you play a few times. Would you be interested in forming a music group with me?”
“Like partners? Hm… Haruka-chan and I, being partners… I think I’d like that..!”
Haruka beamed, as she found herself doing a lot with Honami. She lost her usual demeanor with Honami, she found out months ago.
“Oh… That’s great! What would we be called though…” Haruka crossed her arms and looked down, in thought.
“Um… I was inspired by the way you took back music after what you went through in the idol industry, so maybe Life*Rulers?”
“Huh? Why Life*Rulers?”
“Well, music was your life for so long, and then you took it back after you thought you lost it… Which makes me think you’re ruling your own life after all this time, yknow?” Honami grabbed Haruka’s hands, which had been limp at her side.
“Ah- Really? Life*Rulers has a nice ring to it, so Life*Rulers it is. But I think I can change the meaning of it a bit…” Haruka had flushed in the cheeks for a bit, but her hair had grown out a bit so she was sure Honami couldn’t see it.
“What are you going to change it to, Haru-chan?”
“Instead of it just being about the now, why don’t we make it about the future? We still have ways to go ‘til we take back our lives, in a way.”
“Yeah, you’re right! I hope this helps us reclaim our lives from whatever we’re struggling with one day!”
“Hm? You invited Akiyama-san?” Haruka asked as she unpacked her bass guitar, Honami nervously fidgeting a few feet away from her, by the door.
“It just- Seemed like they were struggling with a secret of their own! I figured that since this is supposed to help us with our secret struggles other people don’t know, they could relax with music so I invited them for at least today…” Honami moved from the door to let Mizuki Akiyama in, looking uncharacteristically unconfident if An’s description of how Mizuki presents their personality was any indicator.
“Hm… Was I supposed to be able to play an instrument? Oh, well, how could I have said no to her pretty face either way?~” Mizuki laughed, looking more like a cat than anything else, so they were probably joking, but it made Haruka’s heart squeeze.
Mizuki probably read what Haruka was feeling, so they started laughing. “I have a girlfriend, and she’s the bomb. Hona-chan is pretty, but I really like my girlfriend better. Anyways, you’re Haruka Kiritani, right? An mentions you every once in a while, so it’s nice to finally meetcha!”
“…Likewise?” Haruka was now more confused than anything else. “Um… Would you be interested in singing? Honami and I aren’t really comfortable doing that right now…”
“Eh? Yeah, sure, why not? I can do some Miku covers and stuff, if you can play any!”
“I mean, we could do Hibana or Hated by Life Itself? Oh! Wait, Lost One’s Weeping might be better…!” Honami listed a few songs, Haruka had learned all them when practicing with Shiho. Haruka should thank him for teaching her the songs Honami liked.
( “Aren’t you Honami’s new friend? Don’t you know about our history?”
“Mhm. But I’d really like to learn bass, Hinomori-san.”
“Hinomori-san? Just call me Shiho. Hinomori-san makes me think you’re talking about Shizuku.”
“So you’ll teach me?”
“Mhm. Honami liked songs that used drums or instruments we all played back then, so I hope she still likes them.” )
“Oh, hell yeah, Lost One’s Weeping! I made a music video for that once, it’s one of my favorites!”
“Okay! Let’s do it!” Honami rushed to her beloved drum set, Mizuki settling to stand in front of both Haruka and Honami, looking a little unsure.
“I’ll give you a count off of four, okay? I’m not actually sure what time signature this is in, but I’m pretending it’s actually four-four.”
Haruka smiled at Mizuki and Honami, letting her gaze settle on Honami as she began playing, letting the music overtake her body.
Mizuki had been let in, letting Honami and Haruka know that they really had a struggle (as Honami picked up on when she first met them) they wanted to take their life back from too, and increasing Life*Rulers’ members to a whopping three people.
Haruka was really happy!
But it wasn’t a little weird that Hatsune Miku but adorning locks and flowers showed up on Mizuki’s phone.
And she definitely didn’t find it weird when Kagamine Rin and Len showed up when they followed Miku’s directions. Nope, not at all.
The world surrounding them looked like an old, abandoned castle. The photos were of all three of them and one boy with two-toned blue hair.
But, the things that stuck out to Haruka most besides the dilapidated castle that was miraculously not crushing them where they stood, were the red and blue roses that were consistently next to each other, always having distance but having intertwined vines, and the photos as she followed Rin and the roses of herself and Honami.
One had Honami’s hair up in a bun, her outfit changed to a dress covered in flowers. As it got closer to her legs, vines wrapped themselves around it. Vines also made their way to the straps of the dress, the choker that also held a flower, and the tops of the dress. They were spiky, and looked like Haruka would begin bleeding if she touched one.
Haruka had a day dress that looked much too formal to be a real day dress. Her hair was slightly longer, and not to mention curlier. She had ribbons wrapped around her ankles, arms, and wrists. The music note motif was obvious, especially around her neck. She looked more like a marionette than anything else.
The photo as a whole contained Honami and Haruka looking at each other lovingly, and their hands were intertwined like the vines of the blue and red roses. Honami was bringing the Haruka of the picture somewhere, but she wasn’t sure where that was.
Rin interrupted her analysis of the picture.
“Haruka! Here’s your space! You can use it for whatever, but there’s also a bed for nights you can’t make it home in time.”
Haruka had stepped in. The room was so different from the exterior. For starters, the room looked much more vibrant than the dreary atmosphere. She wondered if Honami’s room looked similar.
“IT DOES! Isn’t it cool?!”
…Haruka wasn’t going to comment on that. In any case, the influx of red and blue roses hadn’t ceased, but the thorns had once she entered. Hm. It was cute to her.
Unfortunately, Haruka did have to go in order to get homework she left back in the real world and head home before anyone gets worried.
What she didn’t know was that the two-toned wilted flower of a boy was there with her and her friends.
Haruka didn’t know what to make of it when she saw the same boy from the photograph with a boy in her favorite penguin cafe.
She was tempted to go ask him if they had any plushies at first, and then she saw the other side of his head and it clicked.
Well, she supposed she could still do it, but she had one problem- well, Haruka thought it would never be a problem- Honami was with her. She didn’t know if Honami saw similar paintings on the way up to her area, which Miku led her to. Surprisingly, it was further than Mizuki and Haruka’s rooms (Mizuki’s room was an earlier stop and littered with small white carnations).
“Haru-chan, did you see those paintings last night? Isn't it that boy from last night?”
“Mhm. Hey, isn’t that the Kamiyama High uniform?”
“We should talk to him!” Honami whispered to Haruka, her breath warm against Haruka’s cheek.
“I think it’d be more organic if Mizuki spoke to him… We’re just strangers to him, you know?”
“But-!”
“No, Honami, we can’t. I overheard Len saying this guy was off-limits to a lot of people socially.” Haruka thought back, and how his eyes looked a little brighter in the photos. She wasn’t convinced this was actually the boy.
“But- What if- Haah… If you insist, then…” Haruka’s heart clenched at the way Honami sounded defeated. She never wanted to do that, but she figured that Mizuki would know him because of one Tsukasa Tenma.
She’d just have to hope Mizuki would have more luck speaking to him, if Len was telling the truth when he spoke to Rin before she and Mizuki were noticed. After all, Mizuki knows a lot of people.
“Aren’t you just like me? You’ve let everything control your life, and there’s no getting it back. So, pardon me, but I think it’s better to learn you can’t reclaim your life.”
“No! That’s not true! Haruka and I started this whole thing to-“
“Ha. You two are partners? Take it from me, it won’t work out. He may have forgiven me, but I… It’s always someone that isn’t enough to stand by one another’s side. Can you devote your being to their dream and come to share it?” The two-colored haired boy, Toya, spoke with an ice cold tone.
“Can you even understand what your partner is going through at a glance? Can they read you no matter what? Are they the most important person to you? I ticked all these boxes but one, and I can say that many other partners aren’t giving their person their all.” Toya looked stricken with pain as he continued. His voice was cold and raspy.
“Aoyagi-kun, no! That’s no…”
As Honami’s words spilled out, Haruka started ticking off the boxes in her head and linked the self-qualifications of Toya’s view on partners to lovers.
Did Haruka devote her everything and her entire being to Honami? Yes.
Did Haruka understand what Honami was going through at a glance? Yes.
Did Haruka love Honami? Well, looking back on their time together, her answer would be yes.
Huh. Suddenly it all clicked to Haruka. She felt butterflies with Honami early on which eased into easy conversations, she felt a little jealous when Mizuki flirted with her, but was relieved to learn it wasn’t serious.
Wow. Haruka was in love? She snapped back to the present.
Judging by how Toya as hugging Honami and sobbing, Life*Rulers was complete. Hm. That was her Honami. Such a light of a hope. She hoped to build more memories with Honami and everyone else.
But, most of all, she hoped to learn more about why she loved Honami.