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An indescribable feeling would always overcome Tamaki whenever he heard the Izumi siblings or Riku talk about their siblings.
The Izumis got along really well, seeing how Iori would speak of how reliable Mitsuki is, Mitsuki would talk about how adorable Iori is (which Iori would deny and Tamaki agreed with). Riku spoke so highly of Ten, as if there was no other person better than TRIGGER’s centre.
Inevitably, Tamaki would think about Aya, his younger sister. But there was not much to think about. All Tamaki knew about Aya now was her name and the nickname of Aa-chan that their late mother gave. There were some vague childhood memories, but Tamaki wasn’t even sure if those were real or he just made these scenarios up after all these time.
Finding Aya was the reason why he was in IDOLiSH7 in the first place. From watching TV in the facility that he grew up in, Tamaki had seen a few cases of people finding their lost siblings and having touching reunions through the power of media. It was then that he decided that in some way, he would appear on TV and find Aya this way.
The opportunity to appear on TV struck when Takanashi Productions scouted him. At last, a step closer to the reunion he had dreamed of, even if the path of an idol was arduous. Indeed, Tamaki had faced many difficulties as part of IDOLiSH7. He had to balance the roles of student, a member of Idolish7 and half of MEZZO”.
Besides these, Tamaki knew that he did not exactly give the best first impression to people. He was not good with people and was disorganised. The director of the facility and Tamaki had disliked each other for the longest time when Tamaki just entered the facility. As time passed and Tamaki grew older, he learnt how to take better care of himself and the younger children at the facility. When Tamaki left the facility to live in IDOLiSH7’s dormitory, the director was so sad to see Tamaki to go that she cried.
In IDOLiSH7, Tamaki disliked Sougo and Iori for quite some time, since their personalities and work ethics clashed a lot. Eventually these clashes got resolved with MEZZO” deepening their bond to form a stronger unit and more productive study sessions, but it was a painful experience.
Having been through so much, Tamaki did think of the worst case scenario of a reunion with Aya: having his younger sister dislike or hate him. If this happened, Tamaki knew that he would be devastated. All this effort would have been for naught.
But there was no turning back after he went this far. Tamaki felt like IDOLiSH7 became like his family that would support him while he searched for the only real family he had left. Still, so much time had passed and yet no news of Aya made Tamaki feel hopeless.
Multiple seasons and holidays had passed. Spring and White Day just arrived. Aya would be in middle school now, as beautiful as the sakura and probably receiving gifts from boys. How much he wished that he could see this. When he gave Tsumugi a King Pudding shirt as a White Day gift, Tamaki decided to chat with his manager about these thoughts.
It would be awkward to talk to the other members, he thought. And since Tsumugi was the only girl he saw on a regular basis these days and that IDOLiSH7 was like a family to him, he did somehow think of Tsumugi as some kind of older sister.
With IDOLiSH7 and MEZZO” doing so well, Tamaki was sure that he had more than enough media coverage. Not to mention that time when his father appeared. Yet Aya has not contacted him yet.
As expected from his kind manager, Tsumugi assured Tamaki that one day Aya would notice him. Upon seeing that text, Tamaki felt like his hopes of finding Aya was rekindled. Tsumugi is so good with dealing with everyone in IDOLiSH7 and Tamaki liked that about her.
Since Tamaki had waited this long, he could still wait a bit longer for the reunion he wanted so much. After all, patience is a virtue that Tamaki hoped that it would pay off well.