Uta no Prince-sama: A-Z [ONE-SHOTS]

Irrationality: J for Jalouse

Jalouse: to suspect; to be jealous of
Jealousy: an unhappy or angry feeling of wanting to have what someone else has.
2. an unhappy or angry feeling caused by the belief that someone you love likes or is liked by someone else. [Merriam-Webster dictionary]

Words: 2291

****

Ren rolled out of bed - literally - and fell ungracefully onto the floor of his dorm room. With a groan, he pushed himself up into a sitting position, propped up by his arms and scanned the room with his sleep-dazed eyes. Piercing blue eyes were met with nothing but empty beds, one meticulously made and the other. . . not so much.

With a glance to the clock, he saw that it was nearly eight and assumed that Masato were down for breakfast where the group of idols usually met in the academy's cafeteria. Ranmaru was probably already on his way to a concert in Barcelona with the rest of Quartet Night.

Dragging himself to the bathroom, he realized that he hadn't changed out of the white collared shirt, vest and jeans that he'd worn to the party the night before. A look in the mirror told him that he looked like a living representation of a hot mess; his hair that was usually groomed and stylishly hanging over his eyes were teeming with cowlicks and his clothes were crooked and wrinkled.

Obviously, sleeping carelessly like he had was not a good idea because he'd never looked worse. The incident last night really screwed his conscience over, evident with the dark eye-bags that were prominent even against his tan skin. The lack of real sleep was due to the festering of nightmares, although they were more like previous memories of him and Haruka that had been littered with a certain redhead's presence.

Sighing, Ren ran a hand through his hair and broke out of the trance that had his heart aching and looked away from his reflection to fix himself up before going down for breakfast. He would have to face Starish, and everyone else that had witnessed the scene at the party, and hopefully bear through the inevitable awkward tension. And possible rage.

It's too early in the morning for this.

***

The cafeteria was bustling with students, some still getting their morning meals at the counter, and others seated at the tables everywhere else. Listening to the level of noise, one would've never guessed it was eight in the morning. These people were obviously more morning-coordinated than Ren was.

When he walked in, the place didn't suddenly hush quiet like he'd expected (it happened a lot in the movies) but the tables closest to him did leer at him for a split second then avert their gaze, probably to whisper some nasty things to their friends. Ignoring the stares he was getting from a good handful of students around him, he looked over to the self-serve counter where an array of food was lined up for the picking.

Making a face, Ren instead walked toward his usual table where all his friends would undoubtedly be already sitting and conversing good naturedly, something he doubted would be possible considering the current situation. His stomach did weird flips and tightened in nervousness.

At least some part of him was capable of conscious guilt.

Preparing himself for impending doom, he approached the table and greeted them like he usually did. Surprisingly, they had saved his seat. His group looked up, and momentarily seemed at a loss for words until they simultaneously smiled and greeted him cheerfully.

Why were they so okay with him? Not that he wanted them to hate him, but they were abnormally normal about the situation. Why?

As the conversations at the table resumed with the occasional yell from Syo for Natsuki to stop clinging to him, Ren raked his eyes through the table as he seemed for some explanation. He noticed two empty chairs, one on the left of Tokiya and the other on the right. Everyone was present except. . . Otoya and Haruka.