the idols race for love, are you ready? | book one | utapri

chapter thirty-three

ｎｏ   ｏｎｅ   ｅｖｅｒ   ｓａｉｄ
ｔｈａｔ   ｆａｃｉｎｇ   ｙｏｕｒ
ｄｅｍｏｎｓ   ｗａｓ   ｅａｓｙ

『 your p.o.v 』

Feeling the soft licks of a cat's tongue against my cheek, I couldn't help but to giggle some as I was forced out of what felt like a deep sleep. "K-Kuppuru stop that, it tickles." I said as I gently nudged the black emerald eyed cat away from me, my eyes slowly fluttering open only to struggle to stay open as I'm met with the bright sunlight pouring down from the clear blue sky up above.

Kuppuru meowed as I began to sit up, glancing around some as I did so. I'm back at Saotome Academy. Actually, I'm sitting down not too far from the tree Masato and I first sat under the morning we met and ran into Kuppuru. That's also the same tree Otoya and I would sit under during our free time, the one that overlooks the bench further down the hill where Ren often sat as he looked out to the glistening water of the large lake.

"What am I doing back here..?" I murmured to myself as I stood up, Kuppuru meowing as I begin wandering towards the large building behind me, the flowing white dress I've woken up in blowing some in the soft warm gusts of wind despite it meant to be currently in the middle of winter right about now.

Just as there was no one outside, there was no one inside either, the halls of the school eerily empty and silent as sunlight pours in through the large windows. I make my way down hallway after hallway, checking the lunchroom before wandering to the S-Classes classroom and then to the A-Class classroom. Still no one. Even the teacher's lounge was empty.

Kuppuru stayed walking beside me as I continued down towards the dorms. He meowed every few minutes, reminding me of his presence while I opened the door to Tokiya and Otoya's room first, the room not having a single person inside. Ren and Masato's room was just as empty and so was Syo and Natsuki's.

My stomach dropped some as I tried to push away any of the anxiety beginning to well up in my chest, only making it feel tighter and tighter the longer I search for someone. By the time I made it to my dorm room that's shared with Haruka and Tomo-chan, I wasn't all that surprised to find even that room empty.

I don't have my laptop. I don't have my friends. I don't have anyone, so, I'm alone again, aren't I?

"You're only as alone as you think you are, ___."

The voice coming from behind me as I walked down the many empty hallways of Saotome Academy was one I wasn't familiar with. Turning around, I was surprised to find Kuppuru no longer there and instead a tall, tanned skin young man with short dark brown hair and bright emerald green eyes offering me a kind smile, his clothes looking like something straight out of a middle-eastern prince fairytale of sorts. "Kuppuru..?" I asked softly, none of this making sense.

I must be dreaming.

The handsome boy walked closer and wrapped me up in a gentle embrace, resting my head on his chest as he hugged me. "You've been strong for so long ___, it's alright to acknowledge your fears and to be vulnerable sometimes."

Shaking my head some, I tried to push away from this strange boy. "I-I'm fine. I don't need anything or anyone other than my friends and, and-"

"And you need to take a step back and look at yourself." The boy cut me off, lifting my gaze to meet his own by raising my head with a single finger placed just under my chin. "You've always been so preoccupied with those you hold close to your heart that you've never taken the time to try and fix what's broken inside of yourself, ___. For as loving and caring as you are towards everyone else, you forget to take care of yourself first."