My Crown [IDOLiSH7]

04: The Start of Friendship

Tenn walked to a certain cat-themed cafe under the moonlight. Of course, it was closed. Tenn could see his own reflection in the window.

"Mom used to take us here." Sadness loomed over Tenn when he reminisced about the time he ate cake happily with Riku in this warm cafe. "I shouldn't even be here. Gaku and Ryuu must be worried sick."

There was no doubt that Tenn was a professional idol. He had always performed perfectly on stage. Off the stage, he was a bit fragile. Honestly, he wore his heart on his sleeves. Gaku always looked out for him. Ryuu too, of course.

"I knew you would be somewhere around here, Tenn." Tenn jumped a little when he heard a voice he had secretly been wanting to hear.

"Gaku."

Gaku pulled Tenn into a hug. "Do you still want to cry, Tenn?"

"Yea, but I won't. Your shirt will get all wet." Tenn's face became a bit pink from embarrassment. Gaku laughed.

Ryuu and Gaku ran different ways to search for their centre. Gaku found Tenn first. Ryuu came not long after Gaku found Tenn but decided to watch from far behind. He knew how those two felt about each other. Sometimes, Ryuu felt a little left out, but he supported them fully. After having given those two enough time, Ryuu approached them.

Tenn turned to face both Ryuu and Gaku. "You two... I am so sorry. Because of me, of my personal problem, I got you tw-"

"Enough of that, Tenn. I know it is hard. I have my brothers too. If they did that to me, it would be so painful." Ryuu spoke and touched Tenn's shoulder to reassure him. Gaku nodded.

"Let's all go to the office. We've got our manager and my old man to deal with."

~~

-Two days later-

Riku went to a magazine photo shoot in the morning. Despite his manager's cold personality, she arranged a loose schedule so Riku's health would always be in top condition.

Riku was relieved that he had pretty much the whole day to himself. Finally, he had a chance to watch some TV.

"TRIGGER, huh? I didn't realise they were so well known... and Tenn-nii is the centre too." Tenn's sad face appeared in Riku's mind as if it was haunting him.

"Father... do I really need to keep walking down a path like this?" It was then that Riku heard happy music coming from the TV. Ah, I wish I could sing something like this... At that moment, he recognised the group on the TV.

"That boy, Izumi Iori? So this is... uh... IDOLiSH6. They look like a fun bunch to be with." So why am I the only one suffering? Not just that. I make people around me suffer. That's my goal. To become worthy of the crown. Alone.

Riku stared at the piece of paper with Iori's phone number. He has been wanting to text him since that day. If father finds out about this, my family would be in trouble. In exchange for Riku achieving Kujou's dream, his parents are promised a life of luxury. Izumi-san could get in trouble too... but,

I just need to be careful! Riku wrote a message and hit send.

Riku: Um, hello, this is Kujou Riku. Izumi-san, right?

Riku did not expect a reply right away. After all, idols were busy. Within a few minutes, however, his phone buzzed.

Iori: Hello, Kujou-san. And yes.

Riku: Izumi-san, are you not busy today?

Iori: If you are the same age as Nanase-san, you are older than me, so no need for formalities. And I am free until 1 PM today.