Promise to Sirius (An Utapri / Uta no Prince-sama Fanfiction)

Chapter 26: Unwavering

Ai Mikaze

The second round of the STARISH X QUARTET NIGHT project proved to be a hectic one from the very beginning.

Immediately after returning back to the apartment after sending Eli home, Ai, Natsuki, Reiji, Camus and Ranmaru went to work and accumulated ideas for their main unit project. Natsuki's initial idea had given them a solid foundation of the project and during long hours of sitting at the coffee table with mugs of hot milk tea, all of them contributed, discussed and connected more ideas together, solidifying their plan. Knowing that their time was constricting, they had aimed to finalize at least the base and Round 2 concept by the end of Monday so that the remainder of the week could be focused on filming and making their project an actuality. And after countless struggles of confusion, frustration, cluelessness and impatience, along with a number of bickers - courtesy of Camus and Ranmaru with the other three needing to mediate the situation - they had finalized their initial plan and believed that they could add more to it as the project progressed. And thus, at 11:21 p.m., they had contacted Shining, who was miraculously still awake, hoping to get his approval.

And thankfully, they did.

"Don't know how you five came up with this complex project when Shining-san gave you the task just yesterday, but..."

Tamaki, one of their main photographers throughout their idol work in Shining Agency, gave them a bright smile and a thumbs-up sign.

"I applaud all of you for rising up in the challenge. You're nailing everything!"

Camus nodded with a pleased look on his face while Ranmaru grinned and Reiji threw his arms around Natsuki and Ai. Shining had made the necessary arrangements with Tamaki and the rest of the staff overnight, so the five of them were able to begin filming and taking the concept photos the next day, which was Tuesday. They had arrived at the forest at 5:45 a.m. so that Natsuki could explain to the forest animals about their plan and the situation. The animals gave him permission to do their idol work at the forest and at 6:10 a.m., Tamaki and the rest of the staff assigned to their unit arrived with the necessary equipment. They had started off with the individual shots and scenes, then did their sub-unit concept photos and scenes and had just finished taking their group shots in front of the tree surrounded by blue, white and indigo forget-me-not flowers, standing next to one another, with Ai between Natsuki and Ranmaru. While Tamaki went to talk to the filming staff, the five of them turned to one another and started to talk.

"Wasn't sure how this was gonna go, but it's actually goin' real smoothly," Ranmaru remarked with a grin.

"Yeap!" Reiji agreed enthusiastically, beaming as Natsuki smiled brightly. "That's because we're all in this together! All five of us are here for one another!"

"I do not disagree, but you can tone down your cheerleading, Kotobuki," Camus commented, "especially during our individual photoshoots."

"I completely agree," Ai said.

"Hey! That's one of the Kotobuki Reiji ways of showing moral support! And that was just occasionally!"

"But honestly," Ranmaru continued, ignoring Reiji's comment, "everyone rocked their shots, whether in the group or individual parts." He turned to Ai and smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "To think you were worried about expressing sentimentality... You were rocking with a whole lot of it, alright, from start to finish!"