TNT

Come on, come on! Just a little more!

Riku stared at the refreshing digits on his crummy laptop screen.

The bars on the graph were climbing, fighting neck and neck. Blue for “Midnight Lightz” (Yuuji feat. Kagayaki). Red for “If You Get Better (You Have a Home to Go to)” (Kagayaki feat. Riku).

For a brief, delirious moment around 2:00 AM, the Red bar—his track—had actually tipped forward in terms of ratings.

But once the sun rose, he realized it was all but a fleeting dream. The morning commuters woke up. The marketing machine of Sunburst Entertainment kicked into gear as well, working hand in hand with radio stations to feature Yuuji’s single.

The Red bar slowed. The Blue bar skyrocketed.

Riku slumped back in his chair, the light from the monitor stinging his tired eyes. The ratings were still close! Closer than anyone expected. A 37% to 63% split. For an amateurly produced garage track to seriously compete with a Swedish-engineered pop anthem was a miracle in itself.

But the results remained: Yuuji still won.

Riku scrolled down to the comments section. He knew he shouldn’t. But he couldn't stop himself.

User774: Kagayaki sounds diff on the B-side… kinda scary? I like the A-side better. Yuuji’s voice is so smooth~

IdolFan_99: Idk I likee tha she s deciding to delv deeper into this new sound

GuardianOfNaomi: The Brute is sullying the Princess’ honour. Get him out of the booth!

StriveStan: LOL imagine trying to compete with Yuuji-sama he was dead before he even began

Riku shut the laptop with a snap.

He better get some sleep; tomorrow was a school day, after all. ‘

But something tells him it will be ever so elusive tonight.

\\

Coming into class ended up being a gauntlet for Riku.

A stack of papers sat on the table by the entrance. THE GOOSE GAZETTE, SPECIAL EDITION #2, 2026

He picked it up.

'THE VERDICT FOR THE SUNBURST CONTEST IS IN...'

Riku skimmed the text. “…while the B-side offered a curious experimental detour, the numbers don’t lie. Yuuji’s dominance in the online sphere is absolute. The chemistry between the two idols on ‘Midnight Rain’ is palpable, leaving fans wondering why Kagayaki tried to deviate from her tried and true formula…”

It went on to detail the popularity metrics. Just because Kagayaki’s agency could, he guessed. They had practically bought the school, after all.

He crumpled the paper in his fist and looked for his ‘rival.’

Yuuji was up holding the same school newspaper.

Riku watched him. Yuuji was smiling, nodding at a girl who was complimenting him. But… he didn’t look too happy.

What could have been the reason? Yuuji won, didn’t he?

Riku looked for the statistics again. Yeah, Yuuji won by 63 to 37.

Was he scowling because he won? It didn't make sense!

It was when Yuuji suddenly stood up and walked straight toward him that Riku knew that this game of his wasn’t over.

His rival stood, crossing his arms, and muttered, “Good job.”

…

“Huh?”

“I said… good job.”

“But I lost.”

“You got almost half of the vote. I wouldn’t call that a loss,” Yuuji said. “And that is a problem.”

Riku stiffened. “For who exactly?”

“For me. This would make for a poor, pathetic ending—not nearly as climactic as I’d have liked. So let’s put it to the test,” Yuuji whispered, stepping into Riku’s personal space. “Let’s see if you can beat Kagayaki—and me—on the other half of K-Pop performance. Choreography.”

Before Riku could respond, Yuuji stepped back and raised his voice so the whole class can hear.

“Well, we love a bit of friendly competition, don’t we, Riku-kun?! That way, we’d know for sure if you deserve to treat Kagayaki the way you do!” Yuuji clapped Riku on the shoulder with enough force to bruise. “Let’s keep pushing ourselves! A loss is not permanent, but giving up is!”

The crowd cheered, eating it up. “Yeah!!!”

Yuuji leaned in for a hug, his lips brushing Riku’s ear. “Sorry. But for a performance to be good, it needs an climax to match. Date TBD, but assume it’s soon. Kagayaki and the public will be judging us on our choreography ability!”

As Ms. Makima finally swooped in to try to calm the class down, Riku sat with a blank stare.

He couldn’t be expected to focus much in class after that.

\\

School ended with a whimper.

Kagayaki marched on, following her girls toward the waiting limo outside the school gates. Obviously, they took the secret passageway—where no reporters could intrude on their privacy.

If a fan heard the absolute filth leaving Kagayaki’s mouth right now, she guessed her Mother would have to authorize a targeted kidnapping and brainwashing operation to forget that it ever happened.

She ripped her phone out of her pocket, dialing the number she dreaded most. It picked up on the first ring.

“Well, there you have it,” Kagayaki hissed, not bothering with a greeting. “Yuuji won, Mom. Are you satisfied? And Yuuji’s challenge… was that part of the humiliation ritual too?”

“Unfortunately, no,” her mother’s voice came through, “I will have to have a stern word with him—planning and stoking the flames of competition behind my back is risky. But Yuuji always had a good sense for theatrics. From what I’ve seen of your… ‘friend’... he will fare even worse in this competition, making things even easier for us—putting this to bed once and for all.”

“It’s OK, Kagayaki,” Izumi, her everlovable rock, whispered. “He’s been interested in K-Pop since he was a child, correct? He should be fiiiine.”

Kagayaki ignored her bandmate, clutching the phone tighter. “Mom, this is going a bit further than ensuring Riku does not have a chance.”

“No, this is precisely what we want,” her mom snapped. “Keep him interested. If we lose his confidence and motivation, we lose out on the engagement metrics. Your salary isn’t going to fund itself either.”

Kagayaki felt her throat close up. She stopped walking, letting the other girls get ahead. The girls glanced back and nodded once.

Bukit nodded in understanding. “Go ahead, Kagayaki. Take as much time as you need.”

Once they were out of sight, she started to cry. The tears ruined her foundation make-up. “Mom, please, I don’t wanna do this. Riku’s…”

“He may as well be a stranger to you, Naomi.”

“He’s a human being!” she shouted. Kagayaki hung up.

She couldn't get in the limo like this. So she leaned against the brick wall, sliding down until she hit the floor, and buried her face in her hands.

It’d be quite disastrous if Riku happened to take the same exit and saw her like this.

Step. Step.

She stood up, ready to haul ass. Instead, she saw someone even worse. The universe decided to screw her over at least one more time.

“Kagayaki? I thought I only knew this friggin’ exit.”

“How are you here?!

“To clear my head after Yuuji completely pounced on me, duh. Wait… what the… why are you…”

“Don’t look at me!” she gasped, scrambling to wipe her face. “Just… go away! Go prepare for your loss!”

“Hey… what’s happened?” Riku, that damned idiot, didn’t even think about his own problems and instead focused on hers.

“It’s nothing!” Naomi sniffled, hastily wiping her eyes with her wrists. She tried to glare, but her lower lip was trembling too much.

Riku didn't even make a snarky comment like he usually did, which just made her feel so much worse.

“I’m sorry, Riku…” she wailed, the words tearing out of her throat. “I’m so sorry…”

She stumbled forward, her legs weak, and collapsed right into him.

Riku gasped as the wind was knocked out of him, not by force, but by the sheer suddenness of it. Her face buried itself into his chest. Her small hands bunched up the fabric of his blazer.

Riku stood frozen, his arms hovering awkwardly in the air. She was crying. Miss Kagayaki, the national idol, was sobbing into his sternum and was using his perfect good shirt as a rag to soak all manner of snot and tears.

“I’m s-shorry,” she muffled against his chest, her body shaking with hiccups. “I’m just a shtuphid… shelfish… coward…”

Slowly, or rather instinctively, he lowered his arms.

In fact, that gave him an idea.

“It’s okay,” Riku murmured, resting his chin gently on the top of her head.

Kagayaki froze for a millisecond at the contact, then melted completely against him. The heat of his body seeped through her cold uniform. Her ear was filled with the sound of his heartbeat—beating at mach speed.

“Just let it out,” he whispered, despite himself. It was a remark that was completely instinctual. “I’m not even that mad about it.”

“G-Good,” she said suddenly. “You’re my rival! Y-You’re made of tougher stuff than that.”

“Hey… uh, wanna go for a walk?”

Naomi blinked, sniffing loudly. “...What?”

“A walk. Outside. Pretty sure there are no reporters to question us if they can’t reach us to begin with.” Riku offered a hand to pull her up. “You look like you need some fresh air.”

“Wait, really?” Kagayaki said, staring at his hand.

Her heart gave a stupid squeeze.

She hesitated, then reached out. Her hand felt small in his. “...Okay.”