The song for that is used in this chapter is a song by The Struts, aka my favourite band (I am eternally greatful to my friend for introducing me to them.)

The song isn't necessary for the story, but here it is if you'd like to listen to it. It's clean, but it's loud.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vux86iwBV4g

Zac, Akira and Orochi sat together in the expansive lounge room, each staring at the wide TV screen, two with more anticipation than the third.

"I don't know what you're waiting for," Akira finally shrugged, breaking the thick intensity that coated them. "Every one knows that it's gonna be me on top this year."

Zac gritted his teeth, gripping the arm of his luxary recliner so hard that his knuckles turned white. "We'll just see about that."

Akira smirked, having succeeded in getting beneath his rival's skin, trying to smother his own nerves. This was it. All year he had been working non- stop, everything leading up to this moment. Everything, all of his focus and dedication, had gone into his music in hopes of finally surpassing Zac, once and for all.

He was still new, fresh, and full of so much potential. Sales were at an all time high, and his manager and business and marketing team had all predicted that he might just have a shot, based on the sales statistics from the past six months. Despite the assurance, Akira couldn't help but be worried. In mere minutes alone, he would find out if he had succeeded.

In preperation for the special event, Orochi, Zac and himself had all gathered in Zac's luxurious penthouse apartment, so that the three might view the final proceedings in company.

'And here you have it music fans, the moment you've all been waiting for!' The presenter's voice suddenly announced, his loud tones booming out of the sound system. 'This just in, hot from the recording companies, your top five chart of 2018!"

Akira leaned forwards just a little in his seat, his fingers absentmindedly fisting the material of his scarf. Orochi watched on, his face showcasing little enthusiasm for the impending revalations. It was likely that Orochi had already come to a conclusion as to who would be featured in the rankings, but the boy had refused to let his thoughts slip by.

'Starting in at number five this evening, we have Aimee Synistra,' the man onscreen declared. 'With her album Neon Blast, this up and coming freshman has just managed to land herself in the rankings!'

Akira noticed as Orochi wrinkled his nose in disgust, at his question, the other male explained. "She's lucky. Her father is a big figure in the company she's signed onto. Anywhere else and she wouldn't be noticed."

The pink haired boy eyed the picture of the purple haired girl who was smiling fakely from the image of her album cover. He reasoned that she must be pretty bad for Orochi to diss her so casually, with no small amount of distaste either.

'At number four we have Zuko Lim and his newest release that shot him through the rankings, Angel Mine.'

This time it was Zac who reacted, giving a small nod of acceptance.

"He's good," Zac acknowledged. "Very nice too, focuses largely on animal rights."

'And tying for second we have Zac the Sunrise and Akira Yamatoga! Both boys friends, with a fierce rivalry between them. It was close fans, but it seems like neither of these two can get one over on each other.'

Akira's eyes widened, and he fell back into the couch where he sat, covering his face with his hands and letting out a loud groan of defeat.

"So close," he whined unashamedly.

"There's always next year," Zac said brightly, although Akira could hear the strain in his voice. "Orochi?"

Akira peaked out from behind his fingers to glance at the person in question. Orochi snapped a bubble, drawing the gum back into his mouth, a small, knowing smile present on his face.

"You knew," Akira said accusingly.

Orochi shrugged, saying nothing, merely nodding back at the flatscreen.

'And last but certainly not least, we have (Y/N) (L/N), also known as Zenith!' The presenter informed them, glee positivley pouring out of him. 'This oldtime favourite has slammed her way back into our hearts with her newest album  Young and Dangerous, but with talent and a set of pipes like this, did she ever really leave? Here it is now folks, her top single from the album that has been standing unchallenged at the top for three weeks now, Primadonna Like Me.'

The image cut to a music video, where a girl who looked to be about their age was walking down a stone allyway crowded with fans. She wore an oversized pair of sunglasses and was happily signing various autographs and posing with people for photos, laughing as one man went so far as to dip her abruptly.

Suddenly, the same girl was dressed up dramatically and was getting in the face of the camera screen.

"Hey you!" She demanded jabbing her finger accusingly towards the camera lense. "Don't you know who I think I am?!"

The image cut again and a much younger version of Zenith was now dancing up on a stage while the music played over head. Despite the altered appearance, it still was clearly the same person, the imposing confidence factor alongside her 'up in your face' aura being a dead giveaway.

"Oh my," Akira heard Zac mumble, and he snapped his gaze back to Orochi who was grinning proudly. Akira blinked away his suprise at the normally stoic teen's blatant enthusiasm for the song playing.

"You did know."

"Of course I did," Orochi admitted, his expression not faltering as the sound picked up.

"Back seat, a Rolls Royce. Radio, I'm not here to talk about it. Turn it up, t-t-turn it up."."

"How?" Zac wondered, and Akira nodded along in confusion.

Orochi only shook his head, not even tearing his eyes away from the girl performing.

"She's an old friend of mine," Orochi told them. "We were hanging out when she found out about being number one."

Zac snapped his fingers. "I think I remember her from a few years ago. Isn't she the girl that sung For Your Entertainment?"

Orochi nodded. "That's her."

"So what happened?" Akira asked them.

"She was in an accident," Orochi said. "Some crazy fan tried to get a little too hands on, she got punched in the throat and damaged her vocals because of it."

"That's awful," Zac frowned.

"She sounds amazing though," Akira pointed out.

"And she used to be better," Orochi informed him, and Zac murmered his agreement. "Took alot of coaching and therapy to get back to where she is."

"She's definitely got talent," Zac willfully admitted. "I'm glad to lose to her out of everyone."

Akira hrmphed loudly. While he could easily say that this girl who called herself Zenith deserved it, he was still not impressed with his own shortcomings. Still, he reluctantly agreed with Zac's own admittance, as her heard her hit a couple of tricky sounding notes.

"Light em' up, li-li-light em' up. Your ball, my rules, a cigarette. Don't you know that you are mine?"

"You wanna meet her?" Orochi asked them. "She's having a concert in a few weeks, and I've got tickets."

Zac shrugged. "Why not? It'd be a shame to pass up the opportunity to meet the lovely lady who surpassed me."

Their attention turned to Akira, who had his arms folded with a prominent pout. On one hand, he respected the female still onscreen. She had come back from something that had majorly afflicted her, and worked her way back up. On the other hand, if it wasn't for her, he might have been able to steal the title of Number One away from Zac. Yes, they had tied. But Akira didn't want to be just as good as his rival, he wanted to be better.

Still, he found himself shrugging. "Yeah, okay, sounds fun."

_______________________________________

Earlier I stated you had injured your vocals, as a result your voice is pretty husky/throaty.

Outfit:

"Orochi Ginba." A throaty voice spoke up, making two of the three males jump. "You're late."

Zac and Akira turned around, just in time to see an ebony blur launch itself at Orochi.

"Good to see you too Y/N," Orochi said, giving the blur what could be dubbed as an affectionate smile. It was then that Zac and Akira realised that the said blur had arms, legs and a head. In fact, the blur was very human.

"You almost missed my concert, moron." The girl in black seperated from the young musician and gave him a stern look. "Well? What's your excuse now?"

"Zac was doing his hair," Orochi said in way of explaination.

Y/N, as if only just noticing their presence, turned around to face the two males. She folded her arms and gave them each a long, slow look, her E/C eyes looking them up and down.

"Well then, Zachary Kaneguro and Akira Yamatoga, aren't I lucky?" Y/N pretended to give them a thoughtful look. "Orochi said he was bringing guests. If I'd known who I would've dressed up."

"You look fine," Orochi rolled his eyes as he gave her a long suffering sigh, and Akira got the impression that the Superstar's team member wasn't as irritated as he pretended to be with the pretty girl.

She gave a deep laugh with that husky voice of hers, one that made unexpected shivers tap dance along Akira's spine, before returning her attention to him and Zac.

"Since this one here won't make the introductions, my name's Y/N, Y/N L/N." Y/N smiled, offering her hand in their direction.

"A pleasure," Zac replied, taking her hand and pressing a light kiss to the back of it. "It's not everyday I get to meet someone as beautiful as yourself."

"And it's not every day I get to meet someone as chivalrous as you," Y/N flirted back, her gaze flickering over to Akira. "Or someone as cute as your friend here."

Once she had removed her hand from Zac's grasp, Akira shook it politely, his face bright red.

"Oh my God, you're adorable." Y/N teased good naturedly. "So, what brings you here tonight?"

"They wanted to meet the girl who topped them on the charts," Orochi said before Zac or Akira could say anything.

"It was an honour," Zac intervened, not giving Akira a chance to open his mouth. Something he was quickly becoming annoyed with.

"Please," Y/N huffed. "Like either of you stood a chance in the first place."

Akira would have been offended, if not for the friendly smile that was painted onto the female's mouth. He went to say something, but once again he was cut off, this time by a woman in a neatly pressed blouse, tucked into a pencil skirt.

"Miss L/N, there you are." She interrupted, bustling over to them with the small force of a tiny hurricane. "You're needed for some last minute sound checks."

"Of course Maya, thank you." The pop star said to the woman, before shooting the assembled males a regretful look. "Sorry to cut this short, that was my manager."

"Go on then," Orochi shooed her off, to which she replied by poking her tongue out at him. "Oh, real mature."

"I'll be right back," Y/N told Zac and Akira, purposely ignoring her friend, before spinning on her heel and jogging off in the same direction Maya had left in.

Akira's eyes followed her retreating figure sadly, it must have been obvious, because the second Y/N was out of earshot, Zac rounded on him.

"You like her," he wasted no time in accusing.

"I do not," Akira defended, feeling his face heat up, knowing that it was a dead giveaway. "Besides, you were the one flirting with her."

"I was playing and she knew it," Zac countered, giving the pink haired male a knowing look. "You on the other hand, were jealous."

"No, I wasn't." Akira repeated firmly, despite being fully aware that the taller blond would not believe him.

"Is there something wrong with her?" Orochi asked him casually, and Akira sweat dropped at the double edged question.

If he said no, he would be confirming his attraction to the singer, and if he said yes, Orochi was likely to tear verbal shreds off of him for insulting his childhood friend. Akira found himself left with only one conceivable option: deny, deny, deny.

"It doesn't matter," he scoffed. "She wouldn't like me anyway."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Orochi remarked, taking his phone from his pocket and bringing up a picture to show Zac and Akira. "She wanted to take selfies yesterday."

All thoughts of denying anything flew from Akira's head, when he saw the image Orochi was holding up. It was a recent photo, that much was certain, and it featured Y/N and Orochi in what he assumed to be Y/N's bedroom. The picture featured Y/N pulling a face, and she was squishing an unimpressed looking Orochi's cheeks together. But, despite his disturbingly neutral expression, Orochi had one arm thrown around Y/N's shoulders, and was using his other hand to take the photo. However, it was the poster in the background that caught Akira's attention. It was a large, glossy A5 sheet of flimsy card, with an old picture of himself smiling at the camera. In fact, it just so happened to be one of the posters that had been sold during his very first concert, it was a limited edition, which meant Y/N herself must have attended that performance.

"The two of you sure do seem to spend alot of time together," Zac commented after inspecting the selfie.

"Like I said, she's an old friend." Orochi shrugged. "Our parents are close, so we grew up together, she's like my sister."

"So why are you encouraging this?" Akira pointed out. "Shouldn't you be warning me or something?"

"Yeah probably," the Odax owner admitted. "But she does what she wants, and if you make her happy then there's no problem."

"Seriously?" He wondered what the catch was.

"If you hurt her, she'll probably kill you. Likely with a variety of pointy objects."

"Oh, okay then." Akira said, not sure of what else he should say.

"So?" Zac needled him. "Are you going to do it?"

"Do what?" Chimed a new voice, taking Zac and Akira by surprise for the second time that evening. "What're we doing?"

"Akira was just-"

Akira elbowed Zac sharply, giving him a panicked look.

"Okay then," Y/N trailed off in confusion.

Just then, Akira was saved by a cool voice coming over a speaker from somewhere up above them.

'Miss L/N, please report to the stage entrance, your concert is about to start.'

"Looks like I'm up," Y/N said nervously, fiddling with the hem of the skirt she wore. "Wish me luck?"

"You don't need it," Orochi stated bluntly. "Quit worrying and get out there."

Y/N took a deep breath, her E/C fluttering shut. She took a few moments, and when her eyes reopened, they were brimming with self- assurance.

"You're right, I've got this." She spoke determinedly. "Enjoy the show, meet up outside my changing room during the break?"

Orochi nodded, and Y/N gave him a quick hug before going to walk off, but as she did so, Zac intercepted her.

"A hug for good luck?"

Y/N accepted, and leaned into accept the idol's embrace. When they seperated, much to Akira's shock, he too was enveloped in her warm hold, and he was pleasantly surprised by how much he enjoyed it.

"Three's a lucky number, yeah?" She reasoned, and Akira fancied that he could detect a faint blush dusting her cheeks.

"Um..." Came his eloquent response.

"Oh, right, personal boundaries, sorry." Embarrassed, Y/N went to let him go, but Akira tightened his arms around her.

"No, it's okay." He rapidly assured her, trying to steel his nerves. "Um..."

"Miss L/N! Why aren't you ready to go yet? It's almost-"

Maya fell quiet with a sharp glare courtesy of Orochi, something that Akira barely registered as he tried to remember how to use his words properly.

"Akira?"

"Go to dinner with me?"

Y/N froze, and Akira worried that they had epically misinterpreted the entire situation, when his fears were assuaged a spilt second later, as a beautiful smile blossomed across the young woman's features.

"I'd love too," she said.

Akira felt giddy, and for the next few moments, the two of them stood there, staring at each other with ridiculously dazed looks on there faces, until the spell was broken by a small cough.

"Miss L/N?"

"Holy shit, the concert!" Y/N loudly swore, going to run off, before she seemed to remember something. In her heels, Y/N and Akira were of equal height, so she had no problem in leaning over and planting a quick kiss on his cheek. One that, despite its brevity, was successfully able to make Akira's cheek tingle.

"Enjoy the show," she smiled, and with that, the H/C haired girl made her hasty exit, being tailed closely by her manager.

Akira stood there, slightly dumbstruck, and absentmindedly raised his hand to his still tingling cheek.

"Not bad," Zac said appreciatively, giving Akira a short applause.

"Wow." Was the only thing he had to say.

"Come on then," Orochi urged them. "Or did you forget why we're even here?"

He led Zac and Akira through the space backstage, until the emerged in the small wing that sat right off the main stage. Y/N had already begun her song, and it was low key admirable as to how fast she had managed to move in such a short amount of time.

"Do you wanna? Oh, don't you wanna be a primadonna with me tonight? Come on, bring it on. Don't you know it's all about me tonight?"

Despite not having been out there for very long at all, and having been rather flustered a few short minutes ago, Y/N was in full Zenith mode. She was exuding an intoxicating aura of confidence, one that the boys could feel rolling off her in waves. She was amazing to watch, as she moved her body in smooth, yet punchy moments as she hyped up her fans, fully immersing herself in the performance.

And as Akira watched the facinating E/C eyed girl owning the spolight she had taken, he realised that he no longer mided having lost to her quite so much.

Exams are almost over for the year!! When I'm done with them, I'll get a start on those requests.

--xx Avanni Cinders