PART 1
"And then after that, you divide this by 17, and you get the approximate temperature."
Little eyes admired their ever-so-intelligent tutor, Tatsumi Souichi. He had grown up in this small and close-minded orphanage, nobody having any idea where his parents were, and he was one of the oldest orphans still here. He and the other orphans were cared for day in and day out by miscellaneous middle-aged women, and they would follow an organized, hygienic and beneficial daily routine – waking up at 7:30, washing their laundry outside by the well, coming inside for a group breakfast, cleaning their rooms, spend the rest of their time studying and learning at the school, and at 10:30 every day they would walk together to the church across the street and pray. They would pray that somebody come and take them under their wing, that they be given a home to live in and a family to be loved by. Souichi had been praying for twenty and a half years now, but nothing had ever happened.
After praying, they would go back to the orphanage, clean the dishes and the kitchen, start preparing lunch, which would be served and eaten at 12:00. After lunch, they would wash the dishes and kitchen again, and they would have free time to either play or study between 1:00 and 4:00. After free time, they would prepare dinner and eat at 5:30, clean up afterwards, head to the washrooms to bathe and they were in bed by 10:00.
He had wanted to move out at the age of eighteen, but he didn't have nearly enough money to support himself alone. He managed to snag himself a job at the volunteer center a few blocks over as a tutor, earning him around three dollars an hour for each student. By the end of the week he would end up with almost seventy or eighty dollars, and he had kept nearly every cent he ever earned. The women at the orphanage thought that although this was very wise of him, it was a little selfish, and they made him pay them half of his wages every week so they could give the other orphans little spending money. He wanted to protest and say that it was his hard-earned money, but they had raised him to have a soft yet guarded heart. He had too much pride to embarrass himself that way.
Souichi had been alone ever since he could remember. He had two younger siblings - Tomoe, who was one year younger than him, and Kanako, who was two years younger than him - both of which had been in the orphanage, too. At eighteen, Tomoe had fallen in love with a man and willingly went to live with him in America, where they could marry legally. Souichi didn't exactly hate men, or gays for that matter, but growing up around nothing but women who took care of him, he felt like men must've been horrible creatures if they never appeared at the orphanage. At eighteen, Kanako had decided that she wanted to go into the music business, and started looking for music camps and university classes. Souichi wanted to support her and help her as much as he could, so he sent her away with every bit of money he owned. And that was that. Souichi was here, alone, with nowhere near enough money to get into college and become a science professor.
He didn't handle the abandonment well. He remembered losing weight, his hair falling out, all the other orphans sending him get well cards, and the episodes of crying and depression. He had tried a couple times to date some of the female orphans around his age range, but they never lasted. He was too adhesive with his family to be worried about anybody else, and when he found out that his sister had bought a cell phone, he almost never stopped talking to her. He wanted to make sure she was safe and that she was having fun. With her work, she usually couldn't talk over the phone, so Souichi had asked to use one of the Misses' phones so he could text his sister. They would let him borrow it whenever he wanted it.
"Ah, right, thank you, Souichi-sama!" Eleven-year-old Mika Yamamoto smiled up at her elder, causing him to blush slightly. Although Souichi was always polite and kind, he was the most bashful person that anyone had ever met. He loved to be surrounded by children like he was their adult figure, something that he never had as a child. He never personally knew his parents. His father was apparently a nationally-famous botanist, who was never home and was always in different countries doing experiments. Last Souichi had heard, his father had passed away a few years ago in northern Canada from starvation, but that didn't really bother him; he had always disliked men anyway.
His mother was never known. She had disappeared around twenty years ago, and nobody knew anything about her or her disappearance. She didn't have any friends, nor did she have any previous romantic partners besides her husband. Nobody knew if she was alive or deceased, nobody knew her name, nobody knew anything. The only thing that anybody knew was that she had supposedly wanted to be a singer, gave birth while in the middle of her career to her three children, and disappeared. Souichi couldn't help but feel a little bit of hate towards her, since she was the reason he was going through so much emotional distress lately. If she was still alive, then it was extremely selfish of her to just leave her children the way she did.
He did have an aunt, as well; Matsuda Kiero. She was a lovely old woman, and she had been around long enough for Souichi to remember her from his childhood. Something had happened when he was very young, and she had gotten very sick and passed away. She was the only upper relative that he actually respected.
"What's the answer to this one?"
Souichi looked down at where Mika's little pointer finger tapped against the problem scribbled on the paper, long golden hair falling around his face. He never let any of the Misses cut his hair unless they were trimming the dead ends; never, never ever. He didn't want to scar the fact that his parents were his parents and through their selfishness, they had given him that wonderful, long, soft blonde hair.
"Here, give me your pencil. See, you multiply this by that, to get the velocity." He scribbled numbers on her paper, instructing her to do the problem.
He watched as she tapped her pencil against her cheek every couple of seconds as she thought. She seemed to register only half of Souichi's words, but nodded when she partially understood.
"Physics is confusing," She muttered halfheartedly. He laughed warmly.
"It can be confusing. I wasn't perfect at it when I was your age, Mika." Souichi absentmindedly drew small marks on the edge of her paper with his fingernail. He suddenly realized that he was hunched over, legs pressed against his chest, unable to see well in the dim light of the bedroom. He didn't have any personal or insurance information to buy prescription glasses, so he couldn't see as well as he wanted to. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"A veterinarian. " Mika grinned goofily. Souichi felt guilty and bit down on his lip. So… she wasn't into physics…?
"Well… if you don't like physics, then… we can always stop."
"No!" She looked up at him with big dark eyes. "I like spending time with Souichi-sama."
Souichi blushed pink, lips twitching into a small smile. He really missed his sister. Mika was one of the orphans that he spent time with the most, simply because she was spunky and upbeat just like his sister was. He fingered the edge of his sweater sleeve, running the soft fabric across his cheek in thought. He really was happy here with Mika, and the other orphans, and the Misses. Besides having no real family, he did live a particularly good childhood. He was taken care of and was given everything anybody would ever need. He didn't want to leave. He wanted to go to college and become a professor, but he didn't want to leave. This was his home.
"Well… you know that I have to leave eventually." He ruffled her hair affectionately. She pouted, shaking her head and making her pigtails shake.
"I don't want Souichi-sama to leave."
"I didn't mean now, silly." He laughed. "I'm going to get a job one day and earn money so I can have a family."
She looked at him. "Eh? A family? Ooh… can I be part of your family, Souichi-sama?"
"You can if you want to. My daughter, Mika. Do you like that?" He smiled, tapping the eraser of the pencil on the floor. "Or, my step-sister Mika?"
"Whichever Souichi-sama wants me to be, I'll be!" She stood up, becoming twice his height as he sat down, and placed her hands on her hips.
"Oh?" Souichi chuckled. "What if I wanted you to be a fly?"
"Then I'll be the best fly in the entire world!" She spread out her arms and began to run around the room, making childish buzzing noises. She tripped over Souichi's leg once or twice, falling on his lap in a fit of giggles. Souichi couldn't ever remember laughing or smiling this much, ever. He had always been stubborn, always been brash, even towards his caretakers, but children always broke down that wall, especially girls. They reminded him of his sister and all the memories he had ever had with her. He remembered the day they first arrived at the orphanage, even though they were only a few years old. Kanako never wanted to let him out of her sight, afraid that he would run away just like their mother and father did. She had used her two older brothers as pillows and lifelines until the day she became an adult.
"Hey, Mika, don't fall asleep on me." Souichi grumbled, trying to pry her head from his lap. "It's past bed time to begin with. Don't get both of us in trouble. I'm sure Miss Rina won't like seeing you still awake."
"Hm…" Mika stirred in his lap. "Can you sing me to sleep?"
"You want me to… what?" Souichi pushed her off of his lap and looked at her, making sure she wasn't mumbling nonsense while half-asleep.
"Sing me that Latin song you and the older kids sing at church. I like it."
Souichi furrowed his eyebrows. "You sure you want me to sing that? I don't have that good a voice… plus I don't like music very much."
Mika sat up and pouted at him. "Oh pleeease, Souichi-sama? Just this one time! Please?" She clapped her hands together and stuck out her bottom lip.
He sighed. "Alright, alright. But just this once. Come on, let's get you tucked into bed."
Closing his bedroom door behind himself, Souichi led Mika at his waist toward her bedroom. He passed Miss Rina and Miss Yuki, bowing to them in the long corridor and receiving bows and smiles in return as they crossed their hands in front of their black gowns. Mika's room was down the hall from his, make two lefts and a right and it was the first door on the right wall. Her bedroom walls were decorated with drawings she had made of her and her friends. Souichi didn't remember her having so many.
"When did you make all these?" He pointed to her crayon sketches of different kids in the orphanage that liked to play with her.
"I draw them when I can't sleep. Usually when it's storming. I can't sleep when it's storming. The thunder is loud and wakes me up." Mika took his hand and pulled him over to a wooden chest by her bed, causing him to gasp in surprise. "This is where I keep the drawings that I'm still working on."
Souichi pursed his lips and knelt down in front of the chest, pushing his loose hair behind his ear. "Can you show me some of them?"
Mika nodded and sat down, crossing her legs, and fumbled at the brass latch on the wicker chest. The orange light of her bedside lamp gave the room a warm, comfortable feeling. The crisp sound of paper rustling together made his ears perk and he looked down to see Mika passing a paper to him.
"I made this for you."
He took it between his own fingers and admired it. It was without a doubt a drawing of him, a small chibi cartoon with long blonde hair and a red sweater with black pants. The cartoon was holding hands with a smaller chibi girl with black pigtails, which he knew was her.
Souichi felt his lips turn up in a small smile as his face became hot. "You drew me?"
"Do you like it?" Mika mumbled as she gathered one of her stuffed animals in her arms.
"I like it." Souichi mumbled. "But… there's something wrong with it."
Mika's eyes widened as she scrambled to take the picture from his hands. "What do you mean there's something wrong with it? Nothing's wrong! This is special to Souichi-sama."
Souichi scoffed. "Yes, but, is my hair really that long? Look at it; it's at my feet there! My hair isn't that long."
"But I wanted to draw it that way because I love Souichi-sama's hair. My hair isn't that long either. Stingy." She laughed and poked him in the side. "Now come on, you have to sing me to sleep like you promised!"
"Alright, fine. Get in bed." Souichi stood and brushed off his pants, helping Mika climb into her twin-sized bed. The ceiling was a bit low so he had to hunch over to fit. He pulled the blanket over her body as she snuggled up with her stuffed animals, eyes peering up at him. "Is it too cold?"
"No, I'm okay." Mika smiled. "Oh, I forgot to take out my pigtails." She began to sit up and pull at her hair when Souichi stopped her and insisted he do it. Gentle, slender fingers gently untangled the cloth bands around her hair and pulled them free, making sure not to yank too hard. Once her hair was loose, she shook it and brushed it through with her fingers before lying back down under her blanket.
Souichi kneeled down at the side of her bed. "Sleepy?"
Mika nodded. "I'll fall asleep if you sing me to sleep."
"Okay, only since you asked." His hand brushed over her smaller one, watching as she slowly closed her eyes and turned her head away from him, preparing herself for sleep. He sighed and leaned closer, making sure his voice was just above a whisper as he cooed her to sleep.
Panis angelicus, fit panis hominum
Dat panis coelicus, figuris terminum
O res mirabilis, Manducat Dominum
Pauper, pauper, servus et humilis
Pauper, pauper, servus et humilis
The steady sound of her breathing indicated to him that she had fallen asleep. He removed his hand from hers and stood up, shutting off her bedside lamp. He felt a pang in his heart; he missed his family. He was alone here and really relied on the children to make him feel loved and important. He felt pathetic. He should be out there, at the top of his career, the most intelligent professor in all of Japan, but instead here he was praying with orphans. This wasn't who he wanted to be and it wasn't who he should've been. It was all his mother's fault. If she didn't abandon them when they were young, none of this would be happening. They would be able to go to a real school and get real jobs and go to a real college and succeed. Souichi felt like an idiot. It wasn't fair how his other two siblings managed to make good lives for themselves and he was still here.
He sighed and, blessing her quickly by touching his fingers to his forehead, chest, and shoulders, walked to the door, softly clicking it shut and making his way down the hall to his own bedroom. His eyes caught sight of a hall clock by his bedroom as he read the time; 10:42. He needed to be up in less than nine hours to help with housework. He shed his clothes and got into his pajama pants and shirt, and lay down on his bed. The bed was so soft and warm, he just wanted to fall asleep and not wake back up. It was like he was living a nightmare. He was the one that wanted to make something big of himself. Not Kanako. Not Tomoe. He was the one that wanted it. He would do anything to earn enough money to join university. He would do anything to find his mother and make her pay him thousands of dollars in neglected child support.
Turning over in bed, he felt his fingers go to his right hand and fiddle with the silver band on his ring finger. It was his mother's wedding ring that Tomoe had given to Souichi the day after he came back from his visit in America with their father. It was the only thing keeping Souichi in the hope that their mother was still alive.
He looked out the window at the big, bright moon. Light filled his room through the small window, and he swore he could feel tears pricking at the back of his eyes. He wanted to leave, but he couldn't. This was his home. This was where he had been raised ever since he could remember anything.
This was his home.
Nobody had woken Souichi up the next morning to come help in the kitchen, which annoyed him. He had wanted to wash the dishes and mop the floor by himself, hopefully to earn a little bit of allowance from the Misses, but when he woke up nearly an hour later than he should have, he knew it would be pointless to go try now. Somebody else would have already cleaned it.
Slinging his legs out of bed, he showered and dressed quickly in a black shirt with a long white cardigan and black pants. He didn't put on any shoes, only black socks, and quickly brushed his damp, long hair before walking out into the corridor towards the kitchen. The hallways were empty and nearly quiet, meaning everybody was getting ready to eat and head over to the chapel. Bedrooms were all open and clean and quiet, and he could hear distant giggles of children and teenagers. They must've been setting the table and helping each other with it.
Pushing the door into the dining hall, Souichi was met with the sight of every child running around the dining room, putting plates and silverware and napkins in their place.
"Good morning, Souichi-sama!" Mika called out from across the room, smiling at him and waving her arm around. The rest of the children looked his way and all greeted him as well.
"Hello, Souichi-sama!" Fourteen-year-old Mizuki Kinjo called out.
"Souichi-sama!" One of his friends, seventeen-year-old Kim Ayashi, waved to him.
"Good morning!" One of the youngest children, Shinji Saito, said.
Souichi blushed and raised his hand, waving it a little as multiple children came running up to him and hugged his waist.
"Will Souichi-sama be teaching today?"
"Can you teach me art, Souichi-sama?"
"Souichi-sama, I wanna learn geometry! Can you teach me later?"
"I can teach all of you whatever you want." Souichi chuckled and pried the kids from his torso. "Go help Miss Yuki with the dishes." Having so much respect for their elder, they all willingly complied.
A tall, thin woman with long brown hair appeared in the kitchen doorway with an apron tied around her waist. She clapped her hands together and called out, "Ah, Souichi-kun, how glad we are that you could join us for breakfast! Did you sleep well?"
"Hm. Thank you, by the way, Miss Yuki." Souichi buried his hands in the pockets of his cardigan and nodded his head, walking over to her. "Why didn't anybody wake me up, though? I wanted to clean the kitchen."
"Ah, forgive us." She smiled, her eyes slitting. "You've just been working so hard around here helping out with cleaning and taking care of the younger children that we figured that, as a figurative family, we would let you sleep in a bit. We don't like having exhausted kids."
"…Thank you." Souichi was never that good at keeping conversation.
"Oh, you're more than welcome, Souichi-kun." Miss Yuki hoisted the kitchen door open with her hip as the oldest kids flooded the dining room with bowls of food, which they distributed to the table.
"Is there anything I can help with though?"
"Hm, not that I know of. You could go out into the garden and clean up after breakfast if you'd like."
"Yeah, I'd like that." Souichi nodded and gave her a tiny smile.
"Could you go help the children pick a seat and give them food?"
"Sure."
Souichi walked back towards the table where all the younger children were talking together and playing musical chairs trying to pick a seat.
"Souichi-kun, can I sit next to you?" Mika ran up to him and tugged on his cardigan.
He ruffled the top of her long hair. "Sure."
"Yay! Thanks!" Mika ran over to the end of the table and pulled out a chair for herself, scooting into the table and kicking her legs. The rest of the kids fell in line by seating themselves at the table, needing little instruction.
Miss Kimi walked up behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder. She was barely taller than he was, and she was chunky and very nice, yet strict.
"They're well-behaved, aren't they?"
"Yeah." Souichi nodded. "Thank goodness they are. I would've hit my siblings if they ever acted irrationally."
"Ah, yes, Kanako and Tomoe. How have they been, Souichi-kun? Have you heard from them?"
Souichi sighed and turned to face her. "I haven't heard much. Kanako went to study music and Tomoe moved to America. That's the last I heard of them. Come to think of it, I haven't gotten any messages from Kanako on your phone in a while." He suddenly felt worried. If she stopped messaging him like she promised, wouldn't that mean that something happened to her?
"I'm sure she's just busy. She's your sister, after all. She'd know well enough not to get herself hurt out there."
"That's true."
Miss Kimi pursed her lips and smiled at him. "Are you going to eat?"
Souichi looked behind him at all the children sitting at the table. "I'm not that hungry."
"Oh? Did something happen?"
"No, I'm just… not hungry."
"Hm, alright. Do you need to go rest? Are you getting sick?"
"No."
"Hm." Miss Kimi raised her hand and ruffled his hair. He blushed at the affectionate contact, but made no move to stop her. "If you don't feel good, how about you go do that garden work that Miss Yuki was talking about? Go clean the statues, weed the crops. Okay?"
"Yeah." Souichi nodded and headed out the door of the dining room, making his way towards the washroom by the front entrance to the orphanage. He took a bucket of water and soap and a washcloth and headed outside. The sun was bright and warm, since it was the middle of June. His socked feet carried him gingerly to the lush garden, which was long and wide, expanding all the way over to the next acre. Across the street was the white brick chapel, and next door was a forest with sand paths. The sand paths led to the chapel courtyard, which was where the statues were.
He suddenly wished he had worn shoes, at least slippers, when he felt the gravel pushing against the bottoms of his feet. It hurt, and he hurried to get off of the gravel driveway and onto the sand. The strained movement caused him to toss the bucket around a bit, water splashing onto his pants. He cursed under his breath, narrowed his eyes at his sudden action, blessed himself quickly, and continued walking.
The statues were white, human-like, and proportionate, made exquisitely of smooth porcelain. He never liked the fact that most of the statues were men, but he didn't bother to whine. Dipping the washcloth into the bucket, he wrung it out before beginning to scrub the dirtied porcelain.
He thought about his siblings. He wondered if Kanako's career ever took off, since she stopped contacting him. He wondered if Tomoe was happy in his marriage, even though he couldn't stand his husband. He was raised to believe that men were horrible and that only women were nice. He wondered if his mother was happy wherever the hell she was, if she was regretting leaving them or if she was soaking in her own self pity and selfishness. Thinking about his mother made him grit his teeth and shove the washcloth into the bucket with more force than necessary.
"Damn woman…" He muttered to himself, scrubbing the front of the statue. "Just leaving us alone like this. Che, whatever. At least I'm making the best out of myself. The best of myself… washing statues." Looking up at the face of the statue, he smacked it with the washcloth before picking up the bucket and walking to another statue, this time one of a woman. She wasn't as dirty as the other statue, but he cleaned her anyway.
Time and time again, he wrung out the soaked washcloth, watching as the water started to become cloudy and dirty.
"I don't know how you get so dirty," Souichi muttered to himself, "it's not like you go anywhere."
He sighed and resumed his work. It could be a lot worse, now that he thought about it. Being stuck cleaning and watching kids day after day wasn't all that bad compared to situations he could've been in. He could've been completely homeless and dirty living off of food scraps on the side of the street. No, he would never resort to that kind of person. His pride wouldn't let him.
Something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, something shiny and reflective. Turning his head towards the mouth of the sand path, he stared around for a good half a minute. He could've sworn he saw something reflect out of the corner of his eye, and he knew he didn't bring anything reflective.
Resuming his work, he shoved the thought in the back of his mind. Maybe he didn't get enough sleep. Maybe that extra one hour that they let him have wasn't enough for his exhausted body. Maybe he was imagining things. Maybe his mind just wasn't in its right state from thinking about his disbanded family and it made him paranoid. Maybe-
There it was again. That reflective glint that came out of nowhere. Souichi gulped and set the washcloth down into the bucket, slowly standing up and looking around. What the hell is that? Is it someone's car? There are no cars… this is a sand trail.
"Who's there?" He called out rather weakly. It was dreadfully quiet, save for the occasional breeze and the soft chirping of birds. He heard some grass rustle behind him, and whipped around, feeling his heart thumping in his throat. His hands slowly drifted towards the waist of his pants, slipping just under the fabric and pulling out a small pocket knife. His fingers trembled as he flipped the knife out and held it in front of himself protectively. "Tell me who you are right now or so help me-"
"Please put it away."
Souichi's head whipped to his left, hair flying, as his eyes rested on the tall male standing before him. Tall figure, broad shoulders, pale hair, and unusually formal clothing. His first initial reaction was to stab the man with the knife, but his arms wouldn't let him. They felt like frozen jelly.
"Wh-who are you?! I've never seen you around here before." Souichi gulped and shook his guarded hand towards the man's torso. "Don't come near me!"
"Alright, alright, calm down." The male removed his black sunglasses and held his hands up innocently as he smiled guardedly. "I'm not here to hurt you in any way. Can you put the knife away, please?"
"No!" Souichi grit his teeth. It definitely hurt his pride to act this way, but he had never been confronted by a man before. "Tell me who you are right now or I'll yank your fucking heart out of your damn chest!"
The man chuckled and tucked his hands into his trouser pockets. "That's an awfully dirty mouth for someone who was raised in a convent."
Souichi's eyes widened to the point where he felt like they would tear and fall out. "Who are you? Stop avoiding the question!"
The man simply lifted a small business card between two fingers and flicked it at Souichi. "Taichirou Isogai. I presume you're Mister Tatsumi Souichi, yes?"
Souichi's stance didn't waver one bit as he just watched the card flutter to the ground. "What do you want from me? Why are you bugging me? I'm busy as you can clearly see, so if you would just leave and go back where you came from-"
"I need your help."
"…Help?" Souichi scoffed and lowered his arm, shutting the knife and curling his fingers around it. "Like I'd help someone like you! I don't know you, so just leave me alone." He turned around to pick up the wash bucket.
"You know Tatsumi Kanako, don't you?"
He couldn't breathe for half a second, and his whole body seemed to tense up. Kanako? What would this man know about Kanako? Did something happen to her? Was she okay? Did her career ever take off?
"How do you know Kanako?" Souichi narrowed his eyes and spoke in a low voice. He slowly slid the pocket knife into his cardigan, making sure to keep his fingers near it in case he needed to pull it out again.
"I need your help." Isogai took a few steps towards him, causing him to back up into the base of the statue, nearly knocking over the bucket of dirty water.
"Don't touch me!" Souichi shouted, hands shaking against his legs. "Just tell me what the fuck you want!"
Isogai reached into his pocket again and pulled out another piece of paper. Unfolding it, Souichi saw that it was a picture. "This is your sister, Kanako, is it not?" He turned the photo around so Souichi could see it. It was indeed Kanako, and it looked like she was a model for some kind of photo shoot. Her hair had gotten a lot longer and she looked… happy. "I'm her agent."
Souichi nodded reluctantly. "Kanako…" He couldn't resist taking the picture into his own hands, feeling tears trying to force their way into the open air. "She looks so happy and so fulfilled. And she lost weight. Kanako, are you eating well? Her hair grew, too… and she dyed it… I hope she's studying…"
"Hm? Studying?"
Souichi glared up at him. "As a family, or what's left of our family, she, our brother, and I used to study science together all the time. She was exceptionally good at it, but she didn't want to be a science teacher. She wanted to go for music."
"She didn't tell me that..." Isogai shook his head. "Your faces…" He took the picture back and held it up besides Souichi's face, "… looked so alike."
"Well, we're siblings. Is it really that surprising? What about it?"
"N-nothing. Anyway, the reason I came here to find you is because I have very important news about your sister."
"Is she alright?" Souichi's voice was rushed and frantic. "Is she taking care of herself? Did you do anything to her? I swear to God, so help me, if you touched a single hair on her head, I will-"
"I did nothing to her, Souichi-kun." Isogai smirked at him playfully.
"Don't call me that! I never said you could call me that. My name is Souichi, not Souichi-kun." Sighing, Souichi sat down on the base of the statue and ruffled his long hair. "Then what happened to my sister that's so urgent that you had to come all the way here and disturb me?"
Isogai's mouth seemed to open and close like a fish, like he was trying to find the right words to say. He didn't make eye contact, either; something was wrong.
"…What happened to my sister?" Souichi pressed.
"Aha, it's nothing horrible, I promise you." Isogai waved his hands reassuringly. "In fact, I have good news! After doing a nation-wide search in the Americas, your sister was chosen to become the new visual member of the famous boy band, TNShi."
"…TN-what?"
"Eh? You've never heard of TNShi? Maa, do they even let you listen to music at a convent?"
"I told you, I don't like music." Souichi grumbled. "And why the hell a boy band? She's a female, for Christ's sake. I don't want her around men like that. All they care about is their image and their sex partners. And anyway, you really had to come here to tell me that Kanako finally found a career, when you could've easily asked her for my contact information and just given me a phone call? Che, what a waste of time and energy."
"Ah…" Isogai rubbed the nape of his neck nervously. "That's not the only reason why I'm here."
"Well, spit it out. I've been trying to squeeze information out of you for minutes now. Don't waste my time."
"…Okay." With that, Isogai tugged up his slacks and got down on his knees, pressing his hands together. Souichi's eyes widened and he thrashed on the statue base.
"What the hell are you doing? Are you proposing to me?!"
"No. I need you to do me a very big favor, for me and for your sister."
"…Why in that position?"
"Souichi!" Isogai raised his voice, causing Souichi to shrink down. "Please… I ask this of you with a lot of shame and pride at the same time… and if it wasn't urgent, then I wouldn't have come here…"
"Spit it the fuck out already, old man!"
"Please become Kanako."
…What?
…What?!
Souichi couldn't find any way to verbally express his shock and profound embarrassment. He could've sworn his stomach dropped and he mentally gagged. This had to be a joke. It just had to be. Some… some kind of sick prank. But the more he processed it over and over in his mind, Isogai's pleading facial expression didn't fade away. This wasn't a joke.
"W-what the fuck are you saying, you creep?!" The knife was back out of its holster in half a second.
"Now, now, Souichi, let's talk rationally about this-"
"Are you making fun of me?! Are you making me look like a fucking idiot? Are you calling me a female? How can you talk rationally about me changing my fucking gender?! What's wrong with you? You walk into a convent garden and ask a man to become a woman? Have you no fucking shame?!"
"Souichi, this was just as much your sister's decision as it was mine."
"You must be fucking kidding. I'm a man, for Christ's sake, is it that hard to notice?!"
Isogai sighed and picked up his business card from the soft grass. "I don't want to frustrate you, Souichi. But your sister needs you."
"And why the hell do you think I would even do this anyway? What drugs did you slip her to make her think that I would be okay with this?"
"Look, Souichi, something happened and your sister needs to sign her contract immediately or she will not get the position in the band!" It was the first time that Isogai had really yelled. "Since you support her as much as she says you do, you should be able to do just this for her."
"Do what? Have a sex change?!"
"No." Isogai pressed his hands together and bowed in front of Souichi, who looked ready to climb out of his skin. "Please, Souichi. All you need to do is dress up like your sister, go into the office, keep your head down and sign the contract. That's all. She needs this, Souichi. She can't be here because of unfortunate reasons, and the label is very impatient."
"You must be fucking kidding."
"I assure you Souichi, I will support you and protect you the entire way. As Kanako's assistant, it's my job to support her, and if you become your sister, it'll be my job to support you. I will do everything in my power to ensure that nothing happens to either one of you. Please, please, do us this favor."
"And why exactly would I?"
"I'll pay you $50,000."
…What? Fifty thousand? Souichi knew that would be enough for him to buy a plane ticket and enter college. He could visit America and see his siblings, and study science in a university there! This was exactly the chance he had been looking for, scraping up whatever money he could find for the past twenty years.
Souichi stuck his tongue into his cheek. "Fifty thousand, huh? My sister is really worth that much to you?"
"Would you like more?" Isogai asked and started to search his pockets for a checkbook.
"No," Souichi held up his hand. "Fifty thousand is enough. But I don't know if I should trust somebody like you. You're sure that whatever this 'unfortunate reason' is, it has nothing to do with you?"
"I promise you it has nothing to do with me. I'm only her agent. I am in charge of looking after her and managing her career down to the bone."
He didn't even know how to respond to anything. This was absolutely psychotic and ridiculous. What if people recognized him on the street and made fun of him? What if people thought he really did have a sex change?
"…Just sign the contract… right?"
"Yes."
"…Fine." Souichi's voice shook, as he really did not want to have anything to do with this sick, twisted plan that Isogai had obviously concocted to make fun of him. "But I swear on my life, if anybody touches me the wrong way, I will end you. I'm straight, and don't you dare forget that."
Isogai smiled and held out his hand for a handshake. "Thank you, Souichi-kun."
"Oy." Souichi mumbled, shaking Isogai's hand. "I said to leave the –kun off! And don't think that this makes us friends or whatever the fuck you think we are now."
"Come on, we have to get you to the office!"
"Wah! Don't yank me like that!"
The outfit was the most uncomfortable thing he had ever put on in his life. He couldn't believe he was actually going along with this. Was this what Kanako really wanted? Really? Souichi didn't know why she didn't want to go for a nice all-girl band, but a band full of males? The idea reeked of bad luck.
The building was enormous, bigger than the chapel, bigger than anything Souichi had ever seen. A long, wide stretch of sidewalk up from where their car was parked led to a gate, which he assumed was the entrance to the building. The sidewalk continued left before the gate, which then led to a pool and a flight of metal stairs that led into the higher balconies of the building. Beyond the gate, Souichi could see the glass windows and masonry of the living section of the house.
Coming out of the changing room, or rather the open space in the back of the van, Souichi adjusted his shirt. He didn't even want to look at himself. Suddenly he felt self-conscious and wished that he had let the Misses cut his hair whenever they asked. No, he loved his hair. He wouldn't let anybody cut it.
"I can't walk in these shoes. I'll kill you after this is all over, I swear." Souichi mumbled as he nearly fell in front of Isogai.
"Woah… minus the hair, you look so much like Kanako-chan. I must say, the outfit does look simply stunning on you. You have a nice body, nice hair, and nice nails. See, it all works out, Souichi-kun. There's no way they won't fall for it, haha~!"
Souichi looked up with a sour expression on his face. Were the horrendous clothes really that amazing? He was wearing tight black shorts, something he really wished he could take off because he didn't like having every inch of his legs exposed, slightly heeled black sandals, a white graphic tank top with a black leather jacket over it, and a black bandana. The bra was especially uncomfortable, it didn't fit him right, and there was absolutely no way he would dare wear the thong that Isogai provided him with; he would much rather stay in the briefs he had on. This was temporary, it wouldn't matter.
"Kanako really wanted to wear this shit?" He looked down, trying to get used to walking in the shoes. Every day in the convent, he had worn only socks or slippers. "It's uncomfortable."
"Come on, Souichi. You only have to wear it for fifteen minutes. And leave your hair down; it makes you look especially feminine."
"…Jeez, thanks for the fucking compliment. Fucking sicko. And can't I have some glasses? I can't see anything."
"Ah… we should've gotten you some contacts…" Isogai muttered and put his hands on his hips, looking around. "No matter, I'll process you some insurance information when we're done so you can get some glasses."
"Thank you." He grunted and tried to pull down the legs of his shorts. "This is so embarrassing…"
Isogai chuckled. "Come on, Souichi. This is for your sister's career. All you have to do is just close your eyes and sign the paper, and then she'll be able to come back and join the band."
"What happened to her, anyway?" Souichi narrowed his eyes.
"Oh…" Isogai looked away. "She uh… she had some nodules in her throat so I advised her to stop singing until they healed. She should be fine within a couple days. Nothing big, see?"
"Hm. She better not get worse." Souichi crossed his arms. "Now, where do I need to go?"
Isogai pointed to the far end of the sidewalk. "The office is over there, just up those stairs and down the hall. Actually, below the stairs is an entrance to the building foyer which connects to the dorm building, but we don't need to go there. Are you ready?" He adjusted his tie nervously. Souichi was actually very nervous and frightened. What if the people in there knew he was a male and tried to take advantage of him? Or worse, what if his disguise worked too well and they tried to take advantage of him?
"As ready as I'll ever be…" He mumbled, trying to hide his face in his long hair.
"Alright, come on then." Isogai gave him a small, protective smile and held out his hand.
Souichi stared at the appendage. "What are you doing?"
"I'm offering you my hand to hold if you're nervous. I know, you don't trust me and you think I'll force myself on you. I'm only here to be Kanako's agent; I have no interest in males."
"Who said I'm nervous…"
Isogai laughed warmly. "I know you're scared, Souichi. Come on. I'll be with you the whole way."
Souichi nodded, blessed himself quickly, and walked towards the stairs. He reached out a shaky hand to take hold of the support bar, going up one stair at a time as if they were spiked.
"Oh, one more thing, Souichi-kun!" Isogai suddenly grabbed his arm before they were at the top of the stairs.
"What did I say about calling me that?" Souichi growled out, snapping his arm back. "And what did I say about touching me?"
"There's something I forgot to mention." Isogai scratched the back of his neck. "Your sister auditioned and applied and was accepted under the name Tatsumi Sandara, not Tatsumi Kanako."
"…What? Why?"
"She had called your brother Tomoe to ask him if he had any information about your mother. When she asked, Tomoe said he had only heard from your father that her middle name was Sandara. I don't know why your father didn't tell Tomoe her entire name, but by the time I tried asking him myself, your father had already passed away."
"The old man must've been avoiding it… che, I knew she was a bad person."
"The point is, when you go in there, I need you to sign the paper under the name Tatsumi Sandara. Kanako had the idea that if she used her mother's middle name to become famous, then her mother would come back you the three of you."
That did make sense, Souichi thought. He didn't forgive his mother any less, but it made him feel a little bit better. "Alright. Now which door is it?" Souichi leaned towards the hallway, looking down at all the doors.
"The last door on the left, this way." Isogai held out his hand again, and Souichi placed his forearm in the man's hand. Isogai pulled him down the curved hallway towards the door, and with each step he could feel and hear his heart beating erratically. "And remember, no eye contact, no talking. Just signing some papers." He said the last part in a whisper, to which Souichi nodded in agreement. He watched as Isogai's hand drifted upon the handle, turned it, and pushed the door open, where he was shoved in.
It was quiet, very clean, but very big. The office was the shape of a circle, giant monitor screens hanging from the middle of the ceiling. There was a big circular table under the monitors, rows of chairs spawning out from it on one side of the room. On the monitors he noticed the same picture of Kanako that Isogai had showed him by the statue. This was really it; this was where his sister wanted to be, what she wanted to do. He was really doing this.
"Ah, Tatsumi Sandara! You're finally here!"
The loud male voice snapped him out of his thoughts as his head turned towards the origin of the voice. Two men, one in a white and red suit similar to Isogai's, and the other in a black button-up shirt and pants, came rushing towards him and he wanted to bolt out of the room as fast as he could, but as soon as his body tried to move, Isogai's hand squeezed around his lower arm, holding him still.
"President Ito." Isogai laughed and moved to shake hands with the man in the white and red suit. "Ah, Sandara," Isogai looked down at Souichi, who looked up at him with frightful eyes, "this is the label president Ito Akatsuki, and this is his agent, Kain Tomaki."
"Ah, nice to meet you, Sandara. We were very impressed with your photo shoot pictures, ahaha~! Oh…? You changed your hair?" Ito asked and reached to touch Souichi's long hair, when Isogai gently blocked his hand.
"Aha, she uh… she thought it would be a good idea to dye her hair blonde to portray a more angelic sense to the band!"
"Ah, I see. Well, welcome to the TN Entertainment family, Sandara." Ito smiled and extended his hand to try and shake Souichi's, who just cowered into Isogai's side, staring at the foreign appendage. "You seem tense…"
"Ah, sorry, President. She's just got a little bit of stage fright." Isogai chuckled and squeezed Souichi's forearm again.
"Oh." Ito laughed awkwardly. "Did you see the contract applications that were sent?"
"Yes." Isogai nodded. "We handled them spectacularly. She just couldn't wait to start, haha… so, shall we sign the papers?"
"Oh, yes, right this way!" President Ito adjusted his black-framed glasses and went around the table pick up an opened binder. Isogai mouthed to Souichi to walk and led him around to the side of the table. Dear God, he wanted to disappear. He had never been around so many men at one time. He almost tripped again in the shoes just thinking about disappearing.
"Alright…" Ito flipped over a couple pieces of paper. "Just sign your full name right here and we'll get your admittance into custom." He held out a pen for Souichi to take.
Souichi shakily pulled the pen from the man's fingers, cautiously watching the man's expression. He was awfully smiley and energetic, but he didn't notice any sign of a threat. He looked down at the paper he was supposed to sign. There was so much tiny kanji, he could barely read any of it. Some of it he made out, though, which stated that the signer's safety was insured and was the most important thing to them. It also said that they would have a two year contract that they would have to renew every time it expired if they wanted to continue in the band. He guessed this really was in his sister's best interest.
"What are you doing?" Isogai whispered to him. He looked up at the man, unsure of what to do. "Sign the paper."
He looked back down at the paper, bringing the point of the pen down. Slowly scribbling out the kanji for Sandara Tatsumi, he set the pen down and stepped away from the table faster than he could blink.
"Ah, thank you much! Yes, we'll get this information processed right away. Thank you." President Ito nodded and smiled and ruffled the top of Souichi's hair, and it took all of his self control not to pull the pocket knife out from his shorts and stab the man's hand.
"Hahaha, yes~!" Isogai laughed and waved as they walked to the side of the room to deposit the contract. Once they weren't looking, he let go of Souichi's arm and whispered to him. "Nicely done. Good job keeping your cool, Souichi."
"Yeah, I wanted to strangle him for touching me…" Souichi whispered back, adjusting his bandana. "Can I take this off now?"
"You sure can. Let's go." Isogai smiled and patted Souichi's back to coax him into standing up. He saw every one of the man's muscles relaxing under the feminine clothes. He mentally sighed, relieved that the plan actually worked. Souichi was a better actor than he first thought, and probably even better than the man thought of himself. Everything was on track; Kanako would be returning from America once her nodules healed up, Souichi would go back to the convent, Kanako would join the band and live up to her contract-
"Stop."
Souichi was barely around the table when the double doors opened unexpectedly, and a body stepped in. He had just registered the sight of black hair and dark clothing when the man had gotten a lot closer to him, stopping just a few inches from his face. He was taller than Souichi, and had to hunch down to really peer at his face. His shoulders were broad, and his body looked like it was well-taken care of.
"W-wha…" Souichi unexpectedly squeaked out, suddenly self-conscious about his appearance and voice. This had to be one of the other members, it just had to be. God, what was with all the men around here?
After a few more moments of staring at him with dark green eyes, the man stood up straight. "Who is this?"
"Ah, you're here right on time!" Ito grinned and clapped his hands. "Let me introduce your new member, Tatsumi Sandara. She's a bit timid, so try not to frighten her. I'm working on implementing her information via the signed contract. I'll be with you in a short moment!"
Isogai cleared his throat quietly, trying to pull Souichi's arm and get him away from the man, but Souichi couldn't feel his body responding. He could feel the man's breath on him, feel his judging stare, but he couldn't feel his limbs. He had never felt so small in his life.
"This is the one Yamaguchi talked about? The one with the voice like a thousand angels?" The man stuck his tongue in his cheek and spoke with a low, thick voice.
President Ito turned around. "Yes she is, isn't she stunning? I'm glad you came, actually. I wanted to introduce her to you. Did Yama and Hiroto come, too?"
Souichi tried his hardest to look away from the man's eyes as they bored into his, but he couldn't.
"You don't look that special to me." The man muttered. "You're really that amazing?"
Souichi tightened his lips and gulped, nodding sharply. He turned to look at Isogai, who was looking right back at him with the same unsure expression.
"Where's her contract?" The man looked at the president and cocked his hip. "Let me see it."
"Ah… right away." President Ito smiled and ran over to the side of the room to get the contract before placing it in the man's elongated fingers. Turning the papers over and over, he looked at the constant mention of the kanji for Tatsumi Sandara. Nearly nineteen years old, born and raised in Nagoya, Japan, grew up without parents…
He smirked, looking up from the paper at Souichi's face. "The contract isn't that important to me, but I have to confirm something before you're anywhere near accepted."
"C-Confirm?" Isogai's eyes widened as he attempted to squeeze himself between the man and the fake copy of his client. "What is there to confirm? She already signed the papers, and it is President Ito's decision whether she joins or not."
The man ignored his complaint and reached around Isogai's hip, hand latching onto Souichi's wrist as he pulled. Souichi gasped and nearly tripped as he was yanked out from behind the only thing keeping him safe. He wanted to scream, wanted to thrash and pull out his knife and stab this man, but that would ruin his sister's image. God, why did he have to be put in this situation? Being taken away by a strange man to God-knows-where, someone who will probably take advantage of him, all because of his sister. He wanted to be back at the orphanage, wanted to be back with Mika in his soft bed. He didn't want to be here, he wanted to be home.
"H-Hey! Tetsuhiro, where are you taking her?" President Ito bolted around the table towards the door. "Let her go!"
"The band room." The man pushed the double doors open and pulled Souichi down the curved hallway, leaving President Ito and Isogai yelling from behind.
"Don't hurt her! Let her go! Hey!"
Souichi wanted to cry, wanted to scream, wanted to kick, wanted to do everything, but he knew he couldn't. His heart was racing at a mile a minute; he had never feared so much for his life.
The man, or Tetsuhiro as he guessed, pushed open a wooden door at the end of the hallway, and he was shoved inside, nearly falling on top of a giant black piano. Gasping, he jolted away from the instrument, backing up and feeling his head brush against somebody else's body, causing him to jerk back again.
Taking in his full surroundings, he noticed two other men looking intriguingly at him, the one behind him with layered auburn hair and one to his right with short blonde hair. God, could this situation get any worse?
The band room wasn't small but he felt claustrophobic. He tangled his fingers together and kept his head to the ground, avoiding eye contact like Isogai told him.
"And so you can't get out," Tetsuhiro muttered before walking over to the door and locking the handle.
Souichi felt his heart drop into his stomach. Oh, no, this really was what he thought it was. He was going to get raped in here! He needed to scream, needed to call for help, needed to break that giant window on the side of the wall-
His body jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around almost slower than physically possible, he noticed the brunette smiling at him. He was barely taller than Souichi, with a bright face and auburn hair down to the nape of his neck. His eyes were dark brown and he noticed the man wearing a black vest with a white long button-up shirt and black jeans, something Souichi knew he would've worn himself back at the orphanage.
"Oh, yer… Sandara?" The man smiled. He had a slightly nasal voice, and Souichi cringed listening to it. He backed up again; this was freaking him out so much. "I'm Hiroto." The man was giving him a barely noticeable yet knowing look.
Backing up proved to be a bad idea, since he nearly fell over another body. Turning around, he noticed the blonde smiling at him now.
"Oh, be careful, please! We don't need our newest member to get hurt. The name's Yama. Short for Yamaguchi. I hope we'll be really good friends from now on!" He held out his hands to support Souichi, causing the blonde to inch away from him. "Oh… sheepish, I guess."
The blonde was wearing a black jacket like his with white jeans and red boots. What kind of band was this…? Kanako really liked this type of music?
Moving away from both of the men, he felt the edge of the piano press into his lower back and suddenly felt extremely self conscious. His legs were very exposed, and he wasn't wearing female underwear. What if they saw? The thought made him squeeze his legs shut, trying to hide himself from their eyes. Standing to his left was the same man that had pulled him out of the office. He was still keen on staring Souichi down like he was burning a hole through his face. The expression he wore suggested that he despised Souichi's presence even more than Souichi despised the man's.
Since he couldn't find a way to escape, he thought he should speak, but his throat felt drier than the air around him. He looked up into the eyes of his enemy, and this was the first time that he actually got a good look at the man. Tall yet carefully built, with a soft yet handsome face which was turned in a scary expression, dark green eyes, and shoulder length layered black hair. He was wearing a white button-up shirt with the top buttons undone and the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, covered by a black zipper vest which was left open, dark red jeans and black boots stopping a few inches above his ankles.
Knocking at the door made him jump as he looked at the window on the wall, seeing Isogai and President Ito trying to open the locked door. He wanted to move past the men to open the door, but the tall one was in the way.
"Open the door! Hey! Tetsuhiro, open the door!"
Souichi's eyes darted from one member to the next, scared that they would come any closer to him. His left hand rested on the waist of his shorts, ready to pull out the knife if he needed it.
"The door! Hey, Tetsuhiro, can't you open the door? Huh?"
"President, hurry up and get the door open."
"I can't. It's locked from their side."
"Tetsuhiro!"
"Please open this door!"
"Open it!"
"Sandara!"
Contract in hand, the man looked over at the piano next to him and picked up a piece of paper off of it, looking over it quickly, and shoving it into Souichi's chest. The blonde looked down at how close the man's hand was to his fake body and blushed slightly. Why were the other two just standing there? Why weren't they helping him or making the man back off?
"Sandara!"
"Sandara, open this door!"
"Tetsuhiro, open this door! Open it!"
Souichi took the paper in his own hands and looked at it. It was a song, all the sheet music printed on the front side. The kanji for the words was written along the tops of the lines. Without Words… It sounded to him like a romantic song. Why was he given this?
"Sing it." The man said to him. He looked up and widened his eyes.
"W-wha…?" Souichi stammered quietly. He wasn't supposed to talk; what if they noticed his voice was too deep for a female? And they wanted him to sing? That was even worse! What was he supposed to do?
"I need to hear you sing before I accept you into anything regarding this band. You want to be a singer? You have to be able to sing." The man spoke again. His voice was deep and flat, suggesting to Souichi that he really meant what he said. "If I don't like it, it won't matter how many acceptance contracts you sign with President Ito. Simply speaking, you won't become one of us."
Souichi gulped, unsure of what move to make next. He heard the brown-haired one sigh next to him and turned to look at him.
"President Ito spoke really well of ya. He told us nothing but good things." The brunette smiled at him. He felt so awkward, deceiving so many men and being complimented by them. "I'm really curious to see if what he said is true~! Could ya show us?"
Well, at least he didn't scare Souichi as much.
"You really have an amazing voice?" The blonde one bent down to look at his face. "Oh, sing it! I really wanna hear it! President Ito didn't take any recorded demos or samples, so we have no idea what the voice is like that he chose for us."
And that one didn't scare him much, either.
The problem was the one interrogating him.
"I…" Souichi started, attempting to make his voice higher-pitched and more feminine. "I…"
The man crossed his arms and stuck his tongue in his cheek, obviously starting to get annoyed. "If you don't like that song, then sing whatever you know. Something you like."
"Where's the key?"
"What key?"
"Don't you have a master key?"
"The stylist had it last, I don't know where it is!"
"Well go find it!"
Souichi looked back down at the paper, chewing on his tongue. He wished the ground would just open up beneath him and swallow him right up so he wouldn't be in this situation anymore. What was he supposed to do? It wasn't him who could sing, it was his sister. Dressing like his sister was one thing, but sounding like her was a completely different thing. This could not be happening. He had always known that his sister's voice was high-pitched and sweet and his was deeper and more nasal. How was he supposed to pull a "voice of a thousand angels" out of his ass?
"Keep asking them!"
"Hey, open the door! Open the… hey!"
"Hey, Sandara! Sandara, open the door!"
"It's okay Sandara, just open the door!"
The man sighed again. "You can't do it? Or are you just not good?"
"I…" Souichi stammered again, lips opening and closing as he looked at all three males surrounding him. "I… I…"
"You?" He asked again. "You what?"
"C-ca… n… t…"
"Hey, Tetsuhiro! Don't push her like that! Try to coax her, okay?"
"No, no, Tetsuhiro, don't! Leave her be and open the door!"
"Sandara!"
"Sandara, come over here!" Isogai called him, making him look up in exasperated hope. "Sandara! Don't worry, okay? Remember, this is your dream! This is what you wanted all along! Don't give up on it now! Do it for her!"
Do it… for her…
Do it… for her…
Isogai was right. He had to do this for her, for his sister. He had always promised to take care of her in every single way possible, always promised to support her in any way he could. He always told her he would do everything he could for her. He paid for her trip to music school in America, he talked to her on the phone every single day as much as he could. He helped her through the depression of saying goodbye to Tomoe, and she helped Souichi through the depression of her leaving. They had been inseparable since birth, and he wasn't about to change that.
He could practically feel the man smirking at him through the cloud of shouts coming from the window.
"Hey! Open the door!"
"This is what you've dreamed about since you were little! Your future and life depends on this, Sandara! You can't give it up now."
Can't… give it up now?
The man chuckled darkly, looking down at the signed contract in his hand. "Forget it, San-da-ra."He stretched out every syllable of the name. "You're not good enough for us."
Souichi's heart started to race. Shit, he blew it. He blew his sister's chances of being happy with her career. What was he supposed to do now?
Sing… they wanted him to sing… but he couldn't sing.
Could he?
Aaaaand I'm gonna stop it here. Cliffhangers are so much fun ( :
Okay, before I do anything else, I need to explain this a little bit.
This story was based on an Asian drama called You're Beautiful in Korean, Fabulous Boys in Taiwanese (Mandarin), or Ikemen Desu Ne in Japanese. If you've seen it, great, if you haven't, great. I wanted to write this for so long, regardless of it being based on something or not. I will need a disclaimer with this story, simply because the plot isn't entirely mine (though i'll try to change it so that there are some parts that are original and completely mine. I'm very unsure about this story, like I probably said in some author notes on my other stories, because it does need tweaking, but I wanted to get this out and show you guys what you could look forward to if you liked this.
It was also inspired by the Haikaburi Princess extra around volumes five and six, that nobody seems to have made a fanfic about yet. So, I decided, why wait when I can just write it myself?
I literally only have two words to describe this story.
Cross. Dressing.
And music. Yeah.
This story will be long as hell, simply because as you can see the words "PART 1" at the top of this, this isn't even the end of Part 1. There will be between sixteen and maybe eighteen parts, since there are approximately sixteen episodes of the drama (one version has like seven and the other has like twelve and the other has sixteen). I wanted to make the intro longer than this, but I also wanted to keep you guys anticipating it. I can re-update it and make it longer if you like, but that will be after you guys decide whether you like this or not.
UPDATE: I had go to back and fix this because fucking Microsoft Word decided to remove the letters of the band since there are periods in it. I took them out but it looks dumb without periods. I'm tired of your bullshits, Microsoft Word.
PS: Got any songs you think I should use? I already have like... seven... but I could probably squeeze in one or two more!
Please, give me feedback! I'd love to hear what you have to say! Think I need to tweak anything in my writing? Let me know!
-Brittany