Forgotten Melody
Chapter 1: Arrival
"Hello?" answered Kumoi-san.
"Okay…I got it…I'll be there soon," she answered professionally.
Kumoi-san prepared her shiny, black car before she left the busy building. The Muranishi Entertainment Company had always been busy ever since the news of the return of a famous idol came out. Phones would always ring because people wanted to have an interview session. You would always hear the employees typing to reply to the requests of broadcasting companies. The hectic environment had been like that for almost a month now.
Kumoi-san drove down the highway to the airport to pick up the returning idol who left Japan to be an entertainer in America for almost 4 years. The city's busy roads didn't keep Kumoi-san from being there on time. She arrived exactly when the returning idol came out of the baggage claim area.
"Kumoi-san!" the idol yelled, dropping her bags and suitcases on the tiled floor of Narita International Airport.
"Kirari!" Kumoi-san exclaimed as Kirari hugged her out of nowhere.
"I missed you so much, Kumoi-san!" she said, after the long, welcoming hug.
"You've grown into a young lady, Kirari. Last time I saw you, you were an undeveloped 15-year-old girl. Now, look at you! You're 19! You even have boobs now!" Kirari's former manager said, ecstatic to see the idol.
"Don't tease me, Kumoi-san!" Kirari playfully said.
The two laughed and everybody in the airport looked at them. After they realized that they've been in the airport for half an hour, talking, the two hurriedly went into the car to avoid the paparazzi.
"That's a nice disguise, Kirari. The paparazzi didn't even realize who you were," Kumoi-san said, concentrating on her driving, but took a glance at the rare view mirror to see Kirari, who was sitting on the back.
"Thank you, but it's not a disguise," Kirari said, taking her hat and sunglasses off.
"You mean to say, you dyed your hair a darker shade of brown?"
"Yes, ma'am,"
"Was it for a movie?"
"No, I just felt like surprising someone special here," Kirari replied, blushing.
Kumoi-san had the idea of who it was, so she smiled for she understood how Kirari felt.
"Oh, okay," she said.
Kumoi-san and Kirari finally arrived at the Muranishi Entertainment Company where there were no paparazzi.
"Where are the paparazzi?" Kirari asked, surprised that they weren't there.
"They probably went to the airport to wait for you," Kumoi-san said, her professional character returning right before they entered the building.
Kirari kept her hat and shades on as she walked down the busy hallways of the building. Nobody noticed that it was her.
Kumoi-san knocked on the chairman of the company's big door. After knocking for many times, she didn't hear anything, so she proceeded into the huge room anyways.
Kirari followed behind as she looked around the room. She knew there were a lot of changes in the room. There were more platinum, gold, and silver records hanging on the wall. She even saw a picture of herself before she left Japan. Then, she saw a picture of a boy band. She stared at it as she dozed off into her own fantasy world, but was interrupted by a loud yell.
"Kirari!" the chairman yelled, rushing to hug the surprised idol.
"Chairman Muranishi!" Kirari exclaimed, hugging him tight.
"I can't believe you're back!" he ecstatically said, looking at Kirari from head to toe.
"Yes, sir," Kirari smiled, noticing the changes to the chairman.
His ginger hair still stayed the same, but he no longer wears his glasses.
"So he did get a laser eye surgery," she thought, very happy for the chairman.
"Oh, I'm sorry Kirari," the chairman said as looked at his wristwatch to check the time.
"But the boys have a recording session today," he apologetically said, looking back at Kirari.
"The boys?" she thought, alarmed of who the chairman was talking about.
"So I have to go, but I promise that all of us will go to a restaurant for your welcome party. I'll bring the boys, too," he said, putting on his coat to protect himself from the cold winter air blowing outside.
"See ya," Chairman Muranishi closed the door, leaving Kirari and Kumoi-san behind.
"Kumoi-san," Kirari said, breaking the silence in the room.
"Hm?" Kumoi-san turned to look at Kirari.
"Let's go," Kirari smiled, giving Kumoi-san a clue on what they will do next.
"Redo it, both of you!" Chairman Muranishi ordered the two idols.
"I'm too tired, Chairman," complained the dark haired Hiroto.
"I'm sorry, but as soon as this is over, we'll all be going to a restaurant," the chairman said, arranging the settings for their microphones.
"A restaurant? Is there something special going on today?" asked the other member of the boy band, Seiji, who has the blonde hair.
"It's a surprise," the chairman smirked, tapping the microphones to check if it was working.
Seiji and Hiroto looked at each other, both shrugging their shoulders for neither one of them knew what was going on.
"Okay, start," Chairman Muranishi turned on the music and the idols put on their headphones to prevent any interruptions from their surroundings, only hearing the music.
Seiji and Hiroto closed their eyes to feel the music and to be able to focus on singing it accurately. When Hiroto opened his eyes, he saw someone behind the chairman that made him stop singing due to shock.
When Seiji realized that Hiroto wasn't singing, he opened his eyes to find the frozen Hiroto.
"Hiroto?" Seiji called his name, but Hiroto didn't answer.
The chairman realized that the two weren't singing, so he turned off the music to yell at the two.
"What are you two—"
"It's you," interrupted Seiji as he saw the person behind the chairman.
When the chairman turned around, he found out that the cause of the two boys' shock was none other than Kirari.
Kirari didn't say anything, but smiled at Hiroto and Seiji, who was still inside the recording booth.
Seiji was the first one to come out and hug Kirari.
"Kirari-chan!" he said, lifting her once petite body.
"Seiji-kun! I missed you so much!" she said, looking into Seiji's deep blue eyes.
"Hiro—Huh?" Seiji was about to tell Hiroto to come out of the booth, but found no one inside.
"Where'd he go?" Seiji asked, looking around everywhere.
"I thought so," Kumoi-san said to herself, as she watched Seiji, Kirari and Chairman Muranishi look for him.