Unravel

Chapter 1. Secrets

The screams of the fans were nauseating and the room was a burning temperature. I absolutely abhorred it. What were these people so crazy about? My voice wasn't something that should be screamed about, it was just an ordinary voice and yet these people were screaming to an intensity that was bewildering to man. It was still my occupation to entertain someone whether I like it or not so I just continued my routine of dancing and singing to these unknown people. "Ikumi!~ Ikumi!~ We love you Ikumi!~" I could hear those words being shouted throughout the crowds and I felt utterly disgusted by it. You don't even know me so don't say such disgusting things.

"Ikumi, what's wrong with you? Are you stupid? Don't give off a dark look when you're performing!" Kei, my manager, smacked the back of my head. I winced and glared at him, "Sorry to anger you but I don't like it when people just thoughtlessly say they love me. They don't know me so they shouldn't say those words" I answered. Kei put a hand under my chin and tilted my head up to meet his sharp eyes, "That's exactly right. They don't know you but they still love your voice so try acting more properly" He scolded, "Whatever" I slapped his hand away from me, "You know I don't like being touched so knock it off already" Kei sighed as I walked off to the tour bus.

Right now I had finished up my last concert for my 1 year tour around the world. I'm sure you're all wondering why I even wanted to be an entertainer if I didn't even like it. The truth was it was all for my family. I wanted to support my family in Midorijima. I had an old granny to take care of along with a troublesome older brother. My older brother had finally, after many anticipated years, pulled back from his troubling gang days and made himself into a proper man. Even though he made himself into a proper man I still worried that one day he would return to the old days and so I had started financially supporting them.

When I started financially supporting them I was merely 13. I was spotted one day by a big company producer and he asked me to perform for him. At first I was reluctant but then when I thought about my family I pulled back my selfish thoughts and agreed. The man was impressed with my voice and so he signed me to his label and I made a huge debut. It has been six years now and things were going smoothly for me. My fame never ceased and my fanbase grew the more I had aged. I was the female role model of the children of Midorijima now and one of the most wanted girls in Japan.

"Now can I have my phone back?" I snapped as soon as my manager stepped into the tour bus. He sighed as if I was just another troublesome person and handed me my phone. "Happy now princess?" He asked sarcastically. "Very" I spat back as I turned my phone on. Kei never allowed me my phone when it concerned big events such as tours so he always confiscated it when it started. Knowing that my phone was well blown up I cringed. 1,500 messages and 850 voicemails. Great, just great. Thank you Kei for being a jackass of a manager!~

My eyes had widened when I saw the messages were mostly from my brother, my granny, and two of my friends. "What in the?" I voiced and then clicked on one of the messages that my brother had left me, "Ikumi, everything's alright now. Platinum Jail has collapsed and everyone is safe. So continue a worry-free concert!~" After the message ended I looked at Kei who in return gave me a questioning look. "What's with the face? Did something happen?" He asked. "Did Platinum Jail really collapse?" I asked. Kei composed his face and then sighed, "I thought I had told you. Platinum Jail collapsed over a month ago" He informed and shook his head, "Do you even bother to pay attention to what I tell you?".

I had started to view the other voice messages left and started to worry. Over the whole year I had been gone shit had hit the ceiling. My brother along with my other two friends were being chased by the police, he was forced into Platinum Jail, Ren had somehow turned into a human, and Toue, the creator of Platinum Jail was trying to capture my brother. What in the hell?!

Fuming, I stomped all the way over to Kei and punched him hard in the face. "You piece of shit! Because of you my family and friends were in trouble and I had no idea! Fuck your rules! I'm not handing you my phone ever again!" I roared. Kei gave me a look of disinterest. "It's better that I did take away your phone or else this concert would have been a loss" He challenged. "Who gives a shit about the goddamn concert! I'm returning home immediately!"

I picked my phone up and began dialing a number. "Hello?" they answered. "I'm heading back right now and when I get home you're telling me everything that had occurred in my absence"

~~Jellyfish Time Skip, brought to you by Clear~~

I slammed open the door and began running about the house to look for my brother. Ugh, where is he?! I looked everywhere. I looked in his room, the kitchen, the bathroom, the laundry room, outside, and even in my room but there was no such luck. With a sigh of defeat the trudged down the stairs into the living room to wait patiently for his return. Honestly though, he should be here. It was 9 p.m. and it was pretty troublesome to be roaming about at night.

"Ugh, please don't tell me that he's out fighting people again. I'm seriously going to kick some ass if that's the case…" I muttered. Ah, I should say hello to granny. I was about to get up when I remembered that it wasn't a bright idea to go into her room at this time. Most likely granny was sleeping and if someone were to wake her up they'd be cast into hell early. Even though granny was old she was still pretty fierce.

For hours and hours I had waited for my brother but he never showed up. I wanted to change out of my performance clothes but I didn't want to miss him. "What can he possibly be doing at 3 a.m.?" I complained. Before I knew it I had started dozing off into sleep.

I was surrounded in darkness. Blood was falling down and hitting the floors as if it were rain. It was cold and looked endless. I started walking forward, unsure of where to go. Someone had closed their arms around me from behind and I screamed. "Get off! Get off!" Tears filled my eyes. When I finally broke free I turned to see my brother. He was reaching his hand out to me as if he wanted to lead me somewhere. Uncertain, I took his hand and let him lead me. We were walking on a blood filled path where memories flashed from left to right. When I looked at the memories I felt like large needles were piercing my body and my body was on fire. It felt like hands were touching every crevasse of my body and my body was falling apart. As I looked up I saw that it wasn't my brother who was leading me but someone else. A person who had haunted me for many years now.

I tried to run away from them but suddenly I felt a sharp pain in both my legs and I collapsed. It was like my legs had broken and the only other option left for me but crawling. It was a pointless effort though and so I could only watch as they came closer and closer to me. They were holding their hands out to me and giving me a dazed and loved filled gaze. "No…" I gasped. "Get away from me! Stop! No more please!~" I screeched to the top of my lungs. "Please no more… I can't take it" I whispered hoarsely.

"Ikumi, Ikumi!~" Some panicked voice had called my name from afar. In the cold, dark place I could faintly see a light. My eyes widened and I immediately began crawling over to the mysterious light. Within that light held a familiar and comforting voice that was reaching out towards me. "Ikumi!" The voice was getting much stronger and before I knew it I was taken away from the cold, dark place.

I opened my eyes to see my brother shaking my body, vigorously. "Ao….Nii?" I asked. He looked so panicked, "Ikumi, are you alright? Did you have that dream again?" He asked. I slowly nodded and then looked around. The room was filled with strangers except for two and it looked to be in the middle of the day. "When did you come back?" I asked. "Just now…" He answered and scratched the back of his head with a chuckle. "JUST NOW?!" I burst out, angered and bewildered. "You bastard!" I yelled and then punched him hard in the face.

Everyone looked at me shocked except for my two friends who had burst out in laughter. "Nice shot Ikumi" One of them approached my laying figure and held out a hand to help me up. I smiled at her and gratefully took her hand. This was Echo. I've known Echo ever since I was sixteen, her and her distant cousin Mizuki but… I'd rather not talk about Mizuki yet…. Her took something very precious of mine after all…

I got up and hugged Echo, "I've missed you!~" Echo laughed and hugged back, "So I'm guessing you heard about the past year? Aoba was telling us that you were giving him an earful" I rolled my eyes and put a hand on my hip. "Yeah, my asshole manager always confiscates my phone when it comes to "important" events. I didn't receive any of your messages when I was away" I pouted. "Ikumi, don't I get a hug?" I looked towards Mizuki and then looked down with a blushed. "I don't know" I mumbled.

The smile on Mizuki's face fell. "Are you still mad about that? I already apologized" He mumbled. I shook my head. "It's been three years but still you took my first so of course I'm still a little angry…" I whimpered. "HE WHAT!?" A black haired man bursted. I cocked my head at him confused, "Who are you?" I inquired. The man's face fell. "Ikumi, you don't remember me?" The man looked so crestfallen that I actually started feeling bad. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude…" I replied. Aoba sighed, "Koujaku, she was only a year old when you met her so of course she doesn't remember you".

The man now known as Koujaku now looked down embarrassed, "Oh, that's right. I'm sorry. My name is Koujaku, it's nice to meet you Ikumi" He smiled and raised his hand to shake mine. I wasn't certain on what I should do but the man looked very nice and he was a friend of Aoba's. "Uh, Koujaku I don't think-" My brother's words were cut off when I slowly shook Koujaku's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Koujaku" I smiled genuinely.

I turned back to Mizuki, my face becoming even more red. "Don't get me wrong, I'm still angry that you took my first kiss but I did miss you too" I then hugged a confused Mizuki who hugged me back after a moment. "So, can you explain all of this?" I asked Aoba who had started resting on the couch. "Sure, but I think I should introduce you to everyone first"

"Since you already know Echo, Mizuki, and Koujaku I just need to introduce you to the other five" Aoba piped. I nodded and followed his hand movements.

"This is Mink!~"
"Hm"

"This is Noiz!~"

"Yo"

"This is Clear!~"

"Hello master's sister!~"
"This is Virus and Trip!~"

"Nice to meet you Ikumi-chan~"
"And finally, this is Ren!~"

"It's nice to see you again Ikumi"

As soon as I met Ren's eyes it was like something had flashed inside me and I lost my vision for a moment. "Ikumi!~" Aoba immediately got up and pulled me back up. "Ugh" I groaned and began holding my head. "Ikumi, are you alright?!" Aoba asked panicked. I smiled weakly and nodded. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me. I feel like I know this body but it can't be…" I reassured. The room had grown quiet.

From the corners of my eyes I could see Virus and Trip smiling as if they knew something. I gave them a questioning look, "Do you two know anything?" I asked. The two exchanged glances before they shrugged. "They don't" Aoba intervened. Everyone was acting weird and I knew they were hiding something. What was it they were trying to hide from me though? Why did they want to hide something from me?

The more thought I put into this matter the more my head started hurting. "Ugh" I cringed, holding my head tighter. "Ikumi, just let it go" Aoba commanded. Aoba looked so serious that it was bizaar. "Why are you trying to keep things from me?" I asked. He was shocked, "Ikumi, that's-" Aoba immediately closed his mouth. He didn't know what to say to me.

"Forget it, I'm going into the shower and preparing for the day. I'll be down in an hour so rest here until I come back. I'll make a feast tonight and you will all tell me what happened" I reported before heading up stairs. I knew that today was going to be a long and stressful day.