Undecided Dreams – Chapter 1
"Perfect! Now raise your arms up and put on a delicate face." I did exactly what I was told. The photographer smiled and took numerous photos of me. Finally, we took a five minute break. Everyone crowded around where I was sitting while drinking water, staring at me with curious and hungry eyes. My manager walked up to me and smiled. "Alright, you did a good job today, Nozumi," she said, with an approving nod, "Make sure to keep it up." I took the bottle away from my lips to speak. "Whatever, old woman. Just get me a chicken sandwich, pronto!" Everyone was shocked. Of course they would be. I may be the top model in Japan, but it doesn't make me a happy camper. Always doing debuts and commercials, I was always so stressed, so my 'bootiful' personality changed. Outside, I'm one of the pretty looking princesses in those crappy storybooks, but inside, I'm a hell of a demon. My manager sighed and rubbed her temples. "For the last time, I'm only 25," she groaned. I scoffed. "In what? Dog years?" After that, she just left. Serves her right for accepting this stupid request.
Right after I finally changed into a comfortable pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, I braided my hair and put on thick glasses to finish my disguise. "Are you ready now?" A voice yelled out from the hallway. "Yeah, I'm ready," I hollered back. I opened the door. My manager looked at me. "Good enough. Now let's go." She walked down the hallway, leaving me to follow her.
"So, tomorrow, we'll have to be in Tokyo to do a commercial for the Easter Company," my manager blabbed on about what she always says. I sighed and looked out of the window. Lights were zooming by, noises of traffic, honking, and annoying chattering of my manager became dull to my ears, silence blanketing it all. I closed my eyes and wished over and over again, but knowing that it wouldn't ever come true. Never ever will, it won't. I just sighed again. I turned quickly to my manager. "Do you know if they'll be home?" I asked. My manager looked surprised, and then her face softened. "I'm sorry, but you know that they are overseas working." I bit my lip and sat there looking at my lap. "But you do know that they are proud of you and your job, right?" But I shook my head. "Just be quiet and leave me alone," I muttered and looked back out to the window.
The car drove off as I walked to my door. I opened it and went inside. As I closed the door, darkness covered me and everything else. I turned on the lights, looking at the floor. I suddenly ran around the house, checking in each room to see if my parents were home, but failed to see any other existence living in here besides me. I slumped to the floor and sniffed. I was alone once again. My parents were never home, ever since I was 11, they went overseas to work. But that's what they always say, that they were still working, and they'll come home tomorrow. "Liars," I growled. They won't ever come home. They aren't even working overseas. They'll never come home. I curled myself and started sobbing.
It felt like hours until I stopped and I rubbed my eyes. I quickly got up and went outside to take a walk. I always did when I felt like this. But instead of just walking, I just sprinted straightforwardly. I puffed in deep breaths, my heartbeat growing faster and faster by each second. I kept going until I ended up in the city. I stopped and put my hands on my knees, taking in deep gulps of oxygen. People were staring at me strangely, whispering about how weird I was. But I didn't care. They always judge people by their appearances, and those people I don't give a damn about. I got up and started walking around the city, letting my stress relieve itself.
"God, I shouldn't have ran that much," I groaned, taking a seat on a bench. I was in an empty park, where I could finally relax. I enjoyed myself by taking a view of the city in front of me, the bright lights like little Christmas stars twinkling. I was about to close my eyes when I caught a pair of men cornering a younger guy wearing black clothes. I've would've just kept my own business, but something about the guy got my interest. I sneaked behind a slide to hear what they were talking about. "So, you gonna give us our money now, or will we have to take it by force?" One of the men grunted. The boy stared at the man with a smirk. "How 'bout you try to get me?" The boy said, grinning as he shifted his body as to jump. The man took out a gun. The boy stopped grinning, leaving the man smiling instead.
"So, instead of being a brat, be a good boy and give us our money you owe us." "Tch," the boy clenched his teeth. I couldn't take it much longer. "HEY! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING AT A CHILDREN'S PLACE?" I yelled out, and I ran to the man and gave him a hard roundhouse kick into the gut. The man doubled over, dropping the gun. I snapped up my foot and caught his nose at the tip of my shoe. I always wore combat boots, so it might've hurt him a bit. Tee hee. "God! Where the hell did this psycho chick come from?" The other man screamed, running away in cowardice. The man I gave a kick to was on the ground unconscious, his nose twisted in a weird angle while bleeding the hell out. I looked up to the boy. "Hey, you alright?" I asked. The boy stared at me, but nodded. I put my hands to my hips. "So, why were they even after you? You bought drugs or something?" The boy frowned. "Wait, how did you?" He pointed to the man on the ground. "Um, I'm a black belt in karate. But back to the point! What's the reason why this happened?" The boy shrugged. I frowned at that and said, "Um, there's two guys that were after you with armed weapons, asking for money. And you don't know how it relates to you?" The boy shrugged again. "I guess it had to do something with my stepfather's company." "Okay then," I grunted. I turned around and started to walk off, but the boy ran up to me and grabbed my shoulder. "Wait, can I at least have the name of my rescuer?" He asked, giving me a handsome smile. I thought for a moment and gave him an answer. "Nozumi. My name's Nozumi." Before he could say anything else, I ran off, the wind blowing against me face as I speeded towards home. "Nozumi, huh?" he muttered to himself. "Wish."
"Okay, whenever you meet the Easter Company's President, don't let a word come out of your mouth," my manager lectured me in the car while we were driving towards a big building with the label on the top that said, "Easter Music Company." While my manager was chattering off as usual, I couldn't stop thinking about that boy. I couldn't remember his face since it was dead night, and I was wearing horrible glasses that ruined my already normal sight when it was ever on. I sighed, and ruffled my golden brown hair.
When we got there, I walked to the front of the building and looked up. "Dang, this is a big place," I muttered. I was thinking about sneaking away to that park again, hoping to find that troublesome boy. "Now… I need a plan first," I mumbled. My manager came up from behind me. "You need a plan for what?" She asked, suspicious. I shrugged. "Nothing." She didn't look convinced, but we carried on and walked into the building. Hundreds of people were crowded around as I walked in, all of them taking pictures and mesmerized by how beautiful I looked. I ignored them and continued on. Finally, we got to a room where there was no one else except for an old man. He looked up at us from his desk and smiled. "Ah! Welcome to Easter. You are Nozumi-san, correct?" I was about to answer but my manager glared at me and smiled at the man in return. "Yes, she is Nozumi." I rolled my eyes. They started talking about the commercial while I sat down on a chair, looking at my nails from boredom. "While we are discussing this, how about my stepson and stepdaughter take care of our special person?" The president said, and he pressed a button. "They are near your age, so that'll be better for you and them to socialize," he chuckled.
A few minutes later, the door opened, and two people came in. I looked from my chair and gaped at the pair. One of them was a popular idol, with long blonde hair and soft violet eyes, her name was Hoshina Utau, I think? And the other one I didn't recognize by popularity, but by last night. I could clearly see his face now in broad daylight. Lush blue hair that goes well with his sapphire eyes, and his lean, but strong body, he reminded me of a black cat. The boy caught my gaze and winked at me. I frowned. Maybe I was wrong? I huffed and slumped back to the seat. "Now, let me introduce my children to you, Nozumi-san," the president said. Utau and the boy walked over to where I was and they both bowed. I felt awkward when they did that, and when I was about to tell them not to do that, my manager shot me a death glare. I returned one right back at her, but kept quiet. "This here is Hoshina Utau. I bet you guys will get along since both of you are so famous," the president smiled at me, "and here is my stepson, Tsukiyomi Ikuto." The boy stuck his hand out and said, "It's a big pleasure to meet Japan's most beautiful princess." I stared at the hand, and turned away. "Nozumi!" My manager scolded, "Don't let him hang there!" She also added, "I'll make you work double time if you don't shake that boy's hand! The president is right there, and he's a very important person! If you don't shake the boy's hand, who knows if it'll kill our reputation." I growled to myself and took his hand. Somehow, I saw there was amusement in his eyes. This was going to be a long day, I swear.