Chapter 2: A Lovely Encounter
"SHINING . FUTURE . STAR! REVOLUTION!" The news repeated Odori and Utau's performance which it made Odori not want to go to school anymore.'People will laugh at me.' She thought worriedly. 'I danced awkwardly!'
"Odori, that's awesome!" Kou was so amazed at her jumps. "You might be popular at school right now!"
"Yeah. I'm going to be a laughing stock until I enter college!"
"What are you talking about? Your jumps were perfect PLUS you did a Prism Live!"
"Oh yeah? What makes that a difference?"
"THIS IS A PRISM LIVE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT!" Kou slammed the table. Odori was so shocked that she dropped her chopsticks. "H-ha?" She got confused.
"Prism Live is so rare! Only 7 people in this country can make a Prism Live!"
"Really!? Do you know them!?"
"Nope. Not really. I heard they are in Omotesando."
"Oh. I bet Kira knows them!"
"Hm? Kira? You mean that girl who admires idols so much?"
"Yeah." Odori drank her milk. "She knows a lot about Prism Stars. Well, i'm leaving now!"
She wore her loafers and opened the door. "Ah. By the way, something's not right here." Kou examined Odori slowly. Odori could only tilt her head. "You're up early today." Odori pouted and shouted, "grrr. I don't always wake up early, nee-chan!" She slammed the door and angrily walked all the way to the bus station.
Odori made it to school early. As she was walking to her classroom, she noticed there was a crowd of students outside her classroom. She ran near to it and asked someone, "uhm. . . what's going on?" The person she asked didn't answer her but instead, he shouted, "Guys look! It's her!"
Odori could only say, "eh?" The crowd ran near to her.
"Odori! Was it really you on TV?"
"You can perform 3 perfect jumps!?"
"How did you perform Prism Live!?"
"Odori-san, autograph!"
She couldn't take any of these and ran away. "Ah! She ran! Quick guys, let's get her!" One of them shouted and then they chased her. Odori turned around and saw them. She started running again and shouted, "WHY ARE THEY SO INTO MEEE!?"
Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm and dragged her to a corner. "Don't say anything." A boy with dark blue hair covered Odori's mouth. "Mnmpph!?"
"We lost sight of her!"
"She must be in the gym!" The crowd still ran, looking for Odori.
He peeked and said, "It's clear now." He let go of her and stood up. "What's your problem!?" Odori asked.
"Wha- I saved you! You should thank me!"
"Puuu~ you should mind your own buisness!" Odori pouted and walked away.
"What's with her?" He mumbled. "Still. She's interesting."
Odori's POV:
Sigh. What was I thinking? I got mad at him for no reason. I should apologize to him.
"O-DO-RIRIRIRIRIII!" Kira poked my cheek.
"Ah! Kira!"
"I'm eating lunch with you~" she took a chair and placed it in front of my table and sat down. "So~ I saw you on TV this morning."
That made me choke the food I just swallowed. "Owaaaa! Odori! Water! You need water!" Kira grabbed my water bottle from my bag and gave it to me. I drank the water and felt relived.
"Kira, not you too."
"But Odori, you're amazing! You did a Prism Live and 3 perfect jumps in one concert! Tell me you've been practicing with the great Utau-sama."
"N-no . . .not exactly. . ." I continued to eat my food from my lunch box.
"That's impossible! You don't dance that awesome!"
I suddenly felt a very sharp arrow hit my chest. "That hurts. . ."
"Owaaa! Sorry, Odori! No hard feelings!" That made me remember something. "Actually Kira. . ."
"Hm?"
"Do you know the Prism Stars who can do the Prism Live?"
"Of course! They are Ayase Naru, Fukuhara Ann, Suzuno Ito, Renjoji Bell, Morizono Wakana and Takanashi Otoha."
"Oooh. You sure know all of them. . .wait. . .they are only 6."
"I only mentioned the Prism Stars who are still doing Prism Shows. The last one retired and her name is. . ."
"is?"
". . . June Amou! Hehe. I almost forgot her name."
"So, why did she quit?"
"No clue. All I heard was after her last contest, she crashed and couldn't walk again."
"That's horrible."
"It is." Kira ate her tempura. "It would be nice if I could be a Prism Star too~"
"Don't worry, Kira! I'm sure you will be!"
Kira stared at me for a few seconds and said, "Right. I believe I can be one because they accept clumsy people~!"
She pinched my cheek which it hurts! I hit her with my notebook. "I am not clumsy!"
I finished my lunch and drank water again. "By the way Kira. .."
"What is it?"
"Do you know a guy who is tall and has dark blue hair?"
"Hm~ tall. . . .dark blue haaaaiiiiirrr. . .hmmmmmm Ah! I know one! He's in 2 - A. His name is Akio Aoi."
"Akio, Aoi? What a name."
"You interested in him?" Kira smirked at me while raising her eyebrows. Okaaaay. She must be thinking the wrong idea.
"No! I want to thank him and apologize. . . There was a crowd looking for me. And he saved me so. . ."
"I see. Well!" Kira closed her lunch box and returned the seat to its original position. "I'm going somewhere for a while. See ya!" "Yeah. See you." I replied.
I stood up and checked if the hallway is safe. Great. No one looks suspicious. I walked towards that classroom named 2 - A. I took a left then forward then left again then voilaaaaa. I am at 2 - A.
"Excuse me." I opened the door and then. . . I saw the people who chased me a while ago. 'This is bad.' is the only thing I could think. Their eyes were all on me. I took a step back and walked away; saying, "Nevermind. He's not here. . ."
It was too late. They started to move out of them. "Wait, Odori-san!" Eeeeeek! I don't like this. I'm going to freak out again! I ran as fast as I could and they also ran. God, they're fast! They keep saying "Odori-saaaan! We have questions!" Seriously!? They're not yet over!? "WHY ARE YOU GUYS SO CLINGY ABOUT MY PERFORMANCE!?" I cried. "Anyone. Anyone save meeee!" I ran to the 3rd floor and the people won't stop. They were so eager but why!? If they have to ask, please come one by one! "Gyaaaaaaaaah!" I tripped. . .over nothing. Immediately, I stood up and ran. The people were shocked on what they saw but they continued on chasing me. "YOU GUYS ARE UNBELIEVABLE!"
All of a sudden, someone grabbed my arm. It was Akio Aoi. "Hurry!" He started to run towards the rooftop. I did not say any word and followed him. As soon as we reached the rooftop, I panted and waited for the crowd of students to stop looking for me. We were silent for a while which it was awkward.
"uhm. . ." I started to speak.
"Are you still mad?"
"I-I'm sorry for getting mad at you!" I bowed. "Also, thank you for. . .saving me. . .twice."
"Heh. Don't mention it. Why were they chasing you again?"
"eh. . .because. . . I did something yesterday that amazed them. . ." I tried not to tell him that I did a Prism Show yesterday but. . .
"He~h what did you do?"
"Uuuh. . . . . I did a. . ."
"did a?" He looked very eager to know.
"Pr-Pri" I stuttered. Nevermind! I'm not telling him! I started to walk away and he said, "Hey! We're not yet done talking here!"
Whatever! I don't want more people to get involved in my situation! Suddenly, I tripped down over nothing again.
"O-ouch. . .it hurts. . ." I cried.
"That was one heck of a fall" he laughed a bit.
That only made me cry harder. It really hurts you know!
"Ah! So sorry! I didn't mean to. . ." he kneeled down and started to pat my head. "Don't cry now~ Pain Pain Go Away!"
Now, that made me mad. I threw a notebook on his face. "DON'T YOU DARE TREAT ME LIKE A KID!"
"Where the hell did you get this notebook!?" he said.
I pouted and started to stand up. "Ow-ow-ow" My leg hurts a bit but I think I can walk all the way to the infirmary.
"You're bleeding!"
"What?" I looked at my leg and saw a scratch with blood in it. I started to cry again.
"Can you walk to the infirmary?" he asked
"I think I can. . ." I started to go to the stairs and without thinking, the people from before asked me a sea of questions.
"Odori-san! Please answer us!"
"How did Utau-sama find you!?"
"Did you practice with her!?"
I have to answer or this will never end!
"Utau found me in the bus station. . .I was waiting for the next bus to arrive then. . . I didn't practice with Utau actually. She dragged me to a contest. . ."
"Odori-san! How did you do the Prism Live?"
That question is the one I cannot answer.
"H-how did I do it? Uhm. . . I don't really know. I was only dancing then. . .some kind of creature flew and turned into a musical instrument then. . ."
"How did you do the 3 perfect jump chain!?"
Shoot. My leg started to ache again. I can't run anymore. I have to answer really quick!
"I don't know how did I do it!"
"Odori-san, will you do another Prism Show!?"
I couldn't answer that. Could you guys let me go now? My leg is really in a bad shape. I begin to move away but I fell down to the floor again.
"OY!" A voice from the distance started to run towards me. It was Akio Aoi again. I looked at him saying, "Going to laugh at me again?" He apologized to me and told everyone that I couldn't answer the questions right now. He can be really helpful, you know.
"I thought you were heading to the infirmary" he helped me stand up.
"I was but they were blocking my way. . ."
"Why were they like that?"
"Fine. I'll tell you. . . It's because I did a Prism Live. . .and a 3 perfect jumps in a row. . ." I lowered my head.
"Woah. That's cool!" As expected, he smiled. Wow. . . His smile is so bright.
"You going to continue your Prism Shows?" he asked like actually want me to say yes.
"I'm not sure." I said. Ack. My leg. . . He noticed this and said, "Let's go to the infirmary! Can you still walk?"
"Maybe. . . Let me try." I tried to walk but failed. Luckily, he held me for support when I was about to fall.
"I'll take you there."
"Heh?" Akio suddenly gave me a piggyback ride to the infirmary. "Aaaaaah! Put me down! I can walk!"
"You were about to fall just now." He started walking down the hallway. Many students were looking at us.
"People are looking at us! Nooo. They will think the wrong idea. . ." I covered my face from embarrassment. I'm betting my face was super red. I took a short peek outside and I saw people whispering to each other. Noooooo! They were clearly thinking we're a couple! Please nooooooooo!
After a short while, Akio stopped and put me down. "Oy. We're here. You can stop covering your face now."
Guuuuuuuh. I am so scarred for life. Since we're outside the infirmary, I stopped covering my tomato-like face and opened the door.
"Welcome!" the nurse smiled. "What's the matter?"
"She scraped her knee." Akio answered.
The nurse looked closely at my leg and said, "Oh my. That is a bruise. Come on in, I'll put something in there!" I took a step closer to the nurse and thank goodness I can walk again.
Before I closed the door, I mumbled "Thank you, Akio." I don't think he heard it.
The nurse put some cold wet towel on my bruise and applied antibiotic cream on it a few minutes later. She then attached a band-aid on my knee and smiled, "You're good to go!"
"Thank you very much."
"No problem! Just sit there for a while so your leg can relax more." The nurse left me and went back to the counter.
Suddenly, my phone rang. I answered it and a familiar voice said, "Hello, Odori-chan!?"
"U-utau!?"
"Great! I have your number now. Hihihi~"
"Wh-what do you want?"
"Actually Odori-chan. . ."
"Hm? Don't tell me. . ."
"Sorry Odori-chan! Pretty Stone and Dear Crown would like you to be in their companies!"
I was so speechless. I mean how? Why me? How? Why!? How!? These two questions kept floating in my mind.
"Odori-chan!? Are you still there!?" Utau's voice was still on-line. "You have to perform a Prism Show later this afternoon or maybe tomorrow!"
Finally, I reacted. "WHAAAAAAT!?" I took a quick glance at my knee then at the nurse. The nurse was surprised because I shouted. "Utau, I'm in a bad situation." I lowered my voice.
"Wha? What do you mean?"
"I sorta scraped my knee. . ."
"What!? That's no good! I have to tell them to change the date of your Prism Show!"
"Wait. What?"
"Oh right. This show is going to be on TV."
Once again, I stopped talking.
"Odori-chan? Odori-chan?!"
[Session Continues]