An update! Yay! :) Here is Act 1, Scene 2, as you could tell by the title, haha. I hope you enjoy this update, and be sure to comment and tell me what you thought! Any constructive criticism is highly welcomed!

Also, a note before you begin: when calling someone by their name without honorifics, it is only socially acceptable if the two people in question are close to one another.

Any other questions about the story, feel free to ask!

Scene 2

They come to retrieve me as He, or, as Kaito had said. Kanshu is the one to accompany me. We go down the hallway, leaving behind a room that I am slightly happy to be rid of. He stands outside of the changing room when we arrive. Stepping in, I'm greeted once again by the cleaners, and they get to work. They clean me up, explaining that I will receive daily baths from that point on. After I'm cleaned up, they dress me in my new uniform.

It is a shirt and dress combination. It's mostly black, with some gold trimming. At the base of my neck, a blue crystal sets above golden ropes, which weave together, almost like a brass instrument. My skirt is split practically up to my hip, and I feel slightly embarrassed at having so much skin showing. Not like my rags from before were any better, though. The cleaners assured me I looked fine.

I have black leggings that go halfway up my thigh, tall golden boots, and arm sleeves that go from my wrist to my elbow; those are gold, with a brown light-screen interface. They show me how to use it to change my voice and do all sorts of tricks to impress the audience, though I doubt I will use it much. Perhaps to increase the volume of my voice...

As a final touch, they set a brown headband-slash-performance mic on my head, and place two gold and brown belts around my hips, which fall across one another neatly. I believe my new uniform worked out quite nicely; both in the sense of fashion, and usefulness….

I come back out to where Kanshu is waiting, and as we leave, there is a commotion one hallway down, the very hallway we're headed towards; people are cheering. We turn the corner, and as suddenly as it occurred, like a wave, they fell silent. I gasp. There, parting the crowd, a pink head bobbed along with purpose, its grey horns glinting in the dim light.

He was headed directly towards the room at the end, with a shining, golden 1 above it. Kaito steps out of it and glances in his direction.

"So, you decided to give up that silly little plan of yours and come back Yuuma-kun? A wise choice." Kaito snickered.

Kanshu laughed next to me, low and gravelly. "No one ever really leaves. He was drawn to this place."

I could hear none of this, however. Everything in my body was focused on him. My legs wobbled underneath as I took a few tender steps toward him. "You…" Everyone froze, and turned to look at me. A look of concern crossed His face as I ran up to Yuuma. Tossing my arms around his neck, I cried, "You actually came back! You came back for me Yuuma! I'm so happy, I…" I soon realized he was not returning the embrace, but was rather standing quite stiff, and slightly keeping away from me. "Y-Yuuma?" I stammered.

Suddenly, Yuuma pushed me away, backhanding me across the cheek. There was a small gasp among the people, and, as I fell, guards came rushing to my aid. I'm not sure when He got there, but He was standing above me, glaring at the pink-haired man. Yuuma sneered, as if he had a rotten taste in his mouth. "You dare call me by name so freely? Have a little respect next time. It's Yuuma-senpai, or don't say it at all." He turned, and glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, and don't you dare touch me again, you filth." he hissed, and walked away.

As quickly as it came, the silence was soon replaced with anxious chatter, most of which was accompanied by glances towards Kaito and I. Kaito stooped down and offered me his hand. "Are you alright?"

"Yes… Um, arigato… K-Kaito-sama…" I say shyly. The chatter spikes at this display of familiarity. Perhaps they misunderstood, but he pays it no mind. Smiling, he helps me up and leads me to my room, right next to his.

In the back of the room, center with the wall, is a large bed, fit with simple, but clean sheets, and a large, white canopy billowing above it. Nothing too extraordinary, but anything would be better than what I had before. A bed table stood beside it, with a beautifully carved lamp, and a white desk sits in the corner, accompanied by a little wooden chair.

As I sit on the bed, I look around in confusion. "I just don't understand. He's completely different." I look down to my feet. "Maybe… I was wrong about him. Maybe he never actually cared about me." I place my head in my hands and begin to sob.

Kaito sighs lightly, and thinks for a moment.

He claps his hands and says, "I'll be right back." I watched him leave through the tears, and thought back to just a moment ago. Yuuma has completely changed. He was always so protective of me. So, why has he changed so much? And Kaito… I look up at the door. He confuses me even more. He seems nice but he was also once a major pain in the ass. Maybe he's changed; or maybe I'm finally seeing the true him...

Just as I thought this, the doorknob wiggled, as though someone on the other side was not-quite capable of opening it. I stood up, brushing the tears away, and turned the knob slowly, peaking around the door as it opened. Smiling at me was Kaito, holding two bowls of... "I-ice cream?"

I moved out of the way as he came in with the bowls and closed it behind him. He beckoned me over to a small table in the corner, which just so happened to have two, soft chairs placed on either side. He sat down, and I followed, eyeing him cautiously as he slid one bowl over to me. I picked up the spoon, and glanced over at him. He was focused on the ice cream, practically drooling over it. "They hardly ever let me have any, you know."

I tilt my head. "What?"

He gives me a big grin as he looks up at me. "Ice cream of course!" He pouts a bit, and sighs. "They think I eat too much of it… something about becoming unattractive…" I glance at his slim physique and barely stifle a laugh. He looks at me quizzically. "What? No, really it's true! That's exactly how they explained it!" A grin stretched across his face. "I think they're being ridiculous though." he said as he shoveled the first spoonful of the flavored ice into his mouth. "It's mostly just frozen water." I hesitated for a fraction of a second, then dug in as well.

Between spoons, Kaito began telling me of his past. "When I first arrived here, I was quite far down too. But I had the thought that if I just did a little better, one day I wouldn't mind living here." He smiles. "Now I'm number one, so I really have nothing to worry about, besides one day growing old and dying. But I first arrived here with my older sister, Meiko. She's a few years older than me, with short brown hair. Her favorite color was… red…" He chuckled to himself. "Funny how we remember the little things... That man though, Yuuma-kun; he's your brother, right?"

I nodded my head, and he smiled. "Ah, you do look quite similar." He chuckled. "Must be the bright pink hair!" He took back a somber look as he continued his story.

"Well, my sister and I were scared, and had no idea what would happen to us. While I was focused on getting better, she thought I was insane, and worked constantly to escape. One day, she did, and it was several months before I saw her again. I assumed they had found her and brought her back, but there was something different about her. Something that just didn't seem right." Kaito sighed, pushing his midnight-blue hair back out of his eyes. "She absolutely hated me when she returned. Couldn't even stand the sight of me. I tried reasoning with her, but she wouldn't listen. She was perfectly normal with everyone but me. She was soon taken awa-" he choked up, and I thought I saw a hint of tears in his eyes, but he held them back. "... taken away. The last thing she said to me, before she left, was 'Disappear! I hope you're taken away from here too!'. It… wasn't the most pleasant goodbye. But soon after that, I met Miku-sama. Miku Hatsune..." His eyes glazed a bit, and he sighed. "She was number one, and she reached out to me. She said I reminded her of the brother she lost long ago… She took me under her wing and taught me everything I needed to know. I soon pulled up to number two. That was when the freedom fighters came…"

"The... the what?" I tilted my head, still captivated by his story.

He looked up from his bowl. "Freedom fighters," he swished the spoon around in a circle through the air, "or at least that's what they believe themselves." He sighed, laying his spoon down in the bowl; a soft clang resonated through the air. "And I suppose it is true, in a sense. They showed up that day and killed many of our guards. Miku hurried around, helping the wounded and fighting off whoever crossed her path. I followed behind, doing the same. We got separated though, and when I found her again, I was too late. A man by the name of Jiyuu stood before me, holding a sword in his hand. Nearby, I saw Miku, lying on the ground and covered in blood. He…" His face was downcast, and his eyes showed that he was far away from this room, from this time.

I reached across the table, laying my hand over his. "I… I'm so sorry." I shook my head. "I don't even know what I could say…" My voice trailed as he looked up at me.

A cold had enveloped his eyes and voice. "You can't." He pulled away, standing to leave. "I'm sorry, I… There are some things that I…"

I nodded. "Th-that's fine. Thank you for-" I fidgeted in my seat. "...the ice cream."

He glanced at me once more. "Don't forget that you will be attending rehearsals now that you are in the top ten."

"Oh! Um, of course…" He gave me one last glance before walking out the door.