All My Colors

By Mashimaro Neko

a/n: First chapter is... –drum roll- RyouZaku! Definitely not the most obscure of the couples to be included in here, but one of them nonetheless.I was going to do RyouReta first, but then I noticed this chapter could set up later chapters and decided that it'd be better to do this one first.

This chapter has ZakuMint hints. Sowwy if you hate the couple, it's just canon. betchcookies. l3

Chapter One; Murasaki

It was yet another rumor. At least this one didn't send my most sensitive team member spiraling into a crazy depression like the other. Though I'm not sure how I wanted to interpret that, in this case...

"Is the famous model Fujiwara Zakuro lesbian?" Ichigo read from a magazine, Retasu reading over her shoulder and Ringo on her tiptoes trying to do the same.

"That's not true..." the porpoise mew said.

"What does lesbian mean na no da?" Purin asked. Retasu instantly turned pink and started stammering, trying to think of a good explanation, which made the penguin mew beside her giggle immaturely.

Minto ignored them with an expert air of 'I can't hear you', eyes fixed on her tea and cheeks red.

Zakuro tugged the article from the catgirl's hands. "They must have seen me and Minto-chan when we went out for crepes. Relax, I have publicity agents for this."

"But..." the maroon-haired girl said, trying to retrieve her girly magazine.

"You're not going to try to fix it yourself?" Ringo asked curiously.

Zakuro shrugged. "I could."

Berry and Tasuku skated in, but everyone but me was too busy talking about and to Zakuro to notice.

Minto finally looked up at Zakuro, looking completely remorseful. "I'm sorry Onee-sama... you're in trouble because of me..."

Zakuro gave the girl a kind smile. "It's okay Minto-chan. I had fun and so did you, so there's no problem."

Berry stared at them blankly. "... I have a feeling I walked into a private conversation here, so I'm just going to go get the next delive—"

"BERRY!! STOP TAKING THINGS LIKE THAT!"

The cat/rabbit mew skittered off as to avoid her co-workers anger. Poor girl. She just had bad timing. I don't blame her; I would have thought the same thing if I had come in right now too. But I'm a healthy male, so maybe I should be worried...

"You need to prove to your fans and everyone that you aren't!" Ringo said after a moment of awkward silence, innocence leaving her not really understaning what everyone was so mad about.

"Unless you are, of course!"

"Shut up, Tasuku."

"And how do you propose I do that?" The wolf mew asked uninterestedly.

Ringo missed this and thought hard. "... Go out with a guy, and be seen!"

Zakuro blinked. "... fair enough." she said, then looked straight at me, face unchanged. "Shirogane. Go out with me today."

There was a slow pause before all hell broke out.

Minto started it, breaking her teacup as it slipped from her grip to the linonuem floor. "WHAT?" she yelled, standing up.

I agree, what? I stared the purple-haired girl down with my confusion, keeping any haziness from gripping me despite the fact I had just been asked out by a hot celebrity.

"Just for today, so that I can appease Ringo and maybe restore my image." She deadpanned, not seeming to find anything wrong with it.

"Isn't that just going to make it worse?" I asked. Not that I was refusing.

"Maybe. But I want to at least try Ringo's suggestion. It's a good one."

I could sense the cloud of happiness and sparkles coming from Ringo at her praise.

"... fine." I awnsered.

"Meet me at the fountain after shop closes." she walked off in her usual apathetic sort of way to serve a customer.

I could already feel the raw heated jealously from the bird mew, coming straight my way. Sigh.

"Shirogane. Ice cream seems like the best bet." Zakuro said simply, pointing to the stall. She was in a relatively casual outfit, considering what her usual apparel must be. I felt incredibly... small in comparison to the confident woman beside me. She was less than an inch taller than me, but it makes a difference.

I gave a quick nod. "Yeah."

We walked over and ordered. I was suckered into paying, something I—what was the point of taking it out of her paycheck? She didn't need it, for gods sake. And while on the topic, neither did I, so I dropped the whole idea.

Settling into a nearby metal table, I could already feel the watchful eyes as we took small licks of ice cream to match our small talk. It must suck being a celebrity, always being watched.

"So, how was your day, Zakuro-chan?" I said. Inwardly, I cringed at being so familiar. It was all part of the plan, but it felt so awkward.

"Ah, relatively well..." she said, putting on her model additude people always saw on screen. "Other than some disquieting gossip about me, if you haven't already heard it."

"Gossip?" I played along, glad for my acting skills. "Something in the tabloids, I suppose? I keep a 5 foot radius from the magazine rack these days. What did it say?"

"That I was a lesbian. It seems they got pictures of me with my cousin when we went out to discuss old times and blew it way out of proportion. It's quite a bother, but I'm sure my PR agents will clear it up soon..." she said gracefully. I nodded.

"That's a shame. Things like that don't usually blow over easily." I said, coming up with something on the . "But it's not true, is it? You love a man. I'm sure your fans will see who you truly are. And though it's irrelevant, that's a wonderful person."

She gave me an affectionate smile and leaned over the table, giving me a soft kiss on the lips.

"So are you."

And the paparazzi went wild...