Author Notes/
Disclaimer: I do not own Starish or anything from the Uta Pri world. Any songs used here will receive credit to their artists.
Chapter 6
It was Sunday before Siren realized that she had not seen or heard from the only person who counted her as a friend in Saotome International since class let out two days ago. Her first instinct, born of years of solitary activity was to simply ignore the fact that he hadn't been around. But then the hurt hit her. She had told him sensitive, personal information and he had disappeared. What if he was telling people? What if she had scared him off somehow? Not that the latter would be as bad as the former, but it would still suck.
And so, like the few other times emotions had strongly rocked her since she had begun to numb herself, Siren had delved into her chosen hobby, or as it now was, her classwork. A tune began to emerge from the depths of her mind and she went to the library to try to hash it out. Her roommate at the boarding school was not the most appreciative of sorts and preferred Siren to not be there if she could be elsewhere, and the once homeless girl really didn't see a point in creating turmoil with the spoiled brat if she could help it. So she was headed to the library.
Just her luck though, the object of her current frustration was sitting at the closest table to the supply cabinet she needed that held student laptops for those who didn't have the money to afford their own.
Shou was surrounded by a half dozen newspapers that were yellowing from age. No one else was in the library so it occurred to the songstress that when she walked by, the words he spoke were addressed to her.
"It's no use I can't find it." He sounded frustrated and tired. On the table in front of him was a pink and black laptop with his name spelled out in funky orange and green letter stickers which he was staring at in defeat.
"Alright I'll bite." Siren announced, acknowledging the bait as it was. "What are you looking for in old newspapers and some website?"
In reply Shou held the newspaper closest to him up and had her read the headline:
Mystery Girl Nearly Burned To Death.
And then the next one:
Mystery Girl To Live In Orphanage.
And finally:
Mystery Girl Given Name.
This one Siren quickly scanned.
Mystery Girl, the victim of Arnold and Hilary Touscan and recent addition to the Hopeful Dreams and Hugs Orphanage was named by the Matron of said orphanage today in a brief ceremony with all her new friends and hopeful parent candidates. The girl, once unnamed and homeless has a place with all the children in the orphanage and has made many friends. The Matron chose the name Sasha…
Siren felt her hands trembling with rage as she read on and made to rip the paper.
"Hey you can't rip that!" Shou shouted to get her attention. "What's wrong with you?"
Siren began to reply but as she opened her mouth three girls walked into the library and immediately spotted the idol in the room. "I'll tell you later." She said passively, and walked towards the supply cabinet.
Taking out the laptop in the cubby with her name on it, Siren sat down and began to write down the melody of the song in her head, which had morphed into something new at the realization that Shou had been looking into Sasha and probably any details he could that would help find her.
Feeling not so abandoned anymore, and not understanding that that was what she had been feeling in the first place, the girl spent close to an hour touching up her song and playing it over with the software she was using. She added multiple dimensions to the instrumental before saving it and titling it 'Abstract Electronica 1' figuring she would come up with lyrics at a later date. When she was finished she noticed that Shou was still surrounded by the girls, who had their attention glued to him like white on rice.
The newspapers were still on the table in front of him, though he had managed to fold them so the headlines were hidden. Thinking quickly Siren put her laptop away and walked over to the Starish member.
"Here, let me take care of those newspapers for you, Shou-sama." She sent a fake bit of a grin to the girls as if she were apologizing for interrupting.
Shou, for his part, was shocked at being called 'Shou-sama' by an American and just gaped at her as she walked away with the papers. "Thanks, Siren!" He called when she was walking back towards the door.
"I believe you're missing an honorific Shou-sama." Siren took the liberty of smirking while she had her back to him.
"I could call you Siren no Kimi," Shou said jokingly, seeing if she knew what it meant.
"The tone of voice you use when suggesting it tells me that that would be a bad idea, because whatever it means you sound weird." Siren informed him, her back still to the young man.
"Just checking." Shou laughed, "Siren will always be Siren to me though." The girls surrounding him started to look confused at the conversation, and remembering the conversation with Ren that talking to Siren made them all look bad, even if Nanami had gotten on the orange head about it, Shou turned and addressed the girls who had announced themselves and B class idols.
"Honorifics are something from Japanese culture." He told them, hoping they would not ask about the 'no Kimi' thing. But of course they did. "That's a suffix you use for someone who acts like a princess from ancient times." Shou explained, and while the girls surrounding him didn't seem to notice, Siren could tell he was not giving the whole explanation.
Now would not be a good time to ask him. She decided and walked out of the library. Going up two flights of stairs and making a left she ran into two of Shou's band mates. She wasn't familiar with either of them, having only had the occasion to converse with Shou and to some degree Ren but they seemed to recognize her.
"Oh, Siren right?" The one with bright red hair asked with a grin.
Unable to ignore him in the empty corridor she responded, "Yeah," not sure what else to say.
"Have you seen that idiot Shou?" The taller one, with midnight blue hair and eyes of a lighter shade inquired.
"Yeah, he's trapped in the library by three B class girls." Siren said in her usual monotone. "Hey," She called as they made to run to the rescue. "If you run in there you'll just get swamped too… don't you have his number or something?"
The red head blinked owlishly in surprise while the other brought his palm to his face like he should have thought of that. "Ittoki you do it." The midnight blue haired one said, "I don't trust myself to be pleasant."
'Ittoki' pulled out a smart phone and speed dialed the number four. It seemed to ring for a while before, "Shou I heard you're trapped," There was a pause and then, "Yeah we are on floor three. We'll be in room 312." With that he hung up and, grabbing Siren, ducked into the classroom next to them, which had a giant B engraved on the door.
Shou heard his phone go off and excused himself for a moment to answer, praying it would give him an excuse to get out of here. He had already packed up his laptop in a subtle hint that he had to leave, but the girls, which had magically multiplied until there were twice as many, didn't take the hint and kept talking. It would really be rude to get up and leave, and Saotome instilled in them that they had to treat their fans with respect, but this was getting ridiculous.
"One second ladies," he held up his finger and answered his phone with the other hand. "Hello…Ah, yes I was hoping we could work on that." Code words for, thank god you saved me. "Ok, I'll be right there." Hanging up, Shou turned in a full circle as he stood up and grabbed his laptop. "Sorry ladies, business came up."
The girls all groaned but let him through and he moved as fast as he could up the two flights of stairs to the third level and, at a run, barged into room 312. As he entered he heard Siren ask, sounding as if she had deliberately waited till he was close, "What does the honorific no Kimi mean?"
Shou stopped dead in his tracks, the door slamming behind him as he stood opening and closing his mouth like a fish. Tokiya turned to him with a glare while that enthusiastic idiot Ittoki took one look at his expression and laughed. "Oh, I am so telling Jinguji." He crowed.
"Oh come on it was a joke!" Shou shouted.
"What if those other girls look it up, do you want to cause problems for us, and Siren?" Tokiya demanded.
"I told them the first meaning… I doubt they will look it up after that." Shou countered.
"Even so." Tokiya pressed the issue.
"Is anyone going to enlighten me?" Siren asked, still waiting to be let in on the joke or dilemma, which ever this would be.
"Calling you Siren no Kimi," Shou explained when the other two men looked at him expectantly as if to say 'clean up your own mess.' "Would mean the whole princess thing I said earlier but if I were to write a letter to you, for example, and addressed it, Siren no Kimi, well its more something a lover would do."
Siren's mouth popped open in shock and she gracefully walked over and smacked him in the arm. "I just wanted to see how much you know about honorifics and the like." Shou complained, rubbing his arm where she hit him.
"Is it that unappealing?" Ittoki asked with a lopsided grin.
"It would look bad, someone like her dating someone like him." Tokiya said calmly.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Shou shouted, "You're just like Jinguji! There is nothing wrong with her."
Before the midnight haired idol could explain his reasoning Siren spoke up, "It's not what's wrong with me, it would be what is wrong with you." Her tone was as stoic as ever and Shou floundered at it.
"Hey if you're going to insult me at least sound like that's what you're doing!" He barked, angry. Tokiya sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose while Ittoki and Shou exchanged confused looks. "What!?"
"She's not saying it to insult you." Tokiya explained carefully. "Even if you two were interested in each other she couldn't, not when she wants a career in the entertainment industry." Shou stared at him blankly, causing the older teen to snap at him. "Have a bit of insight into your situation for once."
"As an idol prospect I can't be in a relationship with anyone famous. I even have to choose my friends carefully or I will get labeled. 'Oh, that's Shou of Starish's girlfriend' if you want to use that example. I would be famous for being with someone famous instead of for my talent." Siren explained slowly. "One of the many reasons I hesitate to think of you as a friend, though it doesn't help that you called me one in public, is because I am well aware of that avenue of fame. It's not one I want to walk."
"So it's not just the competition thing?" Shou asked sounding at least a little less confused.
"There are many reasons I should not be your friend." Siren informed him, the barest hint impatience in her voice at having to continue the explanation for so long. "I should get going. If anyone sees us in here it's going to be your reputations on the line."
And with that she walked out past a very crestfallen Shou and into the hallway, down two flights of stairs and out the door, heading towards the dormitories. A moment or two passed as Ittoki and Tokiya took in their band mates sad expression before deducing what was wrong the red head walked over and heartily clapped the shortest member on the back.
"Well," He announced cheerfully, "She said should not... not cannot." And then he walked out towards the separate dorm building that housed Starish and their composer, leaving Tokiya and Shou alone.
"Take my advice on this one." Tokiya eyed his band mate as if to gauge whether the young man would listen. "She has a lot of potential and you could seriously screw that up for her. So keep whatever emotions you have to yourself and let her get two feet solidly in our world before you start anything. It would be too much of a shame if she got famous only because she was close to you."
And then he too left, leaving Shou alone in the darkening classroom. What is Siren to me? He asked himself.
And as he stood there, the room going dark and the street lamps of the campus flickering on in rapid succession, Shou realized he didn't have an answer.
