23 / Stars and Revelations Part II

Inside a modest-looking apartment, Takeo Go lets out a loud sigh, a hand over his face, thoughts racing.

An hour ago, Takeo was looking forward to enjoying his day off. He had gone grocery shopping, bought himself some popcorn and some drinks even added a few DVDs for his growing collection. The man had planned to spend his day off watching television like the good old days. He had been preparing popcorn when he got the call.

The caller had introduced himself as Shinta Okoba.

Takeo was familiar with that name. Shinta Okoba was the author of that article, the one about Saga Rock, the one that introduced Takeo to Franchouchou and Six, the girl that looked so much like his dead daughter. He's calling Takeo to talk about Lily Hoshikawa.

At first, Takeo is confused.

Reporters stopped calling him a long time ago. Lily was dead. There was no story here. People had already forgotten about Lily, about her fame, about everything. Lily Hoshikawa was the girl that had died too young, too quickly. So, why would anyone want toー

Takeo's eyes had gone wide as saucers when another possibility occurred to him.

Okoba had a story, apparently, and Takeo feared it was about Masao.

Masao Go, his son. Masao Go, his daughter.

(Lily Hoshikawa, the girl, the star, the dead)

That had been a rather confusing time for Takeo, the day Masao had decided to grow his hair. Masao had told him that he didn't like short hair, he had decided to grow it long, like his mother's.

The change had been slow, almost frighteningly so. Masao had preferred skirts to shorts, pretty shirts instead of the bland t-shirts. Takeo had seen nothing wrong. Clothes were just clothes. Masao could wear whatever he wanted.

There was nothing wrong with Masao. Masao was still Masao.

And then Masao had asked his father to start calling him Lily.

That's when Takeo really took notice. He had not minded the change before but now, Takeo couldn't outright ignore it.

But Masao was happy and Takeo figured he might as well be.

He'll still call him Masao, though. And Masao had learned to accept that part of hiーher father. They still cared about each other. Takeo loved Masao and Lily, but he secretly loved his son more than he had ever loved his daughter.

It was painful to think about. Difficult to understand sometimes. And maybe Masao, unconsciously, understood that. Not many parents were like her Pappy. Not many parents would have loved her like her Pappy did.

Lily was still Masao and Masao was still Lily.

And they were happy.

But then, Lily Hoshikawa wanted to become a star and that's when everything had begun to truly collapse.

Takeo had never truly understood his daughter, not really. He had loved her, both as Masao and as Lily, but he had never truly understood her. And when she became famous, Takeo became blinded by her rising fame.

(Masao had finally become just a name and Lily had become a star)

Very few people had known about Masao; from a few close family members, to a few producers and assistants, to the doctor that performed the autopsy. Masao had been their secret.

Even after death, the public had never found out about Masao and now, here was this Shinta Okoba saying he wanted to talk to Takeo about Lily.

There was a part of him that wanted to crush the tiny phone in his hands, rage engulfing him but Takeo stopped himself. On one hand, there was a possibility that Okoba had found out from an industry insider and had called to confirm it or Okoba was calling for something else entirely. Or maybe he wants money to avoid that particular story from getting out like Takeo secretly suspects.

Okoba immediately asks to meet him.

Takeo hesitates at first.

He's not willing to give the man his address, so instead, he asks Okoba to meet him at a local park. The park is mostly empty in the afternoon and most people tend to avoid Takeo anyway due to his large size, so this works perfectly.

Okoba had hesitated at first but then had agreed and decided to meet him tomorrow at the park after getting the address. He leaves Takeo behind with "it's not what you think, Mr. Go," before hanging up.

Takeo sat down and began to think, thoughts racing, a hand over his face.

He hopes he doesn't regret his decision.

/…..

Takeo Go, Okoba realizes, is taller than he had expected.

Up close, Takeo seemed to tower the smallest tree. He also seems built like one, too. Muscles all over, tough-looking face and a scar decorating his left eye. He looks like a yakuza, here to hunt him down.

(and yet, Saki Nikaido kicked him into a stereo and knocked him out)

Takeo Go's face is cool and collected at least, Okoba hopes it is. The man has a look that could kill. Eyes have darkened considerably and he seems to be expelling smoke as he breathes in and out.

The reporter tries not to let his nerves take over like last time and offers Takeo Go a nod. Takeo returns it. Ah. The man's face has changed again. Okoba can see the softened expression turned less...uh, thuggish somehow.

They find a bench nearby, under a tree and sit down, Okoba on one side and Takeo and the other. The two men are almost shoulder to shoulder.

"Thank you for coming…" Okoba tells him and Takeo nods. The other man's not looking at him now. He's looking towards the park. There's very little about. It's safe to talk.

"You...you wanted to talk about Lily?" Takeo asks, slowly, putting a bit of emotion as he whispers Lily's name. Okoba nods.

"Yes...I was...wondering…" Okoba begins slowly, "If you were familiar with the idol group, Franchouchou?" That gets Takeo to react. His head raises up so high Okoba thinks it might float away. Takeo turns to stare at him, eyes wide. His thuggish face seems to have vanished.

"Ah...ah...yes, yes! I am."

"And you noticed the resemblance to your…?"

Takeo nods, a sad smile decorating his face. "Ah...yes...it's Six. She's...she's a cute kid." Okoba suspected as such. Like Aoi Mizuno, Takeo Go had seen the resemblance almost immediately. Of course, were Dr. Mizuno kept her distance, Mr. Go had actually managed to get close to his daughter only to be sent flying by Nikaido under the belief he wanted to hurt Lily. At least, that's what Okoba figured.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Okoba says, digging out his phone from his pocket and searching the picture he had saved inside. Takeo looks at him curiously before the reporter shows him the picture. Takeo's eyes widen again.

"Ah! What...what!?"

"This is a picture from a calendar Franchouchou released a few months ago," Okoba says. He offers Takeo the phone and the bigger man, so delicately, takes it from his hands. Takeo uses the touchscreen and expands the part of the picture that shows Six. There's a heart beating out of her chest. "I found it quite interesting and rather revealing."

"In...in what way?" Takeo asks him, unable to take his eyes off of the picture.

"Lily Hoshikawa died of a heart attack, did she not?" Takeo nods, eyes shining with unshed tears. "Six's heart looks like it exploded out of her chest in this picture, huh?" The big man smiles sadly. "It's not just...Six's heart, however...it's all of these girls…" Okoba took out a few photos from his pocket; the poor photos were all wrinkled. They were pictures of Ai Mizuno and Junko Konno when alive. He showed the pictures to Takeo. He blinked. "These two are Ai Mizuno, left, Junko Konno right," he pointed first at Ai then at Junko. "Both of these girls are dead."

"I...I am sorry...what?" Takeo just stares at him, unable to believe what he just heard. But Okoba doesn't let him recover, he continues on as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Mizuno died about ten years ago, going to eleven...Konno died in the early 80s...and Three and Four look a lot like them…" Takeo turned to stare at the phone and used his finger to move the picture around, his eyes settled on the whole group. Four had Three's head in her hands while Five had One's. Two looked like she was trying not to laugh as One's body crossed her arms over her chest and Zero looked a bit bored. "One, Two and Five have the same problem." Okoba took out three more pictures, one was a mugshot, one showed a smiling girl and the last one seemed to be of a painting. Takeo noticed the resemblance immediately, eyes scanning the new pictures before turning to the people in the phone. "Sakura Minamoto, Saki Nikaido, Yugiri...all deceased."

Okoba puts the pictures back into his pocket and nods. "Still can't find anything on Zero...but I'm going to guess that if I were to look around hard enough I would find a similar looking girl...dead as well…"

Takeo turned to face the man, a bit pale. "What...what are you going one with this…?"

The reporter turned to face him and with a straight face said, "I believe...that someone resurrected your daughter from the dead...Six isn't a girl that looks like your daughter...she is your daughter."

Takeo reacts by dropping Okoba's phone.

Aoi tried to keep herself as far as possible.

Franchouhou were already gathered at the stage, Three and the rest of the girls waving at their fans as the crowd cheered.

The doctor had arrived a little after six, the show had started at five o'clock. From what Aoi could gather from the crowd, Franchouchou had surprised them with a new song. It was an upbeat tune with Two and Six at the center. The girls were already getting ready to sing a few of their known songs and after that was over and done, were going to be taking pictures with fans and sell some merchandise.

Aoi wasn't planning to stay for long; she was planning to see the girls sing one song and then, she'll know if coming here had been worth it.

She took a deep breath.

Franchouchou got into their places with Three and Four at the center. And then, the music began.

Minutes later, Aoi would rush out of the room, unable to see Three, no, Ai, finish her song.

Aoi let out a few tears as she left.

The doctor had come here to confirm that everything she had found about yesterday had been nothing but a trick, that her eyes were seeing wrong and that Okoba was a mad bastard. But no, being here, almost face to face with Ai and the rest of those girls, Aoi wanted to cry out, wanted to break something.

Ai was there, she was dancing, she was singing, she was...alive? But how? How was that even possible!?

Aoi had heard Three's voice, had seen her dancing with confidence, had seen her...how!? How!? How was Ai alive again!? What was going on!?

The doctor still had Okoba's card but she couldn't call him now, not yet, anyway. She needed to compose herself. A part of her still wanted to believe that this was not happening but now Aoi couldn't run anymore.

(the dead were coming back to life)

And Aoi wouldn't run away anymore.

Takeo looks at Okoba as if he were crazy but Okoba just stares back, determined, eyes forward.

"Wh-what are you on about!? That'sー"

"Impossible?" Okoba finished. "I thought the same thing about two weeks ago, too...I thought, hey, maybe these girls just looked like the dead...it all seemed to be a weird coincidence." The reporter shook his head. "Two weeks ago, one of the girls was stabbed."

Takeo got up from the bench. "WHAT!?"

Okoba ignored Takeo's outburst, continuing the story as if it were no big deal. "One...was stabbed...right in her chest." Okoba tapped his chest with a finger. "There was no blood. Nothing." The man suddenly sighed, as if tired. "That's how I came to that conclusion...that those girls...were dead...all of them…" He stared at the big man, whose eyes were wide, face disbelieving. "There's a blog on the internet about Frnachouchou's first couple of shows. They had a zombie theme going on, apparently…" Okoba chuckled but then stopped and sighed again. "You can check the internet if you want...those names I told you. All dead. Even that picture I showed you," Okoba leaned down and picked up his phone, showing the calendar picture once more. "It seems a little too coincidental that all these girls, all sharing faces of the dead, have similar causes of dead in this picture…don't you think?"

Takeo shook his head. "You're mad."

"Maybe," Okoba shrugged. "But you saw the resemblance, too...didn't you?" Takeo turned his head away. "I saw you. In one of their shows. You disobeyed the rules and Nikaido, or as she calls herself, Two, kicked you." The big man flinched. "How do you explain that?"

"I was being an idiot…" Takeo says but it's obvious there's something more. "I...I...Masao…Lily…" Okoba raised an eyebrow at the unknown name but said nothing as Takeo sat on the bench again, a big hand over his face. "Oh...god...how...how…" The tears just slip from his fingers.

Okoba sits with him and waits until Takeo can't cry no more.

"According to officials, the bear that had been terrorizing the area near Kagamiya has disappeared. For days now, officials have tried to locate the so-called 'Monster bear' that seems to have made it's home near Kagamiya and the pine forest of Nijinomatsubara…"

"Evidence around the area suggests that an unknown party had been hunting the bear as well as officials have found tracks belonging to dogs, some tire tracks, and what seems to be the remains of a cage...more details will be provided as this story develops…"