Shuffling down several city blocks and aimlessly searching for an escape had led the young female to a local tavern that was pretty notorious for its karaoke and musical acts. Admittingly, Haruka enjoyed music, which could have been influenced by living with Satoshi, but maybe all of the things he had done hadn't all been works of evil.

Contently, Haruka settled in a seat right of the small stage, away from the bar and any shady characters. Yes, now she could think about a plan to surpass Satoshi within a year and prove her worth—or so she hoped. Tilting her head, she gently rested it on her palm in a moody thinking position.

Well, there were a couple things about the situation. First off, Satoshi is a musician of the Pop world, and the Pop world included musicians, actors, and models. Three open doors already. Immediately, Haruka mentally closed the door to the model world. There was no way; she was pretty, admittingly, but 'attractive' was beyond her reach. Currently, a musician was a possibility, but that would mean she would have to compete with Satoshi, and running into him was not something that she wanted to make a habit of. Also, her musical knowledge and experience wasn't very… vast, she admitted.

'Acting, hm?' Haruka pondered momentarily. The girl had to admit that she didn't have a lot of experience with acting either. She had never acted in anything besides school plays and that-

"Excuse me. Can I sit here, miss?" A voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Hm?" Haruka hummed, sitting up straight abruptly and looking around in a confused manner before catching the gaze of a man that look a tad older than herself.

"Miss?" he questioned, concern beginning to sink into his expression. For a moment, Haruka did not reply, transfixed by the amber eyes of this stranger.
Haruka's eyes then widened. "Oh, yes. Please do," she motioned to a seat across from her.

"Thank you," he replied with a polite smile.

'Crap. This guy probably thinks I'm weird for staring' Haruka fretted mentally. Still, she had to admit that the man before her was remotely attractive. Slightly shaggy, but well-kept golden locks framed a mature, but handsome face. Long lashes sheltered dark brown, chocolate-colored eyes and a gentle yet professional smile topped off his appearance.

Breaking away from the stranger's appearance, a sweet melody lulled Haruka's attention to the stage. Leaning forward, she gazed upon a girl also slightly older than herself with ginger hair that brushed at her shoulder and turquoise eyes that shimmered like the sea and danced with her gentle voice.

"Uwa!" Haruka gasped, amazed by the twining of the melody and the girl's voice.

"Miss-" the stranger began.

"Haruka," she corrected.

"Haruka-san, have you never heard Kasumi-san sing before?" he asked, the polite smile resurfacing.
Haruka innocently shook her head and the man chuckled.

"She's quite good, isn't she?" he questioned, watching the singer for a moment. Twinge. Something about the name Kasumi brought a sensation of remembering something—something Satoshi-related. Yet again, she wanted to smack all thoughts of Satoshi from her brain, but this might have relevance.
'Kasumi… Kasumi… Oh! Kasumi was an ex-girlfriend of Satoshi's in the Tokyo district. Shuu said something about her earlier, now didn't he?'

Admittingly, Haruka had been jealous of Kasumi, because Satoshi had never held any interest in his servant that cared for him endlessly.
'No, no. This is no time for such stupid thoughts,' Haruka reminded herself.

"Haruka-san, did you come here to listen to Kasumi-san?" the boy inquired. Haruka shook her head.
Suddenly, a smile played at his lips—happy or devious; she couldn't tell due to its briefness.

"Then perhaps you are here to sing?" he asked, the polite smile returning.

"Well, I didn't originally intend to, but-" the brunette began to nervously explain. She had never really liked extra-attention, so the thought of karaoking in front of an entire group of people sort of—well—terrified her.

"Sing for me, then. I'd like to hear," the stranger surprised her. Behind that polite smile lay something else—Haruka could begin to see it now.

"I'm not one for singing, sir."

"Jun," he corrected, as she had done previously.

"Jun-san, I can't. Really." She pleaded.

Jun frowned, running a hand through his head. He looked troubled, and Haruka admitted to feeling bad about causing him trouble.
Suddenly, as if a switch had been flipped, a new glint shone in the boy's dark orbs. Within a heart beat, he was at her side, arm slipping around her waist with a player's smile on his face.

"Haruka-chan, let's go somewhere and have some real fun. Ne?"
A blush engulfed her face as she pushed his hand away. "N-No!"

"Then sing for me. Please," he repeated.
'This man is insane, but it's between singing for him and him trying to pull something on me.'

"A-Alright!" Haruka stammered, patience wearing thin. Cautiously, she rose from her seat and slinked towards the stage. Her fears were about to come true and she couldn't do anything in her own defense.

'Well… At least most of the audience will be drunk when hearing me. Maybe Jun-san is intoxicated and is a violent and flirtatious drunk," she tried reassuring herself.

Shyly, she inched across the stage, her heart in her throat and whispered something to the pianist before taking the microphone in her hand—hands that were shaking at this point. Piano entry and 3, 2, 1. She was in, her voice shaking at first. So many people listening to her at once—she didn't want it.

Tightly, she shut her eyes and gripped the microphone tighter, taking in several shallow breaths and trying to smooth her voice out. Gradually, her voice was no longer shaking and the piano sung sweetly in her head—echoing its mysterious sound and soon she was captivated by it, singing in unison with its own voice. Now, she was no longer on a stage singing to a bunch of drunken strangers, but at the beach, watching the sunset as dusk invaded the sky—new and gradual. But then the sky sharply faded as the song ceased.

Hesitantly, Haruka opened her cerulean eyes to gaze upon the audience. Silence fell over the tavern as people froze where they stood. Haruka swallowed hard.

'Was I that bad? I knew I shouldn't have gotten up there!'
But with that thought, she suddenly became aware of soft clapping in the back of the room. Haruka turned her attention to the noise, and soon, more and more clapping and cheers. It was over-whelming to listen to it all. Embarrassed, Haruka placed the microphone back on the stand and made a break for her seat. To her surprise, Jun was cheering and clapping as well.

"Jun-san?"

"Not bad, Haruka-chan," he nodded.

"My singing was that good?" the girl whispered, bewildered at the possibility of being talented.

"Well, it wasn't bad, but your singing wasn't what was so marvelous," Jun laughed, a sudden aura of playful sarcasm reflecting off of him.

"Wha?"

"Your stage presence. You were absolutely alive up there, no matter what your voice sounded like," the blonde continued, seemingly excited.

"Wait. What? What are you talking about, Jun-san?" Haruka questioned, more confused the further he explained.

Reaching into his right coat pocket, Jun withdrew a small piece of paper and offered it towards Haruka—a business card.

"Minami Jun, employed with Todoke agency. I'm a talent scout and manager, at your service!" the blonde chuckled.

Haruka took a step back. It was as if she entered a world in which nothing made sense.

"T-Talent Scout?" she stammered.

"That's right. I was searching for new talents for my agency, and you, my dear, may be what we're looking for."

Haruka gripped the business card tighter. No—this was too weird to be true.

Lupeh: Had to age Jun a little for this chapter. It seems a little out of character for him, but let's just say that Jun matured as he got older and later was working alongside entertainers. And.. well... he'll loosen up a little the further this goes. I'm happy to say that this chapter is finished, even though there was some awkward and rougher spots in here. Still-- it got the ball rolling. I appologize for the length and cannot wait to properly introduce Shuu as an actor-- Hayate Shuuka! Please, please, PLEASE keep reading on.

Also, so notations on the suffixes in chapters. First chapter with Satoshi, he refered to Haruka as 'Haru-kun'. In that case, he was basically trying to insult her by calling her a man. Haruka pretty much dropped the suffix with Satoshi as he did with her, because they had been very close.

A note about the suffixes in the chapter with the phone call to Shuu-- notice, Shuu does use suffixes, but he doesn't use one with Haruka. Why? A, because they are childhood friends and very close, and B, it's a hint at how he feels towards her. Unfortunately, Haruka is oblivious to Shuu's feelings and continues to call him 'Shuu-kun' even though she'll drop suffixes altogether when she's very serious.

Now, in the third chapter, it's a little odd that Haruka introduced herself by her first name alone, so to keep the formality, Jun added '-san' instead of 'chan' to her firstname. Because Jun is older than Haruka, she would not use the suffix '-kun' unless they had grown-up together. Towards the end, I stuck in a fake surname for Jun, because I don't remember their surnames currently, but I think it's settled that they are "Haruka-san" and "Jun-san" for now.
For the part in which Jun was flirting with Haruka, he used '-chan' to make her nervous or embarrassed so he could manipulate her to sing. Afterwards, he used '-chan' again, but it was a cute-teasing way.

Well, I hope that clears up any confusion with all of the names, surnames and suffixes. Remember that suffixes should be noted, because the entire phrase could be changed from a statement to an insult if the improper suffix is used! Thank you!

Please continue to Read and Review!