A/N: These chapters are a little on the shorter side but bear with me. They'll get longer soon, I promise. Anyways, reviews would be great
DISCLAIMER: I do not, nor do I pretend to, own Uta no Prince-sama or any of its characters. I also do not own any of the song lyrics, they belong to Paramore. I only own my OCs.
Chapter 2: Seeing Purple
Silver eyes darted back and forth, following the pictures on the large, flat screen television. It was some sort of odd-looking superhero fighting a bad guy. He had no idea what he was watching, all he knew was that being at work with his dad was always boring and he always ended up watching the same weird show. "What even is this?"
"It's Anpanman. It's really dumb. My mom puts it on for my little brother and sister every morning."
Ranmaru's gaze flickered to the source of the voice; a girl maybe a year his junior, so ten to his eleven, with big grey eyes and teal hair that was sectioned into two pigtails. Looking back at the TV, the boy frowned. "Anpanman? Sounds stupid."
She nodded and took the liberty of plopping herself on the couch, right next to him. She watched as he started flipping through the channels, trying to find something that wasn't dumb to him, and she giggled quietly. "I'm Keala, by the way. What's your name?"
"Ranmaru Kurosaki."
She smiled softly and quickly snatched the remote from his hands. The action was followed by a loud cry of protest from the older child until Keala had managed to press a few buttons and video footage of a Japanese band showed up on screen. "I don't know what you like to watch but this is what I change it to after my mom leaves. Adults usually don't let kids watch this but you're the boss's son so I figure it doesn't matter what you watch."
Ranmaru blinked a couple times and then stared in awe at the people on the screen. Eyeing the men playing electric guitar and bass, he didn't even realize he had spoken. "Woah…awesome."
Grey eyes stared at the screen as well, a bright smile lighting up her face. Lifting up a finger to point at the man on the left of the screen, she waited a few seconds for Ranmaru's gaze to follow. "That's a 1959 American Vintage Fender Stratocaster. It's a reissue but the neck's made with real maple and rosewood and it sounds amazing."
Silver eyes widened like saucers and he found himself staring in shock at the girl. At first she had been a nuisance and he had thought she'd talk about stupid girly things like ponies or unicorns, but now he found himself thoroughly enjoying her company. "Hey, Keala. Do you play?"
The sound of her own name caught the girl's attention and she laughed before nodding. "Yep! I usually only play acoustic but someday…someday I'm gonna play a guitar as amazing as that. I bet the pi-"
"Keala, let's go."
The sound of a woman's voice caused the two kids to turn their heads. Judging solely on the woman's hair, a deep turquoise, Ranmaru gathered that this was the mother Keala had been talking about. She didn't seem nearly as pleasant as his own; in fact, she didn't look pleasant at all. He wanted to say something but was immediately silenced by a shake of his father's head. "Ranmaru, what are you watching? Is this one of those music channels? There's half-naked men on that screen, you shouldn't be watching that arou-"
"Actually, Kurosaki-san, I changed it. I'm sorry."
Everyone glanced at Keala and the two males watched as she was pulled off the couch by her mother and scolded, "Keala Yamanaka, what did I tell you about watching that crap? Ugh, remind me to tell your father to help me figure out that parental control thing on our TV. So sorry about this, Kurosaki-san, I'll get her out of your hair now. Keep in mind what we discussed. I'll see you again on Thursday?"
He nodded, a frown in his slightly wrinkled features, and Ranmaru watched as Keala was dragged out the door, however, not before waving at him with a smile on her face, "Bye, Ranmaru! See you Thursday!"
He nodded, the same way his father had moments earlier, and for some odd reason found himself actually excited for Thursday. Maybe they could talk about the man playing the bass when she came back.
Silver eyes snapping open, Ranmaru sat up in his bed and rubbed his face with his hands. He'd been having weird dreams since the meeting on Monday but they had previously just been glimpses of different memories, nothing fully concrete like just now. He hadn't recognized her that day but looking back on it she looked the same. Albeit the obvious things had changed, like her features were more defined rather than rounded out like a child's and she was a lot taller, same as he, but she still had the same obsession with guitar. She still had that hair, too. Though it was dyed at the ends now, it was still that same unique shade of turquoise.
He had liked her back then, as a friend of course, but things were drastically different now. His father's company had gone bankrupt ten years back thanks to a colleague, and that colleague had been none other than a stoic woman by the name of Aolani Yamanaka. The woman native of Hawaii who had come to Japan to pursue a career in modeling and was also well-adept in finance. Keala's mother.
Jaw clenching, Ranmaru jumped out of bed and walked into the bathroom to turn on his shower. He stripped himself of his pajamas and stepped under the scalding hot current of water. Maybe the mixture of heat and steam would get his mind off of the entire situation. Maybe not. "It's been ten years. Ten years, and she looks just like her bitch of a mother. Tch."
The question of importance, though, was whether to go to his mother or to Keala herself. He didn't particularly want to bring up the issue to his mother because, no matter how hard she tried to cover it up, she was still having a hard time carrying everything on her shoulders. Sure, Ranmaru tried his best to pay the debt off but that fact remained that the debt was large. No. It was massive. He'd be lucky if he could pay it off by the time he had turned eighty. Getting back on track, the silver-haired idol pondered the latter option. Sure, knowing what he knew now it wasn't optimal to speak with Keala but it'd be a hell of a lot easier.
Rinsing the shampoo from his hair, he turned the shower off and grabbed a towel. It took him a grand total of fifteen minutes to get ready and he grabbed his keys before slamming the door to his apartment shut. Shockingly, he didn't even realize that putting that lone purple contact in had slipped his mind completely.
"No, Mai, I don't want a steam vac. Will you please get back on track and stop buying random ass things. You have a serious problem."
"Aww, but Kay do-"
"No."
"Are yo-"
"Yes, I'm sure. No steam vac. Seriously, Mai, focus."
"Okay, okay! So you said you needed new strings for your guitar and a new set of drumsticks? That's it?"
"Yeah, that's it. Oh, and don't forget you need that thing for your keyboard."
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that!"
"And can you pick up lunch on your way back? I'm dying of starvation."
"Is pizza good?"
"Pizza is perfect. Thanks, Mai."
"No problem! I'll see you in thirty."
Click.
Rubbing her forehead in circular motions, Keala twirled around in her chair in an attempt at figuring out how to configure the CD in her hands. It was the one song Starish had already recorded and she needed it to be mixed to perfection when they came back the next week. She was so caught up in her thoughts that the producer barely registered the sound of shoes tapping loudly against the floor until a pair of small arms wrapped around her torso. "Keala-chan!"
Grey eyes flickering to meet silver, said woman smiled brightly at the twelve year old. "Hey there, Emi. What's up?"
"Mom said we needed to stop by. Can I play with the instruments? Please?"
Letting out a light laugh, Keala nodded, "Go for it, kiddo. Just don't break anything."
She watched as the girl darted towards the bass, sitting down beside it with eyes sparkling. "You know Ranmaru-onii has one of these, too. He plays it all the time when he comes to the house and I think he's in love with it 'cause he won't let anyone touch it. I don't mind though. He's really, really good!"
"Emi, be careful with Yamanaka-san's equipment. It's very fragile."
Keala registered the voice immediately, gaze drifting towards the older woman. Silver hair, just like her kids, but with deep set blue eyes instead of the silver that Ranmaru had. "Morning, Kurosaki-san."
The woman gave Keala a look of irritation and shook her head slowly. "How many times do I have to tell you? Call me Kimiko. You're going to start getting on my nerves, Keala."
Letting out an airy laugh, the teal-haired woman just shrugged uncaringly. Then, taking an envelope out of her purse, she held it out. "I'm not gonna stop calling you Kurosaki-san. But anyways I don't think you're here to scold me. That check is for 200,000 Yen, just like usual."
Gently taking the check, Kimiko put it into her purse quickly. Just in time to hear Emi exclaim a very familiar name. "Ranmaru-onii!"
Both women glanced toward the door, eyes wide in shock at the sight of a very peeved rocker. He took a glance at Emi, then Keala, and finally his mother. "Mom, what's going on here? Why the hell are you talking to," he glanced at Keala once more, "that."
The grey-eyed woman scoffed, "Wow and here I thought you were somewhat professional. She's just visiting."
Ranmaru watched as his mother grabbed his younger sister and headed for the door. "Ranmaru, be nice to Yamanaka-san. She hasn't done anything wrong." Glancing back at Keala, she gave an apologetic smile and walked out the door.
"So, first your mother and now you? I thought maybe you'd end up being a halfway decent person. Turns out, you're just like her."
At the insult, the woman seethed with anger. Eyes narrowed, she stood up and walked towards the equally angry man. "Don't you dare compare me to her. I am nothing like my mother."
"Tch."
"What the hell do you want anyway, Ranmaru?"
"Just wanted to make sure it was you. Now that I know for sure you are who I thought, I can finally tell you to fuck off. Leave my family alone."
"I didn't do anything to you so quit being a douche. Get out of my office."
"With pleasure."
And with that, he turned on his heels and began walking to the door, stopping briefly when she spoke once more. "By the way, your face looks much less hideous without that stupid contact."
"Shut the hell up."
It was almost upsetting how different they both had become compared to when they were kids. However, no matter how much they had changed, they were still extremely similar. Both were idols. Both had goals. Both hadn't forgotten their history. And both were trying desperately to clean up a parent's mess.
The truth never set me free
The truth never set me free
The truth never set me free
So, I'll do it myself.