Broken Fragments
Chapter 14: The Fallen Angel
Hiroto and Yuuhi stared at the traffic jam in front of them. The cars were immobile and their lights of red and orange seemed as if they were twinkling. They could hear the faint sounds of the cars' honks from the other side of their rolled-up windows.
"We won't make it in time! There's only one hour left!" Yuuhi panicked, almost pulling her hair.
Hiroto looked around for a parking spot that they could go to as soon as the cars start moving. When he found one, he was a little relieved, but unfortunately, the traffic was so horrible that the cars didn't move even just for a short distance.
"That's it!" Yuuhi exclaimed.
To Hiroto's surprise, Yuuhi unbuckled her seatbelt, pulled out a hat from her bag and put it on her head.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Hiroto panicked.
"I'm running! I can't just sit here and wait," Yuuhi said as she unlocked her door.
After Yuuhi got out of the car and shut her door, Hiroto hurriedly opened his window, but before he could even say something, Yuuhi yelled at him with full of determination.
"It's my debut today! I can't miss it," Yuuhi yelled.
She ran to the sidewalk while she held onto her purse. Hiroto couldn't stop her because the sparkle of determination in her eyes was stuck in Hiroto's mind. He hadn't seen such determination for a long time.
Meanwhile, backstage, the crew was panicking when they realized that there was only thirty minutes left before the concert and the debuting idol was nowhere to be found. Chairman Muranishi took a peek and saw the audience starting to increase. Seiji and Fubuki just finished with their make-up and were starting to warm up for they were the opening acts. Kumoi-san, who was now Fubuki's manager, talked to some of the crew members on what they would do if Yuuhi comes later.
"Where is that girl?" Kumoi-san panicked in her head while she remained as calm as the summer breeze outside.
Out of nowhere, Kumoi-san's phone started vibrating in her pocket, startling her only for a bit. When she saw the caller ID, she had already decided on what tone of voice she was going to use.
"Hiroto! Where are you? Where's Yuuhi? The show is starting soon!" Kumoi-san roared.
"We're on our way, but I'm stuck in traffic," Hiroto replied.
"What do you mean by 'I'm'?"
"I'm in the car. Yuuhi got out and started running to get there because the car wasn't moving because of traffic. I just found a shortcut with less traffic."
"Are you going to make it?"
"I hope so."
"Hurry up."
Kumoi-san hung up the phone, her head starting to ache in stress and deep worry. She walked to Fubuki to check up on her. She was all ready for her performance and so was Seiji. Even the crew and background dancers were all hyped up. Everyone was ready for the concert to start.
Before they even noticed it, time had quickly passed by and it was time for the concert to begin. Seiji had no choice but to go because the audience was starting to complain. As soon as the stage managers and the stereo operators gave their signal, Seiji quickly ran to the middle of the stage with a charming smile on his face, and the music started playing. All the girls, young or old, in the audience screamed to the top of their lungs to see the number one male idol in their country.
"Seiji! I love you!"
"Seiji-kun! Oh my gosh!"
Seiji sang his new hit song that was released two weeks ago. He already had a million copies of the CD sold only in the third day of its release. Seiji sang his heart out as he felt the happiness of seeing his fans' smiling faces. Their smiles always brought happiness to the idol's heart. After Seiji's song ended, everyone cheered for him as he took deep breaths before he greeted them.
"Good evening, everyone!" he shouted with a smile that extended from ear to ear.
"How's everyone doing?" he asked, pointing the microphone towards the crowd as if he was going to get an answer that would stand out.
He quickly caught his breath after the lively performance he just did.
"I'm glad…that you all came here…to support a new, upcoming idol from our company…again! I hope you all love her…but before she comes, please welcome," Seiji paused, the cheers still resonating.
"Fubuki Todou!"
The cheering got louder as the men joined in with the girls. After Seiji called yelled Fubuki's name in the microphone, he ran to the other side while Fubuki entered with her chic rocker outfit. Her hit song started playing as soon as she reached the center of the stage. She waved to her fans before the singing part of her song started.
"I'm here!"
The crew, including Kumoi-san, Chairman Muranishi, and Seiji, turned around to find Yuuhi drenching in sweat and her hair as messy as a bird's nest. They couldn't believe that the soon-to-debut idol looked like a tornado just passed by her.
"Hurry! Get her ready!" Kumoi-san rapidly ordered the make-up artists standing nearby.
The three ran to the dressing room to get Yuuhi ready.
"Seiji, do a duet with Fubuki," Kumoi-san ordered.
Seiji nodded and got ready to go back to the stage again. After Fubuki's song ended, Seiji gave her fans sometime to cheer her on before he returned onstage. After a short chat with hundreds of her fans, Seiji joined Fubuki on the stage and looked at her. Since they already planned what would happen if Yuuhi was later, they knew what to do. The song started playing and the two sang a duet that they worked on four months ago. The song was a total hit because the top male and female idol of the country was combined. Their duet stayed on top of the music ranking charts for two whole months. It was one of the best pairings the country has had in a while.
Hiroto looked at his watch as he drove through the shortcut he found as quickly as he could. He was already twenty minutes late.
"No! This can't be happening!" Hiroto panicked in his head.
When he finally reached the parking lot, he showed the security guard by the backstage entrance his ID and was let in. He quickly ran through the halls to find Yuuhi. He checked the dressing room and only found the clothes she wore before the concert started.
"She made it on time?" he asked himself, a flicker of hope lit up in his heart.
He ran to the backstage where he saw the crew, Kumoi-san, and Chairman Muranishi. When he looked to the other side before greeting the two other managers, he found Seiji and Fubuki taking their microphones off after their performance.
"Don't worry. We handled it. She's in the platform, now," Kumoi-san reassured when she noticed Hiroto standing behind her.
Hiroto looked at the stage from behind to see how the concert was going to go. He was excited for Yuuhi because he knew that she worked hard to finally debut as an idol. He was also excited because all the memories he had from when he debuted first were also coming back. Before Hiroto could start getting lost in his reminiscing of the past, the lights turned off to start the main performance.
When the bright, white lights turned back on, there was artificial smoke and fog on the stage. Then, the spotlight turned to the center of the stage as the music started playing and the platform began to rise.
"What the—" Hiroto thought, realizing something odd.
The music was different from what he heard when Yuuhi was practicing that night before she was confined in the hospital for two days. It wasn't the song she rehearsed earlier that day, too. It wasn't the cute, girly song that the debuting idol practiced. It was a completely different song with a mysterious, sinister mood into it.
"What's going on?" Hiroto asked himself, confused.
Only Hiroto was the one thinking about the odd song playing. Everyone else watched the show begin with no doubts or questions in their heads. Without brushing it off, Hiroto watched the concert as Yuuhi began to shine. The audience was captivated of what they were looking at that there were no noises made. They were amazed and wanted to cheer and applause, but something made them want to stay quiet and wait for the rest.
The fog cleared from where Yuuhi was, finally revealing her whole outfit. Not only did it shock the audience, but it shocked her manager, too. Yuuhi wore a black tight-fit, one-strapped dress that embraced her figure. She also wore stilettos with laces that entwined around her legs. Her eyes were stunning and ominous with the shade of grey and black eye shadow that blended in a smoke effect and the eyeliner made her look fierce and powerful. Her auburn hair was straight with no accessories attached. Around her neck was a silver necklace with a black diamond pendant. And on her back were black-feathered wings that made her seem like a fantasy.
Yuuhi's beautiful, mature, and provocative voice resonated in the arena as she started singing the song that, at last, cleared the jumbled up thoughts in Hiroto's head.
Open your shiny eyes in the silent night
fushigi na yoru maiorita
ashioto tatezu shinobiyoru
nayamashi ge na kuro neko no POOZU
mitsumenaide tsukamaenaide
mayoikonda BATAFURAI
jiyuu utau dare ni mo mienai hane
kakushiteru no anata no mune no oku
Black feathers flew everywhere as the song ended with Yuuhi's powerful voice successfully fascinating everyone. First, there was a silence that lingered for three seconds as if everyone was still trying to take in what just happened. Out of nowhere, the whole crowd cheered for the newly debuted idol, Yuuhi Tsubasa.
Yuuhi smiled as she heard the voices of people that surrounded her. Everyone in the company rejoiced for the success of her debut, but Hiroto seemed dumbfounded of what happened. He asked himself of what he just saw, his eyes still widened in shock.
"A…fallen angel?"
Author's notes:
The song used for Yuuhi's debut was 'Meikyuu Butterfly' by Nana Mizuki. This song was actually sung by Utau Hoshina from Shugo Chara, but since it had that "dark aura" kind-of feeling to it, I decided to use it for Yuuhi's debut. Disclaimer: I do not own any of Nana Mizuki's songs (obviously) or Utau Hoshina from Shugo Chara.
P.S. Sorry that it took forever to update this story. I've been busy with the semester exams lately and I've been sick. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Since semester exams are ending tomorrow, I'll try to update faster. Thanks, everyone, for your understanding. ^.^