Broken Fragments
Chapter 16: Magazine Cover
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Yuuhi slowly opened her eyes to see the bright light from her balcony. The curtain that covered the sliding window was glowing from the sunlight outside. Yuuhi looked at the alarm clock on her nightstand, her eyes squinted, to see 9:43 am as the time. She remembered how Kumoi-san told all of them that they didn't need to come early, so Yuuhi was confused on why she would set up her own alarm clock to wake up early. She hit the snooze button and went back to sleep, her hand still on the alarm clock.
Seconds later, she heard the same beep that woke her up again. Yuuhi realized that it wasn't the alarm clock that was beeping. If it was the alarm clock, it would've stopped beeping when she hit the snooze button again. It was actually her apartment's doorbell. Groggily, Yuuhi got up to the living room and opened the door.
It was her manager, Hiroto Kazama.
"What took you so lo—"
Hiroto was interrupted of what he was saying when he looked at Yuuhi from top to bottom, quickly looking back up after scanning her whole body.
Yuuhi, whose eyes were partially closed from being too sleepy, noticed that Hiroto's eyes were widened in surprise while his face was blushing. Seconds after she noticed his flushed face, he turned around as quick as he could.
"W-w-will you p-put…s-something on!" he yelled.
Yuuhi's eyes also grew when she realized something as she looked down. She was wearing nothing, but her pink, lacey bra and white shorts that covered one-fourth of her thighs. With it was her messy, yet sexy, messed-up, auburn, shoulder-length hair. Most of her body was bare, making her feel cool, except for her warm, blushing cheeks.
Turning red, she shut the door and screamed from the other side, shocking Hiroto with her loud, high voice and the breeze from when she shut the door. Yuuhi quickly put on her pink silk bathrobe to not make Hiroto wait for her any longer. She quickly ran back to the door and took a deep breath.
"C-come in," she said, her face still blushing as she opened the door for her manager.
Hiroto hesitated to go in, but since he was getting tired of waiting outside for Yuuhi to open the door, he just went in without looking at her in the eyes. Afraid to meet her gaze, he kept his eyes on the floor.
"I b-brought your breakfast," Hiroto said, pushing the plastic to Yuuhi while he hid his still-blushing face.
"Thanks," Yuuhi casually said.
Hearing her laid-back tone of voice, Hiroto looked up to see that she was back to her usual self in no time. Realizing that she was wearing a bathrobe, Hiroto let go of what he remembered from earlier. He pulled one of the chairs and sat down in the dining room while Yuuhi heated up the food. Hiroto waited for Yuuhi to say something again to avoid saying something wrong, but she kept quiet.
"Thanks for the meal," Yuuhi said as she laid the two plates with the heated food for the both of them.
They ate breakfast without looking at each other or saying anything. They kept their eyes on their food, not even trying to look at other things or even at each other. Yuuhi placed her chopsticks down after finishing her food, still looking down on the empty plate.
"Why did you come?"
Hiroto looked at Yuuhi, shocked that she asked him a question. He stopped himself from picking up the last bite of food from the plate to bravely and confidently answer her question.
"It's going to be busy from now on," he said, holding the last bite with his chopsticks.
"We need to be there all the time."
Hiroto opened his mouth and placed the last bite in his mouth, finishing his breakfast. He got up, took the plate, and walked to the sink to wash it. He turned on the sink and felt its warmth, when suddenly two hands came from behind and joined him in washing the dishes.
"I'll do it," Yuuhi said, nudging him a little with her elbow.
Surprised that she did something unexpectedly nice to him, Hiroto moved aside, his face unknowingly red.
"Thanks."
"Yuuhi! Yuuhi-chan! Yuuhi!"
Paparazzi were already outside the company building, ready to see the idol without her 'fallen angel' wings and the tight, black dress. Unfortunately for them, Hiroto drove Yuuhi to the straight inside the company's private parking underground with his car. They quickly took the elevator to the 5th floor where Hiroto's office was located to avoid any disguised paparazzi inside the building's lobby. When Yuuhi looked down from the window, she saw the big crowd of reporters and photographers that wanted to see her, her eyes quickly widened in shock.
"I guess we're going to have a meet-and-greet event soon, huh," Hiroto smiled, also looking down.
Yuuhi walked away from him to the couch, making Hiroto think that he said something wrong. Hiroto sat on his chair behind the desk after watching Yuuhi sit down on the couch to relax, her legs and arms crossed.
"So what's my first work for today?" Yuuhi asked, her eyes closed.
"Hmm," Hiroto said, scanning through the schedule on his computer.
"Well, since you needed to take a little break from the concert yesterday…I didn't schedule anything for you until tomorrow. Tomorrow, you have a photo shoot with ItGirl Magazine at 9 am; another photo shoot with Beauty Magazine at 12; and a commercial filming with Couture Make-up brands at 3," Hiroto described the schedule he was scrolling through.
"I see," she replied.
Silence lingered in the room with only the sound of the AC working audible. Yuuhi sat on the couch, her eyes still closed as she appreciated the quiet while Hiroto typed his replies for some requests from other companies about Yuuhi. Suddenly, the silence was broken when the knocks on the door were heard. Yuuhi opened her eyes and looked at the door, waiting for it to open. Since Hiroto didn't have to do anything, he walked up and opened the door himself.
"Hiro-nii-chan!"
Kirika threw herself onto Hiroto's arms as soon as he squatted down when he saw her tiny stature. She had her usual pigtails on and wore a cute skort. He picked her up and raised her up in the air, making her giggle in excitement.
"How have you been, Kirika?" Hiroto smiled.
"Yay! I'm so high up!" Kirika continued giggling, her arms spread out in happiness.
The two continued giggling and laughing at the presence of each other. Hiroto hadn't seen the little girl in a while since he had to work on Yuuhi's debut. He admitted to himself that seeing Kirika relieved some stress off of him.
"I'm going to the lounge. It's too noisy in here," Yuuhi interrupted as she got up to leave.
Yuuhi closed the door, leaving Hiroto and Kirika struck with silence from her cold personality. All they heard after the door was shut was Yuuhi's heels clacking on the tiled floor. When the sound fainted, Hiroto and Kirika looked at each other and tried to hold their giggles in, but couldn't.
"So what brings you here, Kirika?" Hiroto asked, returning to his desk to finish his remaining emails.
Kirika climbed on the couch and sat where Yuuhi was, her feet not touching the floor. She took out the teddy bear she had from her backpack and played with it while answering Hiroto's questions.
"I just wanted to visit Hiro-nii-chan," Kirika cutely replied, moving the teddy bear's arms as if it was the one talking.
Hiroto smiled when she looked at Kirika, whose red-apple cheeks were so chubby and adorable. Her charming name that came from Kirari's name suited her cheerful attitude. Hiroto and everyone else could already tell that she was going to grow up to be like Kirari. She'd be sweet, thoughtful, and compassionate to others. However, they wished she wouldn't get sick like how Kirari did.
"Wow!" Kirika exclaimed, interrupting Hiroto's thought.
"What is it, Kirika?" Hiroto asked, his eyes still fixated on the monitor's screen.
"Kira-nee-chan and Yuuhi-nee-chan are so pretty!"
Hiroto stopped typing, his eyes widened and his heart beating fast, when he heard Kirika say 'Kira-nee-chan'. He got up and walked to Kirika, where he found her holding a magazine. The magazine came from under the glass coffee table because Hiroto didn't notice it earlier.
Without asking for permission, Hiroto grabbed the magazine from the little girl, shocking her a bit. She looked up at Hiroto, whose eyes were hidden under his bangs, to see that his hand was shaking as he looked at the magazine. It was the first time Kirika had seen such a terrified sight of Hiroto that it scared and worried her enough to carve a frown on her face.
"No," Hiroto quietly muttered to himself when he looked at the cover.
Yuuhi's 'fallen angel' face from her debut concert was plastered on the recent magazine's cover page along with 'hers'. Yuuhi looked astonishingly sinister and mysterious in the picture, especially since the black feathers from her wings were also visible. The picture was a head-to-waist shot, even including the wings on her back. Yuuhi had an evil smile on her face, matching the sexy, black eye-lined, blue eyes that grabbed everyone's attentions during that night of her concert. Yuuhi looked like a true fallen angel.
The picture beside Yuuhi's was, of course, none other than the late Kirari's.
Kirari's picture was Yuuhi's opposite. In Kirari's picture, she wore a white, ruffled, A-line dress with a simple, silver necklace, her hair wavy, and her lips light red. In her picture, she wore an innocent smile on her face because it was just a stolen shot. Joy was easily seen from her kind, blue eyes. Kirari, Yuuhi's opposite, was like a pure angel from heaven.
The pictures weren't the only thing that shocked Hiroto. The magazine, called Sensation, was one of the most-read and popular magazines in the country. Sensation was well-known for their amazing magazine covers, which showed in the recently-published issue. The cover matched the pictures of Yuuhi and Kirari, obviously depicting that the story was going to be popular. The magazine cover had a gradient, black-to-white background with feathers of black and white that seemed to clash on top of the gradient layer. Sensation made it seem as if Yuuhi and Kirari were complete opposites. Not only was the cover eye-catching, but the title for the main story, which included Yuuhi, was a total hook, too.
"Yuuhi Tsubasa: Kirari Tsukishima's resurrection as a fallen angel!" was the magazine's title.
Since the famous magazine had already published the magazine, Hiroto realized that everyone in the country probably already read the story. He dropped the magazine and quickly ran out of his office when Yuuhi came to mind.
He realized that Yuuhi didn't leave his office because it was loud, according to what she said earlier. Yuuhi had been in training to become an idol for a while, even seeing Kirika more than a few times, so she would've already been used to her presence. The true reason as to why she left was because she noticed the magazine from under the transparent, glass table. Hiroto became worried, thinking about what Yuuhi would've felt when she saw the magazine.
"Yuuhi!" he yelled, looking around for her.
"The lounge," he thought when he remembered what she said.
Unfortunately, when he arrived there, Yuuhi was standing in front of the TV, watching the celebrity news that also did a story on the magazine's recent issue.
"Is the newly-debuted idol, Yuuhi Tsubasa, really who she is? Or is there something that the Muranishi Entertainment Company keeping from everyone about the late idol, Kirari Tsukishima? Are they the same person?" the newscaster asked, intriguing the viewers.
Hiroto's face was painted with sadness when he watched the news as he tried to think of how it would feel to be in Yuuhi's place. Suddenly, Yuuhi turned off the TV and placed the remote on the coffee table. Then, she walked to the large, windows and looked outside, the sun shining on her face. Hiroto watched her every move, silence lingering in the room. He couldn't say anything because his throat felt dry in sadness and worry.
Hiroto was about to take a step to walk towards her when suddenly, she turned around with her blue eyes gazing at Hiroto's.
"I told you," she said, pausing.
"I'm not changing."