Broken Fragments
Chapter 17: Clearing the Confusion
"Just tell me the truth!" Hiroto exclaimed.
"Just…who are you?"
Yuuhi looked at Hiroto as if she was going to hurt him, but Hiroto sensed something in her eyes that told him she was in pain. Hiroto knew that Yuuhi had always wanted to be an idol, but he also knew that Yuuhi didn't want everything to turn out this way. She had just debuted yesterday, but she's already getting tons of unwanted attention.
"Follow me," she said, walking past Hiroto.
They walked down the hallways in silence with Hiroto afraid to utter anything. They took the elevator to the very top floor where Chairman Muranishi's office was located. When they reached his office, Yuuhi knocked on the door before she came in. Given the permission, she opened the door gracefully and walked in the room, determined to get what she wanted.
"May I please see the files that I gave you when I auditioned to become an idol," she requested, not even saying please.
Chairman Muranishi, who had always been prepared from what was happening to them about Yuuhi's identity, kept the files on his desk in a folder. He passed it on to Yuuhi with a serious look on his face.
"I've already made copies so we can pass them to the media later on. However, I'll request them to show just the essentials such as your name, date of birth and all those other stuff on TV and articles," Chairman Muranishi said, following Yuuhi and Hiroto as they sat on the brown couch in his office.
After Yuuhi opened the folder and handed the files to Hiroto, she leaned back on the couch and crossed her arms, leaving the explanations to Chairman Muranishi as she tried to relax with her eyes closed.
Hiroto read the paper that was on top, which was Yuuhi's birth certificate.
"Family Name: Tsubasa. Given Name: Yuuhi. Date of Birth: August 15, 1991. Birthplace: Shiroi City, Chiba Prefecture," Hiroto read in his mind.
He had already noticed the differences between Yuuhi and Kirari right from the beginning. Kirari was born in July 7, 1989, who would be turning 24 in a couple of weeks if she was still alive, in Tokyo Medical Hospital.
"Mother's Name: Saeko Tsubasa (Adoptive). Father's Name: Ichirou Tsubasa (Adoptive)."
Hiroto's eyes grew, shocked to read that Yuuhi was just adopted.
"Yuuhi, you're—"
"I know. No need for pity," she carelessly interrupted.
While Hiroto continued reading, Yuuhi had a flashback of how her childhood was with everyone's knowing that she was adopted.
Yuuhi, who was in her third year in junior high school, walked down the hallway to the teacher's lounge to give her teacher the printouts she wanted. When she arrived, Yuuhi eavesdropped by the door when she heard her name in the teachers' conversation.
"Isn't that new student in your class, Shinomiya-san?" asked one of the teachers.
"She is. Her name's Yuuhi Tsubasa," replied Yuuhi's teacher.
"I heard she's adopted. I feel bad for her."
"Yeah. It's her fourth time moving to a different school this year."
"I knew it. She was bullied, wasn't she?"
"Yeah. I really do feel bad for her. Imagine her adoptive parents' having to move all the time just for her! She's so pitiful."
Upon hearing this, Yuuhi left the printouts by the door and walked back to her classroom, her face devoid of expressions.
"It's always like this," she thought, her head down.
When she came back to the classroom, writings were on the chalkboard saying, "Go away! We don't need you here, Adopted Yuuhi-san." However, Yuuhi ignored the vandalism because she'd already experienced it so many times.
That day, when she came home, she quietly walked upstairs to her room to avoid her parents. Unfortunately, they still found her in time to ask questions.
"Are you alright, Yuu-chan? Did they bully you? Did they tease you?" Saeko, her adoptive mother, asked.
"Do you need us to transfer you again? I can always find a job, you know," Saeko's husband, Ichiro, reminded.
Yuuhi clenched onto her bag and turned around, showing them a bogus smile.
"I'm alright. My classmates didn't really care about it, and my teachers were very kind to me," she cheerfully lied.
"Then, we don't need to move?" Saeko asked, a little surprised.
"I love my new school," Yuuhi nodded.
She excused herself, telling her parents that she needed to do homework. After shutting the door of her room, she remembered all those times when she was bullied ever since she was little. She looked nothing like Saeko and Ichiro, who had jet-black hair and a dark shade of brown eyes. Yuuhi had light brown hair extending to her hips and foreign blue eyes. Everyone realized this, causing her to get bullied everywhere she went. She didn't have true friends to be there for her, so Yuuhi grew up to be tougher than how she looked.
A couple of weeks later, Kirari became famous and well-accepted by everybody, may they be boys or girls, children or adults. When her classmates realized that Yuuhi looked just like Kirari, they became more furious at her. Every day, Yuuhi would find letters in her locker saying, "You're a fake!" "You shouldn't even be alive! We already have Kirari-chan!" "You got plastic surgery to look like Kirari-chan just so you can get friends? How pathetic!" "We'd adopt Kirari-chan any day!"
As Kirari's popularity rose to the top, Yuuhi felt as if her existence sunk to the bottom. The bullying got worse to the point that Yuuhi decided something she never wanted to do. She saved up money and went to a salon in the country, where Kirari was less popular. Yuuhi dyed her hair a strawberry auburn color and got it cut to shoulder-length. Ever since then, that had been the look of Yuuhi.
She came to school the next day, surprising everyone. Yuuhi was stared at, laughed at, and glared at. Nobody complimented her, not even the teachers. After all, she was adopted, meaning nobody, including her real parents, wanted her.
"You really aren't related to Kirari, aren't you?" Hiroto asked after he read the papers.
He learned about how she was adopted, but he didn't learn about how Yuuhi's life was. He learned that she'd always wanted to be an idol, not a fake Kirari.
"Let's go," she said, ignoring Hiroto's question.
He and Yuuhi, along with Chairman Muranishi and Kumoi-san, announced that there would be a press conference that afternoon to clear the confusion with Yuuhi and Kirari's identity. Every publishing tabloids, magazines, and broadcasting companies sent one of their reporters and journalists to the Muranishi Entertainment Company's spacious, conference room in the first floor. When everybody arrived, Chairman Muranishi began the conference.
"Good afternoon, everyone. As you all know, I am Chairman Muranishi, head of the Muranishi Entertainment Company. Last night, a debut concert was performed by a new idol named Yuuhi Tsubasa, or who the people are starting to dub as 'The Fallen Angel.' According to Sensation magazine and other entertainment publishers and broadcasters, Yuuhi is the resurrection of MEC's late Kirari Tsukishima, one of the most popular idols of this generation. To clear the confusion, we have brought and are passing out the copies of Kirari's birth certificate and Yuuhi's birth certificate."
As he started the sentence about the copies of birth certificates, the copies were being passed out by the interns of MEC. Everyone read it while listening to the Chairman.
"Some of the information is blocked because they are confidential, but I honestly tell you that Kirari and Yuuhi are two different people. Here's a word from Yuuhi Tsubasa, herself."
Yuuhi walked up to the podium with the microphone, gracefully handling herself. Hiroto was worried, but he trusted and had faith on her.
"Good afternoon, everyone. I am Yuuhi Tsubasa, a new debuting idol. It seems that you all confused me with the late Kirari Tsukishima, a legend of our generation's idol. Yes, at first glance, you would think that I'm her. I know that because even my own manager, Hiroto Kazama, mistook me for his late lover."
The crowd murmured, hearing about Hiroto and Kirari's relationship with each other, something that the public noticed, but didn't really touch on, thinking that their closeness was just because of their job. Hiroto was shocked, too, his eyes suddenly widening and his mouth slightly opening.
"However, as you can tell by the aura I give off and how my debut concert was," Yuuhi paused, looking at the audience with her powerful, sharp eyes.
"I am not, at all, your angelic, innocent, Kirari Tsukishima."
Everybody murmured once again, taking more pictures of Yuuhi's calm, yet frustrated-looking, gorgeous face. Some of them raised their hands in hopes to be able to ask her a question.
"I won't always have the fallen angel act in some songs that I'll be singing and performing, but please bear in mind that Kirari and I are very different. Just ask my manager, Hiroto Kazama," Yuuhi balefully smiled, handing the microphone to her wide-eyed manager.
Hiroto stood up as he furiously looked at the smiling Yuuhi. He took the microphone and walked to the podium, clearing his throat before he started.
"Good afternoon, I'm Hiroto Kazama, former idol and Yuuhi Tsubasa's manager," he paused to allow the photographers some time to take his picture.
"Yes, it's true that Yuuhi and Kirari look physically alike, and in some cases, their voices can sound the same. Still, Yuuhi's completely different from the late Kirari Tsukishima. They're two entirely different persons with different personalities. Obviously, Kirari was an angel and was caring to everyone, even forgetting about herself at times," Hiroto narrated as he looked happy to remember Kirari.
Yuuhi was a bit frustrated to see Hiroto's gentle smile as he talked about her look-alike, even clenching her fist a little, but she kept her calm and listened to Hiroto.
"Kirari's songs were always so cheerful and pure, and they always make your heart skip a beat. She truly deserved to be called an angel."
The crowd of journalists smiled, remembering Kirari and her songs. They also took more pictures of Hiroto as he joyfully smiled.
"But Yuuhi, on the other side, is her complete opposite. Her debut song was dark, her aura's dark, and to be honest, her personality can be a little dark, too. She already told all of you about how she would, but not all the time, have dark songs to perform. Although she can be a little mysterious and mean to me at times," Hiroto said, giggling with everybody else.
He turned back to look at Yuuhi, who looked a little annoyed, before he finished his sentence about her.
"I still have faith in her. I believe she'll do great, and I know she'll make me, MEC, and everyone proud," Hiroto gently smiled.
Yuuhi's blue eyes grew in surprise and her face slightly flushed, her cheeks feeling warmer. She stood up and walked out to Hiroto's surprise, not even waiting for the people's questions. They took her pictures as she withdrew from the conference while Hiroto, who tried to follow her, was obstructed by the crowd.
Yuuhi took the elevator back to the lounge to escape the paparazzi, while Chairman Muranishi, Kumoi-san, and Hiroto were left to finish the conference.
When Yuuhi arrived at the lounge, she shut the door and leaned on it leaving her hand behind her back, still holding onto the knob.
"I'll show you," she murmured, her head down.
"I'll be greater than her."