Broken Fragments

Chapter 21: A Goodbye without a Word

"A coma?" Yuuhi asked, shocked.

Fear and worry could be seen in Yuuhi's trembling hands and widened aquamarine eyes. Yuuhi sat on the edge of her seat, nervous of what else her aunt had to say. However, before Neko answered Yuuhi, she looked at Hiroto then back to Yuuhi with a wondering face.

"Yuuhi…does your manager know?" Neko asked the idol.

"Know what?" Hiroto interrupted.

"No, he doesn't," Yuuhi quickly replied.

"What's going on? Tell—"

"Do I tell him, Yuuhi?"

"No. Don't."

"Tell me what?"

"Then we can't discuss this in front of your manager. You do know that, right, Yuu—"

"Tell me what's going on!" Hiroto roared in frustration, standing up.

The room got quiet and the three looked at each other, feeling awkward. Hiroto was annoyed with the fact that they didn't want to tell him anything. Yuuhi didn't want him to know anything, and Neko couldn't decide on whether she should tell Yuuhi's manager what was going on. Feeling uncomfortable after gazing into Hiroto's eyes, Yuuhi turned hers away from Hiroto's as she started to rub her arm in nervousness. She got up before Hiroto could say something and walked to the windows to look outside, hoping she could calm herself a little. Yuuhi took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she revealed to Hiroto something he didn't know.

"I didn't have my parents' permission to train and become an idol," Yuuhi exposed.

Silence lingered in the room once again with Hiroto shocked and Neko remembering what happened. Yuuhi also remembered what happened before while she narrated it to Hiroto.

"After my 20th birthday, I ran away from home without saying a word," Yuuhi recounted the past.

"During the summer, before I became a third-year college student, I sang in a café as my part-time job. One of the people that worked for Chairman Muranishi heard me sing and gave me Muranishi Entertainment Company's business card, telling me to audition as an idol. She said that if I passed the auditions, I'd train as an idol for at least a year and debut as soon as I could," she continued.

"Mama, Papa, I have something to tell you," Yuuhi smiled as they prepared to eat dinner.

"Yes, dear?" her mother, Saeko, cheerfully said.

"I'm going to the city to become an idol."

Saeko and Ichiro stopped moving, surprised of what Yuuhi announced. The atmosphere quickly switched from a warm and cheerful family to a room full of tension and shock.

"No. End of discussion," Ichiro replied, continuing what he was doing.

"But Papa! I want to be an idol!"

"Yuu-chan, don't do it, please," Saeko kindly said.

"No! Mama, Papa! Please! I want to become famous! Please!"

"You're just going to make a fool of yourself out there, Yuuhi!" Ichiro roared, scaring his adopted daughter.

Yuuhi knew that her father was very angry because he called her 'Yuuhi,' not the usual 'Yuu-chan.' She wanted to say something, but all she could do was clench her fists and hold back her tears.

"I'm going to bed. I lost my appetite," Yuuhi declared as she walked to her room upstairs, disappointed.

The auburn-haired girl locked her door and kept the lights off with only her computer's screen giving off the light. She took a picture out of her desk's drawer and looked at it with teary blue eyes.

"It's because I look like her, right?" she said to herself, crying.

The next day, Yuuhi drove the car that her father gave her as her 20th birthday present to go to the city. She had her clothes and necessary things with her, even taking the money that her parents saved for her college tuition fee. When she arrived in the city, Yuuhi immediately rented a luxurious apartment with her tuition money for her to live in. After that day, she drove to MEC building to audition. Without even going through the whole audition process, Yuuhi was picked to become a trainee that would debut as an idol. She felt happy, but she knew it wasn't true happiness. Yuuhi returned to her apartment and took out a picture from her suitcase, her things still unpacked.

"I'm going to become an idol," she smiled with a few tears in her eyes.

"Because I look like you, doesn't it?"

Yuuhi didn't share the flashback she had with Hiroto because she knew that the conversation would just get unwantedly deeper. However, she did tell him about how she ran away because her parents didn't let her audition and how she was able to rent a luxurious apartment. Taken aback, Hiroto didn't say a word while Neko dazed, also remembering her sister and brother-in-law's expression when they found out their daughter had ran away.

"Why didn't—"

"I called them right after I was informed that I passed the auditions. I told them not to look for me because I wasn't coming back. Ever since then, I haven't heard from them," Yuuhi interrupted Hiroto.

"That's because Saeko-nee-san got worse ever since you left. Your father had to take your mother to the hospital so many times that they're starting to lose money, especially since your father quit his job to take care of your mother. She's been in a coma for almost three months now. As soon as I found out that you were the 'Fallen Angel Yuuhi' that just debuted, I began looking for you here. I tried to get in contact with you so many times, but you were always busy and I didn't have your email or cellphone number. I was going to give up, but I promised myself that I have to let you know about how your mother's doing before she gets any worse," Neko cried, covering her face.

"I'm so sorry, Neko-nee," Yuuhi said as she sat down beside her to comfortingly stroke her back.

The sun outside the window was starting to set, its orange rays going through the curtain and shining on the wall. The skies were shaded with blue, orange, purple, and a maroonish color.

"Go see your mother and father, Yuuhi," Hiroto commanded.

"I'm not going alone," Yuuhi replied.

"If I do go, you're coming with me because if I go back, my father won't let me leave ever again."

Neko stopped crying and wiped her tears to listen to Yuuhi and Hiroto's conversation. When she looked at their eyes, it seemed as if Yuuhi was more dominant over her own manager.

"Fine. I'm going to cancel all your work sessions tomorrow. We're going to meet here in my office at exactly 8 a.m. We're using my car to get there," Hiroto declared, finalizing everything.

"Alright."

Hiroto took a deep breath to release all the tension he had been keeping to himself. He ran his hands through his hair and pulled them back, stressed and tired.

"Both of you, go home. We're leaving early tomorrow," Hiroto said.

"Okay. We'll see you tomorrow, Kazama-san," Yuuhi answered.

"Thank you so much for everything, Kazama-san," Neko bowed.

Yuuhi and Neko left Hiroto's office and headed to the parking lot. Since Neko came to the city by train, Yuuhi offered to drive her to the hotel she'd been staying in to get her things and move them to Yuuhi's apartment.

"Wait, I forgot something in Kazama-san's office," Yuuhi announced, realizing that she didn't have her purse with her.

She unbuckled her seatbelt and walked back inside, taking the elevator to Hiroto's office. When she arrived there, she thought that the door would be locked since he didn't go to his office when they arrived at the MEC building, running to the lounge with her, instead. However, when she turned the knob, the door opened and she was able to come in.

The room was empty and Hiroto's bag was on the desk.

"He's still working?" Yuuhi curiously thought.

She turned to the left side of the room to where the couch was in Hiroto's office. There, Yuuhi found her purse. She sat down to check if everything she brought was in there, hoping she didn't forget anything.

Out of the blue, Hiroto's computer made loud beeping noises, scaring the living soul out of Yuuhi. She walked to the computer to turn off the noise, but before she got there, it turned off. When Yuuhi looked at the screen, it showed that there was a missed chat invite from Takada Pinau, the famous director of Sonata of Love and Youth.

Yuuhi was going to click the 'Call Back' button, but it disappeared and Hiroto's inbox showed up, instead. She immediately saw the email from Takada Pinau, labeled 'Please let her be our lead actress.'

Click.

Yuuhi opened the email out of curiosity, her eyes scrolling from left to right as she read the whole conversation with her manager and Takada Pinau. Suddenly, her eyes grew and her mouth opened, stunned by what she just read.

"What?"

Author's note:

Hello, minna-san! I'm back again with frequent updates! :D We're on summer vacation and I'm very happy! :D So, be expecting more frequent updates of Broken Fragments. To all the fans, what do you think was in the email? Why do you think Yuuhi was shocked? Share your thoughts and opinions by reviewing this story. The ones whose guesses are close will have the chance to be a character in one of the future chapters. This fun quiz is only open until I finally reveal what was in the email. Okay? Thanks for supporting everyone! :D