Uta-Pri: Modern Classic

Chapter 7 (Akiko Rei)

Chapter 7 (Akiko Rei)

When Jun said my name my entire body froze up. I clenched my teeth, unsure what to say, and Jun's eye were watching me with concern. "Rei, no, Akiko..." She started to say.

"I'm sorry." I said softly before I turned and ran. I went all the way to the gazebo and curled up on the bench. I could feel tears in my eyes and my entire body was shaking. "I'm sorry, Jun. I'm so sorry." I said again to myself.

I'm not sure how long I was there when I heard a voice calling my name. It wasn't Jun, it was Ittoki. I didn't reply, but it didn't take him long to find me. "There you are." He said brightly, then he seemed to realized that something was wrong.

"What happened Rei?" He asked. He sat down beside me, I sat up as he did, and he noticed the tears on my face. "Are you okay?" He asked, gently wiping them away with his thumb.

I nodded, pulling away and roughly wiping them off myself. "I'm fine. It's nothing to worry about." I said. Suddenly Ittoki pulled me tightly into a hug.

"You're crying, that makes it something to worry about." He said. He stroked my hair gently and I felt more tears coming. "Take your time." He said.

After a minute I finally got myself together. "Sorry, it's just that Jun realized who I was." I said.

"Who you are?" Ittoki asked confused.

"Jun was my partner back when we were younger. We started a band together, only during an audition, our first audition, we were separated. She went through and I didn't. I had made a deal with my parents about that audition: if I made it they would let me go as far as I could in the industry. If I didn't I would quit guitar and focus only on classical music. I also wouldn't be allowed to see or talk to Jun again." I explained.

"But you still play guitar." Ittoki pointed out. I nodded.

"My older brother played guitar too. He taught me. I promised him that no matter what I would keep playing and someday I'd make it as a guitar player." I said. I held out my pick. "This was a gift from him." I said.

"The way you said that makes it seem like he died." Ittoki said. My hand closed around the pick.

"He did." I answered coldly. I blamed my parents for it, but I also blamed myself. Ittoki said nothing for a moment.

"Oh! Come with me." He suddenly jumped up and held out his hand to me.

"What...?" I asked, unsure what was going on.

"Trust me." Ittoki said. I hesitantly put my hand in his and Ittoki smiled, pulling me to my feet.

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"Hey!" Ittoki called brightly as he pulled me after him into a studio.

"You're late, Otoya." A man said.

"Sorry, sorry. I had to get my friend." He said, looking at me.

"Who's this?" The man asked.

"She's a friend from the Master's program. I was hoping she could play the girl in the music video." Ittoki said. "And she can play guitar too, so it works out perfectly." Ittoki said.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"Wait, her?" The director said at the same time. Ittoki nodded eagerly.

"She's just right for the part." Ittoki said.

"Um, Ittoki? That's a bad idea. If my mom finds out..." I started to say.

"By the time she finds out the video will have gone viral." Ittoki said. I looked at him and he nodded encouragingly.

I took a breath and bowed to the director. "I'd be honored to play that part, if you'll allow me to." I said.

The director sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, it saves me the trouble of finding someone so alright." He said.

Ittoki and I smiled at each other brightly. "Let's have fun, okay?" Ittoki said. I nodded.

"Yeah, okay." I agreed. After that we got really busy getting ready and finally shooting. As I understood it the film was similar to Rapunzel, and I was playing "Rapunzel". For most of the video I'm sitting on a window ledge playing a guitar. In the video Ittoki hears me playing and comes to see what's going on, then starts singing as I'm playing. There's more to it, of course, with some scenes of Itotki singing in a studio, a few of him playing guitar, and a few of me with my "parents".

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"Come on, it's about to play." Syo dragged me to the couch and sat down on my right. The video was finally airing on a talk show and Ittoki was there for a live interview. Ren was talking quietly and Syo hushed him when the video came up.

It started playing and I was shocked when I saw myself. I had thought I looked like an idiot doing some of the scenes, but with a little editing it had become something impressive. We all stayed quiet until it ended and once it did I was speechless. STARISH slapped my back, giving me "good jobs."

Then Ittoki came up for an interview. "Wow, very nice for your first video." The host said.

"Thanks. I had fun making it." Ittoki smiled brightly at him.

"I'm sure. Now who was the girl playing the guitar?" He asked.

"Oh, she's a composer I asked to help me." Ittoki said.

"A friend in the Master's program perhaps?" The host asked.

"You got it." Ittoki replied.

"Care to tell us her name?" The host begged.

"Hm..." Ittoki looked thoughtful and the crowds urged him to share. He smiled. "Her name is Rei." He said.

"That's not good." Syo muttered next to me.

"What do you mean?" I asked. He shook his head, more interested in what the host was saying.

"Can we be expecting to see more of her?" The host asked.

"That I don't know." He answered.

"Alright. Well, that's all the time we've got. Thanks for joining us." The host said. Syo turned off the TV and everyone looked at me.

"What's with the worried expressions?" I asked.

"It's just that..." Satsuki trailed off, trying to think of a way to explain it.

"Little bell, you just don't give someones name out like that in this industry." Ren stepped in. "It might cause problems for you." He said.

"Cause problems? What kinds of problems?" I asked. They shook their heads at me, unable to answer.

"Rei, can you come to the director's office?" A voice suddenly said over speakers in the room.

"Um..." I hesitantly stood and, after sharing a look with STARISH, headed for Shining's office in the main building.