Author Notes/

Disclaimer: I do not own Starish or anything from the Uta Pri world. Any songs used here will receive credit to their artists.

~Sorry this took so long, been in a writing funk, barely working on my main project. Anyway it was especially difficult because the song used in this is just something I randomly put together so I was getting a bit annoyed with it. It's not perfect but it will do I guess. Enjoy!

Chapter 11

Six girls were crowded into the minivan that the D class teacher, Isabella DeMonte was driving. They had long since passed the limits of the well-kept side of the city and had ventured into a more broken down factory district. Siren knew the names of two of the girls. The A Class Otoya fan, Jessie, and of course Haruka was there. Haruka had tried to start casual conversation with her twice but it seemed she was finally getting the hint that the red eyed girl didn't want to talk.

Finally on the edge of the factory district the van stopped at a crumbling brick building that had the looks of an office complex.

"Alright!" Ms. DeMonte announced, "Time to get out."

"Here?" One of the girls Siren did not know asked in horror.

"Yes, here." The teacher said with a wink and a smile.

With much hesitancy on the other girls' parts, the highest scored classmates got out of the vehicle and walked slowly towards the door of the complex. Finally Siren had had enough of the slow, timid pace and brushed past the leading girls with what might have been a glint of frustration in her eyes.

"You all wanted this prize and now you're scared? It's just a building." Her voice as monotone as ever, Siren reached the door first without looking back.

"Buildings are all the same to you Vagrant!" Another of the nameless girls retorted, "But us well-bred individuals know better than to enter a building that looks so suspicious."

"Oh, and you think Ms. DeMonte would drive you somewhere to be violated and murdered, do you?" Siren asked deadpan before opening the door. "As expected." She announced before walking into the building the girls still moving at a snail's cautious pace behind her.

"'As expected', yourself." A familiar voice said from inside which caused the girls who had been moving so slowly to pick up speed. Ren continued on with a condescending drawl. "It's not many girls who could just walk brazenly into an abandoned office building while talking about being 'violated and murdered' Vagrant."

The other members of Starish came to the lobby of the decrepit building at that point. The girls who had walked in moments before squealed and danced around in joy. "A date with Starish!?" They cried.

"Close," Ittoki said playfully causing Jessie to bounce on the balls of her feet happily.

"These are the girls?" A new voice asked and a stylishly dressed woman with spikey green hair walked up to size them up. "None of them match any of you in terms of coloring. We will have to pair by height. As I remember it they played rock paper scissors for their composer. Tokiya won, so Haruka if you would please stand by him. Let's see, you're the only one left short enough for Shou." The woman grabbed Siren by the arm and pulled her to stand next to the shortest member. "Yes that will do. I want you," She pointed at Jessie, "With Otoya. You with the blonde hair go with Ren and you with the bow you're with Masato. That leaves you, with that tacky skirt, you're with Natsuki."

Another man came up to the lobby and sized the pairings up. "I suppose it will work. Get them to hair and make-up then."

Sometime later each girl was lead to a separate room in the office, each designed to look like a single room occupancy apartment. They looked unlived in and ratty, the beds looked uncomfortable and their covers looked holey. The walls looked like they had seen many a better day with holes punched in them and peeling paint.

This of course led the girls to some trepidation considering that hair and makeup had basically made them look rough, dirty, and worse for wears. Siren's hair had been knotted and mussed and bruises had been applied through the clever use different makeups. Each girl only wore a holey white tee-shirt and rather fancy matching underwear and bra combos. Around their necks was a bulky heart shaped locket with false gems in colors that matched the idol they were paired with.

"All right. To explain." A man's voice came in over the loud speakers. "This is the set of Starish's unreleased song, 'Your Heart's Locket,' We are trying a progressive approach where you just act on how you feel about the song and we adjust after each take. The premise of the song is to take care of and love a girl who locked her heart away. You will act as that girl. She is hurt, she is cold, she is lonely. Be timid, reject them at first. Give it a happy ending though."

At that point fan girl screams resounded through the building and Siren guess that the other members of Starish had entered each room. There was a sharp knock on the door before Shou walked in wearing a pair of white shorts with a pink stripe going down each side and a necklace with an ornate key on it and nothing else. His head was missing its signature hat and his hair was also messy.

He gave her a once over and gulped. "This might be harder than I thought it would be." He muttered, sounding angry at his own lack of insight.

"I suppose the average girl would tell you you looked appealing like that." Siren said with a flat tone.

"I guess, but when have you ever been an average girl, Siren?" He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand.

"Is this the song you rewrote?" Siren asked, her voice suddenly sounding strangely rough.

"Yeah." Shou said without looking at her. "It's for-"

"I figured it was for a friend you care about. Someone who you have been unable to reach. Someone who is too far away." Siren interrupted. Shou nodded once, still unable to meet her eyes; like he felt guilty. "You should pretend I am her then. It will make the acting easier."

Shou blinked before looking directly at those bright red orbs in shock. "You…I don't need to pretend anything. You seriously think…you really don't…? Why do you think Jinguji was telling me not to get paired with you? Why do you think he wanted you to lose the challenge last week? And oh was he pissed you got chosen. He thinks I will lose control. He knew the concept behind this video because he helped with the creation of it. He knew how I would feel having you standing there looking like that, dressed like that. But you…you have no idea. Pretend you are her?"

"Perhaps it was arrogant of me to suggest," Siren began.

Shou cut her off, "You are her! You have no idea what standing here like this is doing to me. You're completely oblivious. I bet you don't even realize how heavy your breathing is right now. How flushed you are under all that makeup. You're impossible!"

"We begin in one minute. Please be ready." The directors voice said over the speakers.

"Let me in, Siren. Let me see the expression you want to make right now. Don't act. Don't pretend. Just be. Just this once."

Shou looked so sincere that she felt that strong wall she hid behind melt away to reveal an apprehensive, fearful face. She closed her eyes, intending to listen to the song once through before reacting to any of it, but as the director called for action and the song began to play she went along on instinct. This was Shou's song. It was for her. And as much as she told herself not to react to him, to not feel anything for him, that it was a dangerous route to take, that it would ruin her chances of happiness, that if she did she would never find her, she found more and more how very much she wanted him to call her Siren no Kimi again.

Open your eyes and see,
There is no color or sound (only me)
It's ok to feel that pain,
Don't worry if your heart begins to strain
Even if you think you like it, (Being alone)
Let me in, (We are the perfect fit)

When Siren opened her eyes to that first line, Shou was walking slowly towards her. Taking slow steps backwards, she didn't notice the bed coming up behind her till the backs of her knees knocked against it. Trembling, she turned her attention back to the idol who was getting too close.

Don't forget to show me how you feel,
Because loving you is so very real,
Let me unlock your heart's locket.

Shou gently sat her on the bed and sat beside her. Taking her chin in his fist he slowly pulled her close and halfway through the final chorus he kissed her. It was a soft, patient kiss. Something Siren had never experienced.

"With this key," Shou sang the end of the song as they separated. "Let me be your lover." And as if on impulse he ripped the key from the necklace around his neck and lowered it to the locket around Siren's.

"CUT!" The director called through the speakers. "Ren think if her as a timid girl that you are trying to protect, not some wonton lust filled woman. Masato, can you please relax. Natsuki be more serious and stop taking pictures I don't care how cute you think she is. Otoya be more intimate with your girl, remember it's just a music video. Tokiya that was good but Haruka can you be a little less timid? Shou…good work, it's a wrap for you and your partner so I am turning off your camera."

"That was a little too easy," Shou complained.

"Tell that to my nerves," Siren snorted.

"Oh?" Shou prompted, but she just turned her head away and looked around the room. "Fine, if you want to be like…"

"I stand by what I said, about not wanting that kind of path to fame." Siren interrupted him. "Regardless of your feelings or mine, we can't be more than we already are."

Shou just sighed and stretched out on the bed. When Siren just sat there, still not looking at him he sat back up and dragged her down to lay down. Her body stiffened.

"What do you think you're doing?" She snapped.

"You still haven't told me why you were going to rip that newspaper article, or anything else about Sasha." Shou reminded, still draping an arm over her shoulder.

Body still stiff Siren answered with, "That article was a lie. It said that she had many friends and hopeful parent candidates but in reality those kids were given extra sweets to take the picture and the parent candidates just wanted to look good for the media, none of them wanted to adopt Sasha."

"Mmm," Shou hummed into the top of her head.

"Like I told you, it was pretty much me and her against the world. I don't remember having family, so if I ever think about what family would be like I would have to say Sasha is like my sister. My only family." Siren continued.

"But she left." Shou pointed out, which led to an awkward pause in the conversation.

"That was because of what I did, it's my fault."

"Did she even listen to why you did it? Your side of the story?" Shou asked into her hair.

"She probably figured out what happened that first night, but because it continued on…there were other shelters we could have stayed at after that. But things continued. It was an easy fix to a problem." Siren muttered.

"You expect me to think there was nothing besides that. The way you were helping her have a steady place to live probably crossed your mind every time." Shou grumbled.

"It's not an excuse."

"But it might be a reason." Shou argued. "Kami-sama! Just give yourself a break. It's not like you're a martyr or anything, and yeah, there were better ways to handle it but… You are human."

"I know that!" Siren half deadpanned. "I know."

"Then act like it! Cry more, scream, shout, swear, fight, don't be this shell. You're a shell because you are afraid. You don't want to lose important people anymore right?" Shou's voice was rough, angry. He always did have a temper.

"I'm a shell," Siren admitted very quietly, "because I don't want to have important people to lose. It hurts to smile knowing that that smile could disappear. It hurts to scream knowing that the words you scream will be used against you. Sasha, she was my rock. Without her…"

"After all this, why do you want to find her? What good would it do?" Shou asked her hair.

"I want to apologize for not understanding what she meant. I want to tell her that I miss her and I am sorry."

Shou just snorted. "Well, unless you want to talk more about her right now, I am gonna take a nap. It will take a while with this style of producing for those guys to get it right, let alone those girls. I guess I had it easy, being paired with you." He let her go and rolled onto his back. "If you get bored wake me up or something."

But Siren curled up on the edge of the bed away from him and fell asleep after a while as well, lulled by the soft breath of her friend.