First chapter of my new fanfiction. I hope you all enjoy it! I would appreciate reviews and constructive criticism! Anyways, Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Uta no Prince-sama. I do, however, own my OC(s) and plot.

Syo groaned as his curtains were thrown opened and bright sunlight streamed into the room.

"Syo-kuuun~!" Natsuki tossed himself on top of the smaller boy in an enthusiastic attempt to wake his roommate. Ai-sempai watched from a distance with no expression.

"If you sleep in, your performance will decrease." He said in a robotic voice. Syo snarled in his direction as he was squeezed by Natsuki, his face turning red from lack of air. "Our disk was purchased last night. You were already asleep. They haven't put the disk in yet. I'm not even sure the packaging has been torn off, though there is a 45.5% chance that it has been. According to my calculations."

"Yea. Whatever. Why would I care about that anyway?" Syo said harshly then stomped into the bathroom to get ready. He immediately started slamming things and rummaging through drawers. He would never tell the others but he was just as excited as they were that their compilations of DVDs had been bought. It was a big deal since only one of the cases held the actual characters. All the other disks that were being played were simply that- disks. But these particular disks were special. They had been the first one shown to the creator of their anime. It didn't matter that the disks there still in the packaging, the creators love had reached in and brought life to it's characters.

Well...not life exactly. Instead of unknowingly repeating everyday like the other disks, we are aware of it. Syo thought wryly, sitting in angst for a moment before renewing his enthusiasm. He carefully hid it behind a layer of hostility when he walked out to have breakfast with Natsuki and Ai-sempai.

"So? Are you excited?" Ry looked up into her mother's face and tried to smile; the most she could manage was a fake one. Her mom clapped once and looked at her husband. "Well it is your birthday! We got you some cool stuff so I hope you like it!"

"Relax punkin. If you don't enjoy this stuff, try it before you give up on it. You might like it. She means well." Her father whispered in Ry's ear when her mother scurried out to get the presents.

"Yes. Just like she did when she named me RyLynn." The girl said dryly and her father laughed.

"Well she didn't want you to have just any old name and so-"

"And so I combined my favorite boy name and my favorite girl name! I think it's lovely!" Her mother said, walking in with an arm full of boxes wrapped in brightly lit paper. "It's a shame that people only call you Ry."

Ry shrugged and stared straight ahead, the feelings of numbness and despair threatening to take over. Her depression was steadily getting worse and the only ones who knew about her slow descent was her parents. She was able to put up an act at school but even that was getting hard.

"Don't force yourself to feel things."

Her therapist's words came back to her as her mother set the first birthday present down with glee. She was bouncing and grinning ear to ear. Ry looked at her and tried to show a little excitement but ended up fighting tears when she realized she couldn't even do that for her mother. Ry's unsteady fingers began ripping away at the paper as her parents watched. It was a box set series of some anime. The front picture held six boys and a girl, all of them surrounded by colorful bubbles and grinning. The title was in big, pink bubble letters, reading Uta no Prince-sama Maji Love.

"It looks very girly." She stated simply.

"Yes well..." Her mother began, not sure whether she was in need of justifying her actions.

"It's ok Mom. I'll try it." Ry gave a forced smile and started taking off the wrapping.

"Ok well try it and, if you like it, we'll give you your other presents." Her father said.

"Alright." Ry started toward her room, not even questioning the reasoning, simply wanting to be out of the multi-person environment. When she got to her room she immediately popped the first DVD into the TV and curled up in multiple blankets on her bed. The screen lit up with bright colors and cheery singing.

"Places everyone! They put the disk in!" Ringo-sensei fluttered around as everyone looked out of a TV screen for the first time. They were struck the position for the main menu and looked out to see a girl with short and wild raven hair and icy blue eyes looking around her. She would have been pretty if her expression didn't has such a heavy sense of underlying sadness. The corners of her full mouth were turned down slightly and sharpness of her eyes dulled. STARISH tried desperately not to exchange glances as the girl finally found the remote and started the first episode of season one.

Syo watched her carefully when he was off screen. He didn't get the chance to on screen so he was taking his chances where he could. She watched straight through season one, her face beginning to show a little emotion, and by the end Syo was amazed to see that she was crying. A soft knock came at the bedroom door and the girl wiped her face before calling to the person outside the room.

"RyLynn, honey, dinner is almost ready. Oh." The girl was looking off screen and the characters in the TV tried to resist craning their necks to see who it was. "You're already watching it. How do you like it so far?"

"I..." the girl tore her gaze from the person in her room and stared at her TV screen for a moment, as if it could give her the words she needed to complete her sentence. "I like it...a lot."

"Oh great! In that case-" The unknown woman went over to sit next to the girl. They were obviously mother and daughter, sharing the same raven coloring in their hair. She began to chatter as the girl, RyLynn, she had been called, zoned out. Eventually a masculine voice had called out, telling them food was ready.

"That girl was strange."

All the members of STARISH and Haruka turned to look at Ranmaru who glared. The cast from season one and two were all sitting together in the dorm's cafeteria and discussing their first day on the job.

"She seemed so sad." Haruka said in a sweet voice, eyes downcast.

"But she liked us!" Otoya said brightly. He looked at them all with a large smile. "Right? Didn't you guys hear her?"

"Yes..." Tokoya said with apprehension.

"That means we make her happy right?" Natsuki said with a chibi face of realization. "Yay!"

"No, it doesn't mean that at all! She didn't smile once!" Syo gritted his teeth together and got up abruptly as everyone stared at him in stunned silence.

"Syo...kun?" Natsuki said weakly as his childhood friend left the room.

"Damn it! Why doesn't she smile? Aren't Haruka's songs good enough for her?" Syo stormed into the room that held the TV screen. The TV was off but their disc was still in the player so he could see outside perfectly without her seeing in. The girl was sitting on her floor with multiple objects scattered around her, wrapping paper everywhere. She was holding a perfectly square case in her hands and Syo looked around at the other items around her. They were all from multiple anime shows, box set, and different accessories. Syo jumped when RyLynn suddenly stood up and went to the sound system to the left of her TV. He was surprised when he heard their theme song float out of the speakers. The girl began tidying up the area, organizing her new belongings. When the songs ended Ry took the case and shut her eyes as she hugged it gently to her slender frame.

"Thank you..." The words were so soft that Syo almost missed them. The girl went to sit on the edge of the bed and held the CD case up to her face. "I know that I'm talking to an inanimate object,,,and I know that that's crazy. But I'm so glad I found this show, I have to tell someone out loud and no one else would understand."

RyLynn took a deep breath and a single tear rolled down her cheek. Syo placed a hand lightly on the screen in front of him, feeling like he was the one watching the movie.

"This show...made me feel things. It didn't make me feel like other shows did. Like I had to be sad because the situation calls for it, or that I had to laugh because something funny happened. It made me feel those things without even trying. By just being itself. So maybe...maybe it would be ok to be myself. To let myself feel whatever I feel and accept it. Until I can do that with confidence, and smile at my mother with sincerity, please...keep making me feel."

Syo looked out at the reality girl outside of the TV.

"We are, to her, what Hyuuga-sensei is to me." He said in wonder. "She know what it feels like... to admire someone."

Thank you for reading my second fanfic! Please leave a review telling me what you thought.