An update! Yay! And! And! I've rediscovered the quirk that inspired me to write this in the first place. Would also like to mention that the longer this story doesn't update, the longer the next chapter is going to be.
I dedicate this chapter to Zhane-san because her words(?) in some way gave me the push to finish this son of a gun. Love her, people.

I know I update slowly. Expect more apologies from me in the future. Anyway, be dear and drop a review. Thanks, love.

Here's chapter seven.

They parked somewhere along the lane, waiting for Miku, the reason why Len even bothered coming out in the first place. For crying out loud, it was a Saturday, his rest day. A day of peace. No worries. No turmoils. Sure, he still worked on Saturdays, but this meeting was only a big pain in the ass.

Two of his men in black accompanied him to, well, do their jobs. They were in the front seat. These weren't the two who drugged the girl, but he would find out who they were and fire their asses. And why won't they tell him? Every time he asked around, all of them would just say they don't know, those liars. Kami, he hated liars. He suspected that man was behind why he can't find the two men; it was the only explanation.

In contrast to his foul mood, the Saturday streets in town were quite lively, with all the people hanging around and having fun. He watched them come and go from his tinted window, lazily following them with his eyes. It was funny though, how people went past his window, how unaware of how close these people were to seeing a celebrity—him. He wasn't saying he wanted to be ambushed by a swarm of people out to get his guts. He was just noticing.

He wasn't wearing his usual disguise, the ultra-thick glasses, feeling no need for it. Instead, he went by which he was most comfortable with: the usual messy ponytail—also the trademark look of his as teen idol Luke Pandora—along with the casual jeans, sneakers, and his preferred sleeveless apparel: a jacket over a tank top.

Kami, what's taking her so long? He huffed, getting more and more irritated by the minute. He was now 47 minutes annoyed and wanted no more than to screw the contract and go home. Maybe she got lost? Stupid bitch.

He thought about sending out the two men with him to find her, but two men clad in black escorting a little lady might raise suspicion, alert the civilians to dial the police. So, he decided to go out to do it himself and risk the fans and all that. Groaning, he put on the hood attached to the sleeveless jacket he wore, turned to the two men: "I'm going to find her", and before the two men could protest, Len was out, exposed to the general public.

He regretted not having the forethought of putting on sunglasses and wondered if he even brought any. He settled for ruffling his bangs, trying to let it cover his eyes as he peeked around his hand for the familiar turquoise hair of Miku's. He walked around people, edging to the side of the street beside the parked vehicles. He passed by seven shops already and there was still no sign of the bitch. He told her their meeting place was clearly and it wasn't that hard to find. Now 64 minutes and seven shops annoyed, he thought to hell with it and walked back to the car.

As he walked, he chanced a glance at shop 6's window to see his reflection if he was properly disguised. He wasn't. He was as vulnerable as a raw egg. Something in the shop caught his eye. Adjusting his focus, he saw a flash of brown, green, and pink fawning over the center display, a sparkly shoe. It didn't take long for him to recognize the three to be the school's popular girls: Meiko, Gumi, and Luka, respectively.

If they're here, Miku must be around here somewhere, he thought, stopping on his tracks. That bitch, shoe-shopping and bailing on me. But the girl was nowhere to be found in the expanse of the shop, so with the same 'to hell with it' mentality, he went back to the car.

As he passed by shop 5, a clothing store, he heard from two girls sitting on a bench squealing while squeezing a magazine, which, in closer inspection, had his face on the cover. He immediately turned his head the other way and pretended to find interest on the mannequins. Shop 4 was a bookstore, and bookstores had magazines with his face on it, explaining where the previous two girls got theirs. He didn't even look anywhere; he brought his head down and hastened his steps. Shop 3 was a blur. By shop 2, he heard someone call his name.

"Len!" someone said, and his head whipped around to see that someone, causing his hood to fall off and exposing his head. Relieved to see the late bitch, he didn't bother covering up his well-known blond hair again.

Len resisted the urge to call her 'bitch'. "Miku," he breathed exasperatedly, striding to her. He grabbed her hand, and dragged her towards the car. Only shop 1 was left.

"Oh my god! Is that Luke?"

"Where? Where?!"

"That's him! Him, there!"

"Oi, you there!"

"Luke Pandora, kyaa!"

And that's when the worst of the worst happened.

People were shamefully perking up upon the name "Luke Pandora!", as if they were dogs beckoned by his master with a treat in hand. Len tugged Miku's arm harder, trying to make a faster pace, but to no avail—they were already surrounded.

"Holy crap. Len, what's happening?" Miku asked, her voice faltering, obviously panicking as she nudged his arm repetitively as if to say 'Do something! Do something! Do something!'

Len just watched as the crowd slowly closed the distance between them, cornering him and the girl whose hand he held. He could only squeeze Miku's hand in reassurance as his mind reeled. He thought hard, shuffling options. No sweat, he'd handled lots of swarms before, but not with a girl which would raise gossip and rumors about the teen idol's dating, which would definitely result to a month's worth of paparazzo.

"Get behind me, quick. Don't let them see your face, and don't let go of my hand, okay?" he whispered to Miku, who complied as quickly as he commanded. "See that car over there?" He pointed. "We're gonna dive in and get over there as fast as we can in three, two..."

One! They nudged into the crowd, little by little moving forward in the cramped space. He heard some clicks, momentarily got blinded by the flashes of lights, and got his ears assaulted with screams and squeals. He might have tripped or stepped over a foot or two and elbowed some people hard enough to bruise. But all the while he didn't let go and she didn't let go, hands together in a tight grip that the teen idol was sure their knuckles were ghost white.

After what seemed like hours, he felt the bodies bumping, trying to get to him, gone and realized his eyes were shut close the entire time. His two men in black were there, fending off the pushy crowd. They were at the car already—the door was open and they slipped inside, ladies first.

Len slumped on the car seat, panting, sweating and feeling harassed. His body radiated heat against the air-con in the car. He hoped it wouldn't ache later, but knew better. It would still hurt anyway.

He felt the car move slowly, the people still banging and shouting against the window, and then they were on the road.

He checked Miku from the corner of his eye, who looked as awful as he felt. Her face was so pink, a few drops of sweat threatening to roll down her forehead. Her eyes were half-lidded, chest heaving up and down as she breathed through her mouth.

She was licking her lips, her tongue moving over them and leaving a glossy sheen, when she caught him looking. Embarrassed, he looked down and noticed their hands still together, however loosely. His eyes widened. Not knowing what to do, he met her stare.

Curious as what elicited such reactions from the male, she looked down to where he did, and back up at him.

Both of them withdrew their hands to their laps as if they were burnt touching lava.

The car was silent. The two men-saviors kept their mouth shut, knowing better than tell off Len for pulling off a stunt like that and knew that man would a better job of it than them. They trained their eyes on the road and didn't bother for conversation.

Miku stared the her hand, the one that once held the male's beside her, unable to comprehend anything, when said male spoke.

"You're an hour late."

Her head snapped up, "Yeah," she said quietly, feeling guilty. "Sorry about that..."

"Sorry? That's all? I had to go in that godforsaken crowd because of you!"

Miku scoffed, offended. "Me? Why'd you even thought of it in the first place?"

"The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. And as if you'd think of anything. Some big help you were."

"Oh, are you saying it's my fault?" Miku said in disbelief, crossing her arms.

"Yes," Len said simply.

"My fault?" Miku exclaimed loudly, causing the male to wince. "If you weren't so damn famous this never would have happened in the first place!"

"It's not my fault I'm famous and good-looking and loved by people," Len said haughtily, eying her lazily.

The bitch snorted. "Right, getting trampled to death is what you call 'loved'.Sure. Sure..." She drew her hand into a fist. "Why don't I trample you right now, huh?!" Miku barked, her arm drawing back with a promise of an incoming punch.

Len smirked, looking at Miku from the corner of his eye haughtily. He didn't feel threatened at all. "I knew you couldn't resist me."

"What?! Are you sane?" Miku recoiled, dropping her arm to scoot away from the male.

As always, Len was unfazed. Instead, he grew more pleased the more he annoyed the bitch. There was something about it, but at present he didn't give it any thought. "Denial," he sing-sang.

Miku gagged. "As if."

The smirk present on his face threatened to widen into smile. He suppressed it by sucking his cheek, but Miku saw and glared daggers at him. "What?" he asked, trying to sound somber but turned out sounding playful, afterward thinking that he shouldn't have opened his mouth as it made the smile harder to control.

Miku looked like she was having an internal debate, whether she should say something or the other. She opened her mouth and inhaled, then bit her teeth. This went on for a handful of times, Len steeled himself to receive a punch or a kick.

Finally, she said, "It's nothing."

Apparently, Miku was late because the cafe wasn't really specified, to which Len retaliated with "the one in front of the local bookstore." It never occurred to Len that their town had more than one cafe in front of a bookstore, and that almost every bookstore was local. It was a mistake on his part, which made it his fault for waiting a god-awful hour.

In his defense, with all the work and demands of being a celebrity, he never had the leisure to stroll and discover the shops and whatnot in the town. He only knew one bookstore: the one they always pass by when going to school.

He realized another mistake, which came in the form of the green-pink-brown trio he saw in the shoe store. When Miku ambushed him, he recalled not paying attention at the conversation. He didn't normally hung around the hallways. He usually sat in his chair in the classroom and waited for lunch period to pass. He only had nothing except for a gut feeling that compelled him to defy his traditions and follow the trio.

Upon his eavesdropping, he heard something about Saturday night and dates. Usual girl stuff, he concluded.

Rin expressed her half-willed intent to go with Len to pick up Miku. She knew the town...somewhat.

Len demanded why she didn't go with him. Her answer was "meh".

Len took a deep, calming breath. You do not want to kill your sister, he thought.

The meeting was short. In the same living room where they found themselves that night, his father slash manager explained to Miku the details of the agreement, which was essentially confidentiality of the celebrity's identity in fine print. The bitch listened attentively while Len slouched, glaring at his annoying little sister.

In one of his short breaks from killing his sister with his imaginary laser eyes, he saw Miku eying his little sister and him back and forth in a...way he couldn't fathom. He shrugged off the thought, thinking maybe she wasn't used to seeing him as he is.

They—that man and Rin—offered her to stay for dinner. The girl looked like she wanted to accept. Eventually, she politely declined, Rin chaperoning her home this time around.

Len never thought he would say this, but he wished Miku accepted the dinner invitation.

In the dining room much too big to accommodate only three people, the sounds of dinnerware clanked. The three of them sat, Len, his sister, and his father. The light conversation just reached an endpoint, marking the start of a new topic. And that's where the conversation turned heavy, heavy with responsibility.

"So, Len," his father, the man, started. "You realize that starting from now on you'd have to keep an eye on Miku?"

Len was in the middle of eating, his hand stopped with the food just before his open mouth. He realized he looked ridiculous but he couldn't believe his ears. "C-come again?" he stammered.

The man was unfazed, his calm features familiar. Len realized it was the same calm he used when he was sure someone was about to make an outburst. The man swallowed before speaking. "You heard it loud and clear."

Len really wanted to make an outburst, really he did. However, he felt stunned, the moment of disbelief still present. "But...why?!" he exclaimed, putting down his food.

"For one, you're in the same grade, same class. You watching over her would be the most rational decision."

Rin, who was eating, silently watching them, nodded.

Len wanted to protest, opening his mouth, ready to do it. Then, stuck his tongue out his mouth, deciding against it. The man was right. The logic was sound. Len just mindlessly assumed that after the signing of documents, everything would get back to normal. He almost forgot about the instance Miku almost ratted out at her friends. He didn't tell them, he could handle a single girl. Good thing he was keeping a close eye at her.

Len nodded in understanding, a ghost replica of what Rin did, realizing what he had to be done. All of his qualms were trash, disposed and rendered useless. But the responsibility still weighed like big rocks and it made him fidgety. "Okay, I'll do it," he decided.

"Good," the man simply said.

Len gave a quick smile in return and turned his attention to his food.

Not a moment long, the man spoke again. "You do realize you'll have to do this in the least suspicious way possible," the man pointed out.

"Meaning?" Len queried.

"Meaning," Rin quipped in a know-it-all manner. "You'll have to use your famous acting skills to gain her trust."

The man made a sound of approval. "In another light, you can use this opportunity to actually make some friends. I hear Miku has some kind of reputation in your school."

Len frowned at the man. "Why would I want to be friends with..." that bitch, "with that girl? She's popular and popular girls are annoying. Where did you hear that anyway?"

Rin enthusiastically raised her hand. Len narrowed his eyes at her.

"Make some other friends then. I still don't understand why you insisted on going to school when we could have had you home-schooled," the man said.

Len groaned, shaking his head. "I didn't go to that school to make some friends. Besides, it's such a bother. They chatter about things I couldn't care less or about things I'm involved in. They ogle at girls, thinking that hooking up with this girl is an achievement. And most of them sleep in class, I wonder why they even go to school," he reasoned with an underlying tone of conviction.

The man chuckled softly. "Sure. Whatever you say," he said.

Rin was grinning. "The books couldn't get enough of him, father," she teased.

Len made a face at Rin. "Ha, lame."

"Rin, everyone has their reasons and we'll respect their reasons since he foolishly fought for it. Let's leave it at that," the man said.

She nodded exaggeratedly. "Yes. Yes."

"Rin," the man said sternly.

She sighed. "Alright."

"Just what the hell is this?" she demanded, shoving her phone in front of his face.

Len was in his room, hunched over his study desk, finishing homework. It wasn't due till Wednesday at most, but the geeky thick-glasses Len wanted it done as soon as possible. It helped him ease into a sense of normality—scribbling essays, answering math problems. Was he really a nerd? Maybe. Will he ever admit it as Luke Pandora? No. What he is in his private life was not the showbiz's business.

His bedroom door swung open. Rin stormed inside in a determined gait. He swung on his chair to face her to voice a complaint upon the sudden intrusion, but was beat to it when he was almost punched in the face with a cellphone.

He leaned back slightly, crossing his eye to focus on the phone's screen. It showed a picture of him and a girl in the middle of people, the girl's head was down, like he told her to, and he looked...struggling...but picture-okay. Not picture-perfect, just okay. Looking at the picture, it was reassuring to know that he didn't exaggerate the fact the there were lots of people.

"It says here 'Luke and mystery girlfriend. Gasp. Hands off my property! Die, bitch, die' You know you fangirls are really mindless of your words. Wishing someone to die isn't very nice. It's inhuman you know—"

"You're doing homework at a time like this! Is this the reason why you're late?" Rin exclaimed, obviously furious, pointing at the picture. "Kami-sama, you've been swarmed for a freaking hour?! And why the hell didn't you bother putting any disguise? What the hell were you thinking attracting a large crowd like that? You could have died!"

"Woah, calm your woman parts. No, we weren't swarmed for an hour because if we were, we'd be in the hospital and we're not in the hospital. Just calm down, okay?"

Rin put her hands on her hips. "I can't just calm down! Who knows what rumors will start? What will happen if father finds out, huh? How will he handle this situation? Ah! Just thinking about it stresses me out." She ran a hand across her hair in frustration, messing up the pins she put in them.

Len leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. "So, don't stress out about it," he provided. "Because he won't find out."

"Really?" his sister asked in disbelief.

"Don't tell him."

Rin snickered. "Yeah, right. Even if I don't tell him, it's all over the internet. How will he not find out?"

"That's for me to worry about and you to not mess with," Len replied. "Don't make it look like worse that it seems. I made her cover her face and lots of girls dye their hair to her color. It's a big city."

Rin didn't answer immediately, contemplating her brother's words, trying to find a loophole. Truth be told, she didn't really care about his celebrity business and he knew it. She merely joined in the fandom to make him look good and report if there were any news—such as the picture. "Eh, but..."

"But nah. Look, sooner or later father will hear about this and we'll handle it. Let's just enjoy the calm before the storm. I'm sure he'll find a loophole or an alibi or something," Len stated, turning to his desk, implying the conversation was over since he knew his sister didn't have any more to say.

As he a picked his pen and started scribbling, he heeded the sound of her footsteps and shut the door on the way out. But instead he heard her sit on his bed. He waited for her to leave the room, but she remained. After a while, he spun around to his sister, trying to catch her eye.

Eventually, she met his stare. She had her poker face on, a tell-tale sign that she was thinking about something. He did the same thing when he was deep in thought. Then, she sucked her check, making him raise his eyebrow expectantly. She was onto something.

"You know, I can help you with befriending Miku," Rin said after a long moment of silence.

Len instantly thought of declining his sister's offer. He knew what this was about. She was trying to make herself useful, to help him out. After all, most of their income came from Luke's salary. It was endearing that his sister wanted to lessen the load in any way she can. He decided to entertain her a little. "How?" he asked.

"We used to hang out before," the girl supplied.

This was new information to Len. "Really?" Rin was friends with the bitch? Huh.

"Yeah. She was my onee-san when I was just a freshman. I wasn't in any clubs then. Her friends picked on me but she stopped them. I think she felt obligated to help me find my way around the school after that," Rin narrated, a tiny smile lining on her lips. "She's...kinda nice."

He had to raise both eyebrows to that. Nice? He wanted to tease his sister about it, but thought better of it. "Is that so?" he said.

"Yeah. So, what do you think?"

"It was nice of you to offer...but no," Len answered.

Rin pouted. "I knew you would say that."

Len pressed his lips to a smile. His sister fumed through her nose, narrowing his eyes at him.

She stood up and stomped away to leave, but before she shut the door she said, "I'm telling father!"

How immature. Len shook his head, turning to resume his picked up his pen and before he could ink a dot, he realized that his sister meant something else. She meant about the picture. She was going tell father. Ah, shit.

It was time for bed, so their father had his contacts off and used his glasses instead. The man was scarier with the glasses. His eyes looked sharper, the glint of the glasses making him look much more intimidating.

Len had no choice but to abandon his homework and met the scolding head-on. What a hell of a Saturday.