Chapter Song - True Colours by Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake

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Beigoma was the friendliest neighbourhood Shu had known his whole life — this is quite a valid statement since he had travelled half the world with his parents. People here were talkative and caring. After long weeks in ships or isolated islands rich with biodiversity, Shu always found himself enjoying watching these people get along with their lives. He had never been at one place for longer than two weeks until a few months ago. It was safe to say he didn't have a permanent building — an enclosed place to call home. Home was wherever he and his parents were — in the middle of the atlantic sea, in the uninhabited islands crawling with snakes, that was where his home was.

Due to this constant movement he didn't have many friends. He was homeschooled, and though at first he was keen to make friendships he later realised it was pointless. To develop a bond that lasted only a several weeks seemed not even worth the effort. He used to envy the lives of the people in the cities they travelled but he loved his life too. Loved the variety of it, how he could learn new things and be with his parents.

He would sacrifice anything to go back to the life he had.

Shu was sitting inside his cousin's apartment in Beigoma. Not the one his parents owned. After the incident he didn't dare to go back to that place, that place crawling with memories of the past. Snippets of moments where they came over to stay back at home to enjoy the holidays.

He leaned against the cushions of the velvety blue couch placed near the long french windows — they were overlooking the clean sandy strip of beach. It was the beginning of Spring and there were a group of children playing with a ball, a family of three collecting seashells. All the things he would never be able to do with his parents again.

In front of him on the coffee table was a crisp long white envelope. Shu was waiting for Zac to arrive after school to see if he had been accepted to this High School. His cousin had been supportive and understanding for these past few months. It was him who suggested that he enrol into a highschool. The thought never crossed his mind until his cousin laid down a stack of leaflets from various highschools in the area — even the Music High he was attending which was in the next town.

He decided to apply. But since he had no official record of academic excellence many of them turned him down—including the prestigious music high school Zac attended. Zac was so heart broken after that one. Shu didn't have a special love for music but many said he did have the talent — besides his father taught him to play the guitar and the piano a bit. At this point of his life, he was ready to go along with anything people said to him. He was desperate for a distraction.

The envelope lying on top of the coffee table was his only hope. The local music academy didn't rely much on the student's past academic reports, rather an interview and a quick test of playing an instrument while singing. Shu went ahead and did it, when he walked out of the interview room, he was quite sure he had blown off the opportunity.

So yes, in fact this envelope didn't give him much hope despite being his only hope.

The jingle of the keys distracted him from staring holes into the envelope. He listened to the footsteps of his cousin as he walked through the main hallway to the sitting room. "Hey, Shooting star" He said with a bright smile offering him the brown paper bag he was holding. His aunt and uncle were out of town for a business trip. Zac was the one taking care of the house and well, him.

"Hello," Shu said, taking it. He didn't have to see the content to determine what it was. The aroma of freshly baked bread invaded his senses. The local bakery made the best bread he had ever tasted, he was not even exaggerating. Shu picked one of them — coated with a light layer of sugar, and took a bite. "The last letter came by the way" He said, dismissively gesturing to the envelope.

Zac blinked and leaped over the sofa almost falling over and planting his face on the tiled floor ungracefully. He grabbed the envelope and looked at Shu, "I'm gonna open it"

Shu shrugged, "Ready to be disappointed again?"

"Don't be pessimistic while eating sugar bread, it doesn't make sense"

Shu elaborately bit into it again. "Yes, sir"

Zac sat down beside him and took a deep breath. Shu watched him with a bemused expression. It was almost as if he was looking at his own results rather than his younger cousin's. Zac carefully ripped it open. Shu watched blankly as his sapphire eyes danced across the white page until it shifted back to Shu. "It's not an acceptance letter"

Shu shrugged, "Knew it"

"It's not a rejection letter either"

"I didn't know it" The albino moved so that he could peer at the letter. He skipped the first lines thanking for applying and got into the middle. He sighed, "They want another interview?"

"Seems like it" Zac said with a hopeful grin. "This is your chance"

Shu popped the last bite into his mouth. "Why?"

"What do you mean why?"

"Why are they telling me to come for a second time if they think I'm good. I don't think going there for a second time would make a difference Zac"

Zac sighed. He placed the letter on the table and slipped a hand around his shoulder. Shu leaned against him, crumpling the empty paper bag in his hands. "Let's give it a try. Please?"

Shu hummed, playing with the bag in half-hearted determination. Did he want to do all this? He didn't know. "Okay" He murmured. "I'll do it"

---

Shu exchanged a worried glance with Zac, "Are you sure it's okay you're skipping school?" He gestured to the surrounding, "For this?"

"What do you mean, this? Mom and Dad couldn't make it today and I'm not going to let you do this alone"

Shu agreed to go to the audition and this time decided to actually make an effort. He didn't have any specific song in mind — he did try to take his mind out of the one that kept echoing in his mind. The one his parents would sing watching a sunset sitting under a hut in an isolated land, the one his mother would sing when he was a child.

"Are you ready?" Zac asked, looking at the building in front of them. The school was facing the sea, the long glass windows in the front giving them a clear view of the wrinkled water and the waves clashing against the sand despite the time of day. Shu could see students in uniforms walking to their classes — most of them had a guitar or violin case slung over their shoulder.

"Kind of want to go home," Shu confessed, following his cousin inside. Shu kept closer to him hoping no one — especially the students passing by, wouldn't take any notice of him. But he had to keep  cursing his popular cousin because most of the students — especially girls recognized him instantly and started murmuring among them excitedly as he passed by. Though he was not from this Music High, Zac's band was popular among many people around the area. He was a natural born entertainer.

When they finally arrived at the interview room, Shu felt his heart skip a beat. Is he really doing this?

"Good luck," Zac whispered with a smile. He patted his back as a teacher walked to them and led Shu to the room. He had been here before. The first round of interviews were also inside this room and he played this exact piano singing a random song he thought would make the judges happy. Apparently, his half-assed attempt didn't work out.

"Mr. Kurenai" The headmaster said. "Please take a seat" Shu walked to the plastic chair waiting for him in front of the long metal table. This place looked like the interrogation rooms in a police station. He glanced at the other two teachers, the judge panel was the same.

"We're delighted to have you back" The headmaster said with a practised smile on his face. Shu bowed his head lightly with a polite smile.

"Thank you for the second chance, sir"

He bit the inside of his cheek looking past theirs head to the grey walls. The pictures of Beethovan, Chopin and other famous musicians were still there, all of them glaring down at him with their judgemental eyes looking into his soul. "So, Mr. Kurenai" Shu turned his attention back to the man. He leaned forward folding his hands on the table. "Why did you apply to this school?"

He answered this same question in the previous interview. He opened his mouth to give him the same answer but was stopped before he could utter the first syllable. "The real reason, we'd like to know"

Shu stopped short. Real reason? He looked back at him with a confused look. He didn't sit down and think of a real reason. He applied to almost all the colleges in the area. Everyone wanted him to have a future and it was ridiculous. When he knew his parents wouldn't have a tomorrow, a future, he felt guilty that he was given the chance to enjoy one. It was just not fair. "I-" He started, why did he apply to a High School that specialised in entertainment anyway?

He had been trying to push back the reason in the very back of his mind. It wasn't a special dream, but it was one of the connections he wanted to keep, to continue. The nights with that guitar, in front of a fire, the songs they would sing until the night shifts to morning and the world would wake up under their voices of glee. To live up to his father's compliments, his mother's dreams of making people smile. "I don't know" Shu said, he wasn't going to be chosen, he might as well tell the truth. "I just wanted to have some connection to the people I loved, I guess" He let out a humourless laugh, "I don't have previous experience like everyone. I just sang for fun with my family" He risked a glance at the judge panel, "And now I'm here to keep continuing it. I want to have something to hold on"

Right. That's what this was. A distraction from all the thoughts.

The headmaster hummed, "The piano is all yours"

Shu stood and quietly made his way to the piano. He placed them on the white keys, reminding himself the first time he ever played one of these. His mother's laughter and his fascination at the different sound every key made. The mess of notes floating across the room —only a distant memory.

He pressed the first note and his fingers effortlessly guided him through the beginning of the song. And before he could grasp the situation he found himself playing something he didn't plan on doing. It was a song he could hear when there was breakfast cooking in the caravan they were using. His mother's voice drifting through the thin door of the vehicle rousing him to start another day.

"You with the sad eyes" He started, his mother's voice reverberating inside his eardrums. "Don't be discouraged, oh I realise" He kept going. The piano in front him dissolved. He wasn't playing in a grey room filled with strangers.

He was inside the dining area of the caravan as his mother piled pancakes on his plate with chocolate sauce dripping from all the sides making puddles across the white plate.

His father's voice interrupts their conversation with the new herbs and plants they found yesterday.

"Show me a smile then" Shu sang, "Don't be unhappy, can't remember when, I last saw you laughing" It was like his mother's voice was talking to him, holding him through an invisible veil of love.

Right, Shu understood. This is why he wanted to be here. To feel that warmth. To feel them. Music was the only way he could connect with them anymore. He wanted to hold onto that hope.

Shu had just started the third verse when the headmaster stopped him. "That's enough, Mr. Kurenai" Shu stopped abruptly in the middle of the song and turned only then feeling the wetness upon his cheeks. He sniffled uncertainly, running his sleeve down his cheeks.

Did he make a mistake? He couldn't remember. "Yes sir" He heard himself saying. He went back to his seat when the man slipped another envelope to him. Shu looked up.

"You can come next week. This has all the details you need to know. Good luck"

Shu sat there, frozen. "Pardon?" He blurted out.

The headmaster laughed, "See you next week, young man"

Shu hesitantly reached out to the envelope and stood. He bowed, "Thank you so much" There were no other words spoken. Shu didn't even understand what happened. He was completely confused when he broke the news to Zac.

But when he walked out of the building with Zac by his side, there was only one thought in his mind.

At least he had a school now.

---

The alarm blared loudly waking him up from his deep sleep. Shu groaned, reaching blindly to stop the ringing sound. Sitting down on his bed, he stretched his arms looking around through bleary eyelids. He was alone in the apartment. Zac almost skipped another day at school but Shu refused to let him do so. He had done enough for him. He had to start taking care of himself. After going through the normal routing Shu stood in front of the closet staring at his uniform.

He still couldn't believe he actually got into High School. Though he refused to show it, there was a sense of happiness collected from his gut. This was the first thing he achieved after the set of incidents. It felt like his first step towards healing.

Shu picked up the gold lined black uniform and pulled on the black pants, the cuffed edges lined with a neat gold line. The white shirt had a set of golden buttons matching the tie every male student had to wear according to the dress code. The last piece was the black blazer, the edges of the pocket over his chest lined with the same cold colour. The badge —a golden phoenix with crimson and orange feathers on top of a triangle, was embroidered on top of it.

Shu stood in front of the mirror and stared at himself for a while. He judgmentally looked at his long white locks. He hadn't done anything to them for a couple of months. As a result of this neglect, they had grown past his shoulder. Shu messed through his drawers and found a random hairband lying sadly on the bottom of it. He had never been a fan of ponytails but it felt like treason to walk into the class with it bothering him from all sides.

"Hope you come home alive" Shu said to his reflection. He grabbed a granola bar from the kitchen and downed a glass of milk a few minutes before taking off. The moment he stepped out of that apartment building, that safe haven, for a second his mind wandered whether this was all a mistake.

He could see groups of students in different school uniforms —middle schoolers, high schoolers, all of them walking to their school as if this was the most normal thing in the world, which it was. He wished he didn't have to walk alone. It would be only for this month, he knew. The Beigoma Music High School had dorms. First year students were admitted from the second month which means three weeks from now on.

The second interview had its own consequences. Not only did he start school a week after the rest of his classmates, he was also in Class 1E which was the one with the weakest —or the ones who performed poorest, students in the interview. He had no problems with it. He was not particularly good at this, he knew. But at least if was allowed to start school the same day as others, he wouldn't be in the centre of attention.

Shu walked towards the massive black gates in front of the school where students were freely walking in. Mostly first years, Shu thought. The seniors came to school from the dorms. He blankly watched the group of students walking in, chatter and hustle filling the cold spring morning.

He mixed in with the students trying his best not to look out of place. He had burned the map into his memory. His class was the cornerst in the first floor —the only one facing the grey and white boring buildings of the gymnasium and the studios. They didn't have the privilege to look at the beach and space out.

He abruptly came to a stop in front of the class. He could see the students talking with each other inside. He decided to wait outside. There was no way he was going in and introducing- He stumbled forward when someone bumped into him from behind. "I'm sorry," A loud voice said.

Shu turned, surprised. "Uh, it's okay" He mumbled uncertainly looking at the male standing in front of him with a sheepish grin.

"Look where you're going, Valt!" Another guy said, reaching up to him. But Valt wasn't listening. His eyes were fixated on Shu.

"I haven't seen you before" He said, frowning. "Are you new!?"

The students inside the classroom were looking at them interested in the commotion. Thankfully, before Shu could answer, the bell rang, its deep sound resounded through the halls as students hurried to their classroom leaving only Shu standing unsurely by the door. He could feel their gazes burning upon his skin.

He could only sigh in relief when the teacher walked in. A middle-aged man with messy black locks falling across his face. He stopped to take in Shu, "You must be Mr. Kurenai"

Shu nodded, "Yes sir"

"I'm Takahashi Daisuke, your class teacher" He gestured into the classroom, "Come in"

Shu followed him into the classroom, his eyes fixated upon the white shirt of his teacher. "Introduce yourself please" He said, turning to the albino.

Shu stood in front of the class and finally allowed his eyes to shift through the nineteen faces looking back at him —expectant and curious. He bowed before speaking. Japanese etiquette was something his parents drilled into his brain since he was a child. Just because he was away from his motherland most of the time didn't mean he could forget the culture. "My name's Kurenai Shu, nice to meet you all" He said, unsure what else to say.

His class teacher waited for a beat before continuing. "Any volunteers to show him around the school?"

The guy who bumped into him earlier raised his hand in excited glee. "Very well, Mr. Aoi" He said. He then guided Shu towards the seat near a window overlooking the sad-looking grey building and the open stadium where students played tennis. When the students finally stopped stealing glances at him judging like he's an exotic animal, Shu allowed him to relax.

It had finally started.

He was finally attending a school.

And he had no idea what he was supposed to do from now on. 

A/n

As you can see I changed the whole plot. Yes, things are going to be a lot different except for the strongest plot points of the story. 

This is still a Wakiya x Shu story and there would be a lot of angst as before. But there will be few grammatical mistakes and few plot holes i guess???? And yeah I'm not going to haul all the characters mindlessly into the book again sniffles that where things went south ikik

soooo yea! Sorry for changing the whole thing ig. But look forward to it! I've made the plot lot more cleaner i promise. Less confusion and more drama it is!

Aged up characters - they are sixteen

Don't ship it, don't read it. 

Turning this mature due to heavy themes I'm going to add in the future. 

Idol/ Music High au 

That's it! Enjoy! See you guys <333 I love you all sm 

i swear i'm high. Idk why i'm updating so much. im literally writing like im outta my mind ;-;