New Fic
Well, an old one, actually - one that's been drifting around in my mind since I read Ceres: Celestial Legend. Hope you all enjoy!
Truth and Lies
Chapter One
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from Ceres: Celestial Legend and I’m not making any money from this fic. Anything you don’t recognise from the books, I probably own. Anything you recognise from another fandom, I probably don’t own
Summary: Although Shuro’s intention was to kill herself during the final concert, a person ends up in the hospital who looks exactly like the pop star - with the slight difference of being a man...
Warning(s): Spoilers for the manga series of Ceres: Celestial Legend; Alternate Universe; original characters; violence; will contain spanking eventually
Author’s Note: Sorry for my lack of updatage in... anything. I’m hoping this’ll make me feel more inspired to go back to my other work. And the plot of this story comes from a film I saw several years ago. I forget the title of the film, but some elements are the same. Please enjoy this!
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Voices - echoing unnaturally loud - sounded in the person’s ears. He wanted to cover his ears, but for some reason, his body wouldn’t obey him. Pain was stabbing through his head, and he couldn’t help crying out. Something cool and wet touched his forehead, and then the pain was receding - but he could still hear the voices.
“Isn’t that Shuro? You know; the pop star from GeSANG?”
“That’s impossible. You saw what happened at the concert.”
“Yeah - but with special effects these days, anything is possible, right? And who knows what really happened?”
Was he Shuro? The thought of the name didn’t bring any feeling of recognition with it; and the voices he was hearing didn’t trigger any feeling of emotion. The faint antiseptic scent suggested that perhaps he was in a hospital - but he couldn’t force his eyes open to tell for sure.
“Sir, if you can hear me, I’m Doctor Sato,” a woman’s voice said calmly. “We’re just treating you right now, so don’t worry about anything except for getting better.” There was a moment’s pause, and then she continued, “We’re about to give you an anaesthetic in case you are aware of what’s going on. Please relax and don’t fight it.”
Even if he’d wanted to protest, he was unconscious before he could do so.
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When he woke up again, it was to find himself in a hospital bed. This time, he could open his eyes and look up at the ceiling; and the antiseptic scent was strong enough to risk making his eyes water.
“Oh, good... You’re awake. How are you feeling?”
He recognised the voice as belonging to the doctor who had spoken to him while he was unconscious, and glanced to the side, wincing at the slight pain in his neck which came from sleeping in a strange position. “What happened to me?” Well, that was what he intended to say - but what actually came out of his mouth was something which sounded like a gurgle more than actual speech.
“Here, let me.”
He felt something cold against his lips, and opened his mouth so that he could drink the water. He drained the entire cup in one gulp, and immediately, his mouth felt less dry. “What happened to me?” This time, the words came out properly. But nothing about his voice seemed familiar, and he winced at the way it seemed to boom around the room.
“I’m afraid we don’t know what happened to you, and were hoping you could enlighten us,” Doctor Sato answered. “Your girlfriend found you collapsed on the street and brought you to the hospital.”
He had a girlfriend? He blinked up at the doctor, struggling to focus. Gradually, her form became sharper; clearer. “I don’t remember what happened to me. I don’t remember anything about myself.” He couldn’t keep the panic out of his voice, no matter how hard he tried. The thought of never being able to remember anything about himself was truly frightening.
Doctor Sato frowned, but didn’t look terribly worried. “You had a lot of terrible wounds when you were brought in three days ago. In fact, I’m surprised you’ve even woken up this quickly - and your wounds seem to be healing faster than I’d expect. But partial or even full memory loss is common in cases like these; and it’s more than likely you’ll eventually get those memories back - though it may be that you’ll never remember entirely what caused those injuries.”
“Do I have a name, at least...?”
“The administration staff believe that you are Shuro; one of the singers from the duo group GeSANG. It is true that you look almost identical to the singer - but Shuro died during the last performance of GeSANG; and it was also revealed that she was in fact a woman. And there is no doubt that you are a man.”
He turned his face away to stare at the wall. “Still... Shuro is as good a name as any; and until I find my own, I may as well use that one.” He looked at the doctor again as a thought struck him. “What about my family? Surely my parents - or any brothers and sisters - would have reported me missing.” And surely his girlfriend would have contacted his family while he was in hospital?
“We did ask your girlfriend - her name is Kanae, by the way - about your family; but she told me that she hasn’t met your family yet, and has no idea of how to contact them.”
Shuro frowned as he tried to work out if he was the sort of person who wouldn’t introduce his girlfriend to his family, but just ended up giving himself a headache. “Is she here? Kanae, I mean?” Her name didn’t trigger any feelings that he would expect when thinking of a girlfriend. Was that normal with amnesia? Surely the feelings would still be there, even if the memories weren’t?
“She’s been in the waiting room, only going home to get a few hours of sleep before coming back and waiting for you to wake up.” Doctor Sato walked over to the door. “I’ll tell her to come in and see you - but you two won’t be able to talk for long, since you still need to get plenty of rest.”
A part of Shuro wanted to protest to that comment, but the pain persuaded him otherwise. Even if he was healing remarkably fast, it was obvious that he still wasn’t completely well again, otherwise he wouldn’t be feeling so tired. But he still wanted to see his supposed girlfriend. Even if the name didn’t trigger anything, then perhaps seeing her face would make him feel something, at least. Even anger would be better than this emptiness.
“Um... The doctor said you wanted to see me?”
When Shuro glanced at Kanae, the first thought he had was that she looked so ordinary. For some reason, he’d been expecting her to have bleached blonde hair. But maybe he was thinking of a sister or something; and at least that meant he was remembering something, even if what he was remembering didn’t make much sense.
“You’re my girlfriend, right?” Shuro smiled - or tried to, anyway. “I don’t know how much Doctor Sato told you, but I don’t remember anything. I’m hoping you’ll be able to tell me about myself, or direct me to someone who can.”
“To be honest... you didn’t tell me much about your family.” Kanae walked over and carefully sat down on the chair next to Shuro’s bed. “Your name is Shuro, and I always thought maybe you were the Shuro from GeSANG. But... well, that Shuro turned out to be a woman.” She didn’t look at him as she spoke.
Shuro frowned and pushed himself up slightly. A part of him thought about reaching for her hand - but without his memories, doing something like that just seemed strange. Besides, her hands were clasped in her lap; and she seemed to be feeling as out of place as him. But then, of course, he couldn’t very well blame her. Surely it was natural to feel strange around someone who had lost all memory of her... “Did the doctor happen to mention when I’ll be able to leave the hospital?” he asked, attempting to change the subject and make things at least slightly less awkward for them.
“Umm...” The corners of Kanae’s mouth twitched - as if she wanted to smile but didn’t feel able to. “If the rate of your healing stays the same, Doctor Sato says that you should be well enough to leave in two days’ time - maybe even tomorrow.” She hesitated and then offered, “I guess you don’t have a place to stay... My apartment isn’t big, but you can always sleep there for a while.”
“I guess we haven’t got to the moving in stage yet, huh?” Shuro smiled. “You don’t have to worry... I’ll be too busy trying to relearn what I’ve forgotten to put the moves on you. And, of course, I have to get a job so that I can pay the medical bills...”
“You don’t have to worry about that straight away. I had some money put aside... I used it to pay for your medical bills.” This time, Kanae gave a real smile. “You don’t have to pay me back... I always put something aside in case there are any emergencies.”
“What do you work as?”
“A library assistant. I know it’s not very glamorous, but... It pays the bills, and that’s really what’s important.” Kanae shrugged, and then glanced at the door. “Oh... I can see Doctor Sato. I guess my time is up. I should get going - I have to work anyway.” She stood up.
“You know... I don’t bite. You can kiss me; or I can kiss you. I’m guessing we got that far in our relationship.”
“I wouldn’t want to risk aggravating your wounds...” But Kanae leaned down and lightly brushed her lips against Shuro’s cheek. Then, she stepped back. “That didn’t trigger any memories?”
You seemed to need a kiss...
Shuro shook his head slightly at the words that echoed through his mind. Something he’d said... or something someone had said to him? Either way, the words didn’t make much sense on their own. “No... nothing.” He turned his head towards the wall again. “Send the doctor in when you leave, will you? I’d like to talk to her.” He looked at Kanae again. “I’ll see you tomorrow... right?”
“Yes... I’ll be back.” Kanae smiled a smile which didn’t seem to reach her eyes, and then walked out of the room.
End of Chapter One