Halfway through exiting the campus, I realized something. I couldn't go back to Claritate in my reporter outfit. 

I ran to the toilets (they had been pointed out with signs) and quickly changed as fast as I could, cursing myself for my stupidity. I hadn't taken this factor into account, meaning that I could very well be late for recess.

After a few minutes, I exited the bathrooms and started racing towards the exit. Luckily, there was no security guards as they all had moved over to the auditorium.

Just before I left the campus, something caught my attention. About five boys my age were sneaking outside the auditorium, peering through the window with their phones outstretched.

My eyes widened as I recognized Jack and Hayden (Chanel's ex from the social) as two of the five people there. Then I realized that Jack figuring out my crush on Shu wasn't going to just affect me. If Jack really did like me, then Shu would be his rival. 

From the exit, I couldn't see their faces or their expression so I didn't know what they thought about Shu, but something told me that Shu was going to have a complicated time at Amare.

--------------------

Shu's POV

"Shu, sit down."

I obliged, sitting down at the rectangle-shaped table. It was the meeting room of the large apartment the Prime Minister had offered for us to stay in. There was just enough seats for me, my parents, Norman Tarver (Gold Eye), his grandfather, Subete Shitte Iru, Charlie Dilger (Silver Eye) and Ashtem. Right now, four spots on the table were vacant.

Ashtem, Subete Shitte Iru, Charlie Dilger and Mr. Tarver were absent, it was no surprise, seeing as the Prime Minister and CSIRO had been regularly meeting up with them. Everyone had ditched their suits and masks, wearing casual clothes.

"I'm sorry your Mother and I couldn't be here yesterday," apologized Father. Ever since we had come to Earth, they had spent time travelling between Sydney and Canberra, and the list of locations were only going to lengthen. 

I shook my head. "It's alright."

"So, how was the conference?" Mother asked, referring to the event the happened yesterday morning. "Lots of questions."

"Yeah, but they were ones I expected," I replied.

Mother winked. "Did you expect the one about (y/n)? That was a cute little explanation on what you though about her."

I averted my eyes from her childish stare, knowing that deep down, she was shipping us together. "I didn't expect that one."

Before Mother could ask another question, Father interrupted. "Now, , we're not here to tease Shu. We're here to talk about the release of IREL. Like, to Earth's population."

"Isn't that an invasion of her privacy?" I immediately asked. "I know I was filmed on a show too, but my life just revolved around beyblade so it wasn't that personal. But IREL really features her moments of vulnerability. If the whole of Earth saw it, she wouldn't have privacy anymore."

"That is true," Norman Tarver nodded. "Still, I think (y/n) (l/n) should know that her life was being filmed. She deserves to know."

"Alright," Mother frowned, deep in thought. "What if we released the TV show just to her immediate family?"

Her immediate family? 

I ran that through my head. Her parents had no idea how dark things were for (y/n). They're already a little overprotective, this could just make things worse. But, it could also show her parents that (y/n) was fine handling things by herself.

It could go either way. And not only that, but (y/n) would be absolutely shocked to find out that she starred in a TV show popular back in my world. 

"I think that would be good," Father nodded. "Her father is a higher-up in the space department of the science facility we're working with, so her family would find out eventually. What do you think, Shu?"

Thinking things through, I finally responded. "You're right, Father. The (l/n)s are going to find out anyways, so why should it be later rather than sooner?"

"Glad we confirmed that together," Father grinned, already reaching into his pocket for his phone. "I'll tell Theodore about the plans."

I nodded and as my parents started discussing this with Ashtem, I could only wonder how (y/n) and her family might take this news.

--------------------

Your POV 

"(y/n), we need to talk."

Usually my house would be bustling by the time I had gotten home. Instead, it was silent. The maids and butlers weren't running around. There wasn't even any guests or phones ringing. It was still, silent and different to the place I called home.

Something was wrong. I knew it. I dropped my school bag off to the side of the meeting room, where my parents had called me over intercom to talk about something. I sidled into a chair and glanced around the room.

Looking at the serious faces of my parents (who were both not busy for once) and even Blair, I ran through all of the things I shouldn't have done over the past few days.

Immediately, skipping class yesterday popped into my mind. Not only did I skip class, I lied to several teachers, feigned an identity and trespassed. My heart started racing and my mouth felt dry.

Don't panic, I told myself, forcing myself to stay calm. In my head, I quickly ran through everything from the moment I went up to Mrs Norris to when I came back to Claritate yesterday.

My time at Amare had gone smoothly, for the most part. Yeah, there were some suspicious guards, but how could they have linked it back to me? Seeing that I had somehow inherited Blair's talent in makeup, I didn't even recognize myself in the mirror. It was a wonder that Shu recognized me.

The road was completely empty when I went back to school, nobody could've spotted me. And yes, I lost some time because I had to change, but I had made up for it by catching a bus that was just about to leave the stop. I even got to school a little early.

And then I went back to my locker, and no teacher asked me question. Nobody was watching the front gates, and Mrs. Caprit couldn't have been wandering around because she had a lesson in the southern wing.

Nobody else knew that I had left the school grounds. Except for...my classmates. My classmates were the one who taught me how to skip class, after all. Some would dismiss the idea of my skipping school because I'm a 'rich, goody-two-shoes', but others, I'm sure, could see through my lies.

Layla, especially. We had known each other the longest, and until a few weeks ago we had been the closest, so of course she would know when I lie. Chanel, too. Her acid green eyes could see past anything. 

And finally, Ashley. If Layla didn't tell her, then Ashley would've figured it out anyways. She's the smartest in the year level. Both school wise and street wise. 

Hannah or even Mikayla could figure it out too. They knew about the interview and the exact time it started. They know I like anime too, or know about it. 

But then I realized something. If one of the students realized it, even if it was someone I trusted (which is hardly anybody), it would've spread throughout the school like wildfire. But school was completely normal when I come back, so none of them knew. 

Mentally taking a deep breath, I gathered up the courage to put on an innocent face and ask, "Why so serious?"

Mother burst into tears, pulling tissues out of her pockets and blowing on them while Father patter her back and Blair offered more tissues.

I blinked. That was not the reaction I had expected.

"I can see it now," Mother was wailing. "I can see the hurt in her eyes."

"I know, (m/n)," Father nodded grimly, and Blair bit her lip. "I can see it too."

I pointed to myself. "Are you talking about me?"

Mother left the room, crying out, "Why are my daughters such good actresses?"

"I'll bring her back," Father abruptly stood up and walked after Mother.

I turned to Blair, eyebrows raised. "What is going on?"

"I don't know how to explain it to you," she sighed, fiddling with her fingers. "You have starred in a TV Show."

I laughed. "I starred in a TV Show? Impossible. Tell me the real reason, please."

"That is the real reason," she stared directly at me. It was so weird to see the Blair so serious. She showed me a video sent from the head of CSIRO himself.

I clicked on it, and it flashed my face along with some sort of intro. 

Characters were displayed, characters who I knew. There was Chanel, her eyes brighter than usual. There was Jack too, and his eyes looked unreal. The production must've liked editing eyes. There was Layla, and then she walked to join Ashley, who had cold eyes and was shown sitting on this throne. Blair and Jordan were there too.

There were scenes displaying my school, my house and the mall. And then for the final part, it was a picture of me in two areas. By myself, I was crying and I felt alone. But when I was with my friends, I still felt alone but covered it up with a smile.

Then the screen turned black as the intro ended.

"Your life from the beginning of the term was filmed and aired."

"'Aired'?" I repeated. "But aired where? If they aired the TV Show, then wouldn't I know something about it? I've been in the news multiple times, somebody who watched the show would've linked it back to me. And how can I be filmed if there wasn't any cameras?"

"It wasn't aired on Earth," Blair began to explain. "Only in the beyblade realm, or Shinwa, where Shu Kurenai is from. You know, he was in a show too, but the reverse from you. It was aired on Earth, but not in Shinwa.

"And as for the cameras, well, they're new technology from Shinwa. Nano cameras invisible to the eye. They see everything, and then it goes back to the CSIRO equivalent in Shinwa, who decide what to air and what not to air."

"But that's such an invasion of my privacy!" I exclaimed. "Did they film me when I was naked in the shower? Did they film me when I was sleeping? Did they film me at school? At Ashley's party? At the social? Are they filming me now?"

"No, no, they're not filming you now," Blair paused. "I think. But anyways, the cameras were programmed to turn off by themselves when you were sleeping, in the bathroom, and other things that you yourself wouldn't want to be filmed of."

I frowned. "But I don't want to be filmed at all."

"Well, Ashtem or whatever said that your life being filmed was for the greater good," Blair shrugged. "Apparently it's for the people in Shinwa to get to know Earth better. I still think it's BS the way your privacy has been invaded, but it's done. Mother and Father know about it too.

"As soon as Ashtem released it to them, they binged the entire season in one day. I've never seen anything like it. You're the baby of the family, (y/n), so they took it pretty hard that you were getting bullied by Ashley. They also were shocked to find out that you skipped class that one time, you kissed a boy, you wore that dress to Ashley's party and that Layla and Chanel who they believed were so perfect, weren't really perfect after all."

I slumped in my chair, already hearing the scolding from my parents. "I'm going to get told off so badly. Grounded for two years, guaranteed."

"Well, I'll join you," Blair shrugged. "Don't worry, Mother and Father are more angry at me because I had an inkling about it but did nothing. At the party, I did nothing and hurt you emotionally. So, if you get grounded for two years, I'll get grounded for two centuries."

It was silent in the room as I process what I had just heard. When it finally sunk in that I starred in a TV show (which took a while), I slapped my hands to my face and screamed in a way that would've made Kevin from Home Alone run for his money. 

My parents came back into the room, Mother with smeared mascara and Father with a weary look. They immediately wrapped their arms around me, Blair joining in too.

"Oh honey," Mother sobbed. "I'm so sorry."

I blinked again, not sure of what was happening. "But I violated so many of your rules."

"We know," Father said gravely. "And we realize that you're not our baby anymore. You're growing up. You're sixteen now, not eleven. You should be able to kiss a boy and date. You should be able to catch public transport as often as you wanted to. You should be able to make all these decisions, but your Mother and I prevented you from it because we didn't want you to be like Blair."

"Jeez, thanks," Blair rolled her eyes and sat back, crossing her arms.

Father stifled a laugh. "I didn't mean it like that. We just didn't want you to jet across the world like Blair and travel away from us, even though, well, we're the ones who jet across the world and leave you behind." 

"So..." Blair trailed off. "You're not angry at us?"

"At you, very," Mother wagged a finger in Blair's face. "You did nothing when your sister was being bullied! Two months, grounded."

"Okay, that can't be so bad," Blair shrugged.

"No Jordan."

"WHAT!"

While Father was laughing at Blair's misery, Mother tutted, "What should we do about the Holdfar's kid?"

"Fire the parents," shrugged Father. "They work under us, so we do have the power to leave them jobless. And I say they deserve it, their kid not only bullied ours but hacked into our freaking bank account."

Mother nodded in agreement. "I think that's a great idea, and it's not like the Holdfars contributed much anyways. I'll contact them and tell them the-"

"Wait."

It was my first time speaking after my parents said that they were giving me more freedom, and my voice was strangely hoarse. Maybe I was moved by the fact that they realized I was grown up or maybe I was shocked or even excited for freedom. Perhaps a mix. 

I cleared my throat and continued. "Don't fire Ashley's parents. We shouldn't bring her parents into this. They did nothing wrong. It was all completely Ashley. Just, please don't get involved in this drama."

"Are you sure?" Father asked.

I nodded. "Yes. And besides, you said that I'm growing up. I can't depend on my parents to fix al of my problems. I'll deal with Ashley myself."

Mother smiled and squeezed my hand. "That's my girl. And you know, we might even get you a new phone."

As my family proceeded to group hug around me, I couldn't help but smile too and feel that, for once, I had people supporting me.

-----------------------

word count: 2548