68A/N: Hello everyone! Here I am with Ghosts of the Liepard, the sequel to Eye of the Liepard! :D
So if you haven't read that, I highly recommend you do because a lot of things here probably won't make much sense.
Main shipping is Contestshipping this time, with the side ships being Ikarishipping, Leafgreenshipping (Oldrival) and Pokeshipping! Oh, also Kalosshipping and some SoulSilvershipping.
Anyway, enjoy, and see you at the end!
"You often meet fate on the road you take to avoid it."
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Chapter One: Fame
"That was brilliant, girls!"
Eye of the Liepard's manager, Jeffrey Akhmetov, stepped into the recording booth as the four girls wrapped up the song. He clapped loudly, a large smile slapped on his face.
"And this concludes the recording, for your second album: Unknown!" he exclaimed, sarcasm dripping off his final words. His smile dropped into a deadpan. "How many times have I told you that we need a name for this album, A.S.A.P?"
"We're sorry, Jeff," Dawn apologised, sighing. "We just haven't had the inspiration yet."
The hazel-brunet manager sighed, running a hand through his short hair. He pushed up his glasses, nodding to himself.
"Okay. Look, girls," he began, speaking slowly, as if he was speaking to a child, "everyone is expecting this to be a spectacular album from their favourite girl band in the entire world." He paused. "It's going to be released to the public in one month and there's still no title for it?"
The four musicians had no answer as they stood there in silence. Two years ago, one year after participating in Kalosian Idol, they had released their first album, named Eye of the Liepard. To no one's surprise, it became best-selling and sold millions of albums in the first few weeks.
"We'll get to it by tomorrow night," Leaf said, nodding. "Promise."
May bit her lip, daring to turn on her phone on to check the time. She had a lunch to attend in less than half an hour, and their strict manager didn't show any signs of letting them go anytime soon.
"I have to go to the bathroom," she said randomly, feigning an apologetic expression on her face. She took her bag, and headed towards the door of the studio.
Misty raised a brow. Her fiery hair had grown out over the three years, into long locks that reached mid-back. "With your bag?"
"Yep," May replied casually, exiting the room. Once she was out, she hurried to the lift. After reaching the ground floor, she briskly walked to the car. She sighed in relief after shutting the door behind her.
"Take me to Striaton Restaurant, as fast as possible."
The celebrity entered the restaurant, which no doubt had been booked out entirely for her. She smiled at the waiters and waitresses, who looked extremely star-struck. She walked past them, spotting the ruby-eyed celebrity.
"Sorry I'm late," May apologised, taking a seat opposite him. She looked around at her surroundings, smiling. "I'm glad you really did book out the whole restaurant."
Brendan smiled back, letting out a small sigh. "It wasn't hard," he said, smirking, "and anything for you."
May's smile didn't fade as she read through the menu. The words Brendan said to her made her feel loved, but not as loved as one certain person once did. The two chatted on until their food arrived.
"So what are you doing after this?" Brendan asked, taking a bite of his pasta.
"We have a meeting with Ghost of the Night, apparently," May replied, rolling her eyes. "I think Jeff was about to tell us why, but I left early to come here."
The solo artist's crimson eyes, which glinted with distrust, narrowed after the name of the band was mentioned.
"Oh."
May hummed in reply, checking the time. "I gotta go," she said apologetically, standing up. "I'm late for the meeting."
"Sure," Brendan replied with a nod. They walked out to the door together, and he gave her a small wave. "I'll see you later."
May smiled back brightly, waving. Then, as she got into the car and out of sight, the smile disappeared completely.
"She's late," the auburn-haired band member said, sighing. "Again."
Cindy, Ghost of the Night's manager, face-palmed in frustration. She turned to Jeffrey, Eye of the Liepard's manager, and glared furiously.
"Can't you manage your members better?" she half-yelled, holding her fist up to him. "You're such a carrot, my gosh."
Jeffrey simply rolled his eyes, pushing the short brunette away by her face. "It's not my fault she decides to arrive everywhere at her own time."
Paul folded his arms, muttering something in annoyance. "Can't we just get on with it?" He rolled his eyes. "Who knows if she'll get here at all?"
There was a silence, everyone considering what to do for May's absence. Then, Jeffrey finally spoke up.
"Fine," he said sharply. "We will begin the meeting without her."
Cindy fell into her seat with a barely audible, "Thank Arceus." The others around her did the same, but silently.
"It's quite simple," Jeffrey began, pacing slowly at the front of the room. He turned to them, smiling. "We have permission from our company for you both," he said, pointing to the two bands, "to go on tour together!"
The room was silent for a few moments, but then broke out in chatter.
"Really?" Leaf asked, her eyebrows raised. She grinned, chuckling. "That's pretty cool."
"Isn't that awesome, Drew?" Ash asked, turning to his chartreuse-haired bandmate. He was grinning, his chocolate eyes twinkling.
Drew seemed to be thinking about something, but then folded his arms. He gave a small nod, turning to Ash. "Yeah," he replied half-heartedly, as his thoughts were on something else.
Most of his memories hadn't returned, but he still did feel connections and feel familiar around people he used to know. Day by day, though, random memories would pop into his mind by some sort of trigger.
And thankfully, he still had his talent and the same smart personality.
The door burst open, a panting May appearing in the doorway. She looked up at them, a genuine apologetic expression on her face this time.
"Did I miss anything?"
Dawn sighed, but looked up at May with a small smile. She stood up, heading to the doorway. "We'll tell you when we get home." With that, the bluenette turned around to leave the place.
May headed to her manager, who looked extremely displeased with her. She gave him a sheepish look. "I'm sorry, Jeff-"
"Save it," Jeffery replied with a groan, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't have the time for your excuses right now. Go home." He turned away, taking his folders in his hand.
May did feel bad for her manager, but decided to leave it at that. She turned away to head towards the door. As she exited, she raised her eyebrows to see none other than Drew Hayden leaning on the wall, his arms crossed. His eyes were closed, and there was a smirk on his face.
She had tried her best to ignore him ever since he woke up from the coma, but sometimes it did prove to be inevitable. After all, they were closely related bands. Also, the fact that Dawn, Leaf and Misty were in relationships with his bandmates didn't help either.
May attempted to walk past him without him noticing, but his eyes opened. Sapphire met emerald as their eyes made contact.
"What're you doing here?" May asked, as if she hadn't just tried to think of several dozen different ways to pass him, as if he was the bridge troll.
"I was waiting," he replied simply, smirking. He paused slightly. "For you."
The sceptical girl raised a brow. "Why?"
"Why not?"
Sapphire blue eyes narrowed, as the opposite emerald ones glinted with amusement. May turned to walk away down the corridor, and heard Drew's voice once more.
"May."
She shook her head and continued on walking, trying her best to ignore him.
"I know you."
Her heart skipped a beat and she stopped walking, her eyes widening. She turned her head to look at him, and he was still in the same position down the corridor.
"Well, duh," she replied, turning back around. As she finally turned the corridor to get out of his sight, she leaned on the wall and breathed deeply.
She knew what Drew had really meant by I know you, but decided to act oblivious anyway. And for the first time in the past three years, her heart raced – because of a boy.
"Where were you?" Gary asked, as their green-haired bandmate entered the car. He raised an eyebrow after seeing the satisfied smirk on Drew's face.
Drew turned to look at the asker, and then his turned back to gaze out of the window. "I had something to tell May."
Paul, Ash and Gary exchanged looks slightly, being sure not to make themselves suspicious of their amnesic friend. They were told specifically by May that they were not to mention a single word about Drew's past with her, no matter what.
"Tell her what?" Paul questioned, a glint of curiosity in his dark eyes.
His chartreuse-haired bandmate shrugged, not taking his gaze away from the window. "Nothing," he said. After a pause, a tiny smirk appeared on his face. "She's just quite… interesting."
The monotonous ex-assassin raised a brow, opening his mouth slightly to talk. Then, he paused and decided not to question Drew any further. "I see," he replied simply.
Drew hummed shortly in reply, leaning his chin on his fist. His eyes narrowed as the thought of the Eye of the Liepard member took over his mind. He had some researching to do.
May Maple… Who are you?
As the large doors to the mansion opened, the four band members entered the house with smiles on their faces. Little did they know, the smiles wouldn't last for long.
"Come on, guys," May said with a playful eye roll as she placed her bag down on the kitchen counter. "We're home now. What's the big news?"
"Should we tell her?" Misty teased, gazing around at the others. She giggled at the curious brunette's expression.
May puffed her cheeks, hands on hips. "Of course you should!"
"Okay, okay," Leaf said with a chuckle, taking a seat on a kitchen bench stool. She paused, grinning. "We get to go on tour with the guys!"
There was a silence, all three of them waiting for May's reaction – which they expected to be joyful and filled with excitement.
"Wait, which guys?"
Unfortunately, they had anticipated it wrong.
"Ghost of the -" Dawn paused, realising halfway through her sentence that their sapphire-eyed bandmate would most likely have an issue with the 'good news'. "… Night."
May turned to look at all four in disbelief. "Ghost of the Night?" she repeated incredulously, narrowing her eyes. "And you think I'll be just be cool with that?"
"Well, why not?" their athletic ginger friend replied, folding her arms. "It's a great opportunity, both for our name and financially."
"Not to mention, it'll be pretty darn fun," Leaf added quickly, holding up an index finger as she made the point.
"You know what?" The shocked brunette's royal blue eyes were narrowed, rage evident on her facial expression. "You guys have changed."
Misty raised a brow challengingly. "And you haven't?" she shot back with the same tone. "You're the one that's changed the most, May!"
"And you guys just decide I'll be all happy going on tour with Drew, when all of you are happily in love with his bandmates?" the furious brunette half-yelled, ignoring Misty. "He's dating Jess, and you guys know better than anyone else about the pain he caused me!"
Dawn shifted uncomfortably at the mention of their lovers, and decided to stay silent.
"This isn't only about you," Leaf began, as calm as possible, "we understand, but it's not like you haven't been selfish at all." She folded her arms, pausing. "Right, May?"
The silent bluenette decided to add in a comment, sighing. "This is about us, May, altogether as a band."
"Yeah? Well then, I don't want to be a part of it."
There was a silence, before May took hold of her bag and turned away to head for the door. She was in front of the large double doors when she stopped, turning in her spot.
"Oh, and I've got that name for the album." She paused, mock-thinking. "Why don't we call it, Ghosts of the Liepard?"
And with that, she left the house, leaving nothing but the echoed sound of the doors closing.
A/N: First chapter and drama already? Yep, 'cause that's how I roll. XD That was short, but I will try my absolute best to make the other chapters much longer. Thing is, school is back and I have less free time now. D:
So, this might be and probably will be shorter than EOTL, but I don't know for sure... And another thing, I think I'm going to start replying to your reviews via PM, and the guest reviews on my A/N. So you will still be receiving a reply, but even better for those with accounts because I can reply straight after I see your review! :D
Anyway, leave a review and tell me how it was! I need the inspiration, it's crucial! :P Any suggestions, comments, constructive criticism and random blabbering is welcome. :D