"PREEEEEEESIDEEEEEENT!"

I ran through the halls in the hell-suit, wailing like a small child. I didn't care that everyone was looking at me, or I was inconveniencing some actor with his memorization. This was worth pissing someone off.

I ran up two flights of Stairs, barging into the president's office with no warning and no sympathy for the broken door. The man was sitting behind his desk in a tuxedo with a top hat, smoking a cigar. "Mogami-San! You look well!"

I held up the cause of my pain with one hand. On the top of the script in bold letters was written "Sin And Atonement" with the name of the director under. The picture on the front showed a drawn half naked woman sitting on a table, drinking alcohol, with a man's tie around her neck.

I wanted to die.

The President only looked at it briefly before raising an eyebrow. "yes?"

Anger coursed through my veins. I angrily approached the desk. "you...want me...to do...a SMUT?!"

The president leaned back. "it isn't a smut. There isn't any GRAPHIC scenes, just some very CLOSE to graphic scenes."

"but I'm a minor! You can't make me do this!"

The president only sighed. "one, you are technically emancipated from your family and so you count as an adult, and two: if you don't like what I give you, go to a different agency. This is one drama you WILL DO."

"but its LEWD! Japanese women aren't LEWD!" I defended. "WE ARE AS FRESH AS THE NEW-FALLEN SNOW!"

"which doesn't change the fact that youre going to be lewd for a short period of time."

My eyes filled with tears. "BUT PRESIDENT-even the title is lewd! I don't want to have the reputation of a...a..." my voice fell to a whisper. "...a slut."

The president's eyes became the size of blimps, but he only chuckled faintly. "it's a role, not a life sentiment. You need to expand your horizons for characters past the darkness you're famous for. This means doing sluts too. You were okay with doing Setsu, who is everything you don't like, and you weren't even scripted! That is the professional attitude I need from you right now."

I could see that I was going to get absolutely nowhere. "but..."

The president stroked his beard hair cockily, instead of listening to my unchanging cries."well, how's this: if you can successfully do this one drama professionally, I will let you graduate LoveMe forever."

That was it. The light at the end of the tunnel. I could feel my happy antennae come out of my head at the president's words. I WANTED TO GRADUATE SO BAD! No more hell-suit! NO MORE BEING TALKED ABOUT BEHIND MY BACK! The world could be mine to conquer! It would be another step in the direction of becoming Japan's top female actor, and starring in a film with my Sempai, my latest dream.

The happiness I was feeling overpowered my need to kill the script. "forever and ever?"

The president stood, took off his top hat, placed it on his chest and bowed deeply. "you have my word."

At that moment, everything was good and fine in the world. Except one nasty little bug on my windshield: "who is my co-star?" which caused the President to choke on air.

"its a secret."

(Ren POV)

My ears were still ringing from Izayoi's angry cries. Once she realized that she was being fired, she had tried to do come back and redo it professionally but Seduyu-San wasn't having it. Three strikes, and the girl was finished. Which was lucky for me because it was rare that I found an actor so terrible. In that moment, he called up the president to alert him on the situation. I sat in his office, utterly pissed. The phone was on speaker.

"a replacement? For an actor as good as Izayoi?"

The director burst out laughing. "you mean, 'for an actor as FAMOUS as Izayoi', not GOOD. It was a complete mistake to cast her in the role. She simply doesn't have the professional quality needed to make this story realistic. I was hoping that perhaps you would know someone."

We could hear the president suavely swish his drink around his glass, and imagine him narrowing his eyes in thought. Both the Director and I stared at the phone as he weeded through girls in his head. At last, he took in a breath and said clearly, "I do think I have what you're looking for."

Which brought us to today.

I sat in my dressing room at LME, the home away from home where I could recoup in the few minutes I had between jobs. There was a few water bottles in the mini fridge, but nothing to eat. Not that I wanted to eat-I wanted to puke. In a few minutes, Kyoko would be receiving the script, and I had no doubts she would try to refuse. Although the president claimed to know how to keep her from refusing, it wasn't exactly reassuring. I began to pace around the room.

What would I do if she said no? Of course, I would still have to do the drama-after all, I was the title character-but she wouldn't have to. How would I feel? I already felt sick to my stomach.

Suddenly, a small knock entered my thoughts. "Tsuruga-San?"

I immediately went to the door. Opening it, I saw the girl looking downcast, wearing her obnoxious uniform. A small smile came onto my lips. "what's wrong?"

She held up a small white box. It looked a lot like a cardboard lunch box. "the studio brought us Bentos today. And, I sort of need to talk to someone."

Her eyes were pleading, like she was a scared little girl who had just woken up from a nightmare. I opened the door wider. "come in, Mogami-San."

She stepped in lightly, and placed the lunch on the desk. From the angle, I could clearly see the wadded up script in her belt. She hadn't thrown it away, which meant there could be a chance. She pointed at the bento. "this is for you-I already had mine. since you skipped, you are going to eat every bite of food in it. I don't care if you think it's disgusting- you will do it."

"of course." I ran a hand through my hair. "I'm sorry I made you worry."

The little auburn haired girl gave me a small, lovely smile. "it's okay...I don't mind looking out for you. It's just...I have a problem."

I leaned up against the desk with my water bottle, while she sat up straight in the chair, her hands clasped together. "you see, I have to perform in a rather...lewd drama."

The way she said it made it obvious that she had no idea who her co-star was. I wondered what her reaction would be if I told her, but let her continue on anyways.

"you see, I didn't want to do it, but the president said I would be able to graduate from the loveMe section if I did."

"so you're going to do this drama?"

She nodded sadly. "yes. I'm telling you because I don't want you to think that I'm a...sl...slut."

A slut. The most naive girl in the world being a slut?! All because of a role?!

"is this role more seductive then Setsu?" I asked calmly, the answer already there.

"...yes."

She refused to make eye contact with me thereafter. "it's not a bad drama, and I'm happy I got chosen, but I still feel too young to be-"

"-Mogami-San: if you were chosen, it's because the president does not doubt your abilities. What's the drama called?"

"Sin and Atonement."

I smiled haughtily. "I have a little secret to share with you."

She lifted an eyebrow, and then her entire being. "YOU KNOW WHO MY COSTAR IS?!"

I could only sigh. "very well in fact."

"WHO?!"

I looked down at myself, then back up at the girl. "me."

REVIEW!