"A-an-anou, Takarada-sensei?" Guro called, raising her hand. Kyoko noticed at once that Guro painted her nails pink, black, and yellow to match her uniform. Takarada responded with a mischievous hum and listened to his little she-devil. "If I'm supposed to be a third wheel in this sibling complex, shouldn't I have more information on the characters? I don't know how to be someone's cousin without knowing what kind of person my cousin is going to be."
"Let's start this exercise by asking Tsuruga-san about his character, shall we?" Lory said, smiling and chuckling. This was going to be good. "Ren!"
"H-hai?" Ren replied, startled by the deep boom of the president's voice.
"Give a summary of your character to your new cousin," the president said.
"My character's name is Cain Heel. He is an impulsive," Ren paused for a moment to choose his words carefully then continued when he found the right one, "and careless individual who is scary to others around him with exception to his sister, Setsuka Heel. Around his sister, he becomes immature and dependent of her without fully realizing it himself. When she's in danger, he becomes protective of her and will fight savagely but in a controlled manner."
"My character is Setsuka Heel," Kyoko says, smiling brightly. "She is protective of her brother, Cain Heel, and his reputation as an actor. She acts as a mother to him sometimes. She cares for Cain deeply to the point where it feels like she is in love with him. She gets into trouble when her brother's not around and when he shows up more trouble comes up."
"Oh, I think I'll fit right in," Guro commented, feeling at one with the characters. "By the way that you're dressed, I take it you're both dangerous-looking and roguish on the outside but as characters you both have genuine feelings of vulnerability, fear, and loneliness on the inside, ne?"
Kyoko and Ren gasped at this. Guro actually sort of had it right! Lory then thought Guro would have been something fierce had she been an actress. As Guro asked a few questions to clarify the individual characters and their interests, Lory thought of a complete character description and analysis for Guro. Naturally, Guro was a dangerous-looking woman who was impulsive and destructive, so she understood the importance of being a dark character. What was tricky was having her blend in with the Heel siblings, who normally have wholesome images out of the black clothes, and make it a natural feud between Ren over Kyoko's affection. Guro was naturally dark and scary without the black; she was wearing pink and she still looked like a servant of Death! Plus, she was supposed to make a few songs for the soundtrack of Ren's new movie. Acting and practicing might not be able to mix, especially if Guro is hired for other LoveMe assignments. She seems to grab jobs pretty easily, which isn't normal of a LoveMe girl, and she actually enjoys all the jobs she obtains. There's no complaining with her at all!
This is too easy for her… Lory grumbled to himself as he thought. She's the creepiest-looking lady in all of LoveMe, yet she gets jobs one on top the other and gets high scores on top of that! If she hadn't screwed up, she would've had 200 points in the bag on the first day.
"Mogami-san?" Lory called, folding his arms. "Tomorrow morning when Guro comes back to start her acting exercise, I would like to see your LoveMe pad. I need to make some stat summaries for all members."
"Hai, President-san!" Kyoko answered, noticing he called Guro by her first name.
"Hiyashinsu-san, I'll need yours as well," Lory said, earning a nod from the woman. "On to more important matters, Hiyashinsu-san is an aspiring musician who Nakazawa is going to be watching until her debut made by me. That means I'll decide how you come out into the world with your first album, Hiyashinsu-san."
"Oh, I already have the first album done, sir," Guro says, hissing to herself for not telling Nakazawa or Lory that she came to company with the album already put together. "I forgot all about that. Once you allow me to start recording, it'll be for the fourth album. The first three are finished."
"A-amazing!" Nakazawa complimented. She already knew what she wanted to do before she got signed! He grabbed Guro's hands and nodded, "That must've been a lot of work. How'd you finish them all?"
"Each one was done a week after the other," Guro said. "The only thing I worry about is the concept of each album because the theme actually changes dramatically. The demo I turned in was just a song I made up on the spot. I got it from listening to enka music after two hours on a trip to Okinawa."
"Oh, really?" Lory said, glaring and emanating the most intimidating aura in Ren's dressing room. "I'd like to hear this first album of yours that was done, Hiyashinsu Guro-san. Please show it to me tomorrow morning along with your LoveMe pad for the stats reading."
"No problema, señor," Guro answered, saluting the president nonchalantly. Everyone glanced at Guro in shock at her unfazed expression to the president's anger. Lory was getting angrier and angrier at this woman by the minute. "Since I'm done with the questions from the characters here, where do I exactly fit in? They seem perfect without me."
"Hmph!" Lory huffed, blowing steam out of his nostrils. He pointed a sharp finger at Guro's forehead, nearly leaving an imprint on it. "Your name is Umi Heel, daughter of Cain and Setsuka's unmarried and deceased aunt. You and Setsuka used to play together the most growing up, and she has always shown support in getting over your dead mother."
Nakazawa gasped and tried to wave his arms frantically to warn If not stop Lory from going on the subject of Guro's mother. No, no, president-san! You've gone too far out of anger! She might punch you instead of walls!
"Because you two were close, you get jealous of Cain for having her to himself while you survive in this bitter world alone trying to find your way. You and Cain are both pigheaded, strong individuals from not only taste but professional careers. Umi wants to be the rock star; Cain wants to be the actor. Since Umi is supposed to do the soundtrack for Cain's movie, she's in his face about having Setsu to herself. Now figure out how to do all of that by tomorrow!"
With that, Lory stomped out of the room and left everyone in a daze. Even Ren had never seen that side to Lory. He didn't know whether to say Guro was amazing to change Lory like that from her actions or was a fool for daring to oppose him, but she didn't do it on purpose, though, right? The other men were confused as well, but they took the awkward silence in the room to speak to Guro about soundtrack details.
There was another studio she was supposed to use to record BJ's theme song, a club theme song, and Murasame's theme song. Nakazawa stayed for the music video options, but he had to leave to comfort Takarada and his rampage soon. Guro was given more details about where the club was going to be and how BJ was as a character. Kyoko gave some insight on BJ's role to Guro as well. As Ren continued to watch Guro talking business in his dressing room, he began to worry about Lory's proposal. If she wasn't an actress, why was she being forced to participate as his rival for Kyoko? What was so bad about Guro that she had to be in the LoveMe department anyway? Her answer to Lory's love test was completely understandable. She must have been in love once to know what it felt like to want to protect a lover. Was it the fact that she had an album done before he thought of her debut that got to him?
"Tsuruga-san!" Kyoko called, kneeling in front of Ren. "Guro-nee-san's going to be writing her songs while she acts as our cousin. Don't you think that's a bit much, Tsuruga-san?"
"It depends on if she can handle so many jobs at a time," Ren said in his senpai tone. "If she thinks doing LoveMe assignments, songs, and acting is too much work, then she'll have to make a sacrifice on her own. I wouldn't worry too much, though. If she's anything like us when we're determined to do one job right, then she'll do fine. Besides, in a way, she crossed the wrong line when she went against President Takarada. He'll probably use all of this as a test. I think he's the one you should be more worried about."
"Eh? Why?" Kyoko asked, looking at Guro.
"I think when he asked Hiyashinsu-san that question about love; he wanted to find a way to fix that harshness she has in her heart. She behaved quite cruelly to whoever that other person was that took away half her points for being rejected so steadfastly, and she had no right damaging property here. However, when she answered his question with such a sympathetic answer, he may have been confused about something."
"Confused?"
"I think he's trying to figure out whether she truly belongs in the LoveMe department or not," Ren answers, remembering the surprise in Lory's face when Guro answered his question. "She must know what it's like to be in love and how it made her feel. Her response was one that even I can relate to: you'd give anything, even your own peace, to hold on to the love you have for someone. You want to protect that person that has your heart because that's what makes you human, but it's a struggle to hold on to that valuable treasure because protection can corrupt it or corrupt you. I don't think the president really understands her question to him."
"She was posing a question to the president?" Kyoko asked, watching Guro sign some papers and laughing with the other men.
"She thinks love is like war," Ren started, whispering the words to himself as if the question was for him to answer. "Either humans can stop war or war will stop humanity. In her words, if love is what makes us human, what's stopping love from taking our humanity away? The president has an obsession with people falling in love and believes wholeheartedly that love can never fail. Hiyashinsu-san is evidently the opposite: she thinks nurturing something precious like that can corrupt you if not someone else. If Hiyashinsu-san was in love and wanted to hold onto that love with all her heart and strength, how did it destroy her in the end…?"
That girl… Lory thought, walking in a ditch in the hallway.
Nakazawa was sitting on a resting bench, watching Lory pace back and forth in the same spot. He sighed and thought, you know, it pains me to watch him do this to himself.
Why does she have to make me so pissed? Each time I get close to finding out the answers to her past, she takes it away from me and drowns me in those eyes of hers!
Earlier, when Lory asked the question…
"What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word love?" Lory asked, confident Guro was going to give him an unsatisfactory answer like Mogami, Kotonami, and Chiori.
If there was one common trait about LoveMe girls, it was their lack of something valuable in the industry. Guro was the scariest of all of them; she was going to say that love is a stupid emotion that people romanticize too unrealistically and will soon suffer for such a twisted belief. He could almost taste her words about to pour out so shamelessly! But the girl said nothing of that nature. As Lory heard her words, he saw pain in her beautiful blue eyes. The sad cries of the wind blew over her weeping oceans as a cold rain fell into her depths. Why did one word cause this amount of pain inside such a strong, bold woman?
"When I hear love, I hear war…"
Lory gasped at this and saw the rainclouds in her eyes part. A red sun gave an evil light to the storm clouds and the oceans began to glow a faint blood red. A fighting spirit emerged from Guro's very being and she smirked in Lory's hesitation and sudden fear. He got a different answer all right—one that could very well prove that she didn't need to be in the LoveMe department. Love may have held her captive in the middle of the ocean, but the true battle was on the shores. Her love of freedom was in the lighthouse and she was already on the shore to fight for it. Lory was more or less in the way to getting to her prize—he was the antagonist in her case. He wanted that secret bottle still floating in the ocean, but she wanted to possess the lighthouse standing over her ocean and lighting her way.
The war wasn't the only thing truly concerning him, however. What took away her ability to love her freedom in the first place? What held her down all this time to want to fight back? Again, he was aiming for that secret bottle of hers. The secret, the message, the will was in that bottle. Her stories, her dreams, her passion was in it. He just wanted to see it!
I'm gonna go bald soon if she keeps this up! Lory mentally shouted, more confused than ever.
"Ne, President-san!" Nakazawa shouted, shaking Lory by his shoulder. He was practically pulling his hair out! Nakazawa said, "Calm down! I'm sure whatever it is you're angry about will subside in due time. Everything will be fine! Besides, shouldn't you be worried about Tsuruga-san and Mogami-san? Hiyashinsu-san will be recording soon, and Tsuruga-san will be filming at the same time. That LoveMe girl will certainly cause trouble for both of them, won't she?"
"Mogami-san isn't the one causing trouble this time!" Lory yelled, rage building within him at the insult towards Kyoko. He pointed an accusing finger at Nakazawa and said, "Your stupid love-deprived Hiyashinsu-san is to blame! How did you not know she already had her first album done before showing up here?"
"I never asked, and she never told me," Nakazawa pleaded, kneeling in apology to Lory. "I only asked her a few questions about herself, sir."
If she had everything together up to the fourth album, why does she need us to sign her then? Lory questioned, huffing at Nakazawa, who was still pleading for mercy. She could go under her own label and become a star. Why be so ahead of the game before getting signed? Is she just that professional…? Or is there something more to it than that? But… Lory stood still.
Nakazawa looked into his eyes and was flabbergasted. Lory had a look of genuine confusion. He was normally very good at analyzing people, but this was a force he almost couldn't handle.
What is that something? I… I don't understand her… Did I make the wrong decision by putting her in the LoveMe department? I know I got it on the nail when I said she lost the love of freedom when we first met, so what am I getting wrong here? I thought for sure she would answer my love test with something much worse than those…those…those beautiful analogies. I—what am I getting wrong about this girl? Lory questioned.
It was a long day at Lory's Majestic Entertainment Company for Guro. She managed to catch a taxi home and walked down the footpath to the front porch with a cigarette between her lips. Guro inwardly felt proud, though. She had about five LoveMe assignments in one day, got to meet her senior LoveMe member, Kyoko, and will be working on new music on location for Tsuruga Ren's new movie. Unfortunately, she had no idea who Ren was or why he was considered important, but she let it pass and only promised to search his name on the internet after she took a shower. Speaking of searching, it couldn't hurt to look up Kyoko's stuff either. She seemed pretty sweet for a naïve little brat, and Guro saw potential in her for a future music video. She didn't really care who would work with her as long as they didn't get in her way of her goal. Vengeance was only a step away.
Guro swore, remembering she had to find her first album for the president tomorrow, and put out her cigarette in the outdoor ashtray on the porch. She walked in the front door then closed it behind her. Her grandfather wasn't home, but he left a note and some food for her. Guro read the note and heard her grandfather soon opening the door. She smiled and waved at him as he hurried inside.
"Konbawa, papa," Guro greeted, frightening Matsuri.
"Oh!" Matsuri yelped, scratching his cheek as he chuckled. "Konbawa, Guro-chan. Did you just get here?"
"Hai," she answered, taking her hat off.
"How was work?" he asked, walking in the kitchen.
"Busy. I met my senior today on my way to work. She called me onee-san," Guro replied, following Matsuri. "The president met with us later on, and I got to speak to Tsuruga Ren-san. I felt kind of weird there 'cause they have such a wholesome images, and then there's black sheep me."
"You didn't scream when you saw Tsuruga-san like the other girls in the store?" Matsuri questioned, taking out the groceries he ran out to buy.
"I don't even know who that is," Guro commented, shocking her grandfather. "He play anything?"
"Well, the piano in a film. It's kinda heavy in romance, though. You really don't know who Tsuruga Ren is?"
"Not at all," Guro remarked, putting the groceries away for Matsuri. "Unless he's my type, he's not on my 'follow this guy' list. From what I've seen, he's just in costume."
"My, my!" Matsuri said, laughing. "You're something else, Guro-chan. So how's tomorrow looking for you at LME?"
"The president's making me do an acting exercise with Tsuruga Ren and Mogami Kyoko as their cousin. I guess this is training for future music videos, but I don't like movie length videos like that. I only want the music involved in a music video," Guro said, cracking her shoulder. "That acting crap is not my thing."
"Is it not your thing because it reminds you of your mother or is it not your thing because it reminds you of the days you were in America?" Matsuri asked, scowling at his granddaughter. He was satisfied with Guro's silence as an answer; it meant a little bit of both. Guro was actually quite capable of acting and was in a film twice, so there shouldn't be any problems with this exercise; in fact, it should be the easiest job to take right now. He said, "In that case, you'll have a hard time working on this indeed. Will you still seek to destroy those boys even if you fail this task?"
Guro thought for a moment and said, "No, their destruction is my goal. Becoming someone who shows their talents, who wants to show more than guitar skills, who wants to show more than her face is my dream. I want to be someone who loves her gifts."
"Then you have to love acting just as much as you love music," Matsuri said, smiling at Guro's reply. "Your mother loved who she was even before you were born. It's your turn to love yourself. I don't know what that younger chap meant by losing your love of freedom because if anything you still have it. I think what you really lack is love for who you are as a person and the love for your gifts."
"Daddy," Guro whimpered, embracing her grandfather tightly.
"Without your skills, you wouldn't have met those boys and left this country. In that country, you were something the world admired for your showmanship. They didn't know anything about you as a person. My darling, if you want to beat those boys at their own game, you have to love the thing that they tried to shun away from everyone. You have to love everything that you are capable of doing."
"Okay," Guro said, crying. "I want this! I want to be better than this! To be better than them…"
"Then bite this exercise in its ass," Matsuri said, making Guro smile again and nod. "Show 'em what a Hiyashinsu girl is made of!"
Several knocks were heard at the door. Kyoko was the first to wake up as usual in the hotel room. She was particularly worried about everyone today: the president, Ren, Guro, the hotel staff, Chiori, Kanae, and herself! She could hardly sleep last night with so much worry! President Takarada seemed like a different person this morning as well. He held each girl's LoveMe pads, a cheap copy of a CD, and several papers regarding different things that Kyoko didn't want to know about. However, the most curious thing she saw on the flamboyant man was a pair of earphones around his neck and a CD player embedded in his arm. He was frowning when he greeted Kyoko at the door earlier. She couldn't possibly fathom why he was so pissed off there was no youthful gleam in his eyes.
More knocking was heard, so Kyoko snapped out of her troubled thoughts and opened the door. Before she could even speak, she was almost amazed by the vision before her. A young woman – taller than herself – was about to knock again before she smiled. It was a smile Kyoko knew well enough. The woman had a few blue streaks cascading down her long black hair that matched her gorgeous blue eyes. She wore gothic blue and purple make-up, and she had an interesting piercing on her maroon-coated lips. Her hair was combed in a fake Mohawk style, and she had multiple piercings in both ears, but she probably decided to only wear a few. Her earrings consisted of skull studs, black and violet feathers, and small black demon hands hanging from chains. Her shirt was long-sleeved and lacy navy blue floral patterns were dancing on her upper torso. She had a black miniskirt and black and blue heels with lace and skulls on them. Basically, she was a hot goth and it looked so natural on her! The one thing Kyoko noticed the most on this particular woman was her nails. They were the same color as yesterday: pink, black and yellow like the LoveMe uniform.
This can't be! Kyoko mentally shouted. She just… she just can't be! Is it really…? Could it be…? Is this my onee-san, Guro? She looks so elegant and beautiful in that man-eater style!
"Aren't you going to let me in…?" Guro asked, chuckling. Suddenly, she jumped onto Kyoko shouting, "SETSU-CHAN!"
"Kya!" Kyoko shouted, waking Ren up before hitting the floor.
"Kyok - !" Ren shouted, only seeing Kyoko in someone else's arms – namely a woman's arms.
"Setsu-chan, I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?" Guro asked, genuinely afraid that she might've caused Kyoko harm. "Setsu-chan?" Kyoko only groaned a response; she was so confused and actually hurt from hitting her head on the floor. "Setsu-chan! What has that Cain-baka been teaching you? Don't you know how to dodge when someone pounces on you?"
"Cain-onii-san…" Kyoko drawled, spirals filling her eyes.
"Setsu-chan?" Guro called. In a panic, she began shaking Kyoko forcefully to snap her out of her stupor. She yelled, "Setsu-chan, no, you can't leave me like this! I don't want to live alone without you. Setsu, please wake up!"
"Umi!" Tsuruga called, stopping Guro. "Can't you see you're making it worse? Or are you that stupid?"
Guro looked at Ren and growled viciously, surprising Ren, before saying, "If you were smarter, you'd teach Setsu-chan how to defend herself if people do this kind of thing to her. You, Cain-baka, don't deserve to be with Setsu!"
Ren and Kyoko are surprised by this and look at Guro as she hisses in quaking anger. They both had the same thoughts: Hiyashinsu-san got Umi Heel's character just about spot on. Her anger, disappointment, and jealousy were directed to Ren, but her caring nature was driven to Setsu. It was just about perfect! Suddenly, Guro returned to her nonchalant behavior like yesterday and spoke to them normally.
"So, uh, did I do okay?" Guro asked, looking at Ren then Kyoko then Ren again. "The president sort of rushed me out of the car and told me to get in character. I'm hoping that was at least satisfactory since you two are experienced actors."
That was her interpretation of Umi Heel on a satisfactory level? Kyoko and Ren thought.
Name: Mogami Kyoko
Jobs received: 6
Points earned: 300
Time worked as a LoveMe member: 13 months
"The founding member of the LoveMe department," Lory mumbled, holding up Kyoko's pad and a picture of the girl. "When we first met, she was a determined and persistent girl who wanted nothing more than to be better than Fuwa Sho."
Name: Kotonami Kanae
Jobs received: 4
Points earned: 200
Time worked as a LoveMe member: 9 months
"The second LoveMe member whose dream is to be an actress," Lory mumbled, holding up Kanae's pad and a picture of her. "She follows the rules and isn't as spontaneous as Kyoko, but her skills are wonderful and she has confidence in them."
Name: Chiori
Jobs received: 2
Points earned: 100
Time worked as a LoveMe member: about one month
"The child star who lost her love of acting after an accident that led her here to follow Mogami's footsteps," Lory mumbled, holding up Chiori's pad and a picture of her. "While filming a new movie with Kyoko, she realized she couldn't stay in her dark past. Her goal is to move on in her career and love her work as an actress."
Name: Hiyashinsu Guro
Jobs received: 5
Points earned: 395
Time worked as a LoveMe member: two days
Lory stared at Guro's picture and frowned. He growled, "The newest addition to my squad with an amazing…first…album and the most impressive score. When she received her first interview from Nakazawa, she wanted to show the world how much her mother's love meant to her and made her the person she is today. Her goal is to change the content of the music industry. What is the content? Hell if I know... I don't get it! Boohoo-hoo-hoo, I'm going bald! No matter how much I remind myself that she's just some love-deprived demon, I can't put the album down! Every song is filled with love… Every job she takes earns her more love… Her debut… all of their debuts…"
Why is this person so ahead? Lory questioned, listening to the album's opening for the fifth time. Did I really…make a mistake on that girl? Was she really lacking at something to begin with? She makes excellent songs—none of them are the same. Her style changes with each song she writes. Every song has a special story, and the lyrics are wonderful chapters. Her family, her love of music, her love of performing, her interest in other performances, everything she's sung about with such a sweet, gentle voice is the perfect epilogue for a summer love story. The story of a young love's childhood is written masterfully in each piece, but what does 'Til I Turned Teen' mean? It's the one edgy, punk rock song that begs for an encore on the album. Is she just a marketing genius?
"What does the second album sound like...?" Lory questioned, snapping out of his thoughts. He remembered suddenly that Guro was the she-demon who doesn't love anymore and shook his head violently. "Why am I supporting her? This first record can't be that great!" Lory whimpered as he banged a fist against his desk several times. He stopped as he lightly punched Kanae's photograph. "I never even thought about how many points will become enough for a debut," Lory said, placing Guro's picture next to Kyoko's picture. "I promised both of these two a grand debut with the right amount of points, but why is there such a huge difference in points and time? I have to set some standards for everyone; otherwise, they'll take my love for them for granted and think they'll become successful without knowing what love is all about in this industry."
