Chapter 14

Kanae groaned internally while staring at the ridiculous chicken costume. How was she supposed to get her face out there and get parts if she was wrapped in a mascot? "You do it."

Kyoko looked at her in disbelief. "Moko-san... Weren't you..."

"You've gotta start somewhere." Kanae shoved the chicken head at her and walked away. "See you in the audience." She waved back at her as she left. Maybe that'll keep her busy and out of my hair. Kanae smirked as she walked through the doors that led to the studio.

All she could think of through the entire show was how much of an ass their guest was. Did he knock her down and grope her breasts? Kanae fumed and was thankful it hadn't been her; although, she did feel a twinge of guilt at shoving that role on her now. She was however, regretting immensely the idea of sitting in the front row. The arrogant ass actually had the nerve to flirt with her. She rolled her eyes internally and left the studio as soon as he turned away from her.

"Sho, you really should see a doctor about that. You're a singer and the sudden loss of your voice is a serious matter." Shoko scolded and handed him another tea with honey and lemon.

-Fine, call the dr.- He wrote on the little pad she gave him last night after the show. Aki Shoko was perplexed by the onset of this little cold. It was sudden and he had shown no signs of sickness at all. His voice completely left him the instant Kimagure Rock ended last night and hadn't returned with even a little squeak since. It just didn't make any sense. If she was a superstitious person she would think that he had a curse or, hex put on him.

"That's silly." She laughed and pulled out her phone to call the doctor for Sho's appointment.

Lory shook his head at the individual sitting in his office. "I saw what happened. Remove it." He commanded.

His charge looked at him in disbelief and started to retort. "..."

"No... Remove the curse or, find somewhere other than LME to represent you." He told them firmly.

His charge nodded in defeat and removed the straight-pin from the tiny doll's throat, then looked up at Lory.

Lory pulled out his little pink stamps and took the heart-shaped booklet from his charge. "Minus 100 points for that. You need to learn to control your temper and not use your knowledge in such a manner."

His charge nodded silently and was dismissed.

Lory leaned back into the sofa and wondered why on Earth the spell-caster had decided to do such a thing. It was so risky if anyone ever discovered the deed or, the identity of the enchanter. He shook his head. "With youth comes folly." He pulled out a cigar, prepped it and then lit it. He took a deep drag and let it go. "I suppose I should make sure to keep a closer eye on that one." He closed his eyes and took another calming drag and let it go. He turned to the cat in his office and smirked. "Ruto, keep a close eye on that one. We don't need that kind of trouble getting out of hand. Someone could get hurt."

Ruto nodded and sat next to him.

~xoxo~

"Well Fuwa-san, I really don't see anything wrong here. It seems as though it must have just been all stress. It was your first live TV appearance, am I correct?" The seasoned older male doctor ask as he scribbled notes in Sho's medical record.

Sho nodded. "I suppose that could be it, but I've done live concerts and such. I don't see how this could be any different."

"I would think it's a little bit more intimate than a large venue concert, Fuwa-san. At a concert you have bodyguards, security and a stage between you and the audience. It seems to me at this particular interview there was only security and the crew and you did tell me that the mascot had been behaving rather strangely. Perhaps that led to your anxiety." The doctor suggested.

Sho and Aki nodded in agreement. He didn't need to know that Sho had attacked first or, that he had felt up a random masked female. She was just thankful it hadn't been anyone of importance or, he could be looking at assault charges instead of the producer's apologies and the subsequent dismissal of the person that was in that suit.

"I would like for you to look at this and tell me what you see, then explain to me why the outcome was what it was." Lory turned on the large flat-screen on his wall and waited for the man to answer his question.

The two men watched the same footage and the one dressed in a suit turned to the one dressed like the Emperor or Rome and spoke. "She attacked him. She knocked him down and tried to strangle him. She was fired." He told him confidently.

Lory rewound the footage and began again, frame by frame, revealing the truth. "Really? I see in this frame where he tripped her and she was trying to get up without any assistance from anyone in the cast or, the crew... Here I see his hands reaching up and grabbing her breasts and her trying to get away from him. To me it seems as an assault by him. Is that what you believe to be acceptable behavior in the entertainment industry? Is it even acceptable as a young man to a young woman?"

The producer paled when he saw what was pointed out to him. "No... I..."

"From what I've been told by the many witnesses that were backstage, you were more interested in pampering that spoiled ass from Akatoki than taking care of those that actually hired you in the first place. I hope that you are content with your decision to dismiss her. If you aren't, you will not get any help from me in persuading her to return to your show." Lory informed the flustered producer.

"She went off script." Producer Tano commented.

Lory shook his head. "Then fire her for that. Don't ruin her reputation with a false assault accusation towards that Fuwa kid. You know what that can do to an actress." Lory scolded.

"I... I didn't really think it would go that far." Tano answered.

Lory growled. "Just leave. I... I don't even know what to say to that right now. You're a grown man. You should have known better and kept the discussion private, not in front of the cast, crew and a few audience members. It doesn't matter that she was still in costume, you should have still kept it private."

Sho laughed. "They fired her?! Oh that's too good. It proves it! I am untouchable. I am a rock god. I can do anything I want and no one will say a thing about it." He was holding his sides in mirth.

Aki Shoko shook her head. "Sho... I wouldn't be so confident about that if I were you. You really don't want any enemies while your career is still so new." She warned.

"Pfft. I've been Number One on the charts for the past year. No one is as good as I am at anything." He bragged. "I really don't have to do anything either. Just write down a few words, strum a few cords and sing a couple of verses and women fall at my feet."

"Not all of them..." Aki commented remembering a particularly coveted female that didn't.

Sho winced at the memory of his spectacular and only failure at getting a female to notice him.

"You know she's back in town." She told him knowing that she shouldn't have said a word, hoping it would put him in a more agreeable, manageable mood.

"And you think I care because..." He did. He just wanted to play it off. He didn't need Shoko using this particular failure against him. He had gotten enough of the teasing from her after Ryoko Genso left town and he tried to find her. Very humiliating to be escorted from LME like a unwanted stalker fan.