Welp. Have some Athena.

Everyone Hates Iori lmao

Athena Asimaya was the first to admit she wasn't the best at keeping her emotions under control.

Of course, when she needed to keep things professional, she bottled up the storm in her brain and powered through whatever nonsense the Industry required. Her devotion toward her career was so strong that she had even tolerated an eight-hour meet and greet with her most devoted fans.

To be completely honest, she hated them.

She didn't always hate them. At the beginning of her career, she craved the attention. Why wouldn't she? She had been a poor teenager, disowned by her parents for her terrifying powers, and struggling not only for means of survival, but for her own self-identity. She had grown up hated, feared, rejected and unloved… so her first fans? Strangers who loved her? Who were devoted to her? Who would - allegedly - give their very lives for her sake? By god, they were her lifeline.

But over the years, they devolved from 'My lifeline' to 'Useful Idiots' to 'Nuisances' to "Downright disgusting stalkers who really need to leave me alone! Even you, Sie - just shut up and sit down. You of all people know I don't need you. If you want to hang around me, then you do what I say. I'm Athena Asimaya, and - Don't even open your useless mouth Sie! Get out! OUT!"

*SLAM*

She did have a bit of a temper problem, and when the pressure just got too great and spilled over… it tended to fall on those closest to her. That is - that whimpering puppy standing outside her door. Sometimes she loved him. Sometimes she hated him.

Right now, she hated him.

Athena locked her hotel room door, teleported the dresser against it, and kicked the bottommost drawer a couple of times for good measure. The room was dark, but the Hong Kong skyline twinkled in through the misted glass windows. Outside, she heard Kensou sigh, then listened carefully to his receding footsteps. She stood there in the dark, gorgeous, perfect, and absolutely seething with frustration. She didn't even bother removing her fake eyelashes before falling face first into bed.

Was she wrong? Probably.

Was she behaving irrationally? Most definitely.

Was this her fault? Absolutely not.

She clutched her pillow and twisted it as if to tear it asunder. Her purple hair - that had been so carefully set in place this morning - was rapidly becoming disheveled. She screamed into the fabric, before stopping short and taking hold of herself. She sighed and spoke comforting words to ease her psyche.

"Athena… Athena stop. Remember who you are, okay? Everyone loves you. Everyone thinks you're amazing. You have so much money, you don't know what to do with it. You can't even think of anything you want, that you don't already have… isn't that enough? Don't get riled up over that idiot Yagami bitch fuc-... ehm… bitch."

She sighed and sat up. She looked down at the pillow, and noticed much of her makeup had rubbed off on it. A quick burst of telekinesis wiped it clean. She continued to counsel herself.

"He's crazy. Why do you even pay attention to him? Sure - he likes to strut around and give commands and is terrible and rude, but ultimately - he's run the rehearsal well. Everyone knows what to do and how to do it. Isn't that a good thing?"

Her breathing had calmed down and she decided to stop talking to herself. If anyone heard her, they'd think she was crazy.

Just calm down… urg...

But in some regards, she was. Iori Yagami drove her crazy. Nobody who knew her treated her with as much blatant disrespect as he did. Well, it wasn't so much that he treated her badly - she was well aware he was supremely inconsiderate, and was mentally preparing herself for some serious toxicity. She could tolerate that, especially with her career on the line.

Just focus on your career… it's the only thing that matters. Be that perfect Idol, and everything else will follow… you got this.

The sticking point was this: Iori Yagami treated her worse than anyone else on the team. Of course, he wasn't out to get her. He just didn't care about her at all. Unlike the rest of the world, 'Athena Asimaya' was the last thing on his mind. He spent more time and energy on Kensou than her. She wasn't used to being ignored - and being ignored in favour of her living bag-holder/coatstand? That was intolerable.

Am I overreacting? …Why the heck do I care about that! Ugh… I sound like some jealous girl. This is embarrassing. Stop it Athena. Just ignore him. Not everyone is going to love you… you've gotta accept that! Okay? Sheesh!

The only thing that mattered was her career. Her career as an idol was - her - idol as well. She could throw anything away for it. She was a goddess by ancestry, and she fought to attain that lofty status with every fibre of her being. She wanted to be a goddess on earth. She would be admired, and loved, and worshipped, and adored, then surely … that would make her happy.

That was what she told herself, and that was what she believed. She was Athena Asimaya the Idol. She was Athena Asimaya the Goddess…

And Iori Yagami - that mindless wretch - had failed to pay his dues.

You're just using him like a pawn on the chessboard. You're far above him. Don't get riled up over his behavior.

He hadn't struggled the way she had. He didn't seem to have the same concerns she did. He hadn't worked for a single thing in his life, yet… why did he have everything she had - and more? She was the goddess, yet while she was painstakingly grooming her image, he was wandering around the Music Awards dressed like a hick and proudly wearing women's makeup… and who got more attention?

Since the beginning, she tended to her fanbase with a careful and diligent hand. Iori had found himself the subject of an even more devoted, cult-like following whom he mostly ignored. How he had attracted such a crowd was beyond her. She had no idea how he did it, but suspected the reason lay somewhere in the millions of dollars of free advertising News Networks did for him and his ridiculous public stunts.

He was powerful too - stronger than her? Neither of them had won a KOF Tournament, but he was a bigger figure in the ring. There was much debate as to who was actually stronger - and the fact that the subject was even debatable was unacceptable.

But the most grevient offense was financials.

Athena knew this was a business, and she was at the top of her craft. She had crawled up from abject poverty. From nothing, she worked like a dog, and now she had 200 million dollars to her name. That was what her career - her Idol - was worth. Everything she had, she gave to her career... and that sum was the sum of her entire being.

Iori Yagami was worth at least twice as much the moment he was born.

When Athena found she would be working with Yagami for the next couple of weeks, she made sure to do her research. What she found made her eyes pop.

It was a thinly veiled secret that he was the heir of the Japanese Yakuza - who's value couldn't even be pinned down. His musical career was worth less than her's (thankfully!) but he didn't care nearly as much as she did. To him, this might be something akin to a hobby. He had even disappeared for significant periods of time for no reason whatsoever (Probably to take a vacation or something equally asinine). He didn't care about his career, and was doing just slightly worse than she? Unforgivable.

He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and ever since his life has been nothing but rainbows and flowers. He didn't work, he only played. He lived flippantly, doing whatever he wanted to whomever he pleased. He was a man with true freedom. Nobody bound him, he didn't abide by any rules or restrictions. Everyone catered to him. He'd never known hardship. He'd never struggled in his life.

And he was a mere man.

She was the Goddess! That lot should have been hers! Instead, here she was, slaving away at her career - her vehicle - to attain her rightful place as goddess Athena. Here she was, sprawled out on her hotel bed with cabinets piled against the door and mascara streaming down her cheeks in angry tears. This event was supposed to be tremendous for her - yet her colleagues were two dead people. One flaming idiot, and a little brat who was only brought here to get some practice.

Nobody looked at her. Nobody cared about her. And her only friend was that oaf outside who's bumbling adoration had grown odius to her. She deserved more than this.

More!

I figured if anyone has an excuse to have a god-complex it's gotta be Athena. She actually has a reason lmao.

Poor Ken.

Did you forget that everyone is evil?

Everyone is evil.

(Also, the two times Iori disappeared was 1# 3-months in brazil to get Kyo out of NEST facility #2 Yeet to Sweden to hide for his life)

Athena has a good deal of misinformation about Iori. :o

shits gonna gt hot fam