Disclaimer: Do not own a thing.. only the modified Average Joe reality show wannabe is mine.

Chapter V

2nd Elimination Round

…."Anyhow, what are we going to do when this series finish, Hiko-san?", Kamatari said while she opened the soft drink can.

"Probably go to the hills of Kyoto and meditate..", he sarcastically answered.

"Oh, not prancing around Kyoto and chasing girls?", Kamatari winked playfully.

"Now, Kamatari, you're not talking to Okina here..", was his half-amused reply.

"Well… prove me wrong… anyway, you're going to meditate on the hills of Kyoto for the rest of your lives? What a shame! How about the twin girls who adore you so much, then? You know, you've got that devastatingly handsome face…." The she-male purred, earning a disgusted look from his colleague.

"Cease this conversation, Kamatari! You'll not take that tone with me…gives me creeps…", he frowned.

Kamatari laughed out loud. "Well, never hurt to try.. by the way, where's Okina? He's supposed to be here half an hour ago, to bring the names to be announced tonight. Hm…"

"Hnn… don't worry about him. The last time I saw him, he was chasing this Erika girl from Yokohama with red roses…", he snickered.

"Oh, what's new..", Kamatari rolled her eyes and posed dramatically.

At the show

.. "Here goes the names of the ones who will go to the semi-final round!", Okina exclaimed.

The drum sound effect was deafening to Kaoru's ear…

She was having difficulty to hear Okina's words. Not that she cared so much at this point, for she was feeling so self-conscious at having to wear the backless navy colored gown that basically just clings to her body like a second skin.

'Thanks to Kamatari!', she groaned inwardly. She was fighting the urge to cover up her back so much by the time she entered the ballroom.

…..

…..

The girls screamed in unison, both in joy and in disappointment as the names were called out.

Kaoru was thinking hard.

What? What? Who are the semi-finalists? Drat.. me and my scatter-brained..

She suddenly felt a warm handshake from Yukina-san and Erika-san… "Congratulations, Kamiya-san!", they said with a genuine smile... 'or was it genuine?'.. she wasn't sure.. then they congratulated Sayo-san too.

Everything in the show biz world is very much superficial anyway, that much she has learned during her stay.

'Oh, wait.. ' Her concentration was branching off once again.

'Then, there must be another person..'

About two feet away from them, an standoffish-looking girl stood tall, clad in her form-fitting crimson dress and matching high-heels, eyeing both Kaoru and Sayo in a belittling stare. Kaoru winced.

'Ah.. one of the bitchy ones…', she quietly remarked.

Takani Megumi was her name.

As soon as the eliminated girls were taken care of, a familiar shrilly voice was once again being heard, "Congratulations, ladies! Now, in the three days that follow, each of you will be interviewed once by our 'first prize' man. Now, if each of you could take a piece of paper..", Okina-san thrusted a small glass jar with three pieces of folded paper in it.

Megumi took the first paper, Sayo followed in suit, and Kaoru was the last to pick hers. Unfolding hers, she winced at seeing the number '3' being written.

"Very well! Amakusa-san is the first to be interviewed, followed by Takani-san, and last but not least, Kamiya-san…", Okina concluded.

'Drat… I'm the last one! Talking about bad luck…'

The next two days that followed were spent at a more leisurely pace, with the three girls getting numerous luxurious treatments and make-overs. Kaoru chose to escape from all of it. It has been three weeks, and still she couldn't stand her every movements being recorded. Instead, she was sitting next to a small cherub sculpted fountain in the lush garden, busily mulling over the fact that she has yet to contact neither Kenshin or Yahiko.

'They just have to wait for a little while more… if I could get back with the half-million yen prize money, we'll be able to live comfortably… '

She grimaced.

'Wishful thinking, Kaoru, with Takani and Amakusa-san as your competitors? Bah!'

"What are doing in this place by yourself?", a deep velvety voice of a guy broke the silence.

Kaoru broke out from her reverie, "Uh…erm…I was just thinking…", craning her neck up, she was greeted with a painful sun rays that glare at her menacingly.

Wincing slightly, she concentrated on the outline of the features in front of her.

'Tall and lean..'

'With eyes that flickered with playful turquoise hue…'

'Not to mention a body to die for..'

'Hmm.. looks kind of familiar…'

A shocking wealth of austere platinum strands stood out from Kaoru's viewpoint.

'Bleached hair? Quite a trend-setter..'

'Huh, he's THAT guy … what am I thinking?'

"Er…", she started hesitantly

' I have to apologize for my rudeness.. and thank him properly for he has helped me before. I must at least ask for his name. Come on, Kaoru, ask his name!', she willed herself to say something.

"We've been bumping into each other quite often, eh? And you're always by yourself..", he cut her trail of thought in half while displaying a beautiful teasing grin on his face.

Kaoru just nodded dumb-founded, utterly mesmerized at seeing the slight narrowing of his eyes as he grinned at her.

He looked like he wanted to say something else, but he ended up checking his Tag-heuer instead; apologetically he mumbled out, "Tch, I've got to go.. by the way, nice meeting you again, Miss", and as soon as he appeared, he disappeared from her line of vision.

Kaoru pondered. 'This guy just barge in out of the blue, who is he?'

'Oh, by the way.. he smelled nice.. something akin to Aqua by Hugo Boss.. '

'Mm… did I mention he's got style?'

Suddenly, out of her stupor, she whacked her own head lightly as she forced her thoughts. off her head. "Oh, it'd be handy to have Yahiko around now", she remarked dryly.

'Oh drat, I forgot to ask his name…'

Absent-mindedly, she resumed watching the horizon set into a mixture of dark magenta and orange hues. Soon enough, she felt something was amiss…

She cursed, "Kuso…I gotta go for that last interview!"

The Interview

"Ah, Kamiya-san, come in, ready for the last interview?", Okina asked with a smile.

"Umh.. not really?", she smiled lop-sidedly.

The older man chuckled.. "If it helps, you won't see the interviewer in person", he added, patting her shoulder. "Come along now!", he motioned for her to follow, not allowing her to even ask what he meant by what he said.

Inside the fairly dim room, she was seated instantly. Adjusting her eyes to see her surroundings, she jolted off the chair when she heard a voice somewhere inside the room. The interviewer, she presumed, chuckling lightly at that. "Sorry to have startled you… Okina-san might've mentioned, you probably can't see me, we're just conversing via electronic device here, so you can relax… but not too much, for I could still see you", he added in a teasing tone.

Kaoru was mortified when he said that.

'She jolted off her chair none too gracefully, and he could see her? Darn it…'

"You're the last semi-finalist, I heard… Kamiya-san, right?"

Kaoru nodded dumb-foundedly, then as if realizing that she should reply in words instead of nodding dumbly, she choked out "Hai, I'm Kamiya Kaoru"

"Very well, Kamiya-san.. I'm just going to ask you a few questions…" Kaoru listened tentatively.

"Firstly, why did you join in this show?"

How should she answer this? Should she be honest? …"Mm… because I'd like to win the second prize.. ", she said, face flushing heatedly, realizing the absurdity of her answer.

He was immediately intrigued with her answer. "Oh? The second price? So, you don't intend to fight for the first prize?"

Drat.. why did she have a feeling he's gonna ask something like that…?

".. Well, I was merely interested in the second prize, because, erm, let's just say, I could use it for my siblings' welfare.. umh..that is…if I ever won the second prize….which is very unlikely, knowing my outstanding competitors include Takani-san and Amakusa-san …" she rambled, then laughed good-naturedly, suddenly feeling a bit more like herself.

He smiled despite himself "Well, that's underrating yourself, no?", he asked, making Kaoru's face blush considerably at the unexpected compliment.

"Oh, I also heard that you work as a part-time singer.. do you mind my requesting you to sing, Kaoru-san?", he smoothly continued.

Kaoru gulped. So, she does a part-time singing job at a small cafe, but that's nothing to be boasted about.

This is embarrassing…

"Do I have other options, Sir?", she jokingly responded. Her interviewer laughed at hearing it. "No, not really, Kaoru-san.. just one song, if you would", he coaxed her.

'As if you would take no for an answer', Kaoru pouted automatically, earning a chuckle from the man.

'Kuso…I forgot that he could see me..'

"Very well.".. Clearing her throat, she started singing her favorite song.

" atarashii doa akete shiranai basho e dete
shimatte mo watashi wa watashi da to ii kiru kara
soko ga donna basho demo ikinuite miseru yo
isshou ni ichido no tatakaiidomu tame

kako wa kitto ima to wa kurabe mono ni naranai
da kedo ima ni mirai ga kateru wake ja nai sa

tsugi no shingou ao ni nattara hashiridasu koto ni kimeta n da
kiiro ni natte aka de tomatte kokoro no junbi wa ii kai?"

She ended the song abruptly as a wicked smile that crept up her face, "I'll only sing the first part, becauseI'm not getting paid to sing here", she winked playfully.

He chuckled. "It's fair enough. Now, for the last question, suppose you win the first prize of the final round, what would you do then?"

"The first prize? Not the second?", she responded in a hopeful note, then quickly added, "Oh, I really don't know.. I suppose I could get to know the person.. well, I've never seen him before, so it'd be hard to tell, wouldn't it? Why would anyone want to charm a total stranger?", Kaoru cringed at her own outspokenness.

"umm.. what I mean is…"

His chuckle erupted into a full-blown laughter. "Don't correct it, you've actually got a good point there,.. .Anyway, I think that's about it. That's all I need to know for now. I thank you for the beautiful song. Have a pleasant rest tonight, Kamiya-san. See you at the final tomorrow!", he added, before she heard the sound of the speakers being turned off.

Great, she hasn't said anything useful so far. And the stupid interview has ended.

"Umm, and a good night to you to", she said more to herself.

Sigh.. baka Kaoru… you just lost all chance to bring back that half million yen!

VOCAB:

Shinpai shinaide: don't worry

The song Kaoru sang - (Signal: Ayumi Hamasaki)

I open a new door into a place I don't know.
Even if I close it I'm still myself, so
no matter what kind of place it is, I'll show you that I can survive.
To have a once in a lifetime challenge.

The past isn't something you compare to the present.
But the future can't beat the present either.

I've decided to zoom off when the next light turns green.
It turns yellow, and stops at red. Am I ready for this?

A/N: ah-um.. Kaoru's rather materialistic, isn't she? heheh.. by the way, if you haven't guessed it already, the two worshippers of Seijuro Hiko, the photographer are, ...why, Okon & Omasu, of course!