Act Thirty-Six - Erika

Kyoko couldn't help but feel a little subconscious as she walked down the hallway towards where the audition for the Kaindo product was being held. Apart from the audition to get into the agency – not her finest hour – this was going to be her first audition. It was okay to be nervous right. She would have to brave her nerves and win the role and she wanted to perform her best.

Kyoko stood in front of the sign for the audition to make sure she had all the information possible.

"Yes, right, "she said to herself, "Let me see. Candidates applying for the audition, please proceed to Level 3's dressing room for the audition," she nodded to herself as she prepared herself once again. She wasn't wearing anything flashy, just a skirt, jacket, and shirt but she had to use what she had. She wasn't rich and she definitely wasn't going to ask anything from Ren Tsuruga.

As she climbed the stairs, she heard someone crying out loudly and turned to see two girls comforting one another. It seemed like the picture of friendship that she had always had in her mind and yet had never been able to have for herself. It made her feel sad how she wasn't able to be like that with another girl.

"Kazumi, hang in there," the first girl said to the second.

"Nao-chan," Kazumi replied as she fought against hiccups, "I can't. I feel as if my innards are going to fall out the moment I stand up. I can't do it. I should just give it up. Nao-chan, don't worry about me and move along," Kazumi begged her friend.

Nao looked at her, "Idiot," she sniffed, "What nonsense are you muttering about. Haven't we sworn by our poplar grown, 'Route of Friendship' to become star idols together!" Kyoko took a deep breath in. These girls were also here for the audition. "If you're giving up, I'll quit too."

Kyoko took a deep breath as she turned away. This was a pure friendship and when she had brushed away Ren, she had stopped having that friendship to rely on. She was alone now, having to live independently but that was okay. She wasn't relying on someone who had a history and definitely a problem with lying.

Since Kyoko was young she had wanted to be friends with somebody but because of Shotaro they had always kept away from her. There was nobody who had wanted to be friends with her and face the consequences of that decision. Even Moko-san ignored her despite the advances that she had made at the training section and that was who should be her friend, they were both Love Me members after all.

As Kyoko continued her way down the hall, she was surprised when she was hit by the door. There was an elegant young lady standing there and Kyoko noticed her designer clothes, the gorgeous hair, her body which was an athletic and fit build compared to her plain and boring one. However, falling backwards because this woman had thrown the door open was something that Kyoko had a problem with. Her head was throbbing because of it but the girl looked at her with little interest.

Kyoko turned to her, the good natured worker emerging. "So…sorry," she apologized. "I shouldn't have idled outside the door."

Instead of being polite and apologizing for opening the door for her, the girl turned away from her to ignore her and this was just how Shotaro acted towards some people. "Move," the girl directed, "I've opened the door for you. If you're leaving, make it fast."

Kyoko looked at her annoyed, furious even. This girl had applied all her strength to dramatically open the door and she hadn't even apologized. What was with the state of people these days? It was reasonable for her to apologize as well but she couldn't even manage that. As the girl turned towards the rest of the room, Kyoko found herself even more annoyed by her words.

"The rest of you can head on home as well since I'm going to get the commercial," she laughed. Kyoko felt her grudges coming out, this girl was truly asking for a fight and Kyoko wasn't going to just allow her to act superior. They were all beginners, she had no right to do this.

"You can tell them about my true capability," the girl said as Kyoko was devising the best way to get rid of her body, "you should know pretty well, don't you? Since elementary school, I'm always the lead actress in all the performances and you have always been a nameless supporting cast. Isn't it?"

Kyoko stared ahead of her at Kanae. She couldn't believe someone like this would be moved to the nameless supporting characters. Kanae had impressed everyone with her ability to act at the audition so it didn't make much sense that she would accept those types of roles. There had to be something else going on here. As she studied Moko-chan, Kyoko could see just how depressed she appeared. It was as if hope was running out in her heart and Kyoko didn't want to see such a pained expression.

What was going on here?

"That's right," Kanae said with a look to kill that surprised Kyoko, she hadn't seen her look at someone else in that way before. "I definitely want to see the power that you don't normally show people. This time, are you going to show them?" she asked making Kyoko wonder even more. What kind of special power did this girl have and why did it seem to intimidate Moko who was an amazing actress.

…..

…..

Only a little while later, the girl, Erika was being served tea whilst sitting on something that Kyoko considered a throne and being aided by three men who had stepped off of a runway somewhere. She was trying to turn herself into a princess and yet, in Kyoko's mind, she lacked the grace and elegance needed to be a princess. Just as Ruriko, she lacked a princesses soul.

Kyoko looked at her in shock as she said that the audition was dull and it was a hardship on her to even come. She had met people like this and she had to pity them. They looked down on the world but they were never part of the world. This is what happened if you had parents like the Fuwas that spoiled you and changed your outlook on life.

Kyoko heard two of the girls auditioning speaking about Erika and she looked over with interest.

"I've seen that girl on television before," the first girl said and the second gasped.

"What? On TV? How?" she inquired and Kyoko felt herself get even more interested in the conversation.

"I remember it was on some special on Japan's princesses. It was about the many rich heiresses to Japan's financial groups and major corporations." Kyoko turned to look at Erika. She seemed to have the status but not the appearance of a rich young lady. Kyoko had always thought that the princesses would be more beautiful and that definitely their insides would be more beautiful. Erika didn't look like what she had seen but Moko-chan seemed to know her.

Kyoko looked over at Moko who was flipping through another script. The mystery of Kanae's connection with Erika was something that Kyoko could only wonder about. Despite the want to find out more about it, the two didn't seem like they were close friends. There was also that power that Moko had referred to before but Kyoko had no idea what to make of that.

As much as she wanted to be friends with the second Love Me member, Moko seemed to keep her at a distance and ignore her. She hadn't even given her the greeting that Kyoko had wanted. She had wanted to make this another step towards the great friendship shared between two girls but Moko had ignored her as much as Erika had.

Kyoko turned to Kanae, her eyes wide and sparkling with tears as she just jumped on her, "What is it about me that you hate so much that you'd ignore me?" she asked and Kanae stared at her in shock before glaring.

"I hate everything about you," she told her bluntly and Kyoko took a step back as if she had been cut down by a sword, "because you're my rival."

Kyoko froze, her body getting cold as that word went through her head. "Rival?" she asked only to be met by a glare as Kanae stared at her. Kyoko felt a cloud of darkness wash around her, she put her hand to her mouth and stared at Kanae in shock. "Why? But aren't we companions doomed to a similar fate?" she asked and Kanae scoffed.

"You, a friend" she laughed before Kyoko felt her heart shake in her chest. "I think I'll pass on such an annoying and one-sided friendship," she announced and Kyoko was left speechless. Was it right to force a friendship on someone who obviously didn't want to be friends with her? Should she keep pushing on this?

She took a step aside only to find that the three men who had accompanied Erika had turned their attention to her. They were invading her personal space and then she could hear the words that they were saying.

"It's terrible. It's this girl! Even though she's auditioning, she doesn't have a spot of makeup"

"So this is what they call a suppi. No not only that! Her clothes are used! No matter how you look at it, it's definitely been worn more than once. So this is what they call old clothes."

"This is worse," one of the men said as he pulled Kyoko's bag away from her. "It's clearly been used daily. I've seen her carry this in public every day. So this is what they mean by recycling."

Kyoko was trying to come up with some choice words to hurl against these men when she heard Erika laughing at her from the side. Kyoko wasn't rich and had to make do with what she had but it wasn't an excuse to harass her and she definitely was feeling harassed by these men.

Erika snickered, "Oh that's what happens when you're forced to use something over and over again. Such is the tragic fate of poor people," she commented and Kyoko looked at her sharply. So, this girl was bullying her. She was trying to scare her into submission. Was that what her power was? She was no princess because even the most spoiled princesses would make fun of a 'commoner' like her.

The men gasped and Kyoko was resisting kicking them all where it hurt but she was worried that that might have her thrown out of the audition. She had to remain calm and hopefully she would get her revenge later. This woman deserved no sympathy from her.

"She's just poor," Erika stated and Kyoko glared at her.

Yes, she was poor right now but she would become rich and successful and then she would be able to prove that she could be better than this girl in front of her. She felt annoyed and it was a mental effort to keep the grudges from destroying her.

"Now I understand," Erika laughed, "that meaning of rival, right?" she asked as if calling Moko out on something. Moko glared at her and Kyoko felt an instant need to protect Moko even if Kanae didn't want to be her friend.

"What meaning?" Kyoko asked causing Erika to snicker again.

"You don't know anything about Kotonami-san, do you?" she asked and Kyoko felt a dagger through her heart. She wanted to be friends with her but it was true, they barely knew anything about one another. "She's not someone you want to be friends with. If you want to know what's so painful, then you should just ask her but you can honestly tell her."

Kyoko felt a cold chill in the room and it was more than one of the judges coming into the room. Something was going on here and Kyoko definitely felt like she should be on the attack, ready for a chance to strike her prey. Erika was going down.

End of Act 36

Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated

Thank you to the reviewers of Act 35

Guest, H-Nala, Kaname671, Kris XD, PaulaGaTo

Author Response:

I like the scene with him pursuing her too but it wouldn't work with the story I'm writing but a lot of the manga will be in here. There's a lot that's going to happen before the happiness between them again so thanks for your patience with that.