AN: So I think I told you guys in December that to keep this fic running I'm working for a certain number of reviews for each chapter and it was met today so new chapter today. I think this is a fair trade 😊

Act 37 – The Secret Power

Kyoko took a look back at Kanae who was starting to stand up and follow the judges to the audition room, as she passed by Erika, Kyoko could hear the blond girl say coldly, "Oh my, you're going too? When will you ever learn?"

In Kyoko's mind this wasn't making sense. Kanae was so passionate about acting and loved it so much more than anyone Kyoko had met – with the exception of maybe Ren – but she seemed to be weak to this girl. What kind of muddled history did they have?

As Kyoko felt the girl staring at their backs, Erika said coldly, "I look forward to destroying you without mercy."

Kyoko froze. What could cause that kind of threat or response. Kyoko stood firm. There were too many similarities between this Erika girl and Shotaro for Kyoko to feel any level of comfort at all. She was acting as if a character who only wanted to stir up trouble. Did she want to be here? Did she actually want to be in the commercial?

"Mo—Moko-san," Kyoko said whilst feeling flustered as she turned to the other girl, "I can't believe it. That person said something so rude," she said as she pointed her finger directly at Erika, Kanae seemed not to be paying attention but that only worried Kyoko more. "Aren't you going to say anything back?" she asked and Kanae took a slow breath in and closed her eyes.

"Shut up. It's better not to say anything to people like that," Kanae stated and Kyoko blinked in confusion. She didn't understand what was going on but she wanted to fight this somehow. She didn't want to see Moko go through things that she didn't deserve to feel. It wasn't right.

"Somehow," Kyoko blurted out without stopping herself, "It feels like you're running away. Moko-san, you're not acting like your usual aggressive self," the more Kyoko said, the more that Kanae's footsteps became stomps. Kyoko turned her head to the side wanting to see Kanae's expression. "Is that girl really that great?" she asked and Kanae started twitching, another dark aura swirling around the two of them.

"I don't believe," Kyoko continued slowly, "That you've only done minor roles. I thought you were always a leading actress. Why did you perform small parts?" she asked and Kanae turned to her with a sharp glare. Kyoko even had to take a couple of steps back from how the glare punctured her heart. Kanae almost looked like a ghoul from a Halloween display as she turned to Kyoko, cloaked entirely in her dark emotions.

"Did you think that I would do minor roles?!" she asked and Kyoko blinked. She paused awkwardly.

"Oh, I didn't think that," she said as she tried to get Kanae to speak to her again so that their friendship would develop. "That's why I said I didn't believe it," Kyoko tried to tell her but Kanae had already stomped away. Kyoko really wanted to help solve this problem that was coming in between the two of them.

…

…

As the judges settled down, Kyoko kept trying to decide in her head what had happened. Kanae didn't seem the type to take on smaller roles so maybe something had happened like she had been threatened or manipulated. Maybe some guy had brainwashed her and then taken her to Toky- okay, not all stories were the same as hers but as the judging started, Kyoko kept trying to figure out what had happened.

"Um," the head of the judge's panel began to speak, addressing those in the crowd in front of him. "All right. Thanks for waiting, everyone. Even though our commercial director, Kurosaki-san is absent, we will continue. Let's begin," he announced and Kyoko could feel everybody whispering amongst themselves. The director not being there seemed like a huge deal.

Kyoko stayed calm and listened to the man continue to speak, "Oh, but there's no need to concern yourselves. We're going to tape the audition thoroughly, so the director can later watch this."

Kyoko turned to look at Kanae who was staring straight ahead of her in full-on battle mode. Kyoko would be more impressed if she wasn't so nervous about her own acting skills. Again she blurted out without thinking, "I feel uneasy about this audition."

Without even looking in her direction, Kanae took a deep inhale before letting it out and remained calm, "No. You're wrong," she told her and Kyoko blinked confused. She was wrong about feeling uneasy about the director not being there? What did that mean? She hadn't been to an audition before and she had thought that that Erika girl had said Kanae hadn't either, what did Moko-chan know that she didn't?

"The director may not be here," Kanae explained, "but that means the committee has more power," Kyoko still continued to stare at her rather confused but Kanae continued speaking. "The situation's actually in our favor. If something should happen, this audition will at least be fair to all."

Kyoko was going to contemplate on those words further but she felt something get thrown down onto the floor and she turned back to see the chair that Erika had been sitting in. What would cause such a crash? The judges certainly didn't know but it didn't take long before Erika was jumping and twirling in front of her as if a preschooler wanting special attention.

"Number One. Kouenji Erika." Erika smiled as she looked at the judges in a rather gorgeous but also manipulative manner, "Hobbies are horse riding and traveling abroad. As for specialties. I am a pro at classical ballet as you can see."

The judging panel grew rather excited about this and Kyoko had to keep looking between them and this girl. Something was going on. Some special power and Kyoko wasn't sure why but it didn't seem to phase Moko, it was as if she had been expecting this from the very beginning.

"Kouenji?" the judges asked with excitement, "You're the daughter of the Kouenji group?" she said and Erika purposefully placed herself in front of Kanae so that the judges wouldn't be able to see her.

Erika grinned wickedly as she stared into the faces of the judges.

"Ever since I was a child, I've dreamed of becoming the star to represent all of Japan," she announced, "and I have the confidence to become it. If you hire me to represent the new product that you're selling, you can use the Kouenji group name so that it'll be an instant success."

As Erika told the judges all about her family background, Kanae sat behind her very unimpressed. Kyoko realized that this must have been what Kanae had been talking about, her suspicion was verified with Kanae's next words. "She used it."

Kyoko turned to get a better look at Kanae's facial expression, "It's always the same."

Kyoko frowned, "Is this what you meant when you said she uses the power that others don't notice?" she asked and Kanae stiffened a little as bad childhood memories seemed to set in. At least that's what Kyoko felt were happening.

Kanae bit her lip before nodding, her fight face still on. "That girl uses her family's power not her own. This is how the world works, you know, the world of celebrities. This is different from when you were a child and could get whatever you wanted by being stubborn," Kanae said as she seemed to be having a face-off with Erika rather than a conversation with Kyoko. "Outsiders would definitely be able to tell how fake she is."

Kyoko saw the judges praising Erika and her specialty in ballet as well as the fact that she was very beautiful. It was as if, to them, the audition process was already over. At least Kyoko could see that Erika hadn't proven herself by anything other than the fact that she had superior wealth to others but having three butlers following you around and designer clothes should have made it obvious that she was rich. At least it was so blatantly obvious-

Kyoko froze as all the girls other than herself and Kanae seemed to jump about excitedly in hopes of getting the attention of the judges panel. Kyoko knew that it didn't matter how much people tried to do back flips and stampede over one another, these girls wanted to eat fame and fortune and they were malnourished. They wanted it and Kyoko couldn't help but to look at the chaos as an observer. She wasn't even sure how to begin.

This was the wild showbiz world that she had heard so much about and she really was stunned as she took it in. People were willing to do anything to be loved. But with how much people wanted to do anything to be loved, there must be things that they could never do either. Maybe even not telling a single person about their real identity.

….

….

Kyoko felt the gloom threaten to overtake her as she and Kanae sat down in complete exhaustion after the first round of auditions had finished. She hadn't been able to get noticed at all and she hadn't even known how to go about getting noticed. Was she supposed to do backflips as well, ride on a chandelier or some sort of crazy acrobatic act.

Kyoko stared out into the gap in front of her before saying in a dread-filled voice, "That was the worst audition," Kanae sighed in agreement as the two of them reflected back on the horror that had been the first step of the audition process.

Kyoko sighed, even if she had tried to she would have been unable to make an impression on the judges. Even in the LME opening audition she had had them get excited about her daikon trick but for this one she left no lasting impression at all. Even if she had fought along with the other girls there was no way in which she could compete with them. The only true energy she had was that which powered her grudges but then as soon as the question and answer portion started it got a lot worse.

When Kyoko was told that they were supposed to talk about what left a deep impression on their lives and the most dazzling moment she was dazed. When she did answer, she had been wobbling and blatantly told them that she had no sparkling moments because they had ended when her life was ended.

She could have given an answer, a lie, a half-truth anything but she had decided to focus on the truth and she had more or less dug her own grave. She should have been able to act as if there were sparkling moments for her instead of ruining her own chances like that. However, she hadn't been the only one who it felt like there were no happy joyous memories for and she worried for Moko. Kanae had talked about how she had been given the lead role in a play but maybe that Erika girl did something to ruin that moment.

That made Kyoko hate her more. Erika was stealing Kanae's joy, Moko's joy, how could Kyoko just let her get away with that? Kyoko sighed before looking up to where there was a muted television. She felt her body pinch in all kinds of places as she looked at the face of Ren Tsuruga but he seemed a little sharper than how he had been before, more forced, less relatable and she wondered if it was only her seeing it.

She was about to turn to Moko and ask her a question before the host asked Ren a question.

"What advice would you give to young people attending auditions,"

Ren's eyes glimmered and to the average person it would seem just a normal and fanciful sparkle but Kyoko could see the pain within his eyes. "You need to stand out," he replied and Kyoko paused as she became fixated on watching him. As much of a liar as he was, Corn always gave some very sound advice.

End of Act 37

Thank you for reading

Thank you to the reviewers of Act 36

H-Nala, Kaname671, KrisXD, ncisduckie, The Real Jackie-O