Act 40 – The Luck of the Draw
Kyoko grinned to Kanae as they shared a moment of friendly bonding before she heard something unpleasant approaching them and they looked at one another in a determined manner. "But," Kyoko said as she sat conspiring with Kanae, "Our first prey is the same, right?"
As Kyoko said that she heard a noise behind her of alarm but didn't dare to look. This girl could be getting pushed off of a roof and she wouldn't – no she probably would still care. Kyoko didn't want to hear the snobbish things that Erika would say though.
"What kind of outfit is that!?" Erika shrieked as she pulled back in fear. In her minds these girls were in awful outfits that would be more suited to a mental institution or hospital wing. She wouldn't dare go out in these colors, it would be truly awful. "I can't believe you'll do something this disgraceful! Don't tell me that you came here wearing those!"
As she said that one of her manservants grabbed her and attempted to turn her away, "Erika-sama, please don't look that way," he instructed as Kyoko and Kanae felt the loathing radiating off of them.
Erika suddenly started laughing, brushing the fact that to her they looked hideous and were burning her retinas aside. "Don't tell me you're that desperate to win against me. I never knew you'll become this desperate. Knowing that I'll win against you anyways. You shouldn't embarrass yourself like this…you should have quietly withdrawn."
Erika saw the two Love Me members rise in unison but she continued in her arrogant manner. "You're really annoying with that I-want-to-act attitude of yours. In grade three, I should of transferred to another school! But I stayed there until grade six and I had to force myself to go to the same junior high as you, when that school was the last school on my 'what school should I go to list'. I should have gone to that other junior high instead." Erika sighed and opened an eye as she attempted to act like the victim in her own story.
"Anyways, because of you, my childhood is ruined," she blamed Kanae. As she turned to the two other girls though, she looked in shock. Usually people would be apologizing to her if she said something like that. They would fall down on their knees and beg her for forgiveness. It was terrible when they wouldn't do such a thing.
Instead though she was facing two of the harshest glares ever. There was a dark confidence behind each of them as they stared at her as if she were a monster. She couldn't allow for them to defy her and to believe that they had the skills and confidence to win. She wasn't a monster and she wasn't going to be treated like a monster by someone wearing such an ugly color. If this was a battle then she had already won.
Erika felt her breath catch in her throat as she looked to them, "What…why are you looking at me like that?" she asked them.
"Yes," Kanae said slowly, "I did ruin your life. I'm sorry. But don't worry, everything will end today. I will free myself from you." The standoff was chilling but Kyoko was proud of Kanae's determination. They would win. They had to win. In all of the fairytales good always prevailed over evil.
…..
…..
Kyoko looked at the box in front of her with a shaking hand. Even though the box did say 'Ushio Special' this was still scary. There were always booby prizes in mystery boxes and knowing her luck she would pull one out that would tell her to go home and that she was no longer being considered for the audition and she would never become an actress.
She flinched as she looked at it, "this is a cruel test of whether you are lucky or not," she said in a nervous manner as if her life was on the line, "As long as I get a piece of parchment out of that box, the one I drew out must be…"
She put her hands to her face and felt a dark cloud over her, she panicked again as an image floated in her mind. There was a house and the words: Failure, you do not have the right to participate in the second round. Please leave."
Kyoko covered her face and moved from side to side in panic, "It will definitely be those words. I don't want that. I'm too afraid to put my hand in."
Kanae came over to her and looked at her bitterly, "Haven't you drawn yet?" she asked before sticking her hand into the box as Kyoko watched in fear. "What are you trying to do? There are only two pieces of paper left in the box," she stated before pulling them both out and handing one to Kyoko. "This is for you."
Kyoko moved forwards and her eyes filled with tears, "You are too much, Kotonami" she panicked, "this must be the disqualifying piece."
Kanae stared at her in shock, "There is no such thing," she tried to tell her, "Didn't the producer mention that the second round is determined by drawing lots," she stated before opening her paper which had the letter-number combination of '3-B'. "What is this?" she asked.
They both stared at the papers and there was a loud noise that made everyone turn around to see someone who looked like he might be a low-class Yakuza member. All of the contestants were looking at this man who had a fashion of someone in a biker gang. He laughed as he looked at Kanae and Kyoko but then sat down at the judges table. He couldn't be the producer alone."
"Ah then," the assistant producer said, "before the second rounds begins, let me introduce someone. This is the producer who wasn't here on the first round. Erm, I believe everyone has seen him plenty of time on TV. The new commercial, Kando, is all done by producer Ushiro Kurosaki."
Ushiro leaned forwards with a smile, "Why is there such a comment?" he asked them, "because the commercials I produce are a work of art. Do all of you know that a commercial is a win/lose of ten seconds? Within these ten seconds, the product and company message must be deeply implanted into the minds of the consumer. Hence the new commercial I intend to do it more dramatically."
Kyoko nodded along to this. Of course, she had never starred in a commercial before but she had seen them. It made sense that they needed to capture so much in so little time but she had never acted in anything before and this seemed like something that Ren would be able to do in just a handful of seconds without worrying about it.
"So," Ushiro pointed towards the girls, "Have all of you drawn the lots? On the paper there's a number and a letter, right? Those with the same number shall pair up. 1-A pairs up with 1-B," he instructed and soon all the girls were talking and trying to find their partner for the audition.
Kyoko looked towards Kanae in surprise, they had drawn the last two pieces of paper but had still been paired up together. This was a good thing, right? She could have trust in her partner.
"The A and B written on the paper, treat it like your own number tag. So to speak, the plot of this commercial concern A and B, the ones I am hiring will be two amongst you but I may not use the two in the same group to conclude after reviewing today's audition round, I will choose the suitable A and B."
Kyoko looked to Kanae happily that they were in the same group and that there would be two people in the audition. It meant that they could work as one unit in following their dreams.
"Next up" Ushiro told them, "A and B must carry out a task. I want you to… how shall I put it? Within sixty seconds, in the easiest way, get into a quarrel." Kyoko paused as she tried to figure out what he meant by that. They had done improv acting at the acting class but she hadn't expected for something like that in an audition? Was that normal? "The reason behind A and B's quarrel is both have fallen for the same guy," Ushiro told them, "A confessed to the guy but it turns out the one he likes is B. Everything begins from that. I will leave the quarreling to your creation. I will give you twenty minutes to discuss this in the lounge, but, remember this is not a real quarrel. A and B are the very best of friends."
Erika raised her hand high as the producer had finished with explaining the idea for the first acting test. She wasn't going to let Kanae Kotonami steal her precious light from her. "I have a question!" she yelled loudly enough that the echoes bounced off of the walls. "Does this sort of female relationship exist?" she asked and Ushiro looked at her not knowing what to say.
"It's just imaginary," he said with a confused look as if Erika were an idiot. "The world is filled with imaginaries anyway."
Erika looked shocked and angry as she looked at him, "I did not mean it that way," she pointed a finger at Kyoko and Kanae and angrily stated, "I am saying about these two?" she yelled and both of them took a step back in surprise. It was pretty surprising to be called out in the middle of an audition by one of the other contestants.
"They belong to the same department," Erika continued, "and now they are in the same group. Compared to those who have just met yesterday, it's obvious they can communicate better," she said and Kyoko paused. She could hear people start to whisper about how unfair and unreasonable it was and this wasn't something that she felt was true. They had only started to bond the day before, before that she would try without result to become friends with her.
"In this situation," Erika commented, "They don't even need to discuss with one another," she said and Kyoko felt her jaw drop at such a random statement. She turned to the side to see that Kanae was trying to figure all of this out in her head and she leapt forwards.
"Wait a second! How can you decide that yourself!? You must be joking" she said before putting a hand to her chest. "Only yesterday did I manage to get Kotonami to talk to me. How can we act if we don't get to discuss? Don't overestimate us" she said. Kyoko knew that she was probably too determined when she said this but Erika looked down at her once again.
"Those words," she said as Ushiro felt the atmosphere grow tense, "you two must have planned this."
"Hey, everyone drew from this box anyway," Ushiro attempted to make himself heard above the crowd. "It's just luck that they are in the same group."
Having heard that Kanae's eyes widened and she stood between Kyoko and the producer. "It's not necessary," Kanae said and Kyoko froze. What did she just say? "Let us do it. No discussion." Erika looked at her as if she had just lost her mind but Kanae still stood strong. "It doesn't matter to me anyway," she said and Kyoko paled.
It did matter to her. What were they going to do? Why was Moko-san insisting on such an impossible situation?
End of Act 40
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Thank you to the reviewers of Act 39
Brennakai, H-Nala, Kaname671, Kris XD, The Real Jackie-O