Act Forty Two – A Stolen Routine

Kyoko sighed as she picked up the bottle and can. She wasn't too big a fan of soda and to execute her plan, she would need to drink it. That was a small problem but it felt like a problem nonetheless. "I don't like to drink soft drinks," she thought aloud but was in shock when she heard somebody else there with her.

"That's too bad," Ushiro commented and Kyoko turned to him nervously. "If you get chosen, you have to drink them during the commercial anyways because you're advertising the drinks. If you can't drink the product then you are not qualified. You definitely won't pass." Ushiro began as Kyoko looked at him with wide eyes. Wasn't he the worst person who could hear her comment? She really was going to instantly fail this.

"Nooo!" Kyoko yelled desperately, she ran towards the director with outstretched arms. "I don't want to get disqualified," she panicked, "Give me a chance! I'll drink it! I'll definitely drink it like I love it! Don't disqualify me! I will definitely drink it later!" she begged and Ushiro blinked.

"Oh," he asked surprised, "You will?"

Kyoko paused, did that mean that she would get disqualified because she had admitted her dislike for the product. That couldn't happen to her. She couldn't let Moko down like that, she had wanted for them to reach their dreams together. Still, she had actually said her plan to him and that would soften the impact. It was supposed to show a great moment of bonding sharing the Kyurara, hopefully he would still enjoy the scene she had chosen.

"Huh?" she asked and Ushiro stayed still looking at her.

"Drink Kyurara?" he asked and Kyoko froze. That was her surprise for the judges but it did mean that she was worthy, right? This wasn't a complete disqualification.

…..

…..

Once Kyoko was making her way back to the room with the other contestants, she groaned a little. She had said her idea out loud and to the director no less. That was stupid, she was a dummy because the reaction wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't have as big of an impression. However, there were still things that she hadn't said including the context of the idea. There were still ways to impress the judges despite the biggest part – the using of the Kyurara – was half of the idea.

Kyoko pushed her body against the wall hoping that some hole would open up in the earth and pull her down to consume her body. She was going to ruin this for both of them and then neither one of them would get the commercial.

Kyoko looked across to see the black clouds surrounding Kanae, she was staring at her in a mix of horror and fury. Kyoko paused. She realized how she must look and even if she had given away the idea, she didn't want for Moko to feel defeated. She wanted to preserve their friendship.

Kyoko knew that she had to have confidence in herself because you had to have confidence in oneself to inspire confidence in other people. Kanae getting worried wouldn't be good for either of them. They had to work together as a team and she had to lead this time. She wanted to do as good a job as she had of being the scene leader.

Kyoko put her hand up to try to show her confidence. Maybe she had ruined some of the impact from the surprise but it was a good idea. They could make it work wonderfully despite not talking to one another. Kyoko was still attempting to boost confidence in herself when Erika said something that made her pause, her body starting to feel an ice cold chill running through it.

"Sorry," Erika said, "but before we start. I want to borrow Kyurara."

Kyoko paused. What? Erika was using Kyurara as well? Had she been stupid to think that her plan was original, her eyes widened and she stood frozen. If Erika even incorporated Kyurara in her scene then it would leave less of an impact when it was her turn. Ushiro also looked confused. He had heard that from Kyoko but he had thought it was a good idea.

"Is this okay? It's already been opened," the assistant director said as he passed them a bottle and Kyoko felt that she was watching the world in slow motion.

"We're ready to start," Erika said and Kyoko watched the group feeling a pain in her stomach. First of all Erika's partner started to sing, it was a beautiful voice, Kyoko had to admit to that but that part was a little different than her. Maybe it would be a different idea. Erika came in, dancing around her and smiling as it looked like a duet. The two pretended to be friends and the dancing and singing complimented one another. This was more symbolic and abstract, Kyoko's was more down to earth.

The other girl drank some of the Kyurara before holding out the bottle to Erika, "Do you want some?" she asked and Erika paused, looking surprised.

"Can I?" she asked and the girl nodded before they shared the same bottle showing the feeling of friendship and reconciliation. Kyoko froze. Their ending of sharing the Kyurara was the same. That was the idea that she had worked on. How could it have been the same as hers?

"Thank you," Erika said proudly.

Well, hell had swallowed Kyoko up. Her idea had been used by their rival and she now had nothing. She had wanted to prove to everyone that she and Moko deserved to be picked and she mostly wanted to help Moko realize her dreams as an actress but this was too much. How on earth had this happened? She had to think of something quick. Kyoko stared at the floor as if she were looking into the afterlife. She had to think quickly of something else despite how perfect that first scene she had thought up had been. She couldn't just repeat it.

"Hey," Kanae said as she stared at her, "What happened to you?"

Kyoko looked horrified as well, she remained silent for a moment before whispering, "Exactly the same."

What could she do now, what should she do now. The drinking and sharing the Kyurara was the same as she had thought up. Their ideas were the same but to do the same thing would definitely appear as copying. She had failed and worse of all, she had failed Moko. "The ideas," she said slowly, "they were what I wanted to do, exactly the same."

There was no chance of them leaving a stronger impression of them if they did the same scene, things didn't work like that but Kyoko needed to do something, she couldn't just stop, she had to think of something.

"What are you saying?" Kanae asked in shock as she felt her body tense. This couldn't be happening. It was too much of a dangerous coincidence to be real. Kanae saw Kyoko staring into space, "Wai…wait a minute," she panicked. This coincidence was too much, they were directly after the group that had used the same idea and Kanae knew that it would look like she was copying them.

Kanae gasped. Erika had gone to spy on Kyoko and stolen her idea. It didn't matter that it was Kyoko's idea though, they couldn't just make a scene in front of everyone with that kind of accusation. It would put them in a bad light and they couldn't prove it anyway. Kanae started to stress, they had had time before and now they didn't, what were they going to do.

Kyoko however was in battle mode and she sometimes thought better in battle mode. She was determined to do well on this so that she and Moko could defeat Erika and having Erika steal her plan was making the anger rise in Kyoko. She had to do something better and she was going to do something better.

"What's wrong, you two?" Ushiro asked and they both turned to look at the director. "Is there something a matter? Haven't you decided what to do?" he asked and Kanae opened her mouth. They couldn't be disqualified already.

Kyoko paused and said in a low voice, "We'll do it," this surprised everyone and Kanae started to panic. What kind of an idea could she come up with in only a couple of minutes. Did she prepare a back up plan or something. "We'll start right now. Excuse me," she turned to the assistant director, "Please lend us some Kyurara," she said as the ominous aura swept around the room.

"They're over there," the assistant director said as he led Kyoko over to the back room. Kyoko followed him, not listening to Kanae who was calling after her. Was she actually going to copy the scene? They wouldn't leave a good impression on anyone if they just copied what was just done.

Kyoko took one of the bottles and one of the cans from the shelf and the assistant director looked at her surprised, "Ah, for the both of you?" he asked and Kyoko was hesitant about telling him the idea. She had already lost her surprise once and though nobody could be listening, she couldn't do it again. "For the drinks, this one would be better," he advised as he handed the bottle to her.

Kyoko shook her head, "No," she told him and the man looked at her in surprise, "This is fine." He nodded slowly and then froze as Kyoko dropped down into a squat and started shaking both the bottle and the can violently. She did know that they had different outcomes, right? They wouldn't be the same and the can was about to explode. Did she know that shaking it that hard would cause it to explode?

As Kyoko came back to the room, she looked at Kanae and then the director. "Sorry for the wait," she apologized. Kyoko handed the bottle to Kanae whilst she held onto the can. "Moko-san," she said and Kanae panicked. Was she seriously suggesting that they use the same idea? They couldn't use the same idea and leave a good impression. It didn't work that way.

"Moko-san," Kyoko repeated as she took in Kanae's shock and nervousness. Kyoko looked at Kanae as if telling her that she would lead her on a new adventure despite this just being a commercial. "Follow my lead," she advised and Kanae looked at her in shock as they took their spot in front of the judges.

Kyoko had given such a feeling of confidence though that Kanae knew she could trust in her. She didn't know what would happen but she knew that she could trust in Kyoko.

"Now then," the assistant director called out, "Let's begin."

End of Act Forty Two

Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated

Thank you to the reviewers of Act Forty One

Brennakai, H-Nala, Kaname671, Kris XD, Paulagato

I am so anxiously awaiting the scenes with Ren again for this fic but I want to really show the manga despite this following the manga. Also, lol, an anon accused me of not having original ideas. This is my only fic that I would consider unoriginal.