AN: Just a heads up. I no longer read the new chapters when they are released and I really don't care what happens in them (other than the return of a Hizuri or Kuon dying). I'm not trying to point anyone else here but I'm on Volume 10 of my reread. Anything that happened this year, I don't care about. Sorry/Not Sorry.

Act 60 – Shotaro's Minions

Kyoko sat with her book in front of her. She had been in the school for maybe a month and a half now and Ren just seemed to have his overseas shooting stretch longer and longer and when he was in Japan it would only be for a couple of days maximum and their schedules would clash. She missed talking to her friend but she couldn't help but to admire his dreams.

"Eeh," a boy said as he passed by her desk, "So busy, so busy." He complained and Kyoko sighed as she heard someone who was even younger than her complaining about his career whilst being in school but she had become used to it. "I have to get going after this."

"Me too," his friend said and Kyoko sighed. Everyone seemed to be doing this, not able to attend classes because of their other jobs but hopefully she would soon get to be among them. She had been able to enter this particular class because of the president but sometimes that meant that she was the only one in the class especially if there was a holiday approaching where new songs had to be recorded or tours had to be attended or rehearsals. Hopefully soon that would be her life but it wasn't right now.

Kyoko sighed as she listened to some of her other classmates talking.

"So tiring, I am starting to film outside tomorrow so I can't go back to school for a while."

"I have to go on a tour starting next week. It'll probably be exhausting."

"It's so tiring, we are two hardworking students."

Kyoko shook her head. Her classmates didn't mean any offense by this and as it seemed to be everyone who was doing it, nobody took a step back to see how privileged they were but each time Kyoko heard them talking she felt that they were praising themselves for their weaknesses even though they were talking about working as a celebrity.

Kyoko tried not to let it bother her, all her classmates seemed really busy but she hadn't even heard of their names. She wasn't very in touch with who people were in the acting field though and definitely not the people who were singers. The only name that seemed to run through her mind was Shotaro's name and that came with a lot of dislike. Still, there were some students in the class who weren't even aware of Kyoko's existence.

Kyoko sighed before getting out her bento box which was left overs from the previous night at Daruma-ya. She had been able to be given these because she had helped cook breakfast in the morning and she was more than excited, Taisho's food always tasted amazing. She took a deep inhale as she smelled the delicious aroma but then felt a sweat drop descend the back of her head as one of the classmates she disliked the most approached her.

Kyoko definitely didn't like Mimori. She had the body and look that attracted many men, she had good dimensions and she was famous. However, her attitude was terrible and this she kept hidden from her fans, the fans that she had anyway.

"Mogami-san," Mimori Nanokura said as she pushed a hand through her hair and then tossed it back with a pretty but still uptight laugh. "You look free, you don't have any work today?" she asked and Kyoko tried hard not to get into an argument with her that would distance herself from the rest of the class even more.

Kyoko turned with a strained smile. She tried not to get mad at her but she knew that for some reason Mimori was attempting to trap her. "Yea-yes," Kyoko said weakly. She didn't want to tell her that she had actually done her filming for Kimagure Rock where she worked as Bo. People would laugh at her in that role and she didn't want for them to know of her weakness. She definitely didn't want it circulating among those who sang because she didn't want Shotaro to know for sure that it was her.

"Really," Mimori gasped pretending to show interest in Kyoko, "So you can stay in school all day?"

"Haha," Kyoko laughed weakly, "Yeah."

Mimori sighed, "Aww," she said mockingly and with an expression on her face where Kyoko knew immediately that Mimori thought that she was pathetic and stupid. "How pitiful. You have to stay in school like this for the whole day, I bet you feel really ashamed, right?"

Kyoko returned with a deadpan look showing that Mimori wouldn't be able to affect her with just these words. Kyoko had dealt with people like her, people who wanted to feel like the most important person in the world, people who wanted the boys to love them. Sure, maybe with her celebrity status she had more reason to feel powerful but Kyoko wasn't going to allow herself to be intimidated by her.

"No," Kyoko said bluntly, "Not at all."

Kyoko turned to her lunch as Mimori took a few steps back in alarm. She hadn't expected this type of a reaction, usually if she was mean to someone they would cry but Kyoko seemed completely unaffected. She was strange, beyond strange.

"Im—impossible!" Mimori replied, having been knocked off guard, "If it were me I would not be able to handle it and would have already requested to switch to a normal class," she said and Kyoko rolled her eyes. This was just Mimori saying that she wanted Kyoko to get out of the class. It wasn't' anything about Mimori herself and Kyoko just felt annoyed by this. "You're so thick skinned."

Yes. Kyoko was thick skinned. She didn't let girls like Mimori intimidate her anymore. She wasn't going to let someone like her push her around. Her life was more important than to fall for something like that.

Mimori started laughing, "but, if you were not this way then you couldn't possibly stand it," she continued to comment and Kyoko rolled her eyes. "You are acting as if those jobs you have gotten from the company are jobs you have found yourself."

This made Kyoko sit up straighter. The job that Mimori was referring to was for the Kando commercial. She had worked hard on that, located the audition paperwork and done her best not only for the audition but for the job as well. The agency wasn't supposed to be finding jobs for her yet because she hadn't gained enough points as a Love Me member. She had to work hard to find them for herself and Mimori's lack of knowledge and bluntness of delivery was enough to truly piss Kyoko off.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kyoko asked as she looked at Mimori extremely annoyed by her.

Mimori gasped, "Oops," she laughed as if she had made a mistake and Kyoko knew that there was no such part of that sentence that was a mistake. "I have to get to work now or else I'll get scolded," she said as she turned and skipped away whilst singing to herself. She really was the kind of person that Kyoko just couldn't stand.

There was something extremely wrong with that girl and she always left a bitter taste in Kyoko's palette.

…..

…..

As Kyoko rode her bike back home, she couldn't help but to keep reflecting back on Mimori's behavior. She kept getting a nagging feeling when she thought of her that was hard to describe. She was a fake, a phony, and a fool. She could just be honest and speak bluntly but that seemed to be beneath her. Most people would tell someone bluntly that they didn't like them and Kyoko didn't have a problem saying it to her. However, she acted in a twisted way that made it hard for Kyoko to know exactly whwat she was thinking and that was extremely annoying.

She scowled as she continued to have these bitter and frustrated thoughts. This wasn't in any way acceptable, it wasn't cool and Kyoko wanted to tell Kanae about it when they were at the acting school together. She sighed. That was what you did when you had a best friend. You could vent to them about certain things.

Kyoko stopped as she heard music coming from one of the huge screens that loomed over the city and her attention was caught by the Kyurara commercial as Moko-chan laughed happily and Kyoko felt such joy in seeing her. You were supposed to celebrate a friend's success and Kyoko wanted for Kanae to have even greater success in the future.

As the image changed to her though, Kyoko started feeling like a fake. She could smile the same as Moko but she didn't have the same energy as Moko and she didn't draw such strong a light. As much as she had enjoyed the shoot, she didn't feel like a superstar in the way that Kanae did. She felt plain and ordinary and she didn't want to hear those words that Shotaro had said to her ever again.

Her face turned bright red as she saw her get soaked by the water. She didn't want to see this, it was embarrassing seeing such a huge picture of yourself with everyone watching. She wished that she could ignore it but this was one way of becoming an actress and she had to grit her teeth and deal with it. As she tried to calm down, she put her hands over her eyes. No matter how many times she saw it, it was embarrassing to her and she needed to look away.

It was weird for her to appear on TV in front of everyone. She didn't want to hear people's reactions and she didn't need to be reminded that she wasn't a real celebrity. She found a couple of girls staring at the screen with wonder in their eyes.

"Ah," one of them said, "Kyurara's commercial. It's big screen."

"Kando's commercial is always so unique," the other one said and Kyoko felt a little rude about eavesdropping on them but they were girls with real reactions. She wanted to hear what she could have done better on for next time and she wanted to be complimented. Very few people ever complimented her and those who did di it because they knew her.

"It looks so pretty," the first one commented as the two engaged in conversation.

"The girls in the commercial are very cute too."

"Actually, the girl with the long hair is my favorite type."

"I know, she is very pretty."

"Then what about the girl with the short hair?"

"Uh, nothing special. Very ordinary."

Kyoko froze as she heard those words and remembered the things that Shotaro had said about her. Kyoko fell sideways as her body seemed to freeze remembering those memories that made her want to commit murder. She fell onto her face, getting strange looks from the surrounding people.

"You're right," the girl replied, "even though she isn't that bad but she lacks charisma. Seems like a poor girl."

Kyoko sighed. They were right. She was a poor girl and ever since the commercial had started to broadcast she kept hearing complaints that made her heart drop like it was brought down by rocks. The only people who had praised her were people who knew her and she guessed that they wanted to encourage her more. Everyone must think she was very ordinary and she definitely needed to try to stand out more. She wasn't like Kanae. She didn't have the natural beauty that Moko did but she had hoped that she didn't lack charisma. In fact, that type of a complaint angered her a lot.

She scowled like a demon and went down the street, her footsteps becoming louder. Everyone in the world was acting like they were Shoatro's minions and repeating his words. They were all thinking his thoughts as if they were stuck in a cult. She really wanted to punch him right now. Her evil spirits surrounded her as she grew even angrier before she felt a jolt from her pocket and a loud bell sound.

What was that?

End of Act 60

Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated

Thank you to the reviewers of Act 59

Kaname671, Kris XD,