Chapter 2: The First Step is Always the Hardest

That evening up on the roof kept playing in her mind, Miho sighed at the first rays of the rising sun seeped into her room. She knew that it was not good to keep lingering in the past, yet, some part of her is still unwilling to let go of the fact that Fancy Lala was someone that she no longer is.

Even so, she was glad that her sister forced her to participate in that audition. After all, it was then that she finally found the direction that her life has been lacking ever since she made Pigu and Mogu attempt her selfish request.

'I wonder if Mr Mysterious had always known that my life would lead to this when he first gave me the eggs?' Miho mused even as she changed into her school uniform, getting herself ready for school.

Making her way down the steps, she spotted the rest of the family already in the kitchen. "Good morning!"

It was when she took her first step into the kitchen that her mother and sister finally looked up and noticed her attire.

"Miho! What are you wearing?"

"Did you forget that today is the day of the second round of the auditions?"

A heated exclamation from a sister and her mother's calm question hit her simultaneously.

'…Oh.' Miho could only scratch her head sheepishly, "I forgot."

Backing out from the kitchen, where her sister seems to be going through a panic attack – it seems that Chisa was a lot more concerned with the upcoming audition that she was – she yelled as she took two steps at a time up the stairs, "Give me a minute! I'll go change immediately!"

Back downstairs, her father could only shake her head at his youngest daughter antics while her mother continued to calmly sip her coffee.

"Mother! How can you be so calm?" Chisa turned to her mother angrily. "Miho actually forgot that today was the second round of auditions!"

"Relax Chisa," a soft reprimand came from the other end of the table, "Don't forget that you were the one who signed your younger sister up for the audition in the first place. Unwillingly, I might add."

"But it's nice having her so energetic again, isn't it darling?" Mamiko said to her family, a tiny smile on lingering on the edge of her lips.

"Miho, are you feeling nervous?" Mamiko looked at her youngest, well aware of how she reacted to strangers when she was younger.

Chisa looked at her sister who was dressed in a simple pullover jacket paired with a short skirt. She was tempted to simply pull her sister into her room and dress her up herself when she saw what Miho came back down wearing.

Shaking her head, Miho answered, "I'm ok," Grasping her sister's palm in one hand, and her mother's in another, she gave both a reassuring squeeze.

"Don't worry, I'll be ok. Promise!" Miho gave the two a grin before stepping into the audition room.

Entering the room, the first thing she noticed was the number of contestants left. Before, there were over a hundred of them competing for the same contract that was offered by LME, now, in just the second around, there were only 20 left.

Making her way to a corner of the room, Miho was well aware of all the dark glares and curious glances she attracted. The room was filled with people aiming for a music career at LME, and it was unusual that a girl, just barely out of her teens, would come and audition for the exact same thing.

She had never missed Ririka's presence as much as she did right now, her comforting presence as well as her whispers had always helped.

Shutting her eyes, she took a deep breath as the memories of similar incidents that happened when she was Lala surfaced in her mind's eye.

"Everybody, please gather around."

Reopening them and taking a look around the room, Miho walked towards the crowd of people gathered around a guy in his mid-thirties.

"I'm Nakazawa, the head of the Singing Section here at LME. Now, I would like to congratulate all of you here for making into the second round of auditions," At this, he gave a brief smile to all present.

"But, please understand this. Only the best out of all of you standing here before me would be able to work for LME. So give us your best performance and don't leave behind any regrets!"

"Now that everything is understood, number 18, 20, 36 and 46 please follow me."

The four of them were eventually told to wait outside of a room before they were called in, one at a time.

Miho took a deep breath, 'It'll be alright, I'll be ok… Miho, you can do it!'

Walking into the room when her number was finally called, Miho turned to face the panel of judges when one of them spoke up.

"Contestant number 46, Shinohara Miho-san. Am I right?"

She could only give a tiny nod. She was well aware of how fast her heart is beating.

"Please, take a seat Shinohara-san."

Her legs automatically moved her over to the chair.

"Thank you," Miho mumbled softly as she took a seat.

One of the judges leant forward and asked the first question, "Now, Shinohara-san, what made you choose the song 'Transparence' as the song to perform during the first round?"

'Because that was my song. The first and final song I've ever performed as Fancy Lala.' Was the first thing that came to mind, but she couldn't possibly gave such as answer.

Miho opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out as the numerous reasons that flashed through her head would never be accepted by those in front of her.

Her eyes showed signs of panic as she tried to find an answer to give.

It was at this point that the President cut in and asked a question of his own, "Shinohara-san, you are still young. And the contract offered at the end of this audition would most likely put an end to whatever childhood you have left. So tell me… why did you participate in this audition?"

'… I want to—'

"I want to perform in front of an audience," Miho spoke, voice confident and the panic she felt earlier seemingly never existed.

'Ms Haneishi, Ririka, Miki-san… Everyone—'

"I want my singing to not only be heard, but also felt by those around me."

Takarada Lory leant forward as the girl before him seems to grow more confident with each word spoken; the determination that practically radiated from the girl reminded him of eerily of a golden-eyed female that he had taken under his wing.

" I want to be known, that I am—" 'Fancy Lala' "—Shinohara Miho."

Miho's fists were clenched tightly as she spoke the last sentence.

How she wished she could shout out to the world that she was Fancy Lala. How she wished she could, somehow, repay those who helped nurture and guided Lala all those years ago.

0o0o0o0o0

A/N: This marks the end of the three-shot prologue for the Fancy Lala/Skip Beat! fanfic that I planned. A sequel - longer fic - will be written, although, I can't make any guarantees as to when I'll start posting those up.

Many thanks to: Le loup de Kaiser, Sharmaine C, RoxasIsReal13, A midsummer night's dream for reviewing!