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-o-

"Before I say anything else, let me introduce myself. I'm Aoi Hyodo," he said, extending his hand out for a handshake.

Misaki ripped her eyes away from the beautiful sea, which she found addicting to watch, giving him her full attention. She grasped his hand firmly, giving it a shake. "Misaki Ayuzawa," she introduced, "although you probably knew that already."

He snorted. "No kidding."

"Excuse me for trying to be somewhat polite."

"You're excused," he said, and not allowing her to get a word in asked a random question—well, random to her. "How do you feel about boy bands?"

She was taken aback by the rather sudden topic change, but answered the question nonetheless. "They're okay, I guess? I mean, I don't have anything against them, but really never understood the huge craze."

"Okay," he then jumped into another question, not seeming to even care about her answer enough to think about it for a split second. She rolled her eyes. "In that case, how do you feel about Angelic Addiction?"

She was really confused now. First a question about boy bands and now…this "Angelic Addiction" thing? She leaned over a bit, trying to see if he was possibly drunk, but not catching the scent of alcohol on him, she knit her eyebrows together.

"You're making no sense," she informed him.

He cast her a strange glance. "How am I not making sense?"

"Do you even know how crazy you sound right now? What is an angelic addiction?" Misaki emphasized the last two words almost mockingly. Aoi wasn't having it.

"Do you even know how crazy you sound right now?!" he exclaimed, eyes wide in astonishment as if he'd caught her committing a crime.

"How am I the crazy one?"

"You're telling me you've never heard of the number one most popular boy band in all of Japan—and maybe even all of Asia—Angelic Addiction?" he asked in disbelief.

"Was I supposed to?"

"You—ugh, nevermind. How can you even call yourself a girl," he muttered.

"You're so quick to judge," she grumbled. She wasn't very fond of this Aoi fellow so far. He seemed hard to get along with. "Anyway, what's even with these questions?"

Aoi smirked at the irony. "Your cousin is being scouted to be a part of Angelic Addiction," he told her. Misaki blinked in surprise; she never thought he was really into boy bands, much less being a part of one.

Not really sure what to say, she settled for a, "Well, as long as he's happy doing it, I fully support his decisions."

He shrugged, zipping up the light jacket he wore as the chill of the breeze began to bother him. "Yeah, well, that's the problem," Aoi frowned. Misaki tapped her fingers impatiently on her lap. He really loved beating around the bush, didn't he?

"What? Does he not want to join?" she attempted to guess, only to receive a head shake of negativity.

"It's not that he doesn't want to, it's that he can't. In fact, he really wants to," Aoi sighed, a look of pity washing over his face. Misaki felt her heart drop as she wondered what could've went wrong.

"Is he okay?" she asked. If something happened to her cousin, she had to know. He and Minako were the only two blood related family members she had left, and she didn't want to lose him too.

"Huh? Well, yeah, it's just…"

"It's just what?!"

Aoi exhaled sharply. "He got a surgery…"

Misaki bit her bottom lip, feeling very anxious right now. Why is he having a surgery? Was he sick?

"...plastic surgery, to be specific, and let's just say this fool was trying to get rid of a mole on his eyelid, and things went wrong."

She gulped. "How wrong?"

"His eye is somehow sewed shut for the time being," he replied, clicking his tongue in disapproval. "I told him that we should invest in a more expensive doctor if this was something he really wanted to do, but no, he had to go for some cheap weirdo."

Misaki smiled sheepishly. That sounded like something he'd do…

"They can fix it though, right? That shouldn't be too severe," she confirmed. Aoi nodded curtly.

"Yeah, but the process is timely," he responded, "which leads us to our next problem. Gerard, the CEO of our music industry, wants to hire him within the next week, or else he will change his mind. And before you ask who I am to the group, I am their manager. I was sent out to find this cousin of yours, and obviously found him in Korea. All was fine and dandy...until he decided to mess with his eye," he concluded with an eye roll.

Misaki felt bad for her cousin. Hearing how he really wanted to be a part of this group, even altering his appearance to be "accepted", only to lose the opportunity due to some mistake. "Thank you for telling me this. I'll be sure to try and make him feel better next time we meet."

Aoi seemed startled, which confused her. Is there more he has to say?

"What if I told you that he doesn't have to lose this chance?"

Misaki raised an eyebrow. "What?"

He laughed at her dumbfounded look. "See, I didn't come find you just to update you on the situation. In fact, if that was my only reason, I probably wouldn't have bothered," he confessed, messing with his hair. Misaki narrowed her eyes at his bluntness, however allowed him to continue. She was caught off guard as he leaned in a bit, staring intently into her eyes. "Misaki, how do you feel about being in a boy band?"

If she was drinking water right now, she would've definitely spit it out all over his face. Instead, she let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Haha. Yeah, sure. I don't know if you've noticed," she stood up, pointing at herself to prove a point, "but I'm not a boy."

"You almost had me fooled with that chest," he said under his breath, masking it with a cough.

"What did you say?!" she fumed, lifting a hand threateningly.

"Nothing, you annoying woman," he tsked. "And obviously, if you joined, we would hide the fact that you were a girl."

She stubbornly stomped a foot. "And why should I agree to this?"

"Stop throwing temper tantrums. You're already nineteen, it's embarrassing," he scoffed. Seeing that she was about to start yelling again, he added, "your cousin told me your age. Speaking of him, you should do this for his sake."

Finally deciding to settle down, she took a seat and faced him. She knew this was his dream, and he'd probably be very disappointed once figuring out his dream job was no longer available, but this kind of negotiation...it was just too much. "Listen, I love him and all, but I wouldn't pretend to be...well, him," she stubbornly persisted.

"It would only be for a month," he offered.

"Still, no."

Aoi raised his hand in defeat, before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a card. "Look, I'm not forcing you. Just…if you change your mind," he handed her the slip of paper. "Come to this address by Friday. If you don't, we'll find someone else."

She gingerly took the card in her hands, observing it and noticing they worked under ID Entertainment. Now, even though she might be an oblivious person, it was hard to not know about one of the biggest entertainment companies.

"I'm off. Have a good day, Misaki. Make a good decision, yeah?" Aoi said his goodbyes, giving her a salute. Her eyes followed him as he retreated back to his van and drove off.

Letting out a heavy sigh, she stared at the card once more. How did she even get herself into such situations…

-o-

"Mother Satsuki," she called throughout the empty church. "I'm home."

Almost instantly, she heard a door creak open and shut. Spinning around, she found herself facing the purple haired woman she was looking for.

"Oh, Misa," she said, "I was wondering where you went. I almost thought maybe my offer was too pressuring and you ran off," she joked playfully, opening her arms for a hug. Misaki gratefully wrapped her arms around Satsuki's shoulders, resting her cheek against the shorter woman's head.

"Mother Satsuki, I don't know what to do," she confessed. She didn't respond but only caringly rubbed the young girl's back. "I'm torn between two decisions to make. It's so difficult." she mumbled.

Satsuki smiled gently. "Misa, choose whichever makes you happy. I know you're a very caring girl who can't help but put others before you, but please take care of yourself and make sure you are satisfied with the decision you make," she reminded her. Misaki nodded slightly, the words spoken making her feel good. Hearing such things come confidently from Satsuki, she was pretty sure which decision she was going through make.

"Mother," she confidently said, pulling out of the hug and looking her in the eye. "I'm going to America."

-o-

If any of you lovelies recognized it, ID Entertainment is a reference to the kdrama Kill Me, Heal me! (watch that too.)

AGAIN THANKS FOR YOUR REVIEWS, THEY ARE SO NICE :')