37 YEARS AGO —
The senior of the working company shows Ju'nichi to one of the new coworker accountants in the office, introducing...
"And oh yeah, Ju'nichi-kun. This is Haukea Kaeloha. She's a foreigner in what I've heard."
Senior Kaito taps junior Haukea's shoulders, smiling warmly as he pulls Ju'nichi closer
"Junior Haukea, starting from now on, you two, Ju'nichi-kun will be working on the same table. I hope you two get along."
Ju'nichi blushed — stiffening. Trying to be respectful, he bows his head, greeting Haukea.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Ju'nichi Hayami. I hope we get along."
Ju'nichi stretches his hand for a handshake.
Haukea takes his hands, shaking them gently. Her hands were soft and was like majesty.
Ju'nichi was flustered, raising his head as he observes Haukea's face.
"Likewise." Haukea replied in a slow and soft tone in Japanese.
"She's like snow." Ju'nichi thought.
5 years later
Sofia Kaeloha picks up a baby from the streets.
"You look just like your mother...snow like hair. Eyes as clear as tomorrow...
I'll name you Kuyumi...Kuyumi Hayami."
17 YEARS PASSED (Year 2000)
Kuyumi sat down on a side, near a tree, crying as she was mocked about not having her parents attend her graduation day from highschool
She wipes her tears away, sobbing
"Why...? Why do they always have to mock my life? This is frustrating~"
A person gave her a handkerchief, she takes it gratefully, sneezing unto it.
"Thank you–"
As she looked up, she noticed...the feared Akira Kiyoshi of their school was the one who handed her the handkerchief.
She blushes, apologizing for she had sneezed comfortably on his handkerchief
"Oh, sorry– It was... disrespectful of me. I'll wash this out for you."
Kuyumi's thoughts:
This is bad, he'd seen my other side! (For Kuyumi is known as one of the most graceful in school)
Akira replied as if she's never done something disrespectful
"It's fine, thank you for taking responsibility."
Kuyumi washes the handkerchief, as she does, she spoke gently
"I'm Kuyumi Hayami. And you must be..."
"Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi Akira." he replied
PRESENT TIME
Kuyumi got back in house.
While she removes her boots, she wondered
"Kiyoshi-sama...if I weren't wrong, that was the Idol, Ai Hoshino. I'm assuming they were talking about like going to the JIF event..."
She walked towards the kitchen, drinking a glass of water, thinking
"It's been so long since I've seen him again..."
She sighed, chuckling in a mix of pity and happiness for him
"He's still the same as ever."
Meanwhile on a Bus Station
Ai groans, swinging her legs uncontrollably as she waits for the bus for nearly an hour now
"Ugh...! Where are the buses? Can't they show up now?"
Akira checks his phone, looking at the time (6:57 P.M)
Ai:
"Can't we just book a taxi already, Akira-sama?"
Akira looks at the without a single sign of a bus approaching
"I'm saving money for rent. Let's just walk already if you want to see Ruby perform."
Ai groans even louder, looking at the sky in frustration
"Urgh~ But It's tiring, plus, it's more than 10 away, could be even 20-26km away from here"
Akira starts walking back to the direction of their home, waving his hand
"Choose , whether you walk or lose the opportunity of watching your child perform."
Ai's body trembles, running towards Akira before trying pulling him back but being pulled instead
"Please...stop, Akira-sama! Okay, okay, we'll walk. Just please~!"
Akira freezes for a moment before turning back to the supposed direction of the JIF event, jogging. Leaving Ai behind
"Good, then let's go."
Ai's jaw dropped, chasing after him
"Don't leave me behind, Akira-sama!"
Meanwhile on the JIF event, Kana was still bothered about the fact that it was Aqua behind the mask all along, also wondering if he was a subsitute. Her face is pale, due to also because of lack of sleep thinking about it. She hits her head to wake herself up.
Kana turns into a corner, thinking about dressing/preparing early.
"Not over there." Miyako said
Ruby turns her head to Miyako, raising an eyebrow in confusion,
"Where do we change our clothes then?" Ruby asked
Miyako giggles teasingly before bringing them into a giant building; crowded and all noisy. It was Chaotic in short.
Everyone was in panic, shouts of frustration and stress echoed upon the hallway, on right shouts here, the left shouts there.
Kana had to raise her voice to ask Miyako
"What exactly is this hellish place?"
Miyako replied that they're on the dressing room. Kana complained that it's so crowded for a dressing room. Miyako explains that it is normal for a festival that has this many stages.
"Hundreds of performers and those involved are all packed here, and there's barely space for luggage. There's no changing room either, so you have to change clothes behind each partition." saith Miyako
"Obviously, famous groups that perform on the main stage are given separate rooms. This treatment only applies to the underground and moderate idols. In short, if you want to be treated well, you'll have to sell too."
Miyako continued to walk to the nearest seat to wait and eat before changing since it'll probably take long before they'd even be able have the chance to change clothes.
---
MINUTES LATER
Ruby looks unto beautiful makeup items, only to be blocked by crowds of those that are fans of Mem-cho; asking pictures of her.
Meanwhile Kana sits on a chair, resting her head in frustration. Miyako approached Kana, showing a worried face
"Are you okay?" Minami asked
Kana excuses her unstable sleep activity this morning
"Yeah, I just didn't get enough sleep. That's all."
Miyako eyes softened in pity, asking if she was ever nervous. Kana waves it off, saying,
"I've been in this industry since I was still sucking bottles. There's no way I'm nervous now. "
She then stood up, ensuring Miyako that she'll take care of the two.
"As a veteran with 17 years of acting experience. I need to keep those two chicks under my wings." she thought while she walks towards their location. She forces her self to not be pressured nor be scared.
"Give it everything you've got." Kana thought, encouraging herself
She looks up ahead, taking the burden of the career of both on her shoulders.
"If I fall, everyone will fall with me. The expectations of those who believed in me and bet on me...I can't let them down."
Kana looks down the ground, remembering her painful past; being looked down in disappointment when she's not good enough. The way the agency no longer treats her nice after she's grown up and the pain of being left behind by her parents then hiding it with a simple smile. She now questions her worth, crying inside.
"Am I not needed anymore?"
She waves her hands at Ruby at Mem-cho after reaching them and seeing comments in her latest idol application paper.
---
Comments:
"Kana Arima is all grown up now, does anyone still care about her?"
"Arima was popular as a child, but I don't think she has any fans now."
---
Kana laughs it off, shaking her hand
"I'm not a child anymore. I have no value! I've grown up. I don't have any fans!" Ruby looks at her with worry in her eyes while Mem-cho smiles sheepishly of her actions and depreciation of herself.
Kana thought of when did she even start depreciating herself. Doubting herself as the leader of B-Komachi for someone who's not even popular...but she still worried about the performance of the two as newbies, wanting to guide them as much as she can.
Ruby approaches Kana, fidgeting her fingers as she panickingly confess:
"Senpai. I'm getting so nervous."
Kana was shocked, scaring that they might actually mess this first performance because both of them are nervous. Whispering unto her
"You were all excited about it until now."
Ruby's hand trembled in nervousness saying,
"The closer we get to performinh, the more nervous I become... What should I do...?" Ruby asked
Ruby felt Lana's cold hands too, asking if she's also nervous, Kana lied saying that she's not nervous at all, adding the fact that she's been doing such pressure performances a long time already.
But Ruby saw through her eyes, she caught Kana lying
"Everyone does that when they lie."
Ruby grabs Kana's hand, pointing out the coldness of it. Colder than her own.
Kana blushes, being caught red handed. She forces her hands away from Ruby, insisting,
"I'm not lying! Besides, I haven't fallen so low that someone like you needs to worry about me!"
Ruby States at Kana.
"You're howling like a scared puppy..."
Ruby laughs it off, being thankful that Kana is nervous with her. After a brief silence, she noticed Kana hasn't replied yet; she seems out of her character right now. She leans in closer, raising her eyebrows.
"Huh? Are you more scared than I thought...?"
She gives Kana a lift, reminding them that they're a team.
Kana shouts in frustration, saying,
"That's why. That's exactly my problem! It's because of you two! I wouldn't think twice if I was performing on that stage alone! So what if I failed? It wouldn't be the first time!
But now I have you guys...!"
Kana clenched her fists, expressing that she doesn't want them to feel the pain of failure she endured for years.
"Being in a team...is scary..." she mutters
"Don't just selfishly take responsibility on your own. I don't know a lot about your child actor era...nor do I know how much people evaluate your career now." Ruby replied
"To me, you're just a young girl."
Ruby grabs Kana's arms, giving her a soft smile.
"A common rookie idol...who works hard and is cute.
It's natural for someone to fail, so why don't we just have fun?" Ruby encouraging Kana
She pulls Kana to their dressing room, smiling.
"Come on! It's our turn to get changed!"
---
Kana and the others dresses in their idol uniform. As Kana wears her gloves, she reminded herself that she's a rookie.
"A rookie idol, Kana Arima."