Ersatz

Written for The Funky Universe: An IDOLiSH7 Writers Zine with a theme of Swaps! My entry is a swap between ZOOL and TRIGGER's Origin Stories

Warnings for mentions of: hospitalization, sexual encounters and alcohol. If any of these topics make you uncomfortable, please turn away now

🌟~🌟~🌟

Gaku never felt more free than on stage, singing the songs he loved with his closest friends around him. The cheers and applause from the audience was a sweet reward, a reward that told him he was loved, that he had been able to climb this high with his own two hands and with the hopes and dreams of his groupmates and fans.

However, even the prettiest and strongest of diamonds can shatter like the most fragile piece of glass.

It happened in the blink of an eye to Gaku. One moment he was on top of the world, only surpassed by Re:vale, and the next he had been left behind for the new shiny toy of the industry: ŹOOĻ. Like an outdated machine, Gaku and his group fell into obscurity, remembered only as a passing memory in the minds of the masses and in the hearts of former fans.

He doesn't remember the time between disbandment and being scouted for TRIGGER; a life without meaning isn't worth remembering afterall. He had been told that he could get revenge for his fallen comrades, to bring down the newfound darlings of Yaotome Productions.

So of course he joined without a second thought. Why not bring down those whom his father created to tear his own success down? Oh, what sweet justice that would be, to watch as his father tried to pick up the pieces of his own son's shattered dreams.

So far, TRIGGER was doing a wonderful job at just that. Their name quickly spread around town like warm butter on toast. Gaku even had to go outside wearing a mask and sunglasses again. All felt right with the world, knowing that soon ŹOOĻ would only be an afterthought.

With a chest puffed out with pride, Gaku strolled down the hallways of the TV studio. This would be TRIGGER's first live TV appearance since they debuted a few weeks prior. Their manager said they didn't need to worry about rushing to appear on TV so quickly. The early bird may catch the worm, but there was virtue in lying in wait as well. Make those who were skeptical of them wait for the next appearance, make those who were already their fans yearn for them even more. Gaku wasn't sure how that would work in tearing down ŹOOĻ, but he learned not to question his manager. His manager was... an interesting character to say the least.

The hallways of the station were bustling with life, and Gaku didn't walk down a single hallway without passing by a stagehand, a make-up artist or a stray cameraman. Occasionally he would pass another talent that would be performing on another channel, but they were few and far between.

"Um, excuse me? Are you Yaotome Gaku?"

Gaku stopped walking and turned around, expecting the speaker to be a fan or at least a staff member, maybe even that cute blonde manager Ryu had told him about. Unfortunately for him, it turned out to be neither.

"Aha, I knew it!" Inumaru Touma smiled brightly, a true damper on Gaku's otherwise happy mood. "I heard through the grapevine that you joined a new group."

"And why does that matter to you?" Touma's smile faltered a bit, obviously not expecting Gaku's harsh tone.

"I heard about your previous group's disbandment, I had wanted to wish you my condolences but you never replied to my messages on SNS. I thought maybe you had blocked me or something." Touma scratched the back of his neck. Well, he wasn't wrong. Gaku read every message sent to him on social media, and he did block Touma after he messaged him the first time. Was it petty? Yes. Did Gaku care? Not in the slightest.