The show must go on

Scene 3

I train like every morning. My dance to the happy music again and again, but my soul isn't. There's no will inside me, I feel empty.

"You need to be ready for tomorrow, don't you want to stay as an idol here." Said my dance teacher. I didn't even see her.

"I'm doing my best, you know."

"If that's your best, I wouldn't bet a lot on you."

"Just leave me alone..." My body stop moving, memories of yesterday resurface.

"Is it because of your boyfriend?" I flinch in shock. How could she know?

"I know this boy wasn't just a friend. I won't tell anyone but you solve the problem, or you won't be able to do your best tomorrow."

"... You're right." This time I need to be strong. I won't give up My love or my music.

"Thank you Shinozui." I go outside to call Ritsu, but he doesn't answer. He must be mad at me, I did scream at him yesterday.

I'll call him again later, for now I send him a text. I want him to be here for tomorrow's concert. When I go back inside, I see Fuyuko with someone else, It's a woman way older than her.

I probably shouldn't, but I sneak near them to hear their conversation, she did much worse anyway.

"You need to have better results by any way possible. Understood?"

"Yes mother." Her mother seem strict. While she speaks, Fuyuko keep a straight face.

"You need to be the best idol for me. Think about what I couldn't do."

"Yes mother."

"I'll go now, and don't forget to do your best for tomorrow."

"Yes mother." She seems empty of all emotion after her mother leave she turns back and see me.

I expect her to be mad or being annoying with me, but instead she looks at me in an exhausted way.

"Fuyuko?"

"I'm tired Rinka. Let's go grab a coffee."

I follow her, and we go to the coffee machine. It's like nothing ever happened.

"Don't you feel tired to be an idol sometimes?"

"Weren't you the one that blackmailed me to stay as an idol."

"I know, it's what bad person do. But being a good person doesn't do anything, you can't strive in the industry without using low blow."

"It's true but think about all the persons we help."

"They don't care about us, they just want Mion and Kiyuki. Not Rinka and Fuyuko."

It's the first time I hear her idol name, I really should have learned more about her.

"You're not going to give up now, will you?"

"I might, maybe tomorrow will be my last day as an idol. You can forget about the picture, I deleted it. I didn't want to ruin your life anyway."

"Are you okay with stopping being an idol?"

"I wanted to be a guitarist, not a doll for people to enjoy. Tomorrow will be the last day anyway, I'll show them the best performance and then disappear like snow in spring."

My body reacted alone. Without thinking, I slapped her, I'm as shocked as her.

"Don't say that! It's hard for me too, you know?"

"Then give up, too."

"I won't give up, I'll still do songs. But not as an idol! I'll launch my own career tomorrow, far from the idol's world."

"You think you can?"

"I don't know, but I'll try, I had enough. I want to live my life how I want from now on!"

"I envy your strength..."

"You don't have to, just join me. We'll be a duo together."

"You want me despite what I did?"

"I do, we're both the same. We just wanted to be an idol, but not for ourselves. I'm sure my sister will understand."

I give her my hand, I know she did bad things, but I want to help her too. That's what being an idol should be for me. Helping peoples!

"I can see why your boyfriend love you. You have a pure heart, I'm sorry for what I did."

I can see she really regrets, we both had to deal with a lot here.

"Let's train together, so tomorrow's concert will be a great one!"

We danced, sung and worked so much. It was really tiring, but we were happy, because we did it for us, not to be used by some company.

Tomorrow we'll show our true self, I'll show everyone.

After a long training, at midnight, I see that I got a message. It's Ritsu, he said he'll be here tomorrow and wished me good luck.

"Ritsu will be here, I really need to do my best." Fuyuko come to me and see the text." He misses you too, you better not disappoint him."

"I don't want him to leave, I want to be with for a long time still."

"He won't leave you, nobody would leave a girl with boobs like yours." She then grabbed them? I step back and blush with my eyes wide open.

"What are you doing?"

"Haha, you're really a fun girl." That wasn't fun, that was mean. But I'm happy I get to see this side of her now. We talked for a moment before falling asleep in the training room.