Two-Point Seven Percent (Two-Point Seven Percent 1)

Chapter Eight

July 10th, 2028

Filming for the day had to be put on hold due to an emergency meeting. The president of her agency, Katsurō Umeda, called for the meeting in Tokyo. Arisa attended the meeting with Fusami and Hiroe beside her, and Umeda and his lawyer leading the charge against Fujikawa. Arisa had recovered from filming the scene of finding Jina's body, but Umeda had plenty of reason to be concerned.

"Arisa-chan can't be the Phantom anymore."

Arisa glanced at Umeda in shock, but Fusami squeezed her arm as a signal for her remain quiet. Arisa pressed her lips together to be quiet.

"Arisa-chan has been promoting her debut by singing the chorus of several songs in the show," Umeda said. "The decision to write Matsuri Ai out of the show by having her character commit suicide will be damaging to Arisa-chan's reputation and public image. Once the reveal is made that Arisa-chan's character was the Phantom all along, people are going to associate her songs with bullying. People are going to associate her songs with suicide."

"Umeda-san, I believe this line of thought is very drastic," Fujikawa said defensively, raising his hands a little. "I understand your concern, but you had also agreed for Arisa-chan to sing the songs even before the change. You were not concerned about the association of her music to bullying then."

"This is different," Umeda's lawyers said. "Because Arisa-chan's character did not just drive a girl to take her own life; it was a girl who was considered to be her best friend! This episode is already going to draw a considerable amount of controversy when it airs. I hope you realize that you will be bombarded with viewer complaints about this, especially when Matsuri AI's pregnancy becomes public knowledge. The backlash Arisa-chan will receive when she is eventually revealed to the be Phantom is going to be monumental. Her fans love her. They idolize her. Many of them are girls with their own problems who see Arisa-chan's music and online presence as a form of escapism. They will consider this to be a betrayal to them if we move forward with Arisa-chan being the antagonist of the entire Drama. Portraying herself as a bully who fights against girls who rally against her is one thing. Driving one of these girls to suicide is something that her fans would never accept."

Arisa stared at him stunned. She had been uncomfortable with the show runners having Jina take her own life, but she hadn't realize how monumentally disastrous it could be for her career. To have her fans angry with her and hate her? Her fans had helped pull her out of a dark period of her early teenage years and she knew that she success was largely because of their support. They watched her vlogs, followed her on X™️, and many even admitted that they watched Phantoms specifically because she was starring in it.

But she could lose them if the show went forward with plans to make her the Phantom? Arisa looked at Hiroe, who forced a smile at her and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Arisa-chan," Fujikawa said suddenly, and Arisa quickly looked at him. "What are your thoughts on this?"

Arisa swallowed hard, feeling all eyes upon her. She knew that she had to be careful and not speak against the president of her agency. But she also knew that she couldn't parrot everything he said, as it would look like she was being pressured into agreeing with him. "...I liked the idea," she admitted quietly. "Of being the Phantom. I-I would it would be a fun and interesting twist for me to be the terror of a school, because of how much it c-contrasted with my image and was the opposite of who I really am. But honestly...that was before a suicide scene was written into the show." She blurted out the last sentence quickly. She ducked her head. "I don't want my fans to hate me," she said quietly.

"Arisa," Hiroe said quietly. There was an uncomfortable silence that followed.

"...I understand your concerns," Fujikawa said, his expression strained. "But I am afraid that we are past the point of no return. We have already filmed scenes of Arisa-chan acting as the Phantom, and those episodes have already aired—"