Chapter 22. The Battle Of The Commercial.

The prepping time had already started but Moko was still in awe from her slick and compelling performance with Kyoko. I was able to get everything across with just one phrase from that girl, in only a few seconds, she wondered dreamily.

While the other girls strategized for the next scene with their respective partners, Moko played in her mind that one minute in which she acted with Kyoko. They were real like professionals. She was so pumped up for the next round, that all the nervousness and pressure of getting the part seemed to have vanished from her mind into thin air. At this point, all she wanted was to act again. The thrill of being in character and having an equally amazing costar left the adrenaline racing throughout her body.

I've never had such an intuitive partner before,. It felt like our minds were connected. She knew Kyoko was good, but today, her mind was blown when she got such an intuitive response from her. It almost felt like she snatched the words right out of her mind. She turned out to be a natural.

I gave myself only fifty-fifty odds to be honest. And yet, not only she managed to keep up with me but-

"So your performance didn't suck today, big deal" her thoughts were interrupted by the last person she wanted to see right now, or ever for the fact of the matter, Erika. "Too bad it was just a fluke and I think you know it." Her lips curled in a smirk.

"What?" Moko asked, since she wasn't listening because of her daydreaming.

"The next scene is about making up with each other and girl B takes the lead this time," Erika explained with a triumphant smile as if she had already won. "In other words, it's all on your dorky partner. Has your buddy even acted before? If she has, she's pretty hacky. In fact I bet she only started like today."

"Hey, back off and shut up," Moko jumped up to her feet and shouted angrily. "Let me tell you something. She's got more hidden-under-the-surface than any of us. And another thing, I have no clue what she is going to come up with. That's right, it's a complete mystery to me. All I do know for sure is that we are gonna beat you."

"What the heck is wrong with you?" Erika frowned. "I hurl insults at you and you say nothing. I say one word bad about her and you lose it."

That snuffed the anger out from Moko like a candle and it was replaced by surprise. She didn't even realise what she was doing until Erika spilled it out to her. Did she actually just stand up to Erika for the first time, and not even for her own sake but to defend Kyoko? She had no idea why she did that. It was not like she cared about her or anything, did she?

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Making up, right? Kyoko crossed her arms and tapped her foot to and fro lightly on the ground while her brain ran a marathon while chasing for non-existent ideas. How would I make up with my best friend?

She waited for some words of wisdom to ring in her mind but unfortunately, nothing came. She started pacing the floor hoping that an idea might pop up in her head from somewhere.

But what did come to her mind was the performance with Moko again. She tried to focus on the task at hand but somehow the image of Moko looking so stunningly gorgeous with that soft expression and those bright tears falling from her beautiful, dark eyes, would crawl its way back into her mind. In that moment, even in a jumpsuit, Moko looked like a princess.

I just blurted 'I'm so sorry' without even thinking. I felt so pained to see her hurt that I couldn't help myself. She hissed out a sharp breath as a realisation hit her on the back of her head like a rock. Moko drew out that performance from me... just like Ren Tsuruga did during the tea ceremony? She gasped at her new discovery. She already knew that Moko was brilliant but to be able to draw performances out of people like Ren Tsuruga was on another level.

She realised for the first time just how far behind she was, and how much farther she needed to go just to catch up. Since they couldn't rehearse, she knew she needed to the same with Moko, to draw out the reaction from her, in order to stand a chance against Erika.

But the question weighed down on her mind. Can I even do that?

No! She slapped her cheeks to drive out the gloom ridden, despondent thoughts. I must do it. I'm the only one who can because I'm playing the lead.

"First of all, I need to figure out what kind of a response I need to get from her." she articulated her thoughts aloud as she assessed the situation. "Girl A and B are best friends so if I am girl B, I don't need her to apologize to me. Which means we don't need to make up either." She knew she was getting something finally as she dug into her brain to catch it before it fades away. "If we don't make up, then how else do I show that everything had worked out fine." As she dug deeper into her brain rummaging for ideas, her eyes darted around the large hall and finally stopped on the empty bottle of Kyurara, which was the soft drink whose commercial it was supposed to be. She picked it up from the judges' table and something clicked in her mind, like a puzzle fitted into a piece. I got it!

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When the rehearsing time was almost over, Erika decided to pay a little visit to Kyoko. She wanted to see for herself what was so special about her for Moko to trust her so blindly. She arrived at the hall a few minutes early and sneaked a peek inside to see what Kyoko was up to and found her pretending to take a sip from the empty bottle of Kyurara. The pieces fell together and a sly smile curled her lips. Now that I know what she is doing, my story arc is gonna crush their's to a pulp, she laid back and relaxed as the lump in her throat, which she didn't know existed, dissolved. It was time to payback Moko for not knowing her place.

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Kurosaki, along with the producers flounced their way to the hall the moment the prepping time was over. The last round was about to begin.

"Is there a need for this role reversal scene?" One of the producers queried the director. "Personally I think we should just go with Ms Koenji and the long haired girl in the pink uniform."

"I gotta say," another producer commented. "Both the girls in pink impressed me more than anyone else."

"And yet," Kurosaki finally joined in, his tone slightly irritated because of the producers' nepotistic attitude. "You keep pushing Ms Koenji on me, but not the girls in pink who blew everyone else out of the water."

"Are you leaning towards the two girls in pink, director?"

"I haven't decided yet," he replied truthfully. I need to be sure first. I have to know if it was just dumb luck or she is the real deal.

The rest of the way passed in silence. When their destination was near enough for them to spot the door, they found Erika lurking around, peeking inside it.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" The director took off his glasses and raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

The sudden remark made Erika so startled that she jumped up and gave a little frightened shriek before turning. She tried to explain, but her lie didn't sound much convincing because of her stuttering, "um... I...I... Nothing. Nothing at all. I was...just waiting to go and. I got here a few minutes early."

The director couldn't do anything even if she was lying, so he just ignored her and marched in.

Meanwhile, inside the hall, Kyoko took a sniff from the empty bottle of Kyurara and wrinkled her nose. "Man, is this carbonated?"

Her suspicions were soon confirmed after she read from the labelling. "Darn, I hate drinks with bubbles in 'em." She muttered scowling at the fact that she would need to drink it in the next scene without flinching

"Well, that's kind of a problem," Kurosaki's startling voice came from behind her so unexpectedly that it made her gasp alarmingly.

"Oh...hi, sir," she plastered a bright smile, hoping he would forget what she just said.

Unfortunately, he didn't. "If you can't convince me that this drink is your favourite then you're immediately disqualified," he said only half jokingly.

"Don't disqualify me!" She wailed. "I'll drink it. I'll drink it in one go like I was dying of thirst. In fact I'll drink it in the next scene."

"The next scene?" He raised his eyebrows.

Fortunately, before Kyoko blurted out the rest of the details of her planned scenario, the contestants walked in, giving her a chance to escape.

What is wrong with me? She screamed at herself silently while grabbing her hair, once she joined the other contestants on the seats in the edge. I totally killed the element of surprise. I'm such an idiot! This blurting-things-out-without-thinking was turning out to be quite a handful quirk.

Moko walked in and automatically started looking for her partner. Her calm and collected mood took a turn for the worst, when she noted that Kyoko appeared to be grabbing her hair in dismay.

Okay, why is she freaking out like that? She thought nervousy. But soon her discomfort turned into furiousness and she glared at Kyoko with such burning intensity that her eyes could have drilled holes into her skull. She's so dead if we drop out after reaching this point just because she couldn't come up with one single idea.

Kyoko felt the vibe of anger tugging at her from behind. She turned to find Moko glaring at her.

I have to calm down and look confident so she doesn't get nervous, Kyoko realized. So she plastered a flashy smile and showed Moko a thumbs up sign, which rather slowly, but effectively, diminished her anger as her confidence slowly made it's way back. She blushed when she noted how one signal from Kyoko was enough to calm her nerves. Turned out, she did trust her. Because, she was sure they were going to win this thing.

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After the first three pairs performed, Kyoko shook her head disapprovingly with a infinitesimal smile suffusing her lips. Because just like she predicted, their routines turned out to be the overly dramatic reunion of best friends in which they asked for each others forgiveness admitting their own fault. Their skills as actors weren't bad per se, but their scenario reeked of cliche. One thing that Kyoko had heard her coach emphasize on, and not just once but countlessly, was to walk on the path of originality instead of blindly sprinting towards drama.

But apparently, this was something all the other girls missed. There was a reason why LME was considered the best in business and once again, Kyoko felt grateful from the bottom of her heart. Nobody was even close to the idea she came up with. Her mind eased and a confident smile spread on her lips.

After the judges remarked on the performance of the third pair, Erika and her partner made their way to the centre of the hall since they were next.

"Excuse me, sir," Erika requested before starting. "Can we have a bottle of Kyurara before we start?" She smiled ingratiatingly.

"Sure," the casting director replied as he handed Erika the fresh, unopened bottle of the soft drink from the judges' table.

The confident smile on Kyoko's face was washed away like wet paint from a wall after someone splashed water on it.

"Alright, we're ready," Erika said as she and her partner took their positions.

"Okay," the casting director pressed the button on the stopwatch. "Begin."

Erika's partner took the lead as she put her hand on her chest and started vocalising in a beautiful and angelic voice.

"Lala lalalala lalalala la la la..."

She waved her other arm around, her eyes closed, a soft expression on her face. She continued singing and shortly, Erika joined her. She didn't sing like her but pirouetted beside her. She danced while revolving around her partner with an equally radiant and cheerful smile basking the hall with a warm, cheerful feeling.

"Well, that's more than a little bit different," the director committed.

"Wonderful, isn't it? The producer beside him responded. "Ms Koenji is perfect."

It's definitely better than your standard kiss and make up scene. I am impressed with the choice, the director pondered. But if dancing and lalalaing is how they end their performance, I'll stop being impressed pretty quickly.

Their minute was almost up, when they finally stopped singing and dancing. That's when Erika's partner took a sip from the bottle of Kyurara and then passed it to Erika.

"Hey, wanna sip?" She asked in a voice as sweet as honey.

"Do you mean it?" Erika asked with a regretful smile on her face which demonstrated her guilt for fighting her friend earlier.

Her partner handed her the bottle with an angelic and forgiving smile. Erika received it gratefully and took a sip.

In the end they bumped their fists and said together, "still besties!"

Their performance ended with the little, casual giggle which caused everyone else to smile. Everyone, except the Love Me duo.

"Interesting choice," Kurosaki nodded in agreement after the producers finally stopped cheering and applauding. "You wouldn't share the bottle after a fight or even offer up a sip unless forgiveness was there and trust had been restored. You made it very clear that you have forgiven each other. Well done, just what I wanted."

"Thank you, sir." Erika and her partner piped with a cheerful smile as the bowed again.

They used the Kyurara in a really smart way, Moko pondered, her confidence stooping bit by bit. How do we top that? If we can at all.

But before she could come up with an answer, the casting director spoke up, "okay. So who's up next?"

"We are," Moko raised a hand and turned to Kyoko. What little confidence she had left drained away when her eyes stopped on her face.

All the colour was washed out from Kyoko's face and only a paper white ghoulish expression was left. Her hazel eyes fluttered in confusion as if she couldn't grasp the situation. She slowly walked up to the centre and joined Moko but her puzzlement and panic was still evidently visible. Everyone could see her expression of horrified shock.

"Hey," Moko lightly touched her shoulder and found her trembling. "Are you okay? What's the matter?" She inquired in the softest voice she could manage while trying to keep her own panic from it at bay.

"I- I... I planned," Kyoko tried to speak but her voice stuttered. "...planned the same thing...to sip it...and then we'd share the bottle... I mean, its almost like they stole it from me." Her quivering voice was so low that the contestants couldn't hear her. But the judges would have, if they were paying attention, which they weren't except for the director.

The moment Moko heard the word 'stole', she knew. Erika had never gone so far as to steal her idea but she wouldn't put it past her because she never needed to...until now. Erika never fought fair. The fact that she disappeared from the rehearsing hall a few minutes early was enough for Moko to believe that she did steal Kyoko's idea.

She nervously glanced at the judges. Thankfully, they were busy in making notes and discussing the previous performance quietly, except for the director, who was scrutinizing them carefully with a frown on his face, as if he had caught on to their problem. They only had a few seconds to come up with a brand new routine.

So she fights dirty, but that's no excuse, Moko bit her thumb as she desperately racked her brain for something, anything. She wasn't going to give up after coming this far. She didn't know where this determination was coming from, but she did know for sure that she wasn't about to give Erika the satisfaction of withdrawing without even trying.

Kurosaki perused the girls in pink which such interest as if he were a scientist who was about to dissect a new species. Judging from what they just said and Erika peeking in the hall before the second round, he concluded that their idea was stolen. But even if he wanted, there was not much he could do about it. That was just how this industry worked. He didn't have time to help every aspiring actor just because they were faced with a wall of deceit. The world was full of unfairness but only those who pulled out through these tricks were worthy enough to be real stars. He wanted to see how they would deal with this situation.

"Are you two ready to begin...or have you still not decided what to do?" He interrupted Moko's brainstorming.

"No...I mean, yes...I mean, well..." Moko trilled nervously, trying to come up with a believable excuse.

Kurosaki sighed disappointedly. "If you have nothing to show, then I am afraid thats it..." The least he could do for them was give them a few extra minutes by making them go last, which he planned to do, but he wanted to see first just how how far he could push them without breaking their spirits, because somehow, he was quite intrigued by them.

Moko turned white as a sheet, "W-we have to drop out?" Her eyes streched out so much that they might have popped out from her head.

"We're ready."

All eyes turned to face the person who spoke, Kyoko. Little gasps escaped the judges when they beheld her sudden transformation and her fiery gaze. Apparently, the shock and panic from before had disappeared from her face and it was replaced by a burning desire of... what could only be deciphered as revenge.

Her face partly demonstrated her inner ambivalent thoughts, only showing her burning passion, unwavering confidence and steely determination which was enough to make her competitors quiver despite the hot weather.

The judges blinked. The casting director was the first one to break the heavy silence, and also the shock of the other spectators, whose unblinking gazes were locked with Kyoko's as if their eyes were trapped in the blazing pits of hazel fire that were her eyes.