Melody of the Heart

Chapter 1 – New Offers Pt 1

With a deep sigh, Kyoko straightened her back and started getting dressed into the obscenely bright pink LME jump suit that was her work uniform. It was neither fear nor embarrassment of wearing the outfit that had her sighing, despite the super eye-catching neon color. After all, Kyoko considered herself lucky for being able to wear the LoveMe costume, considering her failure to enter as an LME talent having failed the LME audition almost a year ago. Instead, the sigh stemmed from the nerves and distress she had been shouldering since she received that phone call late yesterday.

She shrugged her arms into the long sleeves with a hard shove, determined to get through the day in one piece. With her battle armor now donned and civilian clothes properly folded and stored in the locker, she lifted her head, and purposefully walked up to the door to leave the room. The door knob turned itself, just as she reached for it, and the door swung open, barely missing slapping her outstretched hand.

Kyoko's eyes went from wide open in surprise to a glittery sparkliness that made her amber eyes seem larger and brighter as she recognized the new entrant to the LoveMe locker room.

"MOKO-SAN!" she cried out, reaching out instantly to drag LoveMe's second member, dressed in an equally eye-catching jumpsuit, into a big hug.

"STOP!" was the sharp response she received. Kyoko stopped in the middle of her best-friend-hug pose to Kanae's palm in front of her.

Kanae sighed an internal sigh of relief. In the split second that she opened the door, she realized that due to their proximity she wouldn't have been able to dodge the hug-bullet fast enough. In instinctive self-preservation, the one word was the most she could get out. And lucky for her, Kyoko's reaction to the sting in her voice that came from her brief panic appeared to freeze her faster than any maneuvers Kanae could have mustered otherwise.

Quickly side stepping into the room and away from the still-frozen-in-place Kyoko, Kanae noticed her best friend's eyes make yet another change into a tear-filled shimmer as Kyoko thought that Kanae was upset at her for something. No sooner had Kanae gotten to a safe distance from her, Kyoko reached for her again and immediately started wailing apologies for whatever she did wrong, crying that she could not leave her because she was her best friend and she would be so lonely she would kneel and beg until she was forgiven even though she did not know what she did wrong and was not worthy of being forgiven.

"MO! Enough already! I am not mad!" Kanae shouted as she expertly avoided the flaying arms that were trying to hug her while trying to kneel down in dogeza at the same time. Trying to stop the unneeded and excessive bowing, Kanae finally gave in to let her best friend hug her. Though it couldn't really be considered a hug, since Kanae's hands were pushing on Kyoko's upper arms in a weird angle, so as to keep as much distance between them, but close enough to let Kyoko's hands clasp her shoulders. But the contact did the job, and Kyoko calmed down a little, with eyes still shimmering.

"You just surprised me, that's all! I open the door and a pink blur pounces at me, of course I'd be surprised, right! It could have been a crazy stalker fan for all I knew!" Kanae said the first excuse on her mind, already cursing herself in her thoughts for how lame it sounded even to herself.

"But Moko-san, this is the LoveMe locker room. It could only have been me or Amamiya-san in here." Kyoko responded with innocent confusion.

"MO! You never know how crazy people can get! The fan stalker could have hidden in this stupid room, waiting for me to return to ambush me!"

As if now seeing the logic of her LoveMe compatriot's comments, which to anyone else would have been faulty beyond reason since the LoveMe locker room was in the secured LME building that screened everyone that entered the building and monitored hallways with cameras, Kyoko's eyes widened again in shock and despair because of the distress she must have caused her best friend by surprising her like that and she completed her previous attempt to kneel in a dogeza and cried, "I am SO SORRY, MOKO-SAN! I did not consider your feelings and made you scared because I recognized you instantly and could not stop wanting to hug you!

"MO! I get it already! Don't you need to be somewhere right now? Weren't you on your way out?" said Kanae quickly, picking her up before Kyoko went into another apology outburst of bowing.

Kyoko straightened back up again and said, "Yes, I have to go see Sawara-san regarding some new offers I received last night." Her face slowly became downcast again, as she thought about meeting the head of the Talent department of LME who governed over her and the other LoveMe girls.

"What is that face for?" Kanae said, her voice rising a little as she thought angrily about her own lack of new offers. "You're supposed to be happy about getting new offers, because that means you are being recognized and are given more chances to show your acting to everyone!"

"I know, but Moko-san," Kyoko whined, "Sawara-san said that Sacchou-san was very excited about one of the offers for me, and really wants to see me accept the role."

"So," Kanae said, glaring at her.

"So if it is another bad girl role, or some other horrible role, like having to play the servant of the wealthy family that mistreats and abuses me and punishes me to work without eating," Kyoko said, matter-of-factly.

"Then I have to accept the role any way because Sacchou-san would be disappointed in me if I didn't!"

"Not to mention that Otou-san told me that I have to act no matter what the role or I will be a ham actor, and I don't want to be a ham actor that cannot act roles that I don't like!" Kyoko continued.

"MO! You don't even know what role you are getting and you are already distressing over stupid things!" Kanae stomped her foot, annoyed.

"But.."

"No buts! Go see Sawara-san now and find out what roles you are offered before you start imagining what kind of horrible roles you have gotten!" Kanae interrupted, strictly.

She saw Kyoko about to answer again, and quickly added "And if it is really as bad as you imagined, you can complain to me afterwards and we can go decline the President properly together."

Brightening at the word 'together' from the mouth of her best friend, Kyoko smiled and nodded, "Hai!" as she gave a quick bow to Kanae and skipped out the door, cheerily, woes forgotten.

Kanae pinched the bridge of her nose as she felt the stirrings of a headache, realizing what she may have just gotten herself into. She was getting careless around that girl. What was it about her that made her unable to see that sad face without wanting to dash it away in a hurry. She needed to prepare better excuses.

Sinking into one of the chairs in the room, she wondered about what kind of offer LoveMe member number one could have gotten that would have made the President so excited, and quietly hoped it would be something that Kyoko would be able to accept without qualms.

Besides the Kyurara commercial that brought the two pink friends together, Kyoko's list of acting achievements was growing, with one complete drama series as the proud and demonly fearsome antagonist, Hongo Mio, a well-received PV as an unbelievably beautiful yet devil-like angel, and her latest role in the Box-R series of Katagiri Natsu, the fashionable and seductive leader of a group of high school bullies. It certainly seemed like Kyoko had only been able to expand on the bad girl roles she so strongly disliked so far.

But she always seemed to get such raving reviews from acting in those roles any way, which annoys Kanae since that factor alone makes her unable to understand what Kyoko dislikes about them so much.

Still, she hoped that Kyoko's offers weren't going to be something crazy like having to play a vicious and demented serial killer that collected body parts.

She shuddered slightly at the thought, and picked herself up to get changed and go home.