Greedy Chapter 7

# Chapter Seven - "Magnolias and Bergamot"

    We've worked hard for weeks, practiced every day until our blisters got blisters, passed out flyers every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and *Saturday* everywhere from our dorm to the other side of town, been on the radio once as a group, two more times with just Erika and Kohaku for stupid reasons, received the final versions of all of our backing tracks, our costume designs have been approved by legal and sent to the costume department for finishing, we've eaten more steamed fish and vegetables than I ever had a desire to taste in my entire life, and we all now look - if I may say so - fitter than any of us have at any previous point in our lives.

    Seriously, we're gorgeous now.

    My group mates have turned into stone cold foxes.

    And I'm looking pretty amazing myself.

    We've also locked in a booking at our future debut venue, which is what the point of no return was addressing more specifically. And to think, all it took was a professional temper tantrum from Erika to finally get it done.

    All I've ever gotten when I've lost my temper is sent to my room without dinner, but I guess I can't say I'm a professional at it.

    One month from today we finally debut, which means that yesterday was the last day to back out of the contract, which means that as of today we're all - officially and with no chance to back out - professional idols.

    ***It's about fricking time!!!***

    Pardon my French.

    To celebrate, since a fancy dinner and desserts are out of the question, we're taking a night off to rest and clear our heads. For some of us, like Mariya and Ai, that means catching up on best-friend roommate stuff with a night in. Kohaku went home for the night to "center her chakras, ground her third eye, and cleanse her aura." I have no idea what any of the things she said actually mean, so let's just call it "do magic girl stuff" and leave it at that. I'm going to spend the night at my best friend's so we can play a ton of video games and gossip, which just leaves Erika, who is probably going to do whatever it is that Erika does in her downtime. Maybe a jigsaw puzzle or…

    What else does Erika like doing anyway? Acting? I guess she can go out and try to get another sucker to treat her like she's their little-

    "Gah!" I jumped with fright as someone grabbed my hand the moment I stepped out the dorm's front door. Remembering my training I whipped my handbag back, ready to knock someone senseless.

    "Good evening, Song-sama. I'm ready to go."

    "Don't scare me like that! I thought you were some crazy fan or something! You almost got smacked into next week… Go where, exactly? What are you talking about?"

    Taking in the situation, the answer was sadly obvious. Erika had on one of her "everyday" seifuku, a pink and white combo with a puffy winter coat and thick knee socks sticking out of fuzzy boots. Around her neck she was swaddled in a ridiculously long baby-blue scarf in a similarly colored tartan pattern, and had a pair of wooly pink earmuffs over her ears. Even the little bag over her shoulders was pink plaid and covered in little bows, like she was some kind of escapee from a magical girl manga. It wasn't even that cold out, yet she was dressed like she was about to embark on an Arctic expedition. Or, much more likely, an odyssey to the west side of the city. To the same building I was heading to, given my usual luck.

    But seriously, she looks like a big pink marshmallow.

    "What makes you think you're invited to game night?"

    "Rinko-neesan says I can come visit her whenever I want."

    "It's still very rude to drop in unexpectedly."

    "That's correct. But Nee-san knows I'm coming, and I told the dorm manager too. She knows I'll be over there until tomorrow."

    "And you didn't think to ask me before now if we could go together?"

    "You may have said no, and the subway can be scary because I'm so wittle." Erika's syrupy-sweet words and big blue eyes tried their best to wriggle their way into my heart. Really, it was all pointless. I have actual little siblings. Syrup may ruin my clothes, but other than that I'm pretty much immune.

    However…

    It isn't like she's asking me if she can tag along on a date or something. *That* I would definitely say no to. But walking with me to the subway station and catching a ride across town to the same destination? It'd take more effort to avoid her than just letting her tag along, and we'd probably end up in the same car anyway, so what's the point? It's not even that bad an idea, purely from a logical standpoint. She is a comically tiny girl, and I guess she's my friend or whatever, so if she feels more comfortable taking the train this way is it really okay for me to say no? Honestly, I think she just wanted to scare me. Little pink creep…

    "Fine, but you'll have to come back when I'm ready, and you'll need to con someone else into letting you take their bed for the night. You're not sharing with me."

    "Rinko-neesan says I can spend the night in her room *anytime* I want."

    "And how does her roommate feel about that?"

    "Junko-sama won't even notice I'm there. Cuz I'm so *wittle*."

    Sensing the futility in this line of questioning, I decided it was much easier to just start walking to the subway station. That part - getting home, at least - wasn't my problem. Through my questioning Erika's hand hadn't budged an inch, and she got dragged along in my wake like a dinghy behind a tugboat, which I'm reasonably sure is what she wanted.

    "You're a good onee-san too, Tae-Eun-sama. Thank you."

    "Yeah, well, don't mention it. Though you've really got to get used to doing stuff for yourself. You're only a year younger than I am, you know. Your act is cute for an idol, but what are you going to do when you're living on your own someday?"

    "Koko hires people to do everything for her, and she still acts like a little kid. She's much, *much* older too." This is how things are in her world. When you're the daughter of a world-famous model instead of a junior executive, apparently life is much easier…

    "Well, if our debut doesn't work out I'll probably need a new job. I guess there are worse options than onee-san for hire."

    "I could hire you to play with me. But don't worry. We're going to do great on our debut. We have to."

    "You think so? We still have a lot of work to do."

    "Yup. We have to do great, so we will." The certainty in the girl's voice bordered on arrogance, as though just saying it could make it fact. It would be great to live in that kind of world.

    "I don't think it really works quite like that. I know you're Miss Perfect, but the rest of us have to try really hard, and sometimes that's still not enough. There's a lot that could go wrong even if we all do our best."

    The weight on my hand went from light as a feather, to noticeably resisting, to dragging like an anchor. Spinning around, Erika was braced on both heels, intent on stopping our advance.

    "I have to try… hmph… really hard too!"

    "Huh?" Even with her full weight behind her, she was really only able to stop me from moving forward, rather than pull me back to her. She really is "wittle".

    "You said 'everyone else' has to work really hard. I! Do! Too! You have no idea! I work harder than anyone!"

    I was a bit taken aback. I hadn't meant it like that. Then again, is it hard to imagine that I may have actually meant it in that way? The smug, insensitive girl mocking her well-off group mate? No. Not really hard at all…

    I know I'm kind of a major bitch…

    "I didn't mean it like that. I know you work hard. We all know you do. You just make it look effortless, so I guess it's easy to forget."

    "We have to be perfect. We have to be! We have to have to have to we have to!"

    "Erika…" I found myself putting on my big-sister voice, unwittingly playing right into her game. I even stopped tugging on her arm and bent down to her level by taking a knee, just like I do with my actual siblings. I even said the same kind of things. "Hey, dongsaeng, I'm nervous too. But I promise that we're all going to do our best. The rest is up to how much people like us." The poor girl stopped gripping my hand and stood motionless except for the frantic in and out of her shallow breathing. "Erika? You ok? Hey, come on, you're kinda freaking me out…"

    Yu-Eun, my sister, gets like this sometimes. She's shy - excessively so - to the extent that when she was really little sometimes she would freeze up entirely when she met new people. Especially adults. She's a tiny thing too, so I guess I can understand being nervous when the entire world looks gigantic. She's started to come out of her shell a little bit as she gets older, but I still worry about her a lot, especially since I don't see her as much as I'd like. As Erika is demonstrating, some places - like a busy sidewalk - aren't great spots to loiter, especially at this time of day, and we're already starting to draw more attention than is good. Pulling on her hadn't worked. She's surprisingly sturdy for such a small girl. I opened my mouth to try and command her to get over it, but while that sometimes works with my brother I could see it having a similar effect on Erika as on my sister - namely, nothing positive. The only option left to try short of picking her up and tossing her over my shoulder was to humor her and hope that it snapped her out of it.

    So, basically, I would have to give Erika a hug.

    Not just a normal hug, but a really big big-sister hug.

    It worked too, until the tears began.

    "Look, hey, there's no need for that. I promise it's going to be fine. Everyone's worked really hard, *including you*. I know that we're all going to do our best. That's all we can ask for, right?" What a bother. Why is Erika only *now* breaking down like this? Is it another weird way of getting attention? Wait until we're outside the station and cause a scene?

    "N-No. We need to be perfect! We have to… be perfect… or else…"

    "Erika… nobody's perfect."

    "But we need to be… or… or…"

    "Or…? Or what? We can still be really successful even if we aren't the best ever at our first gig."

    "But Koko… she'll… she'll…" Erika broke down into another round of sobs, looking anguished as she tried to say words that wouldn't come. Finally she managed to blurt them out, loud and forceful. "She'll make you all go away! She always makes my family go away…"

    Once Erika had gotten calmed down - a process made more difficult than it needed to be by my inability to bribe her with treats like a normal kid - we arrived at our destination only slightly later than intended. She was still jittery, even after I did my best to assure her that her fears weren't grounded in reality. Still, what she had confided in me was…

    Well, it wasn't great.

    It would have been heartbreaking, actually, if I were the kind of person prone to that. I know what it's like to be suddenly ripped away from someone you care about and told that they'll no longer be a part of your life. It's… devastating. It can turn you into someone you don't even recognize. Someone that you don't even like. To go through that and still be as sweet and cheerful as Erika is…

    Remind me to not make fun of her acting ever again, because she's obviously more talented than I've given her credit for.

    In the lobby of the I MY ME building we were greeted immediately by a trio of friendly faces. One, of course, was my best friend. She'd been the one whom I'd informed of our arrival, and whose room we would be heading to. Or at least I would. It was impossible to predict what Erika would end up doing, and that wasn't my problem. She was much more interested in the second person waiting for us anyway - her "big sister" Rinko - who started earning the title as soon as they saw each other, running across the lobby and greeting each other with a full bodied hug. I poke fun at Erika a little bit over it - the entire story of how they met is, after all, entirely absurd - but neither of them seem any less excited to see each other than I am when I get to see my own siblings, so who am I to judge how they define things like "sisterhood" and "family"? Knowing more about Erika's family life now, I can't say that I'm surprised that she's keen on taking it where she can find it, and I can admit that through a fresh viewpoint their relationship seems much more sweet than it had yesterday.

    The third person waiting for us unexpectedly - but conveniently, for reasons which will soon be obvious - was Erika's Nee-san's roommate. Given her long, heavy, ultramarine skirt and woolen coat she was either coming or going for the evening, which meant I may as well get this over with sooner rather than later just in case it's the latter.

    "Hey Junko! Just the girl who I was looking for." I waved her down with my clutch. Dam-Bi had been hurriedly stepping to greet me, and the look of confusion on her face as I called out to her friend instead kind of made running this errand worth it. Junko seemed no less confused, her attention having been previously focused on her roommate hugging and bouncing as her playdate started. "I have a very special delivery for you. I had to promise under penalty of death that I would deliver it directly to your hands."

    "Death?" The pink-haired idol looked slightly concerned over my exaggeration. Okay, so she's not really my type *exactly*, but I can admit that there are far less deserving girls with whom Ai could be smitten, and at least her kamioshi is someone pretty darn cute. That's why it's an easy choice to support them as much as I can. I removed a long, fancy red traditional-style envelope from my bag and presented it to Junko. "From your not so secret admirer."

    "Oh." Junko's already rosy complexion made a shift toward the sanguine as she understood what I meant. "What is it?"

    "A ticket to our debut, for sure. She wanted to make sure you got her personal invitation. There may be some other little handwritten notes but she sealed it before I could read anything good."

    Junko opened the envelope and the aroma of magnolias and bergamot escaped into the winter air, warming it with a puff of summer. Ai's perfume. Cliche, but a nice move. She removed the short handwritten note and scanned it, the corners of her lips turning up into a much more genuine smile than she had had simply from greeting us.

    "We'd love for all of you to attend, but I'm pretty sure Ai would be crushed if you didn't come to see her debut. She really adores you, and we all adore her, so we'd all be very happy if you can make it."

    "She is very easy to adore, isn't she?"

    I nodded. Not like I have a *huge* crush on Ai or anything, but she is cute, and we're both idols, and I'm pretty sure we're the only two like us in our group, so *obviously* I've thought about it. I don't think anyone in that sort of situation wouldn't at least think through the possibility, but it's probably only because she talks so often about how much she likes her kamioshi. You can't hear that much about love and not have your own mind wander in that direction, now can you?

    No.

    You cannot.

    That's all it is.

    "Do you have a date tonight?" She looked shocked, which is fair. It's a rather bold accusation on my part, but given the way Junko is dressed up you could possibly excuse my bluntness. Maybe? "You look like you're waiting for someone."

    "I am. My father is in town on business so we're having dinner to catch up." She sounded a little defensive, but as usual I deserved it. A girl she barely knows just accused her of being up to no good. You'd be a little taken aback too.

    "Well… good. Ai really likes you. If you don't feel the same way…" I glanced, very obviously, toward the elephant in the room, still fawning and cooing over Erika. Maybe it's just due to how we both are, but it doesn't take any special insight to understand that Junko's feelings for her roommate aren't too different from Ai's for her. I mean, even ***Bibi*** figured it out, which means it must be super obvious. "Please, just be kind to her, okay? She practically worships you." Junko blushed even a little bit pinker - though I couldn't tell if she was embarrassed as my very unsubtle implication or just plain angry at being confronted like this - before motioning toward the door.

    "I'm sorry to rush out, but my car is here. Please have a pleasant evening, and thank you for the hand delivery. Good luck on your debut."

    "Thank you. Enjoy your family dinner." That errand accomplished, Junko exited the lobby with an award smile and I returned to my friend, who had busied herself chatting with the "sisters."

    "Good evening, Bibi." We clasped hands and exchanged air kisses next to one another's cheeks. People were undoubtedly watching, after all, and we have an image to uphold.

    "Good evening, Tae-Tae. What was all that about?"

    "Some of Junko's fan mail got delivered to our dorm by mistake. I felt bound by professional courtesy to rectify the situation personally."

    "Realllly. That's very kind of you. I was concerned you had gone and replaced me."

    "With Junko? Bibi, I'm hurt. Neither of us would ever be so lucky. We're stuck with each other."

    My best friend giggled at the comment. No, by now I think we're both reasonably certain that we're going to be in each other's lives so long as we're in Japan, for better or for worse. We're best friends. Nothing less, nothing more. No matter what the rumors say!

    "I don't suppose you have any more misdelivered fan mail?"

    "As a matter of fact…" I opened my clutch and took out a pair of plain white envelopes, about the same size as the first, except if you were to sniff these they would smell of nothing but envelopes and the inside of my clutch, which would at most smell faintly of musk, leather, sugar free mints, and white flowers. "I have two things for you. First, tickets for you and some of your friends, as promised."

    "It's so exciting! You're finally going to debut!"

    "And you remember the rule, right?"

    "I remember. No dressing up. But you may need to do me a special favor first."

    "Bibi, what are you up to?"

    "You're gonna love it! But we shouldn't talk about it here. But you're gonna love it! Then I'll make sure that nobody outshines your group. Tit for tat."

    "I'm regretting whatever it is already… I'm not kidding though. You'll steal the show if the audience recognizes any of you. You may even want to wear disguises. Junko can dress up like it's a special occasion because Ai would probably love it. But the rest of you need to behave. For real."

    "I promise I'll personally inspect everyone's outfit before we leave the building. Nothing above a six out of ten will make it through the lobby doors."

    "Pinky promise?" I held up a single digit. It's juvenile, and a bit dumb, but Erika got us hooked on the idea and now sometimes it just slips out.

    Bibi went with it anyway, locking her little finger with mine, laughing a bit before clearing her throat and putting on a very serious expression. "I pinkie promise that nobody will be dressed better than you at your premier. Who's the other envelope for?"

    "That's for Kazue specifically, if you would be so kind. Mariya wanted to make sure her old mentor got an invite, and Kazue was the most direct way she could think of getting it to him. Can you ask her to give it to her father? I know she's a bit flakey, and he's a busy man, but it would mean a lot to her if any of you could convince him to come."

    "Funnily enough, that won't be a problem at all." Bibi grinned. Just what is she planning…

    "Thank you. There's one more favor I want to ask you though. It's kind of a secret though, so…"

    "Pinky promise!" My littlest finger was once again strangled by Bibi's.

    "I was going to say you can't tell your friends about this one. Not even Rinko. I'm just kind of wondering… Do you know if a manager named Yurika Hasegawa still works for I MY ME?"

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