Kana did not pay attention to the glamorous building as she entered it. She did not take note of and mentally critique every single gold engraving on every single wall. She did not look at the marble flooring and admire her reflection in it. Instead, still in her tracksuit, she quietly followed Aiko to the elevator and got in with her. The representative pressed the button for the thirty-eighth floor, and they started moving.

  “The top floor, huh?” Kana asked.

  “Sakai-san insisted on having that apartment. He paid extra to have the current occupants move to the thirty-seventh floor for your sake.”

  Kana let out a weak laugh, but did not have the strength for the rest. She just wanted to see Emi again. She wanted to apologize to her for what she had done. And then, she was going to blast off Sakai’s face and throw it on the floor below. Not really, of course, since then she would be out of a job. But thinking about it certainly made her feel much better. The elevator opened, and Aiko stepped out; Kana followed.

  It was…perfect.

  She gasped the moment she first set eyes on the apartment. A floor-to-ceiling window stretched across the entire half of the apartment that looked out on Neo-Edo. An infinity pool, attached to the living room itself, was also right next to that window. The living room was just slightly to the right of the entrance and was almost as large as the entire apartment she had lived in before this. A doorway deeper into the living room led to what she assumed was the kitchen, with sleek white stairs stuck to the side wall leading up to the bedroom.

  On the small counter separating the kitchen from the living room, was a glass with some wine in it. Ryu Sakai sat on the light brown leather couch with his legs crossed. The moment she walked in, he stood up and grabbed the wine glass from the counter. How long had he been waiting there to pull that off? How long had he been staring at that wine glass as he thirsted to drink it?

  “You are proving to be a handful, Kana-chan.”

  She laughed and made her eyes wide, bringing her stupid side to the front again, “I…just got carried away, hehe. It won’t happen again, so can I please meet Emi? Please, please, please??”

  He laughed and sipped as he sat back down, shaking his head, “Cut the act, Kana. I signed you to do that in front of the people who come to watch your shows, not to show it to me. Grab a chair and sit down. It’s your house, after all.”

  Kana immediately caught on to the tone of the conversation, walked to the edge of the room, and pulled out two of the four chairs lying next to the dining table. Letting them screech on the floor, she slid one towards Aiko and put one right in front of Sakai.

  Taking a seat on that one, she waited until Aiko also reluctantly sat down. Then, Kana went back to her original, true intonation, “Where is Emi? What did you do to her?”

  “Emi is in another building.” Sakai said as he pointed out to a smaller apartment complex that they could look down on from the massive window, “She’ll be kept there for the foreseeable future. Well, until you complete the particulars of the contract that we have agreed upon.”

  “The original signing contract? That did not have any specific goals except for being able to keep up with dance, singing, and weapons training.”

  Sakai shook his head, “Not that one, Kana. We came up with a new one after I talked to my board about the whole incident. They like you and your drive, and they particularly like how attached you are to your ex-girlfriend. Normally, we would have her executed to protect the truth of the Monster Dimension Battle Royale.”

  The word made her stomach drop. Executed. In a way, he was threatening her right now. If she did not agree to the terms of the contract, then they would kill Emi immediately. Kana knew they weren’t bluffing either. She had seen the reports about the many people who had gone missing while trying to dig deeper. She could have been in the same position if she hadn’t ultimately joined a training center to become part of this world.

  “What’s the terms?” She gulped.

  He smiled and finished the glass. Pushing his hand out towards Aiko, he waited until she stood up and grabbed the glass. Then, she walked into the kitchen and disappeared for the time being. Sakai started explaining.

  “We now have you and your roommate, Jina Ohara, under us. But you are the only two people we have for our B Team. Only two. That’s what you have to live with. That…is the first clause. You have to give me something worth the audience’s attention, even if there are only two of you.”

  She didn’t care about that. Even if she were alone, she would be able to get people to look at her. After all, they didn’t want to see someone with substance or heart. They only wanted to see the flashiest and cutest girl who would make them feel seen and heard. That was something she could do in her sleep. That was not the issue at all. It was something else that made her snap.

  “Room…mate? Jina Ohara?”

  “Yes, she is sleeping upstairs right now. To make sure your chemistry is just as good as it was during the audition match, we have put her in the same apartment as you. We hope you will become better friends and give us something to look forward to.”

  Aiko appeared from the kitchen and handed him another glass of wine. Sakai grabbed it, and she went back to her seat without any exchange of words.

  “Friends? Are you blind, you old fart? I hate her with all of my heart, and she’s the same.”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Aiko gasped, “Minami-san, please watch your language. This is absolutely unaccepta-”

  Sakai raised his hand and stopped her, “I noticed, Kana. I’m pretty sure everyone there noticed. But don’t you see? That’s the point. Jina told her that she loved you. That she wanted to spend more of her time dancing and singing with you. Even if that is not true, she has made that her truth. Because she saw something that you did not see just yet…”

  Kana connected the dots as soon as he claimed ‘that was the point. “She loves me, and I hate her. That’s the duo you want to sell?”

  “Good girl.” He laughed, “You’re the tsundere, and she’s the cute one. Except you’re only a tsundere towards her and not towards the audience, which endears you to them and gives you more of a stage personality. You hate her for personal reasons. Like, for example, she ate the pudding you brought for yourself.”

  “No, I hate her because she’s a fake bitch who has zero morals and stands for nothing. She could buy me a million puddings, and I wouldn’t blink twice. I’ll always hate her, Sakai.”

  He waved her off and finished the entire glass again. Aiko stood up instinctively, but Kana stopped her. Instead, she stood up herself, and pulled the glass out of Sakai’s hands. He smiled and continued speaking, “Keep that attitude up, Kana. That will sell very well. Such bullshit philosophy is exactly what people like to see in their favorite characters. And also, spew that stuff about money too. Makes you more relatable to them.”

  “You don’t want me to love my fans and be all cute?” Kana asked, entering the kitchen and finding the wine bottle lying on the counter.

  Instead of just filling it, however, she went and washed the cup in the sink. Once it had been rid of any of that man’s traces, she put a few ice cubes into it and stretched her arms. Emi was fine. She would be fine as long as Kana followed the contract. She knew that now, and that was more than enough relaxation. She poured some wine into the glass and took a sip herself. Then, filling it once more, she walked out of the kitchen.

  “You will do that, of course. You will beg them to give you more money by buying merch. Poor girls like that sell very well, too. They’ll buy things and say that it is to help you be happier and gain satisfaction. We could even make large campaigns around funding your next big house, and then have you act all quirky on camera when you get it. It’s just perfect.”

  He had his arm outstretched, but she walked past it and sat back down on her chair while drinking the wine. Soothing, cold, slightly sweet. It certainly brought her some peace.

  “Whose glass is that, Kana?”

  “I noticed you took it from the kitchen counter. That would make it mine.”

  He chuckled, “Very good. Go and bring one for me.”

  “Do it yourself.” She looked him in the eye, “Or is that part of the contract too? Because I might have missed the line where you wrote I needed to make you drinks when you came to my house.”

  “Why? Isn’t that just basic etiquette?”

  “Caring for your fans and being kind is basic etiquette, too. Following that did not get me this apartment.”

  Sakai sighed, “You’re walking a thin line, Kana. I’m gonna let this slide, but only for now. Here’s the deal. Our A Team fucking sucks. They’re not very good at their jobs and have no idea how to perform on stage properly. They just look good, and I’m tired of getting girls who just look good. You have a month. In that time, you and Jina will prove to me that you can outperform them.”

  “With just two members?” She asked, gulping down more of the drink.

  “If you find a third, then good for you.”

  “You want more money, so you want us to be better than the A Team. Why not just dissolve the A Team and leave it all to us? As much as I hate that bitch, I can assure you of one thing. She’s got stage presence. I had never even heard of Sakai Entertainment until yesterday, which should give you a good idea of how successful you currently are with your demographic.”

  “I cannot dissolve them, Kana. They are still my main team, and I am not going to backstab them like that. They also have a month to prove that they can be better than you. I gave them the same ultimatum. Whichever one of you two succeeds, will continue onwards.”

  Kana didn’t need to push him anymore. His lies had bled through his words already. He wasn’t worried about backstabbing them at all. Sakai had liked her and Jina so much that he had put all of his money into bringing them in. Right now, the man probably didn’t even have enough to create severance packages for the A Team. He had no choice except keeping them in.

  “So, if I turn this whole venture of yours into a profit, you will let Emi go? What about her parents?”

  “We’re already working on a cover story about her running away from home. Our scriptwriters will handle all that.” He stood up, and Aiko followed him, “And yes. You win at the end of the month, and I’ll do whatever is necessary to make sure the girl walks. Until then, I’ll allow you to meet her twice a week. I’m doing my best, Kana. Will you do the same?”

  She did not sit up as the man started to walk to the exit, “I never do anything less, Sakai.”

  The man smiled and opened the door. Once he got out, Aiko looked at her with a worried expression. She walked back to Kana and crouched down. With a soft voice, she spoke up.

  “Minami-san, be careful with these people. You do not want to get on their bad side. Also, just a fair warning, but their A Team is not horrible. They do not match up to industry standards, but their numbers are far above anything a debut duo could pull in a single month. Just…good luck. Hold your head high.”

  She gave Kana a pat on the shoulder and rushed out of the apartment.

  Once she was left in silence, she saw it all clearly. Aiko was right to worry, but she did not think as Kana thought. She did not have the drive needed to move forward. She might have been older, but she thought small. Kana’s plan was never to fight against the A Team. That was an obvious loss. Aiko was in the right about a debut duo being unable to pull big numbers.

  “So, what’s your plan, Miss Sunshine?”

  Kana looked up and noticed Jina yawning and leaning against the doorway that led to the bedroom. For once, she did not particularly hate that girl. Maybe it was because there was no pink on her hair anymore. It had just been a very impressively realistic wig. She did have a wolf cut, but it was just black hair.

  She sighed and got off the chair, walking into the kitchen to rinse the glass again. From there, she declared her intent.

  “We have no option, do we? If we cannot beat the A Team, we will just have to become the A Team.”