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ramblinganthropologist · 2 years

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Writober 22 - 17 (Rats)

Summary: It’s time for Sadako to breech enemy territory and enter into the domain of idols. Far from the sparkling world it portrays, she gets the feeling she walked into a den of rats, led by the queen herself. Hopefully, she’ll make it out alive. It’s going to be a very long month...

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Maru: Don’t forget to meet me after school at the front gate!

Well… one of them certainly had forgotten about the meeting, and it wasn’t her.

Sadako felt her eyebrow twitch as she stared from her position at the front gate of her friend’s school. She had been there for ten minutes, waiting and watching as the students streamed out, heading to wherever they went after school. Most of them paid her no mind, but a few whispered as they passed.

Almost all of them she knew from seeing them on TV, or in magazines, or from hearing their songs blasted from shops on their way home. It made sense – Maru went to a school for idols. It wasn’t Star Harmony, but it was still pretty highly ranked among the institutions that existed to train idols for a hopefully successful future. It was only natural that her classmates were popular singers, actors, or some combo of entertainer.

She just wished they weren’t looking at her like she had two heads.

” Do you think she’s here for an autograph?”

A voice drew her attention. She spotted a girl with a different colored ribbon speaking to her friend. They were looking in her direction with a less than friendly gaze, indicating just what they thought of her. That only made Sadako’s eye twitch harder, and the urge to tell them off was strong.

“Who are you guys talking about?”

That voice she knew. It belonged to Maru, who was walking away from the building with her overly decorated bag slung over one shoulder. Both girls blanched, and they were definitely sweating a little.

“M-Maru-senpai!” Ah, they were first years. She should have known. “We, uh… we found a girl waiting and thought she might be lost!”

For a performer, she was a bad liar. The industry was going to eat her alive.

Maru made a thoughtful noise as she glanced over in Sadako’s direction. “Nope, she’s waiting here for me. Sadako’s my new partner!”

Temporary partner – Maru only had her for a month. Still, Sadako wasn’t about to argue for the moment as she approached the small group of idols. The first years couldn’t look her in the eye, and she could read the embarrassment all over them as they shuffled away.

Well, at least they’d learned a lesson out of this: if you want to be rude, do it where your senpai can’t hear you.

“Sorry for making you wait, Sa-chan.” Maru missed the eyebrow twitch as she turned to direct her temporary partner into the school. “I had to finish up something in my design class. Our producer can’t wait to meet you!”

Stepping over the line felt like Sadako was breeching the border between two worlds. On the other side, everything felt a little more… sparkly, she supposed. There were people in tracksuits running in the distance, she could hear various songs coming from open windows, and glancing showed plenty of people hard a work perfecting their routines for their next performance.

At a normal school, this would be club time… did idol schools even have those?

Maru read the silence at the least as they walked. “I guess this is a little different from what you’re used to, huh?”

“Weird seeing people I see on TV just walking around getting snacks from the vending machine.” At least idol schools had those, but she had no doubt they weren’t exactly full of candy and energy drinks like her favorites. “Your producer knows this is just a temporary thing, right? I don’t want them to get their hopes up about a permanent new member.”

The idol nodded her head as she kept walking. “Yeah, she knows. Sakamoto-san is still willing to work with you, though, so don’t worry about that!”

She grinned, turning back. “She’s a weird one, so I guess that works out for you.”

Couldn’t have been any weirder than Maru… but Sadako kept that off her lips as she followed behind.

After a few more minutes of walking, they entered a building that looked like any other middle school entrance area. They had lockers and places to put their shoes and umbrellas, nothing out of the ordinary there. The only thing that reminded her things were different were the names – she knew them.

“Maru-chan, is that your new partner?”

A high-pitched voice made Sadako’s head ache, but she resisted the urge to wince. A girl sprinted over, pigtails flying in the self-made breeze. She skidded to a stop a few inches away, the teddy bear attached to her back coming along for the ride.

She knew this girl – she was popular among her homeroom classmates. What was her name again…

“Ema-chan, good to see you!” Maru beamed as she all but dragged Sadako over. “Yep, this is her!”

Her partner turned to face her. “This is my classmate, Ema-chan. We’re in the same design and dance classes.”

She then turned to her classmate. “And this is Sadako-chan. She’s working with me this month!”

Ema gave her a bright smile, but it never met her sparkly eyes. Instead, Sadako got the sense she was being x-rayed by the cheery girl for structural weaknesses. She may have looked cute, but there was steel in that gaze.

Maybe it was a good thing she was an idol – turn that focus to something else and she’d be downright dangerous.

“You look kinda familiar, Sadako-chan.” She tapped a lacquered fingertip to her cheek, then smacked her hand gently into her palm. “Oh, are you related to Star Harmony’s Haruka-san? You have the same eyes!”

Sadako resisted the urge to let it show on her face. She shouldn’t have been surprised idols could pick out the similarities between herself and her sister. After all, everyone knew Haruka – Cherry Blossom was the top idol unit and had been for quite some time. Her face was all over town and plastered on every area of the internet. Anyone with sense could’ve figured it out.

But damn if she had hoped she wouldn’t have to admit it immediately.

“Yeah, she’s my sister.”

Ema nodded her head so hard that Sadako was worried it might come off. “I knew it! You both look a lot alike. I’m not surprised you want to be an idol too, it must run in the family!”

She then turned on her heel, glancing over her shoulder. “Nice meeting you, Sadako-chan. I can’t wait to see you on stage with Maru-chan!”

Then she was gone, sprinting off to who knows where. Just the short interaction had worn Sadako out, and her shoulders sagged as she sighed in relief. She wasn’t the only one – next to her, Maru relaxed as well as they kept walking.

“You handled that well.”

Sadako cocked her eyebrow as they climbed a flight of stairs. “Handled what well?”

Maru gave her a weird smile that didn’t quite reach her entire face as they stopped at the landing. “Ema’s a giant gossip. No doubt she’s texting the whole school about you now. And, since she’s a giant liar, none of it will be very nice. Consider it your first brush with the paparazzi.”

Though she was smiling, there was nothing kind in her tone. As a matter of fact, Sadako got the feeling she couldn’t exactly stand the other girl. Given what she had seen before… she had a feeling Ema felt the same.

Was everyone at this school a two-faced rat, or was it just the pop idols?

“I’ll keep that in mind if I run into her again.” Sadako shook her head as they kept walking. “Hope you’re not expecting me to pull that nice girl routine like you did. It’s not exactly my style.”

Maru chuckled, but it wasn’t a friendly one as they made it to the next floor. “Oh, you’ll learn in time. That, or the internet will eat you alive. Your choice, honestly.”

Something about that brought a shiver down Sadako’s spine, but she chose to remain mute on the matter. They were walking down another hallway now, this one quieter than the floor below. There were signs and numbers above the door, and she counted as they walked.

Eventually, they stopped at Production Room 7. Maru motioned for Sadako to stop, and then slid the door open. A few moments later, her head popped out and she gave her temporary partner a big grin that was definitely fake.

“Sakamoto-san says come on in!”

Sadako was soon on the inside of the room, which was a bit more open than she had expected. There was a board on the side of the room with event details scribbled down and color-coded by each idol’s image shade. Maru, if she could read it right, was pretty busy that month. In fact, she was probably the busiest one there. No wonder her picture was up on the windowsill, next to the other idols.

“So, you’re the one Maru found? I wasn’t expecting for her to pick a non-idol. You must be special.”

A voice drew her attention. A woman was seated at the desk at the heart of the room, suit neatly pressed and eyes focused and sharp. Here was a producer – she knew that look from seeing her parents wear it for years when it came to the idols they managed. She had a presence unlike anyone else she had read – control, confidence. It was different from idols, but still just as strong.

Sadako bowed her head briefly as she tried to find her words. “We kind of… smacked into each other I guess.”

“That sounds like Maru.” Sakamoto smiled as she moved forward. As it turns out, she was in a wheelchair. No wonder the room was so open – she wouldn’t be able to get around it otherwise. Things fell into place as she approached. “Nice to meet you, Sadako.”

She paused, giving her newest temporary idol a once-over. “Strange you’re not asking your parents to manage you, though. Your mother is Enjoji Tamaki, yes?”

Here was the sticking point that had driven her nuts in elementary school. There was no way to deny it: her mother was the famed manager of Cherry Blossom, Pure Palette, and Honey Cat. It was exactly why Sadako didn’t want to ever work with her, besides her previous position of hating idols.

Well, after seeing Ema… she still didn’t like them. Did that make her self-hating? Nah… this was temporary.

She rubbed the back of her neck before she spoke. “I don’t go to Star Harmony, so I don’t think I can work with her…”

“Even if you wanted to?” Sakamoto smiled as her idol gaped. “You’re not very good at hiding your feelings, Sadako. I saw it all over your face when I brought your mother up. People are going to pick up on that when you’re on stage, so I advise you either be honest with yourself or learn to conceal things better.”

Maru chuckled at Sadako’s shocked expression before she added, “Sakamoto-san is great at reading people, it’s why she’s such a good producer.”

Well, that would have been great to know before she walked face first into a freaking ambush…

Still, Sadako nodded as she took the info in. “I guess I’ll work on that.”

“Good to see you take critique well, that’ll get you far in the industry.” Sakamoto rolled towards her board and grabbed a box of markers. “I color-code by image color. Since you haven’t picked one yet, I’m just going to use black for you.”

And so she wrote Sadako’s name on the board, right under Maru’s and linked them with a dark line to indicate their temporary alliance. For the moment, it was official: Sadako was part of production room 7.

It was weird, seeing her name among famous people. Didn’t exactly feel right…

“Now, if you could come over here I can give you your gear and Maru can show you around.”

Sakamoto motioned her to the desk, so Sadako found her way over. Once she was there, the producer dug into her desk and pulled out a few idols. She recognized all of them from her sister and her parents – the sparkly pass that would allow her to access Aikatsu, the shiny cards that made up the outfit she had worn with Maru, and the binder she could keep her cards in after scanning them into the app.

Oh no… the app.

Seeing her face, Maru cut in. “Don’t worry, we have a code so you can download the Aikatsu app.”

“I was about to tell her about that, but it looks like you both got ahead of me.” Sakamoto held out her hand. “Mind if I see your phone for a second?”

Sadako at least remembered to unlock it as she slid it over. Her temporary producer gave it a once over, especially to the bright orange cover she kept on it, before flipping it over to download the app. Soon, the beeping noise of installation filled the room.

Maru stood by her side to watch. “Is orange your favorite color, Sa-chan?”

“Oh, yeah…”

The idol giggled. “Maybe that can be your image color. We don’t have an orange in production room 7.”

“I can’t say I’ve ever seen a cool type with orange, but I could see it working.” Sakamoto handed back her phone – there was a new icon on the home screen. “Unless you don’t want to keep down the cool path? Honestly, I can’t see you as a pop or elegant type… and no offense, but you’re definitely not a cute type.”

Right… type. She remembered that from her parents. Idols were grouped by type – cute, cool, the renamed elegant, and pop. Maru was a pop type, her sister was a cute type… and apparently she was hitting the markers for cool type.

Well… she doubted she could be energetic enough for a pop type, and their cords were way too busy for her. Elegant was a hell no, and she would rather stab herself than share a type with her sister…

“Cool’s fine by me.” She checked the app, booting it up. Within seconds, the app’s mascot Coco was on screen, waving to her. “Coco’s working, so I think the download went ok.”

When she had been younger, she had talked to her sister’s Coco when Haruka had gotten home from work. Now she had her own, at least for the month. It set oddly in her stomach, like none of this was real. But she had a pass with her name on it, cards of her own, and a binder just waiting to be decorated.

So… yeah. She was an idol. At least for the moment. She should probably just accept that.

“Well, that’s all I had for you both.” Sakamoto smiled at her. “Tomorrow I’ll show you your training schedule and give you a keycard to get into the building. I would have had it ready today but getting access for a non-student is proving difficult.”

Maru grabbed Sadako by the arm as she waved. “That means I’ll take her to see the school! Thanks again, Sakamoto-san! You’ve been a great help!”

Then they were out the door, and over her shoulder Sadako watched as Sakamoto approached the board, wiping off her name in black. Just before she disappeared from view, she saw an orange marker appearing from the box.

Then it was back down the steps, towards where the sounds were coming from. Maru was in high spirits – meanwhile, Sadako’s head was spinning. It was still a lot to take in, even as she go dragged along.

She was eventually going to need to tell her kendo team… it be bad if they saw her perform without a warning.

“I think she likes you, Sa-chan.” Maru’s voice was surprisingly straightforward as they stopped in the hallway. “When we talked about you after the Fresh Live, she said she had a good feeling about you. She doesn’t say that a lot.”

She smiled. “I think you’re going to make a great idol. You already have the cool vibe down pat!”

Sadako doubted they had spoken about her – she was learning fast that Maru said what she thought people wanted to hear. There was no reason for the producer to have any sort of feeling about her yet, even secondhand. She knew enough about producers thanks to her parents to understand that much.

That was the thing she needed to remember: Maru lied. It was wise to not take anything she said at face value.

“Well, I’ll do my best for the month.” She stowed her phone in her pocket and put the binder and her cards in her bag. Her pass went into pocket at the front of her bag, zipped tightly so it didn’t fall out. “So, you have to show me some places?”

And so she was being pulled again, towards what she didn’t know. What she did know was that this was not a place she could let her guard down. Idols might look nice and pretend to be friendly, but this was a den of rats. If she kept that in mind, she’d make it through the month with her sanity intact.

She just had to make sure the head rat herself didn’t realize she was on to her… now that was going to be tough. Oh well, she’d consider it training for controlling her opponent for kendo. After all, anything could be a training opportunity.

Damn, it was going to be a long month, though…

#writober22 #ramblinganthropologist's writing #Sadako the reluctant idol #Passion Rush (Aikatsu Friends)#or they will be #I haven't picked Maru's image color but it might be red or pink

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