No Pain, No Game (reiko)

[Deleted]

blame it on the girls who know what to do blame it on the boys who keep hitting on you blame it on your mother for the things she said blame it on your dad but you know he's dead

Most would agree that it is quite unnatural for your average seventeen-year-old girl to be up, wide awake and dressed at six-thirty in the morning. On a Saturday. But Idols weren’t allowed to live ordinary lifestyles and Haru couldn’t even remember the last time that she had been allowed to sleep-in past seven.

Her manager had asked Haru to come in to the Recording Studio. For the past month, Gem247 had been in the process of recording their next and much anticipated album, and it was being discussed that Haru was to have her own solo. That morning was designated to test if Gem247’s leader could pull it off.

Scarlet eyes showed little interest as Haru eyed her reflection in the brightly lit bathroom mirror. Though she was determined to make her group’s next album as big of a success, if not bigger, as their last album had been, excitement wasn’t quite what she was feeling in that moment. Singing had become too much of a routine for there to be any excitement, especially when it would just be Haru. Alone in a see-through box.

Brushing back a strand of her long raven-black hair, Haru reapplied cherry-red lipgloss to her lips before snatching up her sportsbottle, filled with hot-water, and took her leave. She would have preferred coffee or, at the very least, tea but she couldn’t risk any constriction to her vocal-chords that morning.

Thick-heeled shoes echoed upon highly-polished tiled floor as Haru strolled down the hallway that led to the recording room that she was to sing in. Her mind was silently reciting the lyrics that she would sing when her eyes saw red. Literally.

Coming to an abrupt stop, Haru frowned coldly at the person who stood in her way – and sadly, this wasn’t the first occasion. ”What are you doing here?” she asked, her words brittle.

LAIKA OF GANGNAM STYLE!

[Deleted]

@haru

It was a while since Rei had seen her ‘younger sis’, as she so lovingly nicknamed the sheeP idol, and she was getting a bit worried for her well-being. Poor thing was always so shy and insecure about herself. She really needs to start being more confident like her big sis. So the popular idol decided that she would surprise the gal with a visit, plus having all those wannabe idols fawn over her and praising her about her success and how much they want to be like her is a nice touch too. Oh, she can’t wait to see the look on the gal’s face when she sees Rei.

At the lobby, she was greeted by one of the members of the maintenance crew. She returned the man’s good morning with a slight nod and a smile as she continued on her way through the halls. The building was a little quieter than usual, and not as lively compared to her past visits. There were also no signs of any of the aspiring musicians to be found anywhere. This confused her. She could’ve sworn she saw a few members of a recording crew enter through the doors. Was today even the right day? Rei tried to think back to try to remember the date that the young girl said that her group would be recording a new album but her mind was all fogged up to remember anything clearly.

Rei gave a disheartened sigh and gave up on her search for her friend as she turned tail and tried to leave with her head down and gaze fixated at the tiles below her.

Click clak click clak click clak.

The echo of a stranger’s footsteps became louder every second.

Rei looked up when her eyes were greeted by the sight of a fire-breathing, forked tongued demon. She struggled to prevent her face from curling up in abhorrence. As the she-devil spoke, Rei’s eyes narrowed and body tensed. She quickly closed her eyes in disbelief. Was she really here at the moment or was she just seeing things? If so, why did it have to be her of all people? 

Rei opened her eyes again and feigned a smile which then turned into a frown before she quipped, “That’s no way to greet someone, Haru. How cold of you... Y’know, I thought the building seemed a bit chilly today. Now I know why all the warmth was sucked out of it.” Rei then went on to retort, “You really should start off by greeting others with a ‘Hello’ or ‘Good morning’. Here I’ll start, Good Morning Haru. Wonderful day isn’t it?”

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GANGNAM STYLE

[Deleted]

blame it on the girls who know what to do blame it on the boys who keep hitting on you blame it on your mother for the things she said blame it on your dad but you know he's dead

When Haru was thirteen the dance school that she had been attending since she was five years old had thrown an end-of-year concert and Haru had gotten to perform in a number of routines – ballet, tap, hip-hop. Her thirteen-year-old self had been so proud, so excited. In the last two months leading up to the concert, she had been determined to have her every step memorised to perfection and yet, when it came time for her performances, Haru hadn’t been prepared when each performance required a new pair of untested shoes. To this day, she could recall the agony of having to repeatedly dance on blistered and bleeding feet.

Seeing and speaking to Nishimura Reiko was a torment even worse than that.

Haru was no stranger to adversary. In moments like this she could pretend to be indifferent. Mask her disdain behind an insincere smile, utter a few unfeeling words and then casually stroll away, knowing that by the next hour she wouldn’t even be bothered to remember such pleasantries. But it had always been another matter where Reiko was concerned. Like an invisible hand constantly picking at a scab, not allowing it the time to heal on its own. Reiko was the representation of Haru’s supposed failures. Haru hated the girl too much to pretend otherwise.

So rather than play along with such verbal games, Haru’s upper tip curled in disdain. How dare that plain-faced nobody address her so friendly. They were not friendly. Not at all. ”Are you that retarded, Nishimura?” came Haru’s icy response, not attempting to remove any of the sharp barbs from her words. ”I don’t care about how you think that I should talk to you. I really could care less what you think about at all. Now, I’ll ask you again: what are you doing here?”

LAIKA OF GANGNAM STYLE!