We were all gathered downstairs for breakfast when Claire hesitantly made her way down.
I spotted her peeking behind the glass wall, from the barstool of the kitchen counter. "Oh, Claire." I've been here for three days, but this was the first time I've seen her.
She hesitated at the sight of us.
"Good Morning." she tried.
"Morning!" Izanagi beamed.
As she shuffled past him to the fridge she paused. "Um...I'm-"
"You're good. We're good."
She studied him a bit before becoming more Claire-like. There was some bubble in her step when she retrieved a pitcher of orange juice before making her way to the stove where Amara rolled an egg.
For some reason, she thought it was a good idea to stick out her head in front of her over the frying pan. "Good Morning!~" Her rejuvenated mood and bubbly smile all seemed to bounce off Amara who shifted away from Claire entirely as she plated the dish.
Claire stood there frozen for a second.
Maybe Amara was trying to protect her from the oil, or maybe she was upset. I couldn't tell as she didn't say anything.
Izanagi looked to me with raised brows. ("Are they fighting?")
I shrugged.
"That's yours. Only if you want it though." Amara had plated the food and left the room entirely.
Ah. So it was for her, huh. But judging from that cold reaction, there was definitely some tension. Knowing Amara... she definitely felt some way regarding the matter of Izanagi, perhaps blaming herself for this like she did in the past. I could tell she was upset about it, but I've been so busy spending these past few days catching up with Izanagi that I'm a bit late on realizing the extent.
Claire stared at the plate, then after Amara hesitantly with an un-Claire-like expression. I thought she might go after her but instead, she suddenly turned to me and brightened. "So Kagami, I saw it."
The sudden 180 in her expression, gave me whiplash. I blinked it off.
"Saw what?" I thought I had her all figured out but clearly not.
"Your tv appearance." She placed the plate aside not touching it just yet.
"Oh." I didn't want to remember.
"I binged the whole series already."
"Oh..." I had no idea when the episodes were being edited and released but to hear her say that. It just felt like everything was happening so quickly.
"So how was it?" I had briefly mentioned it to Izanagi, but seeing Claire's interest seemed to make him more curious.
"Well, the show was mostly centered on the drama between other popular bands but like, Kagami and these other guys would show up playing in a cafeteria towards the end, there was your finale performance. A few of your band members apparently came out and made some responses about the end result!" She ended up throwing the food in the trash and beginning to start herself a bowl of cereal.
Oh! That perfectly good egg! If you didn't want it I would have eaten it!
They were definitely beefing.
"Responses?" Izanagi echoed.
"You know that one weird guy who botched the song. He made a video on WhoTube saying you were a dictator who yelled at others if they didn't do what you wanted. He composed a song but you completely changed it so that he didn't get to play as much as he wanted."
I closed my eyes feeling a wave of irritation coming on. "Ah..."
"A lot of people were quickly criticizing you until the violinist responded. Want to see it with me?"
"Nah." I wanted to mentally be done with that time. But Izanagi took an interest.
"I want to."
"Oh, then..." She began to play it on the spot.
"This is MewMewPowa! Otherwise known as Tani Rinko here. Many of you may not know who I am, but I'm a violinist. I recently made an appearance on the show, Hell Raisers-"
Hell Raisers? Is that what they named the show? I cringed so hard on my way out.
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"Hell Raisers: Project Orfice. I didn't really get featured much until towards the end, ummm, that is to say, the reason why I'm making this video is in response to Kurata Sosuke, a person I played alongside. He stated that Fukuda Kagami-san was a dictator who yelled at people to get his way. Well, it's true that Fukuda-san ended up yelling at some point but um, to begin with... I'll just say I don't quite understand it, even before the final performance the guys couldn't get along with each other, but it was Kurata-san and Yoshida-san who were against Fukuda-san. You know, out of all of us Fukuda-san has the most experience, and I think the other two didn't like the way Fukuda-san made proposals but... Ah wait am I talking too much? Ummm, let's see... the relevant information you need to know... um, ah yes. Even when we were in the same room me and Fukuda-san were entirely ignored- ah by the way the reason I got ignored was because I asked them to try and get along with Fukuda-san and also to apologize for the sake of peace. When they decided to include us and finally work together, the reason Fukuda-san ended up yelling was that I hadn't been written into the song, but you have to understand, Fukuda-san's frustration was already piling up from day one when the others were being difficult and giving him a hard time, so if you think about it, the two were wasting all that time acting like they knew what was better for the group but if we had just worked together to begin with we could have saved more time. After having some time to think, I think I can understand why he snapped. He could have handled the situation better in my opinion but he's a human too.
Anyway, because I wasn't written into the first draft, the song had to be revised. So you see, what Kurata is saying about the song was forcibly changed, it had to be.
The oddest thing is Kurata-san never really complained about the song being revised, he was really quiet but on the day of the performance he decided to do what he wanted and is now trying to blame Fukuda-san for the results. That's just... in my opinion, that's just completely unfair. You messed up why are you trying to blame others after doing your own thing?"
The video was brief and shortly after its release Kurata Sosuke uploaded another video onto his account showing a picture of her video.
"What that bitch is saying is completely all lies. What she's talking about- that was before! I understood why the song had to be changed THEN! But later when Yoshida-san wanted to change my song to match his lyrics Fukuda-san let him after I had already been vocal about keeping them. Acting like I never said anything- that's simply not true. You all ignored me. You all completely ignored me! The group majority was suddenly against me what could I do? What do you want me to do? That's fucking bullshit."
Within the same day, she responded.
"You two were completely disrespectful and rude towards Fukuda-san from day one. And yes, you did argue with Yoshida-san about not changing the song but before that, Fukuda-san yelled at you for not including me. Also, why is it okay for you to lie but when I tell the truth, I'm a bitch? First, you exaggerate what happened and now you try to tell the truth because, yes you did argue with Yoshida-san that you didn't need to change the song. That did happen. But in the same breath, you proceed to lie, saying everything else didn't happen. Why are you cherry-picking and skipping over the sequence of events? You sabotaged us all because we didn't do what you wanted. Please stop trying to act like a victim. You embarrassed us all on live tv by making us seem incompentent. You really have the audacity to blame Fukuda-san, but do you know Fukuda-san didn't have time to practice his own part? After we left, Fukuda-san would practice by himself with a recording of our session. You actually weren't the only one inconvenienced. We all were. You're not special! Also, if you feel the majority is against you, shouldn't that tell you something? Shouldn't you question why that may be? It's because you only think of no one but yourself- either that or you've never actually worked with anyone before that you may have a hard time understanding why the song had to be changed. Out of the two of you, Yoshida-san was the most difficult but even he began to cooperate after hearing Fukuda-san out but you, you had to be difficult till the end."
He didn't respond to the video directly. He posted a video featuring the melody of his original song and what it should have sounded like. But his video had mixed responses, some liking and complimenting the melody while others weren't impressed.
[jankenpon13:] But there's no violin. You had a violinist in your group. I thought you said Tani Rinko lied when she said you didn't include her, but with this, you confirmed she was telling the truth. LOL
[MidoriNeko:] (⌐■_■) Hear that? No violin. This is nice but I preferred the version on the show it sounded beautiful with the violin. When I heard it the first time it gave me goosebumps, bands with violins are rare and unique. Maybe instead of stirring up drama you could have apologized, reached out to the group members, and posted the full video on your channel. It would up the numbers for your channel, cause I checked out all your channels that were featured on the show and out of everyone you have the smallest channel.
[TheRogueNinja:] There isn't a violinist in this song, so what are you trying to say? Don't get me wrong it's a really nice song but for Hell Raisers, you had to write a song for the people you were with right? Not something that just sounds pretty. Not that you had to write an original anyway, you could have just did a cover like the other contestants.
[Guriguri:] I like this version better personally. But I agree with some of the other commenters. This only confirms that this Fukuda person had a point and that Tani Rinko was telling the truth, and confuses the viewers. Cause like why are you upset if you were in the wrong? If you had did a cover instead, this problem could have been avoided. I also know what it feels like to have a song you poured your soul into suddenly adjusted by others, it feels really bitter and unpleasant. So whenever I work with others I do covers.
No one expected Tani Rinko (MewMewPowa) to comment on his video.
[MewMewPowa:] @Guriguri. That! (●´⌓`●) That's why Kurata-san started being rude to Fukuda-san. Fukuda-san suggested that it would be safer to do a cover, not an original.
[Guriguri:] @MewMewPowa Ehhhh! Interesting! Now I'm beginning to get a clearer picture of what happened. This all started over male pride.
[MewMewPowa:] @Guriguri Pretty much. I think it's because Fukuda-san had the most experience, the two of them were already intimidated by him subconsciously. I couldn't understand it back then but when I told my Dad he helped me understand by using the example of how females get when in the presence of a beautiful woman. The second he said that I suddenly understood.
[Guriguri:] ಥ‿ಥ ROFL! Is he saying they overreacted like women?! That's hilarious! Your Dad sounds pretty seasoned!
[CaptainDumbo:] @MewMewPowa I don't get it. What do women become like in the presence of a beautiful woman?
[SaitamaBeauty:] @CaptainDumbo
Jealous, catty, sensitive, etc. It happens when the girl instinctively feels inferior. Haven't you seen a girl get badmouthed by other girls? The jealous girls always say something along the lines that someone is a snob or rude, or that she's attention seeking when it's usually the opposite, an exaggeration, or a situation taken out of context- like she was rude in the moment only because she's treated rudely for instance. Every single thing the pretty girl does becomes overthought and misconstrued based on the Jealous girl's biased emotions. It's even happened to me before, I barely exchanged a few words with a group of guys once after one of them accidentally tripped me in the hall, and then the second I walk away I hear a bunch of girls saying that I'm flirting with them and that I'm a slut. I'm not exactly pretty per se but my body developed a bit early during middle school so I would say they definitely felt threatened by my bust size.
[CaptainDumbo:] @MewMewPowa Ohhhhhhhhh. Okay. Yeah. So basically... they felt threatened by this Fukuda-san person. But why? The guy seems pretty mid.
[Corkscrew:] Nah, during the show he seemed to be leading the cafeteria performances. So he seems like the leader type.
[MewMewPowa:] @CaptainDumbo
He has a kind of refreshing and unique energy. You can't quite place it but he comes across as being cool without trying.
[CaptainDumbo:] @MewMewPowa Ahhhhhhh, the effortlessly cool type? Yeah, I definitely hate those types. They're hella annoying.
[SpicyTomatoe:] @MewMewPowa Huh? You guys don't know? Fukuda Kagami was the songwriter for Azure Phoenix. Even now his songs are still used by them. So if THE Fukuda Kagami told this person he needed to change the song, of course, he should change it. I personally preferred the revised version better than this. Bands with violins are rare and the sound of the violin gives it a divine feel. I really would have liked to hear it to the end without them fucking it up.
[MewMewPowa:] @SpicyTomatoe Wait what?! How do you know this information?
[SpicyTomatoe:] I attended my sibling's high school graduation where they performed and became long-time fan, of course I know! It's not like this information is a secret. There's a video of their performance online so you all can check it out. Just look up Fuwatani High Aoi Phoenix Graduation Performance.
[MewMewPowa:] Wait, wait, wait don't tell me I was sitting next to someone like that! Don't! Please! Make me want to go crawl in a hole somewhere! Someone turn back time!
[CaptainDumbo:] @SpicyTomatoe But doesn't that show he has a streak of being problematic? Why didn't he debut with them?
[SpicyTomatoe:] His family moved to America. When he returned to Japan, they had already debuted. Like I said, they still use his songs so he's probably making bank on the down low.
[SaitamaBeauty:] Ah! It's coming back to me! Fukuda Kagami is the composer for the new album of the Helens! Their music wasn't very impressive but lately, I find their songs more bearable to listen to. I thought the name sounded familiar and checked just now!
[CaptainDumbo:] What the hell? So he was just lurking in the shadows like a roach this whole time?
[Guriguri:] He's like a secret celebrity, so this whole time Kurata-san was picking a fight with a secret star. That's rather embarrassing.
[SpicyTomatoe:] More like a Secret Boss.
[MewMewPowa:] Hidden Boss sounds more fitting!
After the chat went wild, the following evening, Yoshida Hachiro released a video. After briefly introducing himself he began to address the matter.
"MewMewPowa's response video... She didn't lie. Kurata-san said she lied, but everything she said was 100% true. I admit my fault. I did take an issue with Fukuda-san. Looking back... I realized I judged him a bit too quickly. I didn't think he was someone I could work with due to my own bad experiences working with others. But when I actually began to work with him, the process was smooth... I realized he knew what he was doing and I'm not just saying that because he chose to tweak Kurata-san's song like I wanted but truly... he was thinking of the group from the beginning, I wasn't really thinking of the group at the time, just my own comfort. To MewMewPowa, er-Tani-san. I'm sorry for not listening to you earlier, I was also rude towards you. You didn't do anything wrong was the only one trying to keep the peace. If we apologized like you asked we could have practiced more... hmm, yeah, and maybe have more time to consider Kurata-san, which isn't to say Kurata-san wasn't considered. We had to give both you and Kurata-san your time to shine. On the final day of the performance. I was freaking out, I realized we never went over Fukuda-san's part after ironing out the lyrics, I did the singing since I wrote the lyrics, but I completely forgot about going over the singing segment with him. I had great respect for him when he came through at the end. Tani also made many mistakes during the practice, but even though she made the most mistakes, she did well on the final day too. So Kurata-san... say what you want, but we all know what you did was completely out of pure spite. You couldn't stand things going well so you threw a tantrum. If you're going to do such a thing, lose your dignity by yourself. Man up and stop trying to drag others into this. It's not that your song wasn't good or that you're not a good guitarist or composer, alright? None of us think that. I always had respect for you, but that day, when you did what you did, I lost it. You killed any respect I had for you. You're the type who's talented but someone no one will be able to work with if you keep on with that kind of babyish way of thinking. You should also apologize to Fukuda-san, although I'm not sure if he saw this by now since unlike the rest of us, he has already made his debut. Which is another thing, what you did that day didn't hurt him. It hurt us. Me, Tani-san, and yourself. That was an opportunity for us to get our names out. You... you need to learn to see the big picture and get over yourself. That's all I have to say on the matter. Yoshida Hachiro signing off."
If there was any doubt about what happened Yoshida's honest confession quickly turned the tide and the negative feedback directed at Fukuda Kagami was swiftly cleared up.
A day later Kurata Souske responded to the video but the video had nothing of substance as he nitpicked at small technicalities:
"You say you always had respect for me, but that's a complete lie. You even say that you were also focused on your own comfort, you were just focused on yourself. Let's not pretend! You're just a hypocrite! Also, let's be honest you were the problematic one, I didn't really do anything. But what? I'm the disrespectful one? I didn't say as much as you. That's bullshit! Also, I'm not blaming anyone, I'm just explaining what led up to me snapping. I don't care what you guys think, you can't ignore others like that when they voice their opinions. You say everyone was inconvenienced, but that's not true. You played the drums so your role was clear and secure, also Fukuda didn't have time to practice but so what? He still had a main part, he didn't have to share that with anyone, you both had main parts. I didn't get enough time to play! You can say we didn't have enough time but that's just making excuses, none of you wanted to do it."
The drama nearly died down if not for MewMewPowa's final response.
"I know I already addressed this but I feel like I had to do it again. It's true Yoshida was more vocal than you, Kurata-san but you always agreed with him, you were always walking out with him, making nasty side comments and showing open hostility. You also ignored the both of us. This isn't a guilty-by-association thing, you openly sided with Yoshida, yes you didn't say as much but that doesn't change anything. Listen, I've had a lot of time to think about this. I realized something the other day rewatching the show and from my time watching the cafeteria performances. You wouldn't know this because you never attended these events but... Fukuda-san plays the guitar. But if there was another person who played the guitar, he would choose to sing. He's experienced so he's used to adjusting. Did you know? That means he gave up on playing it during that time FOR YOU. I also thought to myself why he didn't speak up in the beginning about what role he wanted but his intention was to take the leftover role. You guys thought he was looking down on you but that's just how he is, Fukuda thinks like a professional, because he is a professional. He always tries to cooperate and adapt. He was willing to step down to let you shine. He knew that WE needed this opportunity more than him, that or maybe he's the type of person who tends to put himself last and others first, that might just be how he is. If you actually got over yourself for just a second, you would have seen his intent. But not only did you drag us down, the first thing you do is blame him. It's really not right. Both you and Yoshida- you got in your own way. But the reason I blame you more than Yoshida is because he changed, he understood what kind of person Kagami was. You were the one to ruin it for us in the end because you couldn't see Fukuda-san's intentions. That makes you worse than Yoshida. This is the last time I'll be addressing this matter, you can respond to me, but I've said everything I needed to and will just be repeating myself at this point. I don't really like to get confrontational but what you're doing is evil. Please reflect on yourself."
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