Loveless (Book 1) [Completed]

Chapter 9.

HAPPY SCRAPING MOGAMI!

Later that day, Kyoko was called by President Takarada, to talk about the Love Me Division. Swara walked her to his elegant office which looked like a grand hall. One of the walls was entirely made up of glass, which gave a perfect view of the main road. The other walls were covered with beautiful patterned wallpapers. The room had a lot of decorative items, like an ivory statue of a girl in the corner, artificial plants, and framed sceneries hung on the wall. Kyoko's wonderstruck eyes drifted to every corner of the room, she felt like she was in a castle.

In the middle of the room, was a small wooden table and two chairs facing each other beside the glass wall. On one of those chairs, President Takarada was seated. He was dressed up in an even more weird costume than the last time. He was wearing a coat in this heat, but that didn't bother him since the room had air-conditioning. It even had a sword attached to his belt. Kyoko wondered if it was real.

"Welcome," the President smiled. "Ms Mogami."

Kyoko went in. He signaled her to sit, so she sat down on the chair facing him while Swara stood beside her.

A kettle and two cups were kept on the table. Takarada poured tea for both of them.

"As of today," he began. "You are the first member of our Love Me Division. Physically, mentally and emotionally, it's going to be difficult. However, if you don't grow your capacity to respect others and put their needs before your own, I warn you, this agency won't let you debut. So tell me, are you ready to shoulder the jobs of earning love from others?"

"Nope," Kyoko answered honestly, in a bored voice. "Not at all."

Wrong answer, Swara flinched. Why are you so brutally honest? You are supposed to just lie and say yes.

"But I- I was that kind of person until recently." She continued as she remembered how she had spent her life doing everything for Sho and the Fuwas, and not caring about herself at all. "You see, I had no self-esteem whatsoever, Basically I was just someone's doormat. I gave so much time and energy to make that person's life perfect that I totally lost who I was." She looked down. Her eyes had that same mature and sad expression which she had after the auditions.

"But still," she looked up, more determinedly now. "I know it's not too late and I know that I can recover from the damage."

She makes it sound like she was ill or injured, Swara thought.

"Please, I am begging you, I lost the most important thing in life and I have to get it back. All I want is a chance."

Takarada smiled. He took out a baby pink plastic box, the size of his first, and gave it to Kyoko. She opened that and found four tiny pink stamps.

"Oh, this is the same stamp that Tsuruga and Kamio were carrying." She took one out and examined it closely

"Right you are. I gave them each samples. In order to collect your stamps, you will need this adorable diary." He smirked as he took out a little heart-shaped diary with a neon pink cover and a circular logo on it which had the words 'Love Me' written on it.

Kyoko gulped. It was so pink and girly, and heart-shaped and so PINK... She hated it immediately. She wished that they wouldn't ask her to wear a similar badge or anything.

"Please don't make me wear that thing," she muttered under her breath in a low voice.

"For a while, you'll be working behind the scenes. But soon enough, you will likely get a chance to be on TV."