𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐑, 𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 ;; 𝑜𝓈𝒽𝒾 𝓃𝑜 𝓀𝑜

* 𝒜ᵟᵁᴬᴹᴬᴿᴵᴺᴱ ℋᴼˢᴴᴵᴺᴼ → 𝐻ᴬᵀᴱ *

𝒩ᴼᵂ 𝒫ᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : ❝ 𝐵ᴸᵁᴱ 𝐻ᴬᴵᴿ ❞ 𝒷ᵞ 𝒯𝒱 𝒢ᴵᴿᴸ
↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺
ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ɢᴜᴇꜱꜱ ɪ'ʟʟ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴍɪꜱꜱ ʜᴇʀ, ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜ ꜱʜᴇ ɪꜱɴ'ᴛ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ɢᴏɴᴇ

ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴛʜɪɴɢ that could be considered "good" about the newest The Beginning of an Idol episode was that it brought more people to watch Whispers of Echo when it was posted. Most people were commenting about how Ruby deserved better than getting slapped by Akane, but there were several comments praising Ruby for her voice and the music video hidden underneath all the drama.

Other than that, everything was horrible.

Aqua felt sick reading what everyone online had to say about Akane. He spent quite a bit of time arguing with Sarina haters online, but a lot of people seemed to immediately switch to loving her after the newest episode. People kept talking about how Akane should be removed from the show, cancelling her, and some even sent death threats. He couldn't understand how someone could say something so horrible yet continue to live as if nothing had ever happened.

Kana was aware of the new drama as well. When he brought it up to her, she sighed and said, "That's just to be expected. Slapping a pretty new idol who's the star of a reality TV show and leaving a pretty bad cut on her face when you're a nobody on the same show is getting you hate faster than you can apologize to her for."

Aqua remembered what Miyako said about companies sometimes getting their workers into scandals as a way to gain attention. He refused to believe Akane's manager had told her to slap Ruby. "Is there anything anyone can say to stop this? Can't she explain why she did it? I'm sure it was just something she did without thinking."

"It probably is. But apologizing as a way to get yourself out of getting cancelled is the worst thing you can do. She probably can't explain it anyway, since her contract might forbid her from talking about what happens off camera."

"So...there's nothing anyone can do?"

"I mean...I guess. Think of Melt. He started to get some hate when he revealed he was a bully before starting his acting career, even though it's obvious he changed his mindset. Now that Akane's slapped Ruby, you don't see anyone talking about Melt's past now. Unless someone gets into an even bigger scandal, people are going to be talking about this for a while."

The mention of an even bigger scandal made him think about admitting to the public he was Ai Hoshino's secret child. He pushed that thought away fast, knowing it would ruin everything he, Ruby, Miyako, and Ichigo planned so perfectly. He also didn't know Akane that well, making it unusual that he would admit his second—biggest secret in his life for someone he only knew about on-screen and through his sister.

Speaking of his sister, Ruby was taking this scandal to heart as well. She kept wanting to tell the public to stop the hate given to Akane, but Miyako told her to keep a lower profile for herself. She told her the best she could do was go on a break, but Ruby made it clear she wasn't going to do that. Still, she made Aqua take her phone, so she couldn't look at all the horrible things people were saying about Akane.