The next day, Noriko ended up waking up late and getting a short lecture from Ryu. Then he jumped into the schedule for the next two days which sounded more like something that was happening over a week. She had 8 different interviews, including tv show appearances as well as finishing up the final songs in her album and meeting with another singer she would be making a song with. Then they would also have to work out what would be going on for the next tour and how to deal with the rumors that had quickly become the most important thing to people on the internet - and was the first thing Ryu and Noriko talked about after going over the schedule.
"Deny everything," Ryu had told her. "Nora is not Noriko. You are two different people and when you are with those reporters and tv show hosts, you are Nora, someone who's never heard of Noriko. Remember, if they don't have your confirmation, they can't say anything. They could find all the evidence they want, but unless you confirm it, it's not true. Got it?"
After Ryu's lecture, Noriko grabbed the last few things she needed before they left the house and started the 30-minute drive to the first stop. They stopped to pick up breakfast from a fast food place before arriving at the tv studio. Ryu ushered a tired Noriko out of the car and into her designated changing room. Ryu left her alone to get changed and when she walked out of the room, she felt a lot more awake and was mentally preparing herself for the inevitable questions she knew was going to get asked.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Nora," a woman greeted, walking up to Nora and holding a hand out to her. She looked to be some sort of assistant.
Nora shook it, "It's nice to meet you too."
"Now, follow me this way and we'll get started," she said before leading Nora over to the set where a man, who was clearly the tv show's host, was waiting for her.
The man greeted her before telling her to sit down in the chair across from the one he was sitting in. They exchanged a few words before everyone got ready to shoot and the cameras started rolling.
The man started with the intro to the show before he turned to Nora, "Nora, it's an honor to have you here on the show today."
"It's an honor to be here," Nora replied with a smile.
"So," he started, wasting no time, "your short performance at the UA Sports Festival was a very pleasant surprise. It was a performance many have been asking for. And from what I've heard, you've been wanting to perform during the Sports Festival for some time now, correct?"
"Yes, I have," Nora answered. She paused for a second, seeing that he wanted a slightly longer answer and continued. "I've always watched the sports festival with my family and being able to perform during it was a big dream of mine. I was very honored to get to perform there."
"That's very sweet," the man said with a smile that quickly faded as he went to the next question. "But after your performance, a rumor quickly spread through the internet. If you aren't already aware, people think that you go to UA high in the hero course. Some have even gone so far as to conclude that you are going there as a student from class 1-A, Noriko Hiromi. What are your thoughts on this?"
Nora resisted the urge to glance at Ryu, who was standing behind the camera. "This is the first I'm hearing of these rumors," Nora lied. "But, while going to UA High might have been something I thought of doing a long time ago, I can assure you I'm not a student there."
"What do you have to say about the evidence people are bringing up?"
Nora tilted her head slightly. Her and Ryu had talked about the best way of handling talking about the rumors for the first time and that would be to act clueless about it. The rumors were big, but people didn't know what she had been doing after her performance the day before, so they couldn't say that it was unbelievable for her to have never heard of the rumor. "What evidence?"
"Many people are suggesting you and this Hiromi are the same person because of your quirks," the man explained. "Many think they are identical."
"Oh, so Hiromi's the one with an ice quirk?" Nora questioned, earning a nod. It felt strange to talk about herself as if she was a different person. "Well, a simple response to this is that it's just a coincidence. Ice quirks are pretty common and I don't doubt there is some difference in our quirks. I thought that fact would be obvious."
"I suppose that's true," the interviewer said. "But people are also saying that you two have a similar appearance."
"If people are convinced that I'm this Hiromi, then all I can do is tell you that it's just a strange coincidence," Nora said. "People always believe things that aren't true. And if people have their minds set on false information, I know there's nothing I can say to change their minds. But either way, I will keep telling you the truth. And that is that I'm not this Noriko Hiromi. I'm sure she's a nice person, but I am not her."
"Very well said," the interviewer complimented with a smile.
Nora smiled, "Rumors are just rumors. Unless I say something is true, it's not."
"Yes, that's absolutely correct. Now, switching topics, many people are asking for news on your new album."
* * *
Nora was asked some more questions and, after an hour of filming, she changed out of the navy blue dress she had been provided and into a white sweatshirt and leggings.
Then, after a surprisingly short drive, they arrived at the next studio. It took Nora a lot less time to get ready since she already had her hair extensions and makeup done. All she had to do was change into the outfit she was given and meet up with the people she'd be going the show with. This one was a lot more casual than the first place. The rumor was brought up again and she gave the same answer as before. As well as news about her new album and some other random things.
Once that interview was over, there was one more before they stopped for lunch. So far, it had been three for three with the rumor coming up and Noriko didn't doubt it would keep coming up for a while.
The fact that people were starting to make the connection between Noriko and Nora worried her. She was lucky that only Todoroki had figured out her secret, but she knew if she wasn't careful, everyone would find out. And that was the last thing she wanted to happen. Just the thought of what would happen if her identity got out scared her. She liked being able to go places without being attacked by fans and paparazzi.
After lunch, they went to a radio station and Nora had an hour-long thing with a radio show's cast. The rumor came up again and she was asked to sing a few songs. That had actually ended up being a lot of fun, especially compared to the interview she had next.
By the time Noriko was on her way home, it was after 11:00 pm and she had been to 8 interviews. When she got home, Noriko didn't even bother to respond to her brother, who was in the kitchen getting a snack before going to her room and crashing on her bed.
-Author Note-
So I haven't talked about it yet and I figure this is a good place to do it, but you readers from the original may have noticed that Ryu's character is a lot more likable(at least in my opinion) than in the original. I'm just gonna quickly rant about this here because I want to talk about his character and why he's different in this one.
So Ryu's main thing is that he's a workaholic. He likes to have everything be on time and all that sort of stuff. Which is why he ended up being such a jerk in the original story. But this originally wasn't my intention for Ryu's character. The version of him in this story is closer to how I wanted him to be. Ryu was meant to be a father figure to Noriko and Shiro and that's not how he turned out in the original. I did kinda like how you guys hated on him because I found that funny, but I knew I needed to redo how I wrote his character because he was meant to be someone who cared a lot about his job, but more about the safety and well-being of Noriko and Shiro. He was never meant to be the selfish person he ended up being in the original and he was like that because I wanted him to be a character who cared a lot about Noriko's career and her future in that career. Ryu can come off as selfish, but his intentions are always meant to help Noriko and Shiro.
Anyways, rant over. I just wanted to talk about that because I haven't yet and the way his character changed is probably one of the bigger changes from the original to this version. I also just wanted to say that a lot of how Ryu was shown in the original was kinda like bad parts of him. Like, in my mind, as the writer, all the scenes with him in it were when he was at his worst and there are a lot of good things about Ryu that just weren't in the original book because I just didn't write them and it didn't work for the story at the time.
So, that's all I have to say. I hope you have a great day!
-Starlight