Never meet your heroes | interactive AI stories | ISEKAI ZERO

You met the idol. She doesn't want to be met.

**Kucchan and Friends** The band spans the globe with heavy metal tracks and bright neon outfits. Half the world look on in suspense every time Kucchan says a single word in the media. The sentences are picked apart by television crews, and 'experts' make a living predicting the next hit song to come out of the band. Talkshow hosts make a habit of mentioning the band as a tie-in every time they welcome a new guest to their shows. The seer ratings go off the roof and into the sky. Everyone has an opinion. The opinions are waried and abundant in nature. Tv anchors are hard pressed to find a single broadcast without mentioning *Kucchan and Friends* at least once. They are all practically drooling over the chance to report on the next scandalous event involving the band. Her face is all over magazines. Front *and* back page. Her outfits are scandalous and chic. Her discarded clothes sell for a small fortune. Her stylist is swarmed by common folk, screaming that they want to look like Kucchan. It is a feeding frenzy. Everyone wants to meet the band. Every other band is either admiring them or insanely jealous of their success. After only four years of existing, *Kucchan and Friends* are trending harder than ever. Several co-production songs are already released, and more are coming. The phone rings constantly. Day *and* night. No one cares about time zones if they can grab just a fraction of the popularity for themselves. The band is constantly on tour. There is no downtime when you're more popular to bask in than sunlight. The next show is in a week. At Yokohama arena. **One year ago** Your buddy, Ren, pulled you along to a concert where his cousin was a security detail. You got to walk through hard concrete corridors nobody is otherwise allowed in, and watch from a side door as the band performed on stage in front of a crowd of thousands. Before the show, in the bare concrete corridors heading towards the venue, you accidentally bumped into a figure wearing a large hoodie drawn tight over their head. You apologised. They didn't speak. They just kept walking, head looking down at the floor. The show was amazing, choreographed to the tiniest detail. Grand. Explosive. Soulless, despite Kucchans voice ringing out over the crowd, asking if they are ready to *feel something real with them*. After the show, on your way out, follwing those same empty concrete hallways, you hear voices from around the corner. Raised ones. Coming towards you. "—told you, no visitors. No exceptions. This isn't complicated, Fukigen." The voice is male. Smooth. Oily. The kind of voice that sounds like it's always calculating something. "I wasn't *asking* for permission. I was telling you I need air." Kucchan's voice. Sharp. Raw. No sweetness. No performance. You stop walking. Ren catches up, rubbing his shoulder. "What? Why'd you stop? Is there a—" You hold up a hand. He shuts up. "—air? You want air? There's air *everywhere*. You want to go outside where there are *fans*? Where there are *cameras*? After what happened tonight?" A pause. "You performed beautifully, by the way. Truly. The label is very pleased with—" "I don't care what the label is pleased with." "You should. They sign your checks." Silence. Then the male voice again, softer now. Conspiratorial. "Look. You did great. The show was a success. I am happy. Your parents are happy. Everyone is happy. So why can't *you* just be happy?" "You don't get to tell me how to feel." "I'm not telling you how to feel. I'm telling you how to *behave*. There's a difference." Footsteps. Quick, sharp. Coming toward the junction. Yucchan comes around the corner first, fuming. Too annoyed to notice you or Ren as she moves past you. The manager, charcoal suit pressed to perfection, tablet in hand displaying graphs of social media spikes, spots you as they walk past. His eyes frost over at your presence. He makes a note on his tablet as he turns back to his charge. You breathe out in relief. You dismissed this. Ren dismissed this. You had a good night of drinking together. Three days later, Rens cousin was fired and banned from ever working in security again. **7 months ago** You walked through Shibuya. You spotted a giant crowd standing outside a building with garish lights hanging above the entrance. Bemused, you decided to investigate. You looked through the window, shoulders and heads of the crowd blocked most of your view but you caught enough to guess what was happening. It looked like a meet and greet. There, behind a desk, sat the most famous woman in Japan, Kucchan. That same suit standing behind her, unsmiling, calculating. She is all smiles and cheery optimism, you remember thinking that nobody smiles that much - ever. **4 Months ago** The TV was blaring in the store where you usually pick up your groceries. The sounds were turned down to a volume that might as well have been muted. Kucchan. Talking amicably to a talk show host, her posture open, her make-up immaculate. Her smile plastered on like a mask. Your frowned but didn't think more of it, as you made your purchase and went home. **Last week, wednesday** Ren pulled you along to a meet and greet. You didn't want to go. He didn't care. He said something about being there for eachother and not letting your best friend down. You sighed reluctantly but went along. Two meters from the desk, you saw a crack in her facade. A tiny glimpse as the smile slipped. In that moment she looked so incredibly tired. The smile came back instantly, so fast you thought you might have imagined it. You looked at her face as she greeted Ren like she had never met anyone more interesting then him. He was practically glowing with pride. She seemed kind, sweet and genuine. You caught her eye, and in that moment, your face saw the trapped animal, forced to dance to somebody else's tune. You didn't say anything. What could you say? You got your poster signed, Ren wanted two autographs, and you agreed to help him out. Then you went about your day. Reality is weird sometimes. Life is a bitch. And so is she.

Characters

Tags: Idol Celebrity FemPOV AnyPOV Urban Modern Angst Two-faced Mean Crush RockStar Music City Cold EnemyToLovers Hero MalePOV FindingSelf Extrovert Arrogant Selfish Romance Heartbreaking SlowBurn Tragic

By: darion_976

Stories

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