@oddy the better question is how will it affect the relationship when she gets shipped back to the future?
Chapter 4Zukki stared at the sky with the knowledge of her cousin ten years ago was Riho’s rival friend. She was her outlet for any problem with Reina. She was very understanding and always comforted Zukki as a sister. Now, the fact of looking at her made her uneasy but the warm feeling of a friend who she could relate to was seemingly important than looking at a younger Risa.
Riho stretched out onto the wall as she began to wonder about the time. She looked up and saw the sun heading toward the afternoon. She grabbed Zukki’s hand and looked toward the sky.
“Friends rarely come to help you and since you have been here, all I have been wondering is why I only met you now? Where did you originally come from? And will you be here… forever.” Riho gleamed as she found a treasure but Zukki could only tear up knowing she is lost in another time period.
“I have the same questions but it can be answered later, I want to watch you perform.” Riho’s smile disappeared and it showed the bits of disappointment of her self-esteem.
“Ai will also be there to practice her lines, I admit she does it better, and whisper it to her all the time. Even in defeat, she holds a smile and congratulates me. I could never do it the way she does it and at least once I would want to have that feeling of defeat to show my poise. You convinced me, let’s go to auditorium.” The duo walked back onto the school grounds as they saw Ai with a bandage around her head from the fall.
As they got closer a spunky girl walled them off and slanted her eyes toward them as she was a bodyguard. Zukki waived as Ai returned it quickly behind the girl’s back and the smile quickly was wiped off as soon as they entered the room. Riho peeked from behind the curtains to see her parents on the table looking over the notes.
“I guess we should be starting soon, take a seat in the audience.” Riho grinned as Zukki ran down the stairs and found an open seat in the back.
As she tried to sit in the chair, a man came in with a black suit passing all the students without recognition and sat right next to Zukki in the nearly empty auditorium. She turned to the man and saw he had a slip of cloth with words written on it. Zukki froze as the man laid the cloth on her lap and escorted her to the nearest door.
“Suzuki Kanon, such a nice name.” He said with a smile as she held onto the cloth with her fist closed.
“Who are you?” She asked as he opened her fist.
“I’m Ken, I am a time traveler supervisor, and I manage all the people who mistakenly walk into a time portal by accident. It is my responsibility to keep time the same as it always was before, I have to avoid the tangents from happening.” He explained.
“Okay… So why didn’t you come when I tripped into the time portal?” Zukki questioned him as he took out his book.
“Time is fragile and noticing a mistake is longer than solving the mistake. I feel a certain fear in you and it is okay to feel that way in a foreign place. So, I will assist you back to the time portal when the time is needed. Unless, you would decide to do it now.” Ken saw Zukki’s attention toward the auditorium.
“I see, well the time limit is a week and I will force you back regardless of the result, unfortunately it may last shorter than expected.” Ken started to rub his chin as Zukki was anticipating an answer.
“What do you mean? I will be here less than a week. I want to be here forever, no one will ever look at me the same.” Zukki’s voice started to squeak as she felt happy since before the accident.
“Well we can’t do that, I am required to watch you as long as you stay in this time frame. No matter where you go, I will be there to guide you through the world. If you do need assistance, just show the cloth out in a private place, and I will be there as fast as I can.” He patted Zukki’s head as they went back inside.
She managed to catch the middle part of Ai’s performance and she displayed her crisp moves and the look of determination caught the judges’ attention. Zukki watched the performance like she was watching a live concert and she was impressed that Ai had raw talent before she became a star.
Riho walked on the stage and heard the cheer come from Zukki as Riho smiled to the judges. She held herself like a champion and worked through every move and sang in perfect pitch and harmony matching Ai’s talent. It felt like a title fight between them two and each had a special jab, hook, and roundhouse compared to their impeccable defense maneuvers. Riho fell to the ground as the performances were both marvelous.
“Do you want to guess who won?” Ken asked.
“It is a tie between them two, they both did a great job.” Zukki replied.
“I know… reason it will go to Riho, the judges were always set to Riho and always triumph over Ai. As for Risa, she was Ai’s understudy and she always cheered for Ai regardless if the other person was better. However, the situation was Ai is not rich and would always be behind Riho because of the bias and as you know students get special treatment.” Riho nodded.
“I feel bad for Ai because she works super hard for her fans and her politeness made her a national idol.” Ken nodded.
“This performance was the turning point in her career, Ai made it personal that she will defeat Riho at all costs. However, she was weak in sabotaging any act that got in her way, which caught the eye of a producer before her big break.” Zukki knew the history of Takahashi Ai and it was imprinted in her head like a book.
“Can I at least greet her for now?” Ken nodded.
“I am off to another assignment and I’ll be waiting for your call.” Ken disappeared in a flash.
Zukki walked up to the stage and hid behind the curtains like Risa who was observing her from the back. The judges were quick to consult and made it quick to make Riho the winner for the star position. Riho ran backstage with beads of sweat running down with tears of joy rolling down her face. Ai followed her after into the arms of Risa.
“Congrads… you win another one because of your parents, good for you. People with money have all the power making the poor look silly.” Risa’s enraged face said everything about the process.
“I’m sorry, I want to earn it once rather than be prosecuted for the bias.” Riho explained as Ai and Risa walked the other way.
Riho couldn’t hold back her smile but inside it was stabbing her in the heart that Ai had outperformed her in all stages. Her parents pulled her away from Zukki and scolded her for slacking off on practicing her routine. Yashii kept calm as the pounding continued until the parents revealed their disgusted faces toward Zukki.
“She didn’t do anything.” Riho said softly.
“Fine. We will meet for dinner after we clean up and your friend is invited to stay because she is a good luck charm.” Her father smirked before walking onto the stage.
“Let’s go to the yakiniku place, my parents may take a while.” Riho grabbed Zukki and kissed her on the cheek.
“Thank you for the support!” Zukki was happy about Riho but the message by Ken was threatening their relationship.