Chapter 71.

                                    

                                          
THE FALL.


                          
It was a sunny afternoon. Kyoko did not go to the Box R shoot that day because she had to join the Kimagure Rock cast to the TBM studio where they had been invited to participate in some trivia competition. It turned out to be a lot more fun than they expected.
                          
Even after it was over, Kyoko and the guys all talked about it excitedly as they were showing themselves out.
                          
"Do you remember that question about the drama Scarlet dice?" One of the hosts named Yuusie asked. "I remembered it at the last moment."
                          
"Yeah," Shinichi smirked. "When they asked the name of that drama in which Oumi Mashima debuted."
                          
"I've read as many gossip magazines as I could, but I still didn't know the answer to that," Kyoko confessed.
                          
"Looks like Yuusei saved the day!" Hikaru chuckled. He was the youngest guy of the bunch, the same age as Kyoko.
                          
All four of them laughed heartily, and the two boys slapped Yuusei on the back.
                          
That's what Kyoko loved about her colleagues at the Kimagure Rock show. That turned even the gravest of the situations into such hilarious and carefree gossip, they nobody could resist laughing like crazy. Being the only girl in the bunch never bothered her in the slightest because it was just so much more easier to get along with guys instead of girls.
                          
Remembering her colleagues at the Box R studio, Kyoko let out a remorseful sigh. Why couldn't they be as cool as those guys? If they all got along well, everything would work out perfectly. But they didn't even look at her before she became the cold and charismatic Natsu. Did girls have to be ruthless and mean to get along with each other?
                          
Her contemplation on the behaviour pattern of the average female was interrupted by the guys, who were now in a lively conversation about the same drama Scarlet Dice, which used to air more than a decade ago.
                          
Kyoko wasn't listening at first, but something Shinichi said perked up her ears, and she listened to them with her undivided attention.
                          
"The show got cancelled because there was an accidental fire on the set. And the girl playing the main villain was badly injured."
                          
"Oh yeah, I heard about that." Yuusei nodded. "She was only six years old at the time, right?"
                          
"Yeah. She used to be quite an amazing actress but after that accident she retired. I even heard that she still got that burn mark. It's on the back of the neck."
                          
Kyoko cocked her head at them in surprise, Honami's words echoing in her mind. On the back of her neck Chiori's got a really big nasty scar. 
                          
"Wait!" She stopped walking. "This accident happened more than a decade ago, right? So that girl must be around my age right now?"
                          
"I think so," Shinichi agreed.
                          
"What was her name?" There was a sudden urgency in her tone.
                          
"I think it was Akari Tendou, why?"
                          
Kyoko frowned. She was almost positive that this girl was Chiori Amamiya, but turned out she was wrong. It must be someone else, she thought. Although, there was still that nagging voice on the back of her mind which kept suggesting that it was too big of a coincidence for both actresses to have a burn mark on the exact same spot. Not to mention that both of them were the same age.
                          
"Hey, you guys said she retired. Do you know why?" Kyoko pried.
                          
"Well, she used to be an exceptional actress when she was young, but she never got any other role besides the one in Scarlet Dice," said Yuusei.