“Yurika’s not here yet?”
On the set of A Bite of Yuri, Misaka Mikoto sat in the actors’ rest area at the edge of the set, nervously running a comb through her light-brown medium-short hair in front of a mirror over and over.
Anyone could see Mikoto was looking rather stiff right now—so much so that she didn’t have the presence of mind to greet the fans gathered around the set.
If it weren’t for the approachable image Mikoto usually cultivated, this alone—snubbing her fans like this—would have cost her quite a few of them.
“Onee-sama, there’s no need to be this nervous. However popular Yurika is, when you get down to it she’s just a newly debuted newcomer. Compared to you, it’s a senpai-kouhai relationship—you’d be perfectly within your rights to put on senpai airs in front of her.”
As Mikoto’s manager, Shirai Kuroko couldn’t help sighing as she watched Mikoto fidget, offering words of comfort.
Maybe it was because of Yurika’s imminent arrival, but right now Kuroko wasn’t clinging to Mikoto like a maniac the way she usually would—though, setting the Yurika factor aside, she wasn’t likely to do something that rude with this many fans watching either.
“Please calm down. At the very least, you have to set an example in front of your ‘kouhai’ Yurika. On this set, you’re fully entitled to ask anything of her.”
“A-anything…”
Mikoto’s face went bright red in an instant.
Who knew what improper thing had popped into that little head of hers—she hurriedly waved her hands, blurting out wildly,
“H-how could I do that kind of thing to Yurika?! Wouldn’t that turn it into a casting-couch situation…”
Thank goodness they’d strung a line of red rope around the set to keep the onlookers at a fair distance, or Mikoto’s little outburst would’ve been overheard by every Tokiwadai student who’d rushed over at the news.
That’s right—because A Bite of Yuri is set at a girls’ school, the location shoot was at Tokiwadai, the most prestigious girls’ school in all of Academy City.
On top of that, many of the cast were Tokiwadai students, which made the spot more fitting than anywhere else.
“Onee-sama, please show some restraint.”
Kuroko pressed a hand to her forehead, a little helpless.
Of course she knew that anything involving Yurika sent Mikoto into a flustered scramble.
But since Yurika had never been in the entertainment industry before, Kuroko had never paid much mind to this state of Mikoto’s.
Who’d have guessed Yurika would actually debut?
It went without saying—both being Tokiwadai students, Mikoto was bound to have plenty of chances to act opposite Yurika from now on.
If something wasn’t done to correct this state of hers, sooner or later someone would notice that Mikoto had zero resistance when facing Yurika. Get faster updates on g.com.
Scandal is a star’s worst enemy.
Mikoto’s habit of panicking the moment she ran into Yurika had to be fixed!
Just as Kuroko was starting to map out, in her head, how to correct this state of Mikoto’s, another lead arrived—Shokuhou Misaki.
Like Mikoto, she was a Tokiwadai student, and she often acted opposite Mikoto or appeared on the same programs.
It was precisely because Mikoto and Misaki ran into each other so often that Kuroko knew Mikoto would surely be in frequent contact with Yurika down the line.
“Tch. So this is the little brat playing Yurika’s true love?”
Misaki and Mikoto had never gotten along to begin with, and now, learning that Mikoto, that little chit, had snatched the very role she’d wanted, Misaki was all the more livid.
The moment she reached the set, she lit into Mikoto without mercy, her tone thick with displeasure.
“Generally speaking, isn’t the one playing the true love supposed to be the Yamato Nadeshiko type? Why does she get to play it?”
Even if it were a real Yamato Nadeshiko, it still wouldn’t be your turn… The ringlet-haired girl trailing behind Misaki gave a wry smile but didn’t voice the thought.
She cared about Misaki from the bottom of her heart, and knew that line would only set Misaki off—and if she actually said it, she’d probably get mind-controlled all the way home by a humiliated, furious Misaki.
She had no desire to bring that on herself.
But while the ringlet-haired girl didn’t want to stir up trouble, Kuroko was far less courteous.
Both being Tokiwadai students, if Yurika’s appeal had made both Mikoto and Misaki regard her as a friend, then Mikoto and Misaki had all but come to regard each other as enemies.
Kuroko gave a mocking smile and jabbed hard at Misaki’s sore spot:
“Oh? Isn’t this the blonde playing the bitch? Do you even have any scenes today… oh right, looks like you do. Your part’s so small I couldn’t quite remember.”
“You little—!”
Misaki’s eyes flew wide; she looked about to explode.
Those few words of Kuroko’s really had struck a nerve.
Her role was small, and it had been gnawing at her—if not for the fact that exposure might hurt her reputation, she’d have wanted to just brainwash the director into handing her the true-love role. This chapter was copied from novelping dot com without permission.
But before she could blow up, the ringlet-haired girl behind her hastily reached out and grabbed her arm, a tense look on her face, urging her,
“Queen, calm down, please calm down. There are other people watching here.”
Because of the distance, the onlookers couldn’t make out the exchange between Misaki and Kuroko clearly, but if Misaki blew up, it would be all too easy for others to sense something was off.
And then the news of Misaki losing her temper on set would surely get out, and her image would surely take a hit.
At that thought, Misaki’s brow twitched.
She drew several deep breaths, forced down the anger in her chest, and shot Kuroko a glare:
“I won’t stoop to your level.”
“Hmph.”
Kuroko spared Misaki a sidelong glance, then returned to Mikoto’s side to keep waiting for Yurika to arrive.
It wasn’t that Yurika was being a diva—it was her first time acting, so she simply didn’t know how far in advance to show up.
The other actors were all understanding about it; not a single one complained about Yurika.
The reason was simple: every actor in this drama was female…
“Yurika sure is popular, huh…”
The director was a short, black-haired girl.
She glanced around at the actors and realized that not one of them was complaining about Yurika arriving late—and couldn’t help feeling rather struck by it.
With any other actor, people would have been griping long ago, but right now, actors and onlooking schoolgirls alike, every last one of them had forgiven Yurika without exception.
Then it hit the director, and she seemed to grasp the reason.
“I see—the actors and the audience here are all girls. No wonder… But this one’s still too young, too inexperienced. If there are men among the cast in the future, this kind of behavior could rub people the wrong way. Looks like once she gets here, I’ll have to teach her some on-set etiquette.”