A Field of Stars | Oshi no Ko x OC

Chapter 6

Akane was checking news about LoveNow like she usually did, hoping for something about her, anything, when she came across several pictures of some frames where Yuki was talking, but the weird thing was that: Yuki was mostly cropped out of the picture, and the focus was two blurry girls in the background. She squinted when she came across the picture for the fourth time and decided to read the thread underneath it.
Who are these girls?
Wow these girls are pretty, even prettier than Yuki.
I saw them on Peiyon’s YouTube channel recently! They’re idols!
What are they doing on LoveNow?
These girls should be contestants in the show.
Replace some of the quiet girls with these girls!
Akane couldn’t believe it. It was the two girls that were extras in the latest episode. 

She had been working herself to death trying to get more attention with the audience, and two random girls that didn’t say a single word on screen were getting traction? What the hell? She couldn’t help that the one girl, Ruby, was Aqua’s sister, so it was natural she would want to be on set at least once, but why did she drag her friend along? She recalled the girl sitting down beside her, and her compliments. She hated that she seemed to be nice, too. Akane knew she would have no problem becoming a famous idol with those looks, and that personality. Meanwhile, she had been struggling to go anywhere with her acting for her whole life. She had the theater, but she had nothing in regards to television or movies. She had spent thirteen years studying acting, and nothing was working. She hated it. She hated herself. She couldn’t stand out on LoveNow no matter how hard she tried because Yuki was stealing all the boys. She had the looks and the personality for it, so she couldn’t entirely blame her, but it still enraged her.
The filming for the season was wrapping up soon. She only had one more chance to fix things, to stand out, or her agency would get rid of her. She sighed, setting her phone aside. Tomorrow. Tomorrow, she would do whatever she could to stand out.

Akane was talking to one of the boys. Things were going well, they were filming the two of them. Finally, she was getting screen time! Then she saw something, no, someone approaching through the corner of her eyes. Akane recognized it as Yuki, who politely interrupted, stealing the boy’s attention, and they started to walk away from her. No. She couldn’t lose this. It was her last chance.
“Yuki! Stop!” she cried, “You already have attention, why can’t you leave some room for me?”
Yuki paused, glancing over her shoulder. “What?”
Akane pressed forward. “You think you’re so pretty, you can just take the spotlight, but you’re not that great looking. Last week, Ruby and Yumena, the extras, got more attention than you! So just-” she reached for Yuki’s arm quickly, “Stop!” When she moved, Yuki stepped aside, causing Akane’s hand to slip, and suddenly she felt her fingernails graze something.
Yuki gasped, grabbing her cheek.
Akane froze in place, staring at her hands. Her fingernails had cut Yuki’s beautiful face. “Oh, oh no. Oh no I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Yuki said slowly.
“You have a shooting later, don’t you?”
“It’s okay,” Yuki repeated, “That’s what makeup and editing is for. It’s okay.” Yuki was suddenly embracing her. “I know you just got overwhelmed, and you didn’t mean anything you said.”
“You’re right,” Akane agreed, sniffling as tears welled up in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Yuki repeated, stroking her hair.
“O-okay…” Akane choked out. She couldn’t believe she did that. She couldn’t believe she said that. It was completely out of character, but the pressure had built up.
As she wiped her eyes, and other staff helped Yuki, something broke through her memory. Tamaki sitting down beside her, commenting on her nails. Be careful with them, okay? Sometimes they’re sharper than they look. Akane frowned. It couldn’t be a coincidence that she said that, and that this happened, could it be? Did…Did Tamaki know this was going to happen? And if so, how?