idolpro | princess maker

[ When you insert the key and open the door, you'll find inside the room looks small, cramped, just one living space without any doors—you can hear noises of the bustling life outside, as well as other people beyond the thin walls. the space bends on the walls, and a basket sits on the table in the center of this studio room with a blanket folded into it.

Inside, a baby stirs restlessly - you hope she goes back to sleep soon, and you play your flute in hopes of lulling her back to sleep. Unfortunately, a sharp knock sounds from the ceiling - the tenants upstairs don't like what you're doing. You take a more drastic measure, singing softly to your baby as you rock the basket back and forth and hope the tenants don't complain again. ]

-

[ Slowly, the scene changes, fading in and out with various silent scenes—the baby cries, and in turn, the upstairs tenants knock at your ceiling again; she finds her way to your flute, tooting happily though no noise comes out; a little toddler, she becomes attached to a stray cat; you decline her request, and she storms out to run away for a little while as you regret; she returns, covered in cat hair and ignores everything you say; then the wall becomes opaque. ]

[ In the corner of the room, a young girl the age of 10 crouches, looking away from you. she holds a cat in her arms, petting the creature constantly.

You wish you could have done better for your baby girl. But, this is what you love to do and maybe you'll get a gig that pays well enough that you two can move out of this shithole - hopefully. You tried your best to rear her, but with how infrequent you're in the house, working odd jobs in the day and performing at the pub at night, you're not sure anymore. You know she is capable of anything if she puts her mind to it - even becoming a princess - but you also know it's not easy to become a princess, and she's horribly equipped for any of that. Then again, if anything your little tyke is tough, and if anyone could be a rags-to-riches princess, it would be her. Thankfully, you've emergency savings - for her schooling, of course. You have a lot of regrets, but maybe it's not too late. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She looks . . . . suspiciously into that idea. Or is it suspicious? In any case, it looks like she realizes something and looks up to the ceiling.

". . . Uhm, sure. Okay. Sounds good, I guess - I'll try not to overwork myself, Mom."

Ah, good, I'm glad to hear it. I was worried we'd been overworking you, with those bags under your eyes, how late have you been staying up?

Wow look how she is absolutely not nervous.

"Uhhh not that late why"

[Taps under her eyes]

You look like you haven't been sleeping well.

"Uhhhhh."

. . .

". . . Don't. . . get mad. . . okay?"

Okay, okay, what's going on Shira-chan?

"......... Well.................. Uhm.............."

She sweats, looking to the side and then more and more and then - she blurts out:

"I've been visiting Emi sorry!!!"

Waah, is that so? Shira-chan, if you wanted to visit her, you only had to ask us, we'd have gladly let you. Don't sneak out at night to do it.

"I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to . . . hide it, just . . . "

She kicks the ground now, looking bright red.

"Okay so like you know one night I was just feeling totally frustrated and stuff 'cause I was lonely and I wanted to see her and so I just started running 'cause you know I like doing that 'cause I can go fast and then I kept running and running and then I realized I was already way past the Capital and then I realized if I tried I could just find her so I did and then we talked and stuff and then the sun came up so then I had to run back and then I fell asleep and then I woke up and then I was like well maybe I should say but then I didn't know how to bring it up but she said that I should visit her again 'cause she liked it when I kissed her so I did"

[Listening to all that, nodding along. And then reaching for her hands, s m i l i n g and leaning in close.]

Shira-chan.

Running that far on your own, that late at night, is very dangerous for a child. If anything had happened to you, mom would be very mad.

Sweats.

"But like you said you wouldn't be sooooooo you're not mad right. Right?"

I'm not mad that you want to see your friend. I'm not mad that you were nervous about telling us, I'm proud of you for being honest now. The only thing that will make mom angry is you putting yourself in danger.

I do not want you to run halfway across the country in the dark, where you could have gotten lost, or hurt, and we wouldn't have known where to find you. You are not to do that again. You are also not to stay up all night and exhaust yourself, your work has been slipping lately because your body isn't getting enough rest. You won't be able to accomplish anything if you keep that up, no matter how much you try.

If you want to see Emi-chan, you will tell us, and we'll escort you to her house, understand?

She's being scoldeddddddddddddd. . .

Shira nods, looking abashed as she kicks her toes together; her eyes are trained on the ground.

". . . Yyyy. . . yes mom. . . ."

Your daughter's temperament is meek.

[Oops.

Rise pats her on the head.]

You're a good girl, Shira-chan. You can ask for the things you want, we just have to make sure you're safe.

Shira leans to the headpats.

". . . Yeah, I know. Sorry, Mom. . ."

(After Rise has had a chance to talk to her:)

Hey. I know that was probably difficult to talk about, but thank you for your honesty. I'm very proud of you.

We love you so much and just want you to be safe.

She nods, giving a weak smile.

" . . . Yeah, I know. Sorry. . . I love you too. "

Trying not to laugh out loud like a bad father in the background.

[muffled gasp of delight in the background]

princess maker - pep!pep!

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