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~~~
Toda Rinne sighed to herself.
How in the world was she going to sing this song all by herself? Sure, she'd been the 'lead' when the original three Country Musume girls recorded it, but it was different when she was singing it all by herself. How was she supposed to sing their solo lines? She sounded so different from them. And there was the other reason this was going to be so hard: Azusa and Hiromi were gone.
She hadn't been able to get them off her mind lately. Azusa had gone and let those pictures surface... What did she think she was doing? She was only twenty two! And then she'd left. The pain from what had happened to Hiromi was 'too great,' or so she'd said. Rinne knew the truth. Azusa hadn't been that close to Hiromi, but surely there was pain. Yanagihara Hiromi had only been 19 years old, and some careless driver had gone and killed her. No one would ever see her adorable face light up again, no one would ever see her cute smile. And then there was one girl left, and that one was supposed to sing the song they'd sung together all by herself.
She tucked a strand of brown hair behind one of her ears, being careful not to mess up the curled hairstyle she'd been given. Her face in general itched, but she didn't scratch it, because the makeup couldn't be messed up. The nineteen-year-old had been in hair and makeup for such a long time that she couldn't bear to go back. Just when they'd almost finished, the thought of Hiromi grinning and laughing in this same trailer had struck her and she'd messed everything up. They started over. She remembered Hiromi's cute, slightly messed up grin, she remembered Hiromi telling her how excited she was to be on stage. She'd never be able to.
Rinne had been especially close to Hiromi - nobody except them knew just how close, not even Azusa. But Rinne knew, Rinne remembered. There had been many nights laying close to each other, countless shared glances of desire, a few quick pecks on the cheek while they were off camera. Working hard had been fun with Hiromi there.
But she was gone.
"You're on in five, Toda-san," A stagehand poked her head into the dressing room, giving Rinne a grin and a nod before slipping away.
Rinne nodded back to the girl, getting out of the chair she'd been sitting in and stripping her sweatshirt and pants off. The girl stood, gave a fake smile to the mirror, and walked out of the room, noting that the name still read 'Country Musume' instead of 'Toda Rinne,' and walked towards the stage.
The only remaining Country Musume member made her way to the center of the stage, Nakazawa Yuko standing there already. The pair gave a small speech, Rinne struggling through it, and then Yuko rejoined the Morning Musume and Taiyo to Ciscomoon backup group and Rinne stepped behind the microphone. She nodded a little bit to the people in the audience, waving at them before the music started and she began to sing.
"A~a~ah yeah! Massugu ni tsuzuku michi jitensha koi de supiido agereba..."
As the song progressed, it occurred to Rinne that she was singing it alone. She was alone. There was no more Country Musume. No more Azusa. No more Hiromi. No more Rinne and Hiromi. Just Toda Rinne. And she felt her voice grow shaky and she felt hot tears begin to roll down her cheeks.
"Koko ga ii yo, futari no paradaisu~"
When the concert drew to an end, Rinne didn't stay to talk to the other performers. She didn't stay for the small party they had after the concert. She went home, curled up in her bed, and cried. Hiromi was gone. She was never coming back. The pictures were all she had.
