Saltwater Dolls

Fofu was a K-Pop idol who had burst onto the scene roughly four months before Miya's debut. She had become relatively popular during that short amount of time, mainly due to her image being extremely different from that of most other K-Pop idols. She was short, for one thing, and she frequently spoke in both Korean and English slang. She exclusively wore clothes that were either too large or too small for her, and her hair was a bright neon green that was in a different style at every concert she performed.
     Miya had only met Fofu a few other times, and had always had the same opinion about her. 
     She had it so easy. 
     "Really? Fallen angels? Why have you been thinking about that?" Miya said, making herself sound naive. 
     Fofu narrowed her eyes at Miya mischievously. 
     "Because I've been hearing a whole lot about you lately! You're such a perfect singer, aren't you? Just everybody's happy little miracle, right?" Fofu said, putting one hand on her hip and wagging the other one at Miya playfully. 
     Miya gave a practiced blush.
     "Y-you make it sound like I'm so important... I'm just the same as you. We both sing to make people happy!" She said, feeling a small piece of genuine conviction creep into her voice.
     Fofu laughed loudly. Other idols began looking at the two of them. Miya started to get goosebumps, but she didn't know why. 
     "Right; we're the same!" Fofu said, gesturing between herself and Miya. "You and I are on the same level, huh?" The mischievous smile on the green idol tightened sharply.
     "Yes? I'm a little more popular, but I'm sure that your fans really love you too!" Miya said with a sincere smile.
     Fofu glanced up at Miya, still wearing a professional pout. Yet as Miya looked down at Fofu, she could tell something was slightly off about her expression. It made her uneasy, and she fought the urge to take a step back. 
     "Love me?" Fofu said quietly as she looked down at the ground between herself and Miya. "You really think my fans still love me?" 
     Several other idols were watching their interaction now, and a ring had formed around them. Miya felt nervous, but called on all her training to remain calm.
     "Of course!" She clapped her hands together out of habit. "Otherwise, why would you be here?"
     Out of the corner of her eye, Miya saw Fofu's fist clench. 
     "I'll tell you why else I would be here, Miya." Said the green idol as she looked at Miya once again, though this time it was clear that her professional anger was not just for show. Bitterness and spite dripped off of every word Fofu said. "Because my manager told me that this was my last chance to become relevant again."
     Miya blinked. 
     The room, which up to that point had been filled with the sound of idle idol chatter, fell deathly silent. Everyone's eyes were on Fofu and Miya. 
     "I hate you." Fofu spat out the words. Her angry expression twitched. "I hate you." 
     "Y-you don't mean that!" Miya said, doing her best to calm the situation down. She may not have liked Fofu, but she wasn't about to let her throw her entire career away in one night because of some personal grudge. "Oh, you're so spiteful!" Miya said dramatically. 
     Some of the other idols joined with Miya, trying to play off Fofu's building ire as an extremely dramatic performance. One idol even joined Fofu's side, feigning his own hatred of Miya. 
     Fofu didn't react. 
     She kept staring directly at Miya, making direct eye contact despite Miya's bangs. She tried to look away, but the challenge in Fofu's body language was clear.
     "All of you stupid plastic dolls can shut up." Fofu said firmly. 
     Miya slowly closed her mouth, but the other idols were still trying to help Fofu play the whole thing off. Miya saw Fofu's eye twitch. Her pout, which up to this point had appeared tense, disappeared entirely, replaced by bared teeth and snarling lips.
     "I said, shut up!" Fofu shouted into the Grand Ballroom. 
     Everyone else stopped talking. Security burst into the room, looking for the attacker. When they saw that Fofu was shouting, two of them started walking towards her, but they were held back by the other guards. They'd been instructed to protect the idols and had been expressly forbidden from touching them unless it was an emergency. An emotional outburst was not, by the standards they had been given, an emergency. 
     Miya kept looking directly at Fofu, feeling like she was frozen in place. 
     "I hate you!" Fofu shouted as she looked at Miya. "Do you realize what you did?!" Fofu's voice started to crack. "You stole all my fans! All of them!" She shrieked. 
     "I-I didn't mean to-"
     "I know! I know you didn't and I still hate you!" 
     Miya's eyes widened as she kept looking at Fofu.
     Fofu's eyes were filled with saltwater.
     "I-I trained!" Sobbed Fofu. "I did everything they told me!" She shouted loudly as she shut her eyes and shook her fist in the air angrily. "I did what I was supposed to!" 
     "Fofu, plea-" Miya said, taking a step forward.
     "It's your fault!" She screamed, forcing Miya to cover her ears. 
     At that moment, Miya knew it was over for Fofu. She looked at Fofu painfully. 
     Fofu's eyes widened as her breathing slowed slightly. Her own green eyes stared at Miya. 
     Then, the green idol did something terrifying. 
     She smiled.
     "And they'll hate you too." Fofu said calmly. Her breathing became almost normal. She turned to look at the rest of the idols in the Grand Ballroom. "They'll hate all of you."
     Miya wanted to say something, but nothing came to mind.
     "The moment one of you steps out of line, or stops being popular, or, heaven forbid, expresses an actual freaking emotion..." She whipped back around at Miya and stared at her with a manic grin. "They'll throw you out like a broken doll."
     Miya desperately wanted to say that it wasn't true. 
     But she knew that even the people who were supposed to love you; mothers, fathers, grandmothers... 
     They could stop loving you at any moment.
     "And if you're all just dolls waiting to be broken..." Fofu said calmly as she started walking towards Miya. "Then I don't see any problem speeding up the process!"
     Miya looked up just in time to see Fofu's fist flying towards her face.
     "Sit down." 
     She watched Fofu's fist get caught in midair by a hand that was slender and efficient. 
     Mukashi had stopped her. 
     He stood, interposed between Fofu and Miya perfectly. Fofu looked up at him, her eyes still full of tears. She swung at him again, but this time her hand was stopped by a security guard. 
     From that point, the entire event devolved into chaos. 
     Managers were looking for their idols, idols were actually talking with each other, albeit slightly, and Mukashi was having heated words with Fofu's manager. The green idol herself was being held by a security guard, and was taken outside of the Grand Ballroom. 
     Miya stood near Mukashi as he spoke to Fofu's manager, threatening lawsuit after lawsuit. 
     She looked at the doors Fofu had been taken out of. 
     She quietly thought about what it must have felt like to be Fofu. Training for actual years; picking out a style to perform with; singing her heart out. 
     Then having it all ripped away by some 'miracle.' 
     "M-Mukashi."
     He stopped talking instantly and glanced at her. 
     "What do you need?" He said professionally. 
     "Can you please... not sue Fofu?"
     Both managers involved in the conversation looked stunned. 
     After a few moments of silence, Mukashi spoke.
     "Miya, it wouldn't be proper to let her get away with acting like a child. This is for her own good." He said calmly. 
     Miya understood what he was saying.
     "Please, Mukashi." She looked at his face and lowered her volume. "Just this once."
     He had not expected her to do something like that.
     His normally composed demeanor that he had maintained for his entire adult life suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable. 
     He turned away from Miya and looked back at Fofu's manager.
     "I have decided not to press charges at this time." He said curtly, then turned around and left the Grand Ballroom. Miya followed after him. 
     The two of them passed by Fofu. She was seated on a bench in one of the hallways with two security guards on either side of her, and she was sobbing again. 
     "Mukashi, I need to say something to her." She said calmly.
     He glanced back at Miya, then at the girl who had tried to hit her, and something fierce welled up within him. He justified it to himself as professional instinct.
     "No. She might attack you again." 
     "B-but I-"
     But Mukashi kept walking.
     Miya hesitated for a moment, looking at Fofu.
     Then she turned and followed Mukashi.