Sacrifice

The anger Mariya had towards me vanished as she strutted out of the locker room proudly smirking. I followed closely behind as we reached a makeshift press room. Reporters from all walks of life had gathered, filling up all the seats

"Remember, "you" called them here to talk about me," Mariya whispered before we sat down.

"Chika Tetsu... That bald woman next to you," who is she?" one reporter asked.

"What? Y'all don't recognize me?" Mariya grinned as she leaned back and slammed her sneakers down on the table before us.

"M- MARIYA NAKANORI!?" the entire room gasped.

"YUP! So, like my smooth new do?"

"Wha- What on earth possessed you to-"

"PSYCH!" Mariya shouted as she ripped off the bald cap I had spent a fair amount of effort fitting her with, to the ground. "It was just a prank. Well, kind of. See, docs said my hair's fucked thanks to all the dye. So, I decided to see what I'd look like bald and well... I ended up reeling in some slandering stalkers," she snarled as she pulled up the image of me and Zane on her phone.

"Are you saying that-"

"Yes, that's me, heading to the hotel. An old friend of mine from elementary days was in town, and so I decided to meet up with them there."

"Are you saying Subject Doe-"

"Subject what?"

The reporter began to shift awkwardly before Kasuga slowly rose from her seat, smiling. "Allow me to explain. We, the journalists at Ruma Mill have noticed the presence of an eye-catching foreigner, whom we refer to as "Subject Doe". You know, as in John Doe, since we know nothing about him despite having so many clear shots of him. He's been a guest at that hotel for nearly two months, but now he suddenly came in holding hands with "Baldo" as we dubbed the one in the photo. But, hold on, you're saying that's you, Mariya Nakanori? I say cover-up."

The room began to murmur as Kasuga slowly began trudging towards the front on her crutches.

"How many have heard of legendary forum poster, Chester the chad? You know, Chester THE chad. Well this digital wise man has put forth a compelling hypothesis that Baldo is actually Miss Chika Tetsu, real name, Chika Hanashi, trying to disguise herself so that her love affair with Subject Doe does not come to light."

Now standing right in front of us, Kasuga lunged her hand for me, firmly grasping my wig. "O- Ow," I grimaced in pain.

"Oh quit the act, this is a wig. Ladies and gentlemen, Chika the bald! HGN!?"

Kasuga's face began to contort in anger as she tried desperately to yank my wig off to no avail. The superglue was earning its keep and then some.

"OUCH! SHE'S HURTING ME! SOMEONE, PLEASE STOP HER!" I cried.

Mariya answered the call and kicked Kasuga squarely in the face, sending her tumbling to the ground. A likely genuine scream of pain escaped her lips as she clutched her leg, but neither of us had any sympathy for her.

"Like I was saying, slandering stalkers just couldn't resist the allure of my bald cap. But lucky day for all of you, cuz I'll be shaving my head for reals right here and now. Y'all bout to get a hell of a front page!"

Mariya... You didn't tell me this...

Quietly I sat as Mariya was cloaked in a white robe before one of her long-time makeup artists began shearing her. Dead silence dominated the room, save for the hum of the clippers. Once they were turned off, Mariya was lathered up and shaved smooth, emerging from the cream bald and browless.

"And now, HEADLINE! I better see some damn good traction considering I shaved my brows off too! Fuck... FUCK!" Mariya cried before running away.

The room quickly became alit with murmuring once more as I chased after Mariya, finding her crying in the locker room.

"I know I joke about how much I dye my hair... but the docs said despite it all, my hair was fine. Fuck... I hate it... I HATE IT!"

"You look... beautiful..."

Though I genuinely thought Mariya pulled off the look well, one look at her face gave me great pause. She was completely distraught. While her declaration to go bald caught me by surprise, I thought she'd be the type to laugh it off and start joking around, yet instead she was crying.

"Chika, the fact that you're bald and not giving a shit, embracing it, is badass. You've got many weaknesses, but also strength in odd places. Me? All I do is exude ego. I'm not as strong as I you think I am. Seeing myself completely hairless... is too much. I look like a freak. I don't care what you or anyone else says, I can't say that deep down, I find anything about this attractive."

"Then why'd you do it!?"

"Because... it was the only way. With this, the media will treat everything like me just pulling a publicity stunt, shifting all the spotlights to me. It's as it should be. I'M the most talented one in the industry. The spotlights of fame, scandal, everything, should always center on me. Yet nothing in this industry is ever a one-man show. I can't shine as bright as I can if everyone else on stage is fumbling around like idiots. Thus, in order to save the show, I must improv. I must improv, betray my sense of perfection, lower myself to ridicule, all to save the greater good. Chika, I'll be blunt; if you had asked that author out on your own with no prompting from me and came to the studio bald the next day, no sympathy. I'd shrug and say, "You shaved your head? Your problem not mine", and laugh as I take out a marker and claim real estate on your head. But I instigated the date... It's still your fault you went bald, but I don't want your stupidity to ruin that author's dream. Ruma Mill is relentless, and as a foreigner, he has no idea of how vile they can, be, or what influence they can exude to ruin his life. Just like you, I've seen how jubilant and passionate that guy's been since production started. To him, this is his new lease on life. If it all were to come crashing down as a result of me goading you into a date... I'd want to kill myself."

I was unable to formulate the words for a response. All I could do was somberly stare.

"I'm an egotist. I'm such an egotist, that when there's a work that truly moves me and brings out the best in my acting, I want it to succeed. I'm fine with getting hate for rightfully calling out lack of talent that I believe drags down the quality of the production, but what I can't handle is when me just trying to help two people get together to find happiness in life might end up causing all the hard work and passion everyone's worked in to be erased all by a few viral words and an image.  My heart... My heart just hurts... I'm sorry... I forgot we weren't characters in a romcom... that we're real fucking people..."

Mariya resumed her sobbing as I began to comfort her. I felt awful. Mariya was just trying to help us out, yet I decided to go too far in. Now she's crying. Crying because she had to sacrifice her beauty to cover up my mistake. I really am an idiot.