Mikono awoke to the sound of a telephone ringing off in the distance. Her eyes only partly opened, but her slumber was broken enough for her to focus her ears in on the sound of the telephone, which had been answered on the third ring.

The mumbled voice of a man drifted over her, but she only caught bits and pieces of the conversation.

She groaned, utterly confused. She was used to waking up to the phone ringing at any and all hours of the night; people calling from all over to ask her for her time. Charities needing a spokesperson, soda companies needing a jingle sung, magazines needing a well-known face for their cover. Mikono usually had a lower-level press secretary at Akikutsu records take the calls, but plenty enough were redirected to other sources, too, like her house.

Her eyes suddenly snapped open and she was staring at a moderately dark ceiling with a chandelier in the center. As her gaze shifted, she was greeted with familiar possessions in familiar positions, all the makings of her bedroom.

She initially felt relief welling up inside her. "I'm home.." she whispered. Home, a place she hadn't been in... weeks.

She remembered entering Jerry's office, and he'd accused her of being on drugs. She'd showed him her injury...

She looked down at her shoulder and saw that it had been wrapped up and bandaged. It didn't hurt, and she went to reach her arm over to touch it.

Her arm raised up about an inch, and then she felt a cold metal strap slam against her skin.

She turned her head and saw that both her wrists were restrained by cuffs attached to the bed.

And for some reason, she found this strikingly funny. She lay there giggling like a madman for a few moments, until the sound of a door shutting stopped her. She looked behind her and saw Jerry standing there.

And then, she got scared. The room was completely silent and Mikono heard a few raindrops on the window.

Jerry looked at her for a moment, and then gave her his best long-suffering sigh. "Mikono, you came into my office, bleeding and half-dead. You said someone attacked you. I believe that someone may well be out to.. to hurt you, Mikono."

He looked at her and smiled. "Mikono, I just want to make sure you're safe. And... this way, I can keep an eye on you."

She shook her head in disbelief. "Jerry, you have absolutely no idea what you're doing, I swear to you, I'm fine."

"Yes. Jerry, I'm feeling better. Thank you for caring about me, but really, I'm fine." She exhaled as she looked around the room.

Jerry looked at her with speculation, and then he undid the cuffs, suddenly throwing her to the floor. She landed with a gasp on her side, and she looked up at Jerry with fear and anger.

"Then put on these clothes and get ready. We've got a shoot today." He gestured to a short, yellow dress hanging next to the window.

"No, Mikono, I'm quite serious. Akikutsu Records hasn't seen any action from you for weeks. They're publishing a membership quarterly and you're in."

She looked around the room frantically, a terrible feeling sinking through her body. "No, please, Jerry, I have to... go."

"But Jerry, something's wrong... seriously wrong, you have to believe me. I have to leave. I'm sorry."

He looked at her, his eyes darkening. She pushed herself to her feet and slowly passed by him, keeping her eyes straight ahead.

She stopped for a second and began to turn around, and suddenly Jerry grabbed both of her arms and dragged her back over to the bed, throwing her down. .

"Jerry?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! LET ME GO!!!" Mikono screamed, kicking awkwardly as he replaced the cuffs.

"Why?! WHY SHOULD I?! You think you're so damned important, don't you?! Why is that?! No one's ever told you differently, have they?! You and your MEU, go off and run back to them whenever you want to. You have a job, Mikono. A DUTY." His voice was rough and as he spoke, he leaned over her and violently ripped her shirt open.

"The company should have thrown you out a long time ago. But they won't do it, because you're a commodity, a sure-fire gold record, aren't you. And if you don't do your job, which is sing, and dance, and BE HERE, we don't get money. But you don't care about that. Hell, you can get your money some other way, can't you?! You don't need this job, do you?! No, no, you'd rather be a whore on the street, apparently!"

"So how's this, Mikono?! 1500 yen a throw, 100,000 for the whole night. That about right? That sound good to you... IDOL?!?!"

His voice cracked on the last syllable, and Mikono's eyes filled with tears and she gritted her teeth.

He suddenly stood up, backing away and looking at what he had done. Mikono hyperventilated and choked on her tears.

"I swear to god, I'll.. have you thrown in jail..!!" Mikono whispered, burying her face in her hair.

Mikono looked in the direction of the voice, and her eyes widened as she saw that it was...

Barely recognizable, her eyes were vacant, her clothes sloppy. Her face looked hollow and pale, and she stared at Mikono.

Jerry smiled at her and led her to the door, where a woman in a white suit took her hand and led her away. "Lovely, lovely girl..."

Mikono rolled over and sat up. Jerry put his hand on her shoulder and she wasn't able to shrug it away.

"You will put on the dress, and meet me downstairs in 15 minutes." He whispered in her ear.

"O..okay." Mikono said, tears squeezing out of her eyes. She found that she wasn't able to fight anymore.