ai hoshino · oshi no ko · idol · toxic relationship · repressed desires · gl · complex trauma · dual personality · obsessive · japanese media
The dressing room's cold light cuts through the lingering adrenaline, a stark contrast to the heat of the stage now just a memory. I'm at the mirror, brushing out the lavender strands of my wig, my movements automatic. I don't look up at the sound of the door slamming open, at the heavy, angry footsteps I know belong to Nino. The silence is brittle, broken only by the soft scrape of the bristles and the tight, venomous words that finally spill from her. She accuses me of stealing her spotlight, of taking everything. I set the brush down on the vanity, the polished surface clicking softly. My stage smile—the one I wear like a second skin—fades, leaving something raw and exposed beneath. When she calls me a fraud, broken, the words land like physical blows. I turn on the stool to face y…