Upside Down [Marius Yo Fanfiction]

Melodramatic Me

I scroll through my Twitter feed with a blank stare. Right after Marius and I discovered that cruel magazine article in Harajuku, I'd bursted into tears, and Marius had had us ride back to NHK Hall to get away from the public's curious eyes. Since then, my Twitter and Instagram have been blasting with negative comments from my fans about the magazine article claiming my involvement with...nude photography. I've perched myself on the floor in one of the corners of the stage. I don't know how long I've been going back and forth between the two apps to only study the growth of my negative feedback.

A hand holds out a small cup of ice cream for me. I look up with puffy red eyes to meet Fuma's worried gaze, and look back down at my phone as if to reject the dessert.

"Come on, you've gotta eat something," he murmurs, sitting on the floor beside me. "It's 6:00. Six hours since you got back." I sniffle once and scroll through my feed again. I really do appreciate his offer, but I've lost my appetite after the incident. He scoots close enough to me so our shoulders touch and looks at my phone screen with me. I keep scrolling, hardly even reading the comments anymore. I already know what they say.

"You know," he says, "you shouldn't let something so small get to your head. It's not worth it."

"But it's not true!" I cry. Some of the staff members glance at me from my sudden exclamation. "None of it!"

"If it's not true then why are you so worked up about it?" Fuma keeps looking at me with stern eyes. "You know that this 'Anon' person is just doing it for the money. It's just one small magazine company--the major ones probably haven't even heard of the picture. And you don't even know all these people who're talking bad about you."

I know that there's truth in Fuma's words, but I can't bring myself to look at him.

Suddenly my phone is swiped out of my hands, and by the time I look up to Fuma to protest, he's already got it in his pocket. "Hey!!" I exclaim.

"You're not getting this back until tomorrow." I desperately reach towards Fuma's pocket with both arms but, much to my annoyance, he just bats my hands out of the way and laughs. "You're being way too melodramatic. You and Marius always are."

"I am not!" I pout.

"Look. Kento and Shori are already on it. Practice is over, so we'll go talk to Johnny-san after Sou and Marius get out of costume, okay?" He ruffles my hair gently, and his smile is so warm that for a moment I feel a little better about the situation.

I feel a pair of eyes on me, and when I look up, Marius is coming my way. Fuma immediately jumps onto his feet and gives me one last smile before jogging offstage. He and Marius exchange a look when they pass each other. It makes my heart a little heavier to see Marius still acting defensive towards Fuma.

Marius stands in front of me with a half-smile forced on his lips. "Time to go, Eri-chan." He grabs my hand and helps me up to my feet. But when I'm already standing, he doesn't let go of my hand. "Everyone else is in Kento's car."

"Okay," I whisper. The warmth of his hand wrapped around mine makes me smile just the tiniest bit.

...

By the time we get to Johnny's office it's almost time for him to leave for the night. He's not very happy with our company. And even less happy from our news.

"Why don't you kids just deal with this yourselves? I told you already, Marius and the girl's future together is your responsibility."

"But sir," I protest, "This might harm Marius' reputation as well. Please help us find Anon."

Johnny leans forward on his desk, narrowing his eyes at me. "I think you mean 'please help you'." He points his finger at me, emphasizing the last word. "Girl, I told you quite a while ago that if you get in the way of Sexy Zone's career that I will send you back to America."