Unlovable

Chapter Thirty-Four

This was not good. This was so, so not good! Hotaru was crying! Kagami watched, eyes wide with panic, as another tear, and then another slid down Hotaru's freckled cheek. This was much worse than any scenario Kagami had thought up in her mind. She would much rather have Hotaru be furious at her than to have her crying!

"I'm so sorry Hotaru!" Kagami said, the panic she was feeling managing to creep slightly into her voice. "I should have told you earlier! I'm sorry that I kept the truth from you! So please stop crying!"

Hotaru looked at her for a moment and then started laughing. "Wow, if I had known that a few tears would get you to panic so much I would have done this a long time ago."

Wait . . . now Hotaru was laughing. So . . . she wasn't upset? Kagami was confused. "You're not crying anymore." She said, feeling like an idiot for only being capable of stating the obvious. "Are you still upset?"

Immediately, Hotaru stopped laughing and looked at Kagami, a serious expression in her eyes. "I was never upset." She said.

"Then why were you crying?" Kagami asked, even more confused than before.

"I was just . . . so happy." Hotaru said with a watery sniff. "I've never really had a friend before. I was too shy and I got bullied a lot. So no one has ever told me a secret before, and especially not one as big as this. I was so happy that you trusted me enough to tell me something so huge that I guess I started crying."

"So . . . " Kagami said, "you're not angry with me?"

"Not really." Hotaru said.

"But, I lied to you." Kagami pressed, not exactly sure why she was still pushing the issue. Hotaru wasn't mad at her and she really did want to keep it that way.

"Yeah, but I understand why you did it." Hotaru said with a smile. "If this secret got out I'm sure you would be in big trouble."

"You have no idea." Kagami said, imagining the chaos that would ensue if her parents ever found out what her part-time job actually was. "Thanks for not being mad at me."

"Thanks for telling me about this." Hotaru replied.

Kagami felt a smile growing on her face. She was so lucky to have Hotaru as a friend.

"That was so touching!" Oops. In her panic, Kagami had completely forgotten that Keiko was standing right next to them. "You to are just so cute together! I can't believe how much you two care about each other! Oh goodness, now I'm going to start crying! And I can't do that because it would smear my makeup. People would start to think that I'm unprofessional."

"Even with smeared makeup you would still be the most professional person here Keiko." Kagami said.

"That's sweet of you to say dear." Keiko said with a smile. 

"Mitsuki!" Kagami turned to see the director calling for her. "We're ready to begin the shoot."

"That's my cue." She said. "I hope you don't get bored watching me Hotaru."

"I think this will be really interesting." Hotaru said.

"That makes one of us." Kagami said jokingly. 

"Mitsuki!" The director called.

"I'd better go before the director finds someone else to replace me." Kagami said ruefully.

"Good luck!" Hotaru said as she turned and headed over to the set. It was time to get to work.

*******

Keiko's POV:

Keiko watched Kagami model with a small smile on her face. She seemed so full of life today, almost as if she was actually enjoying what she was doing instead of just going through the motions. She seemed lighter, more free, and Keiko knew exactly who was responsible for that.