It was a simple scene, dancing on a platform that simulated the floor of a dance machine, all while crying. They had told Benny that she could only put on a stricken face in case it was hard for her to cry, that in post production or with makeup they could fix it, she refused.
Instead, she saw it as an opportunity to vent, to cry in front of everyone without bothering anyone. Her parents had taught her that the life of an actress was hard, as well as taking advantage of everything to give a good performance. And apparently, she was giving it in spades, they barely repeated the scene and if they did it was to try other angles for the final montage.
Considering the studio spent the entirety of two days getting the perfect vomit scene, her bringing that iconic panel to life should have filled her with pride, but instead she had a tightness in her chest.
"Geet it Benny! Whoo!" Aoi shouted from next to the director.
"Come see for yourself, youre very good lady Norisuke!" Juan said that he also attended the filming.
The whole group was quite peculiar, like the characters they represented, but for obvious reasons they were more united. Despite her role in the play, the Makima actress was a ray of sunshine come to life, very motherly to some and almost like a motivational speaker to others. The Denji actor, while a fish out of water being away from his homeland, adapted very well to his new surroundings and was always there to help.
He was the biggest fan of the play of all, never missing the iconic moments. Benny approached the group with the director and saw her scene, where everyone was complimenting her, she only saw the fans. The thousands of messages telling him that she ruined the character, that she ruined all of Kobeni's great moments, how his whining and voice made them change the channel.
Even with everything, she tried hard to not let them see, she didn't want to be a nuisance, but that was much more difficult when SHE arrived. Kira Muruse, the actress of Power, was Benny's Achilles heel from the beginning of the recordings. Her considerable height, her beautiful hair, her modest but refined figure, her emerald green eyes that were hidden under those yellow contact lenses and her smile.
Benny couldn't help but stutter or forget her lines when they did scenes together, and because of that, something snapped inside her when she saw his face. As soon as Kira took her eyes off her cell phone and saw the recording, an annoyed expression came over her face, letting out a low growl as she left typing furiously on her phone.
"Hey! What was that?" Juan demanded that he went out to follow the blonde, for his part Benny could only cover his face and run to his dressing room.
"I ruined everything, she hates me too, I'm the worst, how could she not hate me? I ruined everyone's favorite character" The Kobeni actress thought as she closed the door behind her and hid in a corner. She was almost imploring between sobs that the earth swallow her, that Kon be real and bite her away.
Time passed, the black-haired girl trying hard to ignore her phone that was vibrating from the messages that were falling. She had her face buried in her knees, they were already wet with tears. He was hugging her legs tightly, diminishing her already small frame. Then someone knocked on the door.
"Leh wh agwohme..." The girl in the corner stammered, very low, very incomprehensible.
"I'll take that as an come in" said a soft-spoken boy, as he entered the dressing room. "You didn't even lock"
Looking up, Benny saw that it was Yamamoto Kasuga, the actor who played Angel. She quickly looked away again, burying her face back into her knees. At this the young man who was wearing casual clothes simply sat next to the girl.
"Aoi told me that you ran off the set after repeating your scene" there was no response. "She wasn't sure why, but she had her hypotheses..." Again, no response from the girl in the fetal position. "One was for... what has been said about you on the networks"
"I never understood it... I-I try my best to play my role, I followed the directors' instructions, I read the manga... Am I such a bad actress?" At last, between trembling words, an answer.
"No, you're actually the best I know" the boy with the red wig stated.
"Th-so I'm the horrible one... My voice is w-wrong, my body, my exaggerations..." She looked up seeing her reflection in Yamamoto's eyes "A-am I broken?"
"Of course not, you're not broken. They just had a fantasy of the character, people in crisis aren't adorable and screaming isn't cute either, they can't blame you for being human" The boy was very reserved and refused most physical contact , but he made up for the lack of his inability to give physical affection with a calming, no-nonsense voice.
"You say so, but you haven't read what they say" shakily Benny reached over to take his cell phone from the table.
I go into different posts regarding the show and about Kobeni, showing to Yamamoto.
~~~>×<~~~
"That pig is killing the program"
"They found perfect actors with Makima and Denji, couldn't they make the same effort with Kobeni? It's insufferable"
"Kobeni was adorable, but this bitch made me hate her now"
"Since when did the studio become Netflix? First that fagot comes to ruin Akihimi and now this insufferable bitch thinks we want to see her with her colored pins in her silly marches"
"I hope that in the dubbing they hire someone with a real voice, my ears were already bleeding from listening to that crybaby"
"Whenever she appear there is a change of channel, what a way to kill a program by hiring it"
"#RecastKobeni #KickBenny"
"She should kill herself at once"
"Kobeni was whore material, did they really have to pick someone so ugly and flat?"
~~~>×<~~~
As he scrolled through the comments Benny's countenance only fell more and more, while Yamamoto continued with a neutral face, even giving a small laugh.
"Look, even when they insult you, they remember me"
"How do you do it? How can you take everything they say and be so calm?" The girl implored, as if looking for some kind of magical solution.
"Because they're lifeless losers, I'm not going to let a stranger ruin my day, especially when they complain that my boyfriend was so kind to help me get a part on the show," he stated, he could be quite scathing despite her serene voice.
"You make it sound so easy... Bad criticism sounds louder than flattery... And even more so when it comes from someone you care about..." Her voice cracked at that sentence.
"Ahhhh, that was just Aoi's other hypothesis" said the Angel actor.
"It is so obvious?"
"Benny, you're the gayest person I know in all of Japan, and that's even taking my own boyfriend into account," the wigged boy declared.
"Then you know how horrible that feels... She hates me just like everyone else... You should have seen her face when she saw my scene..." Tears welled up again in her eyes.
At this comment, Yamamoto laughed, his voice louder than anyone (saved by Kao) had ever heard him. "Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't but I couldn't help it... God, did she hate you? Pfff hahahaha"
Before Benny's surprised and tearful look, the boy simply showed him the cell phone messages again, emphasizing a certain user who responded to each comment.
~~~>×<~~~
"Shut your fucking mouth. She's the best of the show!"
"She's so perfect for the role it seems unreal, she's Kobeni, what the fuck are you talking about? I wish I could see you if you can do better as an actor"
"Are you blind? How can you say that the most beautiful woman in the world is not pretty"
"Yeah, that it hurts you that the best girls are lesbians is not our problem."
"What the fuck are you talking about? His voice is fucking beautiful!"
"Shut. Your. Fucking. Mouth. Idiot"
"#GetABrain #WeLoveYouBenny"
"Reported"
"You're a fucking weirdo, and she's beautiful!"
~~~>×<~~~
Benny watched as the same account responded to each and every comment, each insult or threat to his person was responded to with the same passion and energy. The girl was processing why she had such a die-hard fan and, more importantly, how that justified Yamamoto's seemingly obvious laugh.
She read the name, considering who could wear "DaPower4Real" and quickly an idea came to her mind, an idea that made her cry again while covering her mouth. But this time it wasn't sadness or self-loathing, but rather a bright, warm light deep in the tunnel.
"I guess flattery sounds louder than criticism...if it comes from the right person," Yamamoto said with a shit-eating grin, watching Benny slowly relax.
.
It didn't take long to find them, Kira and Juan were in one of the study's living rooms, Benny listening tentatively before risking interrupting something important.
"Okay, spell it again, slowly," the Power actress requested.
"A-N-G-E-L-I-C-A-L" Denji's interpreter instructed.
"Okay... 'cera el orto, su voz es angelical' did I say it right?" consult the blonde girl.
Benny didn't know what those words meant, but the mere fact that she asked for someone's help to be able to defend her from criticism in other languages brought a pleasant warmth to her chest.
"A-amhh... E-excuse me" she stuttered as she entered, despite having been almost a whisper the boys noticed it.
"Well, it looks like you have to talk to someone" Juan said as he left, avoiding the Kobeni actress as he gave her a smile.
"Benny..." Kira pronounced delicately, as if his name were sacred "I'm so sorry about what happened a while ago, I was deep in my thoughts and I didn't think about how you would interpret it"
"i thought... That I had the same train of thought as you, what they would say when that scene aired..." The black-haired girl was pensive, her cheeks red.
"It's that you work so hard, and then the entire camera and editing team, it's what... It annoys me that they degrade such a talented and good friend so much" the blonde confessed.
"D-do you really think I'm that good?"
"Benny, you were literally born for the role, your kindness, your shyness, your freckles, even your name souns alike! You are the best for the role" Kira affirmed.
The shorter girl couldn't help but smile and get redder, she looked away and tucked a hair behind her ear. "Thank you..."
"You don't have to, im just telling the truth" a small blush appeared in the taller one, hearing these compliments directly made Benny braver.
"D-do you really think my voice is beautiful?"
The question seemed to have taken Kira by surprise, but despite her turning tomato red she answered with confidence. "Yes... I could listen to you recite the dictionary with delight"
The black-haired woman couldn't contain her happiness, she quickly went from the worst day of her life to being on cloud nine, and perhaps because of the lack of oxygen up there, she dared so much.
"If so... I could read you my lines in my trailer... Y-you know, t-to practice, we can bring snacks and stuff... If you want of course"
"I'd love to! It's a date," said the Power actress.
"Yeah... A date" Benny uttered the words as if they were a spell, like the most magical thing he was going to hear in his life.
Now her heart was dancing in her chest and tears threatened to come out, but this time her dance was accompanied by tears of joy and a hopeful face.