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***This is basically just my trying to get Koharu's major plot-line down on paper, so major spoilers for her issues and background here!***
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To many, Koharu seems a very upbeat and genuine sort, always riding the waves of optimism and standing with her head held high. However, all good things must come to an end, and truth will always revel itself in time. No one expected the energetic and bright young woman to be so full of torment, but this is exactly what all her friends and fans learned upon her worst fear: the revelation of her past following a blackmail attempt on Koharu. About 10 years prior to her current place in life, Koharu had, in fact, been the upbeat and optimistic sort of person she is often portrayed as by her image, and, to many peoples surprise, the second eldest of her siblings. Her eldest sister by 11 years, Chiyo, had once been a rising star herself, a popular idol of her own accord, and a devoted sister and daughter to her family. Chiyo had shown no interest in allowing her business to mix with her family in an attempt to keep them safe from any drama that might ensue on her part, despite her mother’s own career within the industry and her father’s rather turbulent job as a prosecutor. She wished to bring no more stress into her family in an attempt to protect the younger of it, taking on a moniker to hide their relations. However, one day, in a tragic turn of events, Chiyo would lose more than just her family’s peace and good name. One day, an argument ensued between Chiyo and her youngest sister, Koharu, about Chiyo’s ensuing absences, Koharu becoming angry at Chiyo for continuously breaking promises to her in regards to spending time with one another. Chiyo tried to reason with Koharu as to why she was so busy, and that they would be together more soon, yet was met with continued outbursts by the young pre-teen. Koharu eventually became extremely frustrated, and wished to be away from her sister, shoving past Chiyo, who had tried to grab Koharu as she was storming away, while tripping herself, causing the pair to fall in the road they had been crossing. Before either could react, an oncoming car knocked the light from both of them. When Koharu came to, she was hospitalized and surrounded by relived yet grieving faces, their expressions showing exactly what her frustrations had wrought. Her outburst and that car had guaranteed her place as the eldest sister of the family.
Koharu found herself buried deep in grief following what had happened to her sister, blaming herself for what had become of her, well aware that, because of her outburst, they had missed any chance of getting out of the way, and any chance Koharu might have had to grow up with her sister. More than that, she had denied her family the chance to love a sister and a daughter, her entire parents becoming withdrawn and her sisters neglected as a result. Because of this, Koharu did her best to take on her sister’s role, providing everything she could to keep her family afloat and her younger sisters cared for. It was difficult, however, as Koharu often found herself wrapped up in her own grief and world, feeling unworthy of her family’s affections and becoming closed off as a result, despite her caring ways. Her younger sister, Hashira, came to begin to resent Koharu as a result of not simply her actions against their eldest sister, but also her attitude towards her redemption and way of fixing things in a way that led to her becoming caring but also distant herself. This especially became evident as Koharu became more and more occupied with trying to bring truth to the dream Chiyo was never able to realize. Because of this, Koharu decided she would pursue her late sister’s dream. With the help and support of her mother and her late sister’s boyfriend, Koharu was eventually scouted, and began on a track to live life to its fullest for herself and her family.
As her idol career grew, Koharu and her family did everything they could to keep Chiyo’s demise separated from Koharu’s success, not simply fearing the scandal that might arise, but the emotional toll it would take on Koharu. Following Koharu’s scouting, Koharu’s mother made it evident that the president of Yaotome and his son were well aware of what had happened, but remained the only ones outside of the family and close friends, hoping that they would be able to handle any surprises that might arise and showing Koharu that she did not have to allow her past to control her. However, nothing stays hidden forever.
Despite Koharu’s growing success and friendships, she soon found that even she was not invincible to the sting of the truth and the grip of the past when a sudden blackmail came into play. A man by the name of Masanori Aoba had come to work with Koharu several times in recent months, at first showing a healthy interest in her talent before making beginning to display there was more to his motives than met the eyes. He eventually came to Koharu, in a climax of their work together, to inform her that he was well aware of who she was, who her sister was, and, more than that, what Koharu had done. He played on her fears of revealing what had happened to her sister, toying with her guilt as well as reminding her of what would happen to those close to her if they found out what she had done and what would happen to their reputations should the world find out they were friends with someone who had done something so terrible. Feeling trapped, Koharu felt she had little choice but to oblige Aoba’s demands: abandoning her friends, her family and her career to oblige in his own work, his planning on using her to further his own talent industries.
After seeming to vanish from everyone’s lives without a word or a trace, Koharu resurfaced an exhausted and out of sorts performer for Aoba’s own company, clearly not with herself as evidenced by the relations not only of her fans, but of her shocked and concerned friends and family as well. Many tried to get in contact with Koharu, but she found herself avoiding and denying their attempts to intervene in her new lifestyle and living. However, after an attempt on the parts of her friends, her mother, her sister, and her late sister’s boyfriend that very well might have equated to kidnapping, they were able to bring Koharu home long enough to try and talk some sense into her. It was then that she explained what had happened to her sister, some just then finding out she even had an older sister, while others, well aware of her death, came to feel for the events surrounding her death. Much to her surprise, they all promised that they couldn’t judge Koharu for what had happened, assured that it was exactly what it had sounded like, an accident, and that Koharu couldn’t blame herself. They promised that, no matter what, they would be there for her while making her promise she wouldn’t run away like that again. It was at this point that Koharu started to feel levels of alleviation in her guilt, especially with Hashira’s assurance that Koharu couldn’t blame herself for what happened to her sister.
And so, just as they promised, Koharu’s friends were there for her when the news finally got ahold of what had happened to Koharu’s sister, supporting her every step of the way but also watching as Koharu struggled to maintain herself, having excused herself from preforming for a while in an attempt to let the dust settle before addressing the issue herself, trying to find the best explanation for the world from her own mind and experience. Before she did this, however, Koharu’s mother and Chiyo’s boyfriend, Arata, who had remained a close part of the family, decided it was time to talk about Aoba for who he was, and who he had been to them. They informed Koharu that they had both known Aoba for some time, Koharu’s mother having worked with him in her early industry days and Arata and Chiyo both having worked under his company as performers as well. They informed Koharu that he had always been manipulative, deceitful and vindictive, and suspected there may have been more to Chiyo’s “accident” than met the eye. They begged her to be cautious in dealing with him, fearing what may happen to Koharu even now.
However, given Koharu’s time working with Aoba, she began to find herself connecting the dots, instigating her own investigation into what happened to her sister. She decided there was no better way than to confront Aoba with what she was aware of, having evidence that he had, in fact, been responsible for her sister’s death. She agreed to meet with him under the pretenses of talking the terms of her return, yet used their meeting to confront his relation to Chiyo. After dancing around one another for a while, Aoba finally became agitated enough to jump Koharu, spilling everything to her, well aware there was nothing she could do beyond a show of hearsay. He informed Koharu that, a long time ago, he and her mother had been working together as a duo in the industry. However, right as they began to gain traction, Koharu’s mother elected to leave their group in the pursuit of her own happiness- love, ruining Aoba despite continuing to gain traction in her career later. He became spiteful of the woman, claiming she had ruined him and his dreams early on, yet had given him the opportunity to succeed in a new line of work following his introduction to management in the industry, He felt his luck had turned around when he, many years later, met Chiyo, believing her to be the saving grace for his career and his revenge on her mother. However, one again, just as her mother before her, when Chiyo began to gain traction, she found herself wishing more and more to remain with family, and began pulling further and further away from her career in preference of marrying her boyfriend and raising their unborn child together. He was unwilling to let another opportunity to slip through his fingers, and arranged a plot to keep her within his clutches through the eventual accident. He claimed she was going to ruin everything they and he had worked for, and was ready to do anything to keep that from happening. He admitted that he had never planned on letting her die, he just wanted the interference, her unborn child, out of the way, but allowed himself the clout he got from her death and the opportunity given by Koharu’s guilt and eventual rise to stardom claiming “you get what you get I suppose. “
As Aoba finished wrapping up his claims, they were interrupted by someone who had become concerned for Koharu’s well-being after vanishing for so long. Koharu was shocked when Aoba simply let her go, yet felt her heart drop at his reasoning’s “Go on. Tell everyone. No one will believe you. After all, you’re the one who killed her,” assuring her he would be back for her. Koharu knew he was right, and knew there was only so much she could do, but was determined to clear her own air and to bring Aoba to justice, and knew her friends and family would continue to support her every step of the way.