Oshi No Ko FanFic (A Spiteful Reincarnation)

Chapter 8: Mariko's Monopoly on Happiness

Everything was going well for Mariko. She enjoyed her time with her family, and clung on to every single second of it, but that was not all she had. She loved to hang out in the dance studio watching the idols train together. Each and every time she went to observe she got more and more insights on the idols' characteristics, and mannerisms. Sometimes she even got to converse with the idols, but most of the conversations were superficial at best. However her favorite interaction came from Ruby and Aqua. She would just sit there and let them talk about their school lives, and on occasion give small pieces of input. Ruby did not seem to have a lot of trouble interacting with other students by what she could tell, but Aqua was developing into a loner type. The problem Mariko had correctly identified was that Aqua was too knowledgeable which definitely caused other children to stay away. However every time she tries to broach this topic with Aqua he would just respond with saying, "Look who's talking." However, today was different.

Mariko had as usual snuck into the dance studio even though it was a weekend and no one would be using it. She liked the room because of how open it was and the mirror allowed her to see herself clearly. She worked on her expression in that particular wall mirror. She had spent a lot of time figuring out what her neutral expression looked like. In short it was dismal and so day by day she would use the mirror to adjust her expression to fit the way she wanted. Her doom and gloom expressions were gone, replaced by a slight smile. She was once again smiling dumbly at the mirror before she heard a small creak from the door. The form of Ruby appeared in the doorway. Mariko's watchful gaze tracked her movements as she walked up to the mirror. Ruby did not seem to notice her sitting in the back of the room just staring like a haunted doll. Ruby lets out a deep breath and begins to dance.

Mariko saw a problem right away. Ruby's balance was completely off, and what made it worse was that she seemed to be jumping right into intermediate level moves. Mariko slowly began to get up off her favorite chair, and braced herself for the inevitable. It came just a couple seconds later. A thud emitted from the floor where Ruby had fallen. Mariko could hear soft sobs coming from her crumpled form. Mariko slowly made her way to Ruby. Bending slightly over, Mariko offered her hand and asked, "How can I help you?" The shriek of terror that came from Ruby definitely startled Mariko as she quickly withdrew her hand. "Oh, it's you. Mariko-chan you nearly gave me a ... Wait where you in here the entire time?" Ruby sputtered and she tried to regain control of her own emotions. Mariko responded, "If you are asking if I saw your attempt at dancing then yeah. I am sorry I didn't mean to intrude, I just didn't want to see you upset, that's all." Ruby had finally wiped all the tears off her face as she spoke again, "No, it's ok, you were here first anyway."

It was a selfish thing on the part of Mariko whenever she tries to cheer people around her up. She knew that it was dumb but she wanted to feel like she had a hand in other people's successes. It in her mind allows her to share in the joy of success. So there she was trying to help Ruby with dance. "Honestly, you have to get your balance right. Your weight is all centered in front of you and so it is very easy to fall forward. If you disturbed it normally, falling should not be an issue." Mariko said to Ruby while watching her start again. It took a couple of tries before Mariko decided to have a crack at the whole dancing routine. Mariko walked to the far side of the room and began. It did not take long before she realized that she just looked like a drunk wobbling all over the place. "Well, at least Ruby had a good laugh out of it."Mariko thought before stopping, and looking back at Ruby.

Ruby finally stopped laughing and said, "Maybe we should both start slow." Before Mariko could respond the door opened again and Ai walked into the room. Ruby turned to see Ai before hearing Mariko say, "Well, now you can be trained by a real professional. I would not want to interfere." As Mariko walked out of the room she gave a small node to Ai acknowledging her presence then turned slightly before giving Ruby a thumbs up. Mariko stepped into the hallway making her way back to her family, smiling knowing that she had helped.

Ai's Apartment
Aqua was in the hallway peeking into the room that Ruby was practicing in. He could see that she was a natural. There was no doubt in his mind that she had immense potential for success in the entertainment industry. However, the thought of her being in the industry gave him a bad feeling. Well at this point it did not matter, not yet at least.