This chapter has been rewritten a lot just to keep it appropriate.
If you don't want to read Mariko's eventful night just skip to the bold text —> "Ruby next Afternoon"
There are only insinuations.
Mariko headed to the location of the underground idol group's performance. No, she was not performing tonight obviously. She was just there to observe and then join backstage to talk with the manager after the first song. This is where they would negotiate the contract, and most likely Mariko would have to give a little dance performance of her own before finalization. Mariko didn't even have any intention of signing the contract, but she needs to go through the motions and get some pictures. However, seeing that she most likely had to dance, she dressed in a short sleeve bodysuit, and joggers underneath her massive jacket. This was a risk. If this manager was as unprofessional as he was made out to be in the manga and anime, she might just go home having taken a bunch of photos of his interactions with herself instead. Obviously she didn't know that there were multiple managers. The problem was that these were the only clothes she had that could give her the best mobility for dancing around in.
Mariko didn't care enough about the idol performances to know if what she was seeing was good, average, or bad. This did make her feel a little nostalgic. She never had the time to go back and watch Ai's performances. She spent a lot of the time before her seventh birthday trying to hold things together. Figuring out how to manipulate Ichigo to stay around, and how to keep B-Komachi from disbanding. It was quite the difficult task. She had to work through Miyako, and just give her ideas, but not directly. She acted like she was talking to herself but in reality she was telling her mother what to do. Obviously, she failed by her seventh birthday but she became busy with other stuff. Stuff that she didn't want to think about. As she brought herself out of self reflection, her attention returned to the stage. "I guess the audience appreciates it and that is all that matters." Mariko thought to herself as she made her way towards the back. One of the managers from Iribe led her into a room. The first thing Mariko noticed was the stack of papers that was in front of her. "Black company for sure. They are just going to let me sign my life away without any witnesses." Mariko thought to herself as she thumbed through the pages. Once she finished reading it she knew that none of the kids here got a good deal. "You have to prove your skill before contract negotiations begin."
Mariko dragged a chair near a small mirror near the back of the room. She slipped out of her jacket and placed it on the chair in such a way that her two phones could capture her back and her reflection in the mirror. Then she walked up to the small mirror and began imitating the dance move she had seen all too often as a child. The man watching her made no sound and eventually she just tuned him out entirely. She wanted to recapture her past of goofing off in front of the mirror in her mothers dance studio. That is when she was brought back to reality by a man's voice saying, "You are good, but the movement feels a bit stiff. Try and loosen up a bit." After hearing this critique. Mariko tried to loosen up but she found it extremely difficult. As she continued to struggle with loosening up she heard him say, "Here let me help." Before she could respond she felt his fingers closing around her arm. He continued, "Now relax your arm." As he said this he began to oscillate her hand up and down. "If there is resistance your hand will not follow through, so relax your arm." As he continued to wave her limb she slowly stopped resisting the movement and allowed her movements to become completely fluid. "There you got it." He said as he released his grip. She started her routine over as the manager walked out of view of the mirror.
The manager didn't seem to have any more input for a while. "All I have to do is catch one of these managers being unprofessional to one of the talents and I am done." She thought to herself. Out of the blue she was told to stop. "Hold that pose." The voice of the man demanded. She stilled holding her position as the man walked back into view. He seemed to study her for a moment before saying, "I would be glad to help you perfectly execute this move." Mariko just gave him a slight nod.
"This was too easy." The manager thought to himself. Obviously, he wasn't going to go all out but this girl in front of him seemed to have no social understanding whatsoever. She had allowed him to touch her arm with no protest, and now just gave him consent to fix her positioning. Her clothes didn't seem to help her either. The fitted clothes only served to accentuate her figure. "If she picked these clothes out by accident she really is naive." The manager stopped his train before it could go somewhere too dangerous.
Mariko's hands were currently above her head, her fingers interlaced together and palms facing the sky. "Your hands are too tightly linked together." The man said as he grabbed her hands and slightly pulled them apart. Mariko felt the man's hands run down her forearm as he moved them into the correct position as well. "The angle at which you hold your arms is incorrect." The man continued with his observation as he slid his hand down her upper arm moving them higher. Mariko was getting very tired of holding her position and sweat began to form all over her body. Mariko felt the man's left hand on the top of her head and his right hand wrapping around her chin as he moved her head into place. "Your audience will be right there so you have to face them." The man said as he released her head. The man straight her shoulders which had just begun to droop slightly by forcefully pushing parts of her shoulder blades. It almost felt like he was trying to crack her back. Mariko felt something brush pass her inner thigh as he straightened her back. As he ran his hand down her waist. He had pushed her chest further forward just a second ago. Mariko could now feel the fabric of her clothing pushing against her breast creating a clearer outline for anyone looking. Her mind was suddenly drawn away from this fact when she felt his hands on her hips then her thighs. Due to his help Mariko pose was now nearly professional. "I feel like I just went through TSA." She thought to herself. "Ok, keep that pose until you get familiar with it." So she stood still.
Mariko was definitely tired; she had been going at this for a while now. The manager had told her to sing a little while ago. Her whole body was drenched in sweat at this point and her clothes were sticking to her body making it extremely uncomfortable. The stuffy room didn't help. At this point Mariko believed that the room had been designed by an idiot. The vents didn't seem to be doing their job and she was about to pass out.
The manager was having a hard time containing himself. He had corrected her poses on multiple occasions and she never did complain. Now her sweaty clothes were painting a sexy picture of what he had already felt. He walked to the back of the room and grabbed a bottle of water he could help to feel guilty about what he had planned to do next. "Well, do you want to feel good?" He asked the girl. He hoped she would say no.
Mariko was really tired at this point and when the manager offered her water she was delighted. "Yes, please." She said, snatching the water bottle from the manager's hand and drinking it in its entirety. Then Mariko said after finishing the drink, "I don't think I can sign anything tonight so how about we do that next time." She gestured at the contract on the table with one hand as she reached for her jacket with the other. The manager nodded and asked, "Do you want me to drive you?" "No thanks." Mariko replied respectfully.
Something was definitely wrong. Mariko had almost made it home when she started to flush. It was like blood was pumping through her body extremely quickly. Another problem that Mariko noticed was that it was really difficult to walk without feeling the clothes rubbing against her skin. It seemed as though her body's sensitivity had been amplified to a very high degree. She needed to get home quickly.
Ruby had still not gone to bed. She had told Miyako that Mariko had gone to bed early not wanting her to worry but that left a sour taste in her mouth. She did not want to lie. Plus, Mariko had not returned from her escapade so she just waited. Until she heard the door unlocked. Ruby glanced at the front door to see Mariko running into the house; her entire body seemed to be turning red. She watched Mariko fumbling to lock the door, and once she accomplished the task she ran upstairs. Ruby heard the sound of a door opening then closing. After a few seconds a loud thump was heard as though someone had fallen into the ground.
Mariko woke up sprawled on the ground with a terrible headache. In fact almost her entire body was sore. The sight was not a pretty one, and the smell was absolutely rancid. She had a lot of cleaning to do. Once she was finished cleaning her room and herself, she decided to check the time and to her shock she seemed to have slept the whole day away. Instead of worrying about missing an entire day of school she went and took a shower to wash off the sweat. By the time she came out of the bathroom Ruby and Aqua were already home from school. She could hear them talking in the living room. She decided not to go down stairs but to return to her room and try to remember what happened.
As she looked through her phone she saw something strange. There was a very long video, hours in length that she didn't remember having before. Still dealing with the headache Mariko loaded the two videos onto her computer and began to watch. The first thing that caught her attention was the name "Iribe'' on the contract. After watching the entirety of the video at times two speed she was sufficiently disturbed. She would definitely not allow Ruby to join a group with managers that would feel up some young girl. Still fighting the lingering effects of her headaches she shopped out the girl's face and began editing the video to put Iribe on blast. She didn't know who sent her the video but she would use it to expose the lowlifes over at Iribe. She had to trim a lot of the video due to there being a lot of uneventful footage, but as she continued her editing something about the girl in the video seemed strangely familiar. Mariko brushed it off and continued to work on the video until she had fully protected the girl's anonymity. Whether she was just blocking out her own memories, or still suffering from the lingering effects of the concoction she had drank the previous night, she still had no idea the girl in the video was her.
Ruby the next afternoon.
"Mariko didn't go to school today." Ruby had said changing the subject of conversation. Aqua nodded his head slowly in response as if he was thinking of this morning. Ruby had tried to wake Mariko up but she couldn't get the door open. It was like something was jamming the door shut. Ruby and Aqua continued to talk when they were interrupted by the dazed figure of Mariko walking into the room. "So what happened to you?" Aqua asked Mariko as she walked into the kitchen. She replied, "I don't know. You have any ideas?" Ruby was a bit confused by her answer. She saw her leave and come back, and now she said that she didn't know what happened. Ruby had to pry a little deeper, and asked, "What happened when you went out last night?" It seemed that Mariko was as shocked by the information as Aqua was as they both said, "I / she went out last night?!" "That's news to me." Mariko said as a follow up.
Mariko internally debated whether or not she should tell them about how sore she felt, but knowing Aqua it is better just to not talk about it. She had checked herself from head to toe looking for something that indicates that she had been injured but found none. The soreness should be attributed to an intense workout. However, she still had no idea why she would have left the house last night. "Ruby, did I say anything about where I was going last night?" "Aqua then asked, "Do you really not remember?" Her quick response was a resounding "no." Ruby then interjected and said, "You said something about going to a show." At the moment Mariko heard those words an involuntary shiver ran through her body. It was like all her muscles remembered what happened but she didn't. Then she noticed Aqua's eyes staring at her. "You have to be careful." Aqua said softly. Mariko nodded.
It has been a week since the incident with Mariko. She had begun to walk home alone. Well walking was an understatement. Ruby would see her bolt out of the classroom and disappear out the front gate a couple seconds later. Some of the teachers had complained in the hallway that Mariko would scamper even though she had cleaning duty. As Ruby was making her way home a man from Iribe scouted her for an idol gig. She was so excited that when she got home she called the entire family to the living room to deliver the news.
Miyako was sitting at the table when Ruby presented the Iribe business cards, and delivered the news. "You have been scouted!?" Aqua and her replied at the same time. Miyako noticed that one person had not reacted at all to the news. Mariko had just sat there in silence. Miyako could swear that she saw her daughter shiver a little before she slit her phone out of her pocket, and began to tap at the screen. Miyako turned her attention back to Ruby as she said, "It's from an underground idol group. I think it must be fate. I have been thinking about this for a while and Ai became an idol through scouting as well. It is like I am being guided by the gods." Ruby was bouncing off the walls in her excitement. Miyako was a bit suspicious, and evidently so was Aqua. They both questioned the authenticity of the group as Ruby tried to defend herself. At that moment Mariko spoke up with a smile, "Congratulations Ruby. I am so happy for you. You will be a wonderful idol." Miyako felt slightly ashamed because she felt that her daughter's smile was slightly unsettling. She had seen those smiles before in second rate horror movies. Mariko then continued to speak, "Plus there are videos of the groups performing. It's on YouTube."
Mariko showed her family the video. Aqua and her mother still seemed to be unimpressed. So Mariko just told them what to search for so they can do their own research. Aqua dully said, "I guess they do have videos." Ruby replied with a smug, "I told you so." Mariko then heard her mother ask about the contract. As she listened to Ruby's response, she mumbled, "Sounds like a scam. I would not fall for something that stupid." Mariko didn't realize but her mom heard her statement. Ruby said, "I'm so looking forward to it." Mariko watched Ruby skip out of earshot. "I wouldn't." Mariko said as she got up to leave. As she was about to open the door Aqua asked her, "You wouldn't what?" Mariko turned to look at Aqua and gave him a small smile. "I would have to worry about Ruby joining Iribe, because I know you already know from all the information available that it is a very suspicious operation." After Mariko finished speaking she went back to her room to continue working on a very important project.
After Aqua left the house with their company's business card, Miyako continued to browse idol videos from Iribe. She was watching the most recent videos. After a while she found videos of their performance from last week. As she absentmindedly looked at the screen something caught her attention. She rewound the video and started playing closer attention to a figure that was wearing a jacket making her way to the stage. Miyako could swear she saw a strand of pink hair flanked on both sides by a pinkish blonde as the girl disappeared backstage. "My daughter wouldn't just sneak out. She just looked similar." She thought to herself, but she couldn't help but remember that Mariko had tremendously overslept a week ago and was very sore for days. She continued to look at the video debating on what to do next.
Miyako wasn't surprised when Aqua walked into the office followed by a black haired girl with twin tails. The girl remarked that she thought Aqua was going to do something nasty until she saw the office. Miyako grimaced at her words knowing full well that Aqua was planning something nasty just not in the way the young girl thought. As she listened to Aqua's interrogation she began to get a better sense for what Ruby was getting into, and it was definitely not promising. When the girl mentioned that Iribe's management was going on a scouting spree, Miyako began to pay more attention. The girl said, "In fact, management just brought someone in last week to see if they wanted to join. Honestly, she had the build for it. Her cute face along with her pinkish blond hair would look pretty good on the stage." Miyako interjected at this point, "What happened to her." The girl thought about it before saying, "I am not sure. She was in a room with management most of the time and when we finally left she had stumbled out of the room and walked out the door. She never came back." Miyako could only look even more disgusting as she thought "Oh god" for the second time that day.
As the girl left Miyako turned to face Aqua she began to go over what the girl had told them, "First, she paints a pretty grim picture of the agency. There are many agencies that have a proven track record, but there are a lot of others that don't really care about their talents. However, not everything the girl says can be taken at face value. Jealousy is very common in these situations, and that kind of a thing would fan the flames of rumors. Even in Ai's day there were talents that called foul because of favoritism." Aqua replied that he would not allow Ruby to join a group with these kinds of rumors. Miyako could understand why but blocking Ruby would only make her want to become an idol more. She asked, "How are you going to stop her?"
Mariko had slipped back into the room undetected. When she heard Aqua say that he would hire a detective to spread the rumors across the net, Mariko spoke up. "That won't be necessary." Her voice seemed to startle her mother and Aqua. She ignored it and continued, "Someone else already beat you to it. There are videos on YouTube and in a day or so it will probably come out that one of their managers will be fired for inappropriate conduct towards prospective talents, or something like that." Up until this point Mariko's voice had been monotone, but as she said her next statement her voice became somber. "If you two cannot dissuade her then I will employ different methods to dissuade her." At that moment she decided that she wasted enough time and went back to her room. When she glanced at the monitor she could see the text from a certain blond man. He was demanding that the game she had been working on be released as quickly as possible. "Yeah, I definitely don't want to become famous. What a crazy lunatic." Mariko muttered to herself as she began working again. A blank pill bottle labeled "concentrators" was right next to the computer half empty. After a while Mariko took a pill to help her work.
Mariko pulled another all-nighter. She was almost done with the game. She just needed to iron out some bugs, and obviously this was not going to be very polished. However, she hoped that the fans would not abandon the series just because this installment was not very good when it came to the series' continuity. The game played was good though. As she popped another pill to stay up she heard her family talking down stairs about idol business. She was happy for Ruby and decided that she would go congratulate her later.
Don't be like Mariko. Don't buy medical drugs off the internet.
Also do not accept any substances from strangers whether it be food or drink.